Dubai - The Rules

[Old King Coal]

Advice issued for OzMate's :}

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jD4KJQZmiLc

[Three Wire]

Hmm, forgot the thongs.

[Capetonian]

Dubai stopovers | Qantas | Rules for tourists to follow (http://www.smh.com.au/travel/travel-news/dont-kiss-dont-swear-rules-of-a-dubai-stopover-20130326-2grsc.html)

It's an Islamic state, so sex outside marriage is illegal, as is sharing a room or even a car with someone of the opposite sex (edit : according to the video). Bloody hypocrites. Half their tourist industry is based on prostitution and alcohol, with hotel bars full of hookers and their clients.

I have absolutely no problem with that, it's the double standards I can't abide, which is one reason I will strenuously avoid going to that place or travelling on their airline. Not to mention the abhorrent conditions under which workers from the poorer parts of the world are made to live and work.

[Oblaaspop]

Actually Cape, if you actually bothered to remove your blinkers for one moment and make a trip here you will actually see that in the real world your post is a complete and utter load of crap!

Take that from someone who's been here for the thick end of a decade as opposed to someone that reads the Daily Mail or watches CNN!

[Capetonian]

I have been to Dubai several times and I know what I am talking about. The one with the blinkered view might be you, seeing as you live there and choose to benefit from it, so you've taken the brainwashing.

I never watch CNN and as for the DM, I admit to spending perhaps 5 minutes a week glancing at it but I certainly don't consider it as a source of serious news or views.

[Oblaaspop]

So which of the many crimes you listed did you commit?

Did you have a beer while you were here?

Did you share a vehicle with a member of the opposite sex?

And following your criminal activity, how long did you spend in the slammer?

You may well have been here buddy, but you clearly didn't bother removing your welded on blinkers, choosing instead to be blinded by your preconceived views.

Indeed there are several laws here which are in place to attempt to preserve a certain level of tradition and respect for the culture and religion - is that such a bad thing? But Saudi it is not (BTW I've spent 3 months there as well)!

Like I said having been here for a while and knowing many who have been here for quarter of a century, I do speak with a certain amount of knowledge of the subject - for instance I wouldn't be so ignorant to say to someone from Capetown that the whole of South Africa is full of crime, slavery and stupid accents as despite the fact that I've been there a few times and seen it on the telly does not make me an expert! Get my point?

For the record, I do go out drinking regularly with my mates, I do share my car on occasion with women to whom I'm not married, I do hold hands on occasion with my wife in the mall and I know many who shag their girlfriends regularly - the thing is though I have no idea where the jails actually are in Dubai...... Weird huh?

[Oblaaspop]

Wet....zzzzzzz

[Capetonian]

Oblaaspop

I'm not going to get into a slanging match with you but I'll answer your questions and you can judge from there.

So which of the many crimes you listed did you commit? Several. I even shagged a hooker or three. And on another trip, I shared a hotel room for two weeks with a female to whom I was not married. When we checked in the hotel turned a blind eye to the fact.

Did you have a beer while you were here? Plenty.

Did you share a vehicle with a member of the opposite sex? Yes

And following your criminal activity, how long did you spend in the slammer? None

That's exactly what you wanted to hear, isn't it? But that isn't the point. You want to all me a hypocrite. I am. And to some degree, we all are.

Friends of mine lived in DXB for several years and although I formed my own views based on what I saw and heard from some of the Indian and Sri Lankan people I was privileged to work with, their views were the same as mine. They left.

[kumul1]

Guys, take all this advise with a pinch of salt. Without stating the bleeding obvious, just don't get caught with your hand in the cookie jar. Dubai is playing a balancing game, and they are doing a good job of it. You want to play, just play by the rules. You want to bend the rules, don't let the Ref see you. If he does see you, chances are, he'll look away. Just stay away from drugs and drink driving that's for bloody idiots.

