Vegetables and fruits to mark arranged like the United Arab Emirates flag, at a supermarket in Mushrif Mall, Abu Dhabi. Khushnum Bhandari/ The National
Vegetables and fruits to mark arranged like the United Arab Emirates flag, at a supermarket in Mushrif Mall, Abu Dhabi. Khushnum Bhandari/ The National
Vegetables and fruits to mark arranged like the United Arab Emirates flag, at a supermarket in Mushrif Mall, Abu Dhabi. Khushnum Bhandari/ The National
Peter Hellyer is a UAE cultural historian, author and journalist
May 26, 2022
Over the decades that I have lived in Abu Dhabi, the country has developed in many ways.
I try to keep abreast of things, looking around to note the changes and to insert them into my mental picture of the UAE today. Perusing the media, looking at new buildings, talking to friends and acquaintances – all this and more helps me to keep up to date.
I must confess, though, that I never expected to gain new insights into the country and its evolution by way of browsing the fruit and vegetable section of a major supermarket.
A shopkeeper at the fruit and veg at the Waterfront Market in Deira, Dubai. Chris Whiteoak / The National
I should admit that I am not very familiar with supermarkets, preferring to sit and have a coffee while the shopping is done. Except, of course, for making the visit to the checkout desk, debit card in hand, something to which I am quite accustomed.
A few days ago, I spent some time wandering around a well-stocked fruit and vegetable section and I learnt quite a lot.
I didn’t know, for example, that UAE produce had become so diversified. Leeks and celery, for example, as well as much else on display. Wonderful. Years ago, I used to study the country’s agricultural statistics – what was grown where, and how much of it. There wasn’t a huge variety. It would be interesting to compare the crops of today and of 30 or 40 years ago. Farms have become bigger, techniques have been modernised, new crops have been introduced and it’s now a very different industry.
This particular supermarket clearly labels produce with both its name and its country of origin, and a stroll along the stalls yielded a few surprises. Food from within the region – that was expected, as was produce from East Africa and from numerous European countries. I suspect that in the 1970s, though, shoppers would have had little opportunity to buy items from China and Vietnam, since the trading relationships between those countries and the UAE had still to get under way.
For me, the real surprise was to see mention of a few Latin American countries, including Costa Rica (for pineapples), Brazil and Peru. I had been aware, from a cursory following of the news, that trade between the UAE and Latin America had been growing, but hadn’t expected to find evidence of it amongst the fruit and vegetables.
I was a bit disappointed not to see some Jersey Royal potatoes from my home island of Jersey – reputedly the tastiest potatoes in the world – but they are available in other supermarkets, I gather. For the rest of it, the globe as a whole was pretty well represented.
The Abu Dhabi Fruits and Vegetable Market. Victor Besa / The National
Blood oranges from the Fruit and Vegetable Market in Mina Zayed, Abu Dhabi. Silvia Razgova / The National
It wasn’t just the geographical spread of the merchandise that intrigued me, but the variety of the produce on offer. Having been here for so long, I am quite accustomed to mangoes, and rather like them. I hadn’t, however, quite realised the wide variety of them, much as I’m used to that in apples and plums. The pomelos, from China and Vietnam, and the ridge gourd (or turai) from India, though, were completely new to me. I had never heard of them.
That, of course, may reflect the fact that I rarely wander around the fruit and vegetable sections of supermarkets. It is also testimony, not only to the way in which UAE residents have become used to a global variety of foods, but also to the fact that people live here from those countries who want to buy them.
It is the same on the shelves selling condiments and spices – a wonderful agglomeration of bottles and jars to suit the tastes of people from all over the world. They and their tastes have all arrived in the UAE, each adding in their own way to the country’s gastronomic and demographic diversity.
We hear frequently about how this country is home to people of around 200 nationalities, of different languages, cultures, customs and faiths and indeed, cuisines, ingredients and palates. This diverse multi-cultural streak reflects the intrinsic accepting nature of Emirati society.
Among several big developments in this country are the expansion of infrastructure and the introduction of modern technology. If a time-traveller from that UAE in which I first landed so many decades ago was to arrive in one of our major cities today, he or she might find it difficult to recognise that it is the same country.
It is very much to the credit of our leadership over the years that the country has evolved in this way. A credit, too, to the people of the Emirates who have adjusted so well to the ever-changing world around them.
I have known for years that the UAE is a pretty remarkable place. I just didn’t expect to gain new insights into it in the midst of a supermarket’s fruit and vegetables display.
Basquiat in Abu Dhabi
One of Basquiat’s paintings, the vibrant Cabra (1981–82), now hangs in Louvre Abu Dhabi temporarily, on loan from the Guggenheim Abu Dhabi.
The latter museum is not open physically, but has assembled a collection and puts together a series of events called Talking Art, such as this discussion, moderated by writer Chaedria LaBouvier.
