Another Montage article for you guys. A couple of things before you start reading. The main character, if you will, is a really integral part of this article for me and I couldn't have written it without her help. Sharon, thank you very much for opening up to me about your experience. I only wish I could have done your story more justice.
You can find her blog here: http://howtomakeitindubai.blogspot.ae/ and the article referred to below here: http://howtomakeitindubai.blogspot.ae/2013/01/how-to-be-wuss.html
Also a couple of you might see your names pop up in here...thanks for your contribution it meant a lot and provided great balance to my rather haphazard attempt.
Enjoy ;)
How safe are you?
How often do you hear a police or
ambulance siren in Dubai? That probably depends on what part of Dubai you live
in. But when last did you get up to look out your window when your neighbour’s
car alarm went off? Did you ignore the noise because you don’t care or is it in
fact because you feel like Dubai is a safer place than most? If you often leave
the cocoon that Dubai creates for us or if you’ve lived anywhere else before,
you’ve probably realised how safe we are here by now.
The people I spoke to around
Knowledge Village listed qualities such as a stable government with a cautious
foreign policy, good economy, lower crime rates and strict laws. Tola, a UOWD
student said “the tourism drive of the Dubai government
is key in ensuring security. Why? People don’t go to unstable or chaotic places
and as Dubai’s economy in the 21st century revolves around tourism
the need for security cannot be overemphasised.” An article in
Huffington Post seems to agree with this as Dubai was ranked the 7th
safest city in the world by TripAdvisor.
It was liked by 11 people and disliked by 10.
One person who might have
disagreed with this ranking is Sharon, and Indo-Canadian piano teacher in Dubai
who had a worrisome experience here recently. On a blog entry on her personal
blog howtomakeitindubai.blogspot.ae on the 25th of January this year
she gave a detailed account of her experience. The entry titled “How to be a
wuss” describes what at the very best can be called solicitation or sexual
harassment and at worst attempted rape. Thankfully she had a lucky escape but did not
report the incident. Why?
One reason stated by Jennifer and
Paulette, two 2nd year students from Middlesex University, is that
they feel like locals often have the upper hand. “If
I’m reporting a local to the authorities they would probably back them over me
as they value and protect their people so much” says Jennifer. She goes on to
explain that she has never actually tried it and this is just a matter of
perception which makes her feel rather vulnerable especially as a student in
Dubai.
This
imbalanced perception of safety created by Dubai varies with each person I
speak to. One thing that keeps ringing in my head however: with these
apparently obscured views on safety and security, what happens if we leave the
safety of Dubai?
Good insight. Dubai is only relatively safe. Most incidents go unreported, especially within ythe expat community. Even if it is reported, it is not published in any major media channels because of the negative effect it may have on tourism.
ReplyDeleteDouble edged sword. At the end of the day, the government looks out for emiratis more than expats. And that is something we agreed to live with when we decided to live here.
an editor from Gulf News came to talk to us last semester and made what proved to be a valid, eye-opening point. The locals make up a very small percentage of the population here; if the shoe was on the other foot we would fight to protect our people and their cultures just as much.
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