Habiba Alkhatib has always loved music, having started singing since before she can remember. The student, 18, who is from Egypt but has lived in the UAE her whole life, also plays the piano and flute, but her real passion lies in conducting, leading her to be part of numerous Dubai choirs over the years.
However, as the pandemic made it impossible for large gatherings, she decided to launch a project close to her heart – Dubai Virtual Choir. “I was definitely missing the aspect of singing in my choirs, nothing brings me closer to people,” she says. “Since we’re all social distancing and self-isolating, I wanted to bring people together with music.”
At the end of April, she set up a website for Dubai Virtual Choir with the aim to “harness the power of music to overcome the distance between us”. While this is not the first virtual music performance put together in the UAE, it is the first online city-wide choir in Dubai, which invited singers of all ages and levels to be a part of it.
The choir's aim is to release music put together through entirely virtual means. In order to harmonise the vocals, the initiative divided participants into sopranos, altos, tenors and bass on the basis of their voices. Those interested in being a part of the project were asked to record their video while listening to the music of their respective voice type and submit it online. As the website specifies, the recording doesn’t need to be perfect - it’s a project that’s designed to be fun.
“I thought I would only hear back from professionals or from other people in choirs,” says Alkhatib, who put out the call looking for singers through social media. Little did she know that close to 100 people, from all walks of life, would send in videos. “We have five-year-olds and adults who just liked to sing for fun. It’s amazing how many different people you can connect with through social media these days.”
The song she chose for the piece was Always Look on the Bright Side of Life by Monty Python, with some verses swapped out to include a "stay safe and stay home message" with regard to the pandemic. "It's a message of hope; the ultimate pick-me-up song," she says.
After spending more than five days editing the music and 10 hours on the video, the result is the upbeat rendition that can be seen above. To Alkhatib, the best part has been knowing that she has brought people together. “I had parents asking about sending videos of their kids and a lot of people excited to take part. I think, because we’re in the middle of a pandemic, it’s so easy to for people to distance themselves emotionally from others at the moment and that can be dangerous. You can feel lonely [and] upset. I’ve had many people come and tell me that they were feeling isolated and this helped them. That made me really happy.”
While this is the initiative’s first project, it might not be its last. Even though the UAE is gradually easing restrictions, Alkhatib says that it might be a while before people gather choirs again. In the meantime, she hopes this initiative can bring some cheer to all.
Christopher Robin
Starring: Ewan McGregor, Haley Atwell, Jim Cummings, Peter Capaldi
Three stars
Did you know?
Brunch has been around, is some form or another, for more than a century. The word was first mentioned in print in an 1895 edition of Hunter’s Weekly, after making the rounds among university students in Britain. The article, entitled Brunch: A Plea, argued the case for a later, more sociable weekend meal. “By eliminating the need to get up early on Sunday, brunch would make life brighter for Saturday night carousers. It would promote human happiness in other ways as well,” the piece read. “It is talk-compelling. It puts you in a good temper, it makes you satisfied with yourself and your fellow beings, it sweeps away the worries and cobwebs of the week.” More than 100 years later, author Guy Beringer’s words still ring true, especially in the UAE, where brunches are often used to mark special, sociable occasions.
Drivers’ championship standings after Singapore:
1. Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes - 263
2. Sebastian Vettel, Ferrari - 235
3. Valtteri Bottas, Mercedes - 212
4. Daniel Ricciardo, Red Bull - 162
5. Kimi Raikkonen, Ferrari - 138
6. Sergio Perez, Force India - 68
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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Norway
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Canada
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Red flags
- Promises of high, fixed or 'guaranteed' returns.
- Unregulated structured products or complex investments often used to bypass traditional safeguards.
- Lack of clear information, vague language, no access to audited financials.
- Overseas companies targeting investors in other jurisdictions - this can make legal recovery difficult.
- Hard-selling tactics - creating urgency, offering 'exclusive' deals.
Courtesy: Carol Glynn, founder of Conscious Finance Coaching
Company%20profile
%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3ECompany%20name%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Fasset%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EStarted%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3E2019%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EFounders%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Mohammad%20Raafi%20Hossain%2C%20Daniel%20Ahmed%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EBased%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Dubai%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ESector%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EFinTech%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EInitial%20investment%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20%242.45%20million%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ECurrent%20number%20of%20staff%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%2086%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EInvestment%20stage%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Pre-series%20B%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EInvestors%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Investcorp%2C%20Liberty%20City%20Ventures%2C%20Fatima%20Gobi%20Ventures%2C%20Primal%20Capital%2C%20Wealthwell%20Ventures%2C%20FHS%20Capital%2C%20VN2%20Capital%2C%20local%20family%20offices%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
BRAZIL SQUAD
Alisson (Liverpool), Daniel Fuzato (Roma), Ederson (Man City); Alex Sandro (Juventus), Danilo (Juventus), Eder Militao (Real Madrid), Emerson (Real Betis), Felipe (Atletico Madrid), Marquinhos (PSG), Renan Lodi (Atletico Madrid), Thiago Silva (PSG); Arthur (Barcelona), Casemiro (Real Madrid), Douglas Luiz (Aston Villa), Fabinho (Liverpool), Lucas Paqueta (AC Milan), Philippe Coutinho (Bayern Munich); David Neres (Ajax), Gabriel Jesus (Man City), Richarlison (Everton), Roberto Firmino (Liverpool), Rodrygo (Real Madrid), Willian (Chelsea).
Zakat definitions
Zakat: an Arabic word meaning ‘to cleanse’ or ‘purification’.
Nisab: the minimum amount that a Muslim must have before being obliged to pay zakat. Traditionally, the nisab threshold was 87.48 grams of gold, or 612.36 grams of silver. The monetary value of the nisab therefore varies by current prices and currencies.
Zakat Al Mal: the ‘cleansing’ of wealth, as one of the five pillars of Islam; a spiritual duty for all Muslims meeting the ‘nisab’ wealth criteria in a lunar year, to pay 2.5 per cent of their wealth in alms to the deserving and needy.
Zakat Al Fitr: a donation to charity given during Ramadan, before Eid Al Fitr, in the form of food. Every adult Muslim who possesses food in excess of the needs of themselves and their family must pay two qadahs (an old measure just over 2 kilograms) of flour, wheat, barley or rice from each person in a household, as a minimum.
MATCH INFO
Uefa Champions League semi-final, first leg
Barcelona v Liverpool, Wednesday, 11pm (UAE).
Second leg
Liverpool v Barcelona, Tuesday, May 7, 11pm
Games on BeIN Sports
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
KILLING OF QASSEM SULEIMANI
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Profile of Foodics
Founders: Ahmad AlZaini and Mosab AlOthmani
Based: Riyadh
Sector: Software
Employees: 150
Amount raised: $8m through seed and Series A - Series B raise ongoing
Funders: Raed Advanced Investment Co, Al-Riyadh Al Walid Investment Co, 500 Falcons, SWM Investment, AlShoaibah SPV, Faith Capital, Technology Investments Co, Savour Holding, Future Resources, Derayah Custody Co.
The five pillars of Islam
1. Fasting
2. Prayer
3. Hajj
4. Shahada
5. Zakat
