• Untouched sandbanks surround Soneva Fushi. Courtesy Soneva Fushi
    Untouched sandbanks surround Soneva Fushi. Courtesy Soneva Fushi
  • The Robinson Crusoe Villa: a two-storey hideaways with its own private pool. Courtesy Soneva Fushi
    The Robinson Crusoe Villa: a two-storey hideaways with its own private pool. Courtesy Soneva Fushi
  • The resort bills itself as the original desert island hideaway in the Maldives. Courtesy Soneva Fushi
    The resort bills itself as the original desert island hideaway in the Maldives. Courtesy Soneva Fushi
  • The perfect place for hanging around in paradise. Courtesy Soneva Fushi
    The perfect place for hanging around in paradise. Courtesy Soneva Fushi
  • Private dining under the stars. Courtesy Soneva Fushi
    Private dining under the stars. Courtesy Soneva Fushi
  • The water slide plunges straight into the Indian Ocean. Courtesy Soneva Fushi
    The water slide plunges straight into the Indian Ocean. Courtesy Soneva Fushi
  • Guests can take in a movie under the stars at Cinema Paradiso. Courtesy Soneva Fushi
    Guests can take in a movie under the stars at Cinema Paradiso. Courtesy Soneva Fushi
  • Soneva Fushi is a barefoot luxury resort on Kunfunadhoo Island in the Maldives’ Baa Atoll. Courtesy Soneva Fushi
    Soneva Fushi is a barefoot luxury resort on Kunfunadhoo Island in the Maldives’ Baa Atoll. Courtesy Soneva Fushi
  • It's all about the barefoot chic at Soneva Fushi. Courtesy Soneva Fushi
    It's all about the barefoot chic at Soneva Fushi. Courtesy Soneva Fushi
  • Villas come with outdoor rainshowers. Courtesy Soneva Fushi
    Villas come with outdoor rainshowers. Courtesy Soneva Fushi
  • Turner and Jonas are enjoying a little slice of paradise in the middle of the Indian Ocean at Soneva Fushi. Courtesy Soneva Fushi
    Turner and Jonas are enjoying a little slice of paradise in the middle of the Indian Ocean at Soneva Fushi. Courtesy Soneva Fushi

Best job in the world? Luxury Maldives resort Soneva Fushi hiring a 'barefoot bookseller'


Sophie Prideaux
  • English
  • Arabic

If you’ve ever considered quitting your job and disappearing to a desert island for a year, now could be the perfect time.

Luxury Maldives resort Soneva Fushi, famed for its overwater villas with slides directly into the ocean, is advertising for “possibly the best job in the world".

The hunt is on for a “barefoot bookseller” to run its island shop for 12 months.

“While most of us find holidays are the only opportunity we get to read for pleasure, finding the perfect book to enhance your destination and open your mind can be a challenge,” the job advert states.

“Previous barefoot booksellers have provided guests with unforgettable literary experiences from writer’s workshops to personal reading consultations. We are interested to see what new ideas you can bring to the role.

“The ideal candidate will be a team player with a passion for books and the ability to engage with guests of all ages. They will have excellent written and verbal English skills; a lively tone of voice to write an entertaining blog capturing the exhilarating life of a desert island bookseller and the skills to host workshops and other guest experiences. They must have the ability to fit in with the distinctive Soneva culture.”

The placement will start in October and require the successful candidate to hold workshops and pop-up events, such as creative writing courses for guests.

The initiative was first launched in 2018 in collaboration with Ultimate Library. The new candidate will take over from Georgie Polhill, an experienced bookseller who previously worked in the editorial department of a London publishers before flying to the Maldives.

Among her highlights of her time on Soneva Fushi was interviewing actor Stanley Tucci ahead of a screening of one of his films at the resort’s outdoor cinema.

Writing about the experience in a blogpost, Polhill said: "The best thing about working as Soneva Fushi’s barefoot bookseller is the unpredictability; you never know what adventures a new week will bring.”

Soneva Fushi is a popular resort for celebrities, with a number of A-list stars visiting, including John Legend and Chrissy Teigen and actor Ed Westwick. It is also the resort where Sophie Turner and Joe Jonas spent their honeymoon.

