Steamboat once more

The last steamboat dinner we had wasn't very successful because we couldn't get thin beef slices. This time round it was much better. We came upon these thinly cut ribeye slices at Waltrose in Dubai Mall. The only reason ever we are at Dubai Mall is Kinokuniya. Since Daisy was thinking of cooking dinner, we went to the basement 2 supermart to see what we might pick up for cooking. It was very good we manage to find these.

Dubai Mall Aquarium: Then and Now

If you can't or refuse to pay, you may not approach the aquarium. I took this photo yesterday. See the barriers. Here is the one taken from my December 29th post.





We have noticed that the mall has been very quiet. It has not succeeded at drawing crowds away from the more established and older malls. They could also be desperate for cash. Times in Dubai are getting harder.

Hokkien speak brings us home

This just came in the mail from a new friend in Dubai. They are also from Singapore. I am putting this up so that one day we will remember that hokkien jokes are especially fun when you are away from so many hokkien spouting friends back home!

Dear Hokkien-speaking friends,
Laugh until you kee siao!

Dr. Quek made a routine house call to Mr. Lim, one of his elderly patients. He asks, 'And how are you doing today, Mr. Lim?'

Mr. Lim replies, 'I feel just fine, doc. But you know, it's the strangest thing. Every night when I get up to pang jio, the bathroom light goes on for me automatically when I open the door!'

The doctor is worried that the old man is getting senile, so he phoned the man's son, and the son's wife answers.

The doctor tells her, 'Mrs. Lim, I'm a little concerned about your father-in-law.
It seems that when he gets up to urinate at night and opens thebathroom door, the light somehow goes on....'

At which point, Mrs. Lim yells, 'Aiyoh, Ah Seng! Ah Pa pang jio in the fridge again!'
______________________________

QUESTION: How do you know frogs are Hokkien?
ANSWER : Because when it's cold, they go 'kwah, kwah, kwah'.

QUESTION : How do Hokkien prawns laugh?
ANSWER: Hae hae hae (Hokkien for prawns)

QUESTION: How do Hokkien fish laugh?
ANSWER : Hoo hoo hoo (Hokkien for fish)
And here is a classic .........

QUESTION : What's the difference between Ang-mor and Hokkien fairy Tales?
ANSWER: Ang-mor fairy tales begin with 'Once upon a time...'
and Hokkien fairy tales begin with 'Lim Peh ka li kong...' ?

Comparing Waste Disposal

Every floor on our 35 storey aparment has a shared chute to throw our rubbish. I have always wondered where it all empties into. Well, they are terminated as shown in the photo above. It is a manual and laborious system. If there is no one to watch it, you can guess what happen. I am sure they have to use several a day because I see so many of these bins outside the condo each day waiting to be collected. Labour here must be so cheap that they do not bother to invest in automation. On the other hand when the metro comes online it would be driverless? Why?

I think it is because you can boast of the metro as being very advanced to the world. Who cares about refuse collection and disposal? Yet it is in the things that you do not want to show off that reveals who you are. Remember my post on the sewage disposal here?

Condo Parking: When it gets too good

Parking lot 461 is probably one of the best at my condo. It is my parking lot. Yes, unlike back home, we are assigned our places to park, and no, the parking space above isn't mine. It is just next to the entrance to the building and supposedly one of the best. Anyone who gets allocated one of the four lots here would feel that way until you discover to your dismay those who aren't suppose to use them are fond of taking it when you are not around!

The photo above was shot from inside my car. My lot represents the best balance between safety, distance and convenience. Except one time, I have not needed to call security over an unwanted car in 461.

Yes, the car in the photo is not supposed to be there. Lucky for him his tire was not deflated as a lesson taught. From hard experience, that is what one might suffer back home right?

Unsafe school buses

Should I let the girls ride the school bus to and from school? Aside from charging us shylock rates, I still recall my research sitting in front of my tiny Acer Inspire One PC in our serviced apartment the horrible statistics of children killed by their school bus. I had no mood to blog about it then. Something tell me I will read about such criminal acts again. That day has come too soon. It was not even four months ago.

It is a miracle, and if you are a believer, it must God's grace that not more people die on the roads here. If I want to, I can just have a blog dedicated to traffic incidents here.

Here is the tragic story from Gulf News.


4-year-old girl run over by school bus
WAM Published: February 24, 2009, 23:04

Ras Al Khaimah: A kindergarten bus ran over a four-year-old Palestinian girl student in Al Rams area. She was pronounced dead at the ICU of Saqr Hospital. Medical sources said that the girl had suffered serious injuries in different parts of her body and acute bleeding in the brain.

The victim, Huda Ali, was on her way back from the kindergarten in the bus driven by a 30-year-old Yemeni driver and the bus supervisor accompanied her to a safe place near her house and returned to the bus to drive other students. Colonel Hassan Al Jeeda, Chief of Traffic Section at the emirate's Traffic and Licensing Department said that the girl suddenly remembered that she has forgotten her jacket in the bus and returned to collect it.

One for One dinner

Last night we left the kids at home with their simple dinner so that we can go and get our higher class dinner. Our dinner options expand greatly once we do not need to find a place acceptable to the girls. Daisy and I took the opportunity to go to Ruby Tuesday, a restaurant at the JBR. The food was very good but this is not the point of the story I want to tell here. I am more excited about the one-for-one we got here and else where.

One of the best advice we got coming here is to invest in the "Entertainer" book of discount coupons. It costs a hefty 295 AED but it is worth it. There are easily hundreds, may be more than a thousand coupons inside. That night we ordered a stead for 80 AED and got the other one free. We still have two coupons left that we can use here.

Culture Shock Humour

I just got this in my inbox, dropped what I was doing and posted it here.

A disappointed salesman of Coca Cola returns from his Middle East assignment. A friend asked, "Why weren't you successful with the Arabs?"

The salesman explained, "When I got posted in the Middle East , I was very confident that I would make a good sales pitch as Cola is virtually unknown there.

But, I had a problem I didn't know to speak Arabic. So, I planned to convey the message through three posters...

First poster- A man lying in the hot desert sand...totally exhausted and fainting.

Second poster - man is drinking our Cola.

Third poster- Our man is now totally refreshed. Then these posters were pasted all over the place

"That should have worked," said the friend.

The salesman replied "I didn't realize that Arabs go from right to left"

Cash crunch for the schools?

To me, the cash crunch in Dubai has finally gotten to the schools. Forget about the US$10 billion the Dubai government just raised. That is meant for paying down debts to banks and honoring bond obligations. It is not their Job Credit Scheme to protect jobs. That's right, forget about the "Development" bit some of you read about in the papers here. The Emirate is still short of about US$5 billion for 2009 alone. It wants to raise 20 billion bucks. The 10 billion will buy them many months (not years) to figure out something.

