Chris Saul's Blog

Tuesday October 31, 2006

Technology lets me down

Technology's let me down twice today.

First off the Jeep's battery was completely dead this morning, so I had to get a taxi to work. Car batteries here seem to last for about a year and a half and then die without any warning. Not Jeep's fault though.

Secondly, the joystick on my borrowed K750i has suddenly stopped working. Frequent blog readers of mine are entertained, I know, by my regular postings on the twin themes of electrical plugs and on Sony's shortcomings. This may be the last straw for Sony as far as I'm concerned. Time to return to the Nokia fold, or buy a Motorola to demonstrate my role as a standard bearer for standard cabling across multiple vendors.

I've never really liked Motorola phones - I don't like clamshells and their normal phones come across as a bit girly. A Nokia it will have to be, unless a Sony exec wants to give me a new joystick free phone to placate me. One that uses the same data cables I already have. And will use the Memory Stick Pro cards I already have. And the earphones I already have. And the chargers too.

Looks like I'll be getting a Nokia.

Sort your grammar out, Prince Charles

Prince Charles made a toe-curlingly awful error in a speech he made in Pakistan yesterday.

He introduced the talk saying that it was a pleasure 'for my wife and I' to be in Pakistan. He should have said 'for my wife and me'.

I blame Aussie soap Neighbours for introducing this common error into daily British conversation in the mid 80s. I'm sure people never used to say 'between you and I', 'give it to him and I' and suchlike before Todd, Codey, Madge and Lou started to.

Friday October 27, 2006

Dubai from the Sky

Mrs Saul bought me a trial flying lesson for my birthday, so we spent an hour in the skies above Dubai yesterday.

It was great fun. Although cameras are not allowed into the airport area for security reasons, Mrs S managed to get some good pics with her camera phone. You can see them here.

I was amazed to see how quickly the Palm Jumeirah's coming on.

Roger Lima Echo 4. Captain Biggles Saul.

Thursday October 26, 2006

Good traffic news at last

There have been a couple of positive traffic related articles in the UAE press this past week. We've heard that police patrols will be increased by 25% and that drivers will be fined for not using their indicators when turning. A week or so ago Sheikh Mohammed's son, Sheikh Hamdan, stated that the city's fast development could not be used as an excuse for bad driving on Dubai's roads and gave his support for increased police efforts to combat the situtation.

All of this is pretty encouraging. The poor standards of driving here are one of the few things that prevent life in Dubai being truly world class. Whilst things here may well be better than many other countries, extra police patrols and steady implementation of the law will make life better for everyone. I wish the police all the best with the tough task of managing the different approaches to road safety harboured by their thousands of residents from across the world.

Bad driving is something that always bewilders me. Surely even the most selfish, ego-centric character realises that using your indicators and sticking to some basic rules is probably going to get you there faster than veering in and out and pushing and shoving everywhere? There's no need to think of using your indicators and giving way as some kind of act of kindness. Go on, be selfish about it! Do it so that the roads run more smoothly, there are fewer accidents and you get where you're going on time.

The ultimate symbol of a civilised society is a driver stopping for pedestrians waiting at a zebra crossing. At first that might seem like a trivial thing to measure a society by, but think about it - it signifies a respect for other people regardless of their wealth or status in society, a respect for the law, common courtesy and basic safety. These are all fairly good things to start with.

I look forward to crossing the road outside my apartment in total safety in the near future.

Monday October 23, 2006

Sort your act out, Sony!

Mrs Saul gave me a bluetooth headset as an Eid present.

Being from Sony, I wasn't surprised to notice that it needs a different charger to the one I use with my current phone. It'll be going back to be replaced by something that doesn't force me to carry yet another set of cables with me when I'm travelling.

Sort your act out, Sony. Your customers are sick and tired of being ripped off and inconvenienced by your insistence on ignoring common sense when it comes to the chargers, memory sticks and multiple cables we're forced to buy and fill up our bags with.

Wednesday October 18, 2006

The BBC's guide to hijab

The BBC has a brief guide to some of the forms of veil that are worn in different parts of the Muslim world.

