Cooking Gas Prices in the UAE

Read in Gulfnews the story on UAE residents refilling cooking gas in Oman: “Residents take big risk to save a few dirhams” …. Actually, they are saving a bit more than just “a few Dirhams”. Here is how much it costs in Other GCC countries:

Bahrain: BD 1.125 (Dhs 10)
Kuwait: KD 0.750 Fils (Dhs 9.5)
Oman: Om 2.5 (Dhs 24)
Qatar: QR 15 ( Dhs 15)
Saudi Arabia: SR 20 SR 15 (Dhs 14.5)

Whereas in the UAE, cost of a medium size cylinder refill has been fluctuating between 80/- and 120/- Dirhams, but never below that range.

Now seriously GulfNews, can you blame them?

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Dubai is Getting Unfriendly to Western Dress: Dubai malls join anti-indecency campaign

Dubai seriously needs to reconsider what it wants to be.   No one will visit the equivalent of Saudi Arabia on a vacation.

Dubai’s shopping malls don’t just combine the awesome collections of international brand labels, but go further to enlighten newcomers on Emirati cultural rules and what’s the acceptable general behaviour.

The rules are on signs at the main entrances and distributed by security personnel as well.

It includes no smoking in the mall, wearing of respectable clothing and no kissing or public displays of affection, no consumption of alcohol in the mall and few other don’ts.

Sabina Khanvwani, Head of Public Relations and Marketing Department at Burjuman Centre, said despite the signs, there are still visitors who still need to be reminded of what is and what is not acceptable.

“Burjuman has already fixed stickers on the main entrances in order to deliver the message directly to them, some of them adhere and others don’t. We cannot enforce them to comply but we keep reminding them that Dubai is part of the UAE and it’s a Muslim country with a conservative society and must be respected.”

Most expatriates Gulf News spoke to say they didn’t do things on purpose or to annoy the Emirati community. They just grew up dressing that way.

Tania N. a 29-year-old Russian businesswoman, said she got confused when a security guard at the Mall of the Emirates handed her a brochure on how to dress appropriately.

“I respect Dubai, its religion, culture and people, I come here frequently for business and pleasure, and I was never asked to cover my shoulders or my knees until recently,” she said.

“I used to wear a sleeveless short gown or miniskirt and according to my background it is a decent outfit and doesn’t cause any kind of embarrassment. But lately a security approached me and in a polite way handed me a brochure that includes the mall’s courtesy policy regarding dress code and general behaviour.”

Asked whether she will adhere to the mall’s dress code, she said: “I really don’t find it necessary, besides I don’t have long or covered outfits, and the most importantly I didn’t do something bad to Dubai or its people.”

Katayoon Tahmoress M, an Iranian writer based in Dubai agrees with Tania.

“I love Dubai and I like its style. But the way I dress is completely a personal matter and I don’t allow anybody to educate me on what to wear and what not to wear.”

Gabriel and Elena, both Americans, said the visitors and expatriates should’ve been informed of the dress and behavioural rules before they fly into the country.

“Such instructions should be informed before we enter the country not while we are shopping. Besides the weather in Dubai is truly hot,” they said.

Mariam Al Salem and her Emirati companions said visitors and expatriates should tow the line.

“Our rules must be strictly followed,” Mariam said… SOURCE

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‘A good day is when I speak to my sons’: An ‘adulterous’ mother speaks from her Dubai prison

Marnie Pearce shuffles into the narrow, glass-fronted booth from where she greets visitors at Dubai’s Al Awir women’s jail.

Ill-fitting, dusty-pink drawstring pants and a matching shirt hang loosely on her gaunt frame – she has lost nearly a stone since being imprisoned for adultery seven weeks ago.

Despite the artful application of make-up, her once glowing complexion is pale and dry. Her face is drawn into a tight mask of despair and her long, blonde hair, which was her crowning glory, reveals prominent dark roots.

The former florist from Berkshire has become an unlikely cause celebre for human rights campaigners – Amnesty International has called for her immediate release – since her dubious conviction under draconian Sharia law.

She was sentenced to six months, cut on appeal to three, after her former husband, an Egyptian, told police she had been having an affair. And Marnie, 40, has clearly been struggling to cope with life behind bars.

Marnie and Ihab on their wedding day. Soon after they married Ihab became violent towards her, subjecting her to ‘years of abuse’
She has not seen her children, Laith, eight, and Ziad, four, since she was locked up.

…

Marnie’s nightmare began on March 27 last year when police raided the family home in a smart suburb of Dubai. They found her inside with Brian Clark, also British, who was visiting from Saudi Arabia.

