The Roads and Transport Authority says Wi-Fi is still being tested on the luxury buses between Abu Dhabi and Dubai.
The Roads and Transport Authority says Wi-Fi is still being tested on the luxury buses between Abu Dhabi and Dubai.

The lap of luxury?



The roads between Abu Dhabi and Dubai never sleep, with a constant, purring stream of cars, buses and lorries speeding from one city to the other. Whether we are commuters, weekend visitors, or curious tourists, many of us have spent time on the 125km stretch. For some weary travellers, it might be a route that they know all too well, from driving up and down several times a week or perhaps every day. So a new luxury bus service between the two cities could offer great things.

Launched by the Roads and Transport Authority (RTA) last month, the new service aims to reduce the number of cars speeding between the cities as well as boost the tally of journeys made on public transport by 30 per cent. There are currently eight new buses in operation, with plans for a total of 55 by next year. The RTA announcement talked proudly of Wi-Fi internet access, on-board toilets, some kind of food compartment and reclining, aeroplane-style seats.

This called for a rigorous test. I planned accordingly: each morning for a full working week, I would present myself at Al Ghubaiba Station in Dubai and pay Dh20 for a single ticket to hop aboard the bus to Abu Dhabi. I'd then make the return trip in the evening. Would the service work for commuters? Who else would share the journey with me? Could I really fritter the whole trip away on Facebook with my laptop? How arduous could it actually be, I wondered, while making arrangements for my week's commute. I would sit on my comfortable leather seat with a coffee, merrily sending e-mails from the road.

Then came the first day's travelling and an immediate problem presented itself: time. The RTA says the journey, depending on traffic, takes approximately two hours, which is accurate. But, as with any journey, the door-to-door time takes longer. You have to get to the bus station, queue for a ticket, faff about with bags, find a seat and wait patiently for the bus to fill before it pulls out from the station. As with the older Emirates Express service, buses depart once every seat has been taken, says the RTA's director of buses, Abdulla Yousef Alali. This makes for rather sporadic leaving times - great if you leave within five minutes of boarding the bus, not so if you just miss one and have to wait another half hour.

Ah well, I said to myself once settled on the bus at 8.00 on the morning of my first commute. The seats were reassuringly large and spongy, and the air conditioning was blasting, so perhaps I'd do some work while I waited. I pulled out my laptop and reclined my chair, which did indeed snap back neatly, possibly kneecapping the poor man behind me. Disaster. The Wi-Fi didn't work. The driver shook his head and confessed to knowing nothing about it. Nor was there any noticeable food compartment, and a man who boarded the bus with a coffee was turned sharply away and told to drink it outside. I asked the lady sitting next to me if she was commuting to Abu Dhabi. "No," she said sleepily, and dozed off.

All in all, an inauspicious beginning. By 8.20, though, our driver had shuffled about the ladies' seats so the bus was full and we inched out of the city. The trip got me to my desk at 10.45 after a door-to-door travelling time of three hours and 15 minutes. Phew. The return trip that evening was a similar marathon. In part, this is because there are no stops between Abu Dhabi and Dubai's Trade Centre Roundabout, a major omission from the bus timetable.

Charlie Fawls, a passenger I met one morning, lives in Dubai Marina but took the bus to work in Abu Dhabi for two days after he was in a traffic accident in his car. "I couldn't do this trip every day," he said. "It just makes no sense when it goes from the wrong part of the city for me." Many who are based in Dubai and work in Abu Dhabi live in Dubai Marina, Discovery Gardens or Jumeirah Lakes Towers. For them, a trip deeper into Dubai to catch the bus isn't feasible. So they drive. But if there was a bus stop nearby, then catching the bus would be a more likely option.

The good news, Alali says, is that the RTA will consider adding bus stops if there is sufficient demand for them. Another problem is rush-hour traffic. After leaving Sheikh Zayed Road one evening, it took us 45 minutes to sift through the glaring signals and tailbacks of Bur Dubai before we reached Al Ghubaiba. I shared a shortbread biscuit and tutted over the traffic with Sarah, an Emirates Airline hostess who was travelling to Dubai after visiting a friend in Abu Dhabi. I arrived back at my apartment at 9.00pm, collapsing immediately into bed. Why is sitting on a bus so tiring?

Rising early and full of good cheer in the morning is a challenge for me, so for the next two mornings the earliest buses I caught rolled out of Dubai at about 7.30. I napped for much of the journey, as did most of my fellow passengers. It was no mean feat, really, given that we had to ignore the driver's CD, which might have been called Backstreet Boys, Not Our Greatest Hits. But I reached the office by 10.00am, relatively refreshed and ready. The bus service and I were slowly making friends.

