DUBAI // Residents of the Emirates are among the happiest in the world, a study shows.
We are least likely to have negative thoughts about the country we live in, according to a "societal values survey".
The study asked people about their perception of life, with only 12 per cent of answers negative.
More than 4,000 people - 57 per cent of them Emiratis - took part in the survey. It was conducted by Watani, a programme set up by Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid, Vice President and Ruler of Dubai, to promote national identity.
"The results show that Emiratis and non-Emiratis see the same values as being important in society," said Richard Barrett, founder of the UK-based Barrett Values Centre, which carried out the survey with Rayak, Watani's newly established Emirati opinion polling company.
The 10 most important values in the UAE, respondents said, included concern for future generations, respect, and community pride.
The main source of negativity - attracting 8 per cent of the vote - related to "materialism".
The Barrett Values Centre has carried out surveys in 18 nations. Only people living in Bhutan, in South Asia, saw life less negatively than those in the UAE.
The UK has the most negativity, with 59 per cent, followed by France and the US. Crime, drugs and uncertainty about the future were among the top 10 causes of negative thoughts.
Dherar Belhoul, director general of Watani, said the UAE was not content to rest on its laurels as the second least negative country.
"We're not saying that there's nothing to improve upon," he said. "To go to the next step, you have to admit there's something wrong.
"Some countries would be happy about getting just 12 per cent negativity, but we're not happy. We are not satisfied with this. We want to be number one, to have the lowest levels of negativity."
Mr Barrett admitted the survey had a demographically disproportionate number of Emirati respondents, but this because they wished to clearly gauge the opinion of citizens.
He initially suspected Emiratis' cultural aversion to openly criticising their country could have skewed the results.
"That was my first worry," he said. "So I dug deeply into the way the data was collected. We didn't see any difference between the people who went online anonymously at home, where there was nobody looking, to people who were asked the question on a paper survey."
Mr Barrett now plans to conduct values surveys in four Government ministries. "We want to help them understand what people in the organisation appreciate ... and help them transform to decrease the level of cultural entropy, or dysfunction, and increase the level of engagement," he said.
mcroucher@thenational.ae
The White Lotus: Season three
Creator: Mike White
Starring: Walton Goggins, Jason Isaacs, Natasha Rothwell
Rating: 4.5/5
How do Sim card scams work?
Sim swap frauds are a form of identity theft.
They involve criminals conning mobile phone operators into issuing them with replacement Sim cards by claiming to be the victim, often pretending their phone has been lost or stolen in order to secure a new Sim.
They use the victim's personal details - obtained through criminal methods - to convince such companies of their identity.
The criminal can then access any online service that requires security codes to be sent to a user's mobile phone, such as banking services.
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Red card: Rodrigo Bentancur (Juventus)
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if you go
The flights
Etihad, Emirates and Singapore Airlines fly direct from the UAE to Singapore from Dh2,265 return including taxes. The flight takes about 7 hours.
The hotel
Rooms at the M Social Singapore cost from SG $179 (Dh488) per night including taxes.
The tour
Makan Makan Walking group tours costs from SG $90 (Dh245) per person for about three hours. Tailor-made tours can be arranged. For details go to www.woknstroll.com.sg
The biog
Hometown: Cairo
Age: 37
Favourite TV series: The Handmaid’s Tale, Black Mirror
Favourite anime series: Death Note, One Piece and Hellsing
Favourite book: Designing Brand Identity, Fifth Edition
CREW
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How green is the expo nursery?
Some 400,000 shrubs and 13,000 trees in the on-site nursery
An additional 450,000 shrubs and 4,000 trees to be delivered in the months leading up to the expo
Ghaf, date palm, acacia arabica, acacia tortilis, vitex or sage, techoma and the salvadora are just some heat tolerant native plants in the nursery
Approximately 340 species of shrubs and trees selected for diverse landscape
The nursery team works exclusively with organic fertilisers and pesticides
All shrubs and trees supplied by Dubai Municipality
Most sourced from farms, nurseries across the country
Plants and trees are re-potted when they arrive at nursery to give them room to grow
Some mature trees are in open areas or planted within the expo site
Green waste is recycled as compost
Treated sewage effluent supplied by Dubai Municipality is used to meet the majority of the nursery’s irrigation needs
Construction workforce peaked at 40,000 workers
About 65,000 people have signed up to volunteer
Main themes of expo is ‘Connecting Minds, Creating the Future’ and three subthemes of opportunity, mobility and sustainability.
Expo 2020 Dubai to open in October 2020 and run for six months
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
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
