The story behind Dubai
I immigrated to Dubai city since 2009 and since then I can really say that I see myself as a part of Dubai or UAE society, I pay attention to details and this has made me a list Of the things I might collect for newcomers.
It doesn’t matter if you plan to travel to Dubai as a tourist or an immigrant, after a few days you will definitely see things that you might not have seen in your own country.
For the first few days, you will be surrounded by the glamor of the city and think to yourself, should I stay here for the rest of my life or not?
In this article, I will share my experiences with you about the hidden and hidden points of the realities of Dubai that you must know so that you don’t get into trouble or at least don’t be surprised.
Table of contents
- Population composition and diversity
- Interaction between nationalities living in Dubai
- English language level
- Too much bureaucracy
- The hidden costs of living
- Interesting points
- Final Word
Population composition and diversity
Many planes arrive in Dubai every day, many people enter this city as tourists, the first thing these people experience is the Dubai city tour.
But maybe the question is, what is the diversity of Dubai residents?
Diversity of nationalities in Dubai
The UAE government has announced that more than 200 different nationalities live in the UAE, and this is true, but the 10 nationalities that have the largest population in the UAE, especially Dubai, are as follows.
- Indian
- Pakistanis
- Bangladeshis
- Philippines
- Egyptian
- Russian
- Iranian
- European (Mostly British)
- African
- Chinese
Most of the Indians in the UAE are from Malabar. As a joke, some people in Dubai say, welcome to the world of Malabar.
If you know that there have been a lot of differences between Pakistani and Indian lands since ancient times, but the interesting thing is that in Dubai, these issues have been forgotten and everyone lives in peace and friendship.
If you live in Dubai for a long time, you will realize that there are surprisingly fewer women than men. Perhaps the reason is the residence of a large number of working people in this city, which has destroyed the proportion. I know many workers whose wives and children are in Pakistan or India and they live alone in Dubai.
Interaction between nationalities living in Dubai
One interesting thing that will catch your eye in Dubai is that different nationalities are not in contact with each other.
Every nationality is grouped in their own nationality colony, for example, you cannot see Indians and Filipinos in the group of Iranians or vice versa. They may be of all nationalities working in the same company, but they have no contact with each other after working hours, and this is a bit strange. I lived in Singapore for a while, which by the way had many similarities to the UAE and different nationalities lived there, but the interesting thing was that these nationalities were connected to each other as part of the society and had a close relationship.
I had a large group of Chinese, Australian and Indian friends in Singapore, but even though I am a person with strong public relations, I did not have this experience in Dubai, maybe the following reasons caused such a problem:
- English language proficiency level
- Lack of job level (the number of specialists is very low compared to employees and workers)
- Dispersion of the population due to the size of the city (many Russians and Europeans live in areas like JBR and you rarely see Russians and English residents in Bur Dubai).
English language Level
Considering the diversity of many nationalities that live in Dubai, it can be expected that the level of English in this country will drop a lot. In some cases, you may have to use your hands and signs to explain your meaning to others.
Although America has the most national diversity, you will not face this problem, and the reason is that English is the only language, and you need to have at least some knowledge about knowledge to immigrate there and live permanently.
But since many residents of Dubai are temporary and come to this country only to avoid taxes or work and send money to family members, and also because they know that they cannot stay in the UAE for the rest of their lives, then they do not see the need to Improve your English.
I know that, for example, to immigrate to England or Canada, you must have an IELTS score of 5.
Too Much Bureaucracy
If I want to talk to you fairly, compared to previous years, the problem of administrative bureaucracy has been solved, but there is still a long way to reach the highest level. One of the signs of a first world country is that the residents of that country live in prosperity and security, it goes without saying that the UAE government and especially Dubai have paid a lot of attention in this regard.
E-government solutions have helped to solve the bureaucracy problem, but it needs more effort. I remember that one of my friends who wanted to immigrate to the UAE asked me for guidance and help, and I sent him the link to the government website for applying for a residence visa. But unfortunately, the site encountered certain problems, and finally, after 6 months of effort, he had to travel here to do his work and do the residency work in person, which took about 10 days to register the company. I have had the experience of registering a company in Singapore and it is done in just one day.
Be sure to note that the UAE is moving forward and progressing, but you will definitely have to deal with a lot of bureaucracy.
The hidden cost of living in Dubai
As you know, advanced countries have a tax system that provides the country’s expenses from the taxes of its residents, but in return provides many services to taxpayers.
It has been several years since the UAE launched the country’s tax system and they are continuously implementing the tax laws, which is good news, although there are criticisms on it, for example, the strange and complicated system of registering and receiving the tax code (online bureaucracy). )
But what does the hidden cost of living in Dubai have to do with taxes? The question is, if you pay taxes, why aren’t many services free?
I’m sure he is now saying to himself that the tax law is for corporations and residents don’t pay taxes. It is absolutely true, but instead of that, the residents have other costs that it doesn’t matter if you are a company owner or an employee, and everyone is required to pay it.