This might be interesting to anyone who read this post of mine.

One of the trends I've noticed in Dubai over the last four years is the increasingly decorative nature of the abayas (a loose black clock like covering) that many Gulf women wear. I'm sure that no decoration was the norm when I arrived. Fashions change, regardless of location and religion.

One interesting note on the traditional men's wear here, the dish dasha, that I've noticed - when you see old photographs of the men from what is now the UAE, they are often wearing a Western style tweed jacket. I wonder when that became popular and when it fell out of fashion? The jacket still seems to be popular in Yemen, based on pictures I see in the press.

50 years ago a suit and tie was the norm for my grandfathers. These days I wear chinos and a shirt to work. What will my son wear? As long as it's not the tiedie t-shirt, pony tail, fat belly and socks-and-sandals combo you occasionally see at the Sun campus in Menlo Park, I'm not too bothered.

Answer your email!

Funnily enough the typical 'I'm too busy to answer my email' people often seem to be busy because they never answer their email - when you know someone who can't be bothered to check their inbox and respond, you have to call them, even if it's not a time-critical question. The result? They're on the phone every day, seven days a week, simply because they don't use email to deal with less time-critical matters. Which means they're too busy to answer their email.

Monday October 16, 2006

Wadi Rhum

Now that Flickr's been unblocked, I've been browsing through some of the pics I posted last year. I came across this great shot of Wadi Rhum in Jordan.

This is one of those photos that I always think was taken by me, but generally turn out to be the work of Mrs Saul.

Earlier this year a British tourist was shot in Amman at the Roman amphitheatre that we also visited. During our visit in 2005 two hotels were bombed in the capital. We met so many decent hard working and friendly people during our week long stay whose lives are probably even harder thanks to the damage these pointless acts will have done to the country's tourist industry.

Culprit discovered?

In a recent post I mentioned that I'd been stopped and scanned at the final security check before leaving Dubai airport.

Robin Wilton commented that it could have been an RFID tag in my bag that was causing the security alarm to flash as I went through the exit, alerting the staff to my dangerous presence and forcing me to have my bags scanned a second time.

I'd searched my bag but couldn't find the culprit. I also continued to get stopped - each of my flights since Istanbul have seen my having to scan my bags. The reasons for this have been a bit odd. First I was told there was a 'sticker' on the bag, then a 'sensor' then that it was my laptop that was setting off my alarm, despite the fact that noone else appeared to have this problem. The best reason I was given was that my case 'was disorganised'. I refused to believe I was that much worse than anyone else going through.

A thorough re-examination of the depths of my laptop bag this evening revealed a sneaky RFID tag from a memory stick I'd bought before the summer, lurking beneath some recipts. It's now in the bin, so fingers crossed that my return flight from Mauritious won't see me stopped yet again.

Flying back from Karachi saw another odd security measure - my large bottle of shaving foam and deoderant had to be removed from my hand luggage. My small bottle of shaving foam and tub of moisturiser didn't. I wish these rules would be applied consistently - when they aren't they simply breed indifference and contempt.

Karachi trip

Very successful trip to Karachi last week - saw lots of customers, had some productive sessions with the partner I was visiting and was well looked after by them too.

The Karachi Sheraton is a little faded and could do with a refit and a decent wireless internet connection throughout the building, but the staff were friendly and helpful. Although the view from my room was of the hotel's air conditioning unit, I could see lots of eagles swooping around.

Karachi traffic has to be seen to be believed. It certainly helps me to understand why some drivers in Dubai behave the way they do. It also explains why a former colleague of mine was amazed when I was complaining about the tough time I'd had getting to work here in Dubai one day. He thought that driving here was a breeze compared to his daily commute in Pakistan. He was right.

The two videos below sum up the streets I saw pretty well. Our driver was excellent - possibly the most patient man in Karachi, as well as the only person who seemed to know how to use his indicators properly.

Check out the highly decorated buses. They're Mazdas apparently, with the bodywork being done locally. The taxis here are mostly Datsuns, Toyotas and old Mazdas that are still going despite dating from the late 70s. This is presumably a tribute to both Japanese and Pakistani engineering talents.