One afternoon on the return trip, I got talking to Angela Simmons, a British schoolteacher who has lived in Abu Dhabi for two and a half years and was going to Dubai to see a friend. It was the first time she had taken the new service. "Don't the buses have internet?" she asked hopefully. "Not yet," I told her. When asked, the RTA says "it is still being tested and will require further development". It adds that the food compartments will not be part of the Abu Dhabi-Dubai buses, either, but will be reserved for other routes that are still to be decided.

"I haven't been to Dubai since November," Simmons subsequently said, explaining that she was too nervous to drive. The bus, we agreed, allows passengers to relax and not worry about other cars darting around them like flies. Of course, as luck would have it, we pulled away from Abu Dhabi and immediately ran into a bout of road rage on the motorway. Our bus driver, angry at a small white Daihatsu for its constant, random lane changing, pulled alongside to shout at its driver, who threw a bottle of water in our driver's face. All this while we cruised at approximately 120kph. It was the sort of chase I could envisage in a film, with passengers clutching their seats in panic.

We stopped near Ghantoot, where our bus driver had called ahead for a police car to pull over the Daihatsu, and we waited for 10 minutes while several men gave their version of events. Then we soldiered on again. Angela and I, sitting in the front of the bus, regained our breath and reflected happily on the new buses' seat belts. Most often, it was the return trip from Abu Dhabi that seemed to prove problematic. One evening, I was due for dinner in Dubai, and, grimly surmising how long the bus would take, left the office three hours before my appointment. But I then sat at the Abu Dhabi bus station on Muroor Road for 45 minutes waiting to leave. With no discernible sense of urgency from the driver, who loitered outside with a cigarette, I was forced to abandon the bus and catch a taxi to Dubai.

My weakened resolve raised another issue for those who hope to become regular users of the bus service: enjoying any kind of social life. Not being able to estimate when you will arrive home in the evening means that organising events is somewhat problematic. My taxi that night took me to the Jumeirah Beach Hotel perfectly on time for dinner, but, had I been on the bus, I would have probably arrived just in time for coffee afterwards.

But it was the penultimate day of my pilgrimage when relations with the bus took a seriously bad turn. I had arrived at Al Ghubaiba Station at 7.00am only to see a luxury bus pull out and I was told that another wasn't due at the station until 10.00am. I harassed the nearest bus driver, who explained that the luxury buses are operating in a shift system because there are only eight of them on the road. Four buses leave Dubai at the same time that four leave Abu Dhabi, and there are three- to four-hour gaps between, when the old service is reverted to instead. Alali confirmed that this is how the service is operating, but said that almost three times as many buses will be running in weeks.

An unlucky family was caught in the same predicament that day, and they needed to reach Abu Dhabi for an appointment. When the bus finally rolled into the station at 11.00am, the father, Mr Nassif, started shouting at the unfortunate driver. "We are not crazy people," he bellowed. "But we have been waiting in the sun for an hour." Nassif told me that he was in Dubai with his mother and wife to visit his brother. "We have been told for an hour it would be here in five minutes, then another five minutes. It is so frustrating."

Once we finally left, tempers calmed as we shared some crisps and Mrs Nassif and I swapped copies of Ahlan! magazine. But by that point I had been waiting at the station for almost five hours. In a hunt for breakfast, I had exhausted the myriad culinary possibilities of Al Ghubaiba Station, and I felt fraught. The situation didn't much improve. We arrived at Abu Dhabi station, and as I waved off the Nassifs I was told that the luxury bus shift was leaving again soon. I could either catch a bus immediately, or wait until 9.00pm, when the last bus would depart. I opted to go back straight away, so didn't even set foot in the office and practically crawled back to my apartment in Bur Dubai at 6.00pm. Eleven hours of travelling, and I had no work to show for it.

I woke on the final day of the experiment, delighted to think that it was nearly over, and headed to the station for the earliest bus I could find, still trying to track down these elusive commuters at which the RTA says the service is aimed. On the 6.20am bus, I spotted a man in a suit, but he said he was going to Abu Dhabi for a one-off meeting. He looked confused and alarmed when I told him I'd made the journey every day for a week. So, too, did Vikram Jindal, another suited man whom I quizzed about commuting. It turned out he was going to Abu Dhabi to organise his visa.

