Quality of Living in the UAE

The rankings in a new global survey were released today revealing the best cities in the world for quality of life. Did cities in the UAE cities such as Abu Dhabi, Dubai, Sharjah and Fujairah win any of the top awards?

Zurich takes the gold medal for best city in the world. Baghdad takes the wooden spoon, saving second-to-last Brazzaville in the Congo from being lumpedwith this dubious honour.

Sharjah and Fujairah did not appear in the survey of 215 cities in the world. The UAE cities that were surveyed were Abu Dhabi and Dubai which shared top spot for Middle Eastern cities and position 58 overall in the world rankings.

The Worldwide Quality of Living Survey, conducted by the human resources consultancy firm Mercer, is based on an evaluation of 39 criteria contributing to the overall livability of each city.

These indicators include:

* Political and social environment (political stability, crime, law enforcement, etc)
* Economic environment (currency exchange regulations, banking services, etc)
* Socio-cultural environment (censorship, limitations on personal freedom, etc)
* Health and sanitation (medical supplies and services, infectious diseases, sewage, waste disposal, air pollution, etc)
* Schools and education (standard and availability of international schools, etc)
* Public services and transportation (electricity, water, public transport, traffic congestion, etc)
* Recreation (restaurants, theatres, cinemas, sports and leisure, etc)
* Consumer goods (availability of food/daily consumption items, cars, etc)
* Housing (housing, household appliances, furniture, maintenance services, etc)
* Natural environment (climate, record of natural disasters)

Data for the survey was collected by telephone interviews from 2,381 adults in major population centres between September and November, 2006.

Further details can be obtained to check out cities according to neighborliness (the ease at which you can ask the next door neighbors for a cup of sugar and whether you know their names) to safety (do you leave your front door unlocked, the rate of burglary and anxiety levels experienced when you go on holiday).

Geoff Pound

Source: 2007 World-wide Quality of Living Survey, Mercer Human Resource Consulting, 2 April 2007.

Image: Last year’s Quality of Living list as a comparison.

Imbibing the Emirates

After travel writer Sankha Guha visited Fujairah, he wrote in the British Independent newspaper:

“Fujairah has two distinguishing features - it is the only emirate to have a coastline on the Indian Ocean, instead of the Gulf, and (whichever god is responsible for doling out fossil fuel deposits was having a laugh) it has no oil.”

“This is a country where roundabouts constitute major attractions - they are featured prominently in tourism pamphlets and guidebooks. As we skirt one in the small town of Dibba I can make out a cluster of sculpted two-storey-high water jugs on the central island.”

“In Paris they have the Arc de Triomphe, in London Nelson's Column and in Fujairah they have outsize kitchen utensils.”

The roundabout sculptures admittedly do not have the architectural style of international monuments to military might, but they warrant deep reflection for they symbolize those features that contain the essence of Emirati culture and the things that make for peace.

Take the coffee pot roundabout in Faseel, near the Hilton Hotel and a stone’s throw from the Fujairah corniche. When you’re swilling your coffee in a Starbucks coffee shop in America or a Costas coffee shop in London, it is salutary to reflect on the Arabic origins of this activity. Coffee bushes were first discovered in central Ethiopia, where the legend is often told of the goat herder who noticed his goats getting frisky when they devoured some wild beans. From these ancient times when Ethiopian goats got high, coffee has often been used as a kick starter or a stimulant. The Ethiopian plants were taken to Yemen where a thriving export industry developed and it spread throughout the Arabian Peninsula. It wasn’t until the sixteenth century that coffee reached Europe and this ‘Muslim beverage’ received a blessing and a ‘baptism’ by Pope Clement VIII (who loved his coffee), which accelerated the popularity of the coffee drinking culture throughout the world.

The English word ‘coffee’ originates from the Arabic gah’wa via the Turkish kahve and the Italian caffee.

Coffee in the UAE is served from a stylishly curvaceous pot, usually by the host as a way of symbolizing the giving of honor. Understanding this action underscores why it is insulting to refuse even one cup of gah’wa.


It is intriguing to wonder why, in such a hot country, the black gold is poured into small cups, which are smaller than Italian espresso cups and often these cups are only half-filled. One would think that in such a thirsty country coffee would be served in monstrous mugs or grandé sized cups. But with the numerous refills of coffee come the pouring out and acceptance of generosity and the lubrication of friendship. Etiquette has it that it is polite to accept an odd number of cups—one, three or five. When you have had sufficient you signal this by jiggling your cup from side to side.

