November 17, 2009. That’s few weeks after I arrived here in Dubai, UAE. And for some hundreds of personal reasons, I thought I have lost the passion to write. There were also several problems that took a bit of time to settle. So I apologize for not really attending to my blog these past few months. When you are in some place and you have to re-adjust yourself it’s not too easy to jump back on the old habits not to mention the loss of interest because of the challenges that keeps coming time to time. So much for venting out. Let me tell you about my recent sentiments about Dubai.

Dubai have drastically changed from the last time I was here. A lot of things including unemployment rate, the world crisis that almost buried Dubai to the grounds, the massive downfall of the real estate business which was also one of Dubai’s main source of economy, and the worst part; the constant changing of rules.

Way back around 10 years ago, Dubai would pride itself as hope for those who struggle in life. There were countless of success stories everywhere. Those who can’t find their luck in finding their career back in the Philippines would easily make their happily ever after. People could keep trying their luck even if it takes for them to do the troublesome visa run after 2 months and a month of stay as an extension for the visit visa ; be it in Kish Island, Oman or Queshem.

Those happy days are over. They only allow you to stay for a month and another month for an extension, then you’ll have to leave the country for at least a month before you can actually come back for another visit status. Those who recently arrived in the country found themselves with no choice but to quickly grab any offer to gain their employment/residential statuses.

Another issue I’ve also found out was about the real estate business. I came from a real estate company and worked for 2 wonderful years with them as a web designer and a property consultant as well. The property prices have shockingly dropped to 30%-50% from their original prices. And I’ve heard from one of my previous employers that those people who bought properties from before suffered a massive loss. Imagine my client before who bought a property in the Discovery Gardens near Ibn Batutta Mall for a selling price of around AED 1.2M and just a few months after the property value have dropped down to as much as AED 500,000. Yes, he’s paying a half more from what the price was supposed to be now.

The worst part doesn’t stop there. Before, people who bought properties were entitled to a residential visa making them eligible for sponsoring their families to stay in Dubai. As the real estate law have also changed, effective immediately, those who haven’t gotten their residential visas had lost the priviledge just like that and it majorly affected those who are still paying their plans or waiting for the hand over of the property.

I’m not really trying to discourage anyone from trying their luck. I just want people to think things all over again before ending up with big mistakes and decisions. And I’m also basing my story from the countless of number of Filipinos I encounter with their own sad stories particularly the ones I met in Kish Islan, Iran. To all the Filipinos who struggle real hard to support their families, my big salutes to you and wishing you all the best and good luck as you continue your journey. You’re the real heroes!