Tuesday, December 1, 2009

Go Picnic or Panic?

For the past 5 days Dubai has once again made to headline news but for the wrong reasons. This time the world talked about the debt laden Dubai with total liabilities of up to $80 billion. The news was triggered when a government linked company announced its wishes to ask for at least 6 months delay for its bond's payment due to be paid in another 2 weeks. That request was believed to be the first for a series of defaults in other borrowings by that conglomerate. Being in the capital market industry I will not say that I am not excited at all about this news. In fact most of my times in the office lately were spent on reading and monitoring this story. Some peoples criticised on how it happened or laughed at the misfortune. To achieve fast tracked development like in Dubai involved a lot of money and risks. It has been a great 9 years for banks and investors in speculating and earning money out of Dubai's potentials. So now it is time to share some risks and bear losses. But the question with these capitalist banks and investors, are they willing to share the risks or incur losses at all?

Although the situation is serious for the future of Dubai in particular and UAE in general, Dubai need to experience this as a process towards a matured nation. My interest is to see how Dubai managed and solved this problem, what lessons have they learned and how can we improve the situations through laws and regulations.

Off course the hope of being saved by Abu Dhabi is always there, but Dubai is reminded that nothing comes as a free lunch. So we will see what will be the solutions soon.

Moving on to another interesting stories, Muslims in UAE are celebrating Eid al Adha since last 27 November and tomorrow will be the 38th UAE National Day. That means a long holiday to us yuppies. To celebrate these joyous occasions my wife, son, 2 brothers and parents came over to Dubai for 2 weeks holiday. My house is full with travelling bags, clothes and what more important, good laughters and foods. Despite the gloomy business news, peoples in Dubai continue to do what they are best at - work smart and party hard ! And that is business during these holidays. I have lined up some activities with cooperation from a few friends, like sight seeing, desert trip, beach and parks picnic and road trip to Oman. We will still discuss the grave going-ons in Dubai but over BBQ, shisha and home made cookings, out in the colder temperature of Dubai.

Adha Mubarak and enjoy your year end holiday, wherever you are.




4 comments:

cohong gym said...

selamat hari raya. best la raya kali ni. meriah rumah kau. since cuti panjang, apa kata kau pegi travel jauh sikit. pastu post gambar banyak-banyak kat sini untuk kengkawan.

Jumper said...

It's a no brainer question for me. I'll go for a picnic if I could. But my schedule has been tight during this double celebrations. Last night I got a good deal from Emirates and guess what, I'll be flying home after 2nd December. So it's gonna be a 6-day stint of what seems to be a delayed raya at home.

Indeed, the world is watching how Dubai is sorting out this mess. We are the lucky ones to be able to witness it from within....

yuzliyusof said...

along.. in general, apa beza dubai dan abu dhabi?

doremon said...

i ve been waiting from you on this. pls keep us up with the inside stories bro.

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