There they sit, taunting me. Day after day. Judging me.
Books. Or, rather, unread books. We persist with the charade that the unspoken promise we made when we purchased you would one day be fulfilled. And so we carry you around: forever unread, in an ever-growing library, until you are nothing but clutter.
It's not only the books that - realistically - we will never read that look down on us. But also the ones we finished, which are now nothing more than trophies.
More clutter. Physical clutter, mental clutter.
What makes us slaves to these books, unable to let go of them? Their self-evident, intrinsic intellectual value, you might say. But surely a book is more valuable being read than collecting dust on an Ikea bookshelf, a grim fate that not even John Grisham paperbacks deserve.
Sure, we all have favourites we go back to. I've lost count of the times I've laughed to The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, or Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas. But let's not kid ourselves that these are anything but exceptions. The majority, even ones that have bought us immense joy, are now nothing more than prizes that we stick on our shelves as a monument to our intellect. An intellect that is now collecting dust and turning yellow.
While some books remain unread, others are simply unreadable. Treat with extreme suspicion those who claim to have finished, or enjoyed, reading Moby Dick. And to a lesser extent, War and Peace. Or anything by Shakespeare.
Such is people's attraction to the so-called classics. In reality, a book's "worthiness" is inversely proportional to the likelihood it will get a second, if indeed a single, reading. With box-sets to watch, music and films to download, and a Facebook "personality" to update, who has got time to read Ulysses?
Of course, for many people, half the fun of reading books, like dating attractive girls, is showing off to their friends about it. But then, most people have also read TheDa Vinci Code, and so are not to be trusted. "You must read this," they say. "I can't believe you haven't read that."
This is the literary Fascists' greatest delusion. Millions of books exist: statistically speaking, the probability of any particular person having read a particular book (with the obvious exception of Harry Potter, of course) is practically zero. You're better advised reading books that you enjoy, peer-pressure free.
Take The Lord of The Rings trilogy, the literary equivalent of Led Zeppelin albums: you either love them or don't get them. But never judge those who haven't read them, particularly if they enjoy a healthy social life and, crucially, work for living.
"The book is always better than the movie," is another pretension - apart from comparing apples and oranges - that can easily be disproved. For one, perhaps the greatest film of all time, The Godfather, comfortably outclasses the Mario Puzo novel that spawned it. And I can only guess that the film version of Herman Melville's whale-spearing saga is marginally less mind-numbing than the book: "Tick follows tock follows tick follows tock." Not exactly riveting reading.
Not that I'm suggesting we pulp away complete libraries, Fahrenheit 451-style. Lifetimes have been spent building up extensive libraries made up of indispensable tomes. Some books have sentimental value, others academic. Many are practical guides. All are bookmarks in our lives.
But if, like me, your books have come to own you, it's time to get rid of the guilt. Give them away as Christmas cards. Better still, give them to people for whom you don't usually buy presents. Or a charity.
Let someone else enjoy them. Or be judged by them. Whatever. Your living space, and your conscience, will be clutter-free.
Who knows, I might even find a taker for the most unreadable one of all: Marcel Proust's In Search of Lost Time. Haven't you read that one yet?
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.”
Emirates flies from Dubai to Phnom Penh via Yangon from Dh2,700 return including taxes. Cambodia Bayon Airlines and Cambodia Angkor Air offer return flights from Phnom Penh to Siem Reap from Dh250 return including taxes. The flight takes about 45 minutes.
The hotels
Rooms at the Raffles Le Royal in Phnom Penh cost from $225 (Dh826) per night including taxes. Rooms at the Grand Hotel d'Angkor cost from $261 (Dh960) per night including taxes.
The tours
A cyclo architecture tour of Phnom Penh costs from $20 (Dh75) per person for about three hours, with Khmer Architecture Tours. Tailor-made tours of all of Cambodia, or sites like Angkor alone, can be arranged by About Asia Travel. Emirates Holidays also offers packages.
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
1. Kylian Mbappe - to Real Madrid in 2017/18 - €180 million (Dh770.4m - if a deal goes through)
2. Paul Pogba - to Manchester United in 2016/17 - €105m
3. Gareth Bale - to Real Madrid in 2013/14 - €101m
4. Cristiano Ronaldo - to Real Madrid in 2009/10 - €94m
5. Gonzalo Higuain - to Juventus in 2016/17 - €90m
6. Neymar - to Barcelona in 2013/14 - €88.2m
7. Romelu Lukaku - to Manchester United in 2017/18 - €84.7m
8. Luis Suarez - to Barcelona in 2014/15 - €81.72m
9. Angel di Maria - to Manchester United in 2014/15 - €75m
10. James Rodriguez - to Real Madrid in 2014/15 - €75m
