proud or pride

the cost of living
and standard of living in UAE,
especially Dubai
is higher than KL.. no doubt..

there is no income tax though..
the country could survive from the oil revenue alone..
which reserves.. still have another 200 years to go

Dubai.. is diversifying nevertheless...
to tourism, manufacturing and financial..
Dubai is branding itself.. as a Hub.. for the middle east..

the price of car..
has 4% tax added to its tag..
to name a few...
a Mercedes S350.. will cost you 230,000 dirham
a Toyota Prado.. cost you 120,000 dirham
a Hyundai Sonata.. costs 42,000 dirham
a Peugeot 307.. costs 48,000
a Hyundai Getz is 28,000

most of the locals... will drive those big 4wd..
like Land Cruiser, GMC, BMW X5, Murano, Porsche Cayenne..
sebab, the dessert terrain and livingstyle..

with all these big-type cars around..
even the 'usual' big car in Malaysia..
like Toyota Camry, Honda CRV or Kia Carnival
look smaller..

road condition is good...
no potholes for sure..

chinese shops is very very rare...
they couldn't beat the demand for
briyani and kebab and lamb...

welfare and social facilities are very good..
hospital kerajaan (yg untuk emiratis)..
is something like Pantai or SJMC or Assunta...
while.. private hospital (yg kena bayar)..
is something like our hospital kerajaan..

another thing...
as incentive and encouragement,
for the local men to marry the local women..
kalau local man kawin local woman..
untuk perkahwinan pertama..
the man will be getting..
70,000 dirham as a grant..
from the govt Marriage Fund

kos nak kawin bukan murah..
really good for the woman..

before i forget... in UAE..
ladies boleh driving.. boleh jalan sorang diri..
macam kat Malaysia.. plus... more privilleges...

unlike Saudi...
women could not drive
women could not go out from
their own house without muhrim..
but, Saudi has a lot of shopping malls
dedicated just for ladies.. NO MEN ALLOWED..

crime rates???..
very small... and almost unheard of..
but of late... increasing and worrying a bit...
along with the rising inflation and cost of living..
but, still much safer than KL.. that i could assure you..

again.. sad, but true..

contoh.. remember.. bila Julai to September je..
ramai Arabs yang datang Malaysia.. for holidays..
and banyak jugak kes.. curi la.. tipu.. etc.. on them..

sebab, among others... di UAE ni sebagai contoh..
kalau kita gi order makan,
and tinggalkan beg or handphone kat atas meja..
don't worry.. memang tak hilang

contoh lain.. kata la...
kita tertinggal barang kat kedai..
memang takde org akan ambik...
kalau ambik pun.. tuan kedai..
untuk tunggu tuannya datang balik ambik

'silapnya' .. these Arabs.. bila datang KL..
still 'applying' these habits and customs..
hence... being a 'skillful' malaysian...
banyak la kita dengar kes itu ini..

moral of the story;
DO NOT FORGET,
EVERYTIME YOU ARE IN A FOREIGN LAND,
YOU ARE A FOREIGNER...