Ramadan in the UAE

When I first visited the UAE, I was quite surprised to find that nobody is allowed to eat in public during Ramadan fasting hours, except very small children. In some cases, people are even fined. However this is only in very extreme cases where people had been ignoring the warnings for a while. This was a strange concept to me, having grown up in the ‘West’ as they call it here, I was always taught that people eating and drinking around you while you were fasting was good for you, to help remind you of the sacrifice that you were making.

That really is what Ramadan is all about to me, sacrifice. Discipline. Patience.

Virtues, I have very little of when I’m not fasting.

There’s so much about Ramadan in the UAE that makes it quite a beautiful experience (even if people do drive worse than normal)

For starters, most companies will offer employees lesser working hours- because of a strict government rule that every company should only let their employees work 6 hours a day (Muslim or non-Muslim) and if they work over that, there should be hours in lieu or overtime pay.

I know some places that don’t give this option to their employees who aren’t Muslim, and think it’s terribly unfair, especially since this is one way of creating a community atmosphere. (This year, I wonder if I should let the Minister of Economy know the names of these places so he can send out an inspection team?)

What I find quite unique about the UAE than elsewhere is many non-Muslims seem to take the opportunity in Ramadan to fast. I met an American woman in my first year here, who does it every Ramadan, because she likes that it makes her concentrate on being a better person. I haven’t come across this embracing of culture anywhere else.

Iftar tents were a novel concept to me before I arrived, I had no idea what to expect, turns out they are usually extremely lavish buffets, open from the time the fast ends at sunset for the iftar for about 2-3 hours. The tent is then cleaned up and tables are laid again, and this now becomes a suhoor (morning meal) tent, which starts around 10pm.

Sunset in Abu Dhabi

This year, I am going to try to avoid the tents, because they can be far too extravagant, and the wastage is quite upsetting. As far as I understand it from the Dubai Municipality, the hotels have no choice but to throw away their excess food because of a rule by the Food Safety Authority to prevent food poisoning. This is also why the excess food can’t be transported to labour camps, since a lot of them are far out and this will not be allowed by the FSA. I am trying to find a hotel that will tie up with a bus company to transport labourers to the hotels to take part in the iftar, so that the food isn’t wasted. Because of the snobbery involved, hotels can perhaps set up a male-only tent for labourers, taxi drivers and anyone who cannot afford to eat that day. I’ve suggested the idea to my company as well to help get it moving. Let’s see what happens.

During Ramadan, some stores open later than others to suit people’s food and prayer times, which adds to the festive feel in the month, and restaurant timings are all over the place. Some open for lunch, quite a few don’t. I believe @GeordieArmani has a list of places that are open for lunch on her blog so check that out.

During Ramadan, in the malls, there are numerous stalls set up by the Awqaf or Charitable Affairs Authority where you can buy tickets starting at 5 dirhams going up to 50 dirhams where you can donate money, food, books to those in need.

For Muslims, its so beautiful to pray taraweeh here (90 minute long prayers), the atmosphere is just lovely, you get a proper community feel. One of the cool things that happens is famous visiting Imams, last year we had Saudi imams like Imam Sudais, Shuraim and Abu Bakr Shatri leading prayers at the Blue Mosque (The Turkish one) in Jumeirah, which was very exciting. Tahajjud prayers are also held here.

The mosque is also a good place to meet members of the community who can suggest people in need of Zakah, which most people tend to give out just before Eid Al Fitr.

Sheikh Zayed Mosque Abu Dhabi

Eid is a public holiday in the UAE and is a celebration of the end of the month of fasting and the hope that people have learnt lessons of virtue that they will carry out for the entire year.

Traditionally, parents, grandparents or any adult that meets children will give them a small monetary token (In the UAE, I believe its about 20 dirhams). Nowadays people give out Eid gifts, but the whole point is to not get sucked into capitalism so money is better.

