This country has the most amazing stores and offers the best shopping experience (UAE consumers speak out on biggest annoyances while shopping, October 7). Unfortunately, customer service is not so good.
Customer-service professionals seem to focus on how to mob customers and rob them of the joys of idle browsing, as opposed to informing them about the products on sale.
Elizabeth Doherty, Dubai
Sales staff need to be taught about acceptable behaviour in different cultures. Western culture is generally about smiling and saying hello and then leaving the person alone. They will come to you if they require help. Other cultures might prefer to be served immediately and waited upon.
Giles Heaton, Dubai
I hate it when salespersons follow me around with their sales pitch. It makes me feel either pressured or as if I am being guarded.
A person who is interested to buy something can approach a salesperson.
Mj Uy, Philippines
It’s incredibly annoying when sales staff mob you as soon as you walk into a store. I have lost count of the number of times I have turned around and walked out. The sooner sales managers adopt a proper approach to sales and customer service the better for everyone.
Simon Buckerfield, UK
Prices and service were bad in UK stores. Then e-commerce took over. Now you can’t find what you want in stores and the service is even worse. I hope UAE retailers up their game before consumers are left with no choice but to shop online.
Ben Adamson, Dubai
Happiness is very important
If you put too much responsibility on children to obtain the best grades, they will lose interest in learning (Overemphasis on success is driving children to despair, October 5). We should encourage every child to pursue their interests and talent without pressuring them.
April Tarman, Dubai
Schools need to focus on children’s happiness. Education is not about creating a society full of geniuses.
Karen Cristina Hernández Agreda, Dubai
Happiness is more important than scores. I wish schools realised this.
Abeer Al Nowais, Abu Dhabi
Crucial lesson in democracy
I liked the article Dubai voters teach their children democracy by example, says Sheikh Mohammed (October 3). I always did the same.
I never take the right to vote for granted. It may feel, at times, that it doesn’t matter, but just keep doing it. The Government should involve the children in the vote by creating a ballot and booth just for them.
David W Blandford, US
Shark auction is shocking
Sometimes we visit the Dubai fish and vegetable market in the evening to enjoy the atmosphere. But I came in for a shock recently as we found about 200 sharks of various types and sizes – from less than half a metre to adult fish – lined up for auctioning.
We were surprised because we thought that shark meat was not very popular in this region. A trader explained that those sharks came from Oman and that they were mainly fished for their fins. There was no doubt about it.
After a rather silent auctioning, a man came and systematically chopped off all the fins and carted them away to a cooling truck.
The carcasses, the trader said, would be taken to factories in Sharjah to be dried and exported mainly to Sri Lanka. But the real money is in the fins that fetch thousands of dollars in some markets.
I hope steps are taken to stop this mindless slaughtering of sharks.
Rita Amer, Mirdif, Dubai
Global state-owned investor ranking by size
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United States
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2.
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China
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UAE
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Japan
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5
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Norway
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6.
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Canada
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Singapore
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8.
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Australia
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Saudi Arabia
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South Korea
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THE SPECS
Engine: 1.5-litre turbocharged four-cylinder
Transmission: Constant Variable (CVT)
Power: 141bhp
Torque: 250Nm
Price: Dh64,500
On sale: Now
More on animal trafficking
Timeline
2012-2015
The company offers payments/bribes to win key contracts in the Middle East
May 2017
The UK SFO officially opens investigation into Petrofac’s use of agents, corruption, and potential bribery to secure contracts
September 2021
Petrofac pleads guilty to seven counts of failing to prevent bribery under the UK Bribery Act
October 2021
Court fines Petrofac £77 million for bribery. Former executive receives a two-year suspended sentence
December 2024