The rally in the stock market is understandable but certainly unsustainable.

The private schools here are likely to lose many of their pupils. Even in Korea where education is highly valued, parents are pulling their children from tuition centres. Ditto Singapore.

The article quote the words of some parents. By now, I can even picture what some of these parents might look like - very different from Singaporeans, who would have complained differently. We would have asked to understand the reasons first right?


Khaleej Times

It’s an ‘Unfair’ Practice
Staff Reporter

24 February 2009 DUBAI - A number of parents who received letters from their children’s schools in Dubai demanding advance fees have called the practice ‘unfair’.Some of them contacted Khaleej Times complaining the practice unfair.

“My son’s school, Raffles International School (RIS), has sent us a note asking for a deposit of Dh5000 payable within a few weeks while the full fees for term one must be made next month along with post-dated checks for term 2 and term 3,” said a parent.

“This payment scheme locks parents into the school until June 2010. The government law means that if you are made redundant, you must leave within a month or two. Like many parents, we now have to find this extra money by tightening our budgets, and paying in advance is something that not possible,” she added.

“We were asked to pay the new academic year’s fees by May. This is putting an awful lot of pressure on parents especially at a time when there is so much uncertainty. Families with two or three children will find it even more difficult. Schools should not be allowed to squeeze parents this way,” said a parent, who also spoke on condition of anonymity.

The parent, whose children study at the Wellington International School, said that last year they were given time until September to pay.

Wellington International School, which is managed by the Global Education Management Systems (Gems), said “a note was sent to parents reminding them that tuition fees were due in June for the following academic term, which is September.”

Emaar Education, which manages Raffles International School, said, “the school is in discussions with KHDA regarding re-registration fees and will inform parents accordingly.”
preeti@khaleejtimes.com

Real fog and academic fog

The fog this morning was heaviest at the girls' school, aptly describing how we feel about the future of their schooling here in Dubai.

I have just begun discussing with the school their academic programs for next year. I am worried that they might not be able to offer the subjects Zhen wants. We might be forced to move her to another school or even return both of them to Singapore. It is also possible we might all be going home soon as victims of the burst bubble here. Truly foggy, truly uncertain.

Daisy and I have come to accept the much lower academic standards in this country. Except for Arabic, which Zhen is exempted because of her dyslexia, and Lin has absolutely no interest, they do very well otherwise. The alarm bells go off for me when Zhen topped in English despite her learning disabilities. Anyway in a surprise spelling test, which I believe is not a regular feature for grade eight, she did poorly scoring only 3 out of 10. Therefore she is still dyslexic and hasn't figure her way around it.

Right Direction?

In writing this blog, I often try to stand outside myself and imagine what the "typical" Singaporean might feel about this place. There are no "typical" Singaporeans, only some major or common features, which a limited writer like myself isn't capable of describing.

I have earlier read the WSJ op-ed "There's No Reason to Gloat Over Dubai's Fall," It is as usual the completely western point of view. Who are they to tell the UAE what is right or wrong direction? If the UAE becomes more like a western society, that is right; otherwise it is wrong? Well those societies just led us into the financial and economic crisis of the century. Haven't they learnt their lesson in Iraq, trying to transform an ancient society? Intolerable arrogance and hubris.

As far as I can understand this, the Singaporean approach is to identify and then grow our common space. We might disagree, may be even quarrel with each other in the process of increasing that space but that is fine. It is based on mutual respect.

I am not totally sure what is right, and I think most of the time we are better able to ascertain what more right or "righter" than what is absolutely right. Such pride always goes before a fall.

So Right is a journey and not a destination. Even as I believe in salvation by grace only through the incarnate and ressurected God-Son, I am still learning and continually amazed by that bottomless grace we are welcomed to drink from. I grow not because I am right, but because I am getting "righter". By being unsure all the time, I am sure.

Meanwhile we are watching but also suffering together with the West being taken to the cleaners so that he learns not to be so sure of his ways. He does not and never had the monopoly of what is Right.


We Should Encourage The UAE's Progress

I strongly concur with Zvika Krieger ("There's No Reason to Gloat Over Dubai's Fall," op-ed, Feb. 20). Having just returned from a visit to Abu Dhabi and Dubai, I had the opportunity to see the situation firsthand. As Mr. Krieger says, we can find plenty of reasons to criticize the United Arab Emirates, including the recent visa denial for an Israeli athlete. Yet the fact remains that these emirates are making tremendous progress in reforming their societies. They are moving in the right direction and they deserve our help and encouragement. Let us save our criticism for those nations that are clearly moving in the wrong direction.

Vahan Janjigian New York

Local Makan once more

Jasmine is back in Dubai for a couple of weeks and she is cooking her yummy dinners for us again. We appreciate this very much! I do not know how to describe food except in the simplest fashion. We have fish, steamed eggs and chicken with vegetables tonight. We only need to cook the rice ourselves, and we use Thai Hom Mali.

Finally support for Dubai from the UAE government

The UAE government has casted a lifeline to Dubai. This I feel is the best way forward for them instead of going to the Saudis. It will buy time, about one year to sort things out, rationalize and consolidate...

Dubai Government Launches a USD20 billion Long Term Bond Programme (UPDATED)
2009-02-22 22:32:28

WAM Dubai,Feb 22nd, 2009 (WAM):
As part of its long term financing strategy, Dubai Government today launched a USD20 billion Long Term Bond Program, the first issuance of which, amounting to USD10 billion, was fully subscribed by the Central Bank of the UAE. The bond is an unsecured fixed rate paper yielding 4pc per annum and has a five year maturity.This issuance will provide Dubai Government with the necessary liquidity to substitute the liquidity that has dried up globally in the last 12 months and accordingly meet all upcoming financial obligations. This program will secure the necessary funding for Dubai to meet its financial obligations and continue its development program.WAM/AB

First trip to the movie theatre

Zhen was at Noor's birthday party. The three of us had no where to go and so we decided on a movie - Pink Panther 2. Pink Pather 1 was good and our hunch is that this would be no less.


We have delayed making this trip to the theatre for just one very silly reason - price. Look at the ticket price, it is so much more expensive than back home but I know is quite reasonable compared to many other major global cities. You guessed right, we bought no colas, pop corns etc., into the cinema. Each time we bought, we threw away 90% of it. Why waste the money? If the movie is good, you not need your mouths to work.


So how was the movie? We recommend it! Zhen missed it. She will have to wait for the DVD to come out.


As for the picture above was shot off the screen using my Casio digital.