Back home we used to take plates of goodies (sweetmeats, dates etc) to neighbours and friends on Eid day. Here most people don’t know their neighbours, I certainly don’t know mine, and am not sure how they would react to this. If I’m in the UAE for Eid, I’ll do it and let you know.

Mainly the month is about being with family and friends, and trying to be good. People are more tired during Ramadan because of extra prayers and lots of meetings with friends and family, and most organisations are quite understanding of this.

A typical working day in the life of a Muslim this Ramadan could be as follows (The timings change every day, as the day gets shorter)

3.15 am- Breakfast

4.00 am-stop eating and get ready for Morning Prayer

4.10 am- Morning Prayer (called Fajr)

4.20am- back to bed or pray

8.00am- work

There are two prayers during work hours called Dhuhr and ‘Asr

4.00pm- home

4.00-6- with family, Reading Quraan

Sunset in Dubai

7.10 pm- break the fast

7.20 pm- prayer (called Maghreb)

8.30 pm- prayer (called Isha)

8.35 pm- long evening Ramadan prayer called Taraweeh

10.00pm- Family/ recreational time

2.00 am- Tahajjud prayers

3.15 am- Breakfast

The Sheikh Mohammed Centre for Cultural Understanding in Dubai hosts a traditional Iftar every evening for a small fee. People are required to book ahead because it gets quite full, and they are treated to a full Emirati/ Muslim experience, which includes breaking the fast with the traditional dates and water, watching as fasting people say their prayers, taking a tour of the Bastakiya area and a Q n A session where volunteers will answer anything you ask them about the UAE. For more information, contact 04 353 6666

Comedy in Dubai: How We Started ComedyDubai

If you want to try something new for the first time, the UAE is certainly the place to do it.  Because it’s such a new country, it is open to everyone and anyone trying their hand at art, music or culture. My fiancée jokes that anyone in Dubai who can take a picture that isn’t blurry could open up an exhibition in Al Quoz or compile a photography book, and people would support it because there is so little of ‘that kind of thing’ in the Emirates.

Thinking of my next joke while the audience laughs :-)

I’ve found this with comedy. Last year, if you asked me if I thought I was funny, I would have probably said ‘no’. If you asked me today, I would probably still say ‘no, but people do laugh at my jokes’.

In February, I signed up to a comedy course with my fiancée because I thought he needed an outlet for his jokes, which I find hilarious- and unsurprisingly so does the rest of Dubai.

We didn't know what to expect and were hoping to get an idea of how to write stand up material and tips on how to be amazing and engaging performers.

Audience reaction to @ComedyDubai

The course was 10 weeks long and mainly based around improvisation. This became rather tedious after six weeks, but thankfully in the last two weeks, the exercises were based around writing, honing and performing material.

This was all with the aim of a student show, including other performers from the school like tap-dancers and improvised sketch artists, all of which would be performed to friends and family.

@HillierRobert 

With our busy work schedules, learning the material and how to perform it all in two weeks was quite a challenge, especially since this was something we had to do for ourselves without the help of the tutors. But we managed it, and because of what was clearly a ridiculously supportive audience, most of us got a great reaction to our sets.

The adrenaline was immense, but as far as I remember, every normal person that I spoke to that night, including me said: ‘No way in hell am I performing again’

What a joke.

One week later I was sweating over another set with new jokes getting ready to perform at my favourite shawarma joint WildPeeta.

We headed to the venue on the metro and on our way there, my fiancée, myself and two other people on the course, Sheida and Ray came to the realization that this was it. After this weekend, we would have nothing to do on Saturdays- the last 12 Saturdays had been occupied by comedy and now the rest of them loomed ahead of us.

There were 2 shows on offer over the next two months, but that wasn’t enough for us. We wanted to make comedy and performance part of our life, we wanted more!

We decided then and there that we needed to start up a group so that we could offer people a place to perform and where we could perform ourselves. 

