A newspaper dubbed a taxi driver who returned a large sum of money to a forgetful passenger, as an “honest Bangladeshi”.

A Twitter user in Dubai commented that it was “awesome news, but our fascination with nationality must stop.” Other Tweeps agreed with him, saying that writing just an ‘honest taxi driver’ in the headline would have worked better. Whenever the nationality is mentioned in a newspaper, people get all hot under the collar and start shooting off letters to the editor.

The last time a half-yearly Roads and Transport Authority (RTA) report was published, there was a backlash from readers who said that there was no need to say that Indian and Pakistanis are the worst drivers in the UAE and that they cause the most accidents.

The statistics of that year showed that Pakistanis and Indians were running neck-to-neck in the killing of people on the roads, followed by GCC nationals in a close third.

There was no way to hide the nationalities in the report as it would have otherwise seemed as if some mysterious aliens were causing the traffic accidents while they were calling home on their mobile phones as they were driving.

Indian newspapers on the other hand, have this wonderfully ambiguous way of reporting sectarian riots. It is believed that if you mentioned who was beating up who, then it would lead to even more beatings, so we have reports such as this one: “Two communities clashed today evening and started pitching stones and bricks at each other and torched buses after one community marched into a neighbourhood and started playing loud music.”

I always wondered why that one particular community hated loud music and what Bollywood movie song the other community was playing when the riots started. There are certain songs with meaningless lyrics that can drive anyone bonkers, especially the ones that I listen to on the radio when driving in Bur Dubai.

Anyway, “The Honest Bangladeshi” seemed like the title of a movie that has drama, action and maybe, even romance, and immediately captures the reader’s interest.

I am sure you would have seen or heard of the following movies that have the nationality of the protagonist in the title and none of the nationalities from those countries protested: My Big Fat Greek Wedding, The English Patient, Zorba The Greek, The French Connection, The Italian Job, Johnny English, The Mexican or American Beauty.

If I had editorial powers I would have suggested that not only the nationality of the person in the news be given, but also to add an adjective to give it colour, such as, “The Jaywalking Indian”. You know the guy that will not walk that extra kilometre to cross the road and is always found squeezing himself between barriers or standing on a road divider and then diving into traffic like he was some sort of a superhero.

Or, “The Honking Pakistani”, our friend from Karachi who learned to play all Shah Rukh Khan movie songs on his Pajero horn to impress girls, and is today behind you in a mini-bus honking at you just as the red light turns green. Or, “The Flashy Lebanese”, not that person who flashes his headlight at you in the fast lane while you are trying your best to go at 180km/h, but the person in your office who wears Gucci, Prada and all the bling brands.

The following are self-explanatory: “The Perspiring Englishman”, “The Apologetic Canadian”, “The Aggressive American”, “The Fish-loving Filipino”, “The Devout Indonesian” and “The English-speaking Frenchwoman”. Some people might object and say that highlighting a person’s nationality will lead to stereotyping, but with 200 various nationalities on the streets of Dubai, it will be hard not to mention the nationality of a person when speaking about him or her.

Mahmood Saberi is a freelance journalist based in Dubai. You can follow him on Twitter at www.twitter.com/ mahmood_saberi