Ode to National ID cards

I can't remember whether I've mentioned this before but Dubai is taking a shot at an initiative that the UK has been debating, objecting to, procrastinating on, lobbying, demonstrating against and generally acting all of a quandry about for a good 5 years at least.

National ID cards.

As a quick summary, at some point last year the Government decided that everyone had to have an ID card. Finally around October 2008, this hitherto best-kept-secret made it into the press and let everyone know they had a couple of months to get it done. Imagine the scene at the ID office that day, after several months of wondering why no one was coming through their door!!

Anyway, these smart cards will replace the need to have a driving licence, work permit, employee card, and all that - even replacing passports for travel in the GCC. Without it Emirati's can't get access to government services like healthcare, and expats....well I can't remember what happens to us. Which is probably why I duly dropped my form in to the Jumeirah branch of Emirates Post on November 11th last year and promptly forgot about it.

The deadline for white collar professionals was originally early December, then we got another two weeks....and then until 2011! Clearly the scale of the undertaking was coming to light.

I only mention this now because, having abandoned hope of ever owning one of these cards and wondering when would be an appropriate time to look into the relevant legal/deportation implications, my application has been processed!

It's a 6-month miracle and calls for celebration.

So I wrote a quick poem. It's called Ode to National ID Cards

National ID cards are a nuts idea...
That the UK bods can't even get near...
But here in Dubai, where the limit's the sky...
We don't actually get a choice so just give up your fingerprints and a large amount of personal information that may or may not result in us all being defrauded, spammed and cloned before the actual cards even appear

And by the way, when I say 'processed' I mean I received a sheet of paper containing 11 bar codes.

Funnily enough, I'm not feeling under pressure to rush on this one.