ACTING MANAGING EDITORMohammed Salim Mohamed

ADVERTISING MANAGERAli Wahba

CHAIRMANSheikh Thani bin Abdullah Al Thani

EDITOR-IN-CHIEFDr. Khalid M Al-Shafi

DESIGNAbraham Augusthy

COVERMohamad Bwary

www.thepeninsulaqatar.com

T H U R S D A Y 1 4 D E C E M B E R 2 0 1 7

IMAGE PROCESSINGMohd Sajad Sahir

PRODUCTIONSebastian TK

THURSDAY 14 DECEMBER 2017II

Irfan Bukhari The Peninsula

With the official launch of National Day celebrations, the sales of products representing national identity and unity are witnessing momentous rise across the coun-

try from big shopping malls to retail shops. Special offers and promotions are in full swing at all lead-ing malls, supermarkets and hypermarkets.

Along flags of different sizes, products bearing iconic Tamim Al Majd image and accredited pic-ture of Emir H H Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani for Qatar National Day 2017 are the most favour-ite items of excited customers.

Organising Committee for the celebrations of the National Day had unveiled the accredited pic-ture of Emir H H Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani few days ago. The image shows the Emir with the motto of the Qatar National Day 2017 ‘Promise of Prosperity and Glory’. National Day products including flags, stickers of different sizes and designs, tea mugs, cell phone covers, key chains, posters, variety of dresses designed in colours of Qatari flag – white and maroon – and a number of merchandise available at the shops across the country are continuously attracting customers.

“The sales of National Day related products have increased manifold with the start of Decem-ber. This year the excitement for the event is very high in the wake of unjust siege imposed on Qatar for the last six months,” Saeed Ahmed, a local shop-keeper told The Peninsula. The shops selling garments, souvenir and gift items at Souq Al Ali in Gharrafa have been witnessing brisk sales of T-shirts, stickers and caps, among other items bear-ing Qatari flags, images of H H the Emir, National Day emblem etc. Shops located in Souq Waqif are also witnessing the same sales momentum for the said products as well as other merchandise.

Confectionery shops are also preparing new types of chocolate, cakes and sweets on the occa-sion of the National Day. The shop owners began to create new and varied forms of sweets, choco-late and cupcakes, as well as sweets of various kinds. They also packaged the items

in an attractive way wrapping them in Qatari flag colours. The price of a chocolate box starts from QR150 to 500, and the price is determined on the basis of quantity and quality. For the cakes, there are small, medium and large, starting from QR150 to 700, and may increase depending on

the special requests of customers. Mohamed, the manager of one of the sweets shops said that the shop started preparations for the National Day with the start of December and started preparing many kinds of chocolate with National Day theme.

Another shopkeeper said that the National Day celebration was an extraordinary occasion creat-ing a new demand in the market as the people used to mark the month with full fervor and emotional attachment. A number of merchants said that the national day represents an important occasion when many gifts and clothes were bought represented by flags and national emblems. The sale of swords, dag-gers and other traditional items are also on the rise which promotes the feelings of nationalism and is a way to express attachment with national cultural heritage.

Meanwhile, the car decoration shops are also wit-nessing strong demand from Qatari youth and residents to decorate and equip their cars in prepa-ration for the celebration of the National Day. They are decorating their cars with Qatari flags and images of Emir H H Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani.

“The youth of Qatar love to decorate their cars for celebrating the National Day. By doing so, they

express their love for Qatar and renew their loy-alty to Emir His Highness Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani,” said Saleh, an employee of a shop.

Another resident, Osman said that this year, Qataris and residents were preparing to celebrate the National Day in a special and distinctive man-ner due to the imposition of the unjust siege on the country. Ahmed, a salesman at a local hypermar-ket said that since the beginning of December, there had been an increasing demand for the National Day products. “We are selling variety of garments for children as well as adults. Generally people buy garments bearing Tamim Al Majd image,” he said, adding that that the prices of products were afford-able within range of every customer.

National Day promotions and special offers galore

Pic: Qassim Rahmatullah / The Peninsula

THURSDAY 14 DECEMBER 2017 III

THURSDAY 14 DECEMBER 2017IV

The unity of Qatar is depicted from the rare display of emo-tional attachment of the people with the iconic image “Tamim Al Majd” — Arabic for

“Tamim the Glorious” — which has become a symbol of national pride and resilience. From cars to social media sites; homes to luxurious malls, hotel lobbies to office buildings and even on jewellery; Tamim Al Majd image is eve-rywhere because in one Qatari’s words: “It is in the hearts of the people”.

The iconic “Tamim Al Majd” sketch was created by a Qatari artist Ahmed Al Maadheed. Initially a giant billboard car-rying “Tamim Al Majd” was installed at Al Gharrafa which within no time became a must-visit spot for Qataris and expatriates alike. People flocked the venue and started expressing their loy-alty with the Emir by writing phrases of love on it.