Second Birthday Party

Yesterday Zhen attended a birthday party, her second here. She was invited to the first one with Sarah (another Singaporean girl) back in mid November last year. Why are these special? It shows that she is fitting into the system here. Back home, she hardly attend any of these functions because she was an outlier.

This birthday function has a sad side to it. The birthday girl is switching to another school. That makes two as Sarah has also returned to Singapore earlier. Who knows, we might be next given the uncertain times, but these are also times for miracles. Those in denial will experience no miracles though. We believe we aren't in denial but is living the words of "hoping for the best but preparing for the worst". Easy to say, but it requires insight to practice. We are still learning.

A night's walk

We are so fortunate to have several cool months each year. I have walked here many times with Daisy. It is just downstairs of our condo, and this path lead to and from the supermart a few hundred metres away. Tonight I walked here alone, not for pleasure but to buy bread to make the sandwiches for Zhen to take to school tomorrow. Daisy was busy upstairs with the weekly ironing. Every week I had volunteered to help her, which I used to do before the children came, but she had always insisted on taking on this load. To make this less of a chore, she watched the telly at the same time. The children are happy to join her.

We used to take short walks downstairs of our apartment block in Singapore too. We can do it all year round as long as it isn't raining. Over here, I was told it would be too warm even in the evening during summer, but right now the coolness outside is like Cameron Highlands or Fraser Hills I remember long ago.

Tonight something special happened almost immediately after I took the shot above with my PDA phone. An Arab man called me from his car. I thought he needed directions since it is quite routine for people to get lost in Dubai. No, this chap was from Saudi Arabia. His car registration plate was totally unfamiliar and in Arabic only. He needed my help. With his struggling English we tried to communicate. I went away thinking Allah must have answered his prayer. I thought of the Malay friends I met here who said they would pray for us too.

Why do they have to deliver sewage this way?

I can never forget this, not only have I read about it several times but the folks here are always joking about it - The long queues of tankers carrying untreated sewage, so long that a driver has to wait eight hours for his turn to discharge his load. One of my greatest fears here is to encounter one of these on the road, probably in an accident, spilling its unwelcomed contents. You cannot anticipate the ways these things can fly out. This is not an academic risk. Look at how many there are.

By chance, we happened to spot the sewerage treatment plant in the distance on our way back from Dragon Mart this afternoon. We made a detour and took some photos. You can see the queue snake so far back, you can't see the end of it.


Past the unguarded entrance (risky isn't it?), these tankers circled upwards to the not visible discharge point. One of our Singaporean friend often remarked that you must visit in the night. The place look like a scene from the movie, The Close Encounter of the Third Kind, with the tankers lighted up against the deep darkness, welcoming Aliens visiting earth. The truth is more like they are trying to return something to the earth!

Superior Waste Bins

Once a week for many weeks now I have been coming here to leave my empty plastic bottles and containers for recycling. I was suprised when I opened the lid, it was very deep and I imagined if you ever fall into one of them, you will need to call the civil defence guys to come and help you out. These bins are definitely cleaner, more attractive and usable than those we have back home. The only problem is that we don't have enough of them.


I just went to Google them ("Molok") on the Internet. I am impressed by their simplicity and the technical thought behind their design. This is finnish made.

You can see from the picture on the left that it has a deep design. The ones that are used here are deeper, at least from what I can see looking down.

Been there, but not done that

This video shows quite a few places we have been in Dubai but we have not "done that", i.e., invested, splurged, lived it up like the well paid folks here in Dubai. Even if we had been here early, we also wouldn't have as we did not back in Singapore. I am comforted many Singaporeans are also not so reckless. On the other hand, I think the managers of our SWFs rated their abilities too highly. I am not faulting them on their performance but their inability to appraise risk better. This crisis was no Black Swan, if I may borrow the idea from Nassim Taleb.

Owe Money, Pay Money

I thought even the loan sharks have disappeared this global credit squeeze. When Reuters first reported on the 18th that Borse Dubai succeeded at rolling over $2.5b of debt, I sat up and started monitoring.

Khaleej Times was I believe the first local paper to pick this up. Gulf News and the Abu Dhabi National were still silent. National eventually published a fuller story of the financial coup yesterday but not before a Business 24/7 article was written in such a way to raise as many questions as it answered. You know, quoting "unamed sources", "declined to be identified" sort of thing.

Dubai government paid down $900m of the debt of $3.4b falling due end of this month, but where did they get the financing for the remaining $2.5b?

The WSJ just came in with this. It is short, so I am reproducing it here.

DUBAI -- This city-state paid down and refinanced a loan due this month, easing worry about its ability to service its debt.

Borse Dubai said Thursday that it refinanced $2.5 billion of a $3.8 billion loan that it took out last year to buy a 20% stake in Nasdaq OMX Group Inc. International banks put $1.2 billion in the new facility and Dubai banks provided $1.3 billion, according to a banker involved in the deal.
Dubai government entities provided $900 million to help pay off the loan, and Borse Dubai saved $400 million in foreign-exchange fluctuations, according to an official at the holding company.

Two questions,

1. Where did the banks get the money, which will lead us to
2. Can we expect similar coups going forward, and what did the banks see in Dubai that was not privy to the investing public?

Beyond the price, what about the terms of this loan?

Further info at

Khaleej Times: http://www.khaleejtimes.com/DisplayArticleNew.asp?section=business&xfile=data/business/2009/february/business_february894.xml

Business 24/7 Today: http://www.business24-7.ae/articles/2009/2/pages/02192009_a8741344f676473cbe7f1731114d4144.aspx

The National: http://www.thenational.ae/article/20090219/BUSINESS/150814564/1137

A Red Bentley

Spotted this rose-red Bentley convertible on the way to school yesterday morning. Tried to get a nice photo of it but only managed three shots and this is the best of the three. I wondered if it was a man or woman behind its wheels. With three speed cameras along this road, there is no chance fo find out without unacceptable risk.

Perhaps we will spot it again sometime. At that hour of the morning, most of us were just following to our daily routine don't we?

Was I keen to ride in a car like that one? No, it was only its stand out colour that attracted me. Don't think there is one like that in Singapore. What I would like is to ride in the Mclaren F1 roadcar, which I passed up to a junior staff when I was with Shell. I had wanted to reward him for a job well done, but I also didn't like the idea of traveling to Pasir Gudang early in the morning just to spin on a race circuit for a few minutes. Cars for me ultimately are just about getting from point A to point B safely. So boring isn't it? No! But that is another story.

Middle East Geopolitical Lessons for Singapore

In the year X, where X > 2020, but not sure what X exactly would be except that at that time the situation in South East Asia would be very different because somehow Indonesia manage to get its act together and become quite rich even as many of its people, like China today are poor.