Gah’wa is usually served without milk or sugar and it doesn’t need them. Dates and sometimes sweets or pastries are offered so the sweetener comes as an accompaniment. Usually the coffee beans are ground and brewed with cardamom and sometimes spiced with cloves and saffron.

At many banks and businesses in the UAE coffee is usually available in the waiting areas. The aroma that pervades these places creates an atmosphere of acceptance that is vital for doing business. Kept hot in thermos containers, one picks out a cup from a basin of detergent-free water, shakes off the drips and the coffee is poured.

‘Out sized kitchen utensils’ they might be but they stand as reminders of something more precious than oil. The coffee set silently speaks of an ancient art and the essential values in everyday experience. Coffee drinking, Arabic style, is ideally about honor poured out upon strangers, generosity accepted and the genuine sharing that revitalizes friendships. Liquid hospitality. Stimulant to peace.

Geoff Pound

Images: Coffee pot roundabout in Faseel, Fujairah and serving coffee Emirati style.

Fujairah: Producer of Nobel Prize Winners?

It is welcome news to learn that the UAE’s eastern city of Fujairah is establishing a ‘Creativity City.’ The concept is two parks (one at the Dubai entrance and the other in Faseel) for individuals and companies that are working in the media, communications, design and technology sectors. The vision is a ‘free and dedicated space for creativity’ and ‘a place of distinction.’

These are high voltage sound bytes but it makes you wonder what future Fujairahans will create. Will it be theme parks and record breaking buildings as in Dubai or galleries and Guggenheims that are top of the capita’s agenda?

Shaping the Environment
What environment is most conducive to fostering creativity? When I was slogging away on a doctoral dissertation my colleague used to encourage me by saying, “You’ve got an advantage! You are writing this tome near to the South Pole!” He had read some research that revealed that more doctoral theses were written the further you got away from the equator! The implication of this theory is that ‘Creativity City’ needs to be a cool and comfortable place even if it is sizzling outside. On the other hand some of the finest poetry, innovative ideas and devoted service have arisen in conditions that were bleak and oppressive. Ireland over the centuries has had a cold and tough environment but it has produced an amazing number of poets, novelists and song writers.

Getting Creative Juices Flowing
Do the creativity juices flow more freely in countries with a long established tradition of learning and enquiry? In nations whose governments make a huge investment in research and creativity? That’s the impression one gets from examining the list of Nobel Laureates and observing that USA (160), UK (110), Germany (94) and France (54) take out the medals for producing prize winners.

It is staggering to think that Sweden with only 9 million people is fifth on the list of Nobel Prize producers (27) and Switzerland with only 7 million is next, having 25 prize winners to its name.[1] A nation like the UAE with a small population does not have to be daunted, especially if it chooses to invest its huge financial resources in the areas that will stimulate creativity.

The breakdown of Nobel Prize winners by religious affiliation suggests that either the judges down through the years have been biased or that the inspiration of a faith culture is a significant shaper of creativity.[2]

Time for Creativity
This is a timely theme for some say that this week or more specifically, the 31 March, is the most creative day of the year because people are cooking up creative plans to fool others on the 1st April, April Fools’ Day.[3] Look at some of the creative plots that have been hatched over the years:[4]

The BBC television program Panorama ran a famous hoax in 1957, showing the Swiss harvesting spaghetti from trees. They had claimed that the despised pest the spaghetti weevil had been eradicated. After the report ran, the BBC was flooded with calls from people asking where they might get a spaghetti tree. They were reportedly told to "place a sprig of spaghetti in a tin of tomato sauce and hope for the best."

In 1996, Taco Bell took out a full-page advertisement in the New York Times announcing that they had purchased the Liberty Bell to "reduce the country's debt" and had renamed it the ‘Taco Liberty Bell.’ When asked about the sale, White House press secretary, Mike McCurry replied with tongue-in-cheek that the Lincoln Memorial had also been sold and would henceforth be known as the ‘Ford Lincoln Mercury Memorial.’

In 1998, Burger King ran an ad in USA Today, saying that people could get a Whopper for left-handed people whose condiments were designed to drip out of the right side.[5]

Intentional about Creativity
These tricks might say more about gullibility than creativity. Such hoaxes might be inventive and they don’t bring much lasting benefit. But they do demonstrate the importance of being intentional about creativity.

If they get it right, there will be scientists who eradicate AIDS, economists that make Darfur’s poverty history, diplomats that bring peace to Iraq, environmentalists that achieve global cooling and poets that inspire the world emerging from Fujairah’s ‘Creativity City.’

