One thing I avoid doing during National Day celebrations, and I’m sure it is the case with many people, is to get stuck in traffic because someone has decided to stop his car in the middle of the road to dance or spray silly string on other people.
The “maseera”, or the car parade, has become the face of the UAE National Day celebrations and the preferred form of celebration for many people. They take place in main streets throughout the country and vary in the number of people and cars, depending on the emirate. But they have one thing in common: the bad behaviour of many participants.
Last week, I decided to spend National Day in Dubai with my family. For us, this would be the best way to avoid getting stuck in traffic, especially because we usually do not drive in Dubai. We sat in a cafe and enjoyed the fireworks and the Dubai Fountain’s show next to the beautiful sight of Burj Khalifa being illuminated with the colours of the UAE flag.
I have followed National Day celebrations through the live coverage of The National and on social media websites. Some photos showed beautiful forms of celebration: fireworks, air shows, military parades, camel and horse parades, traditional dance performances (not on the road), musical acts and novelty balloons.
Other photos, however, showed the other side of the celebrations mainly during the maseera: young people driving recklessly, standing on vehicles, littering, performing stunts, disrupting or blocking traffic and carrying out other practices that spread chaos among other motorists. A few photos even featured a cheetah (yes, that is right) inside one of the cars participating in the parade at Abu Dhabi Corniche.
Some of my expatriate friends attended the maseera for the first time this year, and while they found these actions amusing, experienced some kind of a “cultural shock”. One of them got silly string on her face and another was covered with foam by people they don’t know, only because they wanted to participate in the celebrations.
And we all heard the story two years ago of the five women who claimed they were harassed while cutting through the crowd gathered along the Corniche to watch the country’s National Day fireworks display.
These acts do not only break the law, but also violate the rights of other people and affect the overall image of the country. Some inappropriate acts committed by some, young male and female – even though they are individual acts – send the wrong message about the Emirati people.
There are young people who are ready to spend thousands of dirhams decorating their cars, but they find nothing wrong with throwing trash on the streets, with violating the traffic rules, and with disturbing entire neighbourhoods with their car and air horns.
As they do every year, the Abu Dhabi police warned against such actions and declared their intention to confiscate the licences of repeat offenders. Dubai police even used social media to remind people of the traffic rules during National Day celebrations.
But I wonder how many offenders were actually punished for committing these acts. Some people take advantage of the celebratory spirit to engage in careless and reckless behaviour. Maybe this is their way to express their love to this country. But what does this say about them?
Needless to say, expressing patriotism does not happen in one or two days, and is certainly not exclusive to National Day celebrations.
I believe that our everyday actions are how we should convey our love for this land, such as by working hard and following the laws, using recycling bins instead of throwing rubbish on the streets, treating other people with respect instead of spraying silly string on their faces and hair, among many other things.
Some little acts could mean a lot and matter more than many other forms of celebration.
Flags, songs and car decorations are fine. One can write patriotic poems on his or her car or cover it with phrases and pictures to express love for the country and its rulers – nothing wrong with that. But at the same time, we should think about the deeper meaning of patriotism and feel the responsibility to represent the country in a positive image.
It is regrettable indeed to see or hear stories about young people who distort the image of the UAE by their arrogance and disrespect of the law and other people, forgetting that good manners are more important than anything else. Civic responsibility is big on the government’s agenda.
I wrote on Twitter expressing my disappointment over the behaviour of some people on the country’s roads during National Day celebrations, which continue year after year, asking when some of us will learn to celebrate decently. I got a response from someone, who said: “When we enforce the laws.”
Is that really the only solution? Something inside me refuses to admit this, even though it is probably true, sadly.
AAlmazrouei@thenational.ae
On Twitter: @AyeshaAlmazroui