Within a few days of Wildpeeta, the four of us had started up a group, worked on getting venues together, starting up a facebook page, twitter account and we’ve even got an incredibly talented graphic designer to create a logo for us (@nora_adib on twitter)

@LaSheidakeh

It’s been two months and our group Comedy Dubai (Get Up, Stand Up) has already produced 6 events. Two of which are at an amazing venue, the Pavilion Downtown. We have had the best reaction to our sets here, the venue is cosy, the audience is supportive and comes in droves. It is a joy to perform here.

What we also do at the Pavilion venue, which is unique for the UAE, is an open mic. We give anyone who wants a chance at standup a platform to perform 2-3 minutes of prepared standup. We do vet the material first, and so far have had a really good response to the first timers, who want to keep performing.

Ray has since decided to leave ComedyDubai and start up his own group, which is a great move for Dubai and the UAE as a whole. We’re always asked to take events to other Emirates and the fact that there will soon be at least 3 or 4 comedy groups here, and hopefully many more means not only will the venues we perform at increase, but the type of comedy that we do will mature. In three or four years I envisage a scene similar to London in the 80s, with hopefully a better audience, since people in Dubai are too cool to heckle and I like it that way.

For more information on Comedy Dubai follow us on twitter @ComedyDubai or like us on facebook.com/comedydubai or just email comedydubai@gmail.com

Comedy Dubai’s next event is at Pavilion on July 4^th

We’ll break for Summer and Ramadan and then we should be back on September 12^th at Pavilion.

And then September 18^th at Harvesters in the Crowne Plaza on Sheikh Zayed Road

Look forward to seeing you there. 

What are Housing Fees and Getting a home landline/ internet Service

Getting anything done in the UAE- simple things like a home telephone or connecting your lights and water-require more time and energy than elsewhere so be prepared for this. Also, as I have said before, always have passport pictures and copies of your visa and passport, because you never know when you will need it.

Let’s start with the housing fees- this is a Dubai fee.

As I understand it from conversations with officials, housing fees are a sort of tax, paid every month to the municipality for the upkeep of the area you are in. It is about 5 percent of your annual rent divided into 12 months and tagged onto your DEWA bill.

You can register for it online on the municipality website, after registering for DEWA. For advice on registering for DEWA, visit a previous page of mine at http://uaeasy.blogspot.co.uk/2011/12/getting-dewa-adwea-sewa-fewa-water-and.html

If you have any questions, the Municipality call centre people are mostly helpful and knowledgeable on 800 900 or visit this link https://portal.dm.gov.ae/SCWebUI/DataDetails.aspx?servicecode=4113&id=2188&parentid=0&name=SER485&DeptId=32

Getting a DU/Etisalat account is relatively easy but time consuming. You have to be 21 and over to get an account; the documents you will need, along with your credit card:

UAE nationals and GCC residents:

• ·      passport or national ID plus copies
• ·      tenancy contract or proof of property ownership plus copies

Expats:

• ·      passport or national ID plus copies
• ·      Copies of Visa page
• ·      tenancy contract or proof of property ownership plus copies

Companies:

• ·      Visa and Passport and copies of business owner or sponsor
• ·      Copy of valid Trade License
• ·      Power of Attorney

If I may offer some advice, Du has notoriously bad customer service, even the people who control their twitter account do not give timely responses. Etisalat (@EtisalatUAE) on the other hand, may take a while solving issues, but they are constantly accessible on twitter and on the phone, with knowledgeable customer service representatives who you don’t want to violently shake some sense into. So, if you’re someone that likes a challenge, go for Du. If you want an easier life, choose Etisalat.

There is one issue, it may not be possible for everyone to choose the provider you wish- it just depends on the area you are in. In the spirit of true competition between Du and Etisalat, the parts of the UAE that they serve are divided more or less equally between them. This is changing and there are few areas which give the customer the choice to decide on whether they want Du or Etisalat. But I have only heard these amazing places exist and can offer no more information.

