DUBAI // Ahmed Al Sayegh was only five months old the day the UAE was formed. Since then, he has grown up step by step with the country.
As a toddler, stories of the union meant little to him. But over the years, as roads and houses were built, it became clearer what the union would lead to.
"The union, everyone knew, was the start of something big," says Ahmed.
He was the son of a local gold merchant but his family was still not able to afford a car until he was in his mid-teens.
"Only the big businessman had cars," Ahmed says. "We used to travel on donkeys mostly in my area, Bur Dubai."
Getting to school was an uncomfortable half-hour walk with heavy textbooks in his backpack.
And getting water was equally difficult.
"We didn't have Masafi or Al Ain water, we had imported water from Oman or Saudi Arabia. Water would be carried in the same oil-tin boxes on donkeys around town, I remember," Ahmed says, adding some of the containers were dirty.
But as he got older, Dubai began to advance.
"And with the new projects making Dubai bigger, it meant it was easier to reach the borders of other emirates," Ahmed says.
Even when his father had mustered the money for a car, many of the roads were poor and journeys took days or even weeks.
"I remember travelling in my father's Land Cruiser for two weeks before reaching Oman, where Bureimi border is now," he says.
"If you got stuck in the sand that was it - you were stuck alone until someone came, whenever that was."
But a guide stood at the entry of each emirate ready to pass directions to travellers.
"Before the union, my father told me, guards would stand at the emirates' entrances to see where we are from and where we are going," Ahmed says. "But after the union, the emirates were open."
He says there were initial fears the union would not last.
"People believed it would last a day or two, a month or two, or a year or two," he says.
"And there are some envious nations that didn't want the union. But the UAE proved everyone wrong by having the best and strongest union.
"In the beginning, Kuwait helped us a lot with education and health. Before, the mortality rate was high, so they brought in doctors for us. We still have the Kuwaiti Hospital in Dubai."
Later, TVs started appearing in more houses although the older generations took a while to get used to them.
"The men would tell the women to hide their face in front of the TV, in case the presenter could see them," Ahmed recalls.
But Dubai residents mainly welcomed change and the chance to make friends outside their emirate.
"Marriage with people from other places became easier," Ahmed says.
"Growing up, I found more people travelling to other emirates to get married.
"That is why the union will never break. People thought tribalism would make it break, but now we are all one family."
Over the past fortnight, Ahmed has decorated his car and home with UAE flags and National Day decorations - and changed his ring tone to the national anthem.
And he has taken the time to teach his three children all about the start of the UAE and his childhood.
Ahmed says that all the country needs now is a train to link the emirates. That is planned to start running within the decade.
"Dubai changes every hour, so I cannot imagine what it will be like in 20 years but I hope to see the train soon to bring everyone even closer together," he says.
osalem@thenational.ae
Last 10 winners of African Footballer of the Year
2006: Didier Drogba (Chelsea and Ivory Coast)
2007: Frederic Kanoute (Sevilla and Mali)
2008: Emmanuel Adebayor (Arsenal and Togo)
2009: Didier Drogba (Chelsea and Ivory Coast)
2010: Samuel Eto’o (Inter Milan and Cameroon)
2011: Yaya Toure (Manchester City and Ivory Coast)
2012: Yaya Toure (Manchester City and Ivory Coast)
2013: Yaya Toure (Manchester City and Ivory Coast)
2014: Yaya Toure (Manchester City and Ivory Coast)
2015: Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang (Borussia Dortmund and Gabon)
2016: Riyad Mahrez (Leicester City and Algeria)
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The specs
Engine: 0.8-litre four cylinder
Power: 70bhp
Torque: 66Nm
Transmission: four-speed manual
Price: $1,075 new in 1967, now valued at $40,000
On sale: Models from 1966 to 1970
Our legal consultants
Name: Hassan Mohsen Elhais
Position: legal consultant with Al Rowaad Advocates and Legal Consultants.
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TRAP
Starring: Josh Hartnett, Saleka Shyamalan, Ariel Donaghue
Director: M Night Shyamalan
Rating: 3/5
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Kat Wightman's tips on how to create zones in large spaces
- Area carpets or rugs are the easiest way to segregate spaces while also unifying them.
- Lighting can help define areas. Try pendant lighting over dining tables, and side and floor lamps in living areas.
- Keep the colour palette the same in a room, but combine different tones and textures in different zone. A common accent colour dotted throughout the space brings it together.
- Don’t be afraid to use furniture to break up the space. For example, if you have a sofa placed in the middle of the room, a console unit behind it will give good punctuation.
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Emergency phone numbers in the UAE
Estijaba – 8001717 – number to call to request coronavirus testing
Ministry of Health and Prevention – 80011111
Dubai Health Authority – 800342 – The number to book a free video or voice consultation with a doctor or connect to a local health centre
Emirates airline – 600555555
Etihad Airways – 600555666
Ambulance – 998
Knowledge and Human Development Authority – 8005432 ext. 4 for Covid-19 queries
Name: Peter Dicce
Title: Assistant dean of students and director of athletics
Favourite sport: soccer
Favourite team: Bayern Munich
Favourite player: Franz Beckenbauer
Favourite activity in Abu Dhabi: scuba diving in the Northern Emirates
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MATCH INFO
Pakistan 106-8 (20 ovs)
Iftikhar 45, Richardson 3-18
Australia 109-0 (11.5 ovs)
Warner 48 no, Finch 52 no
Australia win series 2-0
What are the GCSE grade equivalents?
- Grade 9 = above an A*
- Grade 8 = between grades A* and A
- Grade 7 = grade A
- Grade 6 = just above a grade B
- Grade 5 = between grades B and C
- Grade 4 = grade C
- Grade 3 = between grades D and E
- Grade 2 = between grades E and F
- Grade 1 = between grades F and G
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.”