A computer gaming technician installs a liquid cooling system, at Al Ain Centre, also called Computer Plaza, that has several computer and mobile phone repair shops. Victor Besa / The National
A computer gaming technician installs a liquid cooling system, at Al Ain Centre, also called Computer Plaza, that has several computer and mobile phone repair shops. Victor Besa / The National
A computer gaming technician installs a liquid cooling system, at Al Ain Centre, also called Computer Plaza, that has several computer and mobile phone repair shops. Victor Besa / The National
Nivriti Butalia is assistant comment editor at The National
January 09, 2024
You can learn a lot about a city by observing what makes it tick and why residents behave in the ways they do or refuse to do – sticking to one side of the escalator, avoiding littering, recycling and so on.
From a city like Vienna, there's much to learn, quite apart from how it managed affordable housing, built great public transport and made generally top-notch hot chocolate common fare. But an especially sound habit – encouraged by policy – is repairing things. It may seem like a simple enough idea, and it is – a combination of old-fashioned common sense, civic pride and environmental brownie points that other big cities should be able to emulate easily.
Even before the EU in November 2023 adopted the "right to repair", Vienna already had in place the altogether sensible practice of "repair networks" and vouchers. That is, to create less waste, the state subsidised residents getting their broken objects fixed. This went down really well with Viennese people, who may have otherwise been stuck with moody vacuum cleaners, busted bicycles or laptops languishing in bottom drawers, as indeed so many of us elsewhere are now. The Austrian government has a repair bonus scheme where consumers living in the country can claim back half the cost of the repair of an old appliance. Vienna's scheme, however, covers a wider variety of items in need of repair. There are numbers to show what a successful programme this was overall.
Children play in a playground facing large panels proclaiming the slogan 'Women build the city' next to building sites that will eventually contain 12,000 new housing units, in the Viennese suburb of Seestadt. AFP
A popular cafe in Vienna. AP
Through the Vienna Repair Voucher, the subsidy scheme that started in September 2020, some 620 tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions have been avoided, as each repair saves on average 24kg of carbon dioxide. That should give us an idea of the difference any collective enterprise can make. Whatever the actual percentage difference it makes to a region's much larger net zero goals, it is still a considerable amount when you think of how easily we can all chip in in similar ways, regardless of where we live. The Vienna repair network reportedly carries out an average of about 50,000 repairs a year. That sounds impressive for a city with a population of 1,975,000 people.
To take a step back though and to anyone who's been brought up in the developing world, policies like Austria's can be both a delight to come across but also confounding. A delight because, of course, it's common sense – what is there to disagree about in getting a laptop repaired instead of just upgrading it? And confounding because haven't millions of us, and our parents, been doing this for ages in any case, whether in the Indian subcontinent or in so many cities across the Middle East? The difference is possibly in instituting sensible habits at a policy level.
If we keep chucking stuff and trading up simply because we can and just because deals on the new products are often tempting, we can't honestly claim in every aspect to be progressing
Informal sectors of recycling and repair have existed all over the world. Anywhere in India, repairs are the norm, whether it is heading to the neighbourhood tailor who, with his blue chalk marker and pedal sewing machine, has the talent to neatly mend the moth-eaten bits of your sweater, or the electrical repair man at the corner shop in some lane that no Google Map is equipped to take you to, who could diagnose and fix countless mixer-grinders. It requires a dedication to find this focused tribe of repair people and to give them your business. Getting stuff repaired also means keeping the repair people in business.
But if we keep throwing stuff and trading up simply because we can and just because deals on the new products are often tempting, we can't honestly claim in every aspect to be progressing. It can be easy to convince oneself that it's not worth the time, the exertion and often the cost of getting old stuff fixed. Some people are also especially big on convenience cost.
Paying, say, Dh40 ($11) to have someone repair a five-year-old spice grinder that cost Dh 99 ($27), plus the chore of taking it to the right place on your weekend, makes neither financial sense nor screams fun. And yet, having appliances or clothes or whatever else repaired rather than discarding them or buying new ones has always made sense – it should, ideally, be cheaper but whether or not it is, it is usually always better in an ethical sense, as fewer odd plastic bits and wires end up in landfills.
In faster-paced lives though in the more developed world, it's easier and more convenient to look online and buy, say, a new spice grinder at one of the big sales or shopping festivals, like here in the UAE, rather than figure out where to take the broken one, how to get there and when to do this.
The access to and scheduling of repairs need to be made more popular as a way of life and not something one looks back on in a nostalgic way. The environmental benefits cannot be argued with, especially in a post-Cop28 world. But there is still a fair percentage of people for whom carbon footprints are not a pressing enough incentive.
As much as the logic behind doing our bit to save the planet is not new, neither is the satisfaction of the sheer effort made to get a rickety wheel of a suitcase repaired or a string of short-circuiting but otherwise very pretty fairy lights fixed (I spent a princely Dh5 [$1.36] on just that a couple of months ago and haven't been electrocuted since).
Being prudent with cash, channelling economically wiser forebears, instead of splashing money on an unnecessary new purchase ties in nicely with what one can do to be more in sync with almost every country's net zero goals and targets of lower emissions.
This sits well especially in a place like the UAE that has been taking several steps towards decarbonising, whether adopting policies that focus on developing a circular economy or decarbonising waste management. In recent great steps, Dubai eliminated single-use plastic bags on the first day of the year where Abu Dhabi had already done so in June 2022.
In championing a circular economy, more can perhaps be done to make more people aware of where in their cities to repair stuff, and if there were discounts on those sorts of transactions, it would beat any banners in shopfronts urging people to hurry and stock up on more things on sale.
