Dubai malls join anti-indecency campaign

Further to the publication earlier this year of the Dubai Code of Conduct, the Gulf News in Dubai has given more front page space to informing/warning expats both residents and tourists to dress appropriately in public.
The dress code seems to have become a "hot button" and while residents may read the article, in reality the Gulf News is a regional publication that few tourists will read prior to coming here. If it is considered important to warn tourists to comply, then other methods of spreading the word will need to be employed. It would seem that further information needs to be given to the short stay tourists who are coming here for a holiday looking for nothing more than sun, beach, a desert safari and shopping, as compliance with a moral code will be far from their minds. Possibly a warning should be printed in every tourist brochure where the UAE is featured and an information brochure provided when the tourist visa is issued. It does seem unfair to put the responsibility for enforcing the code onto the security staff at the malls.

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Source: Gulf News
Dubai's shopping malls don't just combine the awesome collections of international brand labels, but go further to enlighten newcomers on Emirati cultural rules and what's the acceptable general behaviour.
The rules are on signs at the main entrances and distributed by security personnel as well.
It includes no smoking in the mall, wearing of respectable clothing and no kissing or public displays of affection, no consumption of alcohol in the mall and few other don'ts.
Sabina Khanvwani, Head of Public Relations and Marketing Department at Burjuman Centre, said despite the signs, there are still visitors who still need to be reminded of what is and what is not acceptable.
"Burjuman has already fixed stickers on the main entrances in order to deliver the message directly to them, some of them adhere and others don't. We cannot enforce them to comply but we keep reminding them that Dubai is part of the UAE and it's a Muslim country with a conservative society and must be respected."
Most expatriates Gulf News spoke to say they didn't do things on purpose or to annoy the Emirati community. They just grew up dressing that way.
Tania N. a 29-year-old Russian businesswoman, said she got confused when a security guard at the Mall of the Emirates handed her a brochure on how to dress appropriately.
"I respect Dubai, its religion, culture and people, I come here frequently for business and pleasure, and I was never asked to cover my shoulders or my knees until recently," she said.
"I used to wear a sleeveless short gown or miniskirt and according to my background it is a decent outfit and doesn't cause any kind of embarrassment. But lately a security approached me and in a polite way handed me a brochure that includes the mall's courtesy policy regarding dress code and general behaviour."
Asked whether she will adhere to the mall's dress code, she said: "I really don't find it necessary, besides I don't have long or covered outfits, and the most importantly I didn't do something bad to Dubai or its people."
Katayoon Tahmoress M, an Iranian writer based in Dubai agrees with Tania.
"I love Dubai and I like its style. But the way I dress is completely a personal matter and I don't allow anybody to educate me on what to wear and what not to wear."
Gabriel and Elena, both Americans, said the visitors and expatriates should've been informed of the dress and behavioural rules before they fly into the country.
"Such instructions should be informed before we enter the country not while we are shopping. Besides the weather in Dubai is truly hot," they said.
Mariam Al Salem and her Emirati companions said visitors and expatriates should tow the line.
"Our rules must be strictly followed," Mariam said.
Khulood Ahmad, a 23-year-old Emirati and a college student said the situation has become uncontrollable.
"Majority of shoppers don't adhere to our style's policy, and we don't think a sticker or leaflet will make them pay attention," he said.
Khalid Al Hammadi and his friends Nawaf and Majed, all of them Emiratis, said an aggresssive media campaign should be launched to deliver the message.
Najla Al Awadi, Federal National Council member, Deputy CEO of Dubai Media Inc and General Manager of Dubai One TV, said awareness of the rules should be done as early as while a visitor is processing his entry visa.
"I don't want to generalise and say that all expats behave in that inappropriate way. However, certainly many expats who come to our country are either not aware of our cultural norms or are just not respectful of them and choose to behave any way they want to.
"I believe what we need is to create awareness among all communities visiting our county. This should be done upon going through the visa process possibly by distributing pamphlets which explain our culture to those receiving a visa into our country.
"Also through media by launching programmes and regular campaigns, we as the UAE will always be welcoming and tolerant society but we will also demand that our culture be respected," she said.
Are you aware of the dress code in Dubai? Do you know who to speak to in order to clarify your doubts?

