RAS AL KHAIMAH // When Faisal bin Jumah Al Tunaji saw his name among the list of people who were eligible to become candidates in this week's Federal National Council election, he rushed to register, seeking to continue a family legacy that began with the formation of the UAE.
His grandfather, Ahmad Abdullah Al Tunaji, was one of the FNC members representing RAK when the council held its first session on February 12, 1972.
"Grandfather was a chief among the fishermen tribes of RAK," Mr Al Tunaji said. "He was appointed for his wisdom and his ability to mediate between all the major coastal tribes."
Mr Al Tunaji, a 36-year-old businessman, is one of 60 candidates in RAK, including nine women, for the emirate's three seats on the FNC.
"My campaign is about building on what we already have, preserving it, and improving on it with whatever needs come up," he said.
Holding a clipping from a newspaper that featured an interview with his grandfather during the first elections in 2006, Mr Al Tunaji read out one of the quotes.
"Don't wait for people to come to you, you go to them. Sit with the elders and the young," he said, quoting his grandfather, who died a year after the interview. "Depend on yourself, and take initiative."
The younger Mr Al Tunaji said: "I wish my grandfather was here to see this election. To see how things are progressing and how now, I, one of his first grandsons, am part of the process. By next elections, I am sure there will be many changes and I hope to be among the members that helped in that change."
Change may not be coming quickly enough for the emirate's female candidates. One of them said it was hard for the women to compete against "so many prominent" male candidates.
"We are trying our best to convince voters to give a woman a chance, at least once, and if they don't like what she does, then they can go back to voting for men," said Aisha Al Shehhi, 32.
In 2006, RAK voters elected three men.
As a single woman, Ms Al Shehhi said she can devote all her energy to fulfilling her role as "a voice of the people" inside the council.
"There are many issues raised by the people I want to raise inside the council, like much-needed reforms regarding land and farms," she said. "I want the chance to do that."
Ms Al Shehhi feels confident that being a member of the largest mountain tribe in RAK will help her in the long run.
"We are a proud and stubborn tribe, and as time has proven, any Shehhi FNC member has always had a presence and a great say in the council," she said.
Through the years, there have been representatives from the major RAK tribes at the FNC, including a Khateri, a major desert tribe, as well as a Shehhi and a Tunaji.
Yet while campaign fever is quite strong in the city of RAK, with more than 20 candidates still awaiting spots for their posters, Emiratis in the villages near the mountains say they have been overlooked.
"What elections?" asked Sulaiman Al Shehhi, who is in his 70s, as he sat with two other tribe members outside their traditional home in Kebdah mountain village.
The three friends said they did notice advertisements when they drove into the city, but dismissed them as "some sort of marketing for a product".
"We haven't seen any of the candidates making rounds in the villages. If they have, we would have heard about it through word of mouth," he said. "News travels fast among the villages, faster than your mobile phone."
When the list of candidates running was read out to them, the name of the female candidate from the same tribe surprised them most. "A woman? A Shehhi woman is running in this election? Times have changed too much," said Salem Mohammed Al Shehhi, who is in his 80s.
Sultan bin Saif, the third tribesman in the group, who is in his 60s, had dropped by his friend's house on his way back from the mosque. He said he had heard something about the election on the radio. However, he expressed some scepticism.
"I don't understand why we need an election," he said. "We have everything we need and more. I don't see what more can be achieved by this or other elections."
The tribesmen said they did not need anything, other than perhaps some renovations to their homes.
"We have the mountains and we have rights and care. We don't need anything from candidates," Mr bin Saif said.
"They are just enjoying putting up their photos and holding majlis with friends and family and calling it work," he said, as his friends joined him in laughter.
"But if it makes them happy, then why not? We are happy as we are. Voting and not voting is not something we worry about."
rghazal@thenational.ae
Diana Hamade on women in the FNC: comment, page a14
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
The National's picks
4.35pm: Tilal Al Khalediah
5.10pm: Continous
5.45pm: Raging Torrent
6.20pm: West Acre
7pm: Flood Zone
7.40pm: Straight No Chaser
8.15pm: Romantic Warrior
8.50pm: Calandogan
9.30pm: Forever Young
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Brief scoreline:
Liverpool 2
Keita 5', Firmino 26'
Porto 0
The specs: 2018 Harley-Davidson Fat Boy
Price, base / as tested Dh97,600
Engine 1,745cc Milwaukee-Eight v-twin engine
Transmission Six-speed gearbox
Power 78hp @ 5,250rpm
Torque 145Nm @ 3,000rpm
Fuel economy, combined 5.0L / 100km (estimate)
The rules on fostering in the UAE
A foster couple or family must:
- be Muslim, Emirati and be residing in the UAE
- not be younger than 25 years old
- not have been convicted of offences or crimes involving moral turpitude
- be free of infectious diseases or psychological and mental disorders
- have the ability to support its members and the foster child financially
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- A single, divorced or widowed Muslim Emirati female, residing in the UAE may apply to foster a child if she is at least 30 years old and able to support the child financially
The bio
His favourite book - 1984 by George Orwell
His favourite quote - 'If you think education is expensive, try ignorance' by Derek Bok, Former President of Harvard
Favourite place to travel to - Peloponnese, Southern Greece
Favourite movie - The Last Emperor
Favourite personality from history - Alexander the Great
Role Model - My father, Yiannis Davos
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
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- Disruption Lab and Research Centre for developing entrepreneurial skills
Children who witnessed blood bath want to help others
Aged just 11, Khulood Al Najjar’s daughter, Nora, bravely attempted to fight off Philip Spence. Her finger was injured when she put her hand in between the claw hammer and her mother’s head.
As a vital witness, she was forced to relive the ordeal by police who needed to identify the attacker and ensure he was found guilty.
Now aged 16, Nora has decided she wants to dedicate her career to helping other victims of crime.
“It was very horrible for her. She saw her mum, dying, just next to her eyes. But now she just wants to go forward,” said Khulood, speaking about how her eldest daughter was dealing with the trauma of the incident five years ago. “She is saying, 'mama, I want to be a lawyer, I want to help people achieve justice'.”
Khulood’s youngest daughter, Fatima, was seven at the time of the attack and attempted to help paramedics responding to the incident.
“Now she wants to be a maxillofacial doctor,” Khulood said. “She said to me ‘it is because a maxillofacial doctor returned your face, mama’. Now she wants to help people see themselves in the mirror again.”
Khulood’s son, Saeed, was nine in 2014 and slept through the attack. While he did not witness the trauma, this made it more difficult for him to understand what had happened. He has ambitions to become an engineer.
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.
The specs
Engine: 2.0-litre turbo 4-cyl
Transmission: eight-speed auto
Power: 190bhp
Torque: 300Nm
Price: Dh169,900
On sale: now
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.”
NO OTHER LAND
Director: Basel Adra, Yuval Abraham, Rachel Szor, Hamdan Ballal
Stars: Basel Adra, Yuval Abraham
Rating: 3.5/5
A MINECRAFT MOVIE
Director: Jared Hess
Starring: Jack Black, Jennifer Coolidge, Jason Momoa
Rating: 3/5
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
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
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