Let there be two!

While I'm usually not exorbitantly intrigued by financial stuff, I found it interesting that the UAE's financial markets seem to reflect the overall status of the two biggest emirates, too.

With regard to securities trading, the outstanding role of the two largest of the seven Emirates forming the UAE becomes obvious once more. There's one exchange in Abu Dhabi, the Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange (ADX), and one in Dubai, the Dubai Financial Market.

At first glance, there appear to be many similarities: Both markets were formed in 2000, both want to serve the national economy and support "economic prosperity" - so their perspective goes beyond the respective local home base. Indeed, they appear to be direct competitors, as both want to become the "market of choice" in the region. The indices of both include a lot of financial companies, insurances, and construction, and both stress integrity, fairness, and transparency. And of course, currently both are not exactly soaring.

Talking to a colleague, I learnt that local companies tend to be financial patriots: if you're in Abu Dhabi, you may be more inclined to go public through ADX; if you're from Dubai, you rather choose the Dubai Financial Market. And, apparently, Dubai has a better reputation in terms of corporate governance. But that's only hearsay, of course.

The main objective difference I saw: DFM appears to be clearly the larger market, for example in terms of market capitalization or daily trade value (the latter about Dh 239.5 mio. vs. Dh 63 mio at 12 am). And Dubai experienced stronger growth over the past few years - which of course is absolutely in line with the Emirate's efforts to attract business as part of Dubai's success story of the past 10 years.

So here we are again - Abu Dhabi and Dubai are the big guys, with Dubai being the recent years' rising star. Well. Considering I just spoke about financial markets, that's pretty interesting, huh?

Sad experience

It's not all gold that glitters. This old saying is of course true for Dubai, too - especially in the current economic climate (see one of my old postings). We all hear about people loosing their jobs, everywhere. And I just had a sad and touching experience.

I met someone who has recently lost his job - and while his face was smiling, you could see and hear how distraught he really is - "I have nothing". As a foreigner, loosing a job is in several ways a blow - financially, psychologically as anywhere, but also in terms of the permission to live in the UAE. Because the visa you have is tied to your job, as far as I understood. If it is cancelled, you have about one month - until you have to leave the country.

And it seems officials seek to identify people living in the UAE without a permit. The National today carries a news item on a police initiative aiming to catch those living illegally in the country through more random ID checks. Click here if you want to see how readers of that paper feel about being required to carry IDs at all times.

The person I met now tries hard to find new employment: "I have been at job fairs, but there are so many job seekers. And companies mainly look for certain professionals such as architects or engineers." I keep my fingers crossed for you, man. Don't give up.

Three pillars of weekend life: Religion, Shopping, Beach

Well, I'm not sure if it's really true what I'm claiming in a slightly tongue-in-cheek way in the headline. But it was definitely true for my own weekend.

Friday is the most important religious day of the week - with the big obligatory Friday prayer around midday. As a result, public life slows down considerably between about 11.30 am and 1pm - don't try to find internet access or want to buy a telephone card during this time, you might walk your shoe sole through before you find anything open. Trust me. I know what I'm talking about.

The Friday prayer is really important for Muslims, there's hardly any excuse not to go to a nearby mosque (wth more than 1,000 in Dubai alone, you never have to go far anyway; the normal weekly prayers, by the way, can be done anywhere; would be really hard to go to a mosque five times a day anyway...). And not making it to a mosque three Fridays in a row is considered a really grave sin.

I used Saturday morning to get a look inside Jumeirah Mosque, one of the few times during the week when non-believers may enter the place accompanied by a knowledgeable guide (the guy you see in the picture - "If you are in distress, you do what? You pray!"). It was a remarkable experience, as volunteers could also go through the careful washing routine required before you enter the mosque for prayer ("If you go see your boss, you do what? You make sure you look good!"). So you wash your ears, your nose, your face, your arms and hands as well as your feet - which really helps to focus on the moment and get calm inside for the religious encounter.


