Dubai’s pursuit of happiness

Dubai has built its reputation on innovation and creativity as some of the most spectacular high-rises in the world gracing its skyline attest. It was the first in the region to have an ice-rink, ski-slopes, a gargantuan mall, “a world” of manmade islands to name but a few and it boasts the highest building. In the pipeline are the region’s first rainforest and a 48-million sq. ft. climate controlled pedestrian city.
The Emirate never ceases to surprise and amaze. It also attracts critics asserting its projects are over-the-top but I suspect many of those criticisms are motivated by envy. But perhaps its greatest innovation of all is Dubai’s approach to “happiness.”
Dubai’s ruler Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid initiative to establish a Ministry of Happiness, Tolerance and the Future makes so much sense it’s a wonder no-one has thought of it before.
“Our region does not need a super-strong external power to stop its decline; we need the power from within that can overcome the hatred and intolerance that has blighted life in many neighboring countries,” while emphasizing that “Since the dawn of history happiness is all that humanity has sought.”
Of course, the word “happiness” is hard to define and means different things to different people. There are various kinds, including fleeting euphoria and an abiding sense of contentment, a feeling that all is right in the best of all possible worlds. Being “happy” depends on the individual, whether they see the glass half-full or half-empty, but it’s so much easier within a pleasant, peaceful environment managed by a government that cares about its citizens and guests while providing them with opportunity. Dubai does just that.
Not everyone is happy in Dubai, just as they are not everywhere else on the planet because people have differing personal circumstances. But having lived and worked there for 14 years from 1983 — 1997, I can truthfully say those were the happiest years of my life. Dubai is a thief that has captured part of my heart for all time. The glossy, glamorous metropolis Dubai has become today isn’t “my Dubai” when camels still roamed Jumeirah, traffic jams were non-existent and parking was plentiful, but it fills me with admiration.
I can never forget my very first visit in 1975 when there were just a few roads, a hospital, a single five-star hotel, a few souks and dhows lining the Creek. Yet, there was something magical in the air even then; I knew I’d be back.
I know that some of my readers will be cynical. There’s a tendency among western journalists to sneer at Dubai for being superficial and cosmetic. They’re wrong; at least in my experience. I literally used to wake up most mornings and greet the world with a smile and a sense of excitement. Now that really is happiness and there is nothing superficial about that!
Many of us were brought up to think that the pursuit of happiness was somehow nothing more than selfishness. In Wales where I was born during a post-war era of hardship, mere survival was uppermost in people’s minds, having a job for life, any job, not “frivolous” happiness.
My happiest childhood days consisted of swimming in the reservoir and picking berries for my mother to make blackberry and blueberry tarts or fishing for minnows in a mountain stream. But since, our world has become more complicated and materialistic. So many pursue happiness in the latest electronic gadgets or, worse, substances, which never fail to disappoint.
What I am trying to say is that there is nothing selfish about seeking happiness in the right way because if we are not happy, how can we make our loved ones feel good. There is nothing noble about misery. Our maker surely didn’t create us to insult the gift of life with negativity, hatred and violence.
If everyone sought to be happy on a planet where poverty was reduced or better still eradicated and multiculturalism was encouraged instead of policies based on fear of the other, terrorism and sectarianism would be evils of the past.
“Ours is no empty promise. We will seek to create a society where people’s happiness is paramount, by sustaining an environment in which they can truly flourish,” is the message from Sheikh Mohammed. He is just as much of a visionary as his father, Sheikh Rashid bin Saeed Al Maktoum was and he should be saluted for setting this example. Just imagine if every leader, not only in the region, but everywhere, held fast to the same goal, what a wonderful world it would be.