"Ramadan is for everyone, Muslims and non-Muslims," says Marwan al Sarkal, the CEO of Al Qasba. This is the message he hopes is conveyed by the nightly celebrations at Sharjah's waterfront development. This is the fourth year in a row that Al Qasba has hosted nightly Ramadan celebrations and, as ever, it is an event that really only starts to take off later in the evening.
Until around 10pm, the Ramadan crowds at Al Qasba are fairly sparse but as people emerge from iftar and isha'a prayers, ready for suhoor, the atmosphere becomes more festive and the crowds thicken and remain until well after midnight. At around 10.30, energetic Chinese dancers dressed as lions accompanied by rowdy drums herald the beginning of a more lively few hours. The dancers are involved with the Silk Road part of the nightly Ramadan event. This incorporates food and merchandise stalls along the Al Qasba canal from China, India, Syria and Iran, some of the countries that comprised the old Silk Road trade routes across Asia and the Middle East to the Mediterranean. As well as the energetic antics of the Chinese lion dancers, the brightly coloured Indian puppet show was another popular attraction.
According to Sarkal, Al Qasba is busiest over Ramadan on the weekend evenings. "We get up to 2,500 people on Thursday and Friday nights but it has been as high as 6,000. People are really starting to relate to Al Qasba as a Ramadan destination," he says.
But it's not a just a numbers game for Sarkal. "We don't want to have thousands of people here if there aren't enough parking spaces and people aren't happy."
To that end, plans are with an architect for a multi-storey car park for Al Qasba so that more people will be able to enjoy the restaurants, funfair, outdoor spaces and the popular Eye of the Emirates Ferris wheel with its 42 air-conditioned carriages. In the meantime, Sarkal is more concerned with making Al Qasba a place where everyone can be part of Ramadan. Al Qasba has hosted Ramadan celebrations since opening in 2005.
While the Heritage Tent slowly comes alive with Arabic cooking stations, henna painting, traditional basket weaving and stalls selling jewellery, abayas and thobes at one end of Al Qasba, the Al Eman Oasis Tent at the other end fills with people who are keen to listen to the nightly lecture on Islam. Sarkal says that he hopes Muslims and non-Muslims will attend the lectures which are being conducted in Arabic, English and French. There's a separate section for women to sit where they can see and hear the lectures on TV screens. After Ramadan, lectures on Islam in English and Arabic will continue regularly.
"The lectures were big during 2007 but it is bigger again in 2008," says Sarkal. "There have been more than 500 people at some of the lectures - this tent is an asset for us."
It is also in the Al Eman Oasis Tent that people can participate in the charity aspect of Ramadan. With zakat, or the giving to charity, as one of the five pillars of Islam, Sarkal says that donation boxes have been provided in the tent and all money raised goes to humanitarian projects that the UAE government is administering. "These projects are in the UAE and beyond," he says. "All sorts of projects - providing people with books, building mosques, hospitals and schools - by making a donation, people can feel like they are part of the whole community."
Drawing crowds into the Heritage Tent after 10pm is the live filming of Munshid Al Sharjah, an Islamic singing contest that Markal likens to a local version of Star Academy. Screening on Sharjah TV, Munshid Al Sharjah has been running for three years with filming taking place at Al Qasba during the week and Academic City on weekends. The contestantscome from nations across the Arab world, including the UAE. For the first time this year, there are participants from Palestine, Morocco and Libya. Contestants can sing songs they have written themselves or those that have been written by others and viewers can vote for the favourites via SMS. All songs are performed without musical accompaniment and during the filming, the pure, clear voices of the contestants can be heard throughout the entire Heritage Tent over the chatter.
The grand prize for the winner is Dh200,000 and a new BMW. Along the way, there are other prizes given out - on our visit, the top six singers won a hot-air balloon ride. Hosted by Mohammed Zaki, who was resplendent in a khaki suit and apricot shirt, Munshid Al Sharjah even has its own Facebook page for fans to discuss who should and shouldn't be voted off.
Noor Dubai, an Arabic language station, is doing live broadcasts from the Heritage Tent throughout Ramadan. "We've had a relationship with Noor Dubai for two years - they are very good supporters of Al Qasba, especially at Ramadan," says Sarkal. The conversation is interrupted by a loud comedy voice-over in Arabic followed by much laughter - Sarkal explains that it is the voices of four humorous characters - "some Ramadan comedy", he says with a smile.
In the middle of the Heritage Tent I saw a woman weaving baskets from dried palm fronds. Halima Khodin, an Emirati from Dibba, Fujairah, creates baskets in rich purple and green and explains that the dried fronds used to be dyed using natural dyes but these days, it's easier to go to the supermarket and buy dyes in a range of colours. But Halima hasn't entirely abandoned the traditions she learnt from her mother as a young girl - the main items she weaves include the sarood, a large serving platter for when everyone sits on the floor to eat, the machabeh, which is used to cover food and the jafeer, a food basket that can be hung from the wall. She makes a modest living with baskets selling for between Dh50 and Dh60.