Racism in Dubai

I have written and re-written this post so many times now, I have lost count. The issue is I haven’t been able to find a balance between people who feel they have been picked on in parts of Dubai because of their colour/ nationality and others who feel like this ‘racism’ is used by people who are over-sensitive and even bigoted themselves.

So, this is my final draft of this post, everything that I’d written previously has been scrapped; make of it what you will.

Many of the people who wrote to me about the incidents of racism they felt had been directed toward them wrote in because they felt the need to highlight an injustice.

I am South African, I grew up in the latter part of apartheid; I remember bits of racist behaviour directed toward me during this time, but mostly I remember the feelings of helplessness my parents talked about. They knew they weren’t any different, they knew they were sometimes smarter than people who got jobs ahead of them, they knew that carrying around a dompas was against their human rights. Even so, there was nothing they could do. Racism is one of the worst forms of injustice and its definitely something we should all look to remove from our lives and from within ourselves. Who are we to judge someone based on their colour?

To know more about Apartheid in South Africa, see the links below.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apartheid_in_South_Africa

http://www.southafrica.to/history/Apartheid/apartheid.htm

http://www.rebirth.co.za/apartheid.htm

http://overcomingapartheid.msu.edu/

So many colleagues and friends have mentioned they had been subject to racism in Dubai, that I felt it necessary to dedicate a post to the subject. Here in the UAE, it’s even more difficult to find a balance because of the more than 200 nationalities that live here. For some reason, instead of embracing the variety in the cultures here, most people promote classist attitudes and stereotyping.

If anything we should use the unique opportunity that we have here to promote unity.

Of course, this needs to also come from the highest levels. It is a tough bullet to bite when I know certain colleagues earn less than me because they are from a poor Arab country or the subcontinent.  It’s similarly difficult to forget that my South African colleagues are seen as cheap labour- despite the South African education system being far better than the British one. (This is my honest opinion, and having studied in both countries I am allowed to make this judgement.)

We should be judged on our abilities not our nationalities and it is something we should promote. People should be judged by their ability and not their colour. 

When I told people I was writing this post, I had dozens of emails with stories (thank you to everyone who sent me your stories, apologies if yours isn’t in here)

I’ve compiled some of the stories I was told, below. There are far too many to go into. Make your own judgements into whether or not they are racist.

A white colleague told me that during the US elections, he met a liberal-looking white American couple who live in the UAE…when he asked them if they would vote for Barack Obama and they  replied no, because: “Helllooooo, he’s black.”

I got an email from a girl- Gulf Arab- and because she was in traditional dress in Apres which I believe is a restaurant that serves alcohol in Mall of the Emirates, she was asked to leave. She felt ostracised, especially because they didn’t stop her when she walked in, and there were men in traditional dress in there too who were not asked to leave.

I decided to definitely write this post after an Indian colleague told me about her experience at the Dubai nightclub Malecon. She had booked a table for her and a few family members. They were told by the bouncer they could not enter because one of them was dressed with a traditional Indian top. After some argument, they were finally told they could enter as long as they left by midnight. I haven’t actually contacted Malecon to ask for their side of their story but this does seem to happen quite a lot across the clubs in Dubai and I’ve included another story below.

Boudoir is another club in Dubai and an Indian colleague who went there with a group of friends says they were turned away because of an apparent lack of reservation. This was minutes after the same bouncers allowed two girls, who were not Indian, into the venue and who didn't have a reservation. Also, when the group called friends who were in the club already- they said they hadn't needed a reservation which is what led them to believe the bouncers were racist.

Being an outsider to the stories above, it’s hard for me to distinguish whether or not the incidents were racist. But in my experience, people know when something is genuine or when someone is using their power for their own bigoted gain. Of course, in the first story, the American couple were clearly disapproving of Barack Obama because of his colour and one has to wonder about how they go about dealing with the 200 plus nationalities they presumably interact with on a daily basis.

