Abu Dhabi – From Tribal Society To The Standing In The Eyes Of The World!

Abu Dhabi (means ‘Father of the Gazelle’) was found when a gazelle showed the way to a rambling tribe to fresh water on an island.  Yup! Abu Dhabi is actually an island.  Abu Dhabi is enclosed by 300 islands that are spread out all over the main island.  Nevertheless, most of the islands are unpopulated; however, it has its own natural history – flat and sandy.

Abu Dhabi is the capital of the United Arab Emirates (UAE).
Located approximately 400km from Muscat, Sultanate of Oman.

By plane, it took us about one hour,
by road it took us about five hours (including two check points
at the border; and if it is not crowded during festive seasons!)
to reach Abu Dhabi

With villages around, the more fertile oases, this place WAS based on pearl diving, fishing and date palm cultivations for its economy.  Abu Dhabi WAS an empty desert inhabited by Bedouin tribes, once upon a time …

The discovery of oil in 1958 has unquestionably brought a
'radical transforms' to this country and its nation

Clearly, oil and gas revenue was judiciously invested to make possible a complete turnaround of Abu Dhabi.  Abu Dhabi’s wealth was wisely administered under the strong and wise leadership of their farsighted leaders exceptionally the late His Highness Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan, one of the highly regarded leaders of the world.

You may find this piece of writing is ‘as dry as dust’ but the truth is, for every country that I visited, the politicians and the administration scenario ought to be my first glimpse.  Now, let us have a glimpse of the surface of the administration of this country.  Sequentially, the UAE consists of seven emirates (‘sheikhdom’) - Abu Dhabi, Dubai, Fujairah, Ajman, Sharjah, Umm Al Quwain and Ras Al Khaimah. 

Each emirate plays its own important role to ensure the success of this federation.  From day one, Abu Dhabi had taken the responsibility of supervising all political issues (including foreign issues), Dubai succeed in all forms of business activities, Sharjah on the cultural fields, Fujairah and Ras Al Khaimah are responsible for this country’s strategic port.

The federation or alliance, if you like, was formed in 1971 and every emirate is ruled by its own Sheikh (relatively, this system is ‘quite similar’ to my country, Malaysia, gained independence in 1957, formed 'Hari Malaysia' in 1963 and has its own Sultan or Chief Minister for every state).  Anyway, one thing has to be cleared here – the UAE did not gain independence in 1971.  The emirates never lost their independence.  There were treaty relations with Britain, but they retained sovereignty.  So, the importance of federation to the Emiratis was that it brought the emirates together in a more organized structure.   

Now, let’s move on -  Abu Dhabi is the largest of seven emirates that covers almost 80% of its desert islands.  Across the UAE, Abu Dhabi has the largest population that makes up 1.6 million citizens.

This country can be depicted as the Arab world's most successful unity system
that had demonstrated to be the right leaders in the right place at the right time!
Well, at least that was what I have been thinking, peeps!

Abu Dhabi has sub-tropical, dry climate all year round and the most pleasant time to visit this country is during winter (November to March) when temperatures are around 24 degree Celsius during the day and 13 degree Celsius during the night.

Arabic is, of course, the official national language.
Take note that, although English is widely spoken, Arabic is
still the official business language

Abu Dhabi’s culture is still definitely deep-rooted in the Islamic traditions of Arabia.  Islam is obviously more than just a religion; it is a way of life or law that rules every single issue or matter in this country.

Regardless of how progressive can this country be, Emiratis still preserves its rich cultural heritage and traditions, particularly in falconry, camel racing, traditional dhow sailing, Arabic poetry, dances, songs, traditional arts and wedding.  Indeed these are very interesting traditions that will be narrated in my upcoming posts … :)

Emirati men, mostly still wear their traditional dress called ‘kandura’ (a white full length shirt dress) worn with a ‘gutra’ (white or red checkered headdress).  Gutra is secured with a black cord called ‘agal’.  For any important ceremonies, they may also wear a thin black or gold robe called ‘bisht’, over their kandura.

His Highness Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan,
The President of the United Arab Emirates,
(in his kandura, gutra, agal and bisht)

Emirati women wear black ‘abaya’ – a long, loose black robe with intricate embroidery and beads plus a headscarf called ‘sheyla’ .  By and large, older women wear ‘burkha’ – a sheer fabric that covers up the nose, brow and cheekbones.  (Please refer to my previous post on 'Abaya - From Mythology To The World Of Fashion' for further understanding).

When the British withdrew its presence in mid 1968 from the region, the new political entity has been formed;  leaders of the UAE joined hands to build a common future and I believed that it was not a straightforward process, though.  I considered the UAE as a ‘young’ country.  Nevertheless, it took only less than 40 years for the UAE to become the world’s 19th biggest trading economy (source : the latest World Trade Organization - WTO data); and the 30th most developed country (source: the UN’s Human Development Report released in November 2011).

Home to more than 100 different nationalities of expatriates,
definitely the UAE has 'engraved' a position for itself
in the eyes of the world

Forty years is, actually, a short period in any country’s history to achieve what the UAE has achieved.  Most nations spend their precious time debating growth paths, segregation of power, mismanagement and confronting conflicts after conflicts, the people of the UAE have been very lucky, I supposed.

The world has been scrutinizing the development of this country; be it for the good or not so good, especially referring to the financial crisis, happened a few years back.  But today, this country bounced back and it also took me almost three years to understand that perhaps the key elements accountable for the economic achievements of the UAE are 1) strong governance, definitely 2) open and willing to learn new things on trade development, and 3) the unity, the relationship among the seven emirates is just like – ‘a friend in need, is a friend indeed’.  These are my two cents, merely!

With the growth of wealth in Abu Dhabi in particular, and in the United Arab Emirates as a whole, the UAE nationals are one of the world’s wealthiest people.  The late His Highness Sheikh Zayed Bin Sultan Al Nahyan made it clear as soon as he became the ruler of Abu Dhabi in 1966 that the wealth of Abu Dhabi would be used to help the other emirates.  

The late His Highness Sheikh Zayed used to say this several times, “Wealth is of no value unless it is used for the service of the people”. 

Therefore, in 1971,  it was fully understood by all the emirates that money from Abu Dhabi oil was going to be used to benefit everybody.  A noble leader, wasn’t he?  Tell me.

Many people may not realize now how much the UAE has developed in such a short span of time.  It WAS all just ... sand.  I have heard many success stories, but the UAE is one of its kind and something that its nation can be proud of  … above all, when it comes to UNITY!