Most of the visitors who arrive at the Heritage Tent late at night are keen to socialise with friends and family and eat a lavish Suhoor to sustain them for the next day's fasting. As well as a cafe set up in a corner, there are women tirelessly cooking traditional Arabic treats and they are happy to share their wares as well as their recipes.
Mariam Ali is busy making chaba, Arabic pancakes that are deep fried and served with lashings of honey. At the next stall, Zainab Mohammed is making another regional dessert. Luqimat are dumplings made from sugar, flower, water, saffron and custard. Zainab deftly grabs the batter and transfers it swiftly from bowl to pot while maintaining the spherical shapes of the dumplings. They emerge from the hot oil crispy on the outside and soft on the inside.
Moving on from the cooking stations is a row of booths with wooden doors designed to replicate the earliest examples of housing in the UAE. For Dh70, you can get your photo taken decked out in traditional clothing and jewellery and even brandishing replicas of traditional weapons. The gold jewellery includes the mertasha, an impressive neck collar, the hagab, a heavy belt and the tasa, a spectacular headdress that drapes gold and baubles across the forehead.
Aziza, a softly spoken Pakistani woman, has only been in the UAE for a month but has already learnt the intricate art of painting henna tattoos and is busy working on the hands of willing visitors. Within a matter of minutes, she has created a swirling floral design on the hand of Ruby, a cheerful Filipina who is extremely excited about her new skin art and eagerly gets her friends to take photos on their mobile phones. Aziza is very modest about her skill, saying: "It's easy, you can do anything if your mind wants to. I can do patterns, flowers, whatever my mind thinks of."
For Sarkal, the holy month events are part of encouraging a growing awareness of the Al Qasba development. Annual visitor numbers have risen steadily since opening in 2005 with 25,000 visitors. In 2007, there were 226,000 visitors and by June this year, 228,000 people had already passed through Sharjah's waterside haven.
"We've changed the perception of the place," he says. "To create change was a challenge but we are getting people from around to see Al Qasba as a place to chill out. Ramadan is very important to us - people have come here because it's a real place, not a fabrication. That's what makes it special."
@email:glewis@thenational.ae
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
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
The specS: 2018 Toyota Camry
Price: base / as tested: Dh91,000 / Dh114,000
Engine: 3.5-litre V6
Gearbox: Eight-speed automatic
Power: 298hp @ 6,600rpm
Torque: 356Nm @ 4,700rpm
Fuel economy, combined: 7.0L / 100km
The specs
AT4 Ultimate, as tested
Engine: 6.2-litre V8
Power: 420hp
Torque: 623Nm
Transmission: 10-speed automatic
Price: From Dh330,800 (Elevation: Dh236,400; AT4: Dh286,800; Denali: Dh345,800)
On sale: Now
UNSC Elections 2022-23
Seats open:
- Two for Africa Group
- One for Asia-Pacific Group (traditionally Arab state or Tunisia)
- One for Latin America and Caribbean Group
- One for Eastern Europe Group
Countries so far running:
The%20specs%3A%202024%20Mercedes%20E200
%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EEngine%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3E2.0-litre%20four-cyl%20turbo%20%2B%20mild%20hybrid%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EPower%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3E204hp%20at%205%2C800rpm%20%2B23hp%20hybrid%20boost%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ETorque%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3E320Nm%20at%201%2C800rpm%20%2B205Nm%20hybrid%20boost%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ETransmission%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3E9-speed%20auto%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EFuel%20consumption%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3E7.3L%2F100km%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EOn%20sale%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3ENovember%2FDecember%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EPrice%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EFrom%20Dh205%2C000%20(estimate)%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
What is type-1 diabetes
Type 1 diabetes is a genetic and unavoidable condition, rather than the lifestyle-related type 2 diabetes.
It occurs mostly in people under 40 and a result of the pancreas failing to produce enough insulin to regulate blood sugars.
Too much or too little blood sugar can result in an attack where sufferers lose consciousness in serious cases.
Being overweight or obese increases the chances of developing the more common type 2 diabetes.
The White Lotus: Season three
Creator: Mike White
Starring: Walton Goggins, Jason Isaacs, Natasha Rothwell
Rating: 4.5/5
Other simple ideas for sushi rice dishes
Cheat’s nigiri
This is easier to make than sushi rolls. With damp hands, form the cooled rice into small tablet shapes. Place slices of fresh, raw salmon, mackerel or trout (or smoked salmon) lightly touched with wasabi, then press, wasabi side-down, onto the rice. Serve with soy sauce and pickled ginger.
