by Cindy
We just celebrated the UAE's 40th birthday on December 2nd. It's hard to believe that the country is only 40 years old but it's true. I was telling a friend this morning that it serves as a reminder to me that while things are not perfect here, they have come a long way in 40 years. After all, they only got electricity in the 1960's!
One thing very common here is for the government to do things for the people during / on a holiday. So Ramadan, Eid and National Day (among others) often are met with big announcements that are intended to bestow blessings on the UAE people. This year for National day, there were three big announcements:
1) All government workers will get a 35-45% pay raise. This is after a 70% raise in 2007 and another 70% raise in 2009. On the surface, this seems like a good thing - who doesn't want a raise, right? However, one of the issues we have here is that there is already a great disparity between the pay of government jobs and private sector jobs - with government jobs being extremely high-paid. One of the implications of this is that very few Emiratis want to work in the (relatively low-paid) private sector. This is a cause of concern for the government (which therefore must employ a huge percentage of the Emirati population). This is a big issue that the government here will have to wrestle with for some time.
2) The Abu Dhabi government allotted 2,500 plots of land for people to build their house. The government provides land (for free) to all Emiratis to build a home once they get married. So 2,500 people on the list for land for a house just got their land.
3) All children of Emirati mothers will now be Emirati citizens when they turn 18. This is a very big deal. Very big. Prior to this announcement citizenship was through the father only. That is, if you had an Emirati father and non-Emirati mother, congratulations, you're an Emirati citizen. But if you had a non-Emirati father and an Emirati mother, no dice. You weren't an Emirati citizen - you could only take the citizenship of your father. This meant that you were losing out on the opportunity to have government jobs (see #1 above), gifts of land (see #2 above), free university education, free healthcare, etc, etc. So this change was proclaimed by the papers here as an expansion of women's rights and a real blessing for many.
Hopefully that gives you a sample of life here in the UAE and how the government bestows blessings on its people.
Happy National Day!
We just celebrated the UAE's 40th birthday on December 2nd. It's hard to believe that the country is only 40 years old but it's true. I was telling a friend this morning that it serves as a reminder to me that while things are not perfect here, they have come a long way in 40 years. After all, they only got electricity in the 1960's!
One thing very common here is for the government to do things for the people during / on a holiday. So Ramadan, Eid and National Day (among others) often are met with big announcements that are intended to bestow blessings on the UAE people. This year for National day, there were three big announcements:
1) All government workers will get a 35-45% pay raise. This is after a 70% raise in 2007 and another 70% raise in 2009. On the surface, this seems like a good thing - who doesn't want a raise, right? However, one of the issues we have here is that there is already a great disparity between the pay of government jobs and private sector jobs - with government jobs being extremely high-paid. One of the implications of this is that very few Emiratis want to work in the (relatively low-paid) private sector. This is a cause of concern for the government (which therefore must employ a huge percentage of the Emirati population). This is a big issue that the government here will have to wrestle with for some time.
2) The Abu Dhabi government allotted 2,500 plots of land for people to build their house. The government provides land (for free) to all Emiratis to build a home once they get married. So 2,500 people on the list for land for a house just got their land.
3) All children of Emirati mothers will now be Emirati citizens when they turn 18. This is a very big deal. Very big. Prior to this announcement citizenship was through the father only. That is, if you had an Emirati father and non-Emirati mother, congratulations, you're an Emirati citizen. But if you had a non-Emirati father and an Emirati mother, no dice. You weren't an Emirati citizen - you could only take the citizenship of your father. This meant that you were losing out on the opportunity to have government jobs (see #1 above), gifts of land (see #2 above), free university education, free healthcare, etc, etc. So this change was proclaimed by the papers here as an expansion of women's rights and a real blessing for many.
Hopefully that gives you a sample of life here in the UAE and how the government bestows blessings on its people.
Happy National Day!
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