Camp Champ...

A heartwarming, slightly quirky story:

Sweet melodies are soaring above the usual banging and crashing at building sites around Dubai as labourers prepare their vocal chords for their own version of "Pop Idol".

The singing contest for the thousands of people living in workers' camps in the Gulf emirate will stage its first auditions on July 3, local media reported on Sunday.

Workers from five companies and living in more than 50 camps will take part in auditions for the third edition of Western Union Camp Ka Champ, whose title means "Champ from the Camp", according to the reports.

"The contest was developed to give labour camp residents an opportunity to discover their singing talent," the paper said, citing organisers.

More here.

BBC One airs Slumdogs and Millionaires tonight

BBC:

The branding of Dubai has to be one of the greatest PR triumphs of the past 20 years.

It works out incredibly well for the developers - they can charge first world fortunes for the dream villas and apartments, but pay third world salaries to the men actually building them.

Many in Dubai say that this is just globalisation working, and that while the lives of the workers, and the salaries they are paid, look bad to us, to them, where they come from, it's good.

This excuse doesn't stand up to scrutiny.

The story of Dubai's immigrant construction workers shocks and depresses in several different stages. The poor and often illiterate men, who come here in their millions from the Indian sub-continent, are getting exploited from so many different angles that it's sometimes hard to know who to be angry at.

The program airs in the UK on Panorama: Slumdogs and Millionaires, BBC One, Monday 6 April at 8.30pm.

Yes, there are abuses and the downturn in the economy has played a role. But on the whole these workers are here because it's better than the alternative of being home. Why else are they upset when there is talk of limiting the amount of time an expat can work in the country? And when considering how poorly they live consider that most are sending home a large portion of what they earn.

Dubai Hero Protestor let Down by Twitter Users

Activist and Hero Dubai Protestor Jean Von Blanc arrived at the Workers Rights protest in Dubai only to find known else bothered to show up. 

When asked about the reasons Jean replied “It is really disappointing, after months and months of preparation and coordination the whole thing ends with a whimper”, he added “I blame twitter and twitter users for the low – Non Existent – turnout, laborers and workers that want to improve their living and working conditions in Dubai should take their tweets and retweets seriously before expecting me, or other human rights organizations to take them seriously again.”