NYTimes Article: Culture Clashes in Dubai

(This photo accompanies the online version of the NYTimes article)

Here's an interesting story a friend alerted me to the other day.

With more than 150 nationalities and almost as many expressions of culture, Dubai is one of the most diverse cities in the Middle East.

But after decades of selling dreams to foreigners, this Persian Gulf emirate has begun debating the limits of multiculturalism.

Tensions burst into the open in early October when an English-language newspaper published an article protesting the growing disrespect for Muslim customs here during Ramadan, setting off a rare public debate about Dubai’s cultural identity.

The rest of the article "Beyond Skimpy Skirts, a Rare Debate on Identity" is a good look into some of the difficult things Dubai is dealing with these days. I can understand the loss of culture that the locals are feeling. And yet, Dubai's leaders have flung the door open to the world and are, in fact, seeking to quadruple the population in the next 10 years. If the locals thought it was hard to maintain culture now... just wait until the population swells even more.

I have noticed that this Ramadan does not seem to have the same religious tone as in years past. But one difficulty for the expat is knowing what's appropriate and what's not. While the newspapers run articles every year about what Ramadan means they don't say too much about what's expected of people during that time. And honestly it's hard to tell what's expected even from observing the local population. What wasn't mentioned in the NYT article about the incident that sparked the email deluge for the local paper was that the offending person cited in the article was actually an Emirati.

I just don't see how you can expect to maintain your culture when you turn your country into a 'tourist Mecca'... pun intended.