Monday, January 23, 2012

Changing Lifestyles in the UAE


UAE has changed from the past in a variety of ways. People today have a different lifestyle than the elders during the times when oil has not been discovered yet. The discovery of oil and developed technology are one of the big reasons that caused UAE’s development. Before oil was discovered in the 1950s, Mohamed Al Fahim stated that the “UAE's economy was dependent on fishing and a declining pearling industry” (“Rags to riches”, 1995). But since 1962, when Abu Dhabi became the first of the emirates to begin exporting oil, the country's society and economy has been transformed. Lifestyle during 1950’s was simpler and easier, people in the past did not care very much about their clothes; they were forced to wear the traditional clothes. Before the use of oil in the early 1970s in the UAE, life was very different: Transportation was limited; education was partially inexistent; and women barely had rights.

              Before the discovery of oil, people in the United Arab Emirates did not have any other means of transportation except camels, horses or/and by walking. Today, all the citizens of the UAE use cars to move from one place to another.  While before the oil discovery, Emirati’s used camels to move from one place to another, which took them a long period of time to move around.  Mohamed Al Fahim admitted that today, when people want to go to Al Ain, they need about an hour and a half from Abu Dhabi but in the past, it took them seven days to travel between Abu Dhabi and Al Ain, a distance of 160 kilometers, and five days to Liwa while now it takes only two hours to reach their destination (“Rags to Riches”, 1995).  Yachts and ships are one of the ways of travelling that didn’t exist in the United Arab Emirates before oil discovery.  Before people were using small boats to travel through sea.  The third way of transportation now is by air with the use of airplanes that people use every day.

               Sheikh Zayed had a large role in improving the education in the United Arab Emirates.  There were no schools in the 1950’s, except for the religious school that was run by Darwish bin Karam; imam of the mosque and the Emirati’s community’s healer. Mohammed Al Fahim mentioned that “the vast majority of people could not read and write Illiteracy was probably around 98 percent. The handful that learned to read did so using the Quran, the only book available for them to read at the old times.  Before 1950’s, children had no schooling besides reading the Quran in the religious school. As soon as the boys  become 12 or 13 years old, they would join their fathers, either fishing or pearl diving to contribute to the family’s income” (“Rags to Riches”,1995). After the Union of United Arab Emirates, the late Sheikh Zayed said that “science is the way to lifting the nation and improving it”. Sheikh Zayed gave orders to build schools and institutes  all around the Emirates , as it is to bring teachers from Arab countries, and therefore, after they finished building schools ,  Sheikh Zayed provided clothes and school supplies, books and transportation for all the students. In addition to that, schools had no fees.

                In the past, women were not allowed to work or learn. For instance, men did not like for women to be educated and prefer them to get married and stay at home. Men also preferred women and girls to work in their houses and raise the children. Women had strict obedience towards their husbands, and men did not listen to what women wanted. Things changed now. Women go to school, then collage and work. There are many successful women’s names now well known amongst people. Now there a lot of women who prefer to stay at home, but that does not mean that they do not go to college and get a degree. For example, one of the Head of Ministers in UAE, Lubna Al Qasmi. Now, we are been encouraged to do our best and work hard. 

        As we can see, the lifestyle of the UAE has developed in many ways which were the effects of the discovery of oil and petrol. The UAE will continue to develop itself in the future, which happens to be obvious today as we hear of all the development projects for the coming years.

reference:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_Arab_Emirates
http://www.everyculture.com/To-Z/United-Arab-Emirates.html
& some help from my father and brother..

Tuesday, November 22, 2011

Life in Dubai ...



Dubai is a wonderful city; it has many places  to a visit like malls, mosques and other tourist places. It has many malls, for example Dubai Mall. The Dubai Mall is the most important and largest shopping and entertainment destination in the world, equivalent to the space allocated to it, of the area of ​​50 football stadiums. There is also Dubai Festival Centre,Merdif City Centre and many other malls. .You can also visit GBR in Jumeirah  and Global Village which is open from October to March .You can transfer in Dubai by taxi , cars and metro; it also has  many hotels like Jumeirah Beach and Burj al Arab. It has the tallest tower in the world ,the Khalifa Tower.It also has Al Ghurair City Mall Al Ghurair Center opened in 1981 in Dubai, which was the first shopping center in the Middle East.popular with visitors and shoppers from different nationalities, because it is the perfect place to meet friends and family togather .Al Ghurair City is characterized by several features that make them a unique position, including: the beautiful decorations, it enters the center sees the ceiling, which was designed in a beautiful indoor 234 in eye retina with gold weighs about 345 kilograms, while the floor is decorated with about 22 tons of «Hmv» »»a composite of several stones and glass are in specific places, which makes the ground seem to be very beautiful, has been specially brought from Italy and took the time completed 1200 hours of work.

the history of bugatti...


Founder Ettore Bugatti was born in Milan; the automobile company that bears his name was founded in 1909. The company was known for the level of detail of its engineering in its automobiles. The company enjoyed great success in early Grand Prix motor racing, winning the first ever Monaco Grand Prix.The company's success culminated with driver Jean-Pierre Wimille winning the 24 hours of Le Mans twice . Famous Bugattis include the Type 35 Grand Prix cars, the Type 41 "Royale", the Type 57 "Atlantic" and the Type 55 sports car. Bugatti's cars were as much works of art as they were mechanical creations. Engine blocks were hand scraped to ensure that the surfaces were so flat that gaskets were not required for sealing, many of the exposed surfaces of the engine compartment featured Guilloché(engine turned)finishes on them, and safety wires threaded through almost every fastener in intricately laced patterns. Rather than bolt the springs to the axles as most manufacturers did, Bugatti's axles were forged such that the spring passed though a carefully sized opening in the axle, a much more elegant solution requiring fewer parts. He famously described his arch competitor Bentley's cars as "the world's fastest lorries" for focusing on durability. According to Bugatti,"weight was the enemy".Ettore Bugatti  designed a successful motorised railcar, the Autorail (Autorail Bugatti).In 2009 it was revealed that a rare 1937 Bugatti Type 57S Atalante had been found in the garage of a deceased surgeon in England. Only 17 of this model were made, all by hand.
Reference:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bugatti

Wednesday, October 19, 2011

About 30 years ago, Mr Hedley , with his wife Mary and his elder daughter traveled by car, ferry, and a small boat to visit the Niah Caves in East Malaysia .
They headed out in the morning and got to their destination around late afternoon/sunset. Once they got there they used a small boat to get to the caves.

They arrived at dusk and stayed in a Government rest house. The next morning they went to the caves and saw men climbing poles in order to scrape birds nests off the roof of the caves. They returned the next day.
Mr Hedley was lucky enough to see the men climbing and getting the nests from the cave.They returned the next day , and their luck wasn’t at its best that time because he damaged his car badly that caused his reverse gear to be stuck.