Let's not discuss the obvious things: UAE has shariah laws in place, however they have been trying to be very proactive in having them modernised. You still cannot officially live with partner in UAE without marriage, also only male guardian can sponsor the kids for dependant visa. Female guardian needs male approval for the same. We can mention a lot of other things or differences (e.g. inheritance laws upon death - shariah laws apply to everyone including expats, unless there is a proper will in place), so let's not discuss the obvious cultural and religion differences.
I lived in Malta for 4 years and in UAE (Dubai) for more than 5 years. It is hard to compare two countries. But if you invested 5 years back in Malta, your property would have increased in value and not decrease by 30% like in Dubai (let's not forget that people have heavily invested in other emirates like RAK, which has probably declined even more). That's a fact.
That guy writing in this thread stating things about "great social life" being greater in Dubai than in Malta has obviously never lived in both locations long term. In Malta you can have a great circle of friends, girls, random girls, random chats, cheap local wine, cheap great quality coffee, decently priced very good food, fresh local produce, you can party till dawn if you want or you can visit one of 365 churches every day for a whole year. You can be in Italy in 30 mins, almost anywhere in Europe within 2-3 hours paying cheap fares on AirMalta or other regular or low cost carriers. You can in fact travel to a meeting within Europe and come back same day. You can visit your home EU country for weekends, without spending too much $ and time in the air. This is almost impossible from UAE. Malta has a "relaxed" feeling from gov. officials, through police, people etc. everyone is living a life there in one way or another, without worrying too much. But you obviously can't know this without living this life. Not to mention you can still pay effective 5% tax and a small salary in order to pay national health contributions for having a national health insurance.
UAE is completely different in this regards. People are afraid of being relaxed and making some stupid mistakes, which can cost them job, visa and may result in a hefty fine + departure. The social scene with artificial friends is nothing more than artificial. The dating scene is terrible and majority of great looking single ladies are obviously hookers in the bars or nightclubs. Alcohol is expensive, very expensive in the bars in fact. The cultural differences can be shocking, from completely covered woman to semi naked girls both within 2 metres (social distancing at its best). The day to day expat workforce you are dealing with (deliveries, groceries, gardener, maintenance etc) won't get your little chats, simply because many of them do not speak english. Forget about little chats here and there. If you go to the same shop twice, you will almost never meet the same sales person, maybe apart from supermarkets. I don't know where do the shops take this people from, but it just seems they don't pay them and replace with others. I have not seen such a turnaround in staff at any place I lived...
Now don't get me wrong. UAE is a great place, in fact a great place for a family with kids. It is a very kids friendly destination, starting from Emirates airlines. I travel to Malta from time to time and I meet the same people, in the same places, I am greeted with smile at the restaurants, often personally by name and sometimes even with a discount for being a good customer for years.
I don't believe in the fake interviews with real estate reps. stating how big demand they have for purchasing properties these days. What else can they say to attract investor attention? What else can say those already invested, who have their properties value down by 30%? Of course they have to wish and wait for better "tomorrow". One major thing to make a property sector attractive not only to investors but mainly to long term residents, would be some permanent residence program in place, which wouldn't be tied to the employer (like the current residence visa is) and which would allow people to stay for longer than 30 days upon losing a job.
