MEMBERS:

Pelagio, Jehsa A.
Ramirez, Rebecca Z.
INTERCULTURAL Taib, Ahleah A.
Teves, Mia Lorelene M.
ANALYSIS: A Valles, Jhon Mark M.

MKTMGT 3104
Requirement

In BPO 302- Business

Communications
I.

Name: Elvie Joy Bathan

Address: Mataas na Bayan, Lemery, Batangas

Country: United Arab Emirates

Status: Single

Number of years staying abroad: 6 years

Relation: Family friend

Additional Information: Stayed in Thailand and Israel

II.

A. Geographical Information
Land Area: The United Arab Emirates is situated in the Middle East and southwest
Asia, bordering the Gulf of Oman and the Persian Gulf, between Oman and Saudi
Arabia. Land area 83,600 km²

Flag:
People: Emiratis (local Arabs), mostly expats
Currency: Dirhams (AED)
 B. Simple Historical Background

For almost a century, the territory which today makes up the United Arab Emirates
(UAE) fell under Great Britain’s sphere of influence. Peace treaties laid the basis for
British rule in the Gulf, in exchange for which London promised to protect the emirates
against foreign aggressors. In 1968 Great Britain – whose power was waning since World
War II – announced its decision to terminate the treaty relationship. The seven emirates
subsequently took steps to form the UAE, which has since developed into one of the
important centers in the Persian Gulf region.

C. Beliefs
 Religious Belief:

UAE is a Muslim country so it’s Islamic. There are Christian and Hindu because
there are Indians. The official religion among the United Arab Emirates is Muslim,
coming in at 76% of the population, a 9% Christian following, approximately 10%
Hindu or Buddhist faiths, and less than 5% other religions.

She said that there are also Catholic churches and Christian groups in UAE
wherein together with her Christian group, they are renting a place or a private room
every Friday since that is their worship day. They can also celebrate Christmas but
they need to have respect and boundaries.

 Superstitious Beliefs:

Our interviewee honestly answered that she does not know any superstitious belief
but all she knows is that they do follow Quran, their bible.

 Philosophies and Principles:

According to Ms. Elvie, they are very positive in a sense that they have strong
belief in Allah, their God. They always follow the Quran and do what it says, they always
pray and have their scheduled time to pray. She said they have a positive outlook in life
because they have a strong faith in Allah which can apply now because of a pandemic or
whenever they have a problem, they always mutter “In shallah”, which means In God’s
Will. We cannot see them feeling down or in despair because they do act and they always
create a way, especially the government. They always rely on Allah.

She added that it has a very high impact like in companies, a high portion or mostly
the rules rely on the Quran so they are very conservative in offices and school. Just like
in their company, they are not allowed to wear revealing outfits, even skirts and that
contradicts ours. Their HR advises them to change or go home if the dress or skirt is
above the knee. She said that they are not allowed to wear dresses since they have boys’
officemates to prevent them from being tempted because of their clothing. When it comes
to job decisions, they prioritize being objective and in-line with what’s good for the
business.

D. Values
 Family Values:

As stated by the interviewee, the children are very kind, respectful and they listen
to others. It is hard to measure how they pay regards and respect since unlike here in the
Philippines we have “po and opo” and “manu po”.

Alike with our culture, parents are the one who make decisions and children bear
those decisions for their own good. From her perspective, they are sweeter, closer and
very open than us.

 Patriotic Values:

As said by Ms. Elvie, Emiratis are very aware of the Philippines since a large
portion of expats in UAE are Filipinos so they are trying to learn some basic Filipino words
to be able to interact with others. They greet other Filipinos such as ‘kamusta?’, ‘kabayan
ka? Hi kabayan’ just to show that they know something about us. In their company, they
also asked about their families, if they are doing alright or how they are.

They do not have any patriotic holiday except Christmas but it depends on the
company since a large portion of Filipinos and Christians are in the company. A solution
for their company to not be preoccupied is they do shifts such as some employees will
take a day off on 24 or 25 just to let them celebrate Christmas since they cannot afford a
lot of employees to be gone on the same day. When it comes to elections, there are
Philippine Consulates in UAE in this way, they are able to vote during elections and unlike
in UAE, Kings are the one who governs the country.

 Ethical Values:

Emiratis moral and ethical standards are very high since they do follow their bible.
They are also conservative and strict because of their Quran. They are very conservative
for instance, public display of affection and holding hands are prohibited but they are also
open-minded in a sense of accepting other religions. By law, two people living together is
prohibited although there are some who can run away unless someone would report it to
authorities. There are times that they do surprise checking but not to the extent that they
check every apartment or room. There are also hotels which ask for marriage certificates
though some do not.

