BAGHDAD // The actors run on to the stage, dance in a circle and break into a song that soars to the rafters of the National Theatre of Iraq.
They hold the note on the final line: "Baghdad will still stand", and it rings out over the rows of new, blue seats as they raise their arms to the air. The director shouts his approval and the assorted cast of professionals, amateurs and drama students skips briskly to rehearsing the next number.
Iraqis are proud of their culture, which is rooted in the most ancient human civilisations. Now, with plays, poetry and films germinating again, there are signs the country is recovering not just its life but also its soul, depite persistence violence.
Ten years after the treasures of the National Museum of Iraq were stolen by looters in the post-invasion chaos, five years since an evening performance of a play or concert would be unthinkable because of death squads roaming the city, a year since a spate of killings of people wearing gothic make-up or gelled hair, the situation is unmistakably more relaxed.
In the National Theatre, director Qassim Zeidan says the show being rehearsed is called "I Saw Baghdad".
"Our slogan says there is nothing forbidden in art, we want to explore freedom," he says.
Opening next month, the musical looking at the storied history of Iraq's capital will be performed at night in a theatre recently refurbished with government money. Mr Zeidan sees the revival of theatre in Baghdad as grounds for optimism.
"I want to open a big spotlight, to be against darkness and fill Baghdad with colour and dancing and poetry," says Mr Zeidan, gesturing expansively in a small, dark rehearsal space above the theatre.
Some people share his positive outlook.
"We are able to organise different activities," said Mufidh Al Jaziri, a former culture minister who now heads an association which supports the arts. He helped organise a human rights film festival last year, and hopes to recreate a time in the 1950s when, he says, "Iraq was in the lead in modern poetry, novels and short stories".
And yet, he adds sadly, art and music will not truly grow until the country's politics and security settle into real peace - not just a situation that looks good when compared with the raging civil war of five years ago.
"We need stability, we need a clear picture of where we are going," he says. Blaming the unsettled politics, too, he adds: "It is a disaster to build a country on sectarian things."
And despite the changes for the better in Iraq, there is no need to look far to find cause for concern in a country still deeply and obviously dysfunctional.
Baghdad is still gummed thick with traffic stretching back from military checkpoints, and car bombs and assassinations kill scores every month.
Three years on from the last election, the government has never resolved a stalemate over promises made - and allegedly broken - by Prime Minister Nouri Al Maliki when the Shiite leader cut a deal with the mostly Sunni Iraqiya political bloc so he could stay in power. Arab and Kurdish politicians squabble over land and oil, and citizens complain that little governing actually happens.
In 2003, six months after launching an invasion with the goal of eliminating a security threat in the form of Saddam Hussein, the US president, George W Bush, said that creating democracy in Iraq was also a priority.
"The establishment of a free Iraq at the heart of the Middle East will be a watershed event in the global democratic revolution," he said in a speech, warning that an undemocratic Iraq would embolden terrorists and present a threat to America.
Many Iraqis, however, are now disenchanted with the idea of free elections.
"I prefer no elections, no democracy. Sometimes a tyrant is good," said Ammar Salim, 26, drinking tea in a pool hall with friends from art college.
"We want the government to be powerful - to judge, to punish."
He was cynical about the idea of human rights, saying that they protected criminals.
Mr Salim and his friends voted in the parliamentary elections in 2010 - choosing the incumbent, Mr Al Maliki - but say they will not vote in next's year's poll, seeing no point in doing so.
"Arab history says that multiple parties will fail. It's not succeeding," says Raed Abdulemir, 23, sharing Mr Salim's water pipe.
"Now we have multiple parties which can only last four years. But as Iraqis we need 10 years to get used to somebody."
Iraqis also complain that their feeble governing structure provides inadequate services. Still, this is not quite a society without a state.
Food rations are distributed, millions of people work for the state for salaries much higher than they were under the sanctions-crippled regime of Saddam Hussein, and schools provide free education for children who can now usually get there safely. In Sadriya, a bustling but poor part of Baghdad, the main market road has recently been re-surfaced.
But in the streets behind the main drag in Sadriya, where big families live in small homes under the wood-shuttered eaves of old Baghdadi houses, people say that life is hard.
"I know that Iraq is a very rich country, but they are not taking care of the people," said Niveen Abdelrahman, a 28-year-old housewife whose immaculate house has gold curtains pinned up over cracks in the walls.
Two children play around her as she explains how she encourages them to study but worries that the teachers in Iraq are not good these days. Along with hundreds of thousands of other middle-class professionals, many teachers fled years ago.
The electricity shuts off several times a day, said Mrs Abdelrahman. When it rains, sewage floods the street and seeps into her house. Despite repeated government promises to build millions of homes, there is an acute shortage of affordable housing. As the security situation fluctuates, so do the chances of her husband and father, both forklift drivers, getting work.
Most people blame corruption for the fact that the government's oil revenues, now nearly US$7 billion (Dh25.7bn) a month, do not trickle down to ordinary people.
This month's final report by the Special Inspector for Iraq Reconstruction, a US government accounting watchdog, raised concerns that Iraq is at risk of losing as much as $40bn every year in illegal transfers out of the country.
Despite their inadequate and often corrupt government, Baghdadis are determined to inch their lives toward normality.
In the upscale Zayouna area, the bright lights of Rehana amusement park twinkle into the evening. A little girl wrestles with a stick of candy floss almost as large as she is. Young women with elegant headscarves or teased, uncovered hair stroll along with young men in suit jackets. Families climb aboard the Ferris wheel.
