WOW, 38 record-breaking years!, :D
And for my nearly one-nerve wrecking cum sanity-losing decade of encounter w/ your Sun, Winter and Sands …. and crazy pursuit of your Gold, Wonder and Glory, it is just patriotic and proper (i suppose) to utter the immortal Thank you and CONGRATULATIONS Dear UAE on the occasion of your NATIONAL DAY !
Her Color Rocks,
All 7 emirates were awash with the flag's colours as festive atmosphere swept the nation. And to embody their overwhelming joy and pride to the extra-ordinary success of then nameless land turned super-wonderland, The Locals or Emiratis, have painted their beaming FACES w/ Red, Black, White & Green....
.
- draped and flaunted their sleeping vessels on its semi-artificial but pearl-rich waters,
- dyed and zoom past their proud and spine-chilling AUTO's in major avenues all bearing hues and replica of the same....
.
.
Accordingly, the Colors connotes the strong elements of peace-honesty-bravery-power-courage-hope-joy-love-optimism-defeat of enemies AND determination (whew!).
The Spirit Rules,
.
- and rightly so, the elements are justified in the young one's stately countenance,...
- and that of their equally-privileged elders, ...
The Star was born,
Since its primitive dominion from British Empire and humble forming of its own Federation (or Sheikhdom) in 1971 by his Excellency, the late Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan, the small nation has a BIG legacy to look-back on its 38th.
For while keeping their bygone and fleeting traditions alive, the country had missiled to unprecedented fame, fortune and progress after ONLY FEW years of incredible scientific discoveries, and man-made experiments….and experiments...and experiments. With the lending or rather paid hand, muscles and brain of United Color of Benetton Expats from across the globe who plane themselves into its shores, settled, planted, and reaped abundant fruits to its desert and embrace it like its genuinely theirs.
Transformation happened. Magics weaved. And yes, people flocked. The anglo-population blooms to a greater extent, spreaded evenly in different horizons. Suddenly, there are 1st and 2nd generations of Expats everywhere who choose to grow older alongside her promise of charms, of wealth & security. The locals, in fact were outnumbered, but their elite position and power has never wane.
Recent Unpleasantness,
But akin to a carrot dangle in a wooden stick, this Country also had its fair share of sharp edges cloaked before the eye-candy background. No. I'm not here to rant on boiling summer or racial bigotry at work, neither on the increasing numbers of fugitives awaiting for food and mercy on the Embassies, nor of the very-high-cost of housing thats goin' through the roof. Its about the recent media expose' engulfing the region before the Red-letter day. The Emirate of Dubai who took the lead in shaping the world's highest, tallest, and biggest architecture & engineering ever conceived by men is said to be taking the lead too in terms of an oversized foreign debt.
Economic doomsters had forecasted its dismal future. International panic triggers and leaked into the mainstream. The controversial 59 billion dollar debt came-out in the picture and scare the hell out of the western investors. Mega-projects had gone bust due to recession. Businesses, - real estate and tourism sectors in particular were badly hit to the low-point of shutting down. Retrenchment follows. Countless Expats left the country in credit card arrears. Shopping malls turned ghostly and so the taxi stands. Rude Drivers became rare. Traffic moves., among others....
True to its Colors,
Against all scorning, disputes and odds, UAE's quest for the best and brightest remain. And the way the society rejoices last National Day is just one cool example on how it DEFY the image-spoiling allegations. It would continue to live its Dream, however difficult, albeit wishful. True to what the colors of the National Flag stood for. And after all, this country, my 2nd country and home, really have nothing else to Fear and to lose either - It was once BARREN, QUIET and SIMPLE, remember?.
photocredits: moody, time out & gulfnews