It's something of a Basquiat season in Abu Dhabi at the moment. Last week, The Radiant Child, a documentary on Basquiat was shown at Manarat Al Saadiyat, and tonight (April 18) the Guggenheim Abu Dhabi is throwing the re-creation of a party tonight, of the legendary Canal Zone party thrown in 1979, which epitomised the collaborative scene of the time. It was at Canal Zone that Basquiat met prominent members of the art world and moved from unknown graffiti artist into someone in the spotlight.
“We’ve invited local resident arists, we’ll have spray cans at the ready,” says curator Maisa Al Qassemi of the Guggenheim Abu Dhabi.
Guggenheim Abu Dhabi's Canal Zone Remix is at Manarat Al Saadiyat, Thursday April 18, from 8pm. Free entry to all. Basquiat's Cabra is on view at Louvre Abu Dhabi until October
How to protect yourself when air quality drops
Install an air filter in your home.
Close your windows and turn on the AC.
Shower or bath after being outside.
Wear a face mask.
Stay indoors when conditions are particularly poor.
If driving, turn your engine off when stationary.
Sheikh Zayed's poem
When it is unveiled at Abu Dhabi Art, the Standing Tall exhibition will appear as an interplay of poetry and art. The 100 scarves are 100 fragments surrounding five, figurative, female sculptures, and both sculptures and scarves are hand-embroidered by a group of refugee women artisans, who used the Palestinian cross-stitch embroidery art of tatreez. Fragments of Sheikh Zayed’s poem Your Love is Ruling My Heart, written in Arabic as a love poem to his nation, are embroidered onto both the sculptures and the scarves. Here is the English translation.
Your love is ruling over my heart
Your love is ruling over my heart, even a mountain can’t bear all of it
Woe for my heart of such a love, if it befell it and made it its home
You came on me like a gleaming sun, you are the cure for my soul of its sickness
Be lenient on me, oh tender one, and have mercy on who because of you is in ruins
You are like the Ajeed Al-reem [leader of the gazelle herd] for my country, the source of all of its knowledge
You waddle even when you stand still, with feet white like the blooming of the dates of the palm
Oh, who wishes to deprive me of sleep, the night has ended and I still have not seen you
You are the cure for my sickness and my support, you dried my throat up let me go and damp it
Help me, oh children of mine, for in his love my life will pass me by.
Indoor cricket in a nutshell
Indoor Cricket World Cup - Sept 16-20, Insportz, Dubai
16 Indoor cricket matches are 16 overs per side 8 There are eight players per team 9 There have been nine Indoor Cricket World Cups for men. Australia have won every one. 5 Five runs are deducted from the score when a wickets falls 4 Batsmen bat in pairs, facing four overs per partnership
Scoring In indoor cricket, runs are scored by way of both physical and bonus runs. Physical runs are scored by both batsmen completing a run from one crease to the other. Bonus runs are scored when the ball hits a net in different zones, but only when at least one physical run is score.
Zones
A Front net, behind the striker and wicketkeeper: 0 runs B Side nets, between the striker and halfway down the pitch: 1 run C Side nets between halfway and the bowlers end: 2 runs D Back net: 4 runs on the bounce, 6 runs on the full
New Zealand
Kane Williamson (captain), Martin Guptill, Colin Munro, Ross Taylor, Tom Latham (wicketkeeper), Henry Nicholls, Ish Sodhi, George Worker, Glenn Phillips, Matt Henry, Colin de Grandhomme, Mitchell Santner, Tim Southee, Adam Milne, Trent Boult
Nigel Farage told Reform's annual conference that the party will proscribe the Muslim Brotherhood if he becomes Prime Minister. "We will stop dangerous organisations with links to terrorism operating in our country," he said. "Quite why we've been so gutless about this – both Labour and Conservative – I don't know. “All across the Middle East, countries have banned and proscribed the Muslim Brotherhood as a dangerous organisation. We will do the very same.” It is 10 years since a ground-breaking report into the Muslim Brotherhood by Sir John Jenkins. Among the former diplomat's findings was an assessment that “the use of extreme violence in the pursuit of the perfect Islamic society” has “never been institutionally disowned” by the movement. The prime minister at the time, David Cameron, who commissioned the report, said membership or association with the Muslim Brotherhood was a "possible indicator of extremism" but it would not be banned.
Start times
5.55am: Wheelchair Marathon Elites
6am: Marathon Elites
7am: Marathon Masses
9am: 10Km Road Race
11am: 4Km Fun Run
Concrete and Gold
Foo Fighters
RCA records
The specs
Engine: 3.9-litre twin-turbo V8
Transmission: seven-speed
Power: 620bhp
Torque: 760Nm
Price: Dh898,000
On sale: now
THE BIO: Martin Van Almsick
Hometown: Cologne, Germany
Family: Wife Hanan Ahmed and their three children, Marrah (23), Tibijan (19), Amon (13)
Favourite dessert: Umm Ali with dark camel milk chocolate flakes
You can donate to several registered charities through a “donation catalogue”. The use of the donation is quite specific, such as buying a fan for a poor family in Niger for Dh130.
The site has an e-donation service accepting debit card, credit card or e-Dirham, an electronic payment tool developed by the Ministry of Finance and First Abu Dhabi Bank.
You can donate online or order Smiles n’ Stuff products handcrafted by Al Noor students. The centre publishes a wish list of extras needed, starting at Dh500.
Beit Al Khair Society has the motto “From – and to – the UAE,” with donations going towards the neediest in the country. Its website has a list of physical donation sites, but people can also contribute money by SMS, bank transfer and through the hotline 800-22554.
Dar Al Ber Society, which has charity projects in 39 countries, accept cash payments, money transfers or SMS donations. Its donation hotline is 800-79.
Dubai Cares provides several options for individuals and companies to donate, including online, through banks, at retail outlets, via phone and by purchasing Dubai Cares branded merchandise. It is currently running a campaign called Bookings 2030, which allows people to help change the future of six underprivileged children and young people.
Those who travel on Emirates have undoubtedly seen the little donation envelopes in the seat pockets. But the foundation also accepts donations online and in the form of Skywards Miles. Donated miles are used to sponsor travel for doctors, surgeons, engineers and other professionals volunteering on humanitarian missions around the world.
On the Emirates Red Crescent website you can choose between 35 different purposes for your donation, such as providing food for fasters, supporting debtors and contributing to a refugee women fund. It also has a list of bank accounts for each donation type.
Gulf for Good raises funds for partner charity projects through challenges, like climbing Kilimanjaro and cycling through Thailand. This year’s projects are in partnership with Street Child Nepal, Larchfield Kids, the Foundation for African Empowerment and SOS Children's Villages. Since 2001, the organisation has raised more than $3.5 million (Dh12.8m) in support of over 50 children’s charities.
Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum launched the Noor Dubai Foundation a decade ago with the aim of eliminating all forms of preventable blindness globally. You can donate Dh50 to support mobile eye camps by texting the word “Noor” to 4565 (Etisalat) or 4849 (du).
Studied up to grade 12 in Vatanappally, a village in India’s southern Thrissur district
Was a middle distance state athletics champion in school
Enjoys driving to Fujairah and Ras Al Khaimah with family
His dream is to continue working as a social worker and help people
Has seven diaries in which he has jotted down notes about his work and money he earned
Keeps the diaries in his car to remember his journey in the Emirates
ZIMBABWE V UAE, ODI SERIES
All matches at the Harare Sports Club:
1st ODI, Wednesday - Zimbabwe won by 7 wickets
2nd ODI, Friday, April 12
3rd ODI, Sunday, April 14
4th ODI, Tuesday, April 16
UAE squad: Mohammed Naveed (captain), Rohan Mustafa, Ashfaq Ahmed, Shaiman Anwar, Mohammed Usman, CP Rizwan, Chirag Suri, Mohammed Boota, Ghulam Shabber, Sultan Ahmed, Imran Haider, Amir Hayat, Zahoor Khan, Qadeer Ahmed
December 28
Stan Wawrinka v Pablo Carreno Busta, 5pm
Milos Raonic v Dominic Thiem, no earlier then 7pm
December 29 - semi-finals
Rafael Nadal v Stan Wawrinka / Pablo Carreno Busta, 5pm
Novak Djokovic v Milos Raonic / Dominic Thiem, no earlier then 7pm
December 30
3rd/4th place play-off, 5pm
Final, 7pm
McLaren GT specs
Engine: 4-litre twin-turbo V8
Transmission: seven-speed
Power: 620bhp
Torque: 630Nm
Price: Dh875,000
On sale: now
The five pillars of Islam
1. Fasting
2. Prayer
3. Hajj
4. Shahada
5. Zakat
Britain's travel restrictions
A negative test 2 days before flying
Complete passenger locator form
Book a post-arrival PCR test
Double-vaccinated must self-isolate
11 countries on red list quarantine
Tips for job-seekers
Do not submit your application through the Easy Apply button on LinkedIn. Employers receive between 600 and 800 replies for each job advert on the platform. If you are the right fit for a job, connect to a relevant person in the company on LinkedIn and send them a direct message.
Make sure you are an exact fit for the job advertised. If you are an HR manager with five years’ experience in retail and the job requires a similar candidate with five years’ experience in consumer, you should apply. But if you have no experience in HR, do not apply for the job.
David Mackenzie, founder of recruitment agency Mackenzie Jones Middle East
