Month: December 2013

15/12/2013

I had the great honor to meet His Highness Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, during my participation in the Youth Media Leadership Training Course organized by Kuwait’s Public Authority for Youth and Sports in collaboration with Emirates Foundation for Youth Development. It was a meeting which I would never forget as HH Sheikh Mohammed spoke with me face to face with the attention and love of a father and leader.

Today I recall the scene in full and ponder upon HH Sheikh Mohammed’s utmost attention to the younger generation and how keen he is on encouraging and urging this segment of the society to reach the highest echelons, show patience, remove the word (impossible) from their dictionary and engage in voluntary work, which is highly important for the advancement of countries.

On that day we had the opportunity to ask questions to HH Sheikh Mohammed. I raised my hand with confidence, not to ask him a question but to express our gratitude for the opportunities we – the younger generations – were being offered by our beloved country and wise leadership.

Trying to remember the events, I smile and I feel proud of the leadership of our country. At that moment, I was sitting directly behind HH Sheikh Mohammed. When I asked my question, he turned to me, smiling, and told us with an affectionate paternal tone: “stay where you are, I will turn to you and listen to what you have.”

I said to him: “It is our pride to stand in front of and behind your Highness; it is a great honor to talk with you.”

He then allowed me and my sister to stand in front of him and express what we had in mind.

We told HH Sheikh Mohammed that during the training course we wanted to leave a mark with the Kuwaiti delegation and to familiarize the visiting delegation with the importance of the UAE success in hosting the World Expo 2020. We explained to them that they could be part of the event as soon as they knew about Dubai nomination file. Then we distributed the Expo logo on all the participants in the course from both the Kuwaiti and UAE delegations. As a result, we were named the “Expo Sisters.

At that moment , we told HH Sheikh Mohammed: “We thought that Expo 2020 is the event and that the participants are part of that event, but we were mistaken, because the event is you my lord.. The event is HH Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid and the rest are part of the event.”

The attendees were surprised at our courage and were glad to see HH Sheikh Mohammed smiling with the modesty of a leader who previously dedicated the win of this event to our leader, President His Highness Sheikh Khalifa Bin Zayed Al Nahyan and to the UAE people.

Following those words, we talked to the Kuwaiti delegation about the sign launched by HH Sheikh Mohammed and signified (Win, Victory and Love). This sign was stuck in the minds of Emiratis, became their companion in the UAE march towards number 1 globally and was the focus of souvenir photos.

Later, I was very lucky to have a souvenir photo with HH Sheikh Mohammed. There were moments that would remain immortal in my memory. I told HH Sheikh Mohammed how happy and proud I was to be standing besides him and talking to him. I also told him that I would like my souvenir photo with him to be different from the other photos. I did not know how I dared to whisper in his ear that I wanted the photo to be taken while we were raising his own sign!

“As you like, my daughter”, he said with his usual kind smile.

It is a nice feeling beyond description; I cannot express it in words. His words truly reflected the phrase “the happiest people in the world live in the UAE”. This is why we have the right to be proud of our wise leadership.

While writing my article, I wished heartily that all the Emirates ID staff would have this opportunity and feel the positive energy that we felt while we were in the presence of HH Sheikh Mohammed, whose words were full of lessons, proverbs, love and inspiration to the younger generation.

We should not forget that promoting the spirit of love and devotion among the generations is one of the concepts that were reinforced and instilled in the hearts of citizens by our founding father the late Sheikh Zayed Bin Sultan Al Nahyan (may Allah rest his soul).

08/12/2013

Each one of us has a name, and each name has a story to tell. While the details of our names vary, each name still has a meaning that distinguishes it from the other.

A man is proud of his pedigree and origin and so he names his son after his father. Hence, the name becomes a mark and a predecessor that echoes the glory of grandfathers.. Another man names his son after a beloved person he lost in order to recall in memory the image of a good man in a beautiful time. Hence, the name brings back the old scent or part of it, leaving a nice memory.

The birth dates of some people have a story by which the stories of their names are associated. Those born in December often have the names of the founding fathers of our beloved country and hence the scents of their names are firmly established in the history of the “Union” memory.

Some others give strange names to their children. We may come across many strange names throughout our work in the Emirates Identity Authority. This is because we receive people from more than 200 countries living and working in the UAE and are sometime curious to ask a customer about the meaning of their names or search for it in a search engine. We inquire about different names and their meanings, no matter whether they are Arab or foreign names.

Out of courtesy and good reception, however, we must still call a customer by their names without clamor or doubt. No matter how familiar or strange the name is, our job is to put a smile on faces and respect our customers and their names because they are our guests and our religion necessitates us to be generous with guests and treat them respectfully.

Dec 03/2013

In his speech marking the 42^nd National Day, President His Highness Sheikh Khalifa Bin Zayed Al Nahyan presented a comprehensive vision of the concept of progress, which was not only restricted to raising the indicators of economic growth but focused attention on its social, cultural, political, security and knowledge-related dimensions and aspects as well. This is the secret behind the excellent experience of the UAE development and advancement, where progress, as affirmed by HH UAE President, is measured by the quality of life, well-being, development and the rule of law.

HH UAE President affirmed that “no future for our development without local culture” and “Development that does not protect the family, that does not inspire the bringing together of the culture of society and its ethics, is development that is incomplete, regardless of its returns”. This  reflects one of the most important features of the UAE model of development, which is characterized by being open to the world an integrated with it while interacting with its modern achievements as part of preserving the cultural and civilized identity of the society as this is the  bond that gathers the members of the society together and preserves its cohesion and integrity. Our leadership believes that the world’s cultural diversity is a source of wealth and not a cause for hostility or confrontation and that every culture has something to offer to the human civilization.

No development without security that provides a suitable environment for it and is based on loyalty to the homeland and its leadership, respect for the constitution, abidance by the law and commitment to the values ​​of the society. This is what was affirmed in HH UAE President’s speech and demonstrated by the experiences of ancient and contemporary history; the stability of any society is the key to its progress, while the manifestations of disorder and tussle destroy all its development achievements, exhaust its efforts and take it many years back. Security, which the UAE is known for, is one of its most important sources of its excellence and supremacy in terms of development on the regional and international arenas. Based on this, the UAE prudent leadership is keen on adopting a comprehensive and modern concept of security that maintains the stability of the homeland and fortifies its internal front in the face of any tendentious attempt to penetrate or destroy it. This rendered the UAE an oasis of security and peace of mind and a model of social cohesion and the people’s belonging to their country and loyalty to their leadership.

Education was the path used by all nations in their transition from weakness to strength, poverty to affluence and backwardness to progress and urbanization. This was already understood by our prudent leadership since the inception of the UAE and was underlined by HH UAE President in his speech. Sheikh Khalifa said: “No future for development that is not based on advanced education capable of producing knowledge. This is the route used by the UAE in its development plans for the ultimate goal of becoming one of the best countries of the world in 2021.

The vision, put forward by HH UAE President in his speech marking the 42^nd National Day, is full of deep and civilized connotations that reveal one aspect of excellence of the UAE development experience and show that the UAE is on the right track towards the