How a troubled Portuguese man mellowed down and made a living in Dubai

How a troubled Portuguese man mellowed down and made a living in Dubai

Lucilio Roberto Moreira ventured into sunny Dubai from verdant Recarei, a small-time village in Portugal, in 2006, at the peak of UAE summer. The monetary-driven stint was to be for just three months. However, Lucilio is still in Dubai after 17 years and still working for the same company: TK Elevators (TKE). From a 9th-grade school dropout to a technically-sound professional in Dubai, the fascinating journey of Lucillo is of perseverance and hardship. When Lucilio landed in Dubai that afternoon, he had no clue that his life will take a different trajectory. Born in a middle-income family, Lucilio was always fascinated with electronics and mechanics, the working of toys and gadgets kept him occupied most of the time. “Whenever I got a toy or a gadget, I opened them to figure out how they functioned,” said Lucilio. In school, he opted for electronics at a very young age. Though football, like most Portuguese, was his passion, he could not adapt to the ways of the rich kids who spread their might in the football-coaching clubs. Was it the attitude of the rich kids or was it the inferiority complex that drove out Lucilio from the football-crazy country’s centre courts? “Only