How much creativity will go into creating this space? Will ‘Creativity City’ be merely a trendy name for a business area or an environment that is serious about fostering constructive creativity?

Geoff Pound

Image: Sketch plans for Fujairah’s ‘Creativity City.’


[1] Nobel Laureates by country, Wikipedia.
[2] Nobel Prize, Wikipedia.
[3] Andy Simmons, Reader’s Digest, April 2007
[4] April Fools’ Day, Wikipedia.
[5] Michael Farquhar, A Treasury of Deception, Reader’s Digest.

What the New Fujairah Rotana Hotel is Offering

Following my recent postings on the proposed hotel on the Fujairah corniche and a new hotel on the Fujairah coast, there has been a blitz of advertising regarding the opening of the Fujairah Rotana Resort and Spa at Al Aqah.

Driving past all the hotel developments on the U.A.E. east coast, one begins to wonder when this area will reach saturation point.

Building on the coast is going helter-skelter, perhaps buoyed by recent reports of the rise in U.A.E. travel and tourism spending and the positive growth signs into the future.

The Rotana promotion is inevitably full of marketing superlatives and the staff is brimming with optimism, even though bookings have not begun in earnest and there are few guests around its precincts. What niche will this AED 130 million development carve as it lies nestled alongside the long-established Le Meridien?

Firstly, it offers guests an alternative, which might be attractive after years of attending other Fujairah hotels. It appears to be a smaller establishment (250 rooms and suites) which may make for a more personal and faster entry service from the car to the beach.

Architecturally, it does not offer the spectacular views of its neighbour but the Rotana is banking on its low slung suites with their front doors, a few seconds amble to the beach and massage tents.

The ‘mother’ building has a light, beachy atmosphere with flowing water that is cranked so high you have to shout across the coffee table.

The Rotana is being billed as a conference centre. Its different sized rooms and partitions afford flexibility and the spill out areas overlooking the sea will ensure that conference proceedings are kept as short as possible.

The full range of leisure activities is still under wraps except to say that there will be opportunities for guests to get into the Hajar Mountains, by camel, Quad Bike or Shanks’s Pony.

Staff members reckon that the Zen Room will be a feature for the harried, and for creative children, there is a giant graffiti wall (parents watch your walls when you get home). The water sports (except for boat trips to Musandam) will be included as part of the tariff and the supervisor assured me that the range is going to be extensive. Publicity reveals a number of pedalos (now made famous by English cricketer, Andrew Flintoff).

A variety of restaurants abound with menus changing to keep customers from getting gastronomically bored. Private parties may be served to guests from the gazebos or from the hotel dhow.

The tariffs for different facilities are being worked out but the healthy competition will pay off best for all hotel guests along Fujairah’s eastern coast.

Geoff Pound

Image: Fujairah Rotana Hotel: “nestled alongside the long-established Le Meridien.”

New Species of Tree Identified in the U.A.E.

A new species of tree has been identified in the U.A.E. Its taxonomical name is Prosopis plastifora (pictured).

It is an indigenous evergreen belonging to the family that includes Acacia and Mimosa.

The Prosopis is native to the Arabian Peninsula but the recently named tree of the sub genus, plastifora, is increasingly seen within the city limits of the United Arab Emirates.

High winds are often responsible for developing colour in this tree’s foliage. The multi-coloured leaves form a brilliant autumn display with colours of every shade of the rainbow.

The foliage is extremely durable even in arid desert conditions. The leaves are expected to last for hundreds, if not thousands of years. If the leaves are consumed by goats, cattle, sheep or birds the consequences may be fatal.

Geoff Pound

Image: Prosopis plastifora: One of several trees belonging to this species in the grounds of the famous Fujairah Fort.

U.A.E.'s National Tree

Many countries have a tree that has become a national emblem.

If Albania has the olive,
Canada has the maple,
England has the oak
Denmark has the beech
Finland has the birch
India has the banyan
Japan the cherry
Lebanon the cedar
Pakistan the deodar
Saudi Arabia the Phoenix palm
South Korea the gingko and
Vietnam the bamboo,

What is the national tree of the United Arab Emirates?


Scroll down for the answer.










Answer: The Ghaf.

The decision may not have been made formally but a campaign has been running in recent months to promote the Ghaf as the national tree of the United Arab Emirates.

Check out the informative web site entitled 'Ghaf', which introduces this tree, sketches its history, shares its legends and offers ways that people might participate in the ‘Save the Ghaf’ movement.

Geoff Pound

Image: A ghaf.

