Ask Ali: What’s the culture of eating in public in the UAE?



Dear Ali: What's the culture of eating in public in the UAE and is it important for people to follow? IS, USA

Dear IS: The UAE is growing its international standards in everything, although it's very important to follow some cultural norms and etiquettes that are still applied in any public place. For Arabs, it's critical to maintain a good image and reputation in public, so that's why anything done in public has to follow certain rules.

There’s a formal structure to full meals, similar to how you would present an international menu, beginning with starters (salads, soups, fresh vegetables) and ending with tea or fresh juices. In between comes one or two main courses, with a dish of fish, chicken or meat served with rice or fried potatoes.

Alcohol is never served. It would be bad to offer it to Arab Muslim guests while at a public dinner.

Everything that happens when eating in public has to be delicate, with prestige and etiquette. It’s inappropriate to slurp, loudly chomp or splatter food around when eating. Eating too fast is also considered to be improper.

When eating in public, Arabs don’t use their hands, unless it’s a very traditional restaurant – or if they’re feeling really comfortable when out with friends.

While using cutlery, Muslims might use a fork with their right hand and a knife with the left (the opposite to the western standards), as Islam advises to eat with the right hand only.

An image of a person eating in public should be as well-mannered as possible, though inside our houses, the tradition of eating with hands (which has its own etiquette) would be followed by all generations.

While working outside of my home country, I got into a medical issue that cost me all of the money that I earned there. Now, I'm moving to work in Abu Dhabi. Should I expect the same risk of spending cash if anything happens? GB, Lithuania

Dear GB: First of all, I wish you good health.

Certainly, this is one of the most risky things when working or living abroad. But when travelling to the UAE, you should stay in a relaxed mood.

The UAE has highly developed health-care services. It has a good level of hygiene, maintained by high living standards – this is something that’s even more culturally important to Arabs than living the luxury lifestyle.

Apart from the federal health-care policy of free emergency treatment for all nationalities, Abu Dhabi offers a compulsory health-insurance scheme that covers all residents.

It’s mandatory in Abu Dhabi for a company to get health insurance for every employee. The insurance covers multiple expenses, from regular visits to a doctor or buying prescribed drugs in a pharmacy, to high-tech health check-ups if needed.

There are different types of insurance. All are designed to either completely avoid the resident paying health-care expenses or to minimise the costs when certain treatments are required.

You can find out more online by visiting one of the websites of the many companies that provide health insurance in the UAE.

I hope that this information will keep you in a positive mood when you make your move to Abu Dhabi.

Ali Al Saloom is a cultural adviser and public speaker from the UAE. Follow @AskAli on Twitter, and visit www.ask-ali.com to ask him a question.

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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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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.”

The specs
 
Engine: 3.0-litre six-cylinder turbo
Power: 398hp from 5,250rpm
Torque: 580Nm at 1,900-4,800rpm
Transmission: Eight-speed auto
Fuel economy, combined: 6.5L/100km
On sale: December
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  • Larger entities have specific provisions for asset and liability movements, business restructuring, and handling foreign permanent establishments.
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Iceland 0 England 1 (Sterling pen 90 1)

Man of the match Kari Arnason (Iceland)

If you go
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When to go: Florida is best experienced during the winter months, from November to May, before the humidity kicks in.

How to get there: Emirates currently flies from Dubai to Orlando five times a week.
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Started: August 2020
Founder: Areej Selmi
Based: Gaza
Sectors: Internet, e-commerce
Investments: Grants/private funding
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Power: 150hp
Torque: 250Nm
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Popular Vote Tally

The count is ongoing, but Trump currently leads with nearly 51 per cent of the popular vote to Harris’s 47.6 per cent. Trump has over 72.2 million votes, while Harris trails with approximately 67.4 million.

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About Proto21

Date started: May 2018
Founder: Pir Arkam
Based: Dubai
Sector: Additive manufacturing (aka, 3D printing)
Staff: 18
Funding: Invested, supported and partnered by Joseph Group

The specs

Engine: 4-litre twin-turbo V8

Transmission: nine-speed

Power: 542bhp

Torque: 700Nm

Price: Dh848,000

On sale: now