Petrofac enters into comprehensive restructuring to strengthen the financial position of the group
May 2025
The High Court of England and Wales approves the company’s restructuring plan
July 2025
The Court of Appeal issues a judgment challenging parts of the restructuring plan
August 2025
Petrofac issues a business update to execute the restructuring and confirms it will appeal the Court of Appeal decision
October 2025
Petrofac loses a major TenneT offshore wind contract worth €13 billion. Holding company files for administration in the UK. Petrofac delisted from the London Stock Exchange
November 2025
180 Petrofac employees laid off in the UAE
In-demand jobs and monthly salaries
- Technology expert in robotics and automation: Dh20,000 to Dh40,000
- Energy engineer: Dh25,000 to Dh30,000
- Production engineer: Dh30,000 to Dh40,000
- Data-driven supply chain management professional: Dh30,000 to Dh50,000
- HR leader: Dh40,000 to Dh60,000
- Engineering leader: Dh30,000 to Dh55,000
- Project manager: Dh55,000 to Dh65,000
- Senior reservoir engineer: Dh40,000 to Dh55,000
- Senior drilling engineer: Dh38,000 to Dh46,000
- Senior process engineer: Dh28,000 to Dh38,000
- Senior maintenance engineer: Dh22,000 to Dh34,000
- Field engineer: Dh6,500 to Dh7,500
- Field supervisor: Dh9,000 to Dh12,000
- Field operator: Dh5,000 to Dh7,000
Engine: 3.5-litre V6
Transmission: eight-speed automatic
Power: 290hp
Torque: 340Nm
Price: Dh155,800
On sale: now
Five hymns the crowds can join in
Papal Mass will begin at 10.30am at the Zayed Sports City Stadium on Tuesday
Some 17 hymns will be sung by a 120-strong UAE choir
Five hymns will be rehearsed with crowds on Tuesday morning before the Pope arrives at stadium
‘Christ be our Light’ as the entrance song
‘All that I am’ for the offertory or during the symbolic offering of gifts at the altar
‘Make me a Channel of your Peace’ and ‘Soul of my Saviour’ for the communion
‘Tell out my Soul’ as the final hymn after the blessings from the Pope
The choir will also sing the hymn ‘Legions of Heaven’ in Arabic as ‘Assakiroo Sama’
There are 15 Arabic speakers from Syria, Lebanon and Jordan in the choir that comprises residents from the Philippines, India, France, Italy, America, Netherlands, Armenia and Indonesia
The choir will be accompanied by a brass ensemble and an organ
They will practice for the first time at the stadium on the eve of the public mass on Monday evening
Sarfira
Director: Sudha Kongara Prasad
Starring: Akshay Kumar, Radhika Madan, Paresh Rawal
Rating: 2/5
The story in numbers
18
This is how many recognised sects Lebanon is home to, along with about four million citizens
450,000
More than this many Palestinian refugees are registered with UNRWA in Lebanon, with about 45 per cent of them living in the country’s 12 refugee camps
1.5 million
There are just under 1 million Syrian refugees registered with the UN, although the government puts the figure upwards of 1.5m
73
The percentage of stateless people in Lebanon, who are not of Palestinian origin, born to a Lebanese mother, according to a 2012-2013 study by human rights organisation Frontiers Ruwad Association
18,000
The number of marriages recorded between Lebanese women and foreigners between the years 1995 and 2008, according to a 2009 study backed by the UN Development Programme
77,400
The number of people believed to be affected by the current nationality law, according to the 2009 UN study
4,926
This is how many Lebanese-Palestinian households there were in Lebanon in 2016, according to a census by the Lebanese-Palestinian dialogue committee
ABU%20DHABI'S%20KEY%20TOURISM%20GOALS%3A%20BY%20THE%20NUMBERS
%3Cp%3EBy%202030%2C%20Abu%20Dhabi%20aims%20to%20achieve%3A%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3E%E2%80%A2%2039.3%20million%20visitors%2C%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20nearly%2064%25%20up%20from%202023%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3E%E2%80%A2%20Dh90%20billion%20contribution%20to%20GDP%2C%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20about%2084%25%20more%20than%20Dh49%20billion%20in%202023%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3E%E2%80%A2%20178%2C000%20new%20jobs%2C%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20bringing%20the%20total%20to%20about%20366%2C000%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3E%E2%80%A2%2052%2C000%20hotel%20rooms%2C%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20up%2053%25%20from%2034%2C000%20in%202023%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3E%E2%80%A2%207.2%20million%20international%20visitors%2C%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20almost%2090%25%20higher%20compared%20to%202023's%203.8%20million%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3E%E2%80%A2%203.9%20international%20overnight%20hotel%20stays%2C%3C%2Fstrong%3E%2022%25%20more%20from%203.2%20nights%20in%202023%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
