"If you are a real collector, you cannot decide what to collect or when," says Suhail Zarooni, 38, as he lords over his collection of over 200 Starbucks mugs at The Collectors, an exhibition at the Wafi Shopping Mall that also includes the world's largest collections of snow globes, licence plates, rosary beads and bookmarks. "Somehow it has already come into your mind. Something clicks. Once I was sitting with my secretary in a coffee shop and he pulled out a box of matches to light a cigarette. Now I collect matchboxes."
As a collector, Zarooni is best described as a generalist and one of means. He is the chairman of the Al Zarooni Group, a sprawling conglomerate of 45 companies with interests from real estate to plastics to "Asian trading", and he treats his collections - or, in his words "my babies" - with a businessman's attention to detail and upkeep. Ten full-time employees maintain his collections and a computer database with details of their origins. "I have one personal secretary for my business and another for my collection," he says.
According to the Guinness Book of World Records, Zarooni owns more miniature cars (over 2,000) than anyone in the world. He has 3,000 newspapers with historically significant cover stories, including accounts of Hitler's death from 1945 and Queen Elizabeth II's wedding from 1947. He collects antique crockery, Cartier pens, Wedgwood items commemorating major events in British history, Swatch watches, stamps, 24-carat gold-plated bank notes, coins, crushed bank notes, special edition film cells and pieces from the Thai Royal Family Collection. He has gathered Princess Diana dolls with his wife and Harry Potter paraphernalia with his two sons.
A briefing on his collecting prepared by his staff reads: "This passion is homage to the intertwining of history and time which reveal new stories everyday which shape the way we as a race think and evolve." An ordinary Starbucks mug costs between $7.95 and $10.95 (Dh29 and Dh40), and city-specific mugs (available only in their hometowns) cost about $39.80 (Dh146). According to the Starbucks City Mug Wikipedia page (which details 14 varieties of limited-edition Starbucks mugs) the company started selling city-specific mugs in 1994. The release of "States of Beans" mugs in 1997 with coloured motifs from different American states. In 2004, four cities introduced art deco-style mugs. In 2005, UK shops sold mugs with photo montages. And so on. Serious collectors like Zarooni scour antique shops and eBay for harder-to-find treasures, like old mugs documenting the evolution of the coffee shop's now ubiquitous "mermaid in green circle" logo (over time the image has zoomed in on her face). Zarooni's rarest mug, from 1987, came from a seller in Germany and cost him about €500 (Dh2,891). It is slightly taller than a normal Starbucks mug, and the mermaid logo is "naughtier": it reveals her two tails and belly button.
"There are two kinds of collector," Zarooni explains. "One do it as a business and then the other collect for themselves. I'm in the second group." As collections grow, so do aspirations. Though Zarooni has one Guinness world record, he is gunning for another for the Starbucks mugs. And, in three months, he is planning to convert one of his villas in Al Barsha, Dubai, into a museum. "At first it will be open to some government people, my friends and the media, but maybe in the future the public."
One inspiration for letting in the masses was a man from India who found Zarooni at his exhibition and told him that he had travelled all the way to Dubai just to see his mug collection. "He was such a fan," Zarooni notes, adding that he receives dozens of e-mails a month from admirers."
Ms Yang's top tips for parents new to the UAE
- Join parent networks
- Look beyond school fees
- Keep an open mind
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
The biog
Favourite book: You Are the Placebo – Making your mind matter, by Dr Joe Dispenza
Hobby: Running and watching Welsh rugby
Travel destination: Cyprus in the summer
Life goals: To be an aspirational and passionate University educator, enjoy life, be healthy and be the best dad possible.
Mohammed bin Zayed Majlis
COMPANY PROFILE
Founders: Alhaan Ahmed, Alyina Ahmed and Maximo Tettamanzi
Total funding: Self funded
THE DETAILS
Director: Milan Jhaveri
Producer: Emmay Entertainment and T-Series
Cast: John Abraham, Manoj Bajpayee
Rating: 2/5
MATCH INFO
Fixture: Ukraine v Portugal, Monday, 10.45pm (UAE)
TV: BeIN Sports
More from Rashmee Roshan Lall
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COMPANY PROFILE
Name: Kumulus Water
Started: 2021
Founders: Iheb Triki and Mohamed Ali Abid
Based: Tunisia
Sector: Water technology
Number of staff: 22
Investment raised: $4 million
ALRAWABI%20SCHOOL%20FOR%20GIRLS
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Name: Brendalle Belaza
From: Crossing Rubber, Philippines
Arrived in the UAE: 2007
Favourite place in Abu Dhabi: NYUAD campus
Favourite photography style: Street photography
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The view from The National
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
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.
Dengue%20fever%20symptoms
%3Cul%3E%0A%3Cli%3EHigh%20fever%3C%2Fli%3E%0A%3Cli%3EIntense%20pain%20behind%20your%20eyes%3C%2Fli%3E%0A%3Cli%3ESevere%20headache%3C%2Fli%3E%0A%3Cli%3EMuscle%20and%20joint%20pains%3C%2Fli%3E%0A%3Cli%3ENausea%3C%2Fli%3E%0A%3Cli%3EVomiting%3C%2Fli%3E%0A%3Cli%3ESwollen%20glands%3C%2Fli%3E%0A%3Cli%3ERash%3C%2Fli%3E%0A%3C%2Ful%3E%0A%3Cp%3EIf%20symptoms%20occur%2C%20they%20usually%20last%20for%20two-seven%20days%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
The specs: 2018 Nissan 370Z Nismo
The specs: 2018 Nissan 370Z Nismo
Price, base / as tested: Dh182,178
Engine: 3.7-litre V6
Power: 350hp @ 7,400rpm
Torque: 374Nm @ 5,200rpm
Transmission: Seven-speed automatic
Fuel consumption, combined: 10.5L / 100km
How does ToTok work?
The calling app is available to download on Google Play and Apple App Store
To successfully install ToTok, users are asked to enter their phone number and then create a nickname.
The app then gives users the option add their existing phone contacts, allowing them to immediately contact people also using the application by video or voice call or via message.
Users can also invite other contacts to download ToTok to allow them to make contact through the app.
Vidaamuyarchi
Director: Magizh Thirumeni
Stars: Ajith Kumar, Arjun Sarja, Trisha Krishnan, Regina Cassandra
Rating: 4/5
Your Guide to the Home
- Level 1 has a valet service if you choose not to park in the basement level. This level houses all the kitchenware, including covetable brand French Bull, along with a wide array of outdoor furnishings, lamps and lighting solutions, textiles like curtains, towels, cushions and bedding, and plenty of other home accessories.
- Level 2 features curated inspiration zones and solutions for bedrooms, living rooms and dining spaces. This is also where you’d go to customise your sofas and beds, and pick and choose from more than a dozen mattress options.
- Level 3 features The Home’s “man cave” set-up and a display of industrial and rustic furnishings. This level also has a mother’s room, a play area for children with staff to watch over the kids, furniture for nurseries and children’s rooms, and the store’s design studio.
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
- undertake to treat and raise the child in a proper manner and take care of his or her health and well-being
- 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
