Across the country people are preparing for Eid Al Fitr by stocking up on festive treats, buying new clothes and ensuring not a hair is out of place with trips to the salon.
In the capital, Le Chocolala on Muroor Road was doing brisk trade on Tuesday, with chocolate trays and boxes disappearing from the shelves.
The chocolate stands are displaying Eid messages, and there are even giveaways enticing children who are prepped to celebrate the end of Ramadan.
Muneera Al Mansouri popped in with her children after a long day spent shopping.
“We came from Al Gharbia to get everything we need. We have been around many sweet shops, tailors and furniture stores,” said the 40-year-old Emirati, who was on her third trip to the capital this month to buy Eid necessities.
“We need shops to open there [in Al Gharbia] so we don’t have to travel all the way.”
Abdulqader Al Jamaal, a supervisor at Chocolala, was trying to solve an order dilemma with a customer on the phone.
“The chocolates have not arrived yet? If Eid is tomorrow I will call you at 1am to deliver it to you. If not, you can pick it up anytime tomorrow,” he said over the phone on Monday.
“This customer had a complicated order. She found a picture of a chocolate stand on Instagram and asked that we do the same, so we had to make a special order for it.”
Chocolala had a constant flow of shoppers since opening at 9am.
“If Eid is tomorrow we will open until 6am. If not, I can leave at 3am,” said Mr Al Jamaal, who said the last four days of Ramadan has seen four times normal custom.
Traditionally, Muslims present chocolates to visitors during Eid, in addition to Arabic cookies.
Elsewhere in the UAE, similar busy scenes were visible.
In Fujairah, tailors were swamped with people looking to buy new clothes, while families were baking sweets at home or visiting pastry shops.
“I have been running between shopping malls and tailors for the last 10 days. I have five young daughters and each one has her own style and requirements. I cover them all to see the smile on their faces during Eid,” said Jamila Abdullah, a 49-year-old Jordanian.
“Eid for me is a challenge but I enjoy each and every moment of it, although I went two times to Dubai to find them a matching shoe and purse but at least they are happy and satisfied.”
An expatriate who moved to Fujairah in 2009 said the celebration atmosphere there is unique.
“Eid is about family and friends getting together, sharing Eid pastries and sweets. When I was living in Dubai I didn’t even know who lives next to me but here we share Eid wishes and sweets with the neighbours in a friendly atmosphere that feels like home,” said Hanene Mukhtar, a 35-year-old Tunisian mother of one.
“The atmosphere encourages you to keep the traditions alive, and preparing sweets with the family is part of the tradition.
“One the first day of Eid I will take my two-year-old boy dressed in the traditional Tunisian outfit to visit the neighbours while carrying sweets.”
Hairdressers and barber shops also witnessed queues in Fujairah city.
“A new haircut for us and a visit to the beauty salon for ladies is a must before Eid and part of the tradition,” said Ahmad Al Mazrooie, a 39-year-old Emirati father of two.
“I took the boys on Saturday to get a new haircut and I will have mine today. For ladies it’s a totally different story as they book in advance and spend around half a day in the salon.”
His wife said she had to arrange a salon booking two weeks before Eid as it was so busy.
“We deserve to pamper ourselves as we work so hard in preparing meals during Ramadan,” said Amna Rasheed, 32.
“Almost all the beauty salons and henna centres are fully booked. The same thing happens with tailors.”
Residents in Abu Dhabi said they would use the Eid break as a chance to escape the bustle of the city.
Hamid Abdullah, 24, an Emirati, said: “On the first day, I plan to stay in Abu Dhabi and hang around with our relatives but on the second day I will travel to Al Ain with family and stay the entire day.”
He said he would take his family to Al Ain Zoo before having a barbecue in the lush Mubazzarah Park, in the valley of Jebel Hafeet.
Saleh Mosa, 15, an Emirati, said he was hoping to spend his Eid break at Yas Water World and then in Dubai.
“Eid is fun to meet and greet with relatives and get plenty of Eidiah [Eid gifts],” he said.