Marnie was arrested and Ihab, 41, claimed she was having an affair. The family’s Indonesian maid, whose salary he pays, gave supportive evidence.
Under strict Muslim edict, it is unlawful for a woman to be alone in her home with a man, other than her husband or a family member.

The rule is rarely enforced for Westerners. And Marnie certainly hadn’t concerned herself because in the past Ihab had always held liberal views on such matters. She had not counted on him exploiting the system to avoid an expensive Western divorce and custody battle.

‘Ihab set me up,’ Marnie insists, jabbing her finger as she becomes increasingly animated. ‘I did nothing wrong. He bribed the maid to spy on me and then planted used condoms as evidence.’…SOURCE

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And The Stupid Headline Award Goes to: Red tide is not affecting enjoyment at beaches

Red tide is not affecting enjoyment at beaches

04/11/2009 10:54 PM | By Mariam M. Al Serkal and Dina El Shammaa, Staff Reporters

Dubai/Abu Dhabi: Beaches were on the alert last week as the red tide passed through the Gulf waters, stirring the curiosity of residents as to where it was going to hit next.

The Environment Agency at Abu Dhabi (EAD) said that the red tide did not affect the capital, as its usual life cycle is about 3 to 4 days.

Last week red tide was spotted along the Dubai coastline, which prompted Dubai Municipality to close the beaches near the Burj Al Arab and Umm Suqueim Park.

Residents were also warned to avoid eating seafood that had been collected from the algal bloom area since it may be contaminated. City Talk took to the streets and asked residents if they are worried about the red tide and how this has affected them.

Mohammad Al Taweel, 27-year-old sales developer, Saudi Arabia, said: “I was planning to go to the beach [at] the weekend but have cancelled the plan now just to be safe. I read about it in the newspapers and am aware of the red tide phenomena, although I am not exactly sure what side effect it has on humans. But that has not stopped me from eating fish.”

Sibtain Hirji, real estate manager from the United Kingdom, 48, said: “The red tide is supposed to be harmless but it does give you rashes. I have seen that many beaches are empty now but think that people are only scared about it this week, and people will start going to the beach again soon. I have read that it is dangerous to eat fish that are affected by it, so I am not eating it and will wait a couple of weeks before buying it again.”

Jelena Bundesmann, German manager, 45, said: “I spend a lot of time on the beach, and have noticed that the water is milky and that there is less visibility and marine life. There are also more algae on the shores but that is not going to stop me from going to the beach and swimming, unless I see that reddish-brownish colour around me in the water. I will not stop eating fish unless they prove to me that the red tide has an impact on it until then, I have to assume that they only catch fish in good areas in the sea since fish only survive in good water conditions.”…

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Over-Priced Proprietary Phone Comes to UAE

Let me know to laugh at you if you buy one of these…

etisalat launches Apple’s iphone in UAE and Saudi Arabia

http://archive.gulfnews.com/articles/09/02/21/10288180.html

02/22/2009 12:00 AM | By Naushad K. Cherrayil, Staff Reporter

Dubai: etisalat has finally brought iPhone 3G to UAE and Saudi Arabia through its subsidiary Mobily.

“iPhone is a perfect blend of advanced functionality and high performance and we are delighted to be one of the first operators in the region to offer this to our customers on the nation’s most advanced high-speed network to make calls, send emails and surf the web even faster,” Essa Al Haddad, etisalat Chief Marketing Officer, said…

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Danger Ahead Concerning Oil Prices: Demand for oil could fall by 45%

Demand for oil could fall by 45%, says Saudi official

http://archive.gulfnews.com/articles/09/01/09/10273747.html

01/09/2009 12:18 AM | WAM

Dubai: Oil demand could fall 45 per cent due to the global financial crisis, but investments should be increased to ensure supplies are maintained, a senior Saudi government official said in remarks published on Thursday.

Majid Al Munif, an adviser to Saudi Arabia’s oil minister, said the global financial crisis may cut oil demand by 23 per cent to 45 per cent, the pan-Arab daily Al Hayat reported, citing remarks made at a conference on Wednesday. World oil demand fell by 50,000 barrels per day in 2008, and is predicted to fall 450,000 bpd this year, the United States Energy Information Administration said in a report in December.

Cooling demand was led by a 1.2 million bpd contraction in top consumer the United States in 2008, and another 200,000 bpd drop is likely this year. The last time world petroleum demand fell was in 1983, part of four years of straight declines in oil consumption that began in 1980, the agency said.

