Well, ladies and gentlemen, it is official. #UAEDressCode, the public-awareness campaign that has been making waves across the Twitter-sphere for the past few weeks, has made its way into the Federal National Council.
During the latest meeting of the FNC this week, Dr Abdul Rahman Al Owais, the UAE Minister of Culture, Youth and Community Development, told the Council that he supported the idea of instituting a dress code. FNC members have agreed to recommend that the Cabinet adopt a federal law on the issue.
Where do we stand today, as a country, to implement such a law? Probably the most tried and tested model is found in Sharjah, which implemented a decency law in 2001 covering a variety of topics in addition to clothing, such as public behaviour, and conduct in public property and places of worship.
The decency law in Sharjah also covers what would be needed to enforce the rules, degrees of punishment and the gradual pace of implementation. What I also thought was interesting was that the dress code specified by Sharjah also applies to men, while the Twitter campaign's focus has been on women.
Judging from the tone of the discussion, things are getting serious. A federal law would force a more hardline approach, raising many questions about how we, as a country, tackle issues on how people dress in public and general public behaviour.
First, it is important to make a distinction between a "dress code" and a "dress law". Dress codes are a way of life in many countries and in many social situations. There is a certain way we dress for school, for work and for public occasions.
Take, for example, a dress code in a restaurant: if you fail to comply, you are simply turned away and asked to come back in more appropriate attire. No harm done, lesson learnt. If a person wants to enjoy everything the public space has to offer, the mistake will probably not be repeated.
If a law is implemented, instead of being refused entry, you could be fined or arrested. It's a very different approach and a very different consequence for the same problem.
The UAE is one of the fastest- changing countries in the world. The Bedouin-to-businessman era has come with its fair share of culture shocks, so taking offence about certain attire in public is completely understandable. As a husband and father of two, I couldn't be more supportive of ensuring public decency, but this approach concerns me.
Adopting a new law may seem like an effective short-term solution. But the aforementioned dress code could have a much more lasting, influential effect. The penalty isn't criminal, but instead operates at a much more basic level - no one wants to be socially isolated. If people are excluded from a certain event, community or public space, say, because their shorts are a bit too short, it will educate them about how the community works, and about a basic level of cultural respect needed to be included in UAE society.
Second, if a law were passed, what would it look like? And how would it be implemented? In Dubai, authorities have advised women to cover their knees and shoulders. If a woman wears baggy shorts and a T-shirt, she may be technically in violation, but a woman wearing a tightfitting shirt and jeans, which might reveal more than it covers, is in complete compliance. Would it be safe to say that it is not really what you wear, but how you wear it?
The worrying thing is that enforcing a dress law would be at the discretion of the individual passing judgement. Even if there were a law, there would still be complaints. You can only please so many people, and it would be interesting to see how much work went into differentiating what is appropriate and what is not.
Last but not least is freedom of expression, which I believe is one of the most important aspects to consider if a dress law were to be enforced. One must ask how much personal freedom would be taken away from members of society.
That leads us to the larger discussion of indecent behaviour in public. There have been several cases about kissing in public places or, as one FNC member said, "kissing passionately". This is frowned upon in societies across the world, and a phrase - "get a room" - quickly comes to mind.
Having said that, what is inappropriate for me might not be inappropriate for others. For example, if a husband gives his wife an innocent kiss on the cheek when they greet each other at the mall, this might seem perfectly normal to everyone except the couple sitting at the next table, who might choose to report them. You can only imagine the spiral of police questioning and court hearings that could result.
The all-important question is where we draw the line. Do we take a hardline approach? Or do we take a gradual approach, welcoming our guests and educating them? That is the approach that we have become famous for around the world.
The suggestion about a draft federal law was justified by mentioning the French ban of the niqab. But the example makes me think of the hardships faced by so many women who choose to wear niqabs in European societies, not to mention the international scrutiny that France has faced. Thousands of Muslim women have had their human rights violated. Worst of all, women have been attacked just for wearing the very clothes that they believe are a form of their own expression, not a symbol of oppression.
