Divorce is not funny. In fact, coming from the mouth of a Muslim British woman who wears a hijab, the only laughter to be elicited on the topic is likely to be a nervous titter.
Many do not consider it a topic people such as Fatiha El-Ghorri speak about.
"I was married, and then I was divorced, and then I was married again and then I got divorced again because I don't learn the first time," the comedienne told The National.
"After my second marriage, I wanted to do something for myself. Not because he didn't let me do that, but when you're in a relationship, you give so much time to the relationship and working that your hobbies get put on the backburner.
"I’d always wanted to try stand-up comedy, so I did.”
A few years later, London-born El-Ghorri is touring the UK and abroad, having performed in Dubai to an audience of Emiratis and residents with her deadpan delivery.
I like smashing the stereotypes people have of Muslim, hijabi women and I also like to talk about my experiences of a Muslim, hijabi, British woman
It’s important to branch out from the Muslim comedy circuit, she says, if you want to resonate with as many audiences as possible.
“Comedy has to be personal to you," El-Ghorri says. "I like smashing the stereotypes people have of Muslim, hijabi women and I also like to talk about my experiences of a Muslim, hijabi, British woman.”
Stereotypes
She’s British-Moroccan, North African, Arab and a hijab-wearing Muslim woman by her own description, so there are plenty of prejudices to take aim at.
The example she gives is of walking down the street wearing earphones and a hijab.
“You can’t see I’ve got headphones in because I’m wearing the hijab. But if someone speaks to me in the street and I can’t hear them, they start asking whether I speak English. I say: ‘I do, but I’m just ignoring you'.”
The novelty of seeing a group as under-represented as Muslim women certainly hasn’t worn off for British audiences.
Such curiosity, however, has made the gigs tougher than they might have been for a more run-of-the-mill comedienne.
“I’ve learnt that I need to explain myself at the beginning of a set and tell the audience that I was born here and I am Muslim and this ain’t an act,” she says.
“Otherwise you can see them trying to work you out in their heads, and they’re not actually listening to you.
“I’m not going to lie to you, you do get the odd racist or Islamophobe or someone who will be shouting out, you know. The hecklers can be quite offensive.
"But I don’t have a problem with that, I just tear them up. I might have a set planned out but if someone’s being disruptive, I will spend the whole time tearing them to shreds and get a laugh out of it.”
'Nobody looks like you'
El-Ghorri didn’t set out to be the one starting a dialogue on Muslim women in comedy but the mantle has fallen to her regardless.
There’s much more to be done to make the stand-up trade an inclusive business, she says.
“When you first start performing doing open mic nights, a lot of it is in pubs and obviously Muslims don’t drink, so that’s a part of it," she says.
"A bigger part is representation. How are you going to go into something where there’s nobody that looks like you or sounds like you or believes what you believe or dresses how you dress?”
They aren’t questions she has answers to, but she’s fighting hard to perform in places that wouldn’t usually admit people like her.
That goes a small way towards opening lines of communication for Muslims and non-Muslims, perhaps paving the way for anyone who want to follow in her footsteps.
“I’m a performer. It’s not just about being funny and people seeing my comedy,” she says.
“It’s about spreading a message, breaking down barriers and opening up conversations.”
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Company Profile
Name: Thndr
Started: 2019
Co-founders: Ahmad Hammouda and Seif Amr
Sector: FinTech
Headquarters: Egypt
UAE base: Hub71, Abu Dhabi
Current number of staff: More than 150
Funds raised: $22 million
Ziina users can donate to relief efforts in Beirut
Ziina users will be able to use the app to help relief efforts in Beirut, which has been left reeling after an August blast caused an estimated $15 billion in damage and left thousands homeless. Ziina has partnered with the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees to raise money for the Lebanese capital, co-founder Faisal Toukan says. “As of October 1, the UNHCR has the first certified badge on Ziina and is automatically part of user's top friends' list during this campaign. Users can now donate any amount to the Beirut relief with two clicks. The money raised will go towards rebuilding houses for the families that were impacted by the explosion.”
'Peninsula'
Stars: Gang Dong-won, Lee Jung-hyun, Lee Ra
Director: Yeon Sang-ho
Rating: 2/5
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
The specs
Engine: 3.0-litre six-cylinder turbo
Power: 398hp from 5,250rpm
Torque: 580Nm at 1,900-4,800rpm
Transmission: Eight-speed auto
Fuel economy, combined: 6.5L/100km
On sale: December
Price: From Dh330,000 (estimate)
The specs
Engine: four-litre V6 and 3.5-litre V6 twin-turbo
Transmission: six-speed and 10-speed
Power: 271 and 409 horsepower
Torque: 385 and 650Nm
Price: from Dh229,900 to Dh355,000
EXPATS
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Our family matters legal consultant
Name: Hassan Mohsen Elhais
Position: legal consultant with Al Rowaad Advocates and Legal Consultants.
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How will Gen Alpha invest?
Mark Chahwan, co-founder and chief executive of robo-advisory firm Sarwa, forecasts that Generation Alpha (born between 2010 and 2024) will start investing in their teenage years and therefore benefit from compound interest.
“Technology and education should be the main drivers to make this happen, whether it’s investing in a few clicks or their schools/parents stepping up their personal finance education skills,” he adds.
Mr Chahwan says younger generations have a higher capacity to take on risk, but for some their appetite can be more cautious because they are investing for the first time. “Schools still do not teach personal finance and stock market investing, so a lot of the learning journey can feel daunting and intimidating,” he says.
He advises millennials to not always start with an aggressive portfolio even if they can afford to take risks. “We always advise to work your way up to your risk capacity, that way you experience volatility and get used to it. Given the higher risk capacity for the younger generations, stocks are a favourite,” says Mr Chahwan.
Highlighting the role technology has played in encouraging millennials and Gen Z to invest, he says: “They were often excluded, but with lower account minimums ... a customer with $1,000 [Dh3,672] in their account has their money working for them just as hard as the portfolio of a high get-worth individual.”
Wicked: For Good
Director: Jon M Chu
Starring: Ariana Grande, Cynthia Erivo, Jonathan Bailey, Jeff Goldblum, Michelle Yeoh, Ethan Slater
Rating: 4/5
Desert Warrior
Starring: Anthony Mackie, Aiysha Hart, Ben Kingsley
Director: Rupert Wyatt
Rating: 3/5
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.”
