The Prophet Mohammed's birthday will be marked on October 29 this year, giving public sector workers a three-day weekend and beginning a busy series of holidays in the UAE.
Soon after, Emiratis and residents can look forward to another holiday extended weekend from Tuesday, December 1, when Commemoration Day is held to honour citizens who died in the line of duty.
The public holiday, previously known as Martyrs Day, was initially observed on November 30. But the date was formally changed last year.
November 30 was chosen as the initial date, when the holiday was first declared in 2015, in honour of the first Emirati killed serving the UAE. Salem Suhail bin Khamis died at the end of November in 1971, shortly before the UAE’s formation.
Immediately after Commemoration Day, the public will have another two days off for National Day, beginning on December 2.
This year will mark the 49th year since the unification of the emirates.
The end of National Day celebrations see out the rest of the year, with the next holiday scheduled for January 1, 2021, to mark New Year.
Last year, the UAE Cabinet announced that people working in the public and private sectors would be granted the same number of leave days for official holidays.
Prior to that, those employed in the public sector were often entitled to more days off.
The decision was made to encourage Emiratis to move away from government jobs, where the vast majority of citizens work.
Remaining UAE public holidays for 2020
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Children who witnessed blood bath want to help others
Aged just 11, Khulood Al Najjar’s daughter, Nora, bravely attempted to fight off Philip Spence. Her finger was injured when she put her hand in between the claw hammer and her mother’s head.
As a vital witness, she was forced to relive the ordeal by police who needed to identify the attacker and ensure he was found guilty.
Now aged 16, Nora has decided she wants to dedicate her career to helping other victims of crime.
“It was very horrible for her. She saw her mum, dying, just next to her eyes. But now she just wants to go forward,” said Khulood, speaking about how her eldest daughter was dealing with the trauma of the incident five years ago. “She is saying, 'mama, I want to be a lawyer, I want to help people achieve justice'.”
Khulood’s youngest daughter, Fatima, was seven at the time of the attack and attempted to help paramedics responding to the incident.
“Now she wants to be a maxillofacial doctor,” Khulood said. “She said to me ‘it is because a maxillofacial doctor returned your face, mama’. Now she wants to help people see themselves in the mirror again.”
Khulood’s son, Saeed, was nine in 2014 and slept through the attack. While he did not witness the trauma, this made it more difficult for him to understand what had happened. He has ambitions to become an engineer.
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Volunteers offer workers a lifeline
Community volunteers have swung into action delivering food packages and toiletries to the men.
When provisions are distributed, the men line up in long queues for packets of rice, flour, sugar, salt, pulses, milk, biscuits, shaving kits, soap and telecom cards.
Volunteers from St Mary’s Catholic Church said some workers came to the church to pray for their families and ask for assistance.
Boxes packed with essential food items were distributed to workers in the Dubai Investments Park and Ras Al Khaimah camps last week. Workers at the Sonapur camp asked for Dh1,600 towards their gas bill.
“Especially in this year of tolerance we consider ourselves privileged to be able to lend a helping hand to our needy brothers in the Actco camp," Father Lennie Connully, parish priest of St Mary’s.
Workers spoke of their helplessness, seeing children’s marriages cancelled because of lack of money going home. Others told of their misery of being unable to return home when a parent died.
“More than daily food, they are worried about not sending money home for their family,” said Kusum Dutta, a volunteer who works with the Indian consulate.
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Global state-owned investor ranking by size
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China |
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UAE |
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Japan |
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5 |
Norway |
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Canada |
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Singapore |
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Australia |
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Saudi Arabia |
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South Korea |
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