In terms of respect to women, they really have high respect toward women. Based
on her observation, they are not biased wherein they allow women to work but she also
said that there are fixed marriages in UAE. With elders, it is limited to encounter locals
since most of them are rich and wealthy.

 Love, marriage, success and money:

With her understanding, getting a divorce is allowed in UAE since mostly there are
Muslim and they are allowed to have many wives. Some do not get divorce like their kings
therefore, they just have many wives. She also cannot say if it may have an effect since
she does not encounter any situation pertaining to divorce. But from her perspective,
since it is already part of the culture to have many wives and children, there would be no
effect.

The UAE is very competitive and they are achievers. We can see how advanced
they are and how they always pursue improvement. They are always being objective
towards the success of their project, they prioritize what is good for their business. They
also value relationships wherein for example is UAE and Israel friendship. Since both
country vary in religion and beliefs since UAE is a Muslim country and Israel is a Jewish
country, there are conflicts in the past times but for now, they are mending their
relationship towards one another.

E. Practices
 Family Practices:

Our interviewee, Ms. Elvie stated that in UAE they see the father as the man of the
house since it is stated in their bible and the mother is the nurturer although mostly there
are nannies in the family but they always do follow the Quran.

Families spend time together especially when going to the temple of their mosque
even though the place for worshipping is separated according to the gender but they
always go together. There are also families who spend their time together at malls.

 Religious Practices:

To do their religious practices, they rent a private place or room. To show their
respect to them when it is Ramadan, they practice not to eat or drink in public. They do
not participate actively in Ramadan but they are also not forced to do fasting the whole
day. When eating or drinking, people should hide or there are consequences wherein a
person will be detained when caught because they believe that it is disrespectful since it
is like a temptation for them. They can eat in the pantry or anywhere private but it is not
allowed in the working station.

There are holidays but it depends on the company. Just like their company, which
is a travel agency, they can’t afford to be gone for long days so there are schedules given
and you will only get one day off then two work days. They celebrate holidays in relation
to practices like Ramadan which have short working hours. All the person need is to follow
since the holidays are government mandated and mostly related to Quran or to Muslim
holiday.

 Professional Practices:

In her perspective, the attitude towards work depends on people. Just like her
boss, Muslim but not very religious person but the attitude towards work is very
professional. Her boss is workaholic and business-minded wherein prioritizing the work
more than the religion.

They are very objective and very professional in work. They have normal
professionalism in relation to Muslim. They do interact with them but very limited since
the gender varies. They are professional wherein they will not invite them to eat but when
there are celebrations, they would buy them food and let them eat in the office.

III. Similarities and Differences in Cultures

a. What are the similarities of their culture and ours?

Philippines and the United Arab Emirates are alike when it comes to decision
making since parents are the ones who make the decisions and children bear for it. In
line with that, they are both raised to be respectful and obedient to elders and other
people. Both countries value the meaning of relationship from mending and interacting
with other nations or people. They are also alike when it comes to family households in
terms of the responsibility of the father, who is the man of the house. Men and women
have equal rights and opportunities to advance themselves and the rights of women when
it comes to work may be similar since women in both countries are allowed to go to work.
The Philippines and UAE are similar with their beliefs towards their God and the passage
of their bible. Being professional along with taking action regarding work and making what
is good for the business.

b. What are the differences between their culture and ours?

Philippines and United Arab Emirates culture vary in terms of freedom. It is

impossible to go to a place or travel alone. They are very conservative when it comes to
clothing unlike in the Philippines where wearing revealing outfits is allowed. The dress
code is also completely different, girls should wear “abaya” to be able to go somewhere.
They do not have ‘po and opo’ and ‘manu po’ to show respect unlike ours. The United
Arab Emirates is very strict while the Philippines is a free country. The Philippines is a
largely Roman Catholic Christian country while the United Arab Emirates is a Muslim
country. With this, the Philippines are governed by a President while the UAE is governed
by a King. In the UAE, they have mosques but in the Philippines we have churches, the
place where we worship. The Philippines celebrate holidays like Christmas while the UAE
does not celebrate Christmas.

c. Do you think that historical background affects their beliefs, values and
practices? How?

Yes, the historical background of a country affects their beliefs, values and
practices since the other countries who are included in the federation also share
similarities of their culture. More importantly, the relationship and communication between
the different countries went smoothly and neatly which resulted in a peace manner with
one another in spite of general diversities. The economic growth and development of the
country along with politics over the past decades also took part to tremendous changes
regarding their beliefs, values and practices.
IV. Documentation