KHOR FAKKAN, SHARJAH // Saud and Khalifa Al Naqbi said goodbye to their brother Mohammed with big smiles all around before leaving the house to enjoy the rainy weather.
None of them knew it would be the last time they saw each other alive.
Khalifa, 21, Saud, 14, and friend Abdulaziz Al Naqbi, 22, went out for a drive last Friday and never returned. Their car was found wrapped around a lamppost in Khor Fakkan after they lost control at high speed in the wet conditions, Sharjah Police said.
“They were with me at our house in Khor Fakkan where we spend our weekends. We live in Abu Dhabi,” said Mohammed, 15. “They left on Friday about 8am and they were very excited and happy. The last word they said to me was ‘goodbye’.
“I received a call from friends at 12pm informing me that my brothers were killed in a car accident. I couldn’t believe it until they were brought to the house. When I saw them dead, I started crying.”
Khalifa was driving with Abdulaziz in the passenger seat and Saud sitting in the back.
Another of Khalifa’s and Saud’s brothers, Moataz, was in Abu Dhabi when he got the news of their deaths from his friends. He rushed to Khor Fakkan but was unable to get there before they were buried.
“We are six brothers and three sisters,” said Moataz, 17. “We are close to each other. We always hang out and spend our time together when we are in AD or Khor Fakkan. Khalifa and Saud are the first two we have lost from the family.”
Moataz and Mohammed say they will miss hanging out with their brothers, and their smiles and humour.
“Khalifa used to always stand beside us in adversity and he had a dream to buy his favourite car, a Porsche, while Saud always wanted to be a doctor,” said Mohammed.
Shaddad Al Naqbi, the brothers’ uncle, was the first member of the family to find out about the accident after a friend called him.
“I was shocked. I did not believe the news so I ran to the incident scene without informing any of the family,” said Shaddad, 40. “When I arrived, Saud and Abdulaziz had already been taken to a hospital and Khalifa was trapped in the car and his face was covered.
“I knew he was Khalifa from a surgery scar on his leg. It was the first crash my nephews ever had.”
The brothers’ father, Saud Al Naqbi, 47, could not look at his sons’ faces when he saw them dead at the hospital.
“It was a trauma when I saw them at hospital and I could not bear to see them dead. But what can we say? It is the will of God,” he said.
“Their absence will absolutely leave a space in the family, and what I feel now cannot be described. I want young motorists not to speed and drive safely, especially in rain, so they do not break their families’ hearts.”
Shaddad said: “Anyone who saw how the car swerved and crashed into a lamppost will say it is due to speeding. But we know Khalifa had never driven at high speed and never had radar fines because he never crossed the speed limit.
“It is the first car accident he had since he got his driving licence at 18.”
Faraj Al Naqbi, 17, will miss his cousins’ smiles and the time he used to spend with Saud, with whom he shared secrets.
“We are more than cousins,” said Faraj, a Grade 11 pupil. “I used to always hang out with Khalifa when he came to Khor Fakkan, as well as spend hours on the phone with Saud when he was in AD.”
The family have decided to build a mosque in the boys’ memory and give to charity in their name.
roueiti@thenational.ae
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.
Greatest of All Time
Starring: Vijay, Sneha, Prashanth, Prabhu Deva, Mohan
THE BIO
Age: 30
Favourite book: The Power of Habit
Favourite quote: "The world is full of good people, if you cannot find one, be one"
Favourite exercise: The snatch
Favourite colour: Blue
BORDERLANDS
Starring: Cate Blanchett, Kevin Hart, Jamie Lee Curtis
Director: Eli Roth
Rating: 0/5
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
In numbers
Number of Chinese tourists coming to UAE in 2017 was... 1.3m
Alibaba’s new ‘Tech Town’ in Dubai is worth... $600m
China’s investment in the MIddle East in 2016 was... $29.5bn
The world’s most valuable start-up in 2018, TikTok, is valued at... $75bn
Boost to the UAE economy of 5G connectivity will be... $269bn
Sonchiriya
Director: Abhishek Chaubey
Producer: RSVP Movies, Azure Entertainment
Cast: Sushant Singh Rajput, Manoj Bajpayee, Ashutosh Rana, Bhumi Pednekar, Ranvir Shorey
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World Test Championship table
1 India 71 per cent
2 New Zealand 70 per cent
3 Australia 69.2 per cent
4 England 64.1 per cent
5 Pakistan 43.3 per cent
6 West Indies 33.3 per cent
7 South Africa 30 per cent
8 Sri Lanka 16.7 per cent
9 Bangladesh 0
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.”
Company Profile
Name: Thndr
Started: 2019
Co-founders: Ahmad Hammouda and Seif Amr
Sector: FinTech
Headquarters: Egypt
UAE base: Hub71, Abu Dhabi
Current number of staff: More than 150
Funds raised: $22 million
The specs
Engine: 1.5-litre turbo
Power: 181hp
Torque: 230Nm
Transmission: 6-speed automatic
Starting price: Dh79,000
On sale: Now
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BEETLEJUICE BEETLEJUICE
Starring: Winona Ryder, Michael Keaton, Jenny Ortega
Director: Tim Burton
Rating: 3/5
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MATCH DETAILS
Chelsea 4
Jorginho (4 pen, 71 pen), Azpilicueta (63), James (74)
Ajax 4
Abraham (2 og), Promes (20). Kepa (35 og), van de Beek (55)