My Sharjah Rent takes you inside a reader's home to have a look at what they get for their money, how much they pay in rent and asks them what they like and don't like
Akhila Nambiar, 28, works in Dubai but has lived in Sharjah her entire life. The 28-year-old Indian, who works in the PR sector, has no plans to move anytime soon, not least because of the affordability of living in Sharjah compared with Dubai.
Watching so many people move from Dubai to Sharjah in recent months has made her even more certain she has made the right choice to stay where she is. Ms Nambiar pays Dh32,000 ($8,700) a year in rent for the one-bedroom apartment she shares with her mother.
She invited The National for a tour of her home to show us why it is so special to her.
Why did you choose to live here?
Sharjah has always been convenient for me, as I grew up here, but one of the main factors is still the cost of rent. We used to live in the Abu Shagara area and were paying a lot more. However, we moved here to Al Nahda a few years ago and not only is it cheaper, the commute time to Dubai is significantly reduced as well. Getting to and from work is so convenient, between public transport and the private bus companies.
It used to take me two hours to get home from work when I lived in Abu Shagara, now I can be home in just over one hour. It makes a huge difference to save up to an hour per journey. There are all kinds of supermarkets right here, like Lulu and Nesto, then you have so many beauty parlours, as well as doctors. Everything is super-close and there is a family feeling here in the community. There's a gym in the building and a wellness centre right underneath too.
How have you made the place feel like home?
Obviously, we furnished the apartment the way we like it. One of the main ways we did that was place plants around the house, my mum collects them as a hobby. We only really made small changes and didn't do anything to the physical structure of the property. But we did other things like hang our photos on the wall.
You've lived in Sharjah all your life, what changes have you noticed in that time?
Recently there has been a huge amount of people leaving Dubai to move to Sharjah, because of the cost of rent there. It's really evident during rush hour with the amount of traffic travelling back home from Dubai. There are apartment buildings here with signs outside saying there are no vacant flats available, demand is so high.
The cost of living is another factor for people choosing to live here. There's a difference in prices, especially in supermarkets, with groceries being cheaper on the whole here.
Do you have a good relationship with your neighbours?
Yes we do, actually. All the neighbours are super-friendly – and that's not just the people next door to us, it's the same across all the floors in the building.
Is there anything you would change about where you live if you could?
I am quite happy with the place that I am living in right now. The only thing I would change is not something that's in my hands, though. The level of traffic would be the main thing.
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
The five pillars of Islam
1. Fasting
2. Prayer
3. Hajj
4. Shahada
5. Zakat
Company Profile
Name: Thndr
Started: 2019
Co-founders: Ahmad Hammouda and Seif Amr
Sector: FinTech
Headquarters: Egypt
UAE base: Hub71, Abu Dhabi
Current number of staff: More than 150
Funds raised: $22 million
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
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What is a robo-adviser?
Robo-advisers use an online sign-up process to gauge an investor’s risk tolerance by feeding information such as their age, income, saving goals and investment history into an algorithm, which then assigns them an investment portfolio, ranging from more conservative to higher risk ones.
These portfolios are made up of exchange traded funds (ETFs) with exposure to indices such as US and global equities, fixed-income products like bonds, though exposure to real estate, commodity ETFs or gold is also possible.
Investing in ETFs allows robo-advisers to offer fees far lower than traditional investments, such as actively managed mutual funds bought through a bank or broker. Investors can buy ETFs directly via a brokerage, but with robo-advisers they benefit from investment portfolios matched to their risk tolerance as well as being user friendly.
Many robo-advisers charge what are called wrap fees, meaning there are no additional fees such as subscription or withdrawal fees, success fees or fees for rebalancing.
The bio:
Favourite film:
Declan: It was The Commitments but now it’s Bohemian Rhapsody.
Heidi: The Long Kiss Goodnight.
Favourite holiday destination:
Declan: Las Vegas but I also love getting home to Ireland and seeing everyone back home.
Heidi: Australia but my dream destination would be to go to Cuba.
Favourite pastime:
Declan: I love brunching and socializing. Just basically having the craic.
Heidi: Paddleboarding and swimming.
Personal motto:
Declan: Take chances.
Heidi: Live, love, laugh and have no regrets.
Gender pay parity on track in the UAE
The UAE has a good record on gender pay parity, according to Mercer's Total Remuneration Study.
"In some of the lower levels of jobs women tend to be paid more than men, primarily because men are employed in blue collar jobs and women tend to be employed in white collar jobs which pay better," said Ted Raffoul, career products leader, Mena at Mercer. "I am yet to see a company in the UAE – particularly when you are looking at a blue chip multinationals or some of the bigger local companies – that actively discriminates when it comes to gender on pay."
Mr Raffoul said most gender issues are actually due to the cultural class, as the population is dominated by Asian and Arab cultures where men are generally expected to work and earn whereas women are meant to start a family.
"For that reason, we see a different gender gap. There are less women in senior roles because women tend to focus less on this but that’s not due to any companies having a policy penalising women for any reasons – it’s a cultural thing," he said.
As a result, Mr Raffoul said many companies in the UAE are coming up with benefit package programmes to help working mothers and the career development of women in general.
The years Ramadan fell in May
Emergency
Director: Kangana Ranaut
Stars: Kangana Ranaut, Anupam Kher, Shreyas Talpade, Milind Soman, Mahima Chaudhry
Rating: 2/5
HIJRA
Starring: Lamar Faden, Khairiah Nathmy, Nawaf Al-Dhufairy
Director: Shahad Ameen
Rating: 3/5
Read more about the coronavirus
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.
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