This began as #UAEDressCode, and I believe that we should focus on just that - a code - that people have a choice about. They can abide by that code, and in return be allowed into every public space and activity, or otherwise be politely turned away. I would like to think that when people are given a choice, they usually choose for the better and are receptive to hosts who educate rather than punish. That is the UAE I know and love.
Khalid Al Ameri is a social columnist and blogger based in Abu Dhabi
On Twitter: @KhalidAlAmeri
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
Test
Director: S Sashikanth
Cast: Nayanthara, Siddharth, Meera Jasmine, R Madhavan
Star rating: 2/5
MATCH INFO
Uefa Champions League semi-finals, second leg:
Liverpool (0) v Barcelona (3), Tuesday, 11pm UAE
Game is on BeIN Sports
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Skewed figures
In the village of Mevagissey in southwest England the housing stock has doubled in the last century while the number of residents is half the historic high. The village's Neighbourhood Development Plan states that 26% of homes are holiday retreats. Prices are high, averaging around £300,000, £50,000 more than the Cornish average of £250,000. The local average wage is £15,458.
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: Kumulus Water
Started: 2021
Founders: Iheb Triki and Mohamed Ali Abid
Based: Tunisia
Sector: Water technology
Number of staff: 22
Investment raised: $4 million
Formula Middle East Calendar (Formula Regional and Formula 4)
Round 1: January 17-19, Yas Marina Circuit – Abu Dhabi
Round 2: January 22-23, Yas Marina Circuit – Abu Dhabi
Round 3: February 7-9, Dubai Autodrome – Dubai
Round 4: February 14-16, Yas Marina Circuit – Abu Dhabi
Round 5: February 25-27, Jeddah Corniche Circuit – Saudi Arabia
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Specs
Engine: Dual-motor all-wheel-drive electric
Range: Up to 610km
Power: 905hp
Torque: 985Nm
Price: From Dh439,000
Available: Now
The%20specs
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THE BIO
Occupation: Specialised chief medical laboratory technologist
Age: 78
Favourite destination: Always Al Ain “Dar Al Zain”
Hobbies: his work - “ the thing which I am most passionate for and which occupied all my time in the morning and evening from 1963 to 2019”
Other hobbies: football
Favorite football club: Al Ain Sports Club
Volvo ES90 Specs
Engine: Electric single motor (96kW), twin motor (106kW) and twin motor performance (106kW)
Power: 333hp, 449hp, 680hp
Torque: 480Nm, 670Nm, 870Nm
On sale: Later in 2025 or early 2026, depending on region
Price: Exact regional pricing TBA
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
COMPANY%20PROFILE
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Fringe@Four Line-up
October 1 - Phil Nichol (stand-up comedy)
October 29 - Mandy Knight (stand-up comedy)
November 5 - Sinatra Raw (Fringe theatre)
November 8 - Imah Dumagay & Sundeep Fernandes (stand-up comedy)
November 13 - Gordon Southern (stand-up comedy)
November 22 - In Loyal Company (Fringe theatre)
November 29 - Peter Searles (comedy / theatre)
December 5 - Sinatra’s Christmas Under The Stars (music / dinner show)
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
COMPANY%20PROFILE
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2025 Fifa Club World Cup groups
Group A: Palmeiras, Porto, Al Ahly, Inter Miami.
Group B: Paris Saint-Germain, Atletico Madrid, Botafogo, Seattle.
Group C: Bayern Munich, Auckland City, Boca Juniors, Benfica.
Group D: Flamengo, ES Tunis, Chelsea, (Leon banned).
Group E: River Plate, Urawa, Monterrey, Inter Milan.
Group F: Fluminense, Borussia Dortmund, Ulsan, Mamelodi Sundowns.
Group G: Manchester City, Wydad, Al Ain, Juventus.
Group H: Real Madrid, Al Hilal, Pachuca, Salzburg.