Interested candidates can learn more and apply via the Barefoot Bookseller website.

Understand What Black Is

The Last Poets

(Studio Rockers)

RACE SCHEDULE

All times UAE ( 4 GMT)

Friday, September 29
First practice: 7am - 8.30am
Second practice: 11am - 12.30pm

Saturday, September 30
Qualifying: 1pm - 2pm

Sunday, October 1
Race: 11am - 1pm

Real estate tokenisation project

Dubai launched the pilot phase of its real estate tokenisation project last month.

The initiative focuses on converting real estate assets into digital tokens recorded on blockchain technology and helps in streamlining the process of buying, selling and investing, the Dubai Land Department said.

Dubai’s real estate tokenisation market is projected to reach Dh60 billion ($16.33 billion) by 2033, representing 7 per cent of the emirate’s total property transactions, according to the DLD.

England World Cup squad

Eoin Morgan (capt), Moeen Ali, Jofra Archer, Jonny Bairstow, Jos Buttler (wkt), Tom Curran, Liam Dawson, Liam Plunkett, Adil Rashid, Joe Root, Jason Roy, Ben Stokes, James Vince, Chris Woakes, Mark Wood

The biog

Occupation: Key marker and auto electrician

Hometown: Ghazala, Syria

Date of arrival in Abu Dhabi: May 15, 1978

Family: 11 siblings, a wife, three sons and one daughter

Favourite place in UAE: Abu Dhabi

Favourite hobby: I like to do a mix of things, like listening to poetry for example.

Favourite Syrian artist: Sabah Fakhri, a tenor from Aleppo

Favourite food: fresh fish

At a glance

Global events: Much of the UK’s economic woes were blamed on “increased global uncertainty”, which can be interpreted as the economic impact of the Ukraine war and the uncertainty over Donald Trump’s tariffs.

 

Growth forecasts: Cut for 2025 from 2 per cent to 1 per cent. The OBR watchdog also estimated inflation will average 3.2 per cent this year

 

Welfare: Universal credit health element cut by 50 per cent and frozen for new claimants, building on cuts to the disability and incapacity bill set out earlier this month

 

Spending cuts: Overall day-to day-spending across government cut by £6.1bn in 2029-30 

 

Tax evasion: Steps to crack down on tax evasion to raise “£6.5bn per year” for the public purse

 

Defence: New high-tech weaponry, upgrading HM Naval Base in Portsmouth

 

Housing: Housebuilding to reach its highest in 40 years, with planning reforms helping generate an extra £3.4bn for public finances

SUE%20GRAY'S%20FINDINGS
%3Cp%3E%22Whatever%20the%20initial%20intent%2C%20what%20took%20place%20at%20many%20of%20these%20gatherings%20and%20the%3Cbr%3Eway%20in%20which%20they%20developed%20was%20not%20in%20line%20with%20Covid%20guidance%20at%20the%20time.%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%22Many%20of%20these%20events%20should%20not%20have%20been%20allowed%20to%20happen.%20It%20is%20also%20the%20case%20that%20some%20of%20the%3Cbr%3Emore%20junior%20civil%20servants%20believed%20that%20their%20involvement%20in%20some%20of%20these%20events%20was%20permitted%20given%20the%20attendance%20of%20senior%20leaders.%C2%A0%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%22The%20senior%20leadership%20at%20the%20centre%2C%20both%20political%20and%20official%2C%20must%20bear%20responsibility%20for%20this%20culture.%C2%A0%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%22I%20found%20that%20some%20staff%20had%20witnessed%20or%20been%20subjected%20to%20behaviours%20at%20work%20which%20they%20had%20felt%20concerned%20about%20but%20at%20times%20felt%20unable%20to%20raise%20properly.%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%22I%20was%20made%20aware%20of%20multiple%20examples%20of%20a%20lack%20of%20respect%20and%20poor%20treatment%20of%20security%20and%20cleaning%20staff.%20This%20was%20unacceptable.%22%C2%A0%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
MATCH INFO

Uefa Champions League semi-final, second leg
Real Madrid (2) v Bayern Munich (1)

Where: Santiago Bernabeu, Madrid
When: 10.45pm, Tuesday
Watch Live: beIN Sports HD

How will Gen Alpha invest?

