Two leaders, but only one statesman



They both grew to adulthood on the communist side of the Iron Curtain, during the global stand-off of the Cold War. Both came from prominent and prosperous families. Neither had to fight to gain political power, but both attained it. Each led a small country, and each acquired disproportionate fame around the world.

But there the parallels between Vaclav Havel and Kim Jong-il come to an end, except that both men died this week, Havel full of honours at age 75, Kim widely reviled at either 69 or 70 (even his age may have been a deception).

Kim was born into power, the son of Kim Il-sung who had been installed by Josef Stalin in 1945 to run the new North Korean state. Kim Il-sung isolated his people from the world and built an unrivalled cult of personality, which his son claimed for himself upon inheriting power in 1994. Crackpot economics, relentless militarism and disastrous foreign policy doomed millions of North Koreans to starvation. Satellite photos of the Korean peninsula at night show South Korea brightly lit, as if glittering with wealth; North Korea is mostly just darkness.

While Kim Jong-il, like his father, was ruthlessly ignoring his countrymen, far away in Central Europe Havel was listening to his, and to his conscience. An intellectual and a playwright, Havel became caught up in the Prague Spring of 1968, a popular response to decades of Soviet-dominated fossilisation in Czechoslovakia. When that premature flowering of reform was crushed by Warsaw Pact tanks, Havel wrote politically influential plays about how Czechs and Slovaks felt, articulating the moral rejection of communism which eventually swept away the Soviet empire.

In 1975, Havel addressed an open letter to the communist president of the day: "True enough the country is calm," he told Gustav Husak. "Calm as a morgue or a grave, wouldn't you say?" By 1990, Havel was president of a post-communist country. "A playwright who acted as a citizen," he later called himself.

There was, alas, nobody to ask the same shaming question of Kim Jong-il or his father; keeping a people supine and isolated and hungry will keep a regime in power - for a while. Today Czechs and Slovaks cope with whole range of problems, but cope with them as citizens. That national right is still denied to the people of North Korea. For now.

Thank You for Banking with Us

Director: Laila Abbas

Starring: Yasmine Al Massri, Clara Khoury, Kamel El Basha, Ashraf Barhoum

Rating: 4/5

How to protect yourself when air quality drops

Install an air filter in your home.

Close your windows and turn on the AC.

Shower or bath after being outside.

Wear a face mask.

Stay indoors when conditions are particularly poor.

If driving, turn your engine off when stationary.

COMPANY PROFILE
Name: HyperSpace
 
Started: 2020
 
Founders: Alexander Heller, Rama Allen and Desi Gonzalez
 
Based: Dubai, UAE
 
Sector: Entertainment 
 
Number of staff: 210 
 
Investment raised: $75 million from investors including Galaxy Interactive, Riyadh Season, Sega Ventures and Apis Venture Partners
IPL 2018 FINAL

Sunrisers Hyderabad 178-6 (20 ovs)
Chennai Super Kings 181-2 (18.3 ovs)

Chennai win by eight wickets

World Cricket League Division 2

In Windhoek, Namibia - Top two teams qualify for the World Cup Qualifier in Zimbabwe, which starts on March 4.

UAE fixtures

Thursday February 8, v Kenya; Friday February 9, v Canada; Sunday February 11, v Nepal; Monday February 12, v Oman; Wednesday February 14, v Namibia; Thursday February 15, final

Tree of Hell

Starring: Raed Zeno, Hadi Awada, Dr Mohammad Abdalla

Director: Raed Zeno

Rating: 4/5

A Cat, A Man, and Two Women
Junichiro
Tamizaki
Translated by Paul McCarthy
Daunt Books 

The specs
Engine: Long-range single or dual motor with 200kW or 400kW battery
Power: 268bhp / 536bhp
Torque: 343Nm / 686Nm
Transmission: Single-speed automatic
Max touring range: 620km / 590km
Price: From Dh250,000 (estimated)
On sale: Later this year
The specs

  Engine: 2-litre or 3-litre 4Motion all-wheel-drive Power: 250Nm (2-litre); 340 (3-litre) Torque: 450Nm Transmission: 8-speed automatic Starting price: From Dh212,000 On sale: Now

Company%20Profile
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Our family matters legal consultant

Name: Hassan Mohsen Elhais

Position: legal consultant with Al Rowaad Advocates and Legal Consultants.

COMPANY%20PROFILE
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COMPANY PROFILE

Company: Bidzi

● Started: 2024

● Founders: Akshay Dosaj and Asif Rashid

● Based: Dubai, UAE

● Industry: M&A

● Funding size: Bootstrapped

● No of employees: Nine

COMPANY PROFILE
Name: Almnssa
Started: August 2020
Founder: Areej Selmi
Based: Gaza
Sectors: Internet, e-commerce
Investments: Grants/private funding
The Bio

Name: Lynn Davison

Profession: History teacher at Al Yasmina Academy, Abu Dhabi

Children: She has one son, Casey, 28

Hometown: Pontefract, West Yorkshire in the UK

Favourite book: The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho

Favourite Author: CJ Sansom

Favourite holiday destination: Bali

Favourite food: A Sunday roast

Ain Dubai in numbers

126: The length in metres of the legs supporting the structure

1 football pitch: The length of each permanent spoke is longer than a professional soccer pitch

16 A380 Airbuses: The equivalent weight of the wheel rim.

9,000 tonnes: The amount of steel used to construct the project.

5 tonnes: The weight of each permanent spoke that is holding the wheel rim in place

192: The amount of cable wires used to create the wheel. They measure a distance of 2,4000km in total, the equivalent of the distance between Dubai and Cairo.

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COMPANY%20PROFILE%20
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The biog

Fatima Al Darmaki is an Emirati widow with three children

She has received 46 certificates of appreciation and excellence throughout her career

She won the 'ideal mother' category at the Minister of Interior Awards for Excellence

Her favourite food is Harees, a slow-cooked porridge-like dish made from boiled wheat berries mixed with chicken

The Book of Collateral Damage

Sinan Antoon

(Yale University Press)

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The bio:

Favourite film:

Declan: It was The Commitments but now it’s Bohemian Rhapsody.

Heidi: The Long Kiss Goodnight.

Favourite holiday destination:

Declan: Las Vegas but I also love getting home to Ireland and seeing everyone back home.

Heidi: Australia but my dream destination would be to go to Cuba.

Favourite pastime:

Declan: I love brunching and socializing. Just basically having the craic.

Heidi: Paddleboarding and swimming.

Personal motto:

Declan: Take chances.

Heidi: Live, love, laugh and have no regrets.