CAIRO // Tucked in the corner of a room showcasing Gamal Abdel Nasser’s medals and international honours is a small exhibition displaying the former Egyptian president’s cameras.
“It was a passion of his. The collection actually has many more cameras,” says Karim Shaboury, the architect who designed the new Gamal Abdel Nasser museum, gesturing to a photo of Nasser.
In it Nasser, dressed in shorts, is videotaping his family on a beach.
If the walls of the museum could speak, they would have much to tell.
The two-storey cream and white building, with a manicured lawn stretched out in front and a high wall encircling it, not only once housed the office of Egypt’s most famous president, but was also his family home.
Nasser may have been the leader of Egypt when the country was a major player in world events, but he remains an enigma.
Compared to other presidents such as the exuberant Anwar Sadat, history has recorded little of Nasser’s private life and personality.
“It has been very protected,” said Joel Gordon, a professor of history at Arkansas University and the author of a recently republished book on Nasser’s rise to power.
“The one thing that struck me, when I was able to interview his close associates, who were all charisatmatic, was the fact that he had so much dominance,” Mr Gordon said.
“That really struck me. He had a strong sense of presence, that is often described as silent.”
That silence confounded American policymakers whenever they met Nasser. It made the Egyptian leader seem unpredictable
Nasser was president of Egypt from 1956 until his death in 1970.
After overthrowing the Egyptian monarchy, he sought to restructure the country from a colonial to a modern, socialist, non-aligned state with the military at its head.
Major land reforms and industrialisation made him popular with farmers and the working class. But those same policies appalled the wealthy and minority groups, who left the country as Nasser ordered the nationalisation of industry. He also oversaw the arrest of thousands of political activists, from leftists to Islamists.
And while he fought unsuccessful wars against Israel, he was hailed as a national hero.
When Nasser died, his funeral was one of the largest Egypt had ever witnessed and his legacy looms large over the country to this day.
Manshiyet Al Bakri, as the property was known, was originally a single-storey house purchased by Nasser before the Free Officer’s coup, which led to the abdication of King Farouk in 1952.
The building was expanded as the president’s star rose.
His wife, Tahia Kazem, wrote that when the couple returned to the house after the renovations, the president was upset at the removal of the dining room table, where he had planned much of the Free Officer’s coup.
Among the personal effects displayed in the Nasser residence are family photos and two records — one by the famous Egyptian singer Umm Kalthoum, and the other of Mendelssohn’s violin concerto in E. There is also a gold cigarette case and a cigar cabinet with the inscription “from Fidel Castro”.
Objects in the rooms — such as ornate vases and baroque lighting — evoke memories of Cairo’s antique markets, many of which were filled with what the wealthy left behind or sold after Nasser’s nationalisation.
Many remember Nasser as a secular president, but there are religious icons on display as well.
There is a small piece of cloth, said to belong to the great medieval Sufi Sayyed Al Badawy, and a miniature Quran. They are presented without comment about Nasser’s approach towards religion.
Renovating Manshiyet Bakri was a challenge, said architect Mr Shaboury, as the house was built in stages and each part had to be assessed individually.
“The structural condition of the house was very bad, though it didn’t appear so in the beginning,” he said. “When we investigated, it needed complete consolidation, rather than restoration.”
Nasser’s wife lived in it for 20 years until her death in 1990. It was then used as offices until 2008 for the Egyptian presidency, then under Hosni Mubarak.
In 2009, the ministry of culture invited architects to submit proposals for the museum in a competition.
After years of bureaucratic and political delays, including the uprisings leading to the overthrow of Hosni Mubarak and Mohamed Morsi, construction finally began in 2014.
President Abdel Fattah El Sisi opened the museum in October 2016.
When visitors first enter the museum, they are greeted by 16 screens, each relaying a speech or press appearance by Nasser. His voice resonates throughout the exhibition halls.
At the exit, adorned by larger-than-life images of the former president, a recording from Nasser’s funeral march plays on.
