Readers favour promoting Dubai’s historic sites as well as its shopping malls. Paulo Vecina / The National
Readers favour promoting Dubai’s historic sites as well as its shopping malls. Paulo Vecina / The National

Dubai’s history is as worthy as the shopping malls



I agree with the premise of your story, Promote Dubai's history and culture instead of beaches and malls, experts say (July 6).

When I lived in Dubai, the lack of evident culture was the biggest complaint of friends who visited or who worked there.

Most people don’t want to go to the equivalent of a shopping mall – that’s available almost everywhere.

Instead the local boating scene should be showcased, there should be more local street art fairs and traditional music ought to be promoted and small “mom and pop” style businesses ought to be encouraged.

Kelly Kaufmann, US

Very good points – history needs to be brought alive.

Chris Reid, Dubai

Working smart all year round

Your editorial comparing the fewer hours the average person works in Germany compared to Greece raises an important point (Working harder isn't always smart, July 6).

The mantra should be to work smarter, not harder. It’s about productivity, not the number of hours.

Mathew Litty, Dubai

It has been proven that longer hours definitely doesn’t help increase productivity.

But the problem is trying to change the minds of some managers and supervisors who believe and work their employees too hard.

Susie Bellamys, Abu Dhabi

Student finds a Ramadan goal

On the first weekend of Ramadan, my family was invited for iftar buffet and a few minutes before the Maghreb azan, I was shocked to see people overfilling their plates.

When we are breaking our fast it is obvious that we have a craving to eat all sorts of food. I also saw some people wasting food by leaving full plates so they could try other dishes.

One table of eight at the iftar I attended left behind enough food to comfortably feed 10 people. Because of this, lots of food is wasted every Ramadan.

Many of my family friends want to give iftar packets to the needy but some are too busy. So I arranged to get their contribution and to organise 40 servings of biryani, which we gave to workers near Madinat Zayed shopping centre.

I am sure that many teenagers like me, who have a lot of spare time because of the summer holidays, can do this kind of voluntary act by working with people who don’t have the time.

Firdous Mohammed Farooq, Abu Dhabi

Five metres is still not enough

With regard to your story, Tailgaters in Dubai defy fines as radar cameras fire up (July 3), I am surprised and shocked that any driver would consider a five meter gap adequate safe spacing in traffic moving at 80kph.

That speed is about 22 metres per second, equivalent to about four car lengths. Most people take at least a second to react, so in the time a driver sees the brake lights of the vehicle in front come on and reacts by hitting the brake pedal, it is inevitably already too late.

Fines for tailgating should start if the distance between vehicles in less than one car length for each 10 kph. As the UAE advisory says, a three second gap indicates a minimum safe distance.

Peter Dixon, Dubai

Secure entry for Arabian Ranches

With regard to your article, Arabian Ranches residents fearful after spate of burglaries (July 4), I am an owner-occupier in the Arabian Ranches.

For the most part, people here are happy with the services and the community, but security is an area of concern. There have been more break-ins than have been reported.

We can’t blame the guards at the gates – all they can do is record licence plate numbers and ask where the drivers are going. Anyone can – and some do – lie about their destination in order to gain access.

In 2010/2011, the Dubai Police approved a pilot programme in which residents would use automated gates with a Salik-like identifier, while guests would use separate gates, all captured through a camera linked to the Dubai Police control room to monitor for known criminals.

The owners’ association approved the measure and we were willing to pay additional fees but it never materialised.

Given the thousands each of us spends on annual service fees in Arabian Ranches – and they increased by 43 per cent this year – don’t we deserve a better system, and especially one that may have already been approved by the authorities?

Name withheld by request

Where to donate in the UAE

The Emirates Charity Portal

You can donate to several registered charities through a “donation catalogue”. The use of the donation is quite specific, such as buying a fan for a poor family in Niger for Dh130.

The General Authority of Islamic Affairs & Endowments

The site has an e-donation service accepting debit card, credit card or e-Dirham, an electronic payment tool developed by the Ministry of Finance and First Abu Dhabi Bank.

Al Noor Special Needs Centre

You can donate online or order Smiles n’ Stuff products handcrafted by Al Noor students. The centre publishes a wish list of extras needed, starting at Dh500.

Beit Al Khair Society

Beit Al Khair Society has the motto “From – and to – the UAE,” with donations going towards the neediest in the country. Its website has a list of physical donation sites, but people can also contribute money by SMS, bank transfer and through the hotline 800-22554.

Dar Al Ber Society

Dar Al Ber Society, which has charity projects in 39 countries, accept cash payments, money transfers or SMS donations. Its donation hotline is 800-79.

Dubai Cares

Dubai Cares provides several options for individuals and companies to donate, including online, through banks, at retail outlets, via phone and by purchasing Dubai Cares branded merchandise. It is currently running a campaign called Bookings 2030, which allows people to help change the future of six underprivileged children and young people.

Emirates Airline Foundation

Those who travel on Emirates have undoubtedly seen the little donation envelopes in the seat pockets. But the foundation also accepts donations online and in the form of Skywards Miles. Donated miles are used to sponsor travel for doctors, surgeons, engineers and other professionals volunteering on humanitarian missions around the world.

Emirates Red Crescent

On the Emirates Red Crescent website you can choose between 35 different purposes for your donation, such as providing food for fasters, supporting debtors and contributing to a refugee women fund. It also has a list of bank accounts for each donation type.

Gulf for Good

Gulf for Good raises funds for partner charity projects through challenges, like climbing Kilimanjaro and cycling through Thailand. This year’s projects are in partnership with Street Child Nepal, Larchfield Kids, the Foundation for African Empowerment and SOS Children's Villages. Since 2001, the organisation has raised more than $3.5 million (Dh12.8m) in support of over 50 children’s charities.

Noor Dubai Foundation

Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum launched the Noor Dubai Foundation a decade ago with the aim of eliminating all forms of preventable blindness globally. You can donate Dh50 to support mobile eye camps by texting the word “Noor” to 4565 (Etisalat) or 4849 (du).

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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.”

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Other workplace saving schemes
  • The UAE government announced a retirement savings plan for private and free zone sector employees in 2023.
  • Dubai’s savings retirement scheme for foreign employees working in the emirate’s government and public sector came into effect in 2022.
  • National Bonds unveiled a Golden Pension Scheme in 2022 to help private-sector foreign employees with their financial planning.
  • In April 2021, Hayah Insurance unveiled a workplace savings plan to help UAE employees save for their retirement.
  • Lunate, an Abu Dhabi-based investment manager, has launched a fund that will allow UAE private companies to offer employees investment returns on end-of-service benefits.
Formula Middle East Calendar (Formula Regional and Formula 4)
Round 1: January 17-19, Yas Marina Circuit – Abu Dhabi
 
Round 2: January 22-23, Yas Marina Circuit – Abu Dhabi
 
Round 3: February 7-9, Dubai Autodrome – Dubai
 
Round 4: February 14-16, Yas Marina Circuit – Abu Dhabi
 
Round 5: February 25-27, Jeddah Corniche Circuit – Saudi Arabia
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