ISLAMABAD: Expat Muhammad Siddique Baksh, recently recognized by Dubai Police for having a “flawless” record without a single driving violation in 55 years, urged other Pakistanis this week to follow local laws, saying it had been the key to opening the “doors of bright opportunities” for him in almost six decades of living in the UAE. 

The commendation for Baksh comes on the heels of widespread reports of a declining trend in overseas employment for Pakistanis due to their alleged lack of respect for local laws and customs. During a widely reported briefing of the Senate Standing Committee on Overseas Pakistanis in July, Dr. Arshad Mahmood, secretary of the Ministry of Overseas Pakistanis, said 50 percent of the crime rate in the UAE was reportedly attributed to Pakistanis.

Of more than 10 million overseas Pakistanis, over 50 percent live in Gulf countries, with Saudi Arabia and the UAE having been the top destinations for Pakistani laborers for decades. Saudi Arabia and the UAE are also the first and second largest sources of remittances to Pakistan respectively.

“During my 56 years in the UAE, I was never involved in any accidents, never faced a traffic violation ticket or other legal issues,” Baksh, 84, told Arab News in a phone interview this week, saying as a reward for his unblemished record, Dubai Police had renewed his driving license for five years despite him being 84 years old. 

Pakistan’s consulate general in the UAE had also presented an appreciation certificate to him for “making the Pakistani community proud.”

In all his years of living and working in the UAE, Baksh said he had guided many Pakistani expatriates there, always advising them to obey the laws of the land.

“I constantly told them that being a law-abiding citizen earns you respect and opens doors to bright opportunities in the UAE,” he said. “Wherever you go in the world, if you follow the law, the law will respect you.”

Baksh said UAE authorities had forwarded his case as an “exemplary law-abiding citizen” to Dubai’s ruler Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum.

“I don’t know when it will happen, but it will be a great honor to meet such a visionary leader,” Baksh said. 

The expat arrived in the UAE by sea in 1968, three years before the Emirates was born in 1971 when six emirates, Abu Dhabi, Dubai, Umm Al Quwain, Sharjah, Fujairah and Ajman, agreed to be a part of a single federation. Ras al Khaimah was the last to join in 1972. 

Baksh started out as a motor mechanic at the Al Nasser Engineering company in Dubai and was later promoted to foreman. He then completed a certification in engineering and worked as a marine engineer at Port Rashid.

After retiring, he ran a business in Jebel Ali for 16 years offering re-cushioning services and supplying parts for vehicles. The father of five sons and a daughter also paints as a hobby. 

“I have witnessed the whole development of the UAE from a long desert to a state-of-the-art modern country,” he said, “which was made possible by the visionary leadership and unwavering respect for the rule of law.”