Expo 2020 Dubai - The view from here!

As we get into holiday mode in Dubai this year, we realize that all is not what it should be, considering this is holiday season and we are counting down to the new year. Dubai and its residents should be out celebrating. Not only has its winning bid of Expo 2020 capped another phenomenal year of achievements, but at the same time, created opportunities enough to ensure that its GDP just keeps ticking along in a healthy, upward staccato. But as I said, that is as it should be....

Some of the gloomy faces would quickly put paid to the hope that all is well. So what are our prime concerns?

One of the significant ones of course, is something that not just Dubai's residents, but our friends and relatives around the world are equally familiar with thanks to our continuous ranting and raving about the it all year long - yes, the infamous 'R' word - rents we are all quite sure are poised to rise again and this time minus the rent cap that the country's leadership, for ethical reasons as much as to keep the 'rabble-rousers' at peace has so far imposed, which permits landlords to raise rentsonly once in two years and then again not above a rental cap of 5%. All that we are told by skeptics is now a thing of the past. There are to be no more rent caps as Dubai fast-tracks on building and infrastructure projects in a race to meet its tryst with destiny. So what is to become of us, we ask? What will the poor person whose salary already does not keep pace with Dubai's exalted vision do? Well, say the skeptics with a shrug of their shoulders, you can always go home...?!

Another fear, also triggered by the rising expenditure that basic provisions seem to be hit by - if there was a littany of complaints about how little the value of a Dhs 100 bill is today, compared to what it used to help purchase once upon a time, today there is a stark and real fear as expats find their savings hit by rising prices across sectors - education, real estate, transporation, electricity and water and other utilities.....

So, what should the government do to allay such fears? As things are they do have to deal with some very real insecurities, which is only natural considering that the majority of their population is expat-driven. Today things seem stark for a lot of the doomsday theorists who are busy writing early obits to their time in Dubai, and are talking of leaving to head back to their hometowns.

"They don't need people like us anymore, they only want to bring in the tourists who are willing to spend and throw their money on the various built-in attractions." - As expats we have often heard these doom-and-gloom stories. What must also be remembered is simply this - while the rents might go up in the short term, and prices rise, we must keep the faith that Dubai's knowledge capital today is as much its human capital, the people who have worked hard to make the place what it is today. The truth remains that experience is a hard thing to replace. Expo 2020 will simply not turn out to be all that it is hyped up to be, if the people working towards making it a dream reality simply cease to be - or simply packed up and left. It is perhaps a good time to incentivise key opinion leaders in different sectors, and make them add their two bits towards the country's success. The time is now....even as the entire country gets ready to be part of...history in the making.
 

Beating the blues...

Very often in the course of our ordinary lives we are confronted by the dreaded blues...a sudden crippling fear that paralyzes and makes us suddenly unable to get up and move on with our day. An anxiety attack that has us asking strange questions and undermines our self confidence...and makes us wonder whether we are actually good enough at all or can actually measure up.

It does not take a major catastrophe to bring us to this sorry pass. As human beings we are constantly seeking validation and endorsements - a pat on the back for some job well done, a commendation from the people we work with, a few words of encouragement that we get from our friends and peers - all of these go a long way to boosting our self-esteem and adding that 'feel good' factor to our days. However, when we allow the the world around us to tell us whether we are actually good enough or not, we are setting ourselves up for more hurt and despair.

Despair - a dreadful word and one that fills us with a sense of foreboding. We are often told to guard against it. "Stay positive", "Look on the bright side", we are often advised...but I have a theory about this. The more one is asked to guard against this feeling, I believe living in the 21st century automatically sets one up for this nameless dread. We don't know what to expect. We may go through the paces - toil through our days, filling in time at work, with family, with friends, doing the chores that are expected of us, believing we are free an uncertain future. Simply because we may have salted away something for a rainy day. Or perhaps because we see our kids doing well at school or in their chosen field of work. But remember, that these are not the factors that should ideally make us happy. These are just small pebbles on the long road of life. A typhoon could blow away your carefully salted savings. Bad company, poor judgement, bad luck,  or indeed some inherent challenges might stymie the performance of your children at school or career. Remember the age old saying - to thine own self be true. Isn't it so true when it comes to quantifying happiness and beating away the blues?

What I realize as I grow older is that such age-value systems and banking on others to help you feel better about yourself - could be truly detrimental to any long term happiness. Fathers, mothers, sons, daughters, husbands, wives and any of the rest of our extended trust circle are too busy in the course of a given day fighting their own battles and winning their own rewards. While they may be perfectly willing - or not! - to lend you a ear, and listen to you rant and rave - they are not the cover you will need in the long journey that is life.

We need to know our worth first and foremost. Everyone is good at something, everyone has some winning potential. Wake up in the morning and tell yourself that you are amazing. This may not get you any brownie points with the world at large - but you will score big with yourself. Be a leader. Be happy. Be the one that the world leans on for a change. And the watch yourself rise in style, stature, happiness. Happiness might be a state-of-mind, but you could reinforce your happy mindset by giving yourself that much-needed pat on the back.

In pursuit of happiness....Until the next time!