Perspective

Imagine a large personal gathering of 20 people that takes place in your home. Sixteen of your guests come from a different culture, region, language, and world-view than you and the other three members of your family. How do these dynamics affect the gathering? Does the vibe of the event change? Does your menu and activities change? How do you ensure that you and your family members remain comfortable in your home while still meeting the needs of all of your guests?

This is exactly what Dubai faces on a daily basis. In 1960, Dubai had a population of about 40,000 people. In the last estimated census in 2005, the population had tripled with over 1.2 million people residing there. This explosion of growth has been attributed to the ex-patriot community that has moved to the region to live and work. The estimate is that 80 percent of the population is ex-patriots and 20 percent are citizens.

So how do the citizens of Dubai remain true to their culture and traditions? The government of Dubai ensures that their cultures remain intact despite the large population of other cultures in its region. As an emiratee, the government makes sure that you are well taken care of and are provided with all the care you will need. Education is provided through college, medical care is provided for life and if you cannot receive the care you need in the country they will fly you to a specialist in another country, housing is provided, and the government pays men a “gift” for their first two wives. As an emiratee, you needs are covered but citizenship is limited to children born to emiratee parents, or an emiratee father and foreign mother. Emiratee women who marry foreign men loose their citizenship status and just because a person is born in the U.A.E they do not have citizenship.

We did not receive any further insight or personal experiences into this way of living but I am sure it has many positive and negative impacts. If I ever go back to Dubai I hope to befriend an emiratee who can share their personal experiences of living there.

Today was the first day of the business week in Dubai we met with representatives from the U.S. consulate and the American University in Dubai. The U.S. consulate representatives gave us an excellent overview of the country and a positive overview of their experiences in Dubai especially related to the religious tolerance in the region. They also explained that the traditional wear in the region is not related to religion and that we can identify emiratees by the tassel (kerkusha) on the front of their kandura (traditional white gown).

Next, we went to the American University in Dubai and listened to two professors speak about business in Dubai. This was the first place that we learned about the Dubai International Finance Center (DIFC). This is one of the free zones in Dubai and the most interesting part is that it maintains its own judicial system for civil and business law. This was fascinating to me as I am currently in the Business Law class and was actually missing our arbitration exercise that day by being in Dubai. So learning about the Dubai International Arbitration Center was exciting. The most fascinating thing was that many businesses agree to transfer the jurisdiction of the case to Dubai in order to have the proceedings done in English to eliminate language barriers between countries.

After our business meetings we went on a tour of the city and went to the Dubai Museum where we learned about the trading and import/export business that Dubai was built upon. We also went to experience the Gold Souk and Spice Market and we went on an abra (water taxi) ride across the Dubai Creek. It was amazing to see the small trading vessels that still come into port there loaded down with goods.