CAIRO // During its heyday, it was famed as the lively and romantic heart of Arabic music - a Cairo street modelled after Paris's boulevards, home to musicians, belly-dancers and instrument makers.
But Mohammed Ali Street is fading. It had already been in decline for years as a music centre. Now its patrons fear that between economic crisis, uncontrolled urban sprawl and the rising influence of religious conservatives, the crunch of post-revolution Egypt may finish it off.
The street in central Cairo, parts of it lined by French-style arched arcades, is now dominated by mobile phone and electronics stores, donkey carts and heavy traffic. The shops making, repairing and selling musical instruments that once packed the street are disappearing, along with their window displays of stringed ouds, qanouns - a sort of dulcimer - and tablas - a drum made equally for the rapid-fire handbeats of belly-dance tunes or for the languid rhythms of a love ballad by the famed classical singer Umm Kalthoum.
"The instrument shops are closing down and people are renting them out to mobile phone vendors and furniture stores," said Ezzat El Fayyoumi, a 65-year-old drum player who is one of a few remaining musicians on the street.
"The street is extinct," he said, sitting at a coffee shop that now serves as his office. "When I die, there will be no more music. No one is learning it."
The street, named after the founder of modern Egypt, was built in the 1860s as part of a new downtown that was to modernise Cairo. Inspired by French architect Baron Haussmann, the designer of Paris' grand boulevards, Egypt's then-ruler Khedive Ismail sought to "make Egypt a piece of Europe." The result was avenues and city squares lined with arches and European architecture, between the Nile and the old medieval city of Cairo, with its Islamic architecture and maze of narrow alleys.
Mohammed Ali Street was the connector between old and new Cairo, modelled after Paris' famous Rivoli street. Over the next century, it became entertainment central, home to the musicians, dancers and workers of Cairo's cabaret nightlife. El Fayyoumi recalls how he once lived in the same building as Lucy, a one-name wonder who became one of Egypt's most famed belly dancers and movie stars. The street was also the destination for anyone looking to buy the best Oriental music instruments, arriving from around the region, Europe and the US.
El Fayyoumi, who is a member of one of Egypt's oldest and best known percussion music bands, Hassaballah, has worked in this trade for over 45 years. None of his children wanted to follow his footsteps.
Now he's feeling the country's economic woes. Lack of security and tightening budgets have made big events scarcer. Parties and events are getting fewer and further between. Instead of three or four events a week, he said, now the band can wait up to 10 days before they get a gig. His band has to settle for far less money for each gig as well.
And newly emboldened Islamists, who disapprove of music and the perceived "decadence" of the nightlife, are also squeezing people in his trade. He said a group of young zealous Islamists have tried to convince him to quit and be a "good Muslim." He has rebuffed them, suggesting he doesn't need anyone to teach him religion.
"I am a regular at the mosque. That is the only other place I go besides the coffee shop."
A timeline of the Historical Dictionary of the Arabic Language
- 2018: Formal work begins
- November 2021: First 17 volumes launched
- November 2022: Additional 19 volumes released
- October 2023: Another 31 volumes released
- November 2024: All 127 volumes completed
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
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Nayanthara: Beyond The Fairy Tale
Starring: Nayanthara, Vignesh Shivan, Radhika Sarathkumar, Nagarjuna Akkineni
Director: Amith Krishnan
Rating: 3.5/5
TO A LAND UNKNOWN
Director: Mahdi Fleifel
Starring: Mahmoud Bakri, Aram Sabbah, Mohammad Alsurafa
Rating: 4.5/5
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The specs
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The five pillars of Islam
TOURNAMENT INFO
Women’s World Twenty20 Qualifier
Jul 3- 14, in the Netherlands
The top two teams will qualify to play at the World T20 in the West Indies in November
UAE squad
Humaira Tasneem (captain), Chamani Seneviratne, Subha Srinivasan, Neha Sharma, Kavisha Kumari, Judit Cleetus, Chaya Mughal, Roopa Nagraj, Heena Hotchandani, Namita D’Souza, Ishani Senevirathne, Esha Oza, Nisha Ali, Udeni Kuruppuarachchi
How the UAE gratuity payment is calculated now
Employees leaving an organisation are entitled to an end-of-service gratuity after completing at least one year of service.
The tenure is calculated on the number of days worked and does not include lengthy leave periods, such as a sabbatical. If you have worked for a company between one and five years, you are paid 21 days of pay based on your final basic salary. After five years, however, you are entitled to 30 days of pay. The total lump sum you receive is based on the duration of your employment.
1. For those who have worked between one and five years, on a basic salary of Dh10,000 (calculation based on 30 days):
a. Dh10,000 ÷ 30 = Dh333.33. Your daily wage is Dh333.33
b. Dh333.33 x 21 = Dh7,000. So 21 days salary equates to Dh7,000 in gratuity entitlement for each year of service. Multiply this figure for every year of service up to five years.
2. For those who have worked more than five years
c. 333.33 x 30 = Dh10,000. So 30 days’ salary is Dh10,000 in gratuity entitlement for each year of service.
Note: The maximum figure cannot exceed two years total salary figure.
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Business Insights
- As per the document, there are six filing options, including choosing to report on a realisation basis and transitional rules for pre-tax period gains or losses.
- SMEs with revenue below Dh3 million per annum can opt for transitional relief until 2026, treating them as having no taxable income.
- Larger entities have specific provisions for asset and liability movements, business restructuring, and handling foreign permanent establishments.