Another colleague of mine from New Zealand wrote me a long email with regards to this post, bits of which I agree with. However, I think it brings up an interesting point that I’ve heard many tout. I will end this post on an excerpt from that email.

“Given the choice most people generally gravitate towards socializing with their own race. When a bunch of people from the same race get together, it is usually a safe environment to have a ‘bitch’ about another race. Which is unhealthy – but unfortunately true in many cases. The thing I find most alarming is the fact that people are just as rude an unaccommodating to their own race as they are any other. Racism is often the scapegoat that is used to describe the fact that a lot of people get treated badly here. The fact is Dubai is filled with rude and self-important selfish people. The people that are often identified as the most racist, I don’t believe it’s a race thing – I think that they just believe they are the most important people here.”

Media in the UAE

 The media here may come across as amateur and under-developed but it has improved immensely from when I first came over in 2006.

At the end of the media breakdown section of this post, I’ll write up my opinions on where Middle East PR companies go wrong, and the best ways to get your story in the news.

There are two English television stations here. The first is City 7 and does very few new programmes. A lot of the stuff on City 7 is at least a year old and some of the presenters now work at Dubai One (the country’s other English station) its very bizarre and in my opinion not really worth reviewing.

The second channel is called Dubai One. After watching the programmes, you’ll come to the conclusion that many people working in the media in Dubai just don’t have the experience you’ll find in other countries. Many of the presenters on the shows below are quite young, and in their first ever presenting jobs, while very few have actual journalism experience. This means their interviewing style can be amateur, or presenting style is either over-exuberant or too wooden.

The channel is clearly understaffed by about 8 producers at the very least. As a result, the show reviews below should be seen in context. I was going to give you a review of each programme on the channel but it was so negative that I have just decided to give an overview on what the programmes are and you can make your own mind up.

The flagship-show Studio One, airs at 7:30 for half an hour is a magazine show, presumably aimed at families who’ve just got in from work and school. There is a cooking bit at the end, which has some amazing chefs who really should have their own shows.

Emirates 24/7 is straight after that. This is a news programme looks in-depth into issues affecting UAE residents as well as the wider international community.

Emirates News is on at 8.30pm. A daily news programme which usually starts with government stories and then goes on to other local and international issues.

Out and About is on Saturdays at 10.30am. As the name says, its about things to do out and about the country with movie reviews and sometimes interviews with celebrity personalities.

That’s Entertainment on Saturdays at 11.00am- entertainment news and events.

There are a host of radio stations here, some with news and some without. Most are music-based.

I will try not to impose my views here (since I do work for Radio 1 and Radio 2) but will try to give an honest review of the radio here as honestly as possible, but please do forgive me if I don’t.

Radio 1 104.1 in Dubai and 100.5 in Abu Dhabi

Aimed at 16-40 year olds, music-heavy and competition-oriented. News on this station is live and up to date.

Radio 2 99.3 in Dubai and 106 in Abu Dhabi

Aimed at over 35s playing tunes from 80s, 90s and now. This station is competition-based and talk-heavy in the mornings with a very full breakfast show. News on this station is live and up to date. Like Radio 1, the reporters are always out and about reporting on location.

Virgin Radio 104.4

Aimed at 16-40 year olds. Solely for the music, recorded news and weather is a side feature, mainly headlines and entertainment-heavy.

Channel 4 104.8

Presumably aimed at 16-35 year olds. To be honest I listened to this station specifically for this blog, and came up with the following: good music selection, awful presenters and no news.

Dubai 92 92.0

Aimed at over 35s, seemingly without a specific music policy.  I believe the news is recorded after 10am, but can’t be sure.

Rock Radio 90.7

Aimed at anyone who likes Rock. This station plays everything from Green Day to Nirvana to Muse to Metallica. There is no news on this station but the morning presenter does do headlines in case you missed something major.

