His Highness Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum – Ruler of Dubai
If we go back ten years or more, Lebanese used to go to Dubai and the Gulf countries in general because of the higher salaries and the better job opportunities. Most people I know weren’t very fond of living there and wanted to work for few years in Dubai, make a few bucks and go back to Lebanon. They wouldn’t miss an opportunity to visit Beirut, whether on weekends or on holidays as that’s where family is and all the fun is.
However, Lebanon has been going backwards for years now while GCC countries have been achieving outstanding progress on all aspects, and have turned in less than 30 years into highly developed countries providing some of the highest living standards in the region, if not worldwide. Of course oil wealth played a crucial role in transforming the UAE’s economy into what it is today, but it takes more than money to win people’s hearts and keep them happy and proud of their city.
Having said that, I’ve never been to Dubai but I was happy to know a couple of days ago that they won the rights to host the World Expo 2020. I even posted about it as it’s an incredible achievement and Dubai will be the first city in the Middle East, Africa and South East Asia to host this event. Of course a lot of Lebanese rejoiced over this win, specially the ones residing in Dubai, but some of them took it as far as trashing Lebanon and praising the Dubai ruler as their true leader.
Honestly speaking, I don’t think we’re still in a position to compare ourselves to Dubai or any of the UAE because they are far ahead of us in all aspects. We could have had an F1 GP years before the Bahrain and Abu Dhabi ones but we wasted the opportunity due to corruption and political bickering, we could have had a Beirut Media City but our infrastructure was deplorable (it still is), Arabs used to visit Lebanon for its nightlife but that’s not the case anymore (MP Mohammad Raad is happy to hear that), MEA Airlines are now the worst-ranked airlines in the region, we could have hosted the Asian Football Cup here if it wasn’t for the shaky security situation (While Qatar won the rights to host the World Cup), we used to have the best universities in the region but not anymore, we had one of the best Football teams and could have qualified to the World Cup but match-fixing and corruption among players ruined our chances and the list goes on and on. The only common thing we have with Dubai nowadays is the high cost of living, with the only difference being that their salaries are 5 to 10 times as much as ours.
Forum De Beyrouth exhibition hall burned with envy yesterday upon hearing Dubai’s Expo2020 win
Lebanon has lost its competitive advantage over the Gulf countries in almost every aspect, but that doesn’t mean we should trash it and praise others, or envy others and blame them for our problems (or criticize them when they don’t help us). We’re going through some rough times, there’s a neighboring country at war, there are more than 1 million refugees on Lebanese soil, we have a huge debt and the most corrupt political class in the world.
Hopefully we will get past these obstacles but until then, let’s stop envying others out of hatred and jealousy, and let’s remember Lebanon is our country whether we like it or not (I love it!), and unless you choose to leave and become an expat, try to make the best out of it and stop cheering and voting for the same people screwing it up. Let’s spread some positive energy and some love instead of looking for reasons to fight.
Dubai may not be a democracy, yet its ruler is more humble and wise than most of our politicians and has managed to gain everyone’s admiration without seeking their votes or bribing them. Dubai is now a second home to a lot of Lebanese because there’s so much positive energy in this city that you can’t not love it, even if you’ve never been there.
So Congrats to Dubai and the UAE and best of luck for Expo2020!
Exactly ! Bravo … best way to say it 🙂
My dear Lebanese friends,
What is the point of being far ahead of everyone in the area when it is all artificial?
A life is not visiting fancy shops, nice airline companies, high futuristic buildings …
We still have a surviving MEA and believe me it is much better then many european airliners, We have our sense of humour, We have our history and tradition…
So all u need is just to love your country as it is…
Dear GT ,
To make it short , I think you need to pay a visit to DUBAI or to get out of Lebanon …to see some civilization…
You couldn’t have said it better ! 100%
With all due respect, please don’t use the “Artificial” nonsense!
Have you visited Dubai recently. We are from the land the does NOT respect us as human beings while everything is available in Dubai to let u live a decent life…
So please don’t use ur lebanese excuses! Please spare us this Bull****!
The worst excuse, the absolute worst excuse lebanese have for putting dubai down is the “artifical” argument.
Granted, no comparison between Lebanon’s beauty and the rest of the GCC. But enough already!
What is there in New York other than buildings? (I have been there) hong kong? Paris? (perhaps some history to go along)… One Day Dubai will be in the shoes of New York and Paris, and it will have built a legacy.
You talk about visiting fancy shops as if in Lebanon that is not common practice. Lebanon has one of the highest plastic surgery rates in the world. At least, i say, whereas in the UAE or some other GCC Cities the country or buildings are artificial, the people are not! Whereas in our country, we might still have a little nature left, but very little real people, except in villages where beauty still resides!
Let us accept where we are so we can move forward. I am proud of my country, the air, the mountains, the nature, the beauty (All GOD MADE), but very sad with everything going on that is MAN MADE (Lebanese MAN. And Oh, stop blaming the world for your shortcomings!
I live in Dubai, and i would rather be in lebanon, sipping my mother’s morning coffee, but lebanon has left me without opportunity or means to support a family. It has not built “artificial” business hubs, “artificial” infrastructure, “artificial” industrial areas, “artificial” human resource hubs, it built “artificial” wars, “Artificial” people, “artificial” pride, and an “artificial” identity.
I hope one day Lebanon can catch up to Dubai, even better, New york and Paris, because this is where it deserves to be. But, nothing will happen when we look down at others.
Please stop calling Dubai “artificial”!!! so what if it’s a newly developed place and it has nice buildings and it’s manicured to perfection…it’s a place conceived the last 30 years…of course it will be perfect and new and spotless…it doesn’t mean it’s artificial…and they have great maintenance so if something is broken, they fix it RIGHT AWAY…
Dubai is a wonderful ambitious place that is full of life. They are progressing so fast, not just with buildings, but with attitude and laws and mentality, while Lebanon is going backwards with everything. I think it is time we, Lebanese, looked around and learnt from winning experiences around us rather than criticizing success because we just can’t achieve it…Before my fellow Lebanese can say one word about Dubai, let them first stop throwing garbage on the floor (especially stinking cigarettes), cross res lights when driving like maniacs, and start respecting a line when they’re queuing to get their Tiesto tickets…Get down from your high horses my fellow Lebanese and start really loving your country and not just painting te flag on your cheek and then acting like maniacs.
Lebanon is a wonderful place, but I think we ruined it beyond repair…I hope I am wrong.
very very well said!
It is an ARAB pride !!!!!
its feels bad that we have to look up at them now..not only at the UAE. Just few countries are left for us to look down at. We must do something other than pretending we still beat them with our good looks,genius genes and humor :S
well said 🙂
A friend of mine lives with his wife and children in Dubai. He got immigration visa to Canada, but he’s reluctant to go. His family would rather stay in Dubai than go to “icy” Canada. They believe that Dubai is BETTER than Canada!!
citizens of Canada, USA, UK, Germany, France, Italy and over 200 other nations in the world dream of working and living in Dubai! I’ve met Canadians in Dubai who dont want to go back to Canada if given the chance to stay in Dubai.
most of them don’t… believe me!
Rents should increase in Dubai after the Expo win, which is not good for us expats.
On the other side, the Expo win should provide more jobs in the coming years, of which the Lebanese should have a portion. At least let’s hope so.
Dubai and Abu Dhabi are the places to be right now, until things calm down back home. And we’re not in Europe or the Americas to think we’re gonna live all our lives here, we’re never gonna have the nationality and need our Lebanon to get back to. That’s where some of the Lebanese UAE expats miss it.
Not rents would increase, only sales!
what a genius reply!!
… And then another crash after the expo 2020….
Lebanon is ruled by Nasrallah and dahyeh is the best example of where we are heading in the future if you can call that a future. Nasrallah is the true unelected president and Mhmd Raad runs our politics and foreign policy and the future is bright , the future is yellow.
yes that’s very true ur saying but from another point of view also we r in this bad situation because of hariri’s bad money policy which led us to 50 billion debt till 2005 after that alla yse3edna, so dont be one sided, one to be blamed for money crisis and other for security crisis
Hariri died in 2005, 8 years ago and you still blame him for the debt. I agree on that, blame him forever.
8 years later we are not better and thieves are still stealing and we haven’t built a single thing for the future since he died.
Hizbulla is stealing everything, the port, the airport, the telecommunication, the electricity, the ministry of agriculture, ministry of health and you are SILENT likes sheep and cows waiting for the day, you will not be allowed to say Nasrallah is a thief and the day, he will declare himself Ruler on you and your children.
But why not continue to blame Hariri.. its easy after all he built nothing for the country, just another thief.
i continue to blame him and forever ur right but if i do they will say he died its not his fault after thats why 🙂
I agree with you and I say ” Rafik Hariri was great and the best for Lebanon ” !!!
Yeah Tripoli and Hariri are heavenly!
The paragraph where you’re doing the comparison is really sad. Like we knew all this but seeing it put that way….damn we lost so much…going backwards at full speed 🙁
Very nicely said … Thanks,
Why not formulate an open letter about all that and send it to our politicians ….
Sorry but what do yo mean not anymore the best universities in the region? What makes you say that? AUS or AUD are better than AUB now for example?
Nouri,
AUS and AUD? Do you have any idea how many universities the Gulf countries have? I linked to one article showing AUB in 2nd position regionally after King Fahd’s university in KSA.
Dude,
Stop the hallucination.Lebanon will never be what you think it was! NEVER…
It was a cesspool and still is. I wish it would be different; however we all have been listening to this freaking broken record forever now. We all thought things will change either “this year or next”. You are not the first generation who are thinking positive.
Sorry to be so factual and realistic. Today blame Nassrallah; yesterday Hariri…Before that PLO…Before that Kataeb, PSP, Shamoun…etc…etc…
Snap out of it…or live based on what you have.
Let’s all snap out together then! Either that or this!
so please guys, go on, keep voting for the same rotten politicians. keep supporting the same groups. keep fighting between yourselves at lunch or dinner on who is more right than the other. keep feeling good about yourselves because you won an argument about politics over your friend. keep fighting in universities on who should win the votes. keep putting up pictures of your so called leaders in every corner and every lamp-post and every wall. keep giving them excuses why they did not progress or cannot change the country for the better. Keep voting for them and if they die just vote for their kids. BUT MOSTLY, KEEP SAYING TO YOURSELVES LEBANON IS DOOMED BECAUSE YOU ARE TOO LAZY TO THINK AND VOTE FOR SOMEONE ELSE, SOMEONE NEW, SOMEONE GOOD, SOMEONE CLEAN, SOMEONE WHO LOVES LEBANON AND IS NOT CORRUPTED. Where is Ziad Baroud today?
I would love to throw an egg in the face of each one of these so called current leaders… Only if I would not get beaten to death by their bodyguards.
you didn’t answer your own question ..this is one silly rant
chanklish move back to USA…Do you have a Q’n…
chou khass ?! eno inta 7kit ya3ne ?
Akeed akeed 😛
I find it weird that the lebanese population do not take responsibility of the ones they elect. the way i see it, if you elect 14 or even 8 of March that is your voting right but once you do that you lose any right to nag about how pitiful lebanon is. so think about that next time you hit the voting polls if there will be next time.
I really wish to get the emarati passport !!!!!!!!
please stand corrected: Dubai is first home!
Very insightful post.
I have been living in dubai for the past 6 years and i lice it. Was last month in the USA and felt disappointed and ashamed that when u said am drom lebanon no one identified this country, yet when i mentioned dibai they all said “wow” lucky you!
I came yesterday to beirut for the weekend and i am so depressed from what am seeing. Month after month and beirut is getting worse. Just been in the beirut souks and lef quickly since ita a ghost town. Walla 7aram that this downtown that was built and is more beautiful than most places i have been to in europe and the US, is now a ghost city with no life in it anymore. Yea hariri might have stolen but atleast he made and airport and thw downtown, got investment and planned projects. Now they are steeling and doing nothing. Harir was a leader irrespective of yourbpolitical thoughts.
Dubai is not only ahead of us but when compared to beirut is on a different planet. Life is so easy and safe there and people never worry about the future.
Lebanon was a heaven and has the nature and weather that dubai can never has, yet even those are going away.
Here in beirut every region has a religion and sect where a she3i doesnt speak to sunni or christian. Whereas in dubai am proud to have an italian and english neighbors. Its not about the mentality its about the environment. Why does a she3i preder to live in she3i area? Whereasbif he were an expat in the US he might have a jewish neighbor and would he fine with it?
Lebanese citizens need to move outside their cage and look at the future. We are being brainwashed and we accept it. 3am yes3asona and we accept it. They are killing us and we accept it. So either do something or shut up and accept it.
Am proud to be in dubai and hope this country continues to raise our heads as arabs and put us on the map with civilization and progress
why does it have to be Beirut OR Dubai?
it should be Beirut AND Dubai.
Dubai won over a russian, a japanese and a brazilian city… Beirut was not even running so we should be happy for Dubai and for the region.
We are not in competition, Dubai is 3 hours away in time zone just as far as Paris or Rome, its location should complement Beirut and not compete against it.
this region can sustain 2 hubs and if Lebanese re-arrange their internal kitchen properly, Beirut can attract multinationals and regain its leading role in the Levant at least.
100% right and this is sad… This is not the first time i say am not that proud of whats happening in my country… However i need to bring to attention that 35 years ago when things where vice versa, and our neighbors used to envy this country to the extent of fueling the political/religious clashes and pumping money and weapons to both parties which is the main reason that led to how Lebanon is today… Yes dubai did a great job winning expo 2020 but today i ask myself if it were lebanon who won this expo, would the emiratees people be as joyful as we are for them or would they be envious ? Honestly i don’t know but the question is worth asking…
I dont know … I’m sure lebanese expats living in Dubai have a great standard of living, services are cheap cos human labor is cheap ….
For instance i live in france, if i want to get a nanny for my kids for just 4 hours a day excluding holidays i need to pay like 1200 euros per month. thats a lot.
Why? because the nanny is no low class citizen, she too has the right to a good living from her job.
So how do i manage? this is where everybody chips in: taxes. I get a 600 euros refund from CAF because i duly pay my taxes and i am employing someone.
I’d rather live in a country where everybody is treated like a human with equal access to ‘life’ than in a country where it all glimmers but only for the white collars …
I dont know … its a choice. Though i understand the appeal to live there, i cannot live somewhere where i am a 2nd degree citizen: cant own land, cant get citizenship. I dont care for elections, we know how great thats been for lebanon. And other people have it so bad, and they cant even complain they’d be deported.
Its all nice and shiny when u live like ur ‘supposed’ to. But if u have 2 ounces of a rebel in u, ud be crushed.
I dont know. my take on Dubai.
well said Maha… thank you!
very well said Maha 🙂
Very well said…I wish I can keep this positive attitude!
This article should be translated and stuck to the door if each house and Appartment in lebanon, so the people can actually wake up and realize what they have done to that wonderful piece of land that god gave to them and they abused it.
Look at all the major cities on the mediternean,no oil, and yet they are way more developed and cleaner than our land, look at nice, marseille, Barcelona, bunch of other cities in Italy and Spain and France… Look at their infrastructure, we can’t just complain and compare to the Arab countries that they have oil and we don’t. Look at the politicians in Lebanon, 70% of them have their kids elsewhere, using the money they stole from their corrupted time in the government.
Why doesn’t anyone say anything? Are the people too scared? Or have too much pride to say it?
Get over yourselves.
Dubai is amazing it has provided all means of happiness to its people , good on them, we should not feel jealous as lebanese, we should learn, ask for support while we do, we don’t want to become the asshole of the Middle East and the world for that matter.
So whoever reads this article and my comment, try and make a difference.
Mabrouk dubai
It is true about everything, the Lebanese citizens are in a coma, but it’s a shame to always talk and never act, it’s a shame to never defend our rights and instead give up our identity! A man without a country is a man without identity! Never give up! Always fight for change, there are millions ways to participate in changing the bitter reality! Who said it is easy to achieve any goal! Great Countries are made of great people! And don’t forget that we are talking about ourselves; we have to believe in changes and be attached more to our country, never lose hope!
Helo kif sarit dawleton mezdehra hek w kif 3am tetawar plus wen rah tsir mabrouk.
Let Dubai taste one Israeli War for 5 days only… And they will feel what Lebanon gone through these years… And being assure one war only will draw back only gulf country hundreds of years ago… Comparatively with all the mess and the barbaric wars on Lebanon; we are still standing relative to many other countries in the MENA region. If you are comparing “apples to apples” this article is nonsense.
umm… dubai doesn’t need to face an israeli war. that’s the beautiful part. they don’t need to because they don’t hang on to this sad ideal forever and ever that israel should not exist, that they will give up their life and every ounce of their existence to “drive the zionists in to the sea”
preoccupy yourself with that and you end up getting your ass beat down again and again by an enemy you couldn’t defeat for ~50 years. but keep trying, please. fuck advancing yourself. fuck making something of yourself, forget all of that, just fight and fight and fight. meanwhile, the israelis, WHILST they whoop your ass, have probably the best tech sector in the middle east. and it’s not just about money, don’t you dare say it’s the money.
you know what i found absolutely sad about lebanon (my country too btw), what was very sad is that you live in a nation which can’t even approach self defense. it’s a a sad little defenseless puppy. maybe one day it’ll grow in to something, but right now it seems that disease will get it first.
you can call me a chicken shit for leaving a country in need, you can call me a coward for not believing. but i tried, i did and the country let me down every single step of the way. i see no reason to keep trying to save a nation that doesn’t want to be saved.
I do wish you the best thought.
thank you. been trying to find the words to say what u have just said, thank u
UAE has occupied islands by Iran and they don’t start wars or resistance or Mouqawama instead they just negotiate even for 20 or 30 years or maybe another 100 years.
Instead they are busy building their country and creating history for its people.
We are busy retrieving Shebaa, What a Fiasco.
Well said I admire the words written but honestly after the experience of living for long years in dubai and now between Qatar and dubai I can’t even say that our country “Lebanon” has 1% of any facility offered to us in Dubai it’s not only about the salaries, in dubai you feel safe good lsecured life is offered to your families and children while in Lebanon you are at threat at any minute and that’s all because we don’t have a good leader as H.H Shk. Mohammed, such a great noble man, the best politician we have has not even 1% of morals as Skh. Mohammed. If you just see what he offers to his people from security, luxurious educated life and the way he does the best to make their life easier you and I as lebanese would just want to wake up one day wishing you won’t see our silly, naive, selfish and cruel politicians sitting in front of the tv cameras filling our ” sob7iyeh” with crap and promises that never saw the light! I love Lebanon but as long as we have all these divided groups of racist and sectarian and our mornings start with political chit chats and our night gathering ends with fights over what this or that politician said and our universities are busy with political elections having students lead political groups that fight and physically hurt each other for some stupid votes for politicians that I can’t even name as leaders because frankly speaking not even one of all knows the real meaning of leadership, then I’m sure that none of all the expatriates will come back from any country around the world to give up their peaceful life and come to live with all the threats and hatred our country offers us. We as lebanese had enough of wars, we are tired of weak bases and need peace big time I hope my country will one day be a peaceful place for our children to live in as I’m sure it won’t be so soon for us to live in
Every word is very very true but it is not enough to talk about it as wise as you are what suggestions you have to get Lebanon back on its feet enough is enough this country was forced to a wheelchair let us all help it
My dear lebanese citizens, look at the bright side …. we have the biggest sa7en 7ommos and tabboole in the world … dubai expo 2020? Shu jeb la jeb!
Lebanon is not a democracy either.
Really nice article. Usually i dont write comments on article specially concerning Lebanon. I am Lebanese, lived in Europe, Asia and in Dubai. I noticed one thing in common: Most of Lebanese people living abroad are successful, ambitious and attached to their country. We all say ya ret Lebanon is like Paris or London or Singapore or Dubai and we all blame our politicians. But now after my experience, the exact same people who used to say that and came back to live in Lebanon, have totally changed. They are voting again, hating each others and caring about religions. Please just stop voting even if they are paying your flight tickets or your tuition fees or simple paying cash, please stop voting..At the end of the day, we are not going anywhere with that. We are smart, trilingual and ambitious.. Just stop voting! or vote for a change!
As a true Lebanese,I am proud of Dubai’s achievement since it reflects what we were striving for but could not achieve due to our political and social complications.
We have to start now rebuilding confidence in ourselves if we believe in our entity.I think what we really need is a social awareness of the actual meening of honesty.
Let us spread it in our schools,in our society,among our friends and colleagues.Let us start from somewhere to compose the puzzle which is Lebanon.
I am aware that it is a hard job,but believe me it is worth the trial if we want our children(and actually our grand children) to inherit the Lebanon that was.
For.the.reference.dubai has.no.oil resources its purely a.business/financial hub , so they are basically only smarter with no resource edge 🙂
Guys let us be honest,
It is us who ruin our country with our own hands because of :
1- Selfish
2- Jealous from each other always,
3- Envy everything and everyone around us but never took a real step and acted like Men when needed (and i do not mean Fights and war yet Brain and help and Love)
4- We always ready to learn more and educate yourself yet never aim to educate and teach others the right and wrong,
5- Always looking for money, safety and fun but never for challenge and implantation of our brains and way of living,
6- Because we become Racist and not as they use to call us open minded and hospitable
7- Because we loose hope very quickly and easy instead of planting more hope and faith in our families and kids.
8 – Because we love to live happy and not accept life as it is (we want everything to come easy as it goes)
9-BECAUSE WE ARE AFRAID TO RIGHT OUR NAMES IN A SIMPLE ARTICLE
10- Because we left our country behind very easy and we couldn’t make any step further to help this happening.
11- Because we count on each other and not on our self’s
12- Because we are followers and not independent.
13- Because we are not flexible to the change
14- Because we can never play in one team or be a team with one leader,we all want to be leaders but on who?
15_ Because the easiest thing for us to do is running away from issue and not working on it to be solved, yet we gossip to make it worse.
16- Because we do not love each other and care about each other as i said we are a selfish human and sorry for that but it is true.
17-Because we always blame others on our mistakes
Many more to be added that we all know is true deep down inside us and this will never change until we release the anger and hate that we have for each other and stop using religion to be the reason of every single problem we have,we are the problem and we should adapt yourself to change and face challenges because no other person will do our job yet will take any single opportunity to his own benefit.
I do live in Dubai as well and i highly respect this place in all means and thank the country for everything they provided to me, yet my country will remain my beloved home and safest place on earth and i will not replace it with any other material or life (Without forgetting that we give a lot back to this country from our heart and we work hard and worked hard to contribute with its growth and success).
I only wish one thing, that if we cannot be one hand back in our country then let us try to do it outside and take care of each other because at the end of the day we are all related to each other in a way or another.
Let us try to gather a meeting or reunion for Lebanese community and if there is already one then i would love to know where it is happening.
Best regards,
Maroun Slaiby
Nizar i like and agree on what you said, well said indeed .
Well said, it’s true 100% and I really wish I can live and work in Dubai along with my small family!!!!!!!
Meanwhile in Lebanon, we can’t maintain 24/7 electricity or have decent roadworks (among a ton of other things).
The main thing is that (most) Lebanese are too busy supporting other countries like Syria, Iran, KSA, and the West and each of those countries have their own vision of Lebanon.
The Lebanese should make the vision, not these countries. But then again, I’m a Sunni so some other sectarian dude is gonna come in here and blame me and say it’s all my fault (and same goes for other sects) so basically we are running around in circles while countries like UAE and just soaring to new heights.
Hell, we make fun of Sri Lankans yet they are way more advanced in many areas.
What is more pathetic is reading those comments. Jeez!
yes, other people’s opinions are pathetic, you’re right. we’re all sorry, we’ll stop now.
I have been an expat in the Gulf for 8 years now. The relationship I have with Lebanon revolves around love and melancholie. Since 2005, the situation in Lebanon has gotten worse and worse. Our nation is disolving in sectarianism, corruption, ignorance, and stupidity. The thing is we all know what the problems are, yet we are so reluctant to do anything about it. We are even reluctant to get our basic rights and needs in order: electricity, water, etc. Everytime I visit Lebanon, people are consumed with politics and politicians. He said, they did this, this is not right. This party is better than the other party and so on. I wonder, have they ever thought that none of these political parties are good. They are all the same: corrupt, selfish and greedy. What have they done to get the country on its feet? to develop Lebanon? To make Lebanon “the” place to invest, live, work, etc? To make Lebanon united? Yet, when it comes to elections, we go cast our votes to the same people for the last 20 years. We start nagging afterwards for the next four years, and then we vote for them again. A menal vicious circle that goes around and around. I hope we will break it soon.
Great post.
But and as an expat in the UAE, I truly believe you’d have a slightly different opinion to your post, if you had visited Dubai once. Things on the inside, aren’t as glam as you hear.
I Love you article and I love the last part!
Dubai may not be a democracy (true they have very strict rules), yet its ruler is more humble and wise than most of our politicians and has managed to gain everyone’s admiration without seeking their votes or bribing them. (everyone loves and admires him even lebanese expats) Dubai is now a second home to a lot of Lebanese because there’s so much positive energy in this city that you can’t not love it, even if you’ve never been there.
(I’ve been there many time for work and for vacation and I absolutely love the positive vibe everywhere you go)
The true problem is that we dwell in the past while other nations dream of the future …
Death to the Lebanese politicians and their retarded uneducated cunt followers
Why are you making from the expo 2020 in Dubai a deal??
Sooner or later Beirut will host this expo after Dubai, the choice of Beirut can be very obvious if minimum security and average infrastructure are provided.
With minimum security, Beirut can show wonders to the world! So let’s wait and be patient and think and plan for the coming future instead of swearing and deploring our eternal country!
Neither Dubai or Doha or any other Arab city who are searching to become the center of the world !!! Can erase Beirut!
In Europe there is not only Paris, there is also London, Milan, Berlin, Amsterdam, Barcelona, etc,,,
If Dubai is living nowadays it’s golden age because of many factors such like …money ..and huge investments in occidental medias, and Beirut temporarily passing by black terrible ugly moments, that doesn’t mean that hope is lost and Lebanon entity is disappearing, if most of Lebanese are desperate and very pessimistic regarding the future which is very normal, there are thousands and thousands others who still believe that their country can and will raise from the bottom of garbage.
Please be realistic, France who is a major decision maker about the place of the universal expo has certainly lot of interests in UAE such like building one of the biggest airport of the world in Jabal Ali!!!!! and many other interests and investments, nothing is given for free!!! Wake up
Congratulations for the whole Arab world !!!
For God’s sake… Can’t you see how much we are lucky to be Lebanese and to live and succeed in Lebanon!!! I do understand that Lebanon is unstable but tell me, was Dubai stable in 2010 post the crash? How many of you were just departed to your home countries with nothing? So you nag about politicians? Stop electing them… You nag about low wages? Tell me how much you pay for your apartment instead of enjoying living in the warmth of your family? How many times you eat out cause you don’t wanna cook for yourself? How much you spend on airline tickets just to come breath in Lebanon? How much you spend on schooling? and of course when you get sick you come to Lebanon for treatment…. Ohhhh and I forgot security and stability… I guess the world is no longer a safe place… Tsunamis, earthquakes, hurricanes, and kids with weapons at school…
Lebanon does not need anyone like you! I’m sorry for my bitterness but I’m so much in love with my Lebanon and wish many of you are…
“The Global Competitiveness Report: Lebanon Infrastructure Ranked 127th Out of 144”
yup Tina…You are so freaking right! Stop advertising yourself. You don’t give a shit about Lebanon. Only your business!!