In year X, Singapore finds itself in a severe financial and economic situation. I can't speculate specifically what it would be but for some reasons it would be putting herself into Indonesia's sphere of influence for mutual benefit and security - a good political marriage of sorts or worse for Singapore depending on her leverage.

Now, why am I speculating all these nonsense? It is because it has become a reasonable proposition for something similar to happen in the Gulf economies here and now, which if it happened would be very instructive for Singapore's future.

Earlier I had blogged that Abu Dhabi might not come to Dubai's aid. Furthermore I discovered a little known fact that in 1989, the Saudis helped out Sharjah when it suffered a banking crisis. What does all these mean?




I have seen concept pictures of Bahrain trying to copy Dubai building their islands in the sea like the Dubai's Palms. Doha is trying to make itself a hub of sorts too. Oman is a more interesting tourist attraction than most of the gulf states and doesn't appear to be as keen to be another "me to" against Dubai. Kuwait seems more interested to count on their oil and Abu Dhabi more circumspectly is learning from Dubai and trying to out do it.

The competition between all of them is most obvious now, not with what they have or trying to build with concrete but their airlines. Dubai has Emirates, Abu Dhabi has Eithad, and Qatar has its namesake Qatar Airways. All three had advertised themselves heavily on Singapore's TV.

The Saudis are the latecomer to the game. They are not into airlines but their bold plans and hefty investments are in the economic cities. Since all the Gulf states have copy cat economic strategies, they are likely to over invest, over build and over compete making it all very unprofitable.

This financial crisis is a godsend to the Saudis because they have been ultra conservative and kept most of their powder dry in safe treasuries and other low yield instruments. Abu Dhabi foot dragging over Dubai could hand the UAE now and eventually the GCC to the Saudis hands in the end especially if the Americans are supportive. In this crisis, Saudi financial resources can go very far. They can buy up potential competition to their economic cities for a dime and afterward expand beyond the Arabian gulf.

What is going to happen in a small place like the UAE in the immediate future has huge geo-political implication for this region. The maps could well be redrawn quite differently after the dust has settled all because Abu Dhabi failed to come to Dubai's aid, which gave the Saudis the chance step in buying much of Dubai assets and taking it out of the competition.

Look at Saudi oil reserves vis a vis her gulf neighbours. All these scenario plays may just be postponing the inevitable. All potential paths into the future for this region could end up in Riyadh, the Indonesia of this neighbourhood. History is being made in the Guld now.

Now you can guess why Singapore expends so much effort on the Saudis that my government has no time to even do more to help us get our driving licence transferrable to the UAE one. King Abdullah even flew Lee Kuan Yew back to Singapore on his personal Boeing 747 jet. Now that was first class Arab hospitality.

Time not to be shy about blogging the "d" word

Sometimes I have to wait for my thoughts to be more politically acceptable before I can share them publicly. The "d" word, but not the "D" version is now safe. I mean "d" as in depression.

To the layman, recession is when your neighbour loses his job and depression is when you lose yours. I think we need a new definition - depression is when you and your neighbour cannot find jobs, i.e., this problem is taking a long time to be solved.

In a depression, the market is hell bent on only one thing - wealth destruction. Politicians cannot allow this to happen and so governments the world over will expand in size and power trying to wrest control from market forces to protect their constituencies. They will try to mitigate the pain of adjustment by spreading it over a longer time but not admitting so, as they always need to sell quick solutions. This where the Obama administration is presently at, where Singapore is doing with greater cleverness and swiftness and where Dubai and the UAE is still scratching their heads and in denial since they believe things will get better from the middle of this year.

Come the middle of this year, what if things here do not get better? Debts failed to get rolled over, the place is insolvent. Then what? This will escalate from an economic problem into a political, social and may be a security problem. By all means be optimistic and hopeful but it is prudent to have a Plan B.

Obama quoting St. Augustine in early February had the nail on its head when he said, we should pray like everything depends on God and work like everything depends on us. I believe in Dubai they pray, but I am not sure that they work. It seems like they are waiting for each other. Meanwhile at the working level, i.e., the non-decision makers, they are waiting for their pink slips.

A sad "I don't know"

At Da Shi Dai restaurant last night, looking out of the glass panel, I noticed a newly completed apartment block in the distant with a large hanging "FLATS TO LET".

Daisy and I asked one of the waitress, how far away is that apartment block? Is it within Dubai Marina or across the SZR freeway in Jumeirah Lake Towers?

Her polite response is that she is not familiar, and doesn't know.

I bet, were this in Singapore and I asked a question like this, the waiter/waitress would know.

In Singapore even if it has become harder than before, you can still dream of that possibility that one day if you are smart, hard working and lucky, you could live in a nice place. Over here, such thoughts are just plain hopeless thoughts. They only want to earn, save and send money home.

It is the dreams of a people that build a place. Most of the people here are just paid, mostly meagre wages to help a small group of titled people realize their dreams.

History has it flow and ebb, and what pull people into Dubai is nothing more than narrow commercial priorities. As the tide goes out there is nothing to anchor this place. Then like bankers always discover repeatedly, those you want to lend money to, they do not want your money. Those who ask to borrow you do not want to lend. Likewise, during the ebb, Dubai will fail to attract those she wants, and those who want to remain had to be asked to leave.

Except for the very few times that it rains, every day I see sand being blown across the road as I drive. The too tiny to be seen grains of sand are just like the many people here.

The girls' favorurite restaurant dishes

I am taking a risk here to share with you what the two picky eaters like and will come back for it over and over again without getting sick of it. It is really back to square one. Our first restaurant recommendation was Da Shi Dai in Dubai Marina, but we went every where else except there. These two dishes are from Da Shi Dai.



Lin's favourite is the Century Egg Congee, which becomes even tastier for her without the chicken meat. Last night she had it without the chicken for the first time. I forgot to ask her if she had more egg for the meat she gave up as we didn't enjoy any discount for this one.



Zhen's favourite is the winer melon with toufu soup. She eats this with rice. In my opinion it is a very plain meal but she has always like her food this way. I attribute this to her hyper sensitive palate.

One thing I like very much about these two favourites is they are among the lowest priced items on the menu. I should encourage them to go for seconds and even thirds the next time.

Lower than beam!

I have dreamt of making such a blog entry sometime back. I had decided against it because I thought it was frivolous, but this blog is not just for you but also for my family long after we have decamped from Dubai.

I had dreamt that I was so fed up with so many inconsiderate drivers here going around with their beams turned on high. Finally we had three consecutive nights where I had drivers behind me who thought they are the only ones using the road.

Traffic manners on Dubai are really third world of third world. Yes, every two to three days, I will drive pass some minor road accidents. More than three occasions I have read of cars going off bridges landing on the road beneath. I pray that I will always only read about them, to imagine that this will stop any time soon is unrealistic. Just don't let me have an encounter with them.

