Dear Ali: I arrived in the UAE a few days ago and have been impressed by this iridescent sheen and cleanliness everywhere, especially the radiant gloss on cars. Is this because they're all new, kind of "just from the salon", or is there another reason for this? KN, Serbia
Dear KN: Thank you and welcome to the UAE. Cleanliness and shine is essential in our culture. We pay a lot of attention to the exterior look of everything – our houses, clothes and streets – as much as we do to the interiors.
Let’s see why. Dirt was never appreciated in religion, and hence it’s always been taught via Islam that we should look clean and in a state of purity. So we became concerned that our appearance and the look of what we own should represent ourselves and show who we are in the most effective way. It also affects first impressions, which are often more significant than anything else.
From a religious point of view, we believe that God is beautiful, hence we love beautiful people – and what I mean by “beautiful” is what God sees in our hearts and minds, as well as what we are displaying and showing. We’re encouraged to be clean and well-groomed all the time, and that applies to the things we consume as well – including cars.
There are some people who say that the UAE is clean because the weather is dry. Well, yes, the weather conditions may be helpful, as we don’t have much rain and the sun dries any mud. But don’t forget, we have a lot of sand and dust is everywhere. If there’s a strong wind, it can make your car so dirty that you won’t be able see through the windscreen. So the weather is not necessarily the reason for the cleanliness.
How do we make our cars look new every day? Some people have their drivers or home helpers wash them every morning. Usually, the driver takes care of that for families before taking the kids to school. If you simply brush the dust from the car, it stays clean for longer and you won’t need to use water all the time.
Other owners take their cars to be washed at petrol stations and parking areas of malls and supermarkets. There are many well-known places in every emirate that are only for car washing.
People may plan where to wash their cars, as each place can provide different packages and exclusive services, such as disc polishing, waxing, engine washing, etc. Some car owners go by themselves; others arrange it with their friends, as many washing stations have a room where people can sit, talk and drink some karak tea while waiting for their cars; and other people send their drivers there.
So you can see that we’ve built a certain culture for car washing. It costs very little and doesn’t require much time: an express wash is about 15 minutes and a full wash takes up to one hour. To make cars shine even more, car-wash companies have perfected their own secret techniques, using professional car cosmetics.
The demand for cleaning services in the country is very high and seemingly has no end. The UAE is a new and beautiful country, so we want everything here to be beautiful, clean and shiny.
Personally, I clean my car every now and then – whenever people are able to write “Please wash me” on it. I’m very proud that my culture encourages us to keep everything clean and look so nice every single day.
Ali Al Saloom is a cultural adviser and public speaker from the UAE. Follow @AskAli on Twitter, and visit www.ask-ali.com to ask him a question.
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