Perhaps in coming around to a "fix-it" way of thinking, we can take a leaf out of the Viennese playbook.
UK’s AI plan
AI ambassadors such as MIT economist Simon Johnson, Monzo cofounder Tom Blomfield and Google DeepMind’s Raia Hadsell
£10bn AI growth zone in South Wales to create 5,000 jobs
£100m of government support for startups building AI hardware products
£250m to train new AI models
Our legal consultant
Name: Dr Hassan Mohsen Elhais
Position: legal consultant with Al Rowaad Advocates and Legal Consultants.
Hili 2: Unesco World Heritage site
The site is part of the Hili archaeological park in Al Ain. Excavations there have proved the existence of the earliest known agricultural communities in modern-day UAE. Some date to the Bronze Age but Hili 2 is an Iron Age site. The Iron Age witnessed the development of the falaj, a network of channels that funnelled water from natural springs in the area. Wells allowed settlements to be established, but falaj meant they could grow and thrive. Unesco, the UN's cultural body, awarded Al Ain's sites - including Hili 2 - world heritage status in 2011. Now the most recent dig at the site has revealed even more about the skilled people that lived and worked there.
May 15: Yokohama, Japan
June 5: Leeds, UK
June 24: Montreal, Canada
July 10: Hamburg, Germany
Aug 17-22: Edmonton, Canada (World Triathlon Championship Final)
Nov 5-6 : Abu Dhabi, UAE
Date TBC: Chengdu, China
Obed Suhail of ServiceMarket, an online home services marketplace, outlines the five types of long-term residential visas:
Investors:
A 10-year residency visa can be obtained by investors who invest Dh10 million, out of which 60 per cent should not be in real estate. It can be a public investment through a deposit or in a business. Those who invest Dh5 million or more in property are eligible for a five-year residency visa. The invested amount should be completely owned by the investors, not loaned, and retained for at least three years.
Entrepreneurs:
A five-year multiple entry visa is available to entrepreneurs with a previous project worth Dh0.5m or those with the approval of an accredited business incubator in the UAE.
Specialists
Expats with specialised talents, including doctors, specialists, scientists, inventors, and creative individuals working in the field of culture and art are eligible for a 10-year visa, given that they have a valid employment contract in one of these fields in the country.
Outstanding students:
A five-year visa will be granted to outstanding students who have a grade of 95 per cent or higher in a secondary school, or those who graduate with a GPA of 3.75 from a university.
Retirees:
Expats who are at least 55 years old can obtain a five-year retirement visa if they invest Dh2m in property, have savings of Dh1m or more, or have a monthly income of at least Dh20,000.
Key facilities
Olympic-size swimming pool with a split bulkhead for multi-use configurations, including water polo and 50m/25m training lanes
Premier League-standard football pitch
400m Olympic running track
NBA-spec basketball court with auditorium
600-seat auditorium
Spaces for historical and cultural exploration
An elevated football field that doubles as a helipad
Specialist robotics and science laboratories
AR and VR-enabled learning centres
Disruption Lab and Research Centre for developing entrepreneurial skills
Tax authority targets shisha levy evasion
The Federal Tax Authority will track shisha imports with electronic markers to protect customers and ensure levies have been paid.
Khalid Ali Al Bustani, director of the tax authority, on Sunday said the move is to "prevent tax evasion and support the authority’s tax collection efforts".
The scheme’s first phase, which came into effect on 1st January, 2019, covers all types of imported and domestically produced and distributed cigarettes. As of May 1, importing any type of cigarettes without the digital marks will be prohibited.
He said the latest phase will see imported and locally produced shisha tobacco tracked by the final quarter of this year.
"The FTA also maintains ongoing communication with concerned companies, to help them adapt their systems to meet our requirements and coordinate between all parties involved," he said.
Make Smart Cool is not your usual festival. Dubbed “edutainment” by organisers Najahi Events, Make Smart Cool aims to inspire its youthful target audience through a mix of interactive presentation by social media influencers and a concert finale featuring Example with DJ Wire. Here are some of the speakers sharing their inspiration and experiences on the night. Prince Ea
With his social media videos accumulating more half a billion views, the American motivational speaker is hot on the college circuit in the US, with talks that focus on the many ways to generate passion and motivation when it comes to learning. Khalid Al Ameri
The Emirati columnist and presenter is much loved by local youth, with writings and presentations about education, entrepreneurship and family balance. His lectures on career and personal development are sought after by the education and business sector. Ben Ouattara
Born to an Ivorian father and German mother, the Dubai-based fitness instructor and motivational speaker is all about conquering fears and insecurities. His talk focuses on the need to gain emotional and physical fitness when facing life’s challenges. As well managing his film production company, Ouattara is one of the official ambassadors of Dubai Expo2020.
The insured employee may still file an ILOE claim even if a labour dispute is ongoing post termination, but the insurer may suspend or reject payment, until the courts resolve the dispute, especially if the reason for termination is contested. The outcome of the labour court proceedings can directly affect eligibility.
- Abdullah Ishnaneh, Partner, BSA Law
The Bloomberg Billionaire Index in full
1 Jeff Bezos $140 billion
2 Bill Gates $98.3 billion
3 Bernard Arnault $83.1 billion
4 Warren Buffett $83 billion
5 Amancio Ortega $67.9 billion
6 Mark Zuckerberg $67.3 billion
7 Larry Page $56.8 billion
8 Larry Ellison $56.1 billion
9 Sergey Brin $55.2 billion
10 Carlos Slim $55.2 billion