Dubai Eye 103.8

A talk station which opens with a business breakfast show and also has one in the evening. There’s also a phone-in discussion at 8pm. The news is recorded in the afternoon. Sometimes (usually at 9pm) the news presenters leave in edits they’ve forgotten about (long pauses, coughs etc) it’s fun to look out for them.

BBC World Service 90.3 in English between 9am and 6pm and Arabic between that.

Excellent programmes and news, but the signal isn’t always amazing which can be annoying.

And just because a few people on twitter and FB messaged regarding advice for PR companies in the UAE. See below a deviation from my usual blog:

PR for Radio in the UAE …

One issue I have with the way public relations is handled in the UAE is the fact that the story isn’t tailored to suit the medium they’re pitching to.  For example, newspapers, online and television can cover chef/ barista competitions because there are pictures and they aren’t as immediate as the radio medium. On radio, we need generally interesting stories, preferably with equally interesting audio.

Another issue I have with PR here is that they don’t have a clue about news. It’s highly annoying when people ask ‘on what programme will the interview will be aired’ or ‘when does the news air’. Seriously?

My biggest bug-bear has got to be PR people who think Radio, TV, newspapers and online are all the same. For example, television is just not as popular as radio in the UAE, for a variety of reasons- it’s not developed and people are always in their cars are two reasons.

Radio 1, according to IPSOS figures has an average audience of around 600,000 listening at any one time. This figure may well be higher because surveys are not entirely accurate and the figures are also constantly changing. That’s a huge number of people. Yet PR people seem to think that it’s okay to make one of our journalists wait while a local camera crew takes about half an hour to set up and the presenter needs about ten tonnes of make up before getting on camera. Radio journalists usually need about 5 minutes of pre-recorded air time- the best 30 seconds of which will be used edited to make the dude on mic sound amazing.

The other reason why you should not make someone in radio wait is the negative effect on your story; since the quicker we get the interview, the quicker we get it on air, which equals more air time, and who doesn’t want more air time?

This follows on to another issue: immediacy. Radio is immediate, all I need is a phone line and I can report what I’m seeing, a fire, ship sinking, ridiculously boring conference whatever.

It’s okay for a newspaper journalist to wait sometimes even a week for an interview. They don’t care; they can afford to take an hour doing the interview and spend a leisurely day writing 300 words for one publication. We’ll take five minutes to conduct the interview and have it air within 20 minutes on 2 stations to more than half a million people.

Over here it’s similar for television people to take an age doing things because their story will air once in the daily news programme that evening and then go up on a website that doesn’t usually work.

So sorry about the rant, but if PR people just understood how they’re shooting themselves in the foot, they would get places quicker.

How to get your story in the news

It’s the easiest thing in the world getting your story in the news in the UAE, and if you aren’t doing it, there is something wrong. The fact that there is a serious lack of reportable news here means if you pitch the story correctly, it will get in.

The first rule, which I cant state enough is KNOW the medium you’re pitching to AND know the publication you’re pitching to. Don’t pitch a story about banks and finance to Radio 1. Pitch it to Arabian Business. Don’t pitch a story on how to address the nurse shortage to What’s on Magazine; pitch it to Radio 2. That may sound simple to some of you, but the amount of irrelevant press releases I get, this is a valid point.

If you are going to pitch to the wrong medium, just because you’re that kind of PR company, then at least do it right. So let’s go with the banking story, finance and Radio 1. How do you get your banking story on Radio 1- a totally entertainment-based station with music aimed at 16-35 year olds? Make it relevant to the listener. Give them advice on how to manage loans? How to pay for student life? Do a study, come up with a statistic- 80 percent of the people who are in high school now wont be able to afford uni. What? OMG that is shocking and very relevant to our listeners-  but don’t worry, our financial advisor can help you…and your story will get in.

Anyway, that’s all for now; I am available for hire as a consultant if you want to know more about radio, television, newspapers or online. I and my partner also provide media training for those CEOs who feel too shy in front of a camera or mic to get their message out in the right way.

Ciao