• Syrian perfumer Mohammad al-Masri works at his shop in a historic souq of Damascus's old city on October 31, 2022. - One whiff of a fragrance is all al-Masri needs to recreate the scents of luxury brands, for a fraction of the cost. Dozens of customers flock daily to his tiny store in Damascus's old city, many flashing photos on their phones of high-end perfumes they want to replicate. "All I have is my shop, and this nose I've been training since I was 15," the 55-year-old told AFP, pointing at his nose. (Photo by LOUAI BESHARA / AFP)
    Syrian perfumer Mohammad al-Masri works at his shop in a historic souq of Damascus's old city on October 31, 2022. - One whiff of a fragrance is all al-Masri needs to recreate the scents of luxury brands, for a fraction of the cost. Dozens of customers flock daily to his tiny store in Damascus's old city, many flashing photos on their phones of high-end perfumes they want to replicate. "All I have is my shop, and this nose I've been training since I was 15," the 55-year-old told AFP, pointing at his nose. (Photo by LOUAI BESHARA / AFP)
  • Dozens of customers flock daily to his tiny store, nestled in the historic market of Damascus's old city, many flashing photos on their phones of high-end perfumes they want to replicate.
    Dozens of customers flock daily to his tiny store, nestled in the historic market of Damascus's old city, many flashing photos on their phones of high-end perfumes they want to replicate.
  • "All I have is my shop, and this nose I've been training since I was 15," the 55-year-old says, pointing at his face.
    "All I have is my shop, and this nose I've been training since I was 15," the 55-year-old says, pointing at his face.
  • "I don't have a big workshop or high-end equipment."
    "I don't have a big workshop or high-end equipment."
  • After 11 years of brutal war and economic dislocation, most Syrians struggle to afford life's bare necessities, let alone perfume.
    After 11 years of brutal war and economic dislocation, most Syrians struggle to afford life's bare necessities, let alone perfume.
  • Before the war, Al Masri would mostly concoct expensive oriental fragrances, with heavy notes of oud, a sweet and woody scent, as his family has done for a century.
    Before the war, Al Masri would mostly concoct expensive oriental fragrances, with heavy notes of oud, a sweet and woody scent, as his family has done for a century.
  • But after Syria plunged into conflict, demand for cheap imitations of premium brands skyrocketed and Al Masri's shop walls are filled with pictures of world-famous perfumes.
    But after Syria plunged into conflict, demand for cheap imitations of premium brands skyrocketed and Al Masri's shop walls are filled with pictures of world-famous perfumes.
  • "For young women, perfume is essential, it's like food or water," says customer Cham Al Falah, 24. "I used to buy Western perfumes but I can no longer afford them because imported products are becoming increasingly hard to come by in Syria," she says while ordering a fragrance imitating her favourite Italian perfume.
    "For young women, perfume is essential, it's like food or water," says customer Cham Al Falah, 24. "I used to buy Western perfumes but I can no longer afford them because imported products are becoming increasingly hard to come by in Syria," she says while ordering a fragrance imitating her favourite Italian perfume.
  • Although Damascus has been spared the worst destruction of the war, which began after its government repressed peaceful protests, the local currency has lost almost 99 per cent of its value on the parallel market. Syrian employees and civil servants reportedly make roughly $25 a month on average - a quarter of the price of a bottle of imported perfume.
    Although Damascus has been spared the worst destruction of the war, which began after its government repressed peaceful protests, the local currency has lost almost 99 per cent of its value on the parallel market. Syrian employees and civil servants reportedly make roughly $25 a month on average - a quarter of the price of a bottle of imported perfume.
  • Al Masri sells his fragrances for about six dollars, drawing in a flow of clients from all walks of life.
    Al Masri sells his fragrances for about six dollars, drawing in a flow of clients from all walks of life.
  • Ahmad Dorra, 60, travelled from the mountain town of Zabadani, a 50-kilometre drive, to buy five bottles of perfume for his family.
    Ahmad Dorra, 60, travelled from the mountain town of Zabadani, a 50-kilometre drive, to buy five bottles of perfume for his family.
  • Al Masri lines up dozens of vials on a table - essences of jasmine, Damascus rose, musk and other fragrances used for his concoctions.
    Al Masri lines up dozens of vials on a table - essences of jasmine, Damascus rose, musk and other fragrances used for his concoctions.
  • "I don't know much about Western brands," farmer Dorra says, "but I trust [his] nose".
    "I don't know much about Western brands," farmer Dorra says, "but I trust [his] nose".