Although the traffic gave me a bit of a shock, this was a really enjoyable trip. Karachi, or at least what I saw of it, is a bustling active city. The customers I saw were very knowledgeable, keen to listen to what I had to say and keen to educate me on the issues they were facing - those meetings are always the best.

This week I'm off to Mauritius for our SEE region partner event, which should be a little more relaxing.

( Oct 16 2006, 12:31:26 AM GST ) Permalink

Nigel's passage

We went on a hike this Friday, climbing a route that we christened 'Nigel's Passage', for wont of a more official sounding title, after Nigel Koch, who lead the trip.

Nigel's Passage was a little hairy at times and pretty exhausting work, but we all did it eventually.

The route starts around the beginning of the classic Wadi Bih trip. You walk past some enormous dumper trucks and a digger that are slowly dismantling the mountain and climb up some steep rocks, edging your way along the side of a cliff for about 30 minutes. Things get less dangerous after that, but the walk is still pretty tiring. It was 35C at least and we were all pretty sweaty by lunchtime. We took a slightly different route back and got back to the cars at about 4.30, having started walking at 11.30. Everyone's legs were aching on Saturday!

Starting up the cliff.

Mrs Saul inspects a settlement. These settlements date back to the 15th century, apparently. A dry stone wall would be made to catch earth washed down during the short periods of rain that come around January and February. The result is a flat muddy 'field' at the top of a mountain. I prefer living in an apartment and doing my shopping at Spinney's.

There are still pots, kettles and other bits and pieces lying around at the top, near the remnants of stone buildings, suggesting that people still use the place to relax, hide out, or simply get back to 'the old ways'.

Another 'field'.

Sweaty, knackered and smug at having done so much exercise on a Friday.

All the photos can be found here.

( Oct 16 2006, 12:17:09 AM GST ) Permalink Comments [3]

Monday October 09, 2006

Veiled criticism

I was disappointed to read Jack Straw's recent comments about veiled women in his constituency. I was equally disappointed to view the reaction from certain members of the British muslim community to those comments.

It's not up to me to opine on how muslim women should dress. That's up to them to decide for themselves. Some are happy not to wear very much at all. Some are happy with loose fitting clothers and a headscarf, others prefer to be fully veiled. Interestingly the niqab, the face covering that Straw was referring to, is more of a tradition in the Gulf than in the areas of Pakistan, India and Bangladesh from which many of the Asian msulim women in Britain originate.

It's a common reaction amongst Westerners to view headscarves and other types of muslim apparel as some kind of symbol of oppression. Having lived in the Middle East for a while, it becomes clearer that for many women it's simply a modest way to dress.

Different people's interpretations of 'modest dress' vary from one community to the next. A British girl would be unlikely to go to Tesco's wearing a bikini, but she'd be happy to wear one on the beach. Asking a veiled muslim woman to unveil herself in front of Mr Straw during a constituency meeting may not be dissimilar to asking her to take her top off or wear a shorter dress. True, some may veil themselves to make some kind of political or moral statement. My feeling is that the motivation for the majority is the desire to dress modestly.

I can understand that it can be disconcerting to talk to people whose faces you can't see. One of the most enjoyable presentations I've given during my time in Dubai was to a group of girls from one of the schools in Sharjah, the neighbouring emirate. All the girls were wearing an abaya (a loose fitting black garment) and headscarf (called a shayla here). About 10 of the 25 girls also wore a veil that fully covered the face, or a niqab, which left their eyes showing. It was a new experience to present to an audience whose reactions I couldn't gauge correctly, but I soon got used to it. Modest the girls certainly were - timid and lacking in confidence they certainly weren't. I wish all my customer presentations resulted in questions that put me to the test as much as those posed by this group of young UAE nationals.

Mr Straw could have been a bit more diplomatic in the way he presented his views. He's fully entitled to his views and to say what he sees fit, but if he wants to get his message across he should have worded it differently.

