Hidden City on Abu Dhabi rooftops

Taken from the National newspaper..

ABU DHABI // A summer campaign is being launched to dismantle a hidden city on the rooftops of the capital. But many of the people living in the cheap rooms are saying that they have nowhere else to go.

It is not good news for the people who live on the rooftops. ND Kawsar’s makeshift dwelling, which he shares with 20 other bachelors, is no penthouse.

Broken satellite dishes, sacks of rubbish and laundry lines roast under the sun outside his door. Inside, exposed wires droop from his ceiling. There are no fire-safety devices, nor is there any means of escape other than a stairwell wide enough for a single-file exit.

“No safety. The level of danger is high. We cannot take a fire,” said Mr Kawsar, 27, a typist.

“But where can we go? Abu Dhabi is expensive. The good flats are only for families.”

Mr Kawsar, who lives in Hadbat al Zafranah, blamed the shortage of affordable housing in the city as the real issue forcing residents such as himself to cheap and unlicensed rooftop flats.

“We are working in small shops, restaurants, some for construction companies,” he said. “It’s so difficult for us. If the baladiyah (municipality) close the room, where [do] I go? Sleep in the road?”

On a salary under Dh2,000 (US$545) per month, his Dh450-a-month accommodation above the weathered three-storey building overlooking Al Saada Street is all he can afford. The landlord plans to raise his rent by Dh50 next month, he added.

“If we are taking a new building, we are paying maybe more than Dh1,000. How we will pay?” he asked. “If the baladiyah want to close, first they have to increase our salary. Money is the problem.”

nfestation and fires are major concerns. Helicopters had to airlift a young girl and two adults to safety in August 2008 after a fire broke out in a rooftop shanty atop a 16-storey apartment block on Airport Road.


It's sad that this place is so rich, yet so many people are so poor....

This story is so sad..

Emirati woman, 18, retracts claim of rape by six men
(and I guess, to me what is saddest is that none of her family members turned up in court to support her)

ABU DHABI // An 18-year-old Emirati woman who was charged with having consensual sex after alleging that she had been raped by six men retracted all her statements in court yesterday.

She told the judge she wanted to withdraw her accusations against all the defendants.

The woman, LH, offered no explanation in court as to why she changed her statements, other than being “unaware” of her actions when she reported the crime.

She added that her brother beat her after accusing her of talking to other men, and after the beating she went to the police to report the rapes.

If the prosecution drops the charge of consensual sex, the woman could face a lesser charge related to deception, which is punishable by six months to two years in prison.

If found guilty of consensual sex, as a Muslim woman, she would face lashes and a maximum sentence of life in prison.

Although she changed her evidence, the charges are criminal, not civil, so it is for the prosecution to decide whether to drop the consensual-sex charge. Prosecutors said yesterday that none of the charges had been dropped at this stage.

According to court records, on May 2, LH went for a drive with a male Emirati friend, HA, in Baniyas.

Prosecutors said she went with the intention of having consensual sex with HA, a charge she denies. HA parked his Nissan Altima in an area called Bahia and had sex with her, prosecutors said. He is accused of then telephoning five of his friends, who joined him and raped LH from 1.30am to 5am.

She went to the police after the incident and told them she had been raped by the men in the back seat of the car. She was tested by the Forensics Unit at the Abu Dhabi Judicial Department, and evidence of assault was cited by the public prosecution in charging all six men with rape.

Since last week, charges against one defendant have been dropped. One of the men has been released on bail, two are in police custody and two are being tried in their absence.

Four of the remaining male defendants are Emirati and one is Iraqi. All are 19 years old and, therefore, being tried as adults.

When LH retracted her statement, Chief Justice Sayeed Abdul Baseer, the president of the criminal court, said “Masha’Allah”, an Arabic phrase indicating an act of surprise. He asked: “So you did not have sex with any of these men?”