And that, in the end, is who the service is best for right now: day-trippers, tourists and weekend commuters on journeys that don't require them to reach their destination with much haste. The RTA says that although buses are leaving when full at the moment, more buses will be on the route within weeks and a set timetable will then be followed more accurately. The fact that the buses I travelled on mostly filled up quickly indicates that the demand is there, but as an option for commuters who want to avoid the long drive every day, it's not yet a wholly practical solution. Even so, for the odd trip back and forth, it works, and once the Wi-Fi is up and running I'll be a luxury bus convert. But after a dizzying total of 31 hours' travelling last week, I might just need a short break from them first.

smoneycoutts@thenational.ae

From Zero

Artist: Linkin Park

Label: Warner Records

Number of tracks: 11

Rating: 4/5

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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UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Iraq negotiating over Iran sanctions impact
  • US sanctions on Iran’s energy industry and exports took effect on Monday, November 5.
  • Washington issued formal waivers to eight buyers of Iranian oil, allowing them to continue limited imports. Iraq did not receive a waiver.
  • Iraq’s government is cooperating with the US to contain Iranian influence in the country, and increased Iraqi oil production is helping to make up for Iranian crude that sanctions are blocking from markets, US officials say.
  • Iraq, the second-biggest producer in the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries, pumped last month at a record 4.78 million barrels a day, former Oil Minister Jabbar Al-Luaibi said on Oct. 20. Iraq exported 3.83 million barrels a day last month, according to tanker tracking and data from port agents.
  • Iraq has been working to restore production at its northern Kirkuk oil field. Kirkuk could add 200,000 barrels a day of oil to Iraq’s total output, Hook said.
  • The country stopped trucking Kirkuk oil to Iran about three weeks ago, in line with U.S. sanctions, according to four people with knowledge of the matter who asked not to be identified because they aren’t allowed to speak to media.
  • Oil exports from Iran, OPEC’s third-largest supplier, have slumped since President Donald Trump announced in May that he’d reimpose sanctions. Iran shipped about 1.76 million barrels a day in October out of 3.42 million in total production, data compiled by Bloomberg show.
  • Benchmark Brent crude fell 47 cents to $72.70 a barrel in London trading at 7:26 a.m. local time. U.S. West Texas Intermediate was 25 cents lower at $62.85 a barrel in New York. WTI held near the lowest level in seven months as concerns of a tightening market eased after the U.S. granted its waivers to buyers of Iranian crude.
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Iran's dirty tricks to dodge sanctions

There’s increased scrutiny on the tricks being used to keep commodities flowing to and from blacklisted countries. Here’s a description of how some work.

1 Going Dark

A common method to transport Iranian oil with stealth is to turn off the Automatic Identification System, an electronic device that pinpoints a ship’s location. Known as going dark, a vessel flicks the switch before berthing and typically reappears days later, masking the location of its load or discharge port.

2. Ship-to-Ship Transfers

A first vessel will take its clandestine cargo away from the country in question before transferring it to a waiting ship, all of this happening out of sight. The vessels will then sail in different directions. For about a third of Iranian exports, more than one tanker typically handles a load before it’s delivered to its final destination, analysts say.

3. Fake Destinations

Signaling the wrong destination to load or unload is another technique. Ships that intend to take cargo from Iran may indicate their loading ports in sanction-free places like Iraq. Ships can keep changing their destinations and end up not berthing at any of them.

4. Rebranded Barrels

Iranian barrels can also be rebranded as oil from a nation free from sanctions such as Iraq. The countries share fields along their border and the crude has similar characteristics. Oil from these deposits can be trucked out to another port and documents forged to hide Iran as the origin.

* Bloomberg

Company%20profile
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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

RESULTS

Tottenham 1

Jan Vertonghen 13'

Norwich 1

Josip Drmic 78'

2-3 on penalties

Masters%20of%20the%20Air
%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EDirectors%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Cary%20Joji%20Fukunaga%2C%20Dee%20Rees%2C%20Anna%20Boden%2C%20Ryan%20Fleck%2C%20Tim%20Van%20Patten%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EStarring%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Austin%20Butler%2C%20Callum%20Turner%2C%20Anthony%20Boyle%2C%20Barry%20Keoghan%2C%20Sawyer%20Spielberg%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3ERating%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%202%2F5%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
FIXTURES

Thu Mar 15 – West Indies v Afghanistan, UAE v Scotland
Fri Mar 16 – Ireland v Zimbabwe
Sun Mar 18 – Ireland v Scotland
Mon Mar 19 – West Indies v Zimbabwe
Tue Mar 20 – UAE v Afghanistan
Wed Mar 21 – West Indies v Scotland
Thu Mar 22 – UAE v Zimbabwe
Fri Mar 23 – Ireland v Afghanistan

The top two teams qualify for the World Cup

Classification matches
The top-placed side out of Papua New Guinea, Hong Kong or Nepal will be granted one-day international status. UAE and Scotland have already won ODI status, having qualified for the Super Six.