Closing the gender gap

I took this photo on saturday. Normally you would think this should be in the ladies room rather than the men's right? No, this is in the gents, in the new giant Dubai Mall. Yes, they think guys should also help their wives with diaper changing.

Yesterday, I read that King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia has appointed a woman as a deputy minister. The gender gap could be narrowing fast in the Gulf. They should have have started doing this sort of things long ago. Islam, as I understand does not prevent women from rising to leadership positions in society. In the UAE, where emiratis are rare they need all the local talent they can get to run this place.

Abu Dhabi to Dubai: No hard feelings, it's just business

This news article from the WSJ published minutes ago is bound to reappear in Singapore's newspapers soon. After all, the Straits Times and even lately the Lianhe Zaobao has even gotten into the act carrying negative press of Dubai. Now I wonder if an MP or even minister would use Dubai as an example why Singapore has been careful with debt. Debt like fire is a good servant but a bad master. Take this from Warren Buffet - Understand your margin of safety and so always keep debt as a servant. Dubai had been reckless. I felt it three years ago and among other reasons, we decided not to move here. We are only here now for some out of this world reasons which we do not yet understand. Interestingly I have also met other Singaporeans who are here for such unknown reasons too. No, we are not spies, it is more spiritual than temporal.

Back in 1971 when the UAE was formed, the world was a different place. For the last two decades, business has come to the fore and political solidarity relegated to the back. Now that the unity of the UAE has been tested, we can see it has all been reduced to business between them and not much more.

They say blood is thicker than water, which they do not have enough here. Today we see that liquidity (money) is probably thicker than blood.

So really just business only? I act "blurr" of course.


FEBRUARY 16, 2009, 5:12 A.M. ET

Don't Count on a Dubai Bailout
By ANDREW CRITCHLOW

Will oil-rich Abu Dhabi bail out neighbor Dubai, currently groaning under $70 billion of debt racked up its government-owned companies? Don't count on it.

Abu Dhabi's decision last week to pump $4.4 billion into its own banks while offering no support to lenders in Dubai or other emirates in the Gulf federation may simply be brinkmanship amongst the sheikhs. But the possibility Abu Dhabi will refuse to come to Dubai's aid -- once seen as almost unthinkable -- can no longer be ruled out.

That raises the prospect of a deeper debt crisis in Dubai. And even a fragmentation of the 37 year-old federation if Abu Dhabi refuses to pump billions of dollars into the economies of poorer emirates like Dubai to prevent either a corporate default or severe downturn. The cost of insuring Dubai debt has rocketed to around 10 percentage points for five-year debt -- higher even than Iceland.

Dubai's economy is contracting sharply after a 40% slump in property prices, leaving the emirate struggling to refinance $15 billion of debts this year, according to credit rating agency Moody's. Without Abu Dhabi's help, it has little chance of doing so. Moody's says it is likely to downgrade a raft of state-owned companies "if a trend of selective treatment within the federation becomes discernible." And bankers say they won't extend new lines of credit to Dubai without cast iron financial guarantees from Abu Dhabi.

Abu Dhabi is driving a hard bargain. Its demands are thought to include the surrender of Dubai's autonomy and the loss of control over crown jewels such as Emirates Airline and Nakheel, builder of the emirate's Palm-shaped islands. That may be too much for Dubai's ruling Maktoum family to stomach -- partly because the rulers of the two sheikhdoms are cousins. But also, because Dubai contends it was a principle of the 1971 agreement to form the federation that Abu Dhabi would use its oil wealth to support the other emirates.

Abu Dhabi has its own economic worries, thanks to falling oil prices, which account for the majority of the emirate's export earnings. Plus, its reserves have been depleted by the huge losses suffered on its foreign investments, such as the $7.5 billion Abu Dhabi pumped into Citibank in 2007 just before its shares collapsed.

But neither Abu Dhabi nor Dubai can afford to allow this stand-off to drag on. Default by a major Dubai-owned company would trigger a crisis of confidence that could cost the emirate its status as the preeminent center for business in the region. Worse, it could pull on the very fabric that binds the emirates together, destabilizing the entire region.

Laying off staff - Contrasting Philosophies

This is the Singapore way, and I am using Singapore Airlines as an example which just announced cutting back capacity ahead of time by 10%. I quote its CEO.

"We have already taken action, such as expanding and stepping up training and retraining programs, and we will contemplate retrenchment only as a last resort, but we do not have the luxury of time and we need to agree and act on some measures quickly so that we can push back the point of retrenchment as far as possible and improve our chances of avoiding it altogether," Singapore Airlines Chief Executive Chew Choon Seng said in the statement.

Now SQ is known for being a tough nut employer and was often resorting to the Industrial Arbitration Courts in high profile disputes with its unions, especially the pilots.

For the Dubai way, you cannot look to the media for direction. It must come from hearsays. Here they don't try very hard to cut cost or even reduce salaries. They just fire, often as a result of combining departments or simply because the firm ran out of business or cash.

Many companies are laying off staff in tens daily spread out over weeks. This is to avoid media attention. If they can help it, they will call you up one at a time, some will bunch all the employees into two rooms. One room for "execution" and the other to prevent those of death row from contaminating those who will "live", at least for now.

Of course, some get escorted to the door by security guards after they are given a few minutes to hastily pack their belongings.

In the labour camps, where most construction workers live, it is even quieter - They leave at night and directly for the airport. At least they often get to ride in air-con coaches but many are going home to face loan sharks whom they had borrowed money to come here in the first place. We all feel sorry for them.

For many, the end of dreams

Hitherto, I have been looking for Dubai news from the foreign press because the local media only publishes good news that are often too unbelievable. Now it seems people are sending me the news I have been looking for! The whole world is looking at Dubai. The above video first came to my attention from a Guardian newspaper article a friend in Canada emailed me early this morning. The full artice is at, "Dubai's six-year building boom grinds to halt as financial crisis takes hold"

The media obsession with Dubai

As you ascend, so you will also descend. "Laid-Off Foreigners Flee as Dubai Spirals Down" is number 3 in the most frequently e-mailed.

Dubai has been hogging the limelight on the way up, so the media is as interested in bad news now as it was keen on its glittering good news earlier on. I don't envy them. It cannot be helped. If Singapore night F1 race were to ever falter, she can expect similar negative publicity.

An unusual book on Dubai

Save the usual liberal newspapers and magazines, practically every book on Dubai is long and unstinting with praise for the Emirate. Dubai: The Vulnerability of Success is perhaps the only exception among them.

This book has been extensively reviewed and quoted including the now also well quoted identical articles in the NYT and IHT on possibly Dubai spiralling down.