The weak economy and lower oil demand has already caused US crude oil prices to sink more than $100 [Dh367] from a record $147 a barrel in July – a slump that has forced Opec to take 4.2 million bpd of oil off the market in an attempt to reduce bulging global crude inventories and stabilise oil prices…

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UAE Banks Face Dangerous Realty Exposure in Bubble Environment

UAE banks top realty exposure

http://archive.gulfnews.com/articles/09/01/05/10272597.html

01/04/2009 11:35 PM | Babu Das Augustine, Banking Editor

Dubai: The UAE’s banks have the highest exposure to the real estate sector among its regional peers and it has cast doubts on the asset quality of many banks, according to analysts.

While banks in Kuwait and the UAE have the highest exposure to the real estate sector, Saudi Arabia’s banking sector has the least real estate exposure, at just 7.5 per cent of total loans according to a recent report from Credit Suisse.

Statistics up to the first half of 2008 show about 31 per cent of total loans of Kuwait’s banks is exposed to real estate while latest estimates by Credit Suisse points that the UAE banks have comparatively higher exposure to the sector.

“It is likely that a significant part of corporate and personal loans has been invested in real estate. We believe that the true exposure for UAE may lie around 35 per cent of total loans,” said Mohammad Hawa and Digvijay Singh, research analysts with Credit Suisse.

Banking industry experts say that a high loans-to-deposit ratio, combined with high exposure to real estate, makes UAE banks more vulnerable to loan defaults. International rating agencies such as Moody’s and S&P say a sharp sector correction will have a big impact on banks as many banks have significant exposure to the sector.

“Plunging oil prices, an economic slowdown, the falling stock market and pressure on real estate prices are raising major hurdles for the banks. Looking forward, these factors are expected to lead to a major slowdown in business growth and deterioration in asset quality and profitability,” said Standard and Poor’s credit analyst Emmanuel Volland.

According to the Credit Suisse report, the UAE banks have the highest funding gap in the region, with their average loan-to-deposit ratio being 122.8 per cent against the central bank ceiling of 100 per cent…

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GCC Monetary Union Approved

GCC leaders approve Monetary Union as members seek to host Central Bank

12/31/2008 11:43 AM | By Sunil K. Vaidya, Bureau Chief

Muscat The GCC leaders put their final seal on the Gulf Monetary Union on the concluding day of the two-day 29th summit yesterday but the question of the location of the Central Bank remained unresolved.

“There are four countries staking a claim to host the GCC Central Bank,” Mohammad Al Mazroui, assistant secretary-general for economic affairs, told Gulf News at the end of the summit on Tuesday.

He said the UAE, Bahrain, Qatar and Saudi Arabia were keen to host the GCC Central Bank.

He said he hoped a decision would be taken by year end…

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Global Downturn Hits UAE Salaries

Generous pay hikes fly out the window

http://archive.gulfnews.com/articles/08/12/27/10270227.html

12/26/2008 11:39 PM | By Cleofe Maceda, Staff Writer

As the economic downturn crimps demand for new apartments, goods and services in the UAE and other GCC countries, the workers who either create or sell them are losing their jobs by the hundreds.

Layoffs have come to the oil-rich Gulf. In recent weeks, companies in the UAE alone, such as Nakheel, Damac, Omniyat and Al Shafar General Contracting, announced more than 1,000 job losses.

While those who are still on the payroll are lucky, prospects of a rise in pay next year now look bleak.

Many companies in the GCC are now rationalising workers’ salaries as a cost-cutting solution. Recruitment plans have been revised, while salaries for newly hired and redundant staff are reportedly being slashed in lieu of layoffs.

Those mostly affected are workers in the investment, banking and real estate sectors.

Advantage Consulting, a management consulting firm, recently surveyed 500 organisations in the UAE, Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar and Saudi Arabia, to assess the prevailing economic scenario in the GCC countries.

In its “Global Financial Crisis and GCC Salary Trends Report,” Advantage Consulting revealed that workers in the region will continue to get salary increases, but companies would probably no longer be as generous as they had been in the past few years.

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Economic Growth to Slow to 2.7% in the UAE

UAE growth expected to slow to 2.7% as liquidity normalises

http://archive.gulfnews.com/articles/08/12/20/10268658.html

12/19/2008 11:03 PM | Reuters

Dubai: Growth in the United Arab Emirates is expected to slow to 2.7 per cent in 2009 from an estimated 4.8 per cent in 2008.

Growth in Saudi Arabia is seen dropping to 2 per cent from 2.7 per cent, a bank report said on Friday.

