Sunday, August 30, 2009

Skin deep beauty on Ugly foundations

The following is an email I got from a close friend of mine. And remember that since Kuwait is gearing up, trying it's hardest to become the next 'Dubai' that all these problems are reflected in society here as well. Perhaps even more so.
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"About 3 years ago I accidentally ended up spending 12 hours in transit in Dubai airport. And in that time I got to see beyond and beneath the shiny veneer that usually survives a mere hour's scrutiny...the Starbucks, the Ferrari parked up on blocks...blocks of gold revolving on a pillar...to see a little bit of the dirty underbelly of it.

I got to talk to one of the Filipino workers in depth at the airport restaurant where all the non-first class passengers were pushed through like cattle in a stall. I trudged back and forth from one end of the airport to the other, past 6 foot posters of smiling Arabs and got beyond the feeling of "there's nothing to do" to "gee, this is really empty."

I learned how to cling to my luggage trolley with the same possessiveness of a homeless man...cos 12 hours is a long time to carry your bags around.
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And in that strange mixture of sleep deprivation, restriction (no money to go anywhere outside of the airport), and too much time to medidate on the strange apparition that is Dubai, I began to see how the shiny skyscrapers and lavish man-made creations were built on a foundation of massive exploitation, greed, and injustice. A foundation that definitely cannot and will not stand.
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It's just a matter of time."
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- David

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