I do not have the time to read the book. It is available here at Kinokuniya for 174 dhs (read pricey). Nevertheless I am curious and so I occupy myself for a couple of hours to learn what others have said about it. Well, I was not disappointed as I got some long standing questions of this place answered. E.g., why no terrorist attack on this place yet? Will Abu Dhabi come to Dubai aid in this financial crisis?

I shall not attempt to say anything about the terrorist threat but when neighbouring Sharjah (part of the UAE too) had a banking crisis in 1989, neither Abu Dhabi nor Dubai lent a helping hand. The Saudis were the ones who rescued them.

Here are a couple of book review links I thought interesting for those who like me are interested but not enough to make time for the book.

Dubai: the Gulf between development and freedom and Deconstructing Dubai

Emirates Versus SQ

Photos from an email I received: The interior of Emirates new A380 plane.

We came here with Emirates on Business Class. That was the first time we flew Emirates. Verdict: SQ is superior in all the bits that matter but Emirates scores way ahead with looks - I don't mean the crew. E.g., Singapore Airlines has the latest movies, but Emirates give much larger displays. Any day I would have the latest movies right? SQ checked if all overhead compartments are fasten before take off and landing, but not Emirates. The Emirates steward even suggested to me that I wasn't strong enough to handle the overhead compartment and neither did he come across from the other aisle to help me with it. This is no way to talk to a customer, especially in Business Class.

Emirates has no fuel sense. They carry so much additional weight with them all for the sake of looking good. You will see them in the photos above.

Valentine Day is universal

Forgot to take with me my Casio camera this evening and so this photo was taken with my Asus Smartphone camera.

Found this display of red roses for Valentine's Day tomorrow at our neighbourhood supermarket, Choittram. Earlier today when we were at Mall of the Emirates, I didn't notice Carrefour trying to make some fat money from merchandising these stuff. I thought like Christmas, Valentine would be muted here.

Tomorrow we plan to go to Kinokuniya at Dubai Mall to pick up a book for Daisy, I shall be looking out for Valentine's roses.

By the way, my wife has banned me from buying her flowers. Below is what I got her last year in Singapore. It was delivered as a surprise to her office. Pretty isn't it?

Three or Two elevators?

Just as no city include those who have passed away in its population count, I think we ought to say there are only two and not three elevators at our apartment block. At least any one of the three elevators seem to need maintenance all the time. If there was no notice informing us of this fact, then only two of the elevators would have moving numbers and the third one would play dead at the 34th floor or in B2. Elevators doors often open at floors where there is nobody to welcome in. Looks like we have unseen occupants here! Well as long as they do not speak, I also assume they do not exist. No, I am not dreaming or hallucinating. I have seen "Beautiful Mind", and mine isn't as beautiful but good enough.

Hole in the "wall"

Was it about three days ago, early in the morning I saw a few workmen in a gondola across from my apartment building. I thought they were cleaning the new building again - They never clean ours, always the one across that is so new, which appears ready for moving in but hasn't got anyone living in it yet. When I looked at it again later in the day, there was a big piece of paper covering a hole the size of the window.

Yesterday there was sandstorm, and the paper protection was torn. Now like a tooth decay on a giant tooth, all manner of germs will make their home in this apartment.

By now you would have detected my pathetic knowledge of the building sciences. You shouldn't believe me when I said they were always cleaning the building. And it is not hole in the wall, but a missing window.

Ice cream high tea?

We have ice-cream from Marble Slab almost everyday. Mostly it is just the Vanilla with Orea mixed-in for Lin and Double Dark Chocolate for Zhen. Sometimes I join them with Raspberry with raspberries.

The girls usually hate their lunch in school and eat as little as possible. That is why I usually have to give them ice-cream after school, which finishes at 2.30pm on days when there are no CCAs.

Laid-Off Foreigners Flee as Dubai Spirals Down

Above picture from NYT online: A prospective bidder examined a car on Wednesday at a Dubai auction. Debt-ridden foreigners are selling or abandoning cars.

Read full article from NYT "Laid-Off Foreigners Flee as Dubai Spirals Down"

Not sure about NYT, but I have often noticed that the Economist reporting on Singapore is not always on the mark from my perspective as someone living in Singapore before. When my States side friend sent me the above article, I couldn't wait to read and compare.

I think the article is fairly accurate for those who are left high and dry because their jobs are gone. I have also heard of debtors prisons and I wonder if I could send some people here into jail because they owe me money. It is more difficult for me though as they have found ways to protect themselves. They have home ground advantage and can arbitrage my ignorance. On the other hand, I am learning fast. Fortunately the sums involved are not large and I now know how to stop them from getting more from me. The unavoidable tuition fees some might say.

This NYT article describes Dubai as a Ghost Town, I am sure that is a gross exaggeration because I still get caught in traffic jams too often. Prices also are still high and in a ghost town, prices are zero. But to NYT credit, they just might be right after all but just ahead of the curve.

I took a friend to the airport the other night. The traffic was unusually light at Terminal 1. Now if there is an exodus out of Dubai, the airport should be jammed. I think the reason for the thin traffic is that there are fewer tourist arrivals compared to previously. There must be an increased in numbers of expats leaving here but the Big One isn't here yet.

Expect things to get worse here. Getting better is probably some years off.

No, unlike debtors' jail, there is no creditors' prison here. So should our time come, we should be OK to go. And I don't have a car to leave behind at the airport too. :-)

Singapore will welcome all of us home as their loyal second class citizens. Happy to leave, happy to return and even happier to tuck in some hainanese chicken rice, which is rarer than bird flu here.

Thaksin ate here

Last night we had dinner at the West side food court at the Mall of the Emirates. A colleague recommended us this Thai stall and we were game to give it a try. We were told that it was truly authentic. And guess what? Thaksin had been to this stall several times. The crew were so excited to see him, and they wanted a group photo with him. I asked them for permission to take a shot of it. This picture now has the pride of place in this stall.

I am sure we will be back quite often.

Tonight Daisy tried the Tom Yum soup at the Ibn Battuta Mall food court. Verdict? Like Mee Siam, i.e., fail.

Which Rice?

This is a long over due blog post. Rice is very important to Singaporeans. We had an excellent recommendation to buy Ligo brand even before we arrived here. We started with that, not bad, but for some unknown reason it spoils quickly. Then one day at Hyper Panda we found a rice brand with "Hom Mali" or "Thom Mali" on it. This is the rice to buy! My sis used to help market rice in Singapore and that is where I got to learn the label, "Thom Mali". "Hom Mali" is actually the wrong spelling. I have gotten used to seeing two or three different spellings for many of the roads here. Perhaps this whole place is dyslexic. One of my children is quite dyslexic and I haven't figure out how to solve her problem here. Back in Singapore it is easy. The Dyslexia Association of Singapore has courses to help her. Over here, some teachers question if she is really dyslexic as she topped English. Anyway recently they had a spelling test and the result? She failed, scoring only three out of ten words correct.

