A rainy day. Of course, not everyone was leading the same lifestyle. Amman’s Ra’ed A. Bilbessi, for example, had prepared himself for an economic slowdown, both as an individual and as an entrepreneur. The chief executive officer of Jordan’s Pinnacle Business and Marketing Consulting (PBMC) says he is entering 2009 well-prepared but continues to be cautious about the future. Bilbessi says he’s still trying to adopt “a more economic lifestyle” as an individual and as a leader of the organization. However, that’s easier said than done. His two-year-old company is still in its infancy. “I needed to keep reserve funds for the company’s cash flow during its start-up phase,” he says. “Now, I’ve really tightened the belt and moved into a very conservative expenditure mode to preserve liquidity for a rather uncertain two years or so.”

Things are not so different in Bil-bessi’s personal life, where he is trying to cut expenses further. “Thinking twice about amounts to be spent more often makes it an unnecessary expense and is therefore not made,” he says. Circumstances in Jordan have taught him to be sensible about energy costs, where he has already been living economically. “My recently built house was designed to conserve energy more than to look good and fancy,” he says.

There’s another group that can be considered the downturn’s collateral damage. Dhiren Parekh (who’s name has been changed at his request), an Indian banker who was working in Dubai for more than 10 years, has been told by his employer he has three months to find a new job. “You cannot survive here for six to nine months without a job. I don’t know where I am headed besides declaring myself bankrupt,” says a despondent Parekh. Considering that he has liabilities and there are not too many jobs on offer in his sector, Parekh is surely looking at a lean patch ahead. But he doesn’t blame it on the lifestyle trap that Dubai is said to have become.

“I will have to stay stationed here because I have loans, but they were not taken for a property in Dubai. It was for an investment back home, which has incidentally also gone down in value,” he says. According to Parekh most people in Dubai have those kinds of liabilities. “Six months ago, whosoever kept idle cash and did not invest was called a fool. Nobody was willing to wait and accumulate money for 10 years before investing in a property,” says Parekh.

Stories of hope and resilience are the most attractive, especially if they have been built on life lessons. Hazel Jackson, the chief executive officer of consultancy firm biz-ability, says her life-style has actually improved a little, as she has had more friends over to her house for fun rather than going out to hotels. She has cooked homemade meals instead of eating out. But, she adds: “While being that little bit more wary to ‘put down the Manolos,’ at the malls, I have not traded the Porsche for a pushbike quite yet.”

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