Thu Mar 15 – Netherlands v Hong Kong, PNG v Nepal
Sat Mar 17 – 7th-8th place playoff, 9th-10th place playoff

Dubai Bling season three

Cast: Loujain Adada, Zeina Khoury, Farhana Bodi, Ebraheem Al Samadi, Mona Kattan, and couples Safa & Fahad Siddiqui and DJ Bliss & Danya Mohammed 

Rating: 1/5

NO OTHER LAND

Director: Basel Adra, Yuval Abraham, Rachel Szor, Hamdan Ballal

Stars: Basel Adra, Yuval Abraham

Rating: 3.5/5

Our legal columnist

Name: Yousef Al Bahar

Advocate at Al Bahar & Associate Advocates and Legal Consultants, established in 1994

Education: Mr Al Bahar was born in 1979 and graduated in 2008 from the Judicial Institute. He took after his father, who was one of the first Emirati lawyers

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
Five expert hiking tips
    Always check the weather forecast before setting off Make sure you have plenty of water Set off early to avoid sudden weather changes in the afternoon Wear appropriate clothing and footwear Take your litter home with you
RESULTS

Light Flyweight (48kg): Alua Balkibekova (KAZ) beat Gulasal Sultonalieva (UZB) by points 4-1.

Flyweight (51kg): Nazym Kyzaibay (KAZ) beat Mary Kom (IND) 3-2.

Bantamweight (54kg): Dina Zholaman (KAZ) beat Sitora Shogdarova (UZB) 3-2.

Featherweight (57kg): Sitora Turdibekova (UZB) beat Vladislava Kukhta (KAZ) 5-0.

Lightweight (60kg): Rimma Volossenko (KAZ) beat Huswatun Hasanah (INA) KO round-1.

Light Welterweight (64kg): Milana Safronova (KAZ) beat Lalbuatsaihi (IND) 3-2.

Welterweight (69kg): Valentina Khalzova (KAZ) beat Navbakhor Khamidova (UZB) 5-0

Middleweight (75kg): Pooja Rani (IND) beat Mavluda Movlonova (UZB) 5-0.

Light Heavyweight (81kg): Farida Sholtay (KAZ) beat Ruzmetova Sokhiba (UZB) 5-0.

Heavyweight (81 kg): Lazzat Kungeibayeva (KAZ) beat Anupama (IND) 3-2.

The specs
Engine: 4.0-litre flat-six
Power: 510hp at 9,000rpm
Torque: 450Nm at 6,100rpm
Transmission: 7-speed PDK auto or 6-speed manual
Fuel economy, combined: 13.8L/100km
On sale: Available to order now
Price: From Dh801,800
How to help

Send “thenational” to the following numbers or call the hotline on: 0502955999
2289 – Dh10
2252 – Dh 50
6025 – Dh20
6027 – Dh 100
6026 – Dh 200

england euro squad

Goalkeepers: Dean Henderson (Man Utd), Sam Johnstone (West Brom), Jordan Pickford (Everton)

Defenders: John Stones (Man City), Luke Shaw (Man Utd), Harry Maguire (Man Utd), Trent Alexander-Arnold (Liverpool), Kyle Walker (Man City), Tyrone Mings (Aston Villa), Reece James (Chelsea), Conor Coady (Wolves), Ben Chilwell (Chelsea), Kieran Trippier (Atletico Madrid)

Midfielders: Mason Mount (Chelsea), Declan Rice (West Ham), Jordan Henderson (Liverpool), Jude Bellingham (Borussia Dortmund), Kalvin Phillips (Leeds)

Forwards: Harry Kane (Tottenham), Marcus Rashford (Man Utd), Raheem Sterling (Man City), Dominic Calvert-Lewin (Everton), Phil Foden (Man City), Jack Grealish (Aston Villa), Jadon Sancho (Borussia Dortmund), Bukayo Saka (Arsenal)

COMPANY%20PROFILE
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GOLF’S RAHMBO

- 5 wins in 22 months as pro
- Three wins in past 10 starts
- 45 pro starts worldwide: 5 wins, 17 top 5s
- Ranked 551th in world on debut, now No 4 (was No 2 earlier this year)
- 5th player in last 30 years to win 3 European Tour and 2 PGA Tour titles before age 24 (Woods, Garcia, McIlroy, Spieth)