“No,” she replied. The judge ordered her to come closer to the panel, because she spoke quietly and had her eyes fixed on the ground. “But [YM, the defendant on bail] told the police in details that he had consensual sex with you,” the judge said. “I do not know [why he said that],” she replied.

The male defendants and the young woman were standing about 20ft apart in court. The woman, who is still being held in custody, was in handcuffs.

When the judge questioned YM, he also denied having sex or confessing to rape. The judge chastised him as the young man visibly held back laughter, reminding him that if he is found guilty, he faces the death penalty, as do all the men accused of rape.

YM, when asked by the judge, declined to request a lawyer. After the judge explained that it was mandatory to have a lawyer where the death penalty is a potential sentence, YM agreed to find one. The two defendants in custody were both represented yesterday by lawyers. The young woman also did not appear with a lawyer, and she was not asked about appointing one. No member of her family was present in court.

The judge adjourned the hearing until June 7 for defendants to bring lawyers and present their defence.

Air India Disaster..

I felt so sad when I read about the Air India Express disaster today. Most of the people who died were Indian nationals working in Dubai or Sharjah, and all on their way home to see their families. For most of them, it would have been the first time going home after a year, or 2 or 3. One of the saddest stories was of this guy living in Dubai who lost 7 of his family members, who were all flying home for various reasons. I guess it really hits home for me as the plane took off from Dubai and really it could happen to anyone. God Bless their souls..

Crazy Drivers - watch the video

This was taken on Sheik Zayed Road, the main highway from Abu Dhabi to Dubai, which more than half of my colleagues drive on each day to get to work. These drivers are really mad. And if you check out the arguments on youtube - there are people defending these actions, saying what's the big deal, noone was hurt, and these guys were just celebrating. I think it is just shameful and selfish that someone can even think of defending such actions.

It's heating up..

Taken at 9.18AM. I can't imagine what summer is going to be like!

Harry Connick!

I had the privilege of watching Harry Connick Jr. last weekend. Tickets were so expensive, I paid AED495 (AUD150) for the second cheapest tickets, and the cheapest tickets that were seated. Comparatively, Michael Buble in Sydney costed me AUD130 and I had the most expensive tickets. It was money well spent however, as I had seats on the first row though on the side of the stage.

Harry Connick Jr. was amazing, he was accompanied by a 30 piece band, including his New Orleans band and an orchestra. He's a wonderfully talented artist, and a great performer. I can't wait to see him again!

963 road deaths a year..

963 road deaths a year, 80% attributed to speeding. That works out to be roughly 3 people a day, in a population of ~4.5m. That's quite similar to Malaysia, where there were ~6000 deaths in 2007 with a total population of 26.6m. That's pretty similar stats, but it just feels alot scarier here, as most people live in Abu Dhabi or Dubai, and I hear about accidents every other day.

I was driving home yesterday from Dubai on the fast lane going at 140k/ph and in my rear view mirror saw this huge ass hummer barrelling his way down my lane. He wasn't slowing down and there was no way I could move to the next lane without crashing into the car next to me. He did not even slow down as he got closer and all I could do is move a little to the other lane while he proceeded to whizz by me using the side emergency lane at about 200k/ph. NUTS.

An ATM that shoots out Gold..only in the UAE!

Abu Dhabi's top hotel is upping the ante in the race for Gulf glitz: adding a gold-dispensing machine.

The ATM-style kiosk in the Emirates Palace monitors the daily gold price and offers small bars up to 10 grams or coins with customized designs.

It's the idea of a German entrepreneur, Thomas Geissler, who began testing the cash-for-gold machines in his native country in 2009. The Abu Dhabi debut on Wednesday is billed as the first international foray for Geissler's "Gold to Go" brand.

Geissler says he picked Abu Dhabi because of its high-rolling atmosphere and the region's traditional ties to gold in commerce.

The unveiling was timed well. Gold hit a record high Wednesday of more than $1,245 an ounce.

And guess what...1 day later, they sold out and the gold had to be restocked. Unbelievable!

