The majlis: anti-Emirati discrimination seems to be declining

John Eve (not his real name) spent a lot of time trying to explain to me that people from ­Newcastle in north-west England were naturally inclined to having a mechanical mind.

He wasn’t trying to convince me of his acute observation just because he was from Newcastle (and worked in mechanical maintenance), but because he was hoping to enlighten me that people are naturally and genetically inclined towards success in certain disciplines. His argument was enhanced by other examples, such as the success of Germans musically and other similar correlations.

All of John’s conclusions were used to try to convince me, as the head of HR for the petrochemical company that we both worked for, that Emiratis could not possibly operate a processing plant.

If anybody at this point is shocked at the crude racism that we, as Emiratis, can experience in our own country, I’m afraid that John was only guilty of giving voice to his outlook.

I have had to deal with many managers who would put forward incredibly imaginative (and equally offensive) arguments against my attempts to introduce Emiratis into their departments: we couldn’t handle shift work; we would disappear on the first day of Ramadan; we wouldn’t know how to react in an emergency; we couldn’t understand complex technical operations.

The fact that my brother had a doctorate in mechanical ­engineering from one of the leading universities in the ­United Kingdom was considered an anomaly. Any attempt at highlighting success stories was met with the most annoying response: yes, but you’re different.

I’m glad to report that over time, we won the arguments, and won over many hearts and minds along the way. During Ramadan, all eyes were on our plant operators who would need to work 12-hour day shifts while fasting (and during the late 1980s, much like it does now, this happened during the summer). It was almost a sporting occasion, with crowds cheering them on, while others were hoping they would fall flat on their face. There isn’t a single person in that organisation today who even thinks twice about the ­nationality or religion of any member of the team.

I visited my old employer recently, and nostalgia got the better of me. I saw grey-haired Emirati plant operators who I had the honour of employing more than 30 years ago. They had gone through every test that had been put in their way and they had passed with flying colours. I asked about numbers and was thrilled to bits to realise that our operations and maintenance departments had the highest percentage of Emiratis in the whole organisation. The management in those departments were the Emiratis who had started as external operators and had done their time in all areas of the plant.

I don’t think anybody is stupid enough to express clearly ­racist attitudes anymore. Sadly, I still come across some expats who allow their defence to slip and say what they actually think.

In a multinational financial services organisation that I worked for much more recently, I needed to recruit a personal assistant, and was giving the HR department a brief of my priorities. Keep in mind, I had just joined this organisation as the head of HR.

When I mentioned that my first priority was to hire an Emirati, the resourcing specialist, without missing a heartbeat, told me that wasn’t a good idea, as ­Emiratis couldn’t possibly do the job. I could barely believe my ears. My kandura obviously didn’t register with her and she must have thought that I wouldn’t be offended by that remark. To this day, I consider it one of my proudest moments that I didn’t fire her on the spot for sheer stupidity, if not racism.

I still see John from time to time in the UAE, and I’m very pleased to report that he is one of the expats who had a change of heart, and no longer believes that you have to be from ­Newcastle to have a mechanical mind.

Ammar Shams has a degree in economics and postgraduate degree in law, with a focus in Islamic law.

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