“We expect liquidity conditions in the UAE to normalise into 2009, as most of the foreign inflows have already fled the country. However, we do not expect a return of the ample liquidity conditions we saw in the first half of 2008,” Standard Chartered said.

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Gulf Countries Will Run a Defecit This Year

Huge surpluses will cushion budget deficits

http://archive.gulfnews.com/articles/08/12/20/10268661.html

12/19/2008 11:03 PM | Reuters

Dubai: Saudi Arabia and other Gulf oil producers will almost certainly run unaccustomed budget deficits next year as they take a double hit from the collapse in oil prices and deep crude output cuts, economists said on Thursday.

Still, huge surpluses amassed during a six-year boom when oil prices rallied as much as seven-fold compared with 2002 levels will allow the biggest oil-exporting region to keep on spending to sustain local economies during a global recession.

“If oil averages $45 (Dh165.3) a barrel next year, then I expect to see significant budget deficits in Bahrain, Oman and Saudi Arabia,” said Simon Williams, senior economist at HSBC in Dubai.

“We need to keep the shortfalls in perspective, however.

“Next year’s deficits won’t even begin to approach the value of the surpluses generated over the past five years.”…

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Banks Getting Tighter With UAE Car Loans: You Could Be Rejected!

Bank denials are up to 20-30% now for new car loans…

Banks rejecting more vehicle loan applications in region

http://archive.gulfnews.com/articles/08/11/27/10262874.html

11/27/2008 12:02 AM | By Shakir Husain, Staff Reporter

Dubai: The impact of the global financial crisis is spreading to the Middle East auto industry as there has been a surge in the number of vehicle loan applications being rejected by banks.

A senior General Motors official told reporters in a conference call yesterday that the rate of rejections has risen from five per cent to more than 20 per cent.

The UAE and Qatar are among the markets that have seen a significant rise in these cases.

The situation is different in Saudi Arabia, where there are more cash buyers than customers purchasing cars through bank financing, General Motors Middle East operations president Mike Devereux said.

In the UAE, 70 per cent of the company’s cars are sold through bank financing.

“We used to have rejection rates throughout the Middle East of about five per cent.

“Now all manufacturers are seeing rejection rates in the range of 20 to 30 per cent,” he said.

Devereux said the company and its dealers are talking to banks in the region to ease credit for car purchases.

General Motors, which has approached the US government along with Ford and Chrysler for funds to overcome a credit freeze, sees the Middle East, Russia, China, Brazil and Turkey as future growth markets amid falling vehicle sales at home.

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Is it Time to Head Back Home?

GulfTalent.com, an online recruitment site, recently sent me a press release with a headline that screamed “UAE salaries rise by 10.7% – study”. I think they forgot to add “Finally After 100 Years!” after the “UAE salaries rise by 10.7%” bit.

Let’s face the truth – the salaries are still what people used to get paid probably when Dubai was a desert and when people used horse carts for transport. Here’s an excerpt from the study:

• Regional salaries increased by 9.0% in 2007 compared to 7.9% last year
• Oman, UAE and Qatar lead the regional trend with pay hikes of 11.0%, 10.7% and 10.6% respectively
• Bahrain, Kuwait and Saudi Arabia had pay increases of 8.1%, 7.9% and 7.7% respectively
• Sectors enjoying the highest pay rise were construction and banking

The salary rise percentage is quite pathetic when compared to annual pay rises in a supposedly “third world country” like India. At least in India, I used to get a pay hike every year. The situation has worsened over the last few months, due to the slump in US Dollar, which has in turn affected the Dirham.

When I moved to Dubai 2.5 years ago, I used to get an exchange rate of about Rs. 11.75 for a dirham – there also used to be days when I used to get as much as Rs. 11.85 for a dirham. As of today, the exchange rate stands at Rs. 10.48 for a dirham, which is awfull. I have to now wait for days when there’s a slight increase in the exchange rate, before I transfer funds to India.

Sure, there’s no income tax in the Gulf countries – but then, there’s a hidden agenda here. We pay an exorbitant amount (sometimes 70% of our salary) as our rent, which I feel is not justified at all. In fact, this place is overpriced for its standards. I can probably buy my own flat for the amount I spend as rent in a year.

Transportation within Dubai sucks. I used to work in Mumbai, which has one of the best transportation systems in the world. The train system in Mumbai is awesome, while the bus system, though not as stylish as those in Dubai, is efficient. Sure, you don’t get to travel in air-conditioned Volvo and Mercedes buses, but at least there are buses every 2 minutes or less in Mumbai. In Dubai, there’s a bus every 15 minutes to an an hour, depending on the traffic.

