DUBAI // Emirati mothers and fathers have taken time off work to illustrate the “true UAE” to expatriate children and parents at private schools.
As part of National Day celebrations, local parents at the Gems World Academy (GWA) in Dubai dressed in the traditional Emirati attire of kanduras and embellished abayas. They shared their traditions with pupils and parents at a heritage village set up in the school compound.
“Everyone was asked to dress up in the local costume, and they are enjoying it,” said Hind Al Janahi, an Emirati whose daughter attends the school.
“I was overwhelmed when mums who come from countries like America, Britain and Canada came up to me and said they always wondered how Arab women wore something that is generally thought to be restrictive, but now when they have worn it they felt a sense of dignity and comfort.”
The parents association at the school worked for one month to bring in traders of bakhoor (fragrant wood chips), local sweets, bread and handicrafts for the village, plus costume suppliers.
Local high school boys brought falcons and stallions from their family farms to entertain pupils.
Saeed Al Murooshid, a Grade 10 pupil, was asked to bring his feathery companion to educate other children about the importance of the falcon in UAE culture.
“Our ancestors used falcons to hunt for food but nowadays, falconry is a sport,” Saeed told curious children. “A lot of them call it an eagle … no, it is not.
“I want them to know more about our lifestyle, our habits, traditions and religion.”
Mrs Al Janahi said National Day was a good opportunity for expatriates to learn about the history of the UAE and the motifs they see around them. “Many people do not know things, like what the colours on the UAE flag mean, when the seven emirates came together as a country and who the President is,” she said.
“This is the perfect occasion to make them familiar with all this.”
Briton Sassy Cracknell, who chairs the GWA Parents’ Association, said it was enlightening to work on a programme that provided an insight into Arabic customs.
“Our team sat down to decide on an agenda that would best represent the country, and we had the local parents immediately jump at the idea and support us with putting it together,” she said.
Running up to tomorrow, the 39th birthday of the UAE, the Parents’ Association at the Al Mizhar American Academy for Girls has set up stalls to sell badges, flags and local cuisine at the school.
“We want every child to have something that reminds them of the UAE,” said Fairouz Aziz, the mother of one of the pupils. “It’s nice for non-UAE nationals to see what kind of food we eat.
“Today, we had a mother bring in some traditional biscuits and we exchanged recipes, so it is a learning process.”
At the American International School in Abu Dhabi, local parents also stepped up to lend a hand in the celebrations.
Students made videos of their vision of the UAE. Local songs and dances will be performed at the school today.
Dema Shanti, the community affairs coordinator, said local parents offered to provide camels and horses from their farms, and to set up stalls.“Even for the new staff and students that have joined the school today, these festivities highlight the significance of National Day,” she said.
aahmed@thenational.ae
This story is one of a series this week from The National's past coverage of UAE National Day.
Mercer, the investment consulting arm of US services company Marsh & McLennan, expects its wealth division to at least double its assets under management (AUM) in the Middle East as wealth in the region continues to grow despite economic headwinds, a company official said.
Mercer Wealth, which globally has $160 billion in AUM, plans to boost its AUM in the region to $2-$3bn in the next 2-3 years from the present $1bn, said Yasir AbuShaban, a Dubai-based principal with Mercer Wealth.
“Within the next two to three years, we are looking at reaching $2 to $3 billion as a conservative estimate and we do see an opportunity to do so,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Mercer does not directly make investments, but allocates clients’ money they have discretion to, to professional asset managers. They also provide advice to clients.
“We have buying power. We can negotiate on their (client’s) behalf with asset managers to provide them lower fees than they otherwise would have to get on their own,” he added.
Mercer Wealth’s clients include sovereign wealth funds, family offices, and insurance companies among others.
From its office in Dubai, Mercer also looks after Africa, India and Turkey, where they also see opportunity for growth.
Wealth creation in Middle East and Africa (MEA) grew 8.5 per cent to $8.1 trillion last year from $7.5tn in 2015, higher than last year’s global average of 6 per cent and the second-highest growth in a region after Asia-Pacific which grew 9.9 per cent, according to consultancy Boston Consulting Group (BCG). In the region, where wealth grew just 1.9 per cent in 2015 compared with 2014, a pickup in oil prices has helped in wealth generation.
BCG is forecasting MEA wealth will rise to $12tn by 2021, growing at an annual average of 8 per cent.
Drivers of wealth generation in the region will be split evenly between new wealth creation and growth of performance of existing assets, according to BCG.
Another general trend in the region is clients’ looking for a comprehensive approach to investing, according to Mr AbuShaban.
“Institutional investors or some of the families are seeing a slowdown in the available capital they have to invest and in that sense they are looking at optimizing the way they manage their portfolios and making sure they are not investing haphazardly and different parts of their investment are working together,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Some clients also have a higher appetite for risk, given the low interest-rate environment that does not provide enough yield for some institutional investors. These clients are keen to invest in illiquid assets, such as private equity and infrastructure.
“What we have seen is a desire for higher returns in what has been a low-return environment specifically in various fixed income or bonds,” he said.
“In this environment, we have seen a de facto increase in the risk that clients are taking in things like illiquid investments, private equity investments, infrastructure and private debt, those kind of investments were higher illiquidity results in incrementally higher returns.”
The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, one of the largest sovereign wealth funds, said in its 2016 report that has gradually increased its exposure in direct private equity and private credit transactions, mainly in Asian markets and especially in China and India. The authority’s private equity department focused on structured equities owing to “their defensive characteristics.”
