DUBAI // Three young Emirati women showcased their debut books at the annual literature festival yesterday.
The five-day event aims to spark a love of reading and writing in young people.
One first-time author, Hamda Al Bastaki, told how her children's book was inspired by her own girlhood hatred of bath time, with her mother having to drag her to the tub.
"At university, we were asked to write a children's book as part of our final project," Al Bastaki said. "I tried to come up with many story ideas. I thought of writing about my hatred of taking a bath at a young age because I know many children do not like cleaning."
The book, I Don't Want to Shower, written with Fatema Al Kamali, is about a young girl named Sara who dislikes showering. After a nightmare about bugs being in her bed, she realises that the key to sweet dreams is keeping clean.
"We made sure that our book contained fewer words and more expressive illustration," Al Kamali said. "We drew the characters so that the child thinks the author is a child of his age.
Fatma Ibrahim hopes her debut book will encourage children to eat healthily, especially her own four-year-old daughter, Mahra, who loves junk food.
Mahra's Magical Tree is about an Emirati girl who takes shelter under a palm tree while waiting for her friends.
The tree is magical and will grant her wishes, and she asks for bars of chocolates and lollipops, which lead to cavities and obesity.
Mahra feels sad about her condition and asks the tree to return her to her former self.
"I wanted to help my daughter and others to cut down their intake of fast food," said Ibrahim, a nursery teacher.
"The story is a mixture of fantasy and reality because children enjoys fantasies."
The festival was well-attended by authors, students and book lovers.
Hind Ahmed Jamal, a first-year media student at the Higher Colleges of Technology in Dubai, expressed concerns during a question and answer session at the "Picture Books into Print" panel.
"It is known that the Emirati community do not read much," said the mother of two. "Because we weren't brought up to loving books at a young age."
Ms Jamal said she visited many book stores in Dubai and they lacked children's books in Arabic.
"I found some books but they were poorly written and not attention-grabbing," she added. She said that since the UAE was one of the fastest developing countries in the world, it should also develop quickly in terms of literature.
Bashayer Al Moosawi, a second-year media student at the Higher Colleges of Technology in Dubai, was inspired by the authors.
"Our country is competing with other international countries, which makes me proud," she said. "Things are changing for the better, gradually. I am proud of these young Emirati authors."
The Emirates Airline Festival of Literature is at the Intercontinental Dubai Festival City until Saturday.
aalhameli@thenational.ae
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Three-day coronation
Royal purification
The entire coronation ceremony extends over three days from May 4-6, but Saturday is the one to watch. At the time of 10:09am the royal purification ceremony begins. Wearing a white robe, the king will enter a pavilion at the Grand Palace, where he will be doused in sacred water from five rivers and four ponds in Thailand. In the distant past water was collected from specific rivers in India, reflecting the influential blend of Hindu and Buddhist cosmology on the coronation. Hindu Brahmins and the country's most senior Buddhist monks will be present. Coronation practices can be traced back thousands of years to ancient India.
The crown
Not long after royal purification rites, the king proceeds to the Baisal Daksin Throne Hall where he receives sacred water from eight directions. Symbolically that means he has received legitimacy from all directions of the kingdom. He ascends the Bhadrapitha Throne, where in regal robes he sits under a Nine-Tiered Umbrella of State. Brahmins will hand the monarch the royal regalia, including a wooden sceptre inlaid with gold, a precious stone-encrusted sword believed to have been found in a lake in northern Cambodia, slippers, and a whisk made from yak's hair.
The Great Crown of Victory is the centrepiece. Tiered, gold and weighing 7.3 kilograms, it has a diamond from India at the top. Vajiralongkorn will personally place the crown on his own head and then issues his first royal command.
The audience
On Saturday afternoon, the newly-crowned king is set to grant a "grand audience" to members of the royal family, the privy council, the cabinet and senior officials. Two hours later the king will visit the Temple of the Emerald Buddha, the most sacred space in Thailand, which on normal days is thronged with tourists. He then symbolically moves into the Royal Residence.
The procession
The main element of Sunday's ceremonies, streets across Bangkok's historic heart have been blocked off in preparation for this moment. The king will sit on a royal palanquin carried by soldiers dressed in colourful traditional garb. A 21-gun salute will start the procession. Some 200,000 people are expected to line the seven-kilometre route around the city.
Meet the people
On the last day of the ceremony Rama X will appear on the balcony of Suddhaisavarya Prasad Hall in the Grand Palace at 4:30pm "to receive the good wishes of the people". An hour later, diplomats will be given an audience at the Grand Palace. This is the only time during the ceremony that representatives of foreign governments will greet the king.
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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
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RESULT
Manchester United 2 Tottenham Hotspur 1
Man United: Sanchez (24' ), Herrera (62')
Spurs: Alli (11')
