DUBAI: Anyone who has driven to Dubai and parked in districts such as Barsha and Barsha Heights will be all too familiar with the experience of finding various business cards advertising apparent “massage” services left on the car windows.
But this could soon be a thing of the past with new rules proposed by Dubai authorities that would see venders face stricter fines of up to 10,000 dirhams ($2,720) and immediate deportation.
In some districts in Dubai it is not uncommon for a motorist to park their vehicle, leave it for a few minutes, and return to find a selection of various cards advertising massage services, with photographs of women in various forms of undress.
The cards are left on vehicles by small teams, or individuals, who walk around the streets, quickly leaving an assortment of the offending items on the windows.
Abdul Majeed Abdul Aziz Al-Saifaie, director of the Waste Management Department, told UAE daily Gulf News that his department has drafted proposals requesting the amending of existing rules.
Under the new proposals people caught leaving the cards on vehicles, or at people’s apartments would face immediate deportation.
A fine of 10,000 dirhams would be imposed on licensed massage parlors committing the offense – the fine is currently 500 dirhams ($27).
Al-Saifaie said in many cases the people leaving the cards were also breaching residency laws.
“They don’t have resident visas or they are here on visit visas looking for jobs. So, our proposal is to deport them immediately,” he explained.
The proposals follow an ongoing battle against the problem, which has been the cause for thousands of complaints from residents who are fed up with finding the various cards left on their vehicles, or pushed under the doors of their apartments, often being picked up by young children.
Dubai authorities propose crackdown on “massage service” card vendors
Dubai authorities propose crackdown on “massage service” card vendors
Some Warren Buffett wisdom on his last day leading Berkshire Hathaway
OMAHA, Nebraska: The advice that legendary investor Warren Buffett offered on investing and life over the years helped earn him legions of followers who eagerly read his annual letters and filled an arena in Omaha every year to listen to him at Berkshire Hathaway’s annual meetings.
Buffett’s last day as CEO is Wednesday after six decades of building up the Berkshire conglomerate. He’ll remain chairman, but Greg Abel will take over leadership.
Here’s a collection of some of Buffett’s most famous quotes from over the years:
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“Be fearful when others are greedy, and greedy when others are fearful.”
That’s how Buffett summed up his investing approach of buying out-of-favor stocks and companies when they were selling for less than he estimated they were worth.
He also urged investors to stick with industries they understand that fall within their “circle of competence” and offered this classic maxim: “Rule No. 1: Never lose money. Rule No. 2: Never forget Rule No. 1.”
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“After they first obey all rules, I then want employees to ask themselves whether they are willing to have any contemplated act appear the next day on the front page of their local paper to be read by their spouses, children and friends with the reporting done by an informed and critical reporter.
“If they follow this test, they need not fear my other message to them: Lose money for the firm and I will be understanding; lose a shred of reputation for the firm and I will be ruthless.”
That’s the ethical standard Buffett explained to a Congressional committee in 1991 that he would apply as he cleaned up the Wall Street investment firm Salomon Brothers. He has reiterated the newspaper test many times since over the years.
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“You only find out who is swimming naked when the tide goes out.”
Many companies might do well when times are good and the economy is growing, but Buffett told investors that a crisis always reveals whether businesses are making sound decisions.
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“Who you associate with is just enormously important. Don’t expect that you’ll make every decision right on that. But you are going to have your life progress in the general direction of the people you work with, that you admire, that become your friends.”
Buffett always told young people that they should try to hang out with people who they feel are better than them because that will help improve their lives. He said that’s especially true when choosing a spouse, which might be the most important decision in life.
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“Our unwavering conclusion: never bet against America.”
Buffett has always remained steadfast in his belief in the American capitalist system. He wrote in 2021 that “there has been no incubator for unleashing human potential like America. Despite some severe interruptions, our country’s economic progress has been breathtaking.”
