I agree with you ALMEHAIRI, she wasn't the right person to represent the UAE or the UAE women. Many of the info she shared was not correct. I wish OPRAH would reconsider and choose the right people next time.All Emarati women are disagreeing with her and it has become a huge issue this week. thanks.

I agree with you.

Here in the UAE it is a religious issue to cover our hair and body. However, by the time a girl reaches 14 or 15 years old she decides to start covering. It is part of our religion and culture to cover and we don't at all feel suppressed or forced into it we do it because we as individuals choose to do it .

Dr. Lamees also gave out some wrong information. we do have to pay water and electricity bills, and we do have to cook not everyone lives near their in-laws.

Thank you hope you find my comment useful.

I totally agree with both of you, whatever Dr.Lamees said, it only represented her life and not the life of the majority of Emarati women.

Besides, our traditional cloths (veil and Abbaya) is not only related to religious believes, it is part of our identity as Emarati Women and she cannot disregard this fact even if she personally doesn't believe in it.

But what bothered me most, is that she made us Emarati women appear so dependent on others to run our lives for us and that is so not true!! If she is so dependent on others to cook her meals, raise her kids and pay her bills doesn't mean we are all like that! She represents the minority and not the majority! We sure know how to run our lives and carry out different tasks (like providing meals to our families and paying our own phone bills) without help of others!

My God, this is the easy stuff and she made it appear like a big deal!! I wonder how she is managing other aspects of her life!!

I entirely agree with all the commenters. Having a certain life style and living a certain way a person chooses to live does not necessarily represent a nation.

Having said that, I beleive calling upon someone in a TV show to represent a nation or a country is a process on which authorities should agree upon. In the sense, how can anyone build credibility on what was aired?

I'm a working emarati woman and I do cover up wearing the veil and abbaya not only cause it is a religious obligation or an emarati identity but also something that I accept it and never feel ashamed of wearing it. In addition, as emarati women we also refrain from shaking hands with men who are not close family. These may seem trivial matters to some but these are the things that differ from nation to nation and religion to religion. This is why we are different.

I totally agree with all of you ladies, because its not right for a person who does not really believe in the scarf (shaila & abaya) as a religious matter to represent the UAE women. This is a part of our religion before considering it a traditional issue. The other information about paying bills is also not correct because we do pay & we also have poor people living in poor neighborhoods which Dr. Lamees might never have visited them or even heard their problems through morning FM (its a 2hour radio/TV talk show to solve peoples problems or misunderstandings). I truly wish that OPRAH will reconsider the issue of misunderstanding the real DUBAI & give the correct information about our lovely country as OPRAH has always did.

Thanks

As a Brit who has lived in Dubai for many years I found the segment with Dr. Lamees to be untrue.There are so many poor people who do in fact live on the streets in the UAE. Rent is so high that people cannot afford to live in Dubai and only just get by on the salaries that are paid. Electric is paid for by all, ex pats and locals alike. Education is a huge price to pay and does not reflect in teachers pay checks. House maids are in many households but not all households are as big and grand as Dr. Lamees' home. Some do have drivers and others just catch a taxi!! The answer to your question Oprah, Are all people in Dubai rich, the answer is NO.

Was Dr. Lamees local or a woman who is married to a local. She did not look local to me!!

I agree with the above comments. I've lived in Dubai for 12 years and i can confidently say people living here do not have it as easy as it was portrayed. It's only a small 10% who live life the way Dr. Lamees does. The rest are middle class to lower class and because Dubai is also quite an expensive city to live in, it does get difficult for them to cope on a daily basis. I have seen people who live in their cars and others who live on park benches. And for those who can live in a flat, its mostly shared, sharing meaning around 12 people living in a small sized two bedroom flat. Dr. Lamees only expressed the rich side of Dubai when hidden beneath there is poverty. It's just not noticed enough by others to have something done about it. I've seen labourers sitting in the heat of the sun trying to get rest during their break because they don't have a proper place to take their break. It's not as rosy as it was painted on the show.

Also the Hijab is worn for religious purposes. I have alot of friends who wear it and when asked they will tell you that their religion calls for it... not a fashion statement or a choice.

The electricity and water bills are not paid for as mentioned above and just because we dont pay taxes doesnt mean that its relatively cheaper here.

Don't get me wrong, Dubai is a beautiful city, but Dr. Lamees only expressed its surface beauty, one that doesnt exactly exist all over here. Truth is Dubai is just like any other city, it has its ups and downs. But it wasn't fair to express it the way it was.

People are saying she is a Syrian married to a "hip" local hehehe

but seriously, she is not raising her kids "that is clearly taken care of by her maids", she is not taking care of her house "again maids and her in-law's central kitchen lol" and didnt finish her studies, what the hell she is doing with her life????

Oprah,

Some underachiever cannot represent us!!!

we sure got much better examples to represent us Emarati women!! i know lots of women with post graduate degrees, few kids, successful careers and they still know how to cook a decent meal for their families!!

First of all

I would like to thank OPRAH for the good show which I am fan of it. Second, I am so disjointed the way that Dr.Lamees represent herself as one of the UAE woman. I strongly disagree about the life style she said that most of the people lived in it. Taking in consideration that there are seven emirates in the united Arab emirates that the life style vary from people to people. As typical UAE woman, most of the women in UAE are taking the charge of raising their sons and make sure of their needs not depending on the mates. Also the way she described the head cover (HIJAB) as cultural and choice that can woman make. It is a religious obligation and all the woman should wear it, BUT the way woman dress HIJAB is cultural for example, most of GULF region we use ABAYA the black cover, in different region they wear HIJAB the colored one in similarity most of woman in ISLAM should cover the hair part. As for the water and electricity all the UAE resident pay the bills, but it is supported from the government. I think Lamees wasn't the good example to represent the woman or their life style she might be some of the exceptional who live in MEDUIM 6 bedroom house with ONE mate as she stated.