“I have no words to describe what I feel when I see my illustration every-where,” said Maadheed. “It’s a gift from God to have the honour to draw His Highness' portrait and have it become a symbol”, he said. Maadheed posted a portrait of the Emir, sketched hastily in black and white immediately after the siege against Qatar, to his personal Twit-ter and Instagram accounts. The Emir’s profile, and the line “Tamim the Glori-ous” in intricate Arabic calligraphy, spread like wildfire in Qatar after a retweet by the Emir’s brother, finding its way into the streets as posters, stick-ers, flags and even jewellery.

The design also resurfaced as a graf-fiti stencil, frequently painted in black and accompanied by the Qatari flag. The success of “Tamim the Glorious” pro-pelled the then-unknown artist into the limelight, and by the end of June he had

exhibited his work at an annex of Qatar’s art museum and one of Doha’s top hotels. Nearly all the paintings sold that month. Maadheed’s paintings are fre-quently patriotic, featuring portraits of the royal family and even Turkish Pres-ident Recep Tayyip Erdogan. “I draw inspiration from my culture, from nature ... but also from well-known figures," Madheed said.

Madheed said he had been offered $10m for the original Arabic design by a private party, but opted instead to gift it to H H the Emir. “I’m thankful God gave me the chance to create this sort of work ... which expresses my love for the Emir,” Maadheed said.

People write various phrases like “The nation is Hamad, the leader is Tamim”, “Allah gave Qatar two bless-ings: Hamad and Tamim”, “Tamim, may Allah protect you”, “We are all Tamim”, “Obey the leader” etc. but the meaning of all the phrases ends on love and loy-alty with the Emir H H Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Ali Thani.

Within a few days of the installing the first billboard, what people now call as “wall of solidarity”, a number of such small and big billboards with Tamim Al Majd images were installed across the country from The Pearl to Abu Humour. The whole nation is standing by H H the Emir, wholeheartedly.

Qatar Post has issued new postage stamps titled “Tamim Al Majd” while two telecom companies of Qatar, Ooredoo and Vodafone, also temporarily changed the name of their networks to ‘Tamim Al Majd”. Tamim Al Majd picture is the most circulated image on social media networks. The citizens and expatriates have changed their profile pictures on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram etc. with Tamim Al Majd image.

Tamim Al Majd: A symbol of national pride

Emir H H Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani receiving the original 'Tamim Al Majd' painting from artist Ahmed Al Maadheed at Al Bahr Palace in July.

A spirit of patriotism and national pride filled the air as a vast array of events and activities celebrating

the National Day kicked off yes-terday at the Cultural Village Foundation-Katara.

Hundreds of people thronged over 60 events and activities offered by different public and private sector enti-ties spread across the Cultural Village offering unique experi-ences to both citizens and residents of various ages.

Officially inaugurating the events, Katara General Manager Dr. Khalid bin Ibrahim Al Sulaiti along with Brigadier General Rashid bin Mubarak Al-Mannai of the Qatar Emiri Air Force toured the Esplanade and other areas in the Cultural Village.

“At the Cultural Village Foundation-Katara, we are thrilled to offer an exciting array of cultural activities and artistic performances that will last for eight consecutive days starting today,” said Dr. Al Sulaiti.

The events and activities on

offer to the public are varied, some of which are first of their kind but all are anchored on the theme ‘Promise of Prosperity and Glory.’ One of the exciting spectacles at the event are the performances by paratroopers staged by Joint Special Forces.

Visitors with penchant for culture and the arts enjoyed vis-iting traditional tents that offer

Qatari hospitality, participating in art and craft workshops, and viewing fine-art exhibitions.

The wide selection of fine art exhibits included those by Qatari artists Ahmed Alawi and Ahmed Al-Maadheed among others. Ooredoo has joined this year’s celebration in Katara with a huge pavilion contain-ing, among others, a poetry

house and a museum.Many children were seen

immersing themselves in vari-ous workshops such as on fashion and dolls, clay, engrav-ing Qatar’s flag, colouring and drawing, all of which depict Qatar’s important historical and geographical elements and emphasize on the most impor-tant landmarks in Katara. Competitions, traditional games and entertaining shows added luster to the celebrations. Many visitors also enjoyed a theatri-cal play by Qatari youth.

A mosaic painting of H H Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani has been set up under the supervision of the artist, Ghazala Mohammed. In addi-tion, visitors also enjoyed 15 artists doing live painting, as well as caricatures of visitors with a National Day touch.

Dr. Al-Sulaiti invited people to come to Katara and witness the events and take part in the activities which run until December 19. He thanked the Ministry of Defense, Qatar Air Force, Qatar Media Corporation, Qatar Television, Hamad Med-ical Corporation and all the

participating government and private sector entities.

Brig. Gen. Al Mannai noted that this is the first time Qatar’s Air Force is participating in Katara’s National Day celebra-tions and expressed hope that the pavilion will entertain many visitors with its wide collection of aircraft models.

An event called ‘Rescue with Air Ambulance’ by Qatar’s Emiri Air Force will be held at 4pm today Katara waterfront.

Spectacular military per-formances are scheduled on December 18 and 19 which will witness the participation of 60 paratroopers and include par-achute parades, fireworks and paramotors.

