His Highness Shaikh Mohammad Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice-President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, IN FACEBOOK :)

* Image from http://www.digitaljournal.com/

I literally went to search for Shk Mohmmad in facebook last time and added myself as his fan :) I hope it's genuine!

Since the news came from Gulf News this time, it must be real! I went to do a search for Shk Mohammad just now and I saw the icon 'add as friend' :P..."CAN I ADD YOU IN MY FRIEND LIST PLEASE?? "

I REALLY ADMIRE YOU FROM THE BOTTOM OF MY HEART..OF COZ NOT ON PHYSICAL APPEARANCE (PLS DONT BE OFFENDED AS I'M NOT SAYING THAT U R NOT ATTRACTIVE :P). WHAT I MEANT IS, I REALLY ADMIRE PPL WITH WISDOM, CHARISMA AND INFLUENTIAL..............JUST LIKE MR. WARREN BUFFET, MM LEE KWAN YEW, MR. BILL GATES, SM GOH CHEOK TONG, MR. NGIAM TONG DOW.. I ADMIRE SMART PEOPLE.. (This is my own definition of 'wisdom', 'smart' and 'charismatic'. You may feel that George Bush, Ahmedinejad, Jay Chow or Brad Pitt has it, but I feel it differently :I)

Ok. For anyone who want to try their luck to request for Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum request in facebook, check Shk Mohammed Facebook address here :

http://www.facebook.com/sheikhmohammed

Awesome! Coolz..

I've always thought of these..if only Shk Mohammad can hear me.. there are so many things I want to say!

I'm a working expat that have been residing in Dubai since 2002. I love this place but i also dislike it in some way....**Mixed Feelings**

I know it's not a long period as compared to others who has been here for decades, but I had witnessed the changes and experienced the property trend going through its high and low since then and now.

As a home buyer myself, I purchased a small unit during 2004 and suffered drawback despite others were making lots of profit. At that time, rental was escalating and I'm suffering financial losses of financing my unit and paying for high rental as my unit got delayed. I was lucky to sell my unit at break even and managed to purchase another unit last year. Unfortunately, the unit which I purchased (supposing to be ready last year too) got delayed again. Reasons they gave was Municipality not ready, electricity not ready, DEWA not ready...etc..Developer handed over to us only recently and i suffered badly due to the sudden down trend of property market which alot of buyers didn't expected.

Some expat may say : "Served you right! Why you dare to invest in UAE property when we (pioneers) had been here for decades and we didn't."

My intention is not to whine on how stupid i was ** but just to share my experience with others..

Reason for the downtrend on property prices was due to too many units that had been delayed for years are ready for handover now. Current supply is much higher than the demand. This impacted Dubai's property market badly as compared to Abu Dhabi, and other emirates that development goes on a slower phase. Many buildings that are ready today are mostly empty! Drive around Jumeriah area and you see alot of ready buildings with only few tenant living in it.

As an expat from a developed country, can i request that you look into the following measures to improve the property market in Dubai.

Property project management and planning. Off plan projects should promise investors 'Completion date with reasonable liquidity Damage compensation to buyers, if they don't deliver on time'. By doing this, all municipality and concerned parties should work in hand. Dubai shouldn't be portrayed as a place that legislation is not running in place, which people can always blame on one party to another.

Set up grading system for developers too. Grading system determine the level of project construction values they can undertake. Grading is subjective to the company's financial and staff turnover.

Salik - A good move by the authorities to control the traffic. However it can be done better. You can look into implementing 'Off Peak and Peak timing'. There can be higher but affordable rates on salik. Maybe AED4/entry during peak hours, AED2/entry for non peak.. FREE from 12am to 6am.

Medical - The concerned authorities should really look into the expertise of medical experts in this country. This place is really bad..and Super Expensive too. For me to spend my money here to get treated for a normal surgery that will cost me thousands Dirhams, i rather fly home to seek more professional and reliable medical specialists I'm more comfortable with...

Environmental issues.. Recycling ideas..Labour Rights for low salaried workers, Employment issues on both Expats & LoCals... So much More I want to write .. but I'm sleepy now...........zzzzzzzzz