Dr. Khaled M. Batarfi

The handsome, well dressed, well spoken young Emirati explained to me how the passport system in Dubai airport worked. It was simple — it took seconds to scan my passport first page … and that was all!



When I showed my admiration, he told me there are even faster ways. I could get an Emirate residence ID, from an office located at the airport, in ten minutes. Then I could used it to get through the electronic gates, without passing by a passport officer. I could also get an E-card, for the same purpose. Or, I could just scan my passport at the gate, and it would open for me, all the same. “How about a trial?” he smilingly suggested. “If you wish, go over there and try it, it is much faster!”



“It can’t get any faster, but… yes, I would love to try that!” I said and did... but unfortunately, it didn’t work, so another welcoming officer there let me in, and found out within seconds that my name is still mixed up with another person. And before I explain to him, he told me, as he read the screen before him, that it has been there for years, and they’ll fix it … eventually! And welcomed me in!



You see, dear reader, “order” and “civility” is what makes a civilization. In Singapore, Hong Kong and Dubai, I felt a VIP every minute. Not because I was special, but because the system makes everyone feels so.



Back to the first step, airline services. Emirates Airline, Singapore Airlines and Cathy Pacific Airways treated me like I am the one who matters. Everything went smoothly, orderly and on-time. Airports function as expected. Transportation in all its forms — metro, busses and taxis — is first-world class. Hotels, banks, shops, restaurants… everything you do, everywhere you go, everyone you deal with gives as what you come to expect — good, functioning system: Order, punctuality, security, service and civility.



How? Why? When? I kept asking myself and those who know, like Saudi businessman and Dubai admirer, Fahed Almoqeren. Here’s what I came up with:



Since I visited this city-state in the early 1990s, Dubai has gone through a great transformation. A strategy was put up to build a new metropolitan, with a new order and outlook. Basically, the idea was to make the town a global service center, where East and West meets. To do so, they needed to go the Singapore and Hong Kong’s way.



So Emiratis invested their oil revenues in building sophisticated facilities: Modern port, airport, banks, roads, telecommunication, towers, malls…  all the works!



They adopted the free market system, provided easy loans and skilled labors; and opened their doors widely for tourism and commerce.



International, and particularly regional, investments were invited, encouraged and protected. The result is a tower city, with top facilities, excellent security, efficient services and easy access to cash and labor.



The most important achievement, in my opinion, was “order.” No project, let alone mega project like building a new, competitive commerce and services hub in the Arabian desert, could reach the stars without an enabling system. The vision of Sheikh Mohammad Bin Rashed has been realized with a Swiss-watch mechanism, that he has been overseeing personally, every step of the way.



In twenty-five years, the strategy has persisted and, at every stage, succeeded.



Now, that is an historic lesson in civilization building worth teaching.



In my last article, “Religion and media: Coverage makes difference?,” Dr. Rasheid Small has this to say:



“In South Africa there is legislation which prohibits the publication of hate-speech. In terms of the regulations, the news agency is held accountable for any hate-speech published in its publications. The penalty for violation of the regulations ranges from a withdrawal of the article together with a public apology to the closure of the news agency.



“The question needs to be asked is ‘What are the moral and ethical guidelines applied by reporters?’ It seems as if reporting has become a tool for pushing agendas rather than reflect on the facts. In modern day reporting, religion has become the fuel to cause social tension between societies based on the concept of fear and hatred. A large proportion of reporters lack the integrity to report facts, and is often driven by the desire to gain recognition and fame through sensationalizing facts and serving their masters, who are generally war mongers.”



Faiz Al-Najdi writes:  “His suggestion for a Code of Ethics for journalists is a right thing to do. Using print and electronic media power to divide people, spread hate and prejudices and negativity falls in the category of Yellow Journalism. It is high time that UN passed a charter to declare such a practice as international crime — liable to legal and punitive action.”



– Dr. Khaled M. Batarfi can be reached at kbatarfi@gmail.com and followed on Twitter: @kbatarfi