Größere Kartenansicht

Islam, as I hear, means "submission" - "So if you go inside a mosque, you do what? You submit yourself to God!" (which is also a reason why one should never pass in front of a praying person - because Muslims consider their connection with God interrupted if someone steps between them and Mecca, which they face during prayer - "So they have to do what? Start the whole prayer all over again!" And a prayer session can be anything between two minutes and twenty minutes long). And yes of course you take your shoes off at the doorstep, because shoes are considered dirty; women are to cover their hair, short sleeves and shorts are a taboo out of respect.

The Mosque inside was of a holy simplicity and elegance, yet also colourful and light in atmosphere, with the voice of the Imam (leader of the religious service) being carried into every corner by the fantastic accoustics of the building; which by the way, is full of light, space, but also comfortable with the whole floor covered with soft carpeting on which believers sit or kneel during the service. There are no pictures, no statues inside the mosque - just a big open space, with a few pillars, and the mihrab (Prayer niche), which indicates the direction of prayer. This direction is called "qibla", and is the way to face Mecca, which has been a holy place for more than 1400 years and played an important role even before the prophet Mohammed left the city for Medina in 622 - the year which marks the start of the Muslim calendar just as the birth of Jesus Christ is supposed to set the Christian year Zero. The mosque, clearly, is not meant to dwarf or impress people; but simply a place for gathering and silent worshipping.

And this is virtually all it takes for a place to be a potential mosque: purity (it has to be clean), there has to be a mihrab, and it has to offer enough space for people to gather and pray. The spires are mainly there to make the Muezzin's voice heard (in earlier times, the Muezzin used to climb the towers outside, nowadays speakers installed at the top do a very good job in making sure you don't even miss the early morning call...) So you could rightly consider a prayer room at an airport to be a mosque, if it meets these requirements.

The guide spoke a lot about the religion and its meaning for everyday life ("It is what? The center of the life!") and answered questions the group of visitors had (among them a former construction manager from South Africa, now using his new spare time after being made redundant to show his son, usually living in Switzerland and very sunburnt, around town): how do you become a Muslim? (Basically, you just say a certain formula in a certain way and with serious intention, and there you are! A Muslim for life.) What are the five pillars of Islam? (the testimonial that there is only one God, the ritual prayer five times a day, giving to the poor, fasting during Ramadan, and the Hajj, the pilgrimage to Mecca). Down to What do the different colours of the traditional clothing mean? (White is simply the most convenient against sun, and fashion let's you choose more colourful robes in winter). Here are some pictures of traditional Muslim clothing; and an article in the German Islamische Zeitung on the topic.



And the guide told much more about the religion - for a popular introduction to Islam, see this wikipedia article. Otherwise I could go on and on , with the insights of someone trying to get at least a fleeting impression of what is not just a religion, but also sets down rules for everyday life not just in law, but also a guidance through what the Prophet said, did, agreed to or condemned ("Sunna").

A word of advice, if you don't mind: if you come to Arabia one day - even more if you plan to see more conservative places on the peninsula than Dubai: better not discuss religion or politics with Muslims unless you know them really well, you are bound to provoke misunderstandings as perspectives are very different. It is, however, a very enlightening thing to ask about the perspectives of people here. And if you're forced to comment, I found it's a good idea to stress similarities between the religions or focus on positive aspects you see.

Coming here, to the beautiful Jumeirah Mosque, I was acutely aware that while we feel very strongly about certain things to be "right" or "true", what we actually have with certainty is simply our perspectives, acquired through heritage and experiences as one of billions of individuals on earth. And some things we just consider normal because they surround us every day.

I know, that's only been one of the pillars I announced. But: Gosh, I need to work now. Talk to you soon.

Written in the stars: Public Holidays

If you want to know when you have a day off in the UAE, you may have to look up at the sky. This is because Muslim festivals are timed according to local sightings of various phases of the moon. So the expression "to look up" the dates of holidays really makes sense here, as they are, well, sort of written in the stars...