Kayaking at the Eastern Mangroves

I went kayaking last weekend at the Eastern Mangroves, right in the heart of Abu Dhabi. It's amazing being out in the water, and people are so surprised to hear that there is so much water and nature, because I'm in the desert.

Kayaking is organised by a great team of guys from Noukhada, who are extremely professional and knowledgeable about the ecology of the area. I learnt that 70% of fishing life in the Gulf spawns in the mangroves in UAE and Oman. We saw blue swimmer crabs, herons and kingfishers which were lovely. The trip before us at 6am in the morning even saw a fox along one of the beaches.

It's sad though to hear some of the stories about how much things have changed and how the ecology is changing because of all the massive developments going on. My firm is responsible for building a large hotel there, and one of the sheiks is building a palace there as well. I wish there was more conscientious development but I think this country has a long way to go in its efforts. Even something as simple as recycling is not easy, I am lucky to have found some drop off bins about 5 mins drive away so I save everything and drop it off on the weekend. Most people never recycle, but hopefully things change as the government puts in more effort in educating people about the environment.

The Etisalat saga continues..

Etisalat finally came to install my receiver for my cable tv. However, they did not tell me they were coming, and when I came home one night, the security guard told me that they had come and installed it. I was quite excited, not about getting tv but more for the prospect of not having to call 101 again, pressing 2 for english, pressing 4 for evision and pressing 2 for not being an etisalat customer, then being told to wait because all their "customer service representatives are busy".

Fat HOPE.

I went into my hall, saw the receiver plugged in, switched on the tv, but nothing happens. I tried rebooting the receiver, but nopes nothing works. So I pick up the phone, call 101, press 2, press 4 and 2 again and speak to a call centre lady who tells me "Of course its not working mam, because we haven't activated it".

OK NICE. So you come to my home twice, install the devices and then don't activate the account until I call you?! Nevermind, give us 2 days and we will activate it for you. And true to their word, 2 days later and 4 weeks after I first applied, I got my cable tv up and running.

I browse the channels, there are a couple of hundred, most of which I haven't subscribed to, or are in Arabic, and not arranged in any particular order). I press the TV Guide button on the remote, and nothing happens. I press the "Info" button on the remote, but of course nothing happens. So, now I have no idea what is on, or what is coming on, or what is even showing on the channel I've chosen.

I reluctantly pick up the phone and call 101, press 1, press 4 and then press 1 (because I'm a customer now!). I speak to the agent who tells me, "Sorry mam, you have the new receiver and the TV GUIDE function has not been activated yet. It will only be activated in a few weeks" (In etisalat time, it means a few months). So I tell him I want the old receiver, but he says no because it has all been phased out. So, how do I find out what's on and when? He says Go to the website and I can find it there.

Now that all sounds easy enough, except that there is not 1 provider, there are 3 separate tv providers with 3 separate websites, and all with TV Guides that do not show online when I click them.

Out of frustration, I call one of the actual provider to get a copy of the guide, they tell me to call their dealer nearest to me, I call the dealer and the dealer tells me to call the provider because it has been 6 months since they received any guide and I wasn't the first customer who was complaining.

Great, what else can these people throw at me?! So now I have a functioning cable tv, with no easy way to avoid browsing a hundred channels to find something I want to watch. Awesome.

Be careful what you say!

I've not met many Malaysians here yet, but I've met 2 Malay speaking persons! One was a security guard at my old compound and the other is a tea boy at my office. Unbelievable...they are both Nepalese, but both had worked in Malaysia before and speak pretty good Malay, boy was I super impressed! Just tells you not to assume anything about anyone!

I hate Etisalat!

I hate Etisalat with a vengeance. Just like how I hated Astro when I was in KL, but 10 times more. Just because they're the local monopoly and can choose to charge exorbitant rates while providing extraordinarily bad service, leaving customers like me with no choice but to just swallow the treatment.

