Fuelled by a desire to work abroad, Kriz Huang moved to Dubai five years ago from her native Singapore. After initially working in sales for a furniture company, she became assistant sales manager at Candylicious in The Dubai Mall in 2011. The 29-year-old, now a cluster manager at the store, lives on her own in the Dubai International Financial Centre.
8am
I start my day drinking coffee and eating breakfast, which is typically nothing more than some toast – I prefer eating light first thing. I leave my apartment at around 9am and walk to work, as Dubai Mall isn’t far from where I live.
9:30am
At work, I head to my small office within Candylicious to check my emails. Then I tour the store, making sure everything is ready ahead of opening at 10am. I ensure display items are full and that our live candy making machines are ready.
10am
The store opens and I reply to emails in my office. I then have meetings with my operations manager to discuss various business projects. I use this time to also engage other departments such as marketing, buying, IT and HR. We’re currently putting together a calendar of marketing activities. Our in-store activities are designed to appeal to everyone, from kids to mothers and fathers, as we aim for fun for all ages. My favourite marketing event so far was Christmas Day 2014. We had Santa Claus in the store as well as a big set-up on our stage. The staff were wearing Christmas hats, and we had loads of activities on.
Midday
I grab a bite to eat for lunch – usually some food from Waitrose or something from the food court – and eat it at my desk.
12:30pm
After lunch I spend time in the store, speaking to the staff to see if anyone needs assistance. Part of my role is to coach my employees, which is something I find particularly fulfilling. My team consists of 70 members, and we have people of many different nationalities. As we spend more time with our colleagues than our families, I consider my team family members, and I do my best to help them grow within the business. I’m also involved in recruitment. To work at Candylicious you need to be young, fun and energetic. You also should know how to dance – or at least have rhythm – as our staff members are required to dance every day in the store. Some of our dances are called Choco Latte and Gummy Bear, and we have a choreographer that teaches our staff the moves.
2pm
A major part of my job is obtaining more business, so in the afternoon I have meetings with prospective corporate clients. We collaborate with various types of businesses, such as hotels, who are on the look-out for special pop-up stands for their events. One of the main services we offer is Spun Live Candy – our team makes fresh lollipops and hard rock candies while customers watch, and we can customise the candy.
3pm
I walk around the mall to get a general feel for the current footfall. As part of my own work analysis, I like to go to other stores, such as Waitrose, to see what items they’re currently selling. This helps me with our own product range, as I’m able to give feedback to my buying department regarding prices and any new, interesting items that I’ve seen in the market. The team sources our products from all around the world, and they are always striving to find something unique and not available elsewhere in the UAE.
5pm
Back at my desk I wrap up any outstanding admin. I’m a tidy person, so I don’t like my desk to be messy. I only have my laptop and my phones there, as I spend most of my time outside of the office.
6pm
During the week, I leave work at 6pm but on the weekends it’s a midday start and I stay until midnight when we close. After work, I go shopping in the mall. I then have dinner; as I’m usually alone, I like to dine out at Social House as I enjoy sitting near the Dubai Fountain. I love their nasi goreng; I cannot find Singaporean dishes in Dubai, so this is the closest thing. I miss so many dishes from home, like my mum’s chicken rice. I try to visit family at least once a year to stave off any homesickness.
9pm
At home I relax by watching my favourite Korean and Singaporean drama TV shows. I then have a bath and am asleep before 10pm. I go to bed so early because I have to wake up by 8am – I need a lot of sleep.
business@thenational.ae
Follow The National's Business section on Twitter
How to wear a kandura
Dos
- Wear the right fabric for the right season and occasion
- Always ask for the dress code if you don’t know
- Wear a white kandura, white ghutra / shemagh (headwear) and black shoes for work
- Wear 100 per cent cotton under the kandura as most fabrics are polyester
Don’ts
- Wear hamdania for work, always wear a ghutra and agal
- Buy a kandura only based on how it feels; ask questions about the fabric and understand what you are buying
The specs
The specs: 2019 Audi Q8
Price, base: Dh315,000
Engine: 3.0-litre turbocharged V6
Gearbox: Eight-speed automatic
Power: 340hp @ 3,500rpm
Torque: 500Nm @ 2,250rpm
Fuel economy, combined: 6.7L / 100km
Mohammed bin Zayed Majlis
Singham Again
Director: Rohit Shetty
Stars: Ajay Devgn, Kareena Kapoor Khan, Ranveer Singh, Akshay Kumar, Tiger Shroff, Deepika Padukone
Rating: 3/5
The story of Edge
Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and Deputy Supreme Commander of the Armed Forces, established Edge in 2019.
It brought together 25 state-owned and independent companies specialising in weapons systems, cyber protection and electronic warfare.
Edge has an annual revenue of $5 billion and employs more than 12,000 people.
Some of the companies include Nimr, a maker of armoured vehicles, Caracal, which manufactures guns and ammunitions company, Lahab
UJDA CHAMAN
Produced: Panorama Studios International
Directed: Abhishek Pathak
Cast: Sunny Singh, Maanvi Gagroo, Grusha Kapoor, Saurabh Shukla
Rating: 3.5 /5 stars
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.”
