An ABC of the UAE or the Top Things to Do in the Emirates

The Question
If you have lived in the UAE for a few months or more you’ll have been asked this question many times.

The question came in a letter this morning from a couple soon to tour the UAE:

“What are the best things to see and do in the United Arab Emirates?”

The Response
Everyone has their own way of answering this question.

What would you put on your list?

Top Things to Do in UAE According to:
Gulf News- The UAE from A to Z
Timeout Dubai – Fantastic 50 Things
World Travel Guide
Virtual Tourist
Professional Travel Guide-Dubai
10 Best-Dubai
UAE Embassy
Trip Advisor
Fav.or.it
Real Travel
World Reviewer
Destination 360
Localyte

Got another list to add?

Dr Geoff Pound

UAE Holds World Record in Use of Pesticides and Fertilizers

Another world record for the UAE but this achievement may pose serious health risks to consumers in the Emirates. So says a recently released 2008 Report of the Arab Forum for Environment and Development entitled, Arab Environment Future Challenges.

Here is the relevant statement (p15) from the Executive Summary of the report:

Highest Use of Pesticides and Fertilizers in the World
“Pesticides and fertilizers are widely used in the Arab region, and in many cases, misused.”

“The use of NPK fertilizers in Arab countries quadrupled between 1970 and 2002, with the UAE and Egypt (more than 900 kg fertilisers per hectare)… using some of the highest quantities of fertilizers per hectare in the world.”

Serious Health Issue
“The heavy use of pesticides and fertilizers brings about concerns regarding food safety as a public health issue.”

Lack of Regulation, Analysis, Awareness
“What is lacking in most of the Arab region is regulation and control over the sale, handling, and use of pesticides. In addition, accredited pesticide residue analysis laboratories are not available in most Arab countries. As such, new legislation and institutional commitments are necessary in this regard. These issues need to be tackled at the regional level. Many countries in the region have the resources and capacities for a better performance; what is missing is clear awareness of the subject.”

Demand Dwindling
“With several parts of the world moving towards organic farming, the demand for chemical fertilizers is expected to dwindle. This will pose a serious challenge to the big producers of fertilizers in the Arab petro-chemical industries, who will have to be ready for diversification into new products.”

Reflections
This independent report makes some serious claims that require an urgent response by government regulators and local growers. It is interesting to see that a major concern about the dwindling of the use of chemical fertilizers due to the move towards organic farming relates to how the chemical industry might be ready to diversify.

The greatest concern in this report is the overuse and misuse of fertilizers and pesticides and the health risk to those who eat the produce farmed in the UAE.

Going Organic
If ever there is a stimulus to organic farming in the UAE it is contained in this report. If consumers demand organic fruit and vegetables it might be one way of protesting against the misuse of chemicals and be a boost to organic farming and gardening in the Emirates.

ed. Mostafa K Tolba and Najib W Saab, Arab Environment Future Challenges, AFED, 2008.

Dr Geoff Pound

Image: Cover of the AFED Report.

Poems Give Most Revealing Glimpse of HH Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum

“While journalists, entrepreneurs and admirers the world over have hungrily scanned papers and web sites to learn about this can-do Sheikh, perhaps nowhere is there a more revealing glimpse of the man than in this new volume of poems.”

More from a review on Poems from the Desert by His Highness Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum can be found at this link:

Reviewing Books and Movies.

More articles on His Highness Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum can be found at these links:

Purchasing New Horses in Kentucky, ETE,.
Viewing the New Airbus, ETE,.
Wins Best Web Site Award, ETE,.
His Horse Wins Prestigious Caulfield Cup, ETE.
One of the 75 Most Influential People of the 21st century, ETE.
Questions and Answers about Sheikh Mohammed, ETE.
His Thoughts on the Environment, ETE.
Sheikh Mohammed the Poet, ETE.
Most Powerful Figure in Horse racing Industry, ETE.
His Ambitions for the Middle East, ETE.
His Commitment to Knowledge and Reading, ETE.
His New Website, ETE.
On Dubai Going Green, ETE.
Sheikh Mohammed Appears on 60 Minutes, ETE.

Dr Geoff Pound

Image: Front cover of Poems from the Desert.

More UAE Expats Learning Arabic

Expats Learning العربية
Dubai’s University of Wollongong (UOW) reports an increased number of UAE expats learning spoken and written Arabic.

Over the years the UOW says that the interest has steadily climbed with 236 students taking these courses in 2008.