I called them up 4 weeks ago to sign up for cable tv. They tell me that I would receive a contract in my inbox within 48 hours. 3 days later there was nothing so I called them to check. They said they would send a reminder email to whomever was supposed to send me my contract to do so, and I would get it within 48 hours. 48 hours later - no contract, so I call them again...and again 48 hours later..and again 24 hours later..This is how the conversation goes:

Me : "When are you going to send me my contract, it's been 10 days!"
Call centre : "Mam, I will send them a reminder email"
Me : "They have received 5 reminder emails, but I still have no contract!"
CC : "Let me check Mam, please hold"
CC : "Mam, they have problem finding your location, technical issue"
Me : "What! But I have internet and lanline through you, what do you mean you can't find my location?"
CC : "It's different mam, they cannot find, it will take some time"
Me: "How long?"
CC : "48 hours mam, you can call back"
Me: "I am sick of calling back every 48 hours, you can either find it or you can't, if you cant find it, just tell me I cant have cable and I wont' call anymore!"
CC : "You can call back after 1 week mam, if you dont want to call in 48 hours"

Er this guy obviously DOES NOT get that I don't enjoy calling Etisalat. So i put down the phone and call back after 2 days and give the supervisor a piece of my mind. He assures me that I would receive a call in 1 day updating me of the status. But of course, NO CALL received.

So I leave it for 1 week and when I was in a relatively calm mood, decide to call them again.

CC : "Mam, you haven't confirmed which promotion you want, that's why we haven't send you the contract"
Me: "What?! I was told that they couldn't find my location"
CC : "No Mam, they found your location already, now they are holding it because you haven't confirmed your promotion"
Me: "Why didn't someone call me to ask me what promotion I wanted? What if I didn't call to check?"
CC : "Mam, you just need to confirm now and you will get your contract in 5 minutes in your email"
Me: "OK, confirm it"

Then voila, i get my contract in 5 minutes, but it is BLANK! I waited frigging 4 weeks for a BLANK form. Nevermind, I filled it up and email it back to them. But guess what, recipient inbox FULL. Mind you, Etisalat is the local telco internet provider, and their inbox is FULL.

So I finally send it through after 12 hours of attempts yesterday...and I get a call today from this installer this morning who wants to enter my apartment to set it up. I give the go-ahead and look eagerly to coming home this evening to my new cable tv. BUT guess what I find when I come home. An installed model connector thing to the wall but NO RECEIVER!

So I call them again and I am told that it is standard procedure. First someone comes in to install this white box and then someone else will come in to install the received. WTF??? When i asked them when this other person would come, the answer was "Mam, it's not triggered in the system yet, we don't know when it will come"

NICE ONE ETISALAT. What else are you going to throw at me??

Awesome diving - Mussandam

I had the privilege of diving in Mussandam, which is a small area north-east of the UAE, belonging to Oman. I drove up there with a colleague and met another bunch of colleagues to go diving. It's whale shark season but I wasn't expecting to see any. At the end of our first dive, none of the divers saw any sharks, but the snorkeller in the group came out of the water and said "I just saw a huge beast that was the size of a volkswagen with a small trail of fish following it, I freaked out and got out of the water!". All of us stared at her and couldn't believe our ears!

We quickly scanned the water and found the shark and got the boatman to drive us nearer and all of us just jumped into the water to swim with it. Above is a video I took of it, how awesome is the creature!

All of us were so excited, and were so ecstatic until 3 speedboats passed us a few hours later waving a fin and shouting "thank you very much!". I was going to cry when I saw that, and so were many of the other divers. We were so upset that they had cut off the fin of that same beautiful shark we were swimming with earlier in the day. However, when we went back to shore, we found out that it couldn't have been the whale shark as whale shark fins never sell in the markets and it's too difficult to catch.

While I was much relieved, I was still upset that a poor shark was dying and suffering in the water because it didn't have its fin. Please don't eat shark fins!