telegraph.co.uk— Towering high above the Dubai skyline, Burj Dubai, the world's tallest man-made construction, edges closer to completion
Nov 27, 2009View in Crawl 4
It's amazing how much ignorance and prejudice there is, exhibited on this page. Dubai has its problems, but going from fishing/trading town to superstate in 50 odd years will do that.When I first lived there, in the 60's, everyone had a donkey, now everyone has a Toyota Land Cruiser. The population of native Emiratis to expats is less than 20%. How were they supposed to develop their country without immigrant labour? In fact jobs in the Emirates are much sought-after, and although sometimes conditions are not great, they are generally better than the workers could expect in their own countries. Of course there are complaints, of course not everything is perfect. Many of the super-rich arabs do have a sense of entitlement that makes them seems smug. If you were born a multi-millionaire you might be. Sometimes employers are corrupt or lazy or mean; just like anywhere in the world.Personally, I would be perfectly happy to return to work in the Emirates. I was treated well, had masses of freedom (more than in the US), lived a good life and liked the people I lived and worked with. No-one, and no nation, is perfect but I preferred the Emiratis to both Americans and Brits. Dubai may be suffering now, but it's a blip, and your schadenfreud is misplaced.
blazerNov 29, 2009
Out of 18 pics, only 5 of them were of anything actually "inside". Fail.
Closed AccountNov 30, 2009
Timely.
rouffianDec 1, 2009
It's amazing how much ignorance and prejudice there is, exhibited on this page. Dubai has its problems, but going from fishing/trading town to superstate in 50 odd years will do that.When I first lived there, in the 60's, everyone had a donkey, now everyone has a Toyota Land Cruiser. The population of native Emiratis to expats is less than 20%. How were they supposed to develop their country without immigrant labour? In fact jobs in the Emirates are much sought-after, and although sometimes conditions are not great, they are generally better than the workers could expect in their own countries. Of course there are complaints, of course not everything is perfect. Many of the super-rich arabs do have a sense of entitlement that makes them seems smug. If you were born a multi-millionaire you might be. Sometimes employers are corrupt or lazy or mean; just like anywhere in the world.Personally, I would be perfectly happy to return to work in the Emirates. I was treated well, had masses of freedom (more than in the US), lived a good life and liked the people I lived and worked with. No-one, and no nation, is perfect but I preferred the Emiratis to both Americans and Brits. Dubai may be suffering now, but it's a blip, and your schadenfreud is misplaced.
lewhichDec 2, 2009
dugg for scifi
lewhichDec 2, 2009
How much concrete was used in building this!enough to construct a road from Capetown to Stockholm?It still kinda looks pretty.
vpromanDec 3, 2009
Looks like Frank Lloyd Wright's "Illinois":<a class="user" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Illinois" rel="nofollow">http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Illinois</a>
deftssDec 7, 2009
Yes they do, but it's negligible at best.
youngdbDec 17, 2009
It is sort of beautiful but the nearly enslaved immigrant labor makes me want to throw up, its built on the backs of horribly suffering people.
Closed AccountDec 17, 2009
SLAVES!Built the Pyramids!SLAVES!Built the Parthenon!SLAVES!Built America!