Dubai's debate on morality has only just begun

From Gulf News, 27th June 09. The writer is Mishaal Al Gergawi, an Emirati commentator on socio-economic and cultural affairs in the UAE.
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In an interview to Gulf News last week, Major General Khamis Mattar Al Mazeina, Deputy Chief of Dubai Police, said that it is not the duty of police to interrogate or interfere with couples in Dubai, but that they would intervene only if they are spotted committing obscene actions.
These comments come after a number of incidents of public indecency, which in turn prompted the British Foreign Office to issue a travel advisory for its citizens.
This reminds me of an old story of the Prophet Mohammad (PBUH) where he sent three men on separate visits to the Levant. When they returned the first said that he found it to be a land of faith and knowledge and the prophet replied that he was right. The second said that he found it to be a land of decadence and debauchery and the prophet replied that he was right too. The third said that he found it to be a land of trade and commerce and the prophet replied that he was right as well.
When he was asked how come they were all right, he said each of them found what they were looking for.
The stock to be taken from Al Mazeina is straight-forward; Dubai continues to be a city of tolerance. There are many cultures that continue to co-exist harmoniously in Dubai and the very reason for that is this tradition of tolerance.
Everyone agrees that culture is not static and is an ever-evolving process; however, there is a general norm of decency which must be observed by the inhabitants of the city. This has always been the case.
However, the last few years, which witnessed an incredible influx of migrants in a short period of time, overwhelmed nationals and long-term residents just as much.
And in the midst of the boom there was just no time to inform the new arrivals of the values of the city; some may even dare say that these values may have seemed momentarily un-interpretable to the nationals and long-term residents too.
The city will continue to grow and its doors will remain open to all who want to be part of the social phenomena that are Dubai. Yet change must be at a pace which can be absorbed by all the stakeholders of the city.
Having said that and post the crisis, the city is under invisible internal pressure to communicate its identity in a clearer way; it must define itself through new mediums and in an evolving context.
This goes beyond cultural development through the establishment of a sustainable arts programme, the enforcement of accountability through a new set of legislations and independent regulatory bodies or even the development of strong education and healthcare services. This goes to the fundamental purpose of developing a specific and strong identity which recognises its zeitgeist.
Having said that, an issue that bothers many of us in the city is a lot more immediate than the debate on public display of affection and the need to dress modestly and respectfully of the UAE's culture.
It is Thursday night and I decide to have dinner at an old school Italian restaurant in one of the older hotels on Shaikh Zayed Road. I walk into the restaurant and notice a large number of ladies in their mid-twenties. They are from East Africa, China and Eastern Europe. They are eager to find a date for the evening... for a fee.
I believe the proliferation of this phenomenon in prominent areas such as Shaikh Zayed Road is unprecedented. It has historically been isolated to other - dare I say it - less affluent areas in the past. The fact that this new area has become prevalent with this kind of behaviour is a very strong concern for the city as a whole and the police must make it a priority to crack down on it; perhaps a much more immediate concern than a pair of random intoxicated expatriates on a post-brunch short affair.
Another unfortunate issue which falls more under miscommunication than mistreatment is the unfortunate case of Raffi Nernekian.
Last summer Raffi bought a cancer awareness T-shirt from the Marc Jacobs store in New York. The T-shirt which is a collaborative effort between NYU Dermatology and Marc Jacobs shows a nude celebrity covering her intimate parts.
Raffi wore the T-shirt in Dubai and following a man taking offence to it, was arrested by the police and subsequently sentenced to one month in prison and exile from Dubai for indecent exposure.
While this sentencing is very much according to the law it could also have been an opportunity to explain what is offensive and what is not to someone to whom these distinctions may not be clear. It has, however, transformed into a very disturbing experience for Raffi and his family.
I will continue to commend the Dubai Police on their work so far and I will always say that they are one of the most civilised and helpful law enforcement agencies in the region, if not the world.
However, it is our belief that our agency can continue to improve and excel even further, not our lack of satisfaction with it which leads us to be critical of it, and continue to expect further developments.

Waiting for the backlash

Not a good week for expats here after the publication in the UK, in that august publication the Sun, of the story of an unbelievable act of expat stupidity in Dubai. In summary, a female expat resident of Dubai goes to a well-known hotel for Friday brunch, gets totally hammered, hooks up with a male expat, they carry on pub crawling and next thing she is seen by a UAE policeman having s*x or as they say in the Sun "romping" with the male expat on Jumeirah Beach. They are warned but let go, then shortly afterwards the policeman sees them "romping" again, he warns them again, she goes ballistic, throws her shoes at him and calls him a "*%&ing Muslim". They are arrested and now both are whinging that they are hard-done-by as they stare down the barrel of a possible 6 year jail term (Western jails are holiday camps compared to the jails here.)

This situation has been widely discussed here in the UAE both in the general media and in expat forums. Now that a glimpse of the less attractive face of expat life in Dubai (the "underbelly" I think the Sun called it) has been revealed to the rest of the world, there will be far greater media interest worldwide and the story itself or reports of the morals crackdown have appeared in papers in Australia and NZ. This is not the sort of publicity the authorities in Dubai like, and my concern, shared by many other residents, is that there will be a backlash against the expats already in Dubai. What form that backlash will take, we will have to wait and see. I wonder if, just as one example, the 'Holes in the Wall' which operate in certain other Emirates and are huge expat favourites, will be looked at more closely?

I would think that the management of the hotel where the brunch was held has their collective arses in a sling - I wonder if the restaurant manager still has a job - and the company's local sponsor has probably received big-time GBH of the earhole!

The Gulf News reports that extra patrols will police Dubai's beaches to ensure appropriate clothing is being worn and to crack down on displays of "indecent affection" between couples. I hope their attention will also be directed at the groups of guys who come down to the beaches to stare at the women while playing 'pocket billards'.