What Does this Sign Mean in the U.A.E.?

In the U.A.E. this sign (pictured) is generally interpreted as ‘Give Way.’

I assumed that the U.A.E. followed the international traffic rules as defined by the Vienna Convention on Road Traffic, in which ‘STOP’ in English and Arabic on an octagonal, red sign meant Stop! Completely! The memory of my mother getting heavily fined for failing to bring the wheels of her car to a standstill for three seconds is awakened every time I approach this sign.

When I started driving in the U.A.E., I was alarmed to discover cars thundering up behind me and drivers hurling abuse when I stopped at a ‘STOP’ sign, especially when there were no cars approaching on the other road.

As I mentioned in my previous posting, Road Safety in the U.A.E., I have not been able to locate a copy of the U.A.E. Road Code in English. However, when I asked a high ranking official in the Traffic and Licensing Division of the Ministry of Interior about whether a ‘STOP’ sign means stop, he said, “It is only academic. You do not have to stop if there are no cars coming on the road you are entering.” When I asked why at such intersections or highways there is not a ‘GIVE WAY’ sign instead of a ‘STOP’ sign he said, “‘GIVE WAY’ signs usually appear at roundabouts.”

An official at the Fujairah National Driving Institute gave the same ruling and he asked, “Why would you stop when there are no cars coming the other way?” To which I said, “Because it has been deemed a critical intersection or highway that requires people to come to a complete standstill in order to get a good view of the new road before proceeding.”

The ‘STOP’ sign in the U.A.E. is generally regarded in the way that it was interpreted to me by the traffic official and driving instructor. The lack of painted ‘Stop Lines’ further suggests there is no expectation of stopping completely. From observation, most drivers on U.A.E. roads, including the police and traffic instructors, treat the ‘STOP’ sign as a ‘GIVE WAY’ sign.

In view of the high number of fatalities and injuries on U.A.E. roads, many of which occur at intersections, further education on points of the Road Code might help to save more lives.

Geoff Pound

Image: ‘STOP’ sign in the U.A.E.

Road Safety in the U.A.E.

The National Campaign for Traffic Safety Awareness has recently concluded its special week (25 February-2 March 2007).

In the publicity drive it highlighted the alarming statistics for the year 2006:

11551 injuries and deaths on U.A.E. roads
17 deaths on our roads weekly
875 accidents deaths in 2006 [I am unsure what this means.]

The posters also featured graphic pictures of children distressed by carnage on the road with the caption, “Have mercy on their tears.”

It is heartening for campaign organizers and those charged with improving road safety to see the statistics released this week by the Ministry of Interior. The article in the Khaleej Times entitled, Fall in Road Accidents, reported an overall decrease in U.A.E. road accidents from 2005 to 2006 of 15.18% with a corresponding decrease of 4.78% in the number of persons injured in road accidents. The figures are moving in the right direction as road safety measures are implemented.

Road safety awareness must be more than a one week blitz and it would be useful to highlight different aspects throughout the year.

Some countries offer online tests of the road laws to keep people aware and up to date.

I recently visited the Ministry of Interior: Traffic and Licensing department in Fujairah seeking more information on our road rules. They did not have any copies of the Road Laws (Road Code) in English and they sent me across the road to the Fujairah National Driving Training Institute, who only offered a brochure illustrating the different road signs.

In view of the multicultural nature of drivers on U.A.E. roads it would be helpful to produce the Road Code in the major languages of the country both in booklet form and as a digital download from the Internet.

Geoff Pound

Image: One of the posters used in the 2007 National Campaign for Traffic Safety Awareness week.

U.A.E. Reads the Writing on the Wall

Today’s New York Times article, Abu Dhabi Explores Energy Alternatives, reports on the establishment of a new research and possible power plant in the U.A.E. capital to develop clean-energy technology.

This leadership, Hassan Fattah declares, is evidence of the U.A.E.’s seriousness about erasing its reputation as one of the world’s highest per capita emitters of carbon monoxide and other greenhouse gases.

Geoff Pound

The U.A.E. and its Environmental Challenges

An article, based on the report of the World Wildlife Fund has recently been posted entitled: United Arab Emirates Consume[s] More Energy than US.

Image: "Of all the places to make artificial snow, this has to be the most absurd," said Jonathan Loh, a British biologist who co-authored the WWF report.

Facts and Stats about the U.A.E.

Basic facts and statistics about the U.A.E. can be found in The World Factbook.

The U.A.E. details have just been updated.

Geoff Pound

Image: Map of the U.A.E.