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Gender pay parity on track in the UAE
The UAE has a good record on gender pay parity, according to Mercer's Total Remuneration Study.
"In some of the lower levels of jobs women tend to be paid more than men, primarily because men are employed in blue collar jobs and women tend to be employed in white collar jobs which pay better," said Ted Raffoul, career products leader, Mena at Mercer. "I am yet to see a company in the UAE – particularly when you are looking at a blue chip multinationals or some of the bigger local companies – that actively discriminates when it comes to gender on pay."
Mr Raffoul said most gender issues are actually due to the cultural class, as the population is dominated by Asian and Arab cultures where men are generally expected to work and earn whereas women are meant to start a family.
"For that reason, we see a different gender gap. There are less women in senior roles because women tend to focus less on this but that’s not due to any companies having a policy penalising women for any reasons – it’s a cultural thing," he said.
As a result, Mr Raffoul said many companies in the UAE are coming up with benefit package programmes to help working mothers and the career development of women in general.
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
Test
Director: S Sashikanth
Cast: Nayanthara, Siddharth, Meera Jasmine, R Madhavan
Star rating: 2/5
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The specs
Engine: 1.5-litre 4-cylinder petrol
Power: 154bhp
Torque: 250Nm
Transmission: 7-speed automatic with 8-speed sports option
Price: From Dh79,600
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Zayed Sustainability Prize
The White Lotus: Season three
Creator: Mike White
Starring: Walton Goggins, Jason Isaacs, Natasha Rothwell
Rating: 4.5/5
Sanchez's club career
2005-2006: Cobreloa
2006-2011 Udinese
2006-2007 Colo-Colo (on loan)
2007-2008 River Plate (on loan)
2011-2014 Barcelona
2014–Present Arsenal
Zayed Sustainability Prize
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
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.”
GAC GS8 Specs
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MATCH INFO
Azerbaijan 0
Wales 2 (Moore 10', Wilson 34')
Key facilities
- Olympic-size swimming pool with a split bulkhead for multi-use configurations, including water polo and 50m/25m training lanes
- Premier League-standard football pitch
- 400m Olympic running track
- NBA-spec basketball court with auditorium
- 600-seat auditorium
- Spaces for historical and cultural exploration
- An elevated football field that doubles as a helipad
- Specialist robotics and science laboratories
- AR and VR-enabled learning centres
- Disruption Lab and Research Centre for developing entrepreneurial skills
How to get there
Emirates (www.emirates.com) flies directly to Hanoi, Vietnam, with fares starting from around Dh2,725 return, while Etihad (www.etihad.com) fares cost about Dh2,213 return with a stop. Chuong is 25 kilometres south of Hanoi.
The Bio
Hometown: Bogota, Colombia
Favourite place to relax in UAE: the desert around Al Mleiha in Sharjah or the eastern mangroves in Abu Dhabi
The one book everyone should read: 100 Years of Solitude by Gabriel Garcia Marquez. It will make your mind fly
Favourite documentary: Chasing Coral by Jeff Orlowski. It's a good reality check about one of the most valued ecosystems for humanity
COMPANY PROFILE
Name: Kumulus Water
Started: 2021
Founders: Iheb Triki and Mohamed Ali Abid
Based: Tunisia
Sector: Water technology
Number of staff: 22
Investment raised: $4 million
Nayanthara: Beyond The Fairy Tale
Starring: Nayanthara, Vignesh Shivan, Radhika Sarathkumar, Nagarjuna Akkineni
Director: Amith Krishnan
Rating: 3.5/5
How much sugar is in chocolate Easter eggs?
- The 169g Crunchie egg has 15.9g of sugar per 25g serving, working out at around 107g of sugar per egg
- The 190g Maltesers Teasers egg contains 58g of sugar per 100g for the egg and 19.6g of sugar in each of the two Teasers bars that come with it
- The 188g Smarties egg has 113g of sugar per egg and 22.8g in the tube of Smarties it contains
- The Milky Bar white chocolate Egg Hunt Pack contains eight eggs at 7.7g of sugar per egg
- The Cadbury Creme Egg contains 26g of sugar per 40g egg
