Campbell gets it all, this “glorious phoenix with gossamer wings.” Her article is a must-read for anyone trying to come to terms with the contradictions of the Middle East and for weary world travellers who overnight in Dubai.
Janice Gross Stein
Munk Centre for International Studies
University of Toronto
Please thank Deborah Campbell for “Magic Kingdom or Glass House?,” in which she provides a glimpse into Dubai’s decadent excesses. However, I would like to see her do a follow-up article focused on the dark side of the Magic Kingdom: cheap labourers imported from impoverished countries, paid $200 a month, and shipped like cattle to and from their camps, far removed from the good life in the city.
Then there are the hordes of gorgeous women from Russia, China, etc., available for hire. According to friends who live in Dubai, there are no “normal” women with whom to have relationships — the place has become a spawning ground for opportunistic women whose only currency is their sexuality. It is also apparently not uncommon for an expat executive to import a girl from, say, Thailand, to be his personal “maid.” And what of the sheikhs who herd veiled women in abayas from their limos to lavish hotel rooms? Magic Kingdom or House of Whores?
Whether Campbell would be allowed back into the kingdom after writing that piece is anybody’s guess.
Jade Chan
Vancouver, British Columbia
Peace Man
The Walrus is to be commended for publishing Chris Turner’s article on the Vietnam-driven “hippie exodus” to Canada (“On Strawberry Hill,” September). His discussion of the reception given to war refusers by people living in British Columbia’s interior, in particular the Doukhobors and residents of the Slocan Valley, was informative and inspiring.
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