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The Russian revolution

Dubai, January 21 (Gulf News, By Charles Stratford, Staff Reporter) Striding across the dance floor in between pony-tailed dancers in black leotards, Alexander Orlov speaks Russian into a bluetooth earpiece. He is a big man who makes his former career in the Soviet Military painfully evident with an iron grip handshake.

As manager of Troyka, Dubai's most popular Russian nightclub, he is a member of a growing Russian speaking community of people from the former Soviet Union carving out successful careers in the UAE.

Suffer

But despite their increasing success in a variety of diverse professions, Alex says that many Russian speakers still suffer from a negative stereotype in the UAE.

A label perpetuated by the criminal activities of a few, the numerous women fighting poverty through prostitution here (and elsewhere) and a poor understanding by other nationalities about the post soviet region is frustrating, especially for a community trying to re-brand itself and succeed in a highly competitive environment.

"Many people can't even locate Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan or Belarus on a map. They don't even know what the Commonwealth of Independent states (CIS) is and they think every Russian speaker is Russian," he says.

"If you are a Russian speaking man here you are often seen as a mafia member or someone with dirty money and if you are a woman you are a prostitute. We are fighting this label with our success and we are winning."

Career

Originally from Kazakhstan, Marina Golovkova left Moscow in 1997 and came to Dubai to work at a hotel. She spoke no English and had no contacts but her personal mission to "learn as much from as many different people every day" has propelled her career and filled her with self-confidence.

Her English is now clipped and something she is rightly proud of. She has risen through the ranks to become the hotel's sales manager. Articulate, opinionated and highly ambitious, she is inspiring to be around.

"Although I haven't experienced any overt discrimination I think people from the former Soviet Union are partly to blame for any negative stereotype they suffer. We could do more to promote a better image of ourselves," she says.

Marina claims that despite the changes witnessed in Russia and the CIS and the region's exposure to the rest of the world since the collapse of the Soviet Union, a culture of "not complaining" and "not promoting personal achievements" lingers from a shared communist past. She believes this affects a Russian speaker's image in the eyes of other nationalities.

Extra hard

She says the post Soviet community in the UAE is having to work extra hard to change their image because in an increasingly competitive and self-promotional world they have to change themselves at the same time.

"Not standing up for ourselves as individuals comes from our cultural background. During the Soviet era we were taught to be modest and humble. We were not supposed to say ?I this' or ?I that'. We had to wait to be praised for our achievements. In western culture you celebrate your merits," she says.

Marina's exposure to the multi-national communities in the UAE has taught her to promote herself and do more to promote understanding about her own culture. She passionately insists this should be the duty of every Russian speaker here.

"I wouldn't have learnt how to stand up for myself if I hadn't come to Dubai. I have become more European here and learnt how to say the words ?I deserve'. Russian speakers have to be more assertive if they are to be better understood. I didn't learn this in Moscow. You have to leave Russia to learn this."

Views shared

Marina's views are shared by Dr Olga Habchi, a fellow Russian who moved to Dubai 8 years ago with her Lebanese husband, Joseph. She is another multi lingual professional member of what she describes as a "new breed" of Russian speakers in the UAE.

She misses her cultural life in Russia but has no regrets about leaving an "insecure existence" in the immediate aftermath of the collapse of the Soviet Union.

She says that for many Russian speakers in the UAE, a chance of securing a job, using their skills and bringing a family up in a crime free environment is what attracts them most to the emirates. But shaking off the residue of being taught to accept "fate" can be hard.

"I haven't seen a Russian ballet in ten years and it is important for me to keep in touch with my culture. I am proud of my country but I don't miss the street crime and I don't miss the fatalism you often feel among Russians."

Celebrates

Artist, writer and poet Alissa Evsioukova agrees. She stands by her paintings on show in the Souk Madinat Jumeirah and celebrates her achievements in Dubai.

"I came here reluctantly with my auntie who was managing a cargo firm seven years ago. I now don't want to leave. I have found an aesthetic life among a city that is perpetually renewing itself and constantly changing. But the greatest surprise and pleasure is witnessing how Dubai has changed me."