Easy omurice
This fusion dish combines Asian fried rice with a western omelette. To make, fry cooked and cooled sushi rice with chopped vegetables such as carrot and onion and lashings of sweet-tangy ketchup, then wrap in a soft egg omelette.
Deconstructed sushi salad platter
This makes a great, fuss-free sharing meal. Arrange sushi rice on a platter or board, then fill the space with all your favourite sushi ingredients (edamame beans, cooked prawns or tuna, tempura veggies, pickled ginger and chilli tofu), with a dressing or dipping sauce on the side.
Five famous companies founded by teens
There are numerous success stories of teen businesses that were created in college dorm rooms and other modest circumstances. Below are some of the most recognisable names in the industry:
- Facebook: Mark Zuckerberg and his friends started Facebook when he was a 19-year-old Harvard undergraduate.
- Dell: When Michael Dell was an undergraduate student at Texas University in 1984, he started upgrading computers for profit. He starting working full-time on his business when he was 19. Eventually, his company became the Dell Computer Corporation and then Dell Inc.
- Subway: Fred DeLuca opened the first Subway restaurant when he was 17. In 1965, Mr DeLuca needed extra money for college, so he decided to open his own business. Peter Buck, a family friend, lent him $1,000 and together, they opened Pete’s Super Submarines. A few years later, the company was rebranded and called Subway.
- Mashable: In 2005, Pete Cashmore created Mashable in Scotland when he was a teenager. The site was then a technology blog. Over the next few decades, Mr Cashmore has turned Mashable into a global media company.
- Oculus VR: Palmer Luckey founded Oculus VR in June 2012, when he was 19. In August that year, Oculus launched its Kickstarter campaign and raised more than $1 million in three days. Facebook bought Oculus for $2 billion two years later.
'HIJRAH%3A%20IN%20THE%20FOOTSTEPS%20OF%20THE%20PROPHET'
%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EEdited%20by%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Idries%20Trevathan%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EPages%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20240%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EPublisher%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Hirmer%20Publishers%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EAvailable%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Now%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
The specs: McLaren 600LT
Price, base: Dh914,000
Engine: 3.8-litre twin-turbo V8
Transmission: Seven-speed automatic
Power: 600hp @ 7,500rpm
Torque: 620Nm @ 5,500rpm
Fuel economy 12.2.L / 100km
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
Specs
Engine: 51.5kW electric motor
Range: 400km
Power: 134bhp
Torque: 175Nm
Price: From Dh98,800
Available: Now
The smuggler
Eldarir had arrived at JFK in January 2020 with three suitcases, containing goods he valued at $300, when he was directed to a search area.
Officers found 41 gold artefacts among the bags, including amulets from a funerary set which prepared the deceased for the afterlife.
Also found was a cartouche of a Ptolemaic king on a relief that was originally part of a royal building or temple.
The largest single group of items found in Eldarir’s cases were 400 shabtis, or figurines.
Khouli conviction
Khouli smuggled items into the US by making false declarations to customs about the country of origin and value of the items.
According to Immigration and Customs Enforcement, he provided “false provenances which stated that [two] Egyptian antiquities were part of a collection assembled by Khouli's father in Israel in the 1960s” when in fact “Khouli acquired the Egyptian antiquities from other dealers”.
He was sentenced to one year of probation, six months of home confinement and 200 hours of community service in 2012 after admitting buying and smuggling Egyptian antiquities, including coffins, funerary boats and limestone figures.
For sale
A number of other items said to come from the collection of Ezeldeen Taha Eldarir are currently or recently for sale.
Their provenance is described in near identical terms as the British Museum shabti: bought from Salahaddin Sirmali, "authenticated and appraised" by Hossen Rashed, then imported to the US in 1948.
- An Egyptian Mummy mask dating from 700BC-30BC, is on offer for £11,807 ($15,275) online by a seller in Mexico
- A coffin lid dating back to 664BC-332BC was offered for sale by a Colorado-based art dealer, with a starting price of $65,000
- A shabti that was on sale through a Chicago-based coin dealer, dating from 1567BC-1085BC, is up for $1,950
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.”
Bullet%20Train
%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EDirector%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20David%20Leitch%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EStars%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Brad%20Pitt%2C%20Aaron%20Taylor-Johnson%2C%20Brian%20Tyree%20Henry%2C%20Sandra%20Bullock%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ERating%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%203%2F5%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
Specs
Engine: Dual-motor all-wheel-drive electric
Range: Up to 610km
Power: 905hp
Torque: 985Nm
Price: From Dh439,000
Available: Now
The biog
Hometown: Cairo
Age: 37
Favourite TV series: The Handmaid’s Tale, Black Mirror
Favourite anime series: Death Note, One Piece and Hellsing
Favourite book: Designing Brand Identity, Fifth Edition
