As families gathered to celebrate Eid, there was no time off for hardworking leaders and servicemen. For while the festivities for most meant spending time with loved ones, those in the frontline of service to their country did not press pause.
Ramadan encourages us to strive to be our best selves. Eid is a time to reflect and celebrate our values and strengths. This was even more evident over the weekend.
That didn’t just mean the gallant troops fighting insurgents in Yemen but extended to Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and Deputy Supreme Commander of the Armed Forces, who flew out to Addis Ababa to meet Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed Ali and discuss ties.
After his official duties, Sheikh Mohammed visited the family of fallen soldier Sub-Lt Khalifa Al Khatri, who was killed in Yemen, to offer his condolences and to honour a true UAE hero.
Meanwhile several ministers and leading officials were on duty. Omar Al Olama, Minister of State for Artificial Intelligence, spent Eid with troops in Yemen. “This was one of the best Eids of my life,” he tweeted. “They inspired me with their courage, their spirit and their determination to help our brothers in Yemen.”
Others, including Maryam AlMheiri, chief executive of TwoFour54, were also visible, performing public duty on a day when they could be excused for taking a back seat.
The message they sent out was that they were part of a united, wider UAE family, one whose individual parts matter as much as the whole.
Ramadan this year was unprecedented. Instead of the brakes going on for a long, slow, uneventful summer, there has been waves of even more announcements of economic and societal reforms. In more way than one, the UAE has pushed further ahead with its evolution.
Just as this has been an Eid like no other, the coming months are set to reimagine the landscape of the UAE in a way that has never before been seen.