A Royal Story

Received this in my email today. This is one of three photos which accompany the story. Apparently the driver of the Merc SUV Dubai One saw a car parked at the edge of the desert and footprints leading away from it. Concerned that something bad might have happened, he drove into the desert to find out. Well, nothing evil happened. It was just a European family having a little fun and taking pictures. In this photo the good hearted emirati man offered them coffee from his SUV. One of them took this photo.

Now who do you think drives Dubai One. You know who occupies Air Force One and Marine One right?

This is such a welcome contrast to some of the bureaucrats I try to avoid here. My experience with my driving tester was most memorable. Good thing I was so well prepared he couldn't fail me. Like anywhere in the world, the top echelon is very different from the working level. Sadly this is also increasingly true in Singapore.

More are renting, not buying cars

It is a little hard to tell from the photo. In the middle of the back there is a "Diamondlease" sticker, i.e., this is a rental car. On both the driver and front passenger are seat cushions which the car rental company certainly did not provide. I have something similar on my rental car too.

Rumors and newspaper reports are that a growing number of people are renting rather than buying cars given the uncertain employment market here. I have even heard that the used car market has practically evaporated. Dealers are not accepting used cars any more. If they do, it is at ridiculous prices. A story I heard has a two month old BMW purchased for 280K AED sold to a dealer for 100K AED. The owner even have to travel to another emirate to make this sale. This morning Daisy emailed me to tell a just purchased Merc needed to find a new owner. The asking price is only 99K AED. Meanwhile far away in Japan, I read that Toyota has lost its top ratings from Moody and the company has reported a USD 5billion loss.

Looks like toxic debt has also found their way to cars and make them toxic too. I am keeping my rental car for as long as possible. It is a pricey way to drive but at least the poison is with the rental company.

Yu Sheng Celebration

A lucky couple decided they would share their luck for being able to make the trip back to Singapore for Chinese New Year by bringing this packaged Yu Sheng salad back to Dubai for all of us to enjoy. We got everything except the raw fish. This is just right for Daisy and the children as they try to avoid the fish anyway, but the rest of us, numbering more than ten would have loved to have the thin slices of salmon.

Thank you Soon Chai and Alice

When I think of the coming heat

When I think of the coming summer heat which I will descend rapidly and mercilessly, I have this picture to keep in mind. This photo was sent by a friend in icy Canada which was used to protest against global warming. Aircon Dubai is very guilty. They are even thinking of cooling a patch of sand for a beach in summer. Imagine the added carbon footprint. Well, may be they will not because I wouldn't be surprised that they have no funds for it.

Meanwhile neighbouring Abu Dhabi is building a carbon neutral city outside Abu Dhabi. There will not be any cars on this city's streets because of a zero emission policy. The energy will come from solar panels in the desert. By day these panels will feed surplus power into the grid. At night Abu Dhabi city will return the borrowed electricity....I think we have the science to make this happen but I wonder what about the economics.

No money, no school for you.

Was I just ranting here yesterday in my "NUS is pricey says Forbes" that the PM assured us that nobody who is academically able will be denied a place in our universities or polytechnics. I knew I didn't need to wait very long for newspaper story to prove the converse, but I didn't reckon that it would be so soon.

In the electric New Paper today, they have this story, "No money, so girl, 6, misses 3 weeks of school " If you cannot afford even pre-school you will never qualify for tertiary education.

I am not sure if I should miss the old days when his father was PM. At that time, my dad and uncles told me we could take Lee Kuan Yew at his word. These days, they have "PRed" everything. I tell them, it is wisdom to be respected than to be loved or popular.

I am living down that PR crap here from my government even when I am far away from them in Dubai. Overall it is still a good government but the drift to becoming like a government anywhere is discernible but without some unintended pluses other systems offer. Now the story I want to tell is too sensitive for this forum. I have been threatened with the short end of the stick no less if I dare try.

Living in Dubai under a very different jurisdiction has helped me by contrast to miss or dismiss governance and life under the present Singapore way. I think we trade off far too much in Singapore. We shall pay with more than tears for it. I shall only share the details offline. Maybe I can leave you with a hint - Unless you belong to the elite, Singapore has an animal view of humanity. This can only be cured with a change of heart, by learning from the late Mother Teresa of Calcutta.

Road Accident Photos

Caught in a traffic jam this afternoon on the way to fetch Daisy. Reason? A traffic accident.

A police 4WD patrol vehicle came beside me and forced some vehicles to mount the pavement for it to pass. I don't ever recall seeing Singaporean motorists did this for a police car. Since traffic was moving at a crawl, I finally had my chance to snap my own accident photos.

Dubai truly has no shortage of reckless drivers. I am constantly looking at my rearview mirror for them. You never know one will crash into you! Since I arrived here, I have read at least two reports of drivers (both emiratis) flew off a road bridge and landed below, dead on impact of course. Good thing none of them took people in other vehicles with them on their stupid eternal journey.

Liquidity was your margin of safety

Liquidity, especially a riding tide of it was the safety margin of safety for most investors. But liquidity is fickle and can evaporate away very rapidly, which is what has happened on a global scale.

You see, most investors do not do their homework or even know how to go about it. They don't really know why they make money but with lots of liquidity around what you need is just luck and guts to turn a profit. Far too many ride up and then down with the market. Serious and skillful investors spend lot of time and effort trying to discount such distracting noises. It takes a very long time to learn how to do this, and you will always have to learn as you go.

When the name of the game here in Dubai was to flip properties nobody cares about the laws governing property ownership. After all, they are not going to live in it. It is all so short term, the governing laws didn't matter. Only the certain prospect of a fatter bank account does.

Now that the tide of liquidity has gone out, I wonder if Dubai real estate laws governing foreign ownership are sufficiently attractive. The government here will not have a chance to think this through. They will be living a real life experiment and it is probably not going to be pretty.

Well why am I here? I had a chance to come here three years ago but turned it down. I am here for faith reasons which I am still trying to understand. Just going by the mind, all these doesn't make sense.

Safe Driving

Many commercial vehicles, especially the heavy ones have stickers like this pasted on their back. I suppose it must have helped to improve road safety but many private passenger vehicles and taxis continue to be a menace. It is amazing that there are not more accidents on Dubai roads. This is the doing of the invisible hand of God, whilst Adam Smith's invisible hand is wreaking havoc in our markets. Economists must appreciate that many science laws, not to mention that every economic law has exceptions.

