At first glance, the prayer ground and its surrounding car park are little more than an expansive slab of tarmac at the city's centre. By day, it is downright plain.
As night falls, however, the car park becomes one of Ras al Khaimah's most popular recreation areas. It is a park without a tree or shrub in sight, but people flock to it in a daily ritual to run, walk and cruise around the one-kilometre wall that loops the prayer ground.
Aisha al Fala, 25, power-walks down the prayer ground with pink track-suit bottoms beneath her abaya. Men jogging have trouble keeping pace with her.
"It's the best place in the city," says Aisha, an Emirati pharmacist. "It's a suitable place for a woman, everyone comes here just for the walking."
She has lost 10kg since she began walking here seven years ago. "Before," she says bluntly, "I was fat."
That's hard to believe. Even with a flowing abaya, she is a wisp of a woman.
To the untrained eye, there is little beauty in this scene. The only lights are from the minarets of the adjacent Sheikh Zayed Mosque that glow a ghostly green through starry lattice work, and from the Dream Residence apartments, its neon lights a flickering purple in an effort to live up to its name.
For the most part, the car park is dark, and this is part of its popularity. The darkness around the prayer ground can offer a shooting star or two, if you raise your eyes skywards.
More importantly, women in RAK prefer to exercise under the cover of darkness. Clad in their trainers and abayas, they enjoy the comfort of camouflage and anonymity, protection from the prying eyes of men.
Many of RAK's young people first learnt the art of cruising here, under the watchful gaze of older cousins and brothers. When they come of legal age to drive, this is where many return, to circle the prayer ground with some cardamom tea and R&B, or Arabic love songs.
The first runners arrive around 4pm, when work and afternoon prayers are finished.
Abdul Rahman al Nuaimi, 30, and his friend, Waleed, are on round seven by 5pm.
As a transport manager, Abdul knows how to get around. But when the area where he used to exercise grew crowded with housing and hotels, he was no longer able to park his jet ski at the beach. He joined the Hilton gym but soon missed the relaxation of socialising outdoors.
"Most of my friends are coming here," he says, motioning to Waleed.
"Mr Waleed, he's like my brother, we like to walk and talk about everything. Business, life. You go running, walking and then you get a solution for the problem."
Naim Yassine, 62, a Palestinian-Canadian accountant, is another prayer-ground regular. At 1.87 metres tall, he is a giant of a man, if not quite to the extent that he once was. He's 17kg lighter, and all the better for it. He talks in extended sentences about high cholesterol and his brush with near-death that led him to the prayer ground - not for his spiritual health, but for the physical variety.
The accountant manages about 500 metres before the sentence reaches a full stop. But, he will tell you, perseverance is key.
After two kilometres, his stride and his sermon on health are both gaining pace and the sweat is pouring through his white undershirt.
Of course, there are days when he comes to the prayer ground not to walk, but to pray.
Thousands of Muslims gather here every year on the first morning of Eid. In those moments of prayer, the ground is a place of beauty.
Sheikhs and labourers pray side by side. Arrivals include Ford pick-ups packed with workers, and SUVs with television screens, their seats full of children dressed in their new Eid clothes, girls in glittering gowns and boys with new prayer mats.
Women form a black band behind men gathered at the front. Beyond the wall, a handful of prisoners in shackles pray beside their guards.
Once again, the prayer ground brings people together.
azacharias@thenational.ae
Going grey? A stylist's advice
If you’re going to go grey, a great style, well-cared for hair (in a sleek, classy style, like a bob), and a young spirit and attitude go a long way, says Maria Dowling, founder of the Maria Dowling Salon in Dubai.
It’s easier to go grey from a lighter colour, so you may want to do that first. And this is the time to try a shorter style, she advises. Then a stylist can introduce highlights, start lightening up the roots, and let it fade out. Once it’s entirely grey, a purple shampoo will prevent yellowing.
“Get professional help – there’s no other way to go around it,” she says. “And don’t just let it grow out because that looks really bad. Put effort into it: properly condition, straighten, get regular trims, make sure it’s glossy.”
Charlotte Gainsbourg
Rest
(Because Music)
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.”