Mark Chahwan, co-founder and chief executive of robo-advisory firm Sarwa, forecasts that Generation Alpha (born between 2010 and 2024) will start investing in their teenage years and therefore benefit from compound interest.

“Technology and education should be the main drivers to make this happen, whether it’s investing in a few clicks or their schools/parents stepping up their personal finance education skills,” he adds.

Mr Chahwan says younger generations have a higher capacity to take on risk, but for some their appetite can be more cautious because they are investing for the first time. “Schools still do not teach personal finance and stock market investing, so a lot of the learning journey can feel daunting and intimidating,” he says.

He advises millennials to not always start with an aggressive portfolio even if they can afford to take risks. “We always advise to work your way up to your risk capacity, that way you experience volatility and get used to it. Given the higher risk capacity for the younger generations, stocks are a favourite,” says Mr Chahwan.

Highlighting the role technology has played in encouraging millennials and Gen Z to invest, he says: “They were often excluded, but with lower account minimums ... a customer with $1,000 [Dh3,672] in their account has their money working for them just as hard as the portfolio of a high get-worth individual.”

THE SIXTH SENSE

Starring: Bruce Willis, Toni Collette, Hayley Joel Osment

Director: M. Night Shyamalan

Rating: 5/5

In numbers

Number of Chinese tourists coming to UAE in 2017 was... 1.3m

Alibaba’s new ‘Tech Town’  in Dubai is worth... $600m

China’s investment in the MIddle East in 2016 was... $29.5bn

The world’s most valuable start-up in 2018, TikTok, is valued at... $75bn

Boost to the UAE economy of 5G connectivity will be... $269bn 

AIDA%20RETURNS
%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EDirector%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3ECarol%20Mansour%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EStarring%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EAida%20Abboud%2C%20Carol%20Mansour%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3ERating%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%203.5.%2F5%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
Dhadak 2

Director: Shazia Iqbal

Starring: Siddhant Chaturvedi, Triptii Dimri 

Rating: 1/5

Company%20Profile
%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3ECompany%20name%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20myZoi%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EStarted%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%202021%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EFounders%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Syed%20Ali%2C%20Christian%20Buchholz%2C%20Shanawaz%20Rouf%2C%20Arsalan%20Siddiqui%2C%20Nabid%20Hassan%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EBased%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20UAE%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ENumber%20of%20staff%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%2037%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EInvestment%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Initial%20undisclosed%20funding%20from%20SC%20Ventures%3B%20second%20round%20of%20funding%20totalling%20%2414%20million%20from%20a%20consortium%20of%20SBI%2C%20a%20Japanese%20VC%20firm%2C%20and%20SC%20Venture%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
THE LOWDOWN

Photograph

Rating: 4/5

Produced by: Poetic License Motion Pictures; RSVP Movies

Director: Ritesh Batra

Cast: Nawazuddin Siddiqui, Sanya Malhotra, Farrukh Jaffar, Deepak Chauhan, Vijay Raaz

Mina Cup winners

Under 12 – Minerva Academy

Under 14 – Unam Pumas

Under 16 – Fursan Hispania

Under 18 – Madenat

The%20Last%20White%20Man
%3Cp%3EAuthor%3A%20Mohsin%20Hamid%C2%A0%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E192%20pages%C2%A0%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3EPublished%20by%3A%20Hamish%20Hamilton%20(UK)%2C%20Riverhead%20Books%20(US)%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3ERelease%20date%3A%20out%20now%20in%20the%20US%2C%20August%2011%20(UK)%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
Company Profile:

Name: The Protein Bakeshop

Date of start: 2013

Founders: Rashi Chowdhary and Saad Umerani

Based: Dubai

Size, number of employees: 12

Funding/investors:  $400,000 (2018) 

Updated: July 27, 2022, 8:31 AM