Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 2017/09/12
[Author Prev] [Author Next] [Thread Prev] [Thread Next] [Author Index] [Topic Index] [Home] [Search]Yes, Jayanand, and guess where the idea of duty free came from? Ireland :-) We set up the first one in the world way back after WW2 at Shannon airport, and, back in the '80s, a team from Ireland set up the Dubai duty free: I think there's an Irish guy running it still. Dubai's ruler is mad about horses and has more than a few of them being trained over here, so that may have helped us get the deal... I last landed at Shannon in 1970, but drove into it to have a brief look the weekend before last. It's seems a lot bigger these days. Douglas On 12/09/2017 15:38, Jayanand Govindaraj wrote: > Actually, I have been going to Dubai quite regularly from the mid 1980s. > They attracted capital by being the first Gulf state to loosen ownership > controls at an export zone cum port they built up called Jebel Ali on the > outskirts of Dubai city. Prior to this any business in the Gulf states had > to have 51% local ownership, which led to all sorts of misuse and problems. > They also loosened the liquor laws to entice expats in - the last time > someone mentioned permits to me, an expat could buy 30 bottles of hard > liquor a month, and this was 20 years ago). Lastly, they made Dubai an > airline hub, which it still is, by having a duty free, in the 1980s and > 1990s which was the cheapest in the world, especially for liquor - a bottle > of JWBlack used to cost 50% in Dubai Duty Free compared to other Duty Free > shops, for example. This was a masterstroke, as Dubai became the major > airline hub for the Middle East/West and Central Asia region, followed now > by Europe. They realized, quite early on that, as they had no oil wealth, > they had to become a trade centre. At present there are more Indians, > Pakistanis and Palestinians, each as a distinct expat group, than there are > locals in Dubai. > > Cheers > Jayanand > > On Tue, Sep 12, 2017 at 6:40 PM, Douglas Barry <imra at iol.ie> wrote: > >> I was aware of that, Jayanand, but the bathloads of oil money came in from >> their neighbours after the place was turned into a Persian Gulf Las >> Vegas... >> >> Douglas >> Recovering from a morning having root canal work done. My endodontist had >> an interesting dental microscope - made by Global, not Leica. >> >> On 12/09/2017 11:00, Jayanand Govindaraj wrote: >> >>> Dubai has no oil at all! >>> Cheers >>> Jayanand >>> >>> Sent from my iPad >>> >>> On 12-Sep-2017, at 15:28, Douglas Barry <imra at iol.ie> wrote: >>>> I'd agree Bharani, and even though Dubai is slightly more liberal than >>>> some of the other places out there, I'd hate to live there. I like >>>> Hannes's >>>> stuff. The Chill Out Lounge shot shows a sort of haunted emptiness in >>>> the >>>> man's face and evokes contemplation of the preposterous artificiality of >>>> the population's lives living amidst the artificial landscapes of a >>>> country >>>> wrenched from its back-history by bathloads of oil money. >>>> >>>> Douglas >>>> >>>> On 12/09/2017 03:10, scleroplex wrote: >>>>> Dear Tina, >>>>> I think the fact that it is hard to get into the private spaces that >>>>> characterise life in the Gulf made Nick's portfolio attractive to the >>>>> judges. >>>>> >>>>> Dubai and the entire Gulf is a place that loathes transparency and >>>>> street photography. >>>>> Women threaten you with arrest or worse for taking photos on public >>>>> streets. >>>>> So of course I usually end up daring them: >>>>> https://www.flickr.com/photos/scleroplex/35214658460 >>>>> >>>>> Cheers! >>>>> Bharani >>>>> >>>>> >>>>> Message: 33 >>>>> Date: Mon, 11 Sep 2017 18:34:53 -0400 >>>>> >>>>>> From: Tina Manley <tmanley at gmail.com> >>>>>> >>>>> To: MUGers at yahoogroups.com, Leica Users Group <lug at >>>>> leica-users.org>, >>>>> paw <paw at micapeak.com>, seephoto <seephoto at >>>>> micapeak.com> >>>>> Subject: [Leica] Dubai >>>>> Message-ID: >>>>> <CA+yJO1DQdExU1o4SGrw4ipZ0kLtagaCquwmiuGhBgawp6NEEfA at mail. >>>>> gmail.com> >>>>> Content-Type: text/plain; charset="UTF-8" >>>>> >>>>> I continue to be dismayed at what passes for interesting photography >>>>> these >>>>> days. And this is Magnum: >>>>> >>>>> http://www.bbc.com/culture/story/20170717-striking-photos- >>>>> of-the-las-vegas-of-the-gulf >>>>> >>>>> This year?s Magnum Awards have just been announced. The documentary >>>>> series >>>>> winner, Nick Hannes, gives an insight into his project revealing how >>>>> Dubai?s super-rich live. >>>>> >>>>> I guess I just don't get it. >>>>> >>>>> Tina >>>>> >>>>> -- >>>>> Tina Manley >>>>> >>>>> _______________________________________________ >>>>> Leica Users Group. >>>>> See http://leica-users.org/mailman/listinfo/lug for more information >>>>> >>>>> >>>>> >>>> _______________________________________________ >>>> Leica Users Group. >>>> See http://leica-users.org/mailman/listinfo/lug for more information >>>> >>> _______________________________________________ >>> Leica Users Group. >>> See http://leica-users.org/mailman/listinfo/lug for more information >>> >>> >>> >> _______________________________________________ >> Leica Users Group. >> See http://leica-users.org/mailman/listinfo/lug for more information >> > _______________________________________________ > Leica Users Group. > See http://leica-users.org/mailman/listinfo/lug for more information > >