Imagine that you want to rent a house, you may not believe that you have at least 4 hidden costs other than rent, deposit and real estate commission. You have to pay a lease fee to the government, which ranges from 200 to 500 dirhams. The cost of setting up house branches such as electricity, water, air conditioner and gas, which is at least 2000 dirhams as a deposit and 150 dirhams for connecting it. You may be surprised that even if you are traveling and do not use electricity or water, you have to pay at least 300 dirhams per month. Why ? Because you haven’t used it?
Or, for example, once every 3 years, you have to pay a fee to renew the Emirates ID card.
You may not believe that even though the park is considered a public place all over the world, some parks in Dubai that do not have any special services are paid. Zabeel Park is an example, and interestingly, an environment for running has been created outside and around the park, but you cannot enter it unless you pay.
Interesting Points
Illegal Massage Card Ads
Maybe you have seen a lot of cards with the image of a woman and a mobile phone number in the old areas of the city where the population density is high or in the working class neighborhoods.
Playing these cards is considered a crime in the UAE, maybe the content of the cards is massage, but they actually have a different meaning. Even though the police have arrested many people in this regard, we are still witnessing this story more or less.
Mouse Trap
I hate rats, but fortunately, the UAE and especially Dubai have made a lot of efforts to eliminate them. You will see mouse traps on every corner of the street to catch these animals, and I really thank the UAE government for this. thanks.
The black boxes on the side of the street and the pillars are the same as the mouse traps, as in the photo below
Vehicle license plates
One of the manifestations of the city of Dubai is the variety of new and updated cars in this city. Usually, every family has two or more in their parking lot.
It can be said that car manufacturing companies in the UAE have a heavy competition with each other. Recently, we have seen that even newly imported Chinese cars have opened dealerships in this country to introduce their cars.
Fortunately, the price of cars and gasoline in the UAE is cheap compared to many other countries and is one of the advantages of this country.
But the point is that here in Dubai, no one determines how rich you are from your car, but your car license plate does. The lower the number of digits on the license plate, the more rand and therefore more expensive it is.
In many cases, license plates are more expensive than the car itself. I have had cases where car license plates were sold for millions of dollars.
Vehicle speed limit in Dubai
Traffic fines in Dubai are very expensive and this has made the driving style in Dubai different from all other countries in the region or even other provinces of the UAE.
The fine for speeding in Dubai is 1000 dirhams, which is a large amount compared to the income. But the funny thing is that if the traffic signs show the maximum speed of 100 km/h, you can drive up to 20 km/h faster than that number, i.e. 120 km/h.
Road Tolls (Salik)
If you travel to Dubai and want to rent a car, be sure to pay attention to the fact that you have to pay road tolls.
In many western countries road tolls are paid when you travel by road, but not in Dubai.
If you go from one area to another area in Dubai, you have to pay tolls. Road tolls in Dubai are called Salik.
For example, if you want to go from Bur Dubai to Deira neighborhood, you have to pay tolls.
The toll is 5.25 dirhams for each pass. You have to install an RFID card in your car window and charge it, which is automatically deducted from your account.
Cafeteria
An interesting culture that will catch your eye in Dubai is the cafeterias on the side of the street where cars stop next to them and the cafeteria staff offers services to the driver and passengers inside the car by honking.
The popularity of these cafeterias is in their crack tea. Many residents of Dubai buy a crack tea before they go to work, which is not more than 1 dirham. Of course, these cafeterias also have other foods, such as omelette paratha, which originates from the culture of India and Pakistan.
Employment of Native People
One of the wonders of the UAE is that you don’t see many Emiratis working in normal, everyday jobs.
I remember when I was a student in England, I had to work in a chain store, which was a normal life, and the British themselves, who were students like me, worked in a chain store.
But you don’t see an Emirati working as a cashier in a store in Dubai. All service work is done by residents of other nationalities.
This can be good or bad. Good because the UAE government has made the people of this country live in complete prosperity and bad because young people need to start working at low levels to gain experience.
The popularity of scooter
For several years, the use of electric scooters has increased dramatically in Dubai.
It is true that car prices are cheap in Dubai, but not all people, especially workers, can easily buy a car. Therefore, the use of electric scooters has become very common among people, which of course have caused problems.
If you walk a little in the city, on the sidewalks, every moment someone with a scooter is honking and informing you that he is approaching you.
Really, this story of the traffic of the socters is very annoying.
Recently, the government is establishing new rules for scooter riders, for example, wearing colorful clothes and installing hazard lights.
Final Word
After living in Dubai for many years, I can definitely say that apart from the problems here, I really like this place and I would like to live here for many more years.
I respect all the efforts of His Highness Sheikh Mohammad and I bow down because his efforts have made this country progress and reach the point where it has something to say in the world. As a tourist company in Dubai that has been operating for many years, we have seen the rapid development and strong management of the city, and we respect it.
