无题 / Untitled

一上车，我就注意到他的名字有点特别，不像是印度人的名字，虽然他长得很像印度人。

“你是韩国人吗？”他看着望后镜问道。

“不是，我是新加坡人。你呢？”

“我是斯里兰卡来的。”

“哦，你来多久了？”

“一年。你是游客吗？还是在这里工作？“

”我先生在这里工作。你有太太在斯里兰卡吗？”

“有呀，她在家里。”

这位的士司机叫D。英文说得很好，来阿布打比之前在斯里兰卡的电信局工作。为了还房屋贷款，来到这里与的士公司签了三年的约。条约大概是这样：司机没有底薪，开车赚到的车费公司收70%而他只收30%。公司不提供饮食住宿，燃料费公司报销。D说他合约一到期他就要离开了。这工作不好，太太也常常催他回家。他估计两年可以支付房款，然后就可以轻松下来了。

D算了算给我听。他每天大概可以赚到300迪拉姆（阿联酋的钱币叫迪拉姆），既是入他口袋的是90迪拉姆。一个月就大概2500迪拉姆。每个月差不多会被罚款500迪拉姆，租金500迪拉姆。既每个月剩下1500迪拉姆。

1500迪拉姆等于3000人名币，等于600新币。一般来到这里工作的专业人士一个月可以赚到一万五到两万迪拉姆左右。当然，这要看行业、经验。还有（较悲哀的）肤色。这里的南亚籍劳工每个月也就一辆千迪拉姆。这里的消费很贵，赚两万迪拉姆的人都很难自己出来租房子，生活也只能算中等阶级。一个月赚一两千迪拉姆的人，日子怎么过呢？D把我载到Marina Mall，的士费比在深圳还便宜。我逛了2个钟头花了大概200迪拉姆。其中130迪拉姆是花在普通食物及用品上。

我提着两大袋子打的回家，路上仰望窗外这座世界上最富裕的城市。它拥有你想象不到的富贵，但也是世界的缩影。因为世界上的国籍、种族、经济界线显而易见。

的士缓缓开进我住的小街。司机很小心，在“Stop“牌前把车完全停下来望了望再开。


The moment I got into the car, I noticed that his name does not sound Indian, though he looks Indian.

"Are you from Korea?"  He asked looking at me from the rear view mirror.

"No, I'm from Singapore. What about you?"

"I am from Sri Lanka."

"Oh, how long have you been here?"

"One year. You are tourist or working here?"

"My husband works here. You have wife in Sri Lanka?"

"Yes, she is at home."


D's a taxi driver who was a white collar worker back home in Sri Lanka. His English is quite good. He came here because he wanted to pay back his housing loan, so he signed on to a three year contract with a taxi company in Abu Dhabi.
From what I understood, the contractual terms basically are: No pay for drivers, company gets 70% of the driver's earnings meaning that the driver gets 30%. The company does not pay for food nor accomodation, but pays for fuel.

D says he will leave right after the contract ends because this is not a good job, and his wife wants him back home anyways. He hopes to be able to pay off his loan these 2 years, and then he can relax (and have kids!)

He did a little math for me whilst we were cruising down the 30th. He makes about 300 dirhams a day, meaning he pockets 90 dirhams. That's about 2500 dirhams a month. For some reason, he'll get fined 500 dirhams a month for traffic offenses, renting a room with 4 other guys costs him 500 dirhams a month, so he gets 1500 dirhams a month for himself.

1500 dirhams is about 3000 HKD, and about 600 SGD. A professional expat working here can expect something like 15-20K dirhams a month. Of course, this depends on the field, experience, and (unfortunately prevalent in some places) skin colour. Vast populations of south asian manual workers only get paid 1-2k a month. Things are very expensive in Abu Dhabi. An expat on 20K usually has trouble renting accommodation by themselves and often need to share. A 15-20K lifestyle is pretty average here. (Some friends say it's like Uni all over again) So, I really do not know how someone can survive on 1500 dirhams.

D dropped me off at Marina Mall. The taxi fare is cheaper than the taxi fare in Shenzhen for the same distance. After shopping for 2 hours, I had spent about 200 dirhams, 130 of which were spent on groceries and common household items. With two shopping bags in hand, I boarded a taxi to get home.

As I gazed out of the window looking at this richest city in the world, I came to realize that here is a microcosm of this world, where the realities of nations, races, and economies are laid as bare as can be. Perhaps it is so obvious here because the foreign population is so many, and local population so few. A global city in the truest sense of the word.

The taxi driver drove slowly into the quiet street where I live. He was very careful to make a complete stop at the stop sign, proceeding only after checking carefully that no one was around. The last time I drove like this was during my driving test.