[Oblaaspop]

Fair enough Cape, and thanks for your balanced response:ok:

Perhaps it'd be better in future maybe to not rehash tabloid rhetoric, and instead present a balanced argument?

I of course realise that there are certain nationalities/skin colours residing in the UAE who historically haven't received the same lifestyle and benefits that we do (sound familiar?), but to tar an entire country/population with that brush would be unfair and frankly untrue.

As Kumul1 said above, live and let live, keep your head down, outwardly obey the laws and customs of the country in which you live and you will enjoy the place....

Perhaps if the population of the UK had done that, I'd still be there!

[three eighty]

Capetonian
Sharing a car with the opposite sex.
If you are going to sprout forth, I suggest you check your facts. Your statement is laughable, uninformed and incorrect. It is NOT illegal.
Bars brimming with prostitutes. You're joking right? In 6+ years of living here, I've been solicited once. A seething illicit whorehouse that hardly makes!
Utopia it certainly is not, but the picture you paint is of a place you certainly know way less about than you pretend to.
There are enough expats here from all over the world who have chosen to call Dubai home that are testament to something other than you claim.

I am a CAPETONIAN and have lived here for over six years. While some laws here are indeed draconian, they afford us a safe lifestyle. They have in no way impeded on my or my families day to day living. Some laws are archaic, but most are what make Dubai a safe place to live.
You might want to be circumspect before you stand on your podium.

[Capetonian]

Sharing a car with the opposite sex.
If you are going to sprout forth, I suggest you check your facts.your statement is laughable, uninformed and incorrect. It is NOT illegal.

The bit about sharing a car is from the video, at 1'29" in posting 01. So have a go at the people who published that, not me.

Bars brimming with prostitutes : I stayed at the Rotana Towers on Shaik Zayed Road and it was. And the Cyclone - I believe that no longer exists but has doubtless been replaced by similar. I've stayed in two other hotels that had bars full of hookers and their clients. I think one was the Sheraton and the other was very close to the airport, also a 4/5 star.

Do you lead a sheltered life perhaps?

[John Boeman]

The dark side of Dubai - Johann Hari - Commentators - The Independent (http://www.independent.co.uk/voices/commentators/johann-hari/the-dark-side-of-dubai-1664368.html)

No comment.

[Craggenmore]

If Oscar and Reeva had lived in Dubai she'd still be alive today.

[helen-damnation]

If you look for it, there's a dark side to every city, every culture, every race.

When you live in a place for a reasonable time you learn how to "manage" the day to day stuff.

This video is apparently good ( I haven't seen it) for those who haven't had the exposure and need some pointing in the right direction to avoid the major pitfalls and drawing attention to themselves.

Halas :rolleyes:

H-D

[Wizofoz]

' Cause, like, there's NO prostituation in South Africa- no crime either!

[Capetonian]

' Cause, like, there's NO prostituation in South Africa- no crime either!
That's a brilliant argument. Irrelevant though in the context, and about as useful as a chocolate teapot.

If Oscar and Reeva had lived in Dubai she'd still be alive today.
Proof? Aren't there murders in Dubai?

I don't have to defend South Africa and what's going on there, as we all know, it's a cesspit of crime, corruption, racism (yes blacks can be racist too!) and nepotism, but to bring that up in this context amounts to nothing more than trolling.

[Wizofoz]

Well, as that is the situation in SA, do you agree that we should all not visit or do business with your country, and boycott you National Airline?

[Capetonian]

Well, as that is the situation in SA, do you agree that we should all not visit or do business with your country, and boycott your National Airline?
With pleasure, we should all be free to make such decisions. I've made mine about DXB and given the reasons. You may disagree.

You don't live here, and don't have to come here, so your rants are not really relevant are they?
So I can't express an opinion? That's some democracy you live in and want to impose on others! I don't have to go to North Korea to be aware that it's a repressive dictatorship.

[vfenext]

Gentlemen, the Caped Crusader is rapidly becoming a boring troll. Please don't feed him, just allow him to fester in his bigoted opinions.