Wii Fit

Took this shot just a while ago as I finished my Wii Fit session. I really should do this more often but this isn't part of our routine yet. Kinda of hard to settle down properly given the present uncertainty that is affecting every place in the world.

This blog entry is dedicated to chewwe. You know who you are old friend! Yi Lin should have given you something to grace your top! I leave you to settle this with her.

Yi Lin created and edited countless times these five characters. I am the one in blue.

Wedding Cars

On the way to visiting a bookshop at the basement of the church complex at Jebel Ali on saturday and we saw these two wedding cars. I think these are stretched Hummer limos. There were a few more smaller and more typical wedding cars. Looked like this was a mass church wedding. We didn't stay to see the happy couples coming out. It should be quite a sight.

NUS is pricey says Forbes

Full article at http://www.forbes.com/2009/02/03/most-expensive-colleges-business-0203_colleges.html

Singapore: National University of Singapore
2008-2009 estimated tuition cost: $24,000 (non-resident)
The Times of London ranked the National University of Singapore as one of the top 20 best universities in the world in 2006. But NUS doesn't come cheap, especially compared with its Asian peers. The tuition cost is higher for international students, but residents of Singapore only pay a few thousand less. NUS students benefit from a relatively low cost of living, just $5,100 per year. Still, a total price tag of more than $31,000 per year makes an NUS education one of the most expensive in Asia.

My alma mater has become very expensive. My dad used to say all the taxes he has paid was more than worth it because all his three children paid such low tuition fees at NUS then.

Our politicians have oft repeated that no citizen will be denied a place at our universities and polytechnics because of financial impediments. They must have made a mistake on this one because you will time and again find reports in the papers of students leaving school to support their families. There will be more such stories in this hard times on top new graduates having a hard time landing jobs.

Dubai national schools are cheap but of pathetic quality and only for the locals. Many emiratis send their children to international school which are not cheap. Unfortunately the academic standards are nothing to shout about according to the latest TIMSS results. This is confirmed by our experience too. The school fees for my two children come up to USD 27K per school year. The food in the canteen is limited and very pricey; approximately four to five times more than Singapore's schools. School bus transport is about USD 1.8K per school year per child. Meanwhile one school has been making the news for a few consecutive days already because they are going to up school fees by more than 100% over the next two years. See The National's article: "Silent treatment over school fees"

Again, where is ADIA?

The Speaker of Parliament, Mr Abdulaziz Abdullah al Ghurair,
seen here in a file photograph, says the country's wealth fund
should be used to shore up local companies. Ryan Carter / The National

UAE's speaker of Parliament suggested that its country SWF should be used to support its local companies. The article also pointed out what the Kuwaitis and Qataris are doing for their domestic companies. Even Singapore has done so in a more thoughtful and sophisticated way. What happened to the UAE? They are giving new meaning to the adage that silence is golden.

From: The National newspaper
Funds urged to invest at home

James Reinl and Travis Pantin

Last Updated: January 31. 2009 8:53PM UAE / GMT

The Speaker of Parliament, Mr Abdulaziz Abdullah al Ghurair, seen here in a file photograph, says the country's wealth fund should be used to shore up local companies. Ryan Carter / The National

DAVOS, SWITZERLAND // Sovereign wealth funds should begin moving some of their foreign reserves into local companies, says Abdul Aziz Abdullah al Ghurair, the chief executive of Mashreqbank.

Speaking at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, he joined other economic leaders in calling for the funds to help meet financing needs, which have intensified since the onset of the financial crisis.

Mr al Ghurair, who is also the Speaker of the Federal National Council, urged the Government to use sovereign wealth funds (SWFs) and “other governmental tools” to pump “more liquidity into the banking system, so banks can continue lending and keep the economy turning”.

“We have built up huge reserves of US$300 billion (Dh1.01 trillion) to $500bn. We can put it into some projects... otherwise when do we spend it? It’s for a rainy day,” he said.

“We have to adjust to [lower] growth. We must review certain projects. We must postpone the kind of real estate orientated projects. Demand is not there. But the Government is committed to accelerate infrastructure projects.”

Several regional funds may have suffered losses on stakes they took during the onset of the crisis in ailing western banks – including Merrill Lynch and Citigroup. Abu Dhabi is home to some of the world’s largest SWFs,the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority and the Abu Dhabi Investment Council, which together control an estimated $328bn, according to the Council on Foreign Relations.

Fund managers in the region would welcome greater investment by wealth funds,according to a recent survey taken by Standard and Poor’s. The agency found that many fund managers expected that purchases by Gulf SWFs would spark a resurgence in regional stock markets.

SWFs are among the few entities with resources that enable them to make large purchases in the face of a global credit shortage. Although nearly every asset class has become unusually cheap in recent months, it is not clear when SWFs will decide to go bargain hunting.

It is also not easy to time such investments, as the Kuwait Investment Authority (KIA) is likely to have already learnt. In January last year, the KIA took a $5bn stake in Citigroup and Merrill Lynch, in what appeared to be an attractive deal. Since then, the fund is reported to have lost as much as 80 per cent of its investment.

Nonetheless, Tony Tan, the deputy chairman and executive director of the Government of Singapore Investment Corporation, one of the world’s largest sovereign wealth funds with an estimated $300bn in assets, said that conditions were favourable for SWFs to get back into the market.

“With many key debt and equity real estate markets pushed to extreme undervaluations, institutional investors like pension funds and SWFs will play an important role in the stabilisation and eventual recovery of asset markets,” Mr Tan said at the Davos conference. “Real money investors, particularly unleveraged global institutional investors, would become relatively more important players” in bank recapitalisation efforts.

Indeed, Qatar may already be on the verge of using its sovereign wealth to buy stakes in companies, and increase its holdings in others, according to the head of the Qatar Investment Authority and prime minister of the country, Sheikh Hamad bin Jassim.

“We are talking with two to three companies at the moment. We are looking for the blue-chip companies,” he said, adding that the country was considering deals in financial services, industry and tourism. “We cannot build all our reserves on one kind of investment, so we have to spread it.”

The Qatari fund has already moved to support markets by increasing its share in local banks to shore up their balance sheets. The Kuwait Investment Authority has also aided the country’s ailing stock market, by investing as much as 1.5bn Kuwaiti dinars (Dh18.74bn).

However, some analysts still say most SWFs will decide to postpone their investments in anything but the safest and most conservative assets for the foreseeable future.s

In a report written for the Council on Foreign Relations, the economists Brad Setser and Rachel Ziemba said that most Gulf SWFs would be looking to increase the share of their portfolios held in foreign currencies. For that to happen, wealth funds will have to turn their attention away from their domestic markets.