I'm glad that pony rides at Marina Mall are finally over (Pony rides at Marina Mall end after Facebook pressure, February 27). These animals used to be tied up right next to the bus stop, and the lights of the public buses always hit their eyes. Not to forget the noise from the buses all the time.
Syed Fasiuddin, Abu Dhabi
It’s good news. It was cruel to keep them there hour after hour in the sun. Step by step, we can make these changes.
Dave Pryce, Abu Dhabi
I am happy to know that the ponies are no longer being used to entertain shoppers at Marina Mall. We cannot be kind to animals until we stop exploiting them. This step is also important in the sense that it supports Abu Dhabi’s effort towards animal welfare. I thank the Marina Mall authorities for taking the right decision.
Abid Hussein, Abu Dhabi
Germs also help us to stay fit and healthy
A little dirt never harms anyone (Why creating a clean workplace is vital for our health, February 26). It's rather good for our immune system. If it was that harmful, people would be dying in hordes. As long as one practises basic hygiene, there is really no point in wiping down your keyboard or phone with wipes every time someone uses it, unless you are in the middle of a life-threatening epidemic. Even then, it is the luck of the draw.
Jayadevi Machaya Palekanda, Dubai
One of the most common bad practices at work is to eat while at a keyboard. Unfortunately, health and safety workers often overlook those keyboards. That allows bacteria to thrive. When they are passed from finger to mouth, they lead to illness and infection.
Bob Toms, Dubai
The phobia of germs doesn’t help anybody. It only decreases one’s immunity.
Sanchita Guha, India
Bad drivers don’t deserve mercy
In my opinion, penalties for bad driving and traffic offences are too low (580 drivers lose licences in Dubai, February 25). We needed to take tougher actions against them, because they are the ones who endanger the lives of others.
Mohammed Kaleem, Al Ain
Given the reckless behaviour of the majority of motorists, it has become important for the authorities to get tough on drivers to deter them from taking the rules for granted. Those who repeatedly fail to adhere to the traffic laws should have their licences revoked. That’s one of the best ways to make them adhere to traffic rules.
Fatima Suhail, Sharjah
A rainforest in Dubai?
I refer to the article Dubai to build Middle East's first rainforest, February 26). To maintain the irrigation for a venture like this will waste a lot of energy. It's a terrible idea.
John McWobble, Dubai
The first thing that springs to mind is how environmentally friendly could it be to pour millions of gallons of water and generate the power required to sustain this project in a region where there is a looming water crisis? There needs to be a balance between indulgence and necessity.
Robin Shake, Dubai
ISIL will not last long
With reference to Hassan Hassan's opinion article ISIL is a complex group – it's time we realised that (February 25), ISIL doesn't follow the Quran or Sunnah. They are criminals. It's against the Sunnah to burn people alive.
Every action of theirs contradicts Sharia. So ISIL doesn’t represent Islam or its followers in any way. Little do they know about jihad, which is why they don’t even follow the basics of jihad. They have no leadership, no training and no agenda.
They are waging a war against their own people while kidnapping and killing others indiscriminately. Hence, they will not survive.
Niaz Abdul Kader, Dubai
The biog
Hobby: "It is not really a hobby but I am very curious person. I love reading and spend hours on research."
Favourite author: Malcom Gladwell
Favourite travel destination: "Antigua in the Caribbean because I have emotional attachment to it. It is where I got married."
Children who witnessed blood bath want to help others
Aged just 11, Khulood Al Najjar’s daughter, Nora, bravely attempted to fight off Philip Spence. Her finger was injured when she put her hand in between the claw hammer and her mother’s head.
As a vital witness, she was forced to relive the ordeal by police who needed to identify the attacker and ensure he was found guilty.
Now aged 16, Nora has decided she wants to dedicate her career to helping other victims of crime.
“It was very horrible for her. She saw her mum, dying, just next to her eyes. But now she just wants to go forward,” said Khulood, speaking about how her eldest daughter was dealing with the trauma of the incident five years ago. “She is saying, 'mama, I want to be a lawyer, I want to help people achieve justice'.”
Khulood’s youngest daughter, Fatima, was seven at the time of the attack and attempted to help paramedics responding to the incident.
“Now she wants to be a maxillofacial doctor,” Khulood said. “She said to me ‘it is because a maxillofacial doctor returned your face, mama’. Now she wants to help people see themselves in the mirror again.”
Khulood’s son, Saeed, was nine in 2014 and slept through the attack. While he did not witness the trauma, this made it more difficult for him to understand what had happened. He has ambitions to become an engineer.
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.”
Tailors and retailers miss out on back-to-school rush
Tailors and retailers across the city said it was an ominous start to what is usually a busy season for sales.
With many parents opting to continue home learning for their children, the usual rush to buy school uniforms was muted this year.
“So far we have taken about 70 to 80 orders for items like shirts and trousers,” said Vikram Attrai, manager at Stallion Bespoke Tailors in Dubai.
“Last year in the same period we had about 200 orders and lots of demand.
“We custom fit uniform pieces and use materials such as cotton, wool and cashmere.
“Depending on size, a white shirt with logo is priced at about Dh100 to Dh150 and shorts, trousers, skirts and dresses cost between Dh150 to Dh250 a piece.”
A spokesman for Threads, a uniform shop based in Times Square Centre Dubai, said customer footfall had slowed down dramatically over the past few months.
“Now parents have the option to keep children doing online learning they don’t need uniforms so it has quietened down.”
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The Brutalist
Director: Brady Corbet
Stars: Adrien Brody, Felicity Jones, Guy Pearce, Joe Alwyn
Rating: 3.5/5
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