A history told in two buildings

Two historical sites shed light on the past life of the UAE and its fast pace of development

The century-old Qasr Al Muwaiji, in which Sheikh Khalifa was born, was a home for the ruling family for many generations. Ryan Carter / Crown Prince Court - Abu Dhabi
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Sheikh Zayed once said: “He who does not know his past cannot make the best of his present and future, for it is from the past that we learn.” The opening of both Qasr Al Muwaiji and the new Oasis hospital in Al Ain shed more light on this country’s journey and its history.

The century-old fortress, in which Sheikh Khalifa was born, was a home for the ruling family for many generations. The exhibition space not only highlights the history of the building – the rooms inside the north-west tower, for instance, have been kept as close to their original state as possible – but also seeks to narrate the wider history of Al Ain, which is a Unesco World Heritage site.

Opening this building will enrich the emirate’s cultural scene. Visitors will have the chance to familiarise themselves with the life story of Sheikh Khalifa through a dedicated exhibition, President of the Nation, which features glass screens, photographs, quotes and a poem that highlight his childhood, education, career and favourite pastimes. This is cutting-edge museum technology presented in the most evocative setting. It will undoubtedly help both visitors from overseas and even long-term residents to better understand our past, present and future.

Another historical icon opened the doors of its new home on Sunday. Abu Dhabi’s oldest hospital, Oasis Hospital, was founded in 1960 to serve as the first modern medical facility in the emirate. When the Oasis Hospital first opened, the UAE did not even exist.

Today, like many other hospitals in this country, the new facility is among the most advanced in the region. It has about 50 additional rooms and new medical facilities and practitioners, including a neonatologist and a maternal foetal medicine consultant, and intends to employ a paediatric surgeon.

The country has accomplished so much in the past few decades and these two buildings stand as testament to those achievements and as contrasting images of where this territory was a century ago and where this country aspires to be tomorrow.