The Yorkie Bars are on me!
So much for the big clean up at Bur Dubai's notorious York Hotel a couple of years ago - it's clearly back to its full, swinging glory:
"Nowhere is more sickeningly emblematic of the country's seedy new underbelly than the bar at the downtown York International Hotel - a squalid cauldron that should shame any civilised society, let alone one so devoutly Islamic. As the overhead TVs show bloody, noholds barred fighting contests, and music throbs deafeningly, a veritable United Nations of prostitutes - Chinese, Ethiopian, Russian, Nigerian - barter their services."
Well, at least it's more evidence of Dubai's wonderful multiculturalism. Sex in every ethnic flavour.
Comments
"Nowhere is more sickeningly emblematic of the country's seedy new underbelly than the bar at the downtown York International Hotel - a squalid cauldron that should shame any civilised society, let alone one so devoutly Islamic. As the overhead TVs show bloody, noholds barred fighting contests, and music throbs deafeningly, a veritable United Nations of prostitutes - Chinese, Ethiopian, Russian, Nigerian - barter their services."
Well, at least it's more evidence of Dubai's wonderful multiculturalism. Sex in every ethnic flavour.
Comments
25 Comments:
oh wise one, what marvellous census figures and statistics did you collate to find out that the prostitutes are precisely from these four nationalities and what were you doing in there yourself? prostitution is an ageless institution which has existed since the beginning of time and thrives in EVERY nation of the world! Please spare us the racist rant! And no i am not from either of these four nationalities if that was going to be your rebuttal.
You seem to have forgotten to mention anything about Michelle and her romp on the beach?
how could you miss the best bit of the article...
'Frankly, there are a lot of idiots here who are working in jobs they shouldn't be doing,' said Lucy, 32, who quit her job as a London estate agent and runs a graphic design company.'
priceless. the rest however was complete tosh.
Indecent exposure: The breach on the beach
Bikram Vohra
The global brouhaha over the Dubai police catching two British citizens inflagrant delicto on a beach seems grossly out of proportion to other burning issues of the day. However, now that the British tabloids have picked up this story and destroyed two lives there seems to be no confidentiality or restraint in using these two for everyone else’s cathartic satisfaction. Gee, we are so clever, we don’t get caught. Not that we don’t behave badly, we are heap smarter.
Contrary to the prevalent belief, it is actually the westerners who suffer from culture shock when they come to these parts. The leap from a council house in Hounslow (does it really exist?) Stratham and Slough to villas and houseboys, housemaids, gardeners, 4 wheel drives and the pretensions to Country Club tally ho imitations with a few nightspots and caviar and blinis and smoked salmon replacing bangers and mash and a bit of bitter pink bubbly thrown in for the bit of bitter gives them the feeling of racist superiority. Add to this hubris the sudden financial liquidity and it is easy to see how they go off the tracks. The fact that Asians, by and large, render space to Caeser with graceless ease because they feel that, like them, their bosses also tend to look up to white people more than they do to coloureds adds to the arrogance. The residual dregs of imperialism still survive. The system allows for this sort of genial racism and naturally, it occasionally goes sour. White nationalities continue to snuffle at the colonial trough and get more money for the same work and a better lifestyle. Asians and others may resent it and respond with equally vicious racism in reverse but they let it be. So an Indian can be pushed aside by a fellow native attendant at a supermarket in preference to a westerner standing behind, a club can refuse entry to non-white people on flimsy excuses, politeness can trip just a bit in the same divide and upper class Asians don’t make it any easier by slavishly aping western customs and habits. Service staff will be politer to those from the west because a report or complaint from one of them tends to cause heavier ripples than one from Asians. Ergo, you are so not the better man, Gunga Din.
So, when Michelle Palmer and Vince Accors did the naughty they actually believed in a corner of their minds that they were exempt from the laws. If not that, at least they had the social standing to expect leniency. Sense, if you will, the sentiment behind the words to the policeman: I will sue you.
No Asian would even dream of saying that.
Not because he is weak or feeble but because he does not feel that sense of superiority.
I remember when I was the editor of a newspaper in the UAE a young cheeky English reporter came to me and said, “Do you know my houseboy and you are from the same country, fancy that.” The public school insolence so nurtured and loved in Britain was palpable.
Nothing changes. Being snide is the replacement for poor education and an absence of grammar. Native English speakers may speak it but they couldn’t for the most part write their way out of a paper bag.
