'We read every report ... to see the world'

Dubai: People gathered every day in small groups waiting to hear a man tell them the events happening around the world. He was not the oracle ... he just happened to have Gulf News.

Back when street names were non-existent and Jumeirah was considered "outside" Dubai, 59-year-old Hussain Abdullah gathered with his friends and colleagues every morning, before work, to discuss reports in Gulf News.

He has been reading the newspaper for over 20 years.

Abdullah, a Pakistani expatriate, moved with his mother to Dubai, in 1948, at the age of one, to live with his father who was a "nakhuda" - an Iranian term for a fisherman - and grew up watching the country evolve.

Abdullah said: "This is what my friends and I did in order to get information about the UAE and our home countries. We always went to the majlis, or the cafeteria outside of work and someone who knew how to read English would tell us what Gulf News was reporting that day, then we had discussions on most of the articles."

In order not to miss out on important issues, Abdullah went through all the reports.

"We read every report in Gulf News back then to see what was happening around the world. Whatever major reports were covered, my colleagues and I would sit and debate it," he said.

People also bought Gulf News to look at the photos that supported the reports.

Abdullah said: "Many people, including myself, looked at the pictures to make sense of what the report was about. The pictures also gave credibility to the reports because we did not only read or hear about them, we could see them, too."

Abdullah depended on Gulf News reports every day to find out what was going on in his community, as it was one of the only sources of information at that time.

Abdullah added: "From what I recall, there were no satellites or TV news channels in Dubai back then, so we used to rely on Gulf News as it was one of the only credible newspapers in the UAE."

Gulf News was also one of the only newspapers that covered all aspects of the news. Abdullah said: "We got our information about the Palestine-Israel war from Gulf News, and to report such information in those days, was, I think, difficult."

Abdullah still has a few newspapers from decades ago. He saved them because they had reports that are important to him regarding his home country.

They depended on the newspaper to find out what was going on in the community.