"Our children did not have the fun that other children have," said Samir G Saadi, a civil engineer whose three children cluster round him. "So that's why we are taking them out, challenging the terrorists. Because children must have fun."
In a quieter corner of the park, Wijdan Nabhan, a 20-year-old girl with a crimson-painted pout matching her flouncing hijab, is on a date with Saif Saad, a 25-year-old student.
When extremist groups prowled the streets, they could not have been seen together - not just because they are unmarried but because he is Shiite and he is Sunni.
When pressed, they smile and say they have very different opinions on the war. She lost two uncles and wishes the invasion had never happened, while he says that life under Saddam was a "prison".
But when they come to the amusement park, or to Al Zawra park with its zoo, they prefer to talk about other things: work, study, plans for the future.
"I think that each person is wounded by the situation in Iraq," said Mr Saad. "So we are trying to avoid discussing such things."
afordham@thenational.ae
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Guide to intelligent investing
Investing success often hinges on discipline and perspective. As markets fluctuate, remember these guiding principles:
- Stay invested: Time in the market, not timing the market, is critical to long-term gains.
- Rational thinking: Breathe and avoid emotional decision-making; let logic and planning guide your actions.
- Strategic patience: Understand why you’re investing and allow time for your strategies to unfold.
Profile box
Founders: Michele Ferrario, Nino Ulsamer and Freddy Lim
Started: established in 2016 and launched in July 2017
Based: Singapore, with offices in the UAE, Malaysia, Hong Kong, Thailand
Sector: FinTech, wealth management
Initial investment: $500,000 in seed round 1 in 2016; $2.2m in seed round 2 in 2017; $5m in series A round in 2018; $12m in series B round in 2019; $16m in series C round in 2020 and $25m in series D round in 2021
Current staff: more than 160 employees
Stage: series D
Investors: EightRoads Ventures, Square Peg Capital, Sequoia Capital India
Mohammed bin Zayed Majlis
Pad Man
Dir: R Balki
Starring: Akshay Kumar, Sonam Kapoor, Radhika Apte
Three-and-a-half stars
Paatal Lok season two
Directors: Avinash Arun, Prosit Roy
Stars: Jaideep Ahlawat, Ishwak Singh, Lc Sekhose, Merenla Imsong
Rating: 4.5/5
COMPANY%20PROFILE
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The specs
Engine: Dual 180kW and 300kW front and rear motors
Power: 480kW
Torque: 850Nm
Transmission: Single-speed automatic
Price: From Dh359,900 ($98,000)
On sale: Now
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.”
Company profile
Name: Fruitful Day
Founders: Marie-Christine Luijckx, Lyla Dalal AlRawi, Lindsey Fournie
Based: Dubai, UAE
Founded: 2015
Number of employees: 30
Sector: F&B
Funding so far: Dh3 million
Future funding plans: None at present
Future markets: Saudi Arabia, potentially Kuwait and other GCC countries
Cryopreservation: A timeline
- Keyhole surgery under general anaesthetic
- Ovarian tissue surgically removed
- Tissue processed in a high-tech facility
- Tissue re-implanted at a time of the patient’s choosing
- Full hormone production regained within 4-6 months
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.
Company profile
Company: Rent Your Wardrobe
Date started: May 2021
Founder: Mamta Arora
Based: Dubai
Sector: Clothes rental subscription
Stage: Bootstrapped, self-funded
COMPANY PROFILE
Name: HyperSpace
Started: 2020
Founders: Alexander Heller, Rama Allen and Desi Gonzalez
Based: Dubai, UAE
Sector: Entertainment
Number of staff: 210
Investment raised: $75 million from investors including Galaxy Interactive, Riyadh Season, Sega Ventures and Apis Venture Partners
If you go
Where to stay: Courtyard by Marriott Titusville Kennedy Space Centre has unparalleled views of the Indian River. Alligators can be spotted from hotel room balconies, as can several rocket launch sites. The hotel also boasts cool space-themed decor.
When to go: Florida is best experienced during the winter months, from November to May, before the humidity kicks in.
How to get there: Emirates currently flies from Dubai to Orlando five times a week.
The specs
Engine: 2-litre or 3-litre 4Motion all-wheel-drive Power: 250Nm (2-litre); 340 (3-litre) Torque: 450Nm Transmission: 8-speed automatic Starting price: From Dh212,000 On sale: Now
THE SPECS
Engine: 1.5-litre, four-cylinder turbo
Transmission: seven-speed dual clutch automatic
Power: 169bhp
Torque: 250Nm
Price: Dh54,500
On sale: now
Tips for job-seekers
- Do not submit your application through the Easy Apply button on LinkedIn. Employers receive between 600 and 800 replies for each job advert on the platform. If you are the right fit for a job, connect to a relevant person in the company on LinkedIn and send them a direct message.
- Make sure you are an exact fit for the job advertised. If you are an HR manager with five years’ experience in retail and the job requires a similar candidate with five years’ experience in consumer, you should apply. But if you have no experience in HR, do not apply for the job.
David Mackenzie, founder of recruitment agency Mackenzie Jones Middle East
How to wear a kandura
Dos
- Wear the right fabric for the right season and occasion
- Always ask for the dress code if you don’t know
- Wear a white kandura, white ghutra / shemagh (headwear) and black shoes for work
- Wear 100 per cent cotton under the kandura as most fabrics are polyester
Don’ts
- Wear hamdania for work, always wear a ghutra and agal
- Buy a kandura only based on how it feels; ask questions about the fabric and understand what you are buying