Those apologies after the incident by the foolish twosome only conceals the contempt and derision in which such people hold those who are not of their ilk.
If the British community has rallied round these two it is because most of them are a decent lot, living their lives with grace and dignity and not being snotty about who they are because it is not relevant anymore. And, as is their tradition they are going for the underdog. The spate of letters reflect all points of view but paramount is the fact that this incident should be seen as a symptom of a deeper malaise where young western people are flaunting rules and abusing hospitality of foreign nations where they are guests. In this case, the company ITP issues letters marking out the rules of social conduct and gives it to each newcomer, so what part of it did they not understand?
It is getting a little awkward.
A drunk westerner falls off an uptown skyscraper. Another gets smashed and picks up a fight on his way to Heathrow. Gets arrested. A third is caught with his pants down. All in a week. Pub fights become more common. Being decanted into cabs at night is regular activity and the hedonistic self indulgence might get a brake on it for a while after this show all but will it stop the shenanigans.?
I quite doubt it. Don’t take tolerance for weakness.
The weakness lies in you, chaps.
anonymous at 20:04, you are completely right. i work in an office where 80% of the staff are British, about 65% of these are absolute nincompoops who only got their jobs because they're British. Jobs they wouldn't get in a million years back home. they turn their noses up at the Filipinos and Indians and act as if they are some kind of superior race. i don't give a crap about Michelle and vince they deserve everything they get. just because they're British doesn't make them above the law. i would say i hope the British learn from this but i'm pretty sure they won't. I'm sure there are nice British people in dubai but fellas you are far and in-between and you are being outnumbered by the ill mannered category.
That is an audacious write-up bodaciously beamed up by Mr. Jones – I like the way he tells it, no holds barred!
To a certain extent, it reminds of the term ‘America’s playground’ we use for Vegas. The only difference being Vegas is an integral part of the United States while Dubai..!
Ah, your call!
Million $ Question: Who’s to blame for the hijack here?
Dora, what the hell are you talking about and what does it have to do with the content of the post?
Wacko schizo scammer type deleted!
Sorry for the delay.
You seem to have forgotten to mention anything about Michelle and her romp on the beach?
To me, that's not a case about people having sex on the beach. It's a case of stupid drunken people allegedly violently physically and verbally abusing a police officer.
Unfortunately they appear to be prosecuting on the "consensual sex" charges, which will just be damaging to Dubai's image. What they should be prosecuting for - assuming it is a valid charge - is the abuse and disrespect of law enforcement officials.
I feel sorry for everyone involved, the police and those two stupid, drunken people. But Europeans and specifically Brits have a massive drinking problem which they have exported to Dubai, and the sooner people start realising it and sorting it out the better. It wasn't normal or desirable in our parents' generation for young people to get plastered night after night, week after week, and it shouldn't be in ours.
Prostitution in Dubai - shock, horror! Hardly news is it, here or in any other city in the world? It's not called the oldest profession for nothing. There are about four bars frequented by such ladies in this town, that leaves about 996 for people not interested in that sort of thing. I'd hardly call that a problem. All this sparked by one stupid couple on a beach. The British tabloids should start reporting some real news.
I would agree that there are plenty of serious questions to be asked over the behavior of all ex-pats in the UAE. As a (generally) well behaved Brit, I find the actions of many of my peers to be pretty cringe-worthy.
That said, you posted to a Daily Mail article which automatically invalidates any point you may have had....
http://www.gulfnews.com/nation/Police_and_The_Courts/10230678.html
Please fix the link to your previous post about the York. You have it linking to hhhtp://etc...
Thanks.
Prostitution exists everywhere, so Dubai is no worse than any other place, right? Wrong. The fact that it exists everywhere doesn't mean it's equally prevalent. As a Westerner, I never even heard of a friend or acquaintance going to a prostitute. It's one of the most shameful things you can do. However, my university friends tell me it's practically a national pastime here, especially among local men.
The fact that it exists everywhere also doesn't say anything about the working conditions and human rights of prostitutes. A girl choosing to walk the streets in her hometown is much different than trafficking women from all around the world, taking away their freedom, and abusing them. The fact that the UAE allows this to happen on such a large scale is truly mindboggling.
I think what many people don't understand is that what kills us Westerners the most is the hypocrisy of it all. All the talk about Islam, being conservative, dressing modestly, etc. It strikes us as extremely odd to see a higher level of moral depravity than we're used to seeing in a country that claims to be so religious and righteous.