Election pledges on migration

CDU: "Now is the time to control the German borders and enforce strict border rejections" 

SPD: "Border closures and blanket rejections at internal borders contradict the spirit of a common area of freedom" 

While you're here
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Try out the test yourself

Q1 Suppose you had $100 in a savings account and the interest rate was 2 per cent per year. After five years, how much do you think you would have in the account if you left the money to grow?
a) More than $102
b) Exactly $102
c) Less than $102
d) Do not know
e) Refuse to answer

Q2 Imagine that the interest rate on your savings account was 1 per cent per year and inflation was 2 per cent per year. After one year, how much would you be able to buy with the money in this account?
a) More than today
b) Exactly the same as today
c) Less than today
d) Do not know
e) Refuse to answer

Q4 Do you think that the following statement is true or false? “Buying a single company stock usually provides a safer return than a stock mutual fund.”
a) True
b) False
d) Do not know
e) Refuse to answer

The “Big Three” financial literacy questions were created by Professors Annamaria Lusardi of the George Washington School of Business and Olivia Mitchell, of the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania. 

Answers: Q1 More than $102 (compound interest). Q2 Less than today (inflation). Q3 False (diversification).

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.
Ticket prices
  • Golden circle - Dh995
  • Floor Standing - Dh495
  • Lower Bowl Platinum - Dh95
  • Lower Bowl premium - Dh795
  • Lower Bowl Plus - Dh695
  • Lower Bowl Standard- Dh595
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Our Time Has Come
Alyssa Ayres, Oxford University Press

Test

Director: S Sashikanth

Cast: Nayanthara, Siddharth, Meera Jasmine, R Madhavan

Star rating: 2/5

Real estate tokenisation project

Dubai launched the pilot phase of its real estate tokenisation project last month.

The initiative focuses on converting real estate assets into digital tokens recorded on blockchain technology and helps in streamlining the process of buying, selling and investing, the Dubai Land Department said.

Dubai’s real estate tokenisation market is projected to reach Dh60 billion ($16.33 billion) by 2033, representing 7 per cent of the emirate’s total property transactions, according to the DLD.

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Like a Fading Shadow

Antonio Muñoz Molina

Translated from the Spanish by Camilo A. Ramirez

Tuskar Rock Press (pp. 310)

MATCH INFO

Europa League final

Who: Marseille v Atletico Madrid
Where: Parc OL, Lyon, France
When: Wednesday, 10.45pm kick off (UAE)
TV: BeIN Sports

How to increase your savings
  • Have a plan for your savings.
  • Decide on your emergency fund target and once that's achieved, assign your savings to another financial goal such as saving for a house or investing for retirement.
  • Decide on a financial goal that is important to you and put your savings to work for you.
  • It's important to have a purpose for your savings as it helps to keep you motivated to continue while also reducing the temptation to spend your savings. 

- Carol Glynn, founder of Conscious Finance Coaching

 

 

Common OCD symptoms and how they manifest

Checking: the obsession or thoughts focus on some harm coming from things not being as they should, which usually centre around the theme of safety. For example, the obsession is “the building will burn down”, therefore the compulsion is checking that the oven is switched off.

Contamination: the obsession is focused on the presence of germs, dirt or harmful bacteria and how this will impact the person and/or their loved ones. For example, the obsession is “the floor is dirty; me and my family will get sick and die”, the compulsion is repetitive cleaning.

Orderliness: the obsession is a fear of sitting with uncomfortable feelings, or to prevent harm coming to oneself or others. Objectively there appears to be no logical link between the obsession and compulsion. For example,” I won’t feel right if the jars aren’t lined up” or “harm will come to my family if I don’t line up all the jars”, so the compulsion is therefore lining up the jars.

Intrusive thoughts: the intrusive thought is usually highly distressing and repetitive. Common examples may include thoughts of perpetrating violence towards others, harming others, or questions over one’s character or deeds, usually in conflict with the person’s true values. An example would be: “I think I might hurt my family”, which in turn leads to the compulsion of avoiding social gatherings.

Hoarding: the intrusive thought is the overvaluing of objects or possessions, while the compulsion is stashing or hoarding these items and refusing to let them go. For example, “this newspaper may come in useful one day”, therefore, the compulsion is hoarding newspapers instead of discarding them the next day.

Source: Dr Robert Chandler, clinical psychologist at Lighthouse Arabia