The report comes as the UOW is announcing two intensive summer courses especially designed for expats holidaying in the UAE rather than taking off for other exotic destinations.

These courses will take place not only in the classroom but in places around Dubai where students will be introduced to different aspects of Arabic culture and customs.

Motivation
The primary motivation given for taking a course in Arabic is to improve employment prospects in the region. The other reason is for cultural understanding and social integration.

The UOW (email at this address for details CLCAdmin@uowdubai.ac.ae) is not the only provider of Arabic courses in the UAE.

Source: Arabic Language Courses Gain Popularity Among Different Nationalities, Dubai City Guide, 9 May 2009.

Other Articles on Learning Arabic:
Learning Arabic in the UAE and the Gulf, ETE, 8 November 2007.
Why We Should Learn Arabic, ETE, 17 June 2008.
Spoken Arabic Step-by-Step by John Kirkbridge, Reviewing Books and Movies, 8 November 2007.
Teach Yourself Gulf Arabic, RBAM, 22 November 2008.
Goodword English Arabic Dictionary, RBAM, 9 November 2008.
Don’t they Know it’s Friday, RBAM, 6 June 2008. (Great book on customs in the UAE and Gulf region).

Dr Geoff Pound

If you have writing assignments that require an experienced native English speaker, Geoff Pound is a freelance writer and can be contacted by email at geoffpound[@]gmail.com or on Facebook.

Image: Arabic Language.

Rubber Duck Magazine Flies Into Middle East

It is called the Rubber Duck and it claims to be the world’s first digital car lifestyle magazine.

It also states that it is the wildest, loudest, funniest, maddest car magazine in the Middle East.

With the decline in many traditional newspapers and magazines around the world the Rubber Duck may well be the economical and eco-friendly shape of magazines to come.

It has a fresh style and takes a little getting used to but one quickly learns to click the mouse to magnify and drag the duck around.

I won’t give away any more secrets but if you are at your work desk it pays to turn the volume down on your computer.

If you are relaxing at home turn your volume up and hear the throaty sound that accompanies the sixties salute to the Lamborghini LP 560-4 or the featured W12 Golf from Volkswagen.

Rubber Duck Flies From Dubai
Editor Jon Saxon says: “We're proud to be hailing from Dubai (with a combined four years of residency in Dubai) and hope to continue delivering the fully-interactive digital magazine (the very first in the region) from here.”

Congratulations!

Rev up the Rubber Duck at:

Rubber Duck

Dr Geoff Pound

Travelling University Comes from USA to UAE

As relief from the rash of doom and gloom stories about the UAE it is heartening to learn of a ‘friendship bridge’ being established between America and the Middle East.

Members of trade and commerce institutions in Seattle recently organized an International Study Mission program to Abu Dhabi and Dubai with the goal of studying an urban region to learn how it competes in a global economy.

Billed as a ‘traveling university’ it is good to hear of such efforts to meet people of different cultures and talk about their different approaches to common challenges.

To get a flavor of what they learned:

William Stafford, Building bridges to Abu Dhabi and Dubai, Crosscut, Seattle, 5 May 2009.

Dr Geoff Pound

Image: “Heartening to learn of a ‘friendship bridge’ being established.” Different angles of the world’s largest arch bridge proposed for Dubai (Click to magnify).

Is the UAE on the ‘10 Worst Countries to be a Blogger’ List?

The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) has released its special report which names the worst online oppressors.

Did the UAE or its neighbors make the list?

It is worth reading the report as traditionally press freedom has focused on journalists and editors with bloggers hardly gaining a mention.

This report is tribute to the significance of blogging, especially in advancing the truth to the world from countries with oppressive leadership and high censorship.

Joel Simon of the Committee to Protect Journalists believes that bloggers are in the vanguard of the current information revolution.

The report gives examples of how nations pressure and punish writers and photographers, thereby restricting the freedom to proclaim the truth.

This report is highlighted by Time magazine in an article entitled ‘Blogging Can Kill You’. It will be interesting to read the ever growing number of Comments that add further examples and insights. Scott MacLeod, author of the Time article, projects a common view when he says that it is, “no surprise that the Middle East features prominently [in the Top Ten List].”

UAE Making Steady Improvement
It is important to note and applaud the steady rise of the UAE in the annual Press Freedom Index.

Strategic Moment
Some commentators believe that the new media laws that are currently being drafted will restrict freedom in the UAE rather than allow freedom to flourish.

Other observers believe that these very laws are a step forward and that the UAE is poised to become a significant model for freedom of the press.