It’s most frustrating when you want to hail a cab in Dubai. The cab drivers here, give you an attitude as if they are doing a favour by giving you a ride to your destination. Many of them even refuse to pick you up – they first want to interview you and if everything goes right, they will offer you a ride. Before These are some things that will happen, when you try to hail a cab – so be prepared:

1. Cab Driver: Kidhar Jana Hai? (Translation: Where To?)
2. Cab Driver: Kyon? (Translation: Why?) (huh?!! None of your business dumb ass!)
3. Cab Driver: Traffic Hoga Kya? (Translation: Will there be traffic?) (How do I know? Do I look like the traffic department to you?)
4. Cab Driver: Kya Yaar… Wahan Bahot Traffic Hai! (Translation: Lot of traffic on that road)
5. The Cab Driver sometimes won’t stop – he might just speed off without even looking at you, or worse, point his finger in the direction he is driving to. (So, what am I supposed to understand from that??)

So, think twice before you accept an offer in the Gulf – it might not be your worthwhile at all.

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Weekend at Jebel Hafeet

The climate in Dubai is cooling down a bit right now, with winter just around the corner. Well don’t say “Yay!!” yet. The temperature has been hovering around 26-30 degrees – usually it is well over 40! So, if you are in Dubai or anywhere in the UAE, now is the right time to visit places such as Ras Al Khaimah, Al Ain, or better still… Jebel Hafeet. Why? Because according to a study, the Jebel Hafeet road has been awarded “the best road to drive in the world”! So, it was weekend for us, and we HAD to check it out.

The Road Going Towards Al Ain.

We (me and two of my roommates) took off at 3:00 pm on Friday (28^th September 2007). A drive to Jebel Hafeet takes around 1.5-2 hours. So we were planning on reaching Jebel Hafeet by 5 pm, because by 6 pm, it would start getting dark and hence we would miss the panoramas and the view of the winding roads from the hilltop. Since it is the holy month of Ramadan here, we figured it would be great if we could pack some munchies from some restaurant. McDonalds was the obvious choice. Then, we went to Spinney’s, grabbed a couple of water bottles, some snacks and candy bars.

My roommate’s Peugeot 206.

For those ignorant enough, the holy month of Ramadan spans an entire month. During this month, many restaurants are shut during the day, and they only open at Iftar timings. Smoking, drinking or eating in public is prohibited by law in most countries such as UAE, Saudi Arabia, Oman, Qatar, Kuwait, and so on – so if you are caught doing any of these, you might end up in jail for up to 3 months, in the UAE. It might be worse in other countries such as Saudi Arabia. So, we were careful enough to not be seen eating in public.

The beautiful desert on both the sides of the road.

Here’s one more view of the endless “sand land”.

The introduction of Salik has been a pain in the ass and my roommate didn’t have a Salik tag on his Peugeot 206 – so taking Garhoud Bridge was out of our options. We hit the Business Bay Crossing, before coming on to Emirates Road, and driving towards Al Ain.

Inside Al Ain. Beautiful trees on both the sides of the road.

And we were on our way to Jebel Hafeet. It was amazing to see that on both the sides of the road, we could only see dunes and dunes of sand. We couldn’t resist stopping for a while to snap up some images.

Getting ready for a photo shoot.

We didn’t have any maps on us and this was our first time towards Jebel Hafeet. So, we had to follow each and every sign on the road – we couldn’t afford to miss one.

Yay! We found the desert!!

Luckily the signs were as easy as they could get. Every road sign had an entry such as “Tourist Destinations”. Need we say more? So we followed the “Tourist Destinations” sign, till we came across a sign that yelled “Jebel Hafeet” with an arrow pointing to the left. And we liked what we saw.

I can jump, too!

Though we weren’t yet on the Jebel Hafeet road, we could see a mountain in front of us with beautifully lit winding roads, all over it. It seemed as if the mountain was decorated with a bunch of twinkly lights! So we started to drive up the mountain – the roads were as smooth as butter. It was a piece of cake for my roommate’s hatchback.

The zigzag roads were amazing to drive on. The roads were clearly marked – two lanes going upwards and one lane coming down, with barricades on the edges. Finally we reached the top of Jebel Hafeet – it’s something like a table-top mountain, except that the “table-top” bit is man-made.

The Jebel Hafeet Table Top.

We got a really nice view of Al Ain below and the Oman road. By the time we reached the top, it was Iftar time already. We had a quick cuppa, before we started descending from the mountain and hitting our way back home.

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