MENA

Syria

Inside a Syrian perfumer's workshop - in pictures

Perfume shop owner Mohammad Al Masri says he needs only 'one whiff' to mimic luxury brands

The National

November 08, 2022

  • English
  • Arabic

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Plastic tipping point
How Alia's experiment will help humans get to Mars

Alia’s winning experiment examined how genes might change under the stresses caused by being in space, such as cosmic radiation and microgravity.

Her samples were placed in a machine on board the International Space Station. called a miniPCR thermal cycler, which can copy DNA multiple times.

After the samples were examined on return to Earth, scientists were able to successfully detect changes caused by being in space in the way DNA transmits instructions through proteins and other molecules in living organisms.

Although Alia’s samples were taken from nematode worms, the results have much bigger long term applications, especially for human space flight and long term missions, such as to Mars.

It also means that the first DNA experiments using human genomes can now be carried out on the ISS.

 

U19 World Cup in South Africa

Group A: India, Japan, New Zealand, Sri Lanka

Group B: Australia, England, Nigeria, West Indies

Group C: Bangladesh, Pakistan, Scotland, Zimbabwe

Group D: Afghanistan, Canada, South Africa, UAE

UAE fixtures

Saturday, January 18, v Canada

Wednesday, January 22, v Afghanistan

Saturday, January 25, v South Africa

UAE squad

Aryan Lakra (captain), Vriitya Aravind, Deshan Chethyia, Mohammed Farazuddin, Jonathan Figy, Osama Hassan, Karthik Meiyappan, Rishabh Mukherjee, Ali Naseer, Wasi Shah, Alishan Sharafu, Sanchit Sharma, Kai Smith, Akasha Tahir, Ansh Tandon

How Tesla’s price correction has hit fund managers

Investing in disruptive technology can be a bumpy ride, as investors in Tesla were reminded on Friday, when its stock dropped 7.5 per cent in early trading to $575.

It recovered slightly but still ended the week 15 per cent lower and is down a third from its all-time high of $883 on January 26. The electric car maker’s market cap fell from $834 billion to about $567bn in that time, a drop of an astonishing $267bn, and a blow for those who bought Tesla stock late.

The collapse also hit fund managers that have gone big on Tesla, notably the UK-based Scottish Mortgage Investment Trust and Cathie Wood’s ARK Innovation ETF.

Tesla is the top holding in both funds, making up a hefty 10 per cent of total assets under management. Both funds have fallen by a quarter in the past month.

Matt Weller, global head of market research at GAIN Capital, recently warned that Tesla founder Elon Musk had “flown a bit too close to the sun”, after getting carried away by investing $1.5bn of the company’s money in Bitcoin.

He also predicted Tesla’s sales could struggle as traditional auto manufacturers ramp up electric car production, destroying its first mover advantage.

AJ Bell’s Russ Mould warns that many investors buy tech stocks when earnings forecasts are rising, almost regardless of valuation. “When it works, it really works. But when it goes wrong, elevated valuations leave little or no downside protection.”

A Tesla correction was probably baked in after last year’s astonishing share price surge, and many investors will see this as an opportunity to load up at a reduced price.

Dramatic swings are to be expected when investing in disruptive technology, as Ms Wood at ARK makes clear.

Every week, she sends subscribers a commentary listing “stocks in our strategies that have appreciated or dropped more than 15 per cent in a day” during the week.

Her latest commentary, issued on Friday, showed seven stocks displaying extreme volatility, led by ExOne, a leader in binder jetting 3D printing technology. It jumped 24 per cent, boosted by news that fellow 3D printing specialist Stratasys had beaten fourth-quarter revenues and earnings expectations, seen as good news for the sector.

By contrast, computational drug and material discovery company Schrödinger fell 27 per cent after quarterly and full-year results showed its core software sales and drug development pipeline slowing.

Despite that setback, Ms Wood remains positive, arguing that its “medicinal chemistry platform offers a powerful and unique view into chemical space”.

In her weekly video view, she remains bullish, stating that: “We are on the right side of change, and disruptive innovation is going to deliver exponential growth trajectories for many of our companies, in fact, most of them.”

Ms Wood remains committed to Tesla as she expects global electric car sales to compound at an average annual rate of 82 per cent for the next five years.

She said these are so “enormous that some people find them unbelievable”, and argues that this scepticism, especially among institutional investors, “festers” and creates a great opportunity for ARK.

Only you can decide whether you are a believer or a festering sceptic. If it’s the former, then buckle up.