It will be interesting to see which way the UAE moves on this important matter of press freedom.

Source:
10 Worst Countries to be a Blogger, CJP, 30 April 2009.

Related:
UAE Can Become the Model for Freedom of Press, Gulf News, 13 April 2009.
UAE Media Law Undermines Free Expression, HRW, 13 April 2009.
Press Freedom Declining Around the World, Zawya, 30 April, 2009.
Global Press Freedom Declines, Freedom House, 1 May 2009.

Dr Geoff Pound

Image: Blogger Abdel Karim Suleiman, known online as Karim Amer, is serving a four-year prison term on charges of insulting Islam and Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak.

Cheap Airfares to and from UAE

Facing a dismal financial forecast and now the H1-N1 flu pandemic, the airline industry is seeking to get people flying and to stimulate the airline economy.

The up and coming Etihad Airline out of Abu Dhabi is promoting this week fares to Syria, Jordan and Egypt for as little as Dh40 and to London, Munich and Casablanca for only Dh200. Part of the hype (see this article for example) concerns ‘last minute bargains' and ‘a range of e-Deals.’

Before you leap onto the Etihad web site, remember that there are rules about when the flights have to be completed and the Comments at some of the web postings are suggesting these flights are difficult to secure and that there are hefty unseen taxes that inflate the promotional price tags.

Other Airline Specials
The Kipp Report has an article (4 May 2009) entitled ‘5 Ways to Fly More for Less.’

Their first way refers to the Etihad deals and the following ways reveal specials from Emirates Airline, Qatar, Gulf Airlines and Air Arabia.

Such competition is keeping the prices low and giving some cheer to customers in uncertain times.

Dr Geoff Pound
Contact on email at geoffpound[@]gmail.com or on Facebook.

Image: “The airline industry is seeking to get people flying.”

Taste the World in the Emirates

A promotional magazine from Lulu Hypermarket foreshadows Food Fiesta 2009 with an invitation to ‘taste the world’ at their nearest store.

A cursory glance through this colorful brochure (pictured) is enough to get you salivating.

Availability?
I am often asked, “Can you get most fruit and food products that you want in the UAE?” My response is to say ‘Generally Yes and more.’

It is way out of date now but a price list I put together of food and fruit at Lulu (Fujairah) certainly presents a picture of the range of products that are available.

If Lulu does not sell pork products, at least these can be obtained at another supermarket or they could up until the UAE introduced a ban thinking that people might catch swine flu from pork products.

To cater for the large Asian expat population the shops in the UAE hold a massive range of fruit. At an annual Mango Festival at Lulu (by the way I don’t have any shares in the company!) I counted up well over a hundred varieties of mango from many different countries of the world.

Eating the Emirates
When I am travelling (I have just got back from a long period in the USA with visits to Thailand and Peru) I like to eat food that is specific to the culture and the region. Here is an earlier article on products and dishes that are quintessentially of the Emirates.

Tasting the World?
The Lulu taster highlights croissants (French), Akkawi Cheese (Czech Republic), Frico Edam Cheese (Holland), Sheesh Tawouk or Taouk (Turkey), Kalamata olives (Greece), Green and Black olives (Egypt), Beef Roast (India), Al Shifa Acacia Honey (Saudi Arabia), Maxwell house Coffee (USA), Sadia Frozen Chicken (Brazil) and much more. Quite an international range!

What products do you long for that you cannot get in the UAE?

Dr Geoff Pound
Contact me at geoffpound[@]gmail.com or on Facebook

Further on Food and Shopping
UAE Takes Part in Weight Management Global Survey
Eid Al Fitr Recipes
Ramadan Reflection on Fasting and Feasting
Fujairah Restaurant: Where Cricket is Served With the Curry.
Shopping is Super, Hyper and Going Ultra in the UAE
UAE Malls: Shopping the Emirates
Buying Oranges and Oud at Friday Market
Coffee, the Arabic invention and Lessons of Change in a Coffee Cup
Shisha Cafes Could be Extinguished
Imbibing the Emirates

HIV Aids Victims in the UAE and Gulf States

In most countries, the social stigma that accompanies living with HIV/Aids often leaves victims isolated.

A number of countries deny residency permits to foreigners carrying the virus and most of the Gulf Arab states automatically deport those found to be HIV positive.

Al Jazeera's Charles Stratford reports on the policy choices before the region's health authorities in this video:

Living with Aids in the Gulf, Al Jazeera, 27 February 2009.

Dr Geoff Pound