Story and Photo by Jaejin Lee
Busy. This is how University of Oregon freshman Abdulmohsen “Mason” Al-Mudafh would describe the city of Dubai. From a small fishing village on the shore of Persian Gulf to the home of the world’s tallest building, Emirians (citizens of the United Arab Emirates) came a long way. Al-Mudafh witnessed the progress of the city’s economic growth and expansion in his childhood and teenage from the beginning. He shares his experience of living in the city of globalization and maximization.
Jaejin Lee: How would you describe Dubai to someone who never been there?
Abdulmohsen “Mason” Al-Mudafh: Busy. It is a very stereotypical city. Everything goes around the building atmosphere. Most part of the city are related to tourism. It is hard to stay on focus sometimes.
J: Do you remember the time before Dubai started to grow?
M: I do actually. Everything started to renovate in the early 2000, and it was around 2005-06 when everything finished the renovation. Before that, it was nothing. It was a pile of land. There was only one street that had business was running at that time. It is hard to imagine by looking today’s Dubai. It has been a huge progress.
J: What was it feel like experiencing such a rapid changes?
M: I got excited. I remember when my dad took to me to a construction site and told me “This is going to be the tallest building in the whole world.” Now I visit the same place, it is there, the Burj Khalifa, the highest building on Earth. We built it. Of course, there was some fear. Fear of we might lose our own identity. There were some people who worried about all those maximization or globalization. We were getting a lot people from all over the world, and we do still, so there was small worry that we might lose our culture.
J: Do you think the economic growth is truly representing the city of Dubai?
M: It is, definitely. Since we were young, we always have the mindset that always look forward and always improve what we are doing. We started from nothing. It was a pile of land. There was nothing there and look where we are right now. It is about the movement to get better, and improve. There is no limit to everything. Tourism is also another sheer of Dubai. The city has breathtaking places to visit. Other than economic growth, the culture is also strongly represent the city. Dubai’s culture is based on respect, family value and religion.
J: Is there any issue that Dubai need to be concerned?
We know what we are, and we trying to show the world what we are. Unfortunately, people think in a different way. A lot of people to think that Dubai is similar to Los Angeles or New York City, where are many commercialized cities. True, there are too much focus on commercialism and the outside world in Dubai, but I think Dubai can solve this matter by remembering the old Dubai with the sense of integrating each other.
J: How would you describe the progress of Dubai to the future generation?
I remember I had the conversation with my grandfather. He summarized it in very nice way. “For a city to grow, as quick as it did, is something phenomenal.” It says a lot about the country itself. It shows how the economy grows and how we are close to the common goal – to build the best well known country in the world. I would also say it changed the images of the Middle East. Although we are not representing the whole Middle East but we showed to the world better image.
J: What do you expect from the future of Dubai?
Hopefully never stop. Always become better. The future is bright.