Moritz Klein, the general manager for the Eastern Mangroves Hotel and Spa and area general manager for Anantara,has been in the hospitality industry for 28 years and worked all over the world. Mr Klein, from Germany, says he is careful with his money but it was not until he moved to Abu Dhabi more than nine years ago to work for Rotana that he started saving for his retirement.
Are you a spender or a saver?
I think I'm a saver. I somehow prefer that people owe me money, not the other way around. I always feel paranoid of being in huge debt and I don't like to owe people something. When my credit card statements come in, they are immediately paid.
What is your philosophy regarding money?
It's nice to have, of course. On the one side I would like to have more and more and more. On the other side, I think I could live with the basics. I try to remember where I come from and that it could always be over tomorrow.
Have you made any financial mistakes along the way?
Of course I did. I always think I am the worst investor on the planet. Watch me and don't buy what I buy because the minute I buy it will lose value. I haven't bought stocks but I have some investments for my pension. I had this big argument with this person who looks after [my investment] when the crisis hit and said I would have been better off putting it under the mattress in cash. However, I left it in there, didn't touch it and it recovered again. I also like to buy things when they are new; I probably lose some money when I buy a car because I buy it new and the resale value is not as good as when you buy it already used. But major bad investments? No.
Do you believe in planning for the future?
I do, even if I'm very bad at it on a personal level. I started very late. Being a German, you always take care of your pension funds or whatever you have. But when I left Germany they stopped for me and I always had the [attitude] that I can start saving tomorrow or the day after - now it's time to travel. I realised [the need to plan] when I came to Abu Dhabi, maybe because of the influence around me as well. Everyone said you better start doing something or buy real estate, which I didn't. But yes I recognise planning for the future is important because eventually you want to stop working and what do you live on?
Is money important to you? If so, why?
It depends on the circumstances. Money is important when you don't have it. It is important to me to a certain extent. I want to be able to provide for my family. Everything over and above is luxury and I enjoy it but I think I am grounded enough to realise that it could be gone tomorrow and that should not affect me too much. I wouldn't like it but I would survive.
What is your idea of financial freedom?
Financial freedom for me is [the opportunity to buy] whatever I want, whenever I want it. I am able to buy it without the need to really check my finances - that is the ultimate financial freedom. Today I am happy if I go to a clothes store and I see a pair of jeans and I can just buy them. I don't look at the price. Is it Dh150 more or less than another pair? You just go and grab them. That's freedom. I think people who have the freedom already aspire to more. For them maybe it's the next car.
What do you enjoy spending your money on?
Food. I don't mind going out for dinner and I don't necessarily look at the prices. I like to travel. But I also like gadgets, Apple stuff.
MATCH INFO
Mainz 0
RB Leipzig 5 (Werner 11', 48', 75', Poulsen 23', Sabitzer 36')
Man of the Match: Timo Werner (RB Leipzig)
Company profile
Date started: 2015
Founder: John Tsioris and Ioanna Angelidaki
Based: Dubai
Sector: Online grocery delivery
Staff: 200
Funding: Undisclosed, but investors include the Jabbar Internet Group and Venture Friends
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Conflict, drought, famine
Estimates of the number of deaths caused by the famine range from 400,000 to 1 million, according to a document prepared for the UK House of Lords in 2024.
It has been claimed that the policies of the Ethiopian government, which took control after deposing Emperor Haile Selassie in a military-led revolution in 1974, contributed to the scale of the famine.
Dr Miriam Bradley, senior lecturer in humanitarian studies at the University of Manchester, has argued that, by the early 1980s, “several government policies combined to cause, rather than prevent, a famine which lasted from 1983 to 1985. Mengistu’s government imposed Stalinist-model agricultural policies involving forced collectivisation and villagisation [relocation of communities into planned villages].
The West became aware of the catastrophe through a series of BBC News reports by journalist Michael Buerk in October 1984 describing a “biblical famine” and containing graphic images of thousands of people, including children, facing starvation.
Band Aid
Bob Geldof, singer with the Irish rock group The Boomtown Rats, formed Band Aid in response to the horrific images shown in the news broadcasts.
With Midge Ure of the band Ultravox, he wrote the hit charity single Do They Know it’s Christmas in December 1984, featuring a string of high-profile musicians.
Following the single’s success, the idea to stage a rock concert evolved.
Live Aid was a series of simultaneous concerts that took place at Wembley Stadium in London, John F Kennedy Stadium in Philadelphia, the US, and at various other venues across the world.
The combined event was broadcast to an estimated worldwide audience of 1.5 billion.
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
F1 The Movie
Starring: Brad Pitt, Damson Idris, Kerry Condon, Javier Bardem
Director: Joseph Kosinski
Rating: 4/5
Heavily-sugared soft drinks slip through the tax net
Some popular drinks with high levels of sugar and caffeine have slipped through the fizz drink tax loophole, as they are not carbonated or classed as an energy drink.
Arizona Iced Tea with lemon is one of those beverages, with one 240 millilitre serving offering up 23 grams of sugar - about six teaspoons.
A 680ml can of Arizona Iced Tea costs just Dh6.
Most sports drinks sold in supermarkets were found to contain, on average, five teaspoons of sugar in a 500ml bottle.