I learned this when I wanted to know whether or not I would have a long weekend soon with the Prophet Mohammed's birthday coming up. This year, I found, the public holidays will be around these days (approximative dates):

1 Jan New Year's Day.
7 Jan Ashoura.
9 Mar Mouloud (Birth of the Prophet).
20 Jul Leilat al-Meiraj (Ascension of the Prophet).
21 Sep Eid al-Fitr (End of Ramadan).
28 Nov Eid al-Adha (Feast of the Sacrifice).
2 Dec National Day.
18 Dec Al-Hijra (Islamic New Year).
27 Dec Ashoura.

BUT reading the Gulf News today (another of the big quality English nationals), I learned that this year's holiday celebrating the Birth of the Prophet has just been moved to this week, Saturday. Which already is a free day at my company anyway. What a pity.

Interestingly, it seems that public holidays also depend on whether or not you work for authorities and government - as, according to the ministry of labour, the reason for the change, being announced yesterday, is to "make the private sector holiday ... more coherent with the public sector holiday, which falls on March 8". Two sectors, two holidays. Makes sense. But it's still the same prophet, right? ;-)

Thinking about it

The current global crisis, a long-time BBC man argued, is a result of pursuing extreme ideas - namely, of too much capitalism. Speaking yesterday at the Emirates Airline International Festival of Literature (a new event welcomed by those who think there could be a richer cultural life in Dubai), Sir Mark Tully, who was a journalist in India for more than 20 years, said: "The most crucial thing in life is to follow the middle road and seek perpetually for a balance".

Famous Tale of a crisis

Remember this guy? After the British expat manager, working and living the fast life in Dubai, was made redundant earlier this year, he took a pen and advertised himself on his white Porsche: "Made redundant today, Andy Blair, Construction Project Manager, 055343 4XXXX". (For one of the many news articles, go here). Now, it seems, Mr B. has found a new job - and a "decidedly modest" lifestyle, as one of the UAE's English quality papers, The National, reports.

Getting round

Having tried to get an overview of the city last weekend, I decided to check out a few things in more detail now. High up on the list: nightlife ;-) After all, Dubai has a reputation for its numerous clubs in every style imaginable, popular especially among foreigners as they, often belonging to international hotels, are licensed to sell anything you might want to drink on a night out.

So I joined a colleague and a group of Indians on Thursday night (having worked till late on a presentation I felt I deserved a drink) to go for a Cuba bar in Jumeirah, which proved to be a great start into the weekend. Even though it somehow slowed down my start the next morning... Good thing you don't need your head for duties such as washing and doing some grocery shopping.

Later the day, I just followed random streets in Bur Dubai for a while just to see how it is here and to get a feel for everyday life on the street - which is very busy on the weekend, with people swarming all about the area, shopping, getting other things done. And constant chatter in foreign languages everywhere. I really like the small food stands which sell the best fast food you can imagine from India, Lebanon or other countries at miniscule prices: spicy Samosas, Shawarma, pastry, deep-fried banana or any possible vegetable covered in a dough coating and then fried in oil, and much more. I ended up on the banks of the Creek once more, which have become one of my favourite areas of the city so far, where a steady breeze cooled down the afternoon heat. I visited Heritage Village, a reconstructed area of traditional buildings, small museums, artists' stands and food places.

I spent Friday evening with a friend from Germany and, later, with some random guys from Australia, close to the Burj Al Arab - in a bar with a spectacular 360 degrees view over the nightly sea, with the city's jagged skyline including Burj Dubai at the horizon and the fantastically lit Burj Al Arab behind me. Great evening there - especially, as some Ron from Australia and his friends insisted on inviting me for a drink, and I enjoyed the mild evening temperature and groovy lounge music. There seems to be some sort of feeling of comradship between some expats, very informal and sort of a best friends-attitude from moment one till the end of the evening. After a while, I settled in a comfy divan bed facing the sea, glass in one hand, looked out at the skyline and contemplated life, universe and the rest for some time. Happy and with a distinct feeling of having thought really big thoughts, I finally left for home. The picture above is the 360 bar.

Come back tomorrow, if you wish, for (probably, if time permits) a few lines on my Jumeirah Mosque visit Saturday morning, first small-scale shopping spree and some relaxed beach life in Jumeirah beach park.