I felt the response to his comments showed an equal lack of understanding and diplomacy. This clearly wasn't an outright attack on Islam or on muslim women's dignity, or some sort of underhand and covert attempt to upset and undermine Britain's muslims. Getting angry and offended by his remarks is simply devisive and plays into the hands of those who do want to isolate British muslims. The correct reaction would have been to smile and offer to meet with Mr Straw to present the other side of the story. A golden chance was missed to present the muslim majority I'm familiar with as a tolerant bunch who appreciate that their culture is not the majority culture in the UK, but which considers itself very much part of what modern Britain is today and is keen to explain their customs and beliefs in a pleasant way. Britain's a tolerant place - a little polite clarification and assuaging of other people's fears would have gone a long way.

It's clear that certain elements of the press will always quote selectively and choose to feature whoever makes the best copy. It's a shame that the first people to react and be quoted always seem to be those who appear to be intent on damaging the long term interests of their fellows. The newspapers ought to be turning to someone moderate, well spoken and media savvy. Instead we get the rabble rousers - on both sides.

The local press here highlighted the recent case of Shabina Begum. I consider this girl's actions to have been incredibly misguided and damaging. What the press focused on here was the fact that she went to court to demand the right to wear the full length jilbab to school - and lost her case. What wasn't mentioned was the there was another school next door to her which would have allowed her to attend wearing the jilbab. Another fact that was missed out was that the school she took to court had already implemented a dress code that was acceptable to their many muslim pupils - a dress code decided on after extensive consultation with local members of the local muslim community. A great fuss ended up being made about nothing.

I'm not a muslim. I am, however, perfectly happy with a multicultural Britain made up of many different cultures and communities who choose to live there and make a positive contribution. For any minority to live happily amongst a larger dominant culture, it takes both sides to make an effort to put their case in a clear and calm manner. Let's not start driving people apart over trivial matters, when there's so much more at stake.

Sunday October 08, 2006

Flickr and YouTube unblocked

Hooray, Flickr and YouTube are no longer blocked by the UAE proxy, so I can start posting our photos and videos again.

To celebrate, here's another chance to watch my suitcase do an impression of a butter churner on the conveyor belt at Kigali airport.

Moscow trip

Excellent trip to Moscow last week - really well organised by the local team with lots of customer and partner meetings. I hope it was as useful for the people I met as it was for me.

The Marriott Grand I stayed in was incredibly expensive and pretty dull - one of those hotels whose facilities you'd never use unless you were staying there. My room was all inclusive, but I was shocked to see that for those who didn't have breakfast included, the morning buffet came to around $43. Considering $35 at the same restaurant in the evening would buy you a large steak with chips and vegetables, plus a drink, that comes in pretty high for a slice of toast and an omelette. It's pretty clear where they make their margin.

I really think it's time for larger companies such as Sun to do some central negotiating with the larger hotel chains and start cracking down on these rip off prices. I fully understand that a hotel has to make its money somewhere, but my preference is for clear and honest pricing, not lots of hidden costs via inflated breakfast buffets that don't even include soda water, or $5 KitKats from warm minibar fridges.

Moscow traffic is very heavy. On the days we had to cross the city for meetings, the average speed was about 3 miles an hour. I was amazed at the number of accidents I saw, most of which were caused by an alternative approach to lane discipline. On the day I spent three hours in the car in total I saw 6 shunts that had just occurred, as well as a seventh take place right next to me. Someone randomly careered into the back of the car preceding them as we drove under a bridge, probably because the driver at fault was babbling on his mobile phone and not paying attention. I was quite happy to be back on the roads of Dubai this weekend...

I'm in Karachi this week. The blog entry reaches you from the hotel's business centre as there is no in-room internet access. Grrr.

Monday October 02, 2006

Dubai Daily photo blog

Here's a great new blog I've been enjoying - Dubai Daily Photo.

The author's getting a great mix of 'traditional' and modern Dubai.

I love this photo of the fountain at Dubai Marina.

The jets of water shoot from ground level and kids love running around and over the fountain trying not to get squirted. That said, getting soaking wet whilst your parents are distracted by something else actually seems to be the main aim of the game.