That said, you posted to a Daily Mail article which automatically invalidates any point you may have had...
What I love about the Daily Mail is that any article with the remotest mention of lesbianism (not gays, just lesbians) in it goes straight to the top of their "Most Viewed" list and generally stays there for weeks. I find that fascinating. Maybe Joanna Trollope was onto something with her middle-England aga saga "A Village Affair".
QUOTE: "As a Westerner, I never even heard of a friend or acquaintance going to a prostitute."
Of course not, they're not exactly going to broadcast it are they? But I bet some of your friends or acquanintances have...
good luck! your blog is now blocked
one poster commented:
"The British tabloids should start reporting some real news."
That would be an all time first!
The British tabloids are only interested in publishing salacious or sensationalised stories.
One way to judge a newspaper is to say the phrase "The most important thing that happened in the world today is...." and then read the headline. You will find that tabloids (British and others) invariably come out looking very vacuous and trivial when judged this way.
As a Briton (formerly) living in the Gulf I was frequently appalled at the poor behaviour and lack of respect for local customs of some of my fellow westerners and particularly of their arrogance when challenged about it.
My experience is that Westerners dislike the hypocrisy they find in the Gulf because it is so different from their own hypocrisy.
I agree with Secretdubai when he states that it is "not a case about people having sex on the beach. It's a case of stupid drunken people allegedly violently physically and verbally abusing a police officer."
my message for my fellow ex-pats of every nationality and in whatever country they happen to be is this:
If you can't respect the laws and customs of the country you're in then go home or take the consequences without kicking up a fuss. You chose to go there, you've had the benefits of being there so don't complain when you make a mess of things because you can't play by the rules.
Hmm, I was under the impression that Secretdubai is a She.
Comparisons can be a bit tiresome really - all i know from my sojourns around the world is that you can kind hypocrisy everywhere. and that race and moral crusades are the first home of demagogues and authoritarians.
my own personal belief is that if people want to have sex on a beach that's up to them. i really don't care. i wouldn't particular want to witness it but my values and sense of self wouldn't be that affected.
however, you'd have to be either stupid or arrogant to have public sex in dubai. and even more stupid to get caught, abuse the copper and then go back for more. but does being stupid and arrogant warrant 6years in the nick as well as being sacked and making the front page of the sun? probably not.... bit of perspective might actually help here.
And dubai is a place where many far more immoral things than sex on a beach are deeply entrenched. are those things ok? are they more ok cos more powerful people do them? are they made ok cos they make everyone richer?
i do agree with the point that uk dubai ex-pats have a massively inflated sense of their importance. but the uk is a status obsessed and class bound society - this is exported, in microcosm, to dubai. people who've been nearer the bottom of the pile, either through lack of talent, birth or brains, are suddenly elevated to the top in dubai. and this in place where the usual values and anchors - families, old friends, stability - are all gone. Ex-pats over the world tend to lose the plot a bit, Brits even more so, cos British culture and society is kind of rigid and uptight. Put all that in a hot place, add too much money, a lot of alcohol and stand back and watch.
Back to swinging hey, oh dear - not just for bored expats then?
Us flowers are off on our travels again - Cuba, Canada and Europe but back to Dubai in October - we've added you in our blogroll and drop by anytime, oh secret one....
Cheers!
Poor expat behavior is not only in Dubai. I worked for the UN in Kuwait in the 90s and there were Irish (as well as other expats) gals working for the airlines who basically prostituted themselves to the American guys for cigarettes, booze (yep they had plenty), 5 star hotels and in some cases, one way tickets to the US with guys who were already married.
This type of behavior has been happening in the Middle East by expats for a long time. They (male and female) broke all kinds of Kuwaiti laws (cohabitation, alcohol, inappropriate clothing, adultury, etc) and could have all been jailed, and considering that most of the guys were married, they probably should have been.
Dubai del sol tattood brits are coming next. Glad I left as I want to go somewhere with no damn brits.
U made a very blanket statement saying only Chinese, Ethopian, Russian and Nigerians are prostitutes.Like the first person that commented I don't think its right that you only mentioned these four nationalities. I'm guessing you are neither...
I have been to this notorious bar and beleive there are all the nationalities mentioned and 25 others that are not.
Post a Comment
<< Home