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We have revisited some of the advertisements placed in Gulf News over the years. While the types of jobs, houses or products promoted might be radically different today, it's safe to say that the needs of the UAE's residents - and the challenges they encounter daily - never seem to change.
Amnesty
This advert was placed on page 12. It says it all: people coming here find they are trapped in an unhappy job situation and their only hope is to make a run for it, or "abscond" from their jobs. Gulf Cooperation Countries recently debated the archaic rule of sponsorship which chains people with a sponsor who sometimes takes advantage of the employee. And every few years the Gulf states have to announce an amnesty so that these people can go home safely.
No place at school
Finding a good school for your child seems to also have been a problem 30 years ago. This advert shows that expatriates coming to Dubai had to contend with the lack of space in schools. But it may not have been as desperate as today where you see parents queuing up at schools at dawn to get an admission form for their child. This huge rush is despite a number of schools being hastily built to try and find a place for the newcomers.
No pain, no gain
One thing that has not changed is our desperate desire to remain young. But this advert in 1982 shows that plastic surgery was either non-existent or was not as flourishing a business as it is today. Residents of Dubai had to go to Mumbai to "look young, beautiful, elegant".
The difficulties of housing
In 1985, a Mr D'Souza had advertised seeking a partner to share an apartment. Rents apparently were high even then. Most people still cannot afford to rent a whole flat and so have to share it with a family or two. But today, being a bachelor or a bachelorette here is a dirty word for landlords and rental agencies.
A new type of job
Things have changed over the past 30 years. You don't have typewriters in offices now. And you don't require shorthand skills with the arrival of the dictaphone. I had a telex machine in my bureau once and it was like the Three Stooges. Tickertapes with punched holes would be around my neck as I furiously typed in corrections to the breaking story. While a steno typist may not be a hot job today, the only thing that has not changed is this sentence: "The job requires overstay frequently".
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