First Person
Richard Flanagan
Chatto & Windus 

Ballon d’Or shortlists

Men

Sadio Mane (Senegal/Liverpool), Sergio Aguero (Aregentina/Manchester City), Frenkie de Jong (Netherlans/Barcelona), Hugo Lloris (France/Tottenham), Dusan Tadic (Serbia/Ajax), Kylian Mbappe (France/PSG), Trent Alexander-Arnold (England/Liverpool), Donny van de Beek (Netherlands/Ajax), Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang (Gabon/Arsenal), Marc-Andre ter Stegen (Germany/Barcelona), Cristiano Ronaldo (Portugal/Juventus), Alisson (Brazil/Liverpool), Matthijs de Ligt (Netherlands/Juventus), Karim Benzema (France/Real Madrid), Georginio Wijnaldum (Netherlands/Liverpool), Virgil van Dijk (Netherlands/Liverpool), Bernardo Silva (Portugal/Manchester City), Son Heung-min (South Korea/Tottenham), Robert Lewandowski (Poland/Bayern Munich), Roberto Firmino (Brazil/Liverpool), Lionel Messi (Argentina/Barcelona), Riyad Mahrez (Algeria/Manchester City), Kevin De Bruyne (Belgium/Manchester City), Kalidou Koulibaly (Senegal/Napoli), Antoine Griezmann (France/Barcelona), Mohamed Salah (Egypt/Liverpool), Eden Hazard (BEL/Real Madrid), Marquinhos (Brazil/Paris-SG), Raheem Sterling (Eengland/Manchester City), Joao Félix(Portugal/Atletico Madrid)

Women

Sam Kerr (Austria/Chelsea), Ellen White (England/Manchester City), Nilla Fischer (Sweden/Linkopings), Amandine Henry (France/Lyon), Lucy Bronze(England/Lyon), Alex Morgan (USA/Orlando Pride), Vivianne Miedema (Netherlands/Arsenal), Dzsenifer Marozsan (Germany/Lyon), Pernille Harder (Denmark/Wolfsburg), Sarah Bouhaddi (France/Lyon), Megan Rapinoe (USA/Reign FC), Lieke Martens (Netherlands/Barcelona), Sari van Veenendal (Netherlands/Atletico Madrid), Wendie Renard (France/Lyon), Rose Lavelle(USA/Washington Spirit), Marta (Brazil/Orlando Pride), Ada Hegerberg (Norway/Lyon), Kosovare Asllani (Sweden/CD Tacon), Sofia Jakobsson (Sweden/CD Tacon), Tobin Heath (USA/Portland Thorns)

 

 

Classification of skills

A worker is categorised as skilled by the MOHRE based on nine levels given in the International Standard Classification of Occupations (ISCO) issued by the International Labour Organisation. 

A skilled worker would be someone at a professional level (levels 1 – 5) which includes managers, professionals, technicians and associate professionals, clerical support workers, and service and sales workers.

The worker must also have an attested educational certificate higher than secondary or an equivalent certification, and earn a monthly salary of at least Dh4,000. 

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if you go

The flights 

Etihad and Emirates fly direct to Kolkata from Dh1,504 and Dh1,450 return including taxes, respectively. The flight takes four hours 30 minutes outbound and 5 hours 30 minute returning. 

The trains

Numerous trains link Kolkata and Murshidabad but the daily early morning Hazarduari Express (3’ 52”) is the fastest and most convenient; this service also stops in Plassey. The return train departs Murshidabad late afternoon. Though just about feasible as a day trip, staying overnight is recommended.

The hotels

Mursidabad’s hotels are less than modest but Berhampore, 11km south, offers more accommodation and facilities (and the Hazarduari Express also pauses here). Try Hotel The Fame, with an array of rooms from doubles at Rs1,596/Dh90 to a ‘grand presidential suite’ at Rs7,854/Dh443.

Sam Smith

Where: du Arena, Abu Dhabi

When: Saturday November 24

Rating: 4/5

Who's who in Yemen conflict

Houthis: Iran-backed rebels who occupy Sanaa and run unrecognised government

Yemeni government: Exiled government in Aden led by eight-member Presidential Leadership Council

Southern Transitional Council: Faction in Yemeni government that seeks autonomy for the south

Habrish 'rebels': Tribal-backed forces feuding with STC over control of oil in government territory

Five expert hiking tips
    Always check the weather forecast before setting off Make sure you have plenty of water Set off early to avoid sudden weather changes in the afternoon Wear appropriate clothing and footwear Take your litter home with you
Updated: November 08, 2022, 7:56 AM
PhotographySyria