Khaled Suleiman Al Blooshi is seemingly always on some kind of mission. When the major in the UAE armed forces is not serving in Afghanistan, he is diligently trying to decipher old manuscripts and writings on anything related to the UAE.
“I want to document and record our country’s history as much as I can,” says Al Blooshi, who has a doctorate in the modern history of Abu Dhabi from Saint Joseph University in Lebanon and teaches modern history at the University of Abu Dhabi.
He has had a passion for history since childhood, when he was more interested in listening to old people tell their stories than playing with children his own age.
“The stories from the past are just so amazing. Both the positive and the negative ones. We learn from each story and, from each, experience the old values and what has changed,” he said.
The 45-year-old Emirati, who has served in the army for 20 years, has managed, despite his stressful and often demanding career, to write and publish a book, with a second one on the way.
His first book, Abu Dhabi During the Era of Zayed The First (1855-1909), was published in English this year with a special Al Nahyan Family Tree pull-out inside. The Arabic version of the book was published in 2006.
“It took so long to get the English version out, as it is difficult finding the right translations for some of the references in the book, and I was working on my PhD as well,” he said.
The first book is Al Blooshi's master's thesis, and the second will be his doctoral dissertation put together in a reader-friendly format. The second book will focus on the "foundation years: 1892 to 1971". The books will be available in public libraries and book stores in the UAE, or can be found via www.makarem.ae.
“What you will find new in my books is the role that Sheikh Zayed the First had in education, by introducing it to Abu Dhabi, as well as the path to unification of the Emirates. It began with him, and our late president, Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan, continued on the same path and achieved the different goals set up by Sheikh Zayed The First as well as his own goals and dreams,” he said.
The researcher admits he avoided sensitive topics such as borders and tribal feuds, making only general references to them in his work. But he included all his references, both the Arabic and English, in great detail, as well as the backgrounds of the different tribes.
“One of the biggest challenges to researchers in the country is actually finding the research material. There is a lack of cooperation from the different research centres and when you go to a library, they ask you what book you want, when they should be offering the list of relevant books to the research request,” said Al Blooshi. “It was so frustrating, where at times I would wait half a year for a copy of a piece of paper or manuscript.”
Al Blooshi travelled across the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Qatar and to the United Kingdom and met some of the older expats who once lived here to produce a well-rounded account of events. Finding Arabic references and documents remains one of the biggest challenges, as they have not been properly archived or preserved.
“We have lost so much in the Arab world over the past few decades. The great libraries of the great Arab capitals have deteriorated, and so we end up relying on the British archives and what the West had saved and translated,” he said.
In addition to difficulties in finding references and research material, Emirati researchers have been denied access to certain figures.
“Sometimes a foreigner would get more access than a local,” he said.
Al Blooshi hopes that one day the history of the Arab world can be written honestly, without fear of upsetting someone.
“We would hear that it is not the right time to write this or that and then we lose the actual information,” he said. “So many important historic figures have died, and we haven’t documented their story properly with just a few oral stories here and there. It is a real shame, as we have some really amazing stories.”
During one of his meetings he spoke with an older Emirati man who travelled to school on a donkey, and sometimes a friend’s camel.
“He told me one time he went to the school inside a tent, where a religious cleric would be a teacher, a mutawa, and he held up a torn piece of paper which was his homework and he said to him that the camel ate his homework,” laughs Al Blooshi.
“If we put these stories in history books, more people, especially the young, would read them.”
Rym Ghazal is a senior features writer for The National.
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Our legal consultant
Name: Hassan Mohsen Elhais
Position: legal consultant with Al Rowaad Advocates and Legal Consultants.
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NO OTHER LAND
Director: Basel Adra, Yuval Abraham, Rachel Szor, Hamdan Ballal
Stars: Basel Adra, Yuval Abraham
Rating: 3.5/5
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.
COMPANY PROFILE
Founders: Alhaan Ahmed, Alyina Ahmed and Maximo Tettamanzi
Total funding: Self funded
Anghami
Started: December 2011
Co-founders: Elie Habib, Eddy Maroun
Based: Beirut and Dubai
Sector: Entertainment
Size: 85 employees
Stage: Series C
Investors: MEVP, du, Mobily, MBC, Samena Capital
The National's picks
4.35pm: Tilal Al Khalediah
5.10pm: Continous
5.45pm: Raging Torrent
6.20pm: West Acre
7pm: Flood Zone
7.40pm: Straight No Chaser
8.15pm: Romantic Warrior
8.50pm: Calandogan
9.30pm: Forever Young
The rules on fostering in the UAE
A foster couple or family must:
- be Muslim, Emirati and be residing in the UAE
- not be younger than 25 years old
- not have been convicted of offences or crimes involving moral turpitude
- be free of infectious diseases or psychological and mental disorders
- have the ability to support its members and the foster child financially
- undertake to treat and raise the child in a proper manner and take care of his or her health and well-being
- A single, divorced or widowed Muslim Emirati female, residing in the UAE may apply to foster a child if she is at least 30 years old and able to support the child financially
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
The National Archives, Abu Dhabi
Founded over 50 years ago, the National Archives collects valuable historical material relating to the UAE, and is the oldest and richest archive relating to the Arabian Gulf.
Much of the material can be viewed on line at the Arabian Gulf Digital Archive - https://www.agda.ae/en
The specs: 2018 Audi R8 V10 RWS
Price: base / as tested: From Dh632,225
Engine: 5.2-litre V10
Gearbox: Seven-speed automatic
Power: 540hp @ 8,250rpm
Torque: 540Nm @ 6,500rpm
Fuel economy, combined: 12.4L / 100km
'Panga'
Directed by Ashwiny Iyer Tiwari
Starring Kangana Ranaut, Richa Chadha, Jassie Gill, Yagya Bhasin, Neena Gupta
Rating: 3.5/5
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.”
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.
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In numbers: PKK’s money network in Europe
Germany: PKK collectors typically bring in $18 million in cash a year – amount has trebled since 2010
Revolutionary tax: Investigators say about $2 million a year raised from ‘tax collection’ around Marseille
Extortion: Gunman convicted in 2023 of demanding $10,000 from Kurdish businessman in Stockholm
Drug trade: PKK income claimed by Turkish anti-drugs force in 2024 to be as high as $500 million a year
Denmark: PKK one of two terrorist groups along with Iranian separatists ASMLA to raise “two-digit million amounts”
Contributions: Hundreds of euros expected from typical Kurdish families and thousands from business owners
TV channel: Kurdish Roj TV accounts frozen and went bankrupt after Denmark fined it more than $1 million over PKK links in 2013
COMPANY%20PROFILE
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A MINECRAFT MOVIE
Director: Jared Hess
Starring: Jack Black, Jennifer Coolidge, Jason Momoa
Rating: 3/5
Brief scoreline:
Al Wahda 2
Al Menhali 27', Tagliabue 79'
Al Nassr 3
Hamdallah 41', Giuliano 45 1', 62'
