‘We all know a lot of writers from across the world, we all know Gabriel García Márquez and Paulo Coelho, but I don’t think people from across the world could name a particular Emirati writer.”
Iman Ben Chaibah, the founder and editor-in-chief of Sail magazine, knows what she is talking about. Not only does she have more contact with Emirati writers and readers than most, but also it was precisely with this issue in mind that she established Sail, a monthly online magazine written for Emiratis by Emiratis. Sail describes its remit as community, culture and creativity, but its main role is to act as an online platform for the discussion. Sail provides advice, explores issues facing parents and teenagers, and examines the experiences of young Emiratis at home, in education and at work. There’s also a strong emphasis on self-improvement and self-help. In establishing Sail, Ben Chaibah not only identified a gap in the local publishing market – one dominated by fashion and lifestyle titles – but also a real need.
“Sail is about giving a voice to Emiratis, about developing that voice and making sure that it is representative, but it’s also about trying to grow the culture of reading and writing here as well. We want to encourage people not to be intimated by writing.”
Ben Chaibah started Sail with a friend while she was working as a project manager in IT. Four years later, the self-funded e-magazine has more than 30 contributors, including editors, writers and illustrators.
Ben Chaibah measures Sail’s success in terms of its endurance and a readership in the thousands that extends throughout the UAE and the Emirati diaspora to non-Emirati readers who are keen to read about a different side to life in the UAE.
Last month, the British Council’s Young Creative Entrepreneur (YCE) programme nominated Ben Chaibah as the UAE’s YCE Digital Entrepreneur of the Year for 2014. As part of that, Ben Chaibah went to London with a group of seven other digital publishers from around the world to discuss the future of their industry. Ben Chaibah is optimistic. “We hope to expand into different dimensions, but you’ll have to stay tuned.”
My favourite book
Tuesdays with Morrie by Mitch Albom. The book has this way of teaching you to slow down and to really appreciate your life, rather than simply running through it, and to try and appreciate the people you have around you.
A mantra to live by
This comes from a book, The Four Agreements, by Don Miguel Ruiz. One of the main things I took from it was to always do your best. If you don’t, you’ll always have that regret eating away at you later on if things didn’t go well. You’ll regret that you didn’t try harder, that you didn’t give it one more day, that you didn’t get up that hour earlier, that you didn’t use all of your energy. If you do your best, you’ll never have that regret eating away at you.
My favourite place to work
I have two: the Pavilion Downtown and Hugo Cafe in the Palm Strip Mall in Jumeirah. The Pavilion has great Wi-Fi and it has a workplace-like feel to it, whereas Hugo’s has a very homely atmosphere.
My favourite neighbourhood
It has to be Downtown Dubai. It’s very dear to my heart because I’ve really seen the place grow, since it was first announced to when the buildings started to go up. When I look at how beautiful it is, even in the centre of Dubai, you start to think that anything is possible.
My inspiration
Oprah Winfrey. Hers wasn’t exactly an easy journey. She wasn’t given things on a plate and she really had to struggle, but she persisted through it and look at her now. She has her own TV and radio shows, her own magazine. She’s built her own empire.
I always read
O, The Oprah Magazine and the Harvard Business Review. I always read them because I benchmark my own magazine against them in terms of the quality of the work, the strategies they pursue and their content.
My favourite way to relax
Even though I spend so much of my life reading with the magazine, I still love it. At the end of the day, I love fiction. It relaxes me by taking me to a different world.
My favourite place to relax
The Dubai Ladies Club on Jumeirah Beach. It’s a safe and private environment where I can completely relax.
Favourite gallery
I love Tashkeel and the galleries in Bastakiya. I love the Tashkeel because they really harbour new talent in the region, whether those people are Emirati or not, and lots of the new and upcoming artists have learnt about the craft of art in Tashkeel.
My favourite food
Breakfast. Anything with croissant and eggs.
[ nleech@thenational.ae ]
Follow us @LifeNationalUAE
Follow us on Facebook for discussions, entertainment, reviews, wellness and news.
SPECS
Engine: 2-litre 4-cylinder turbo
Power: 268hp
Torque: 380Nm
Price: From Dh208,000
On sale: Now
Intercontinental Cup
Namibia v UAE Saturday Sep 16-Tuesday Sep 19
Table 1 Ireland, 89 points; 2 Afghanistan, 81; 3 Netherlands, 52; 4 Papua New Guinea, 40; 5 Hong Kong, 39; 6 Scotland, 37; 7 UAE, 27; 8 Namibia, 27
if you go
The flights
Air Astana flies direct from Dubai to Almaty from Dh2,440 per person return, and to Astana (via Almaty) from Dh2,930 return, both including taxes.
The hotels
Rooms at the Ritz-Carlton Almaty cost from Dh1,944 per night including taxes; and in Astana the new Ritz-Carlton Astana (www.marriott) costs from Dh1,325; alternatively, the new St Regis Astana costs from Dh1,458 per night including taxes.
When to visit
March-May and September-November
Visas
Citizens of many countries, including the UAE do not need a visa to enter Kazakhstan for up to 30 days. Contact the nearest Kazakhstan embassy or consulate.
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Super 30
Produced: Sajid Nadiadwala and Phantom Productions
Directed: Vikas Bahl
Cast: Hrithik Roshan, Pankaj Tripathi, Aditya Srivastav, Mrinal Thakur
Rating: 3.5 /5
COMPANY PROFILE
Company name: Almouneer
Started: 2017
Founders: Dr Noha Khater and Rania Kadry
Based: Egypt
Number of staff: 120
Investment: Bootstrapped, with support from Insead and Egyptian government, seed round of
$3.6 million led by Global Ventures
Uefa Champions League play-off
First leg: Wednesday, 11pm (UAE)
Ajax v Dynamo Kiev
Second leg: Tuesday, August 28, 11pm (UAE)
Dynamo Kiev v Ajax
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.”
Herc's Adventures
Developer: Big Ape Productions
Publisher: LucasArts
Console: PlayStation 1 & 5, Sega Saturn
Rating: 4/5
SPECS
Engine: 1.5-litre turbo
Power: 181hp
Torque: 230Nm
Transmission: 6-speed automatic
Starting price: Dh79,000
On sale: Now
Fixture and table
UAE finals day: Friday, April 13 at Rugby Park, Dubai Sports City
- 3pm, UAE Conference: Dubai Tigers v Sharjah Wanderers
- 6.30pm, UAE Premiership: Dubai Exiles v Abu Dhabi Harlequins
UAE Premiership – final standings
- Dubai Exiles
- Abu Dhabi Harlequins
- Jebel Ali Dragons
- Dubai Hurricanes
- Dubai Sports City Eagles
- Abu Dhabi Saracens