The much awaited return of the traditional Qatari dhow Fath Al-Kheir on its third voyage which took it to Oman and Kuwait is expected to see a large number of audience on Katara Beach on December 18.

Katara lines up 60 events as celebrations begin

THURSDAY 14 DECEMBER 2017 V

The events commit-tee accompanying the National Day c e l e b r a t i o n s (December 18)

announced the details of the commemorative events of the Asian communities residing in Qatar on this occasion.

The Ministry of Interior (MoI) allocated seven sites for events such as Al Wakrah Sports Club, Al Rayyan Sports Club, Labor City, Barwa Al Baraha, Asian City, Barwa Lei-sure Complex for Al Khor Workers and Cricket Stadium in the Industrial Area.

The festivities will be held from approximately 2pm until 10 pm on December 18, with the participation of Indian, Nepali, Sri Lankan, Bangla-deshi, Pakistani, Malaysian, Filipino and Indonesian communities.

Director of Public Rela-tions at MoI, Brigadier Abdullah Khalifa Al Muftah,

said that the celebration pro-gram, which is expected to attract about 200,000 people, includes many cultural, sports, entertainment and musical events for the people of the communities, noting that the program aims to provide a family atmosphere to enjoy the activities of the National Day. Brigadier Al Muftah noted that the celebrations also include a classic car march in conjunc-tion with the Mawater Center at all locations, a motorbike march in collaboration with the Harley Davidson Group and a variety of competitions involving 235 communities teams.

The Director of Public Relations at MoI also pointed to the participation of 96 teams comprising 7,750 students from 17 foreign schools, add-ing that these activities will continue in all locations for a total of more than 50 hours.

He noted the solidarity

between residents and citizens in celebrating the national day of the State of Qatar, which is a feast for all who live on this good land. Brigadier Al Muf-tah stressed on the keenness of MoI to promote community participation and build bridges of communication with eve-ryone who lives on this land.

For his part, Director of Establishments and Authori-ties Security Department Brigadier Ali Khajim Al Azabi explained that the locations of the events, how to enter and exit and all measures were taken at different levels to ensure the safety of the par-ticipants in terms of identifying places of celebration, exits, entry corridors, parking places, ambulance services and other security services.

General Coordinator of Mawater Center, Abdullah Mohammed Al Hajri, said that the center will participate in the celebrations with a march of 50 cars that will tour all areas of events starting from the Labour City and ending at Barwa Al Baraha in the Indus-trial Area.

The Batabit Motorcycle Center of the Ministry of Cul-ture and Sports also participates in the activities accompanying the National Day celebrations with a march of more than 55 motorbikes.

MoI festive events for Asian communitiesThe celebrations, which is expected to attract about 200,000 people, include many cultural, sports, entertainment and musical events for the people of the communities, noting that the program aims to provide a family atmosphere to enjoy the activities of the National Day.

Ibn Ajayan Projects (IAP), mangers of Asian Town and Labour City Workers Accommoda-tion project in Qatar, is organising a cricket

tournament in association with Pro Event, a sports event management company, and Organising committee of Associated Activities of Qatar Nataional Day 2017 celebrations, under the patron-age of Ministry of Interior, to celebrate the Qatar National Day. A series of matches between ‘Qatar Stars’ and ‘Asian Stars’ will be held on December 15, 17 and 18 in Asian Town cricket stadium. How Auto-mobiles is the main sponsor of the matches.

Many international players from India, Paki-stan, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh are participating in the matches representing the two teams. The names include Wahab Riaz, Fawad Alam, Misbah ul Haq, S Ajmal, Umar Gul, Kamran Akmal, Sal-man Butt, Sami Aslam, Imam ul Haq, Waseef Jafar, L.Balali, S. Badrinath, T.Dilshan, Dilhara Fernado, Maharoof, Jeevan Mendis, Tamim Iqbal Elias Sunny, Arafat Sunny, and Inam ul Haq.

Pro Event has been organising cricket

tournaments for the last three years. "This year the National Day celebration tournament is some-thing special for us, as we see it as an opportunity showcase our love and respect for this country. We are bringing world cricketers from around the world for this”, said Sajjad Mohammed Hussain Chaudhary, CEO, Pro Event.

Qatar Stars team players are Ch Iqbal (cap-tain, Kamran khan, Tamoor Sajjad( VC), Rizlan Iqbar (WK), Zaheer Ibrahim, Inam ul Haq, Nadeem Aslam, Imran Asharaf, Faisal Khan, Mohd Tan-veer, Nouman Sarwar, Aslim Ali, Aqib Javed, Awais Malik, Khurram Shehazad, Ushantha Madush-anka, Ikramullah Khan and Mohd Murad.

Asian Stars team players are Wahab Riaz, Fawad Alam, Misbah ul Haq, S.Ajmal, Umar Gul, Kamran Akmal, Salman Butt, Sami Aslam, Imam ul Haq, Waseef Jafar, S Badrinath, T Dilshan, Dil-hara Fernado, Elias Sunny, Arafat Sunny, and Inam ul Haq. Tickