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From Vision™ to nightmare
- It was October 2003; the setting was the recently opened Madinat Jumeirah, its lobby strewn with even more rose-petals and incense-bearers than usual. For the weary Dubai hack pack, lured there by the anticipation of free Jumeirah International catering and yet another laser-etched paperweight or pleather business folder, it was clear that Sheikhliness was afoot.

Sharpened pencils and reporters\' notebooks were readied as the crowds descended the elevator into the press conference room. It was packed to the rafters. As well as journalists there were endless VIP guests, businesspeople and white-robed members of the royal retinue.

This was an era of great works of Vision™ - from Dubai Internet City and Media City to Dubai International Financial Centre. The emirate was growing, it was the start of the boom. People were excited about Dubai, they were anticipating great things. So far everything made sense. The direction was clear. Trade, commerce, technology: all areas that Dubai already did or likely could excel at.

And then a lengthy video played, introducing Dubailand. Endless CGI scenes of housing developments were intercut with stock footage of theme parks and shots of Dubai. It was more bewildering than impressive. As it went on, it made progressively less sense. The accompanying speech was no more enlightening.

As the media shuffled out, and started swapping notes, one thing became clear. Everyone had been left with a strange, prevailing sensation of tackiness. (According to one source in a production company that didn\'t win the bid, the video was made on the cheap in Asia). Nonetheless, this was an era when everyone believed in Dubai, and when everyone - local or expat - wanted to believe in Dubai.

But no one understood Dubailand. Other than that it appeared to be connected to tourism, it didn\'t seem very well defined. And its history has been one of cancellations, cover-ups, shifting goalposts. There was this article by ITP (link goes to archived pdf): \"Projects worth billions of dollars have been shelved on the massive Dubailand development\" - it was hastily pulled from the web, despite containing quotes from a senior official. Its assertions were never corrected or denied. As one source says in the banned article: \"Many [projects] were unfeasible and impractical - the numbers just didn?t work, and they were simply shrouded by the glitz of the idea.\"

Looking back, Dubailand is perhaps the defining moment when the Vision™ first faltered. Let us not forget what we were told that day, these are the words of His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum:

\"I would like to tell capitalists that Dubai does not need investors, investors need Dubai and I tell you that the risk lies not in using your money but in letting it pile up. It is dormant and dead if it is merely a figure in an account. I tell them not to hold onto it and kill it in safes, let it breathe and be active because money is like water - if you lock it up, it becomes stagnant and foul-smelling, but if you let it flow, it stays fresh. If it does not flow, it will become stagnant and its colour will change. When I encourage you to invest, I am not asking you to put your money into a fire - I guarantee that your money will be invested in carefully studied projects. I want to be frank with you - I have the courage to take decisions and to bear the responsibility for the consequences. Do you have the courage to be frank and decisive?\"

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Seven star service
- Here\'s a lucrative career suggestion for anyone struggling in the Dubai recession, and you don\'t even have to get out of bed:

\"STUNNING star student Paige Ashley turned her back on a lawyer\'s career to make Ł1million as a real life Belle de Jour.

My biggest one-off job was with three Arab businessmen at the Emirates Palace Hotel in Abu Dhabi,\" she said. \"It\'s a seven-star hotel and everything is decked out in gold leaf. They paid me Ł20,000 for one night with all of them. By morning I was exhausted.

\"Arab men are fascinated by Western women. We\'re almost like status symbols to them. I\'ve met girls working in Abu Dhabi, Dubai and Bahrain who\'ve made a million out of escorting.\"

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Bubbles in the sand
- I\'m forever blowing bubbles
Property bubbles in the sand
They grow so fast, obviously can\'t last
But why do I care, I still own the land
People keep on buying
I take all their cash
Oh, I\'m forever blowing bubbles
And bubbles always crash

\"Nowadays, ten months after the financial crisis came crashing in on the United Arab Emirates (UAE), nearly destroying its shiniest component, Dubai, hundreds of cranes and dredgers have yet to resume work. The Queen Elizabeth II, once the world?s smartest liner, due to become yet another posh Dubai hotel, is a sleeping quayside hulk. Nothing is happening on three of the most recently man-made islands shaped like palm trees off Dubai?s coast that were the latest flashy projects of Nakheel, the emirate?s shaky real-estate developer.\"

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British adulteress arrested in Dubai
- Another lucky expat gets a free stay at the Al Wathba government hotel:

A BRITISH businesswoman faces a year inside a squalid Arab prison for having an affair ? after her fuming husband shopped her to police.

Cops in Dubai nabbed blonde mum-of-two Sally Antia, 44, as she left a five-star hotel with her lover in the early hours.

Last night she was in custody and facing deportation after admitting in court: ?Yes, I did it.?

Sally, who has been married for 14 years and lived in Dubai for 12, told officers she paid for her lover?s flights from the UK to the strict Muslim emirate.

Calling Dubai a \"strict Muslim emirate\" is akin to describing Amsterdam as a \"puritanical Christian state\".

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UAE sheikh filmed committing torture
- This is an unpleasantly graphic story to quote extensively from, but the response of UAE authorities is relevant and disturbing:

In a statement to ABC News, the UAE Ministry of the Interior said it had reviewed the tape and acknowledged the involvement of Sheikh Issa bin Zayed al Nahyan, brother of the country\'s crown prince, Sheikh Mohammed.

\"The incidents depicted in the video tapes were not part of a pattern of behavior,\" the Interior Ministry\'s statement declared.

The Minister of the Interior is also one of Sheikh Issa\'s brother.

The government statement said its review found \"all rules, policies and procedures were followed correctly by the Police Department.\"

That someone born into immeasurable wealth and luxury could commit an act of such inhuman depravity over \"a grain delivery\" is beyond words. That this man is the son of the late Sheikh Zayed is, for all of us who loved and admired Zayed and greatly mourned his death, a exceedingly bitter pill to swallow.

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