Rabab Al Haj was preparing to challenge some of the regions top women golfers at the Arab Golf Championship tomorrow, hoping her exploits will inspire young UAE females to pick up a club and take to the fairways.
The doctor - she is a physician at Dubai Hospital - is competing in the individual event in the Moroccan capital of Rabat, while the UAE men's team will go up against teams from 14 other Arabic counties in a 54-hole competition which finishes on Friday.
Al Haj and fellow Emirati golfer, Eida Al Mehairbi, made history at last year's Arab Golf Championships by forming the first UAE women's team to take part in the competition.
And now the 40 year old, who only started playing seriously five years ago, wants to see more follow her example.
"Golf is not popular with women of any age in the UAE right now, although through the good work of the Emirates Golf Federation there are more players coming through," said Al Haj, speaking to The National from Rabat.
"I would love to see more girls take up the game because golf helps with concentration and focusing the mind. That helps with schoolwork, and indeed all aspects of life, so it's not just about sport. It will be an asset with studying as well.
"It will take time for golf to become big with women in the UAE. I really started in 2006 when I first took lessons and enjoyed it right away, but I needed great support from my family as I have four children.
"So I hope that me being involved in the Arab Championship will raise golf's profile at home and maybe make some people become interested."
Al Haj revealed practice had gone well at Rabat, although she was looking for progress rather than a win.
"I play between 20 and 22. It's a bit up and down as golf always is," she said when asked about her handicap.
Her heroes are Tiger Woods, Rory McIlroy and Lee Westwood, who is a particular favourite.
Last year was a milestone for the UAE team and Al Haj would like to return to the tournament with a teammate in the near future and represent her country once more.
"The event in 2010 was a great learning experience and I would like to compete again in a team, not as an individual," she said. "That would be great for the UAE.
"There are so many female golfers now from Arabic countries and I want to see the UAE catch up with them.
"There are especially good players from Tunisia and Egypt.
"My own personal aim is to get my handicap down to single figures one day, so competitions such as this one are perfect for me. I want to play many more international tournaments in the future, which will help me progress."
Leading the men's team will be Ahmed Al Musharrekh, now the star of UAE golf after his superb showing in last month's Nomura Cup in Fiji, where the team finished in a best-ever position of 14th. Ahmed will be joined by his brothers, Abdulla and Hassan, Khalid Yousuf and Faris Al Mazrui in leading the UAE challenge at Rabat.
Chris Vallender, the UAE national coach, was confident ahead of his team's second international tournament in the space of a few weeks.
"The results have been improving and practice has gone well," he said. "There have been a lot of low scores and, as we did at times in the Nomura Cup, if we can take that into the actual tournament then we are in for a good three days.
"I have always said that if we find some consistency, then we will live up to our potential. The guys have worked really hard at all aspects of their game and can now see that getting them results. They are definitely good enough to compete at this level."
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.”
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Fines for littering
In Dubai:
Dh200 for littering or spitting in the Dubai Metro
Dh500 for throwing cigarette butts or chewing gum on the floor, or littering from a vehicle.
Dh1,000 for littering on a beach, spitting in public places, throwing a cigarette butt from a vehicle
In Sharjah and other emirates
Dh500 for littering - including cigarette butts and chewing gum - in public places and beaches in Sharjah
Dh2,000 for littering in Sharjah deserts
Dh500 for littering from a vehicle in Ras Al Khaimah
Dh1,000 for littering from a car in Abu Dhabi
Dh1,000 to Dh100,000 for dumping waste in residential or public areas in Al Ain
Dh10,000 for littering at Ajman's beaches
Another way to earn air miles
In addition to the Emirates and Etihad programmes, there is the Air Miles Middle East card, which offers members the ability to choose any airline, has no black-out dates and no restrictions on seat availability. Air Miles is linked up to HSBC credit cards and can also be earned through retail partners such as Spinneys, Sharaf DG and The Toy Store.
An Emirates Dubai-London round-trip ticket costs 180,000 miles on the Air Miles website. But customers earn these ‘miles’ at a much faster rate than airline miles. Adidas offers two air miles per Dh1 spent. Air Miles has partnerships with websites as well, so booking.com and agoda.com offer three miles per Dh1 spent.
“If you use your HSBC credit card when shopping at our partners, you are able to earn Air Miles twice which will mean you can get that flight reward faster and for less spend,” says Paul Lacey, the managing director for Europe, Middle East and India for Aimia, which owns and operates Air Miles Middle East.
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About Krews
Founder: Ahmed Al Qubaisi
Based: Abu Dhabi
Founded: January 2019
Number of employees: 10
Sector: Technology/Social media
Funding to date: Estimated $300,000 from Hub71 in-kind support
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.
