Gulf News, United Arab Emirates
January 22, 2005
RISING COST OF LIVING DAMPENS FESTIVITIES FOR MANY
by Daniel Bardsley, Staff Reporter
Regardless of race and religion, each of us enjoys the chance to meet
with family and friends and mark a big occasion.
With the UAE enjoying the Eid Al Adha holidays many people are taking
time out to relax and forget their day-to-day worries.
But the celebrations that accompany this important part of the Muslim
calendar can easily burn a large hole in the pocket. Likewise,
marking major Christian or Hindu festivals can prove expensive.
With costs in Dubai seeming to increase by the day, it could be that
residents are struggling to find the money needed to do justice to
the significant dates of the year.
Gulf News spoke to a cross-section of residents, representing several
of the city’s major religious groups, to canvass views.
Indian graphic designer Jordan Seerao, 30, said prices had gone up a
lot during the seven years he has been in the UAE. The worst rises
have been in rents, which he said had rocketed in the past couple of
years in particular.
As a result, Seerao, a Christian, said Christmas last year was a more
muted affair than normal, with fewer presents handed out to family
and friends.
“We have lost a lot of money because of rent. It has increased quite
a bit – in the past two years it has gone up by Dh4,500 a year. We
have had to cut back on shopping and we cut back on gifts as well,
which is a shame.
“Instead of sending people a present, we just sent them a card.”
His wife Rochelle, 30, a banker and broker who is also from India,
said it was not just rent that was denting the family budget more
than before.
“Normal expenditure has increased so much, including things like food
items. My salary has not increased to cope with the rises in these
items and rent,” she said.
She said the family had cut its spending on gifts by as much as half
in recent years because of the cost increases.
“We send gifts to family in India and give them to family and friends
in the UAE, although less so this year than before,” she said.
Habid Ahmad, a 24-year-old Muslim from Lebanon, said his rent had
jumped by about 20 per cent in the past year.
“Definitely I have less money available than I did before. You spend
all your money here and it’s hard to save. Nobody celebrates
religious festivals as much as they should. At the moment, everybody
should sacrifice a sheep, but how many people are buying a sheep and
doing that? Not many, because it costs money,” he said.
He said it was also becoming increasingly hard to send money home to
his parents in Lebanon and still have enough left over to live on.
“I send less money home than I did in the past because I have less
money left,” he said.
Englishwoman Julie McLaughlan knows all about the spiralling cost of
renting a property in Dubai, because she returned from a visit to
England over Christmas to discover her annual rent had shot up from
Dh40,000 to Dh45,000.
However, the 40-year-old, who works in the financial sector, said
this would not stop her from marking big occasions in future.
For example, she said she would not be put off flying back to England
in future to spend the festive season with her family.
“During the seven years I have been in Dubai, salaries have gone up
as well to cope with the price increases,” she said.
McLaughlan said in the time she had been in Dubai, costs had risen
more back home in Britain than in the UAE.
Cohan Majid, 38, from Iran, said it was not lack of money that
stopped him from marking the major events on the Muslim calendar.
“I never have any big celebrations because I am just too busy and I
don’t have any time,” the businessman told Gulf News.
Vikas Dikhit, 42, an Indian Hindu who has lived in Dubai for more
than four years and works as an engineer, is lucky enough not to have
to worry about rent increases because his employer covers the costs.
He said he had seen little effect from increasing prices. He said any
price rises had been “very marginal”.
“The way I celebrate religious festivals has not been affected by
inflation. I don’t feel there has been much of an increase in
prices,” he said.
UAE national Tariq Makki, 34, agreed with Dikhit that any price
increases had little effect.
“Things have not gone up too much. It’s easy to cope with. Prices
here are still better than in many parts of the world outside the
UAE, including Europe,”
“I have just as much money now as I had before. I don’t have less
money to spend on celebrations. I normally do not do a great deal
anyway – I just stay with my family,” the accountant said.
Armenian Syrian Harair Manjikian, 37, a steel fabricator who has
spent the past 18 years living in the UAE, said price rises were
hitting his budget hard.
“Everything seems to have become a lot more expensive lately. As well
as rent, the price of petrol has gone up a lot as well.
“It is not enough to affect the way we celebrate though. We still
give gifts to each other during the big occasions,” he said.
Fellow Syrian Armenian Maral Garjikain, 28, who has been living in
the UAE for nine years, agreed inflation was heavy, saying prices had
gone up “a lot”. “I was much more careful spending money over
Christmas than before, although I still bought presents for people.”
Mother-of-four Catherine Aggarao, 44, an advertising agency account
manager from the Philippines, said the heaviest price increases had
been rent, electricity and water.
“I am sure it does affect the way we celebrate Christmas because the
cost of living is so much more. For a lot of people, 50 per cent of
their wage now goes on rent and food. Previously you could buy a lot
more with your money.
“I cannot buy as many presents now as I could before. The
celebrations are not like they used to be.
“I don’t spend as much money at Christmas as I used to. You work more
here in Dubai but you earn less because more people are coming to
Dubai. It’s the law of supply and demand and salaries are lower now,”
she said.
Despite this Aggarao said the standard of living in the UAE remained
higher than that in her native Philippines.