“Abdel Nasser lives,” it says. And indeed, the legend of Gamal Abdel Nasser lives on.
foreign.desk@thenational.ae
Veil (Object Lessons)
Rafia Zakaria
Bloomsbury Academic
The specs: 2018 Opel Mokka X
Price, as tested: Dh84,000
Engine: 1.4L, four-cylinder turbo
Transmission: Six-speed auto
Power: 142hp at 4,900rpm
Torque: 200Nm at 1,850rpm
Fuel economy, combined: 6.5L / 100km
Call of Duty: Black Ops 6
Developer: Treyarch, Raven Software
Publisher: Activision
Console: PlayStation 4 & 5, Windows, Xbox One & Series X/S
Rating: 3.5/5
FIGHT CARD
Bantamweight Hamza Bougamza (MAR) v Jalal Al Daaja (JOR)
Catchweight 67kg Mohamed El Mesbahi (MAR) v Fouad Mesdari (ALG)
Lighweight Abdullah Mohammed Ali (UAE) v Abdelhak Amhidra (MAR)
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Middleweight Yousri Belgaroui (TUN) v Badreddine Diani (MAR)
Catchweight 78kg Rashed Dawood (UAE) v Adnan Bushashy (ALG)
Middleweight Sallaheddine Dekhissi (MAR) v Abdel Emam (EGY)
Catchweight 65kg Rachid Hazoume (MAR) v Yanis Ghemmouri (ALG)
Lighweight Mohammed Yahya (UAE) v Azouz Anwar (EGY)
Catchweight 79kg Omar Hussein (PAL) v Souhil Tahiri (ALG)
Middleweight Tarek Suleiman (SYR) v Laid Zerhouni (ALG)
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Election pledges on migration
CDU: "Now is the time to control the German borders and enforce strict border rejections"
SPD: "Border closures and blanket rejections at internal borders contradict the spirit of a common area of freedom"
The White Lotus: Season three
Creator: Mike White
Starring: Walton Goggins, Jason Isaacs, Natasha Rothwell
Rating: 4.5/5
Recipe: Spirulina Coconut Brothie
Ingredients
1 tbsp Spirulina powder
1 banana
1 cup unsweetened coconut milk (full fat preferable)
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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
NO OTHER LAND
Director: Basel Adra, Yuval Abraham, Rachel Szor, Hamdan Ballal
Stars: Basel Adra, Yuval Abraham
Rating: 3.5/5
At a glance
Global events: Much of the UK’s economic woes were blamed on “increased global uncertainty”, which can be interpreted as the economic impact of the Ukraine war and the uncertainty over Donald Trump’s tariffs.
Growth forecasts: Cut for 2025 from 2 per cent to 1 per cent. The OBR watchdog also estimated inflation will average 3.2 per cent this year
Welfare: Universal credit health element cut by 50 per cent and frozen for new claimants, building on cuts to the disability and incapacity bill set out earlier this month
Spending cuts: Overall day-to day-spending across government cut by £6.1bn in 2029-30
Tax evasion: Steps to crack down on tax evasion to raise “£6.5bn per year” for the public purse
Defence: New high-tech weaponry, upgrading HM Naval Base in Portsmouth
Housing: Housebuilding to reach its highest in 40 years, with planning reforms helping generate an extra £3.4bn for public finances
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World ranking (at month’s end)
Jan - 257
Feb - 198
Mar - 159
Apr - 161
May - 159
Jun – 162
Currently: 88
Year-end rank since turning pro
2016 - 279
2015 - 185
2014 - 143
2013 - 63
2012 - 384
2011 - 883
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
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Disclaimer
Director: Alfonso Cuaron
Stars: Cate Blanchett, Kevin Kline, Lesley Manville
Rating: 4/5
'Midnights'
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COMPANY%20PROFILE
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More from Neighbourhood Watch:
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.”
UPI facts
More than 2.2 million Indian tourists arrived in UAE in 2023
More than 3.5 million Indians reside in UAE
Indian tourists can make purchases in UAE using rupee accounts in India through QR-code-based UPI real-time payment systems
Indian residents in UAE can use their non-resident NRO and NRE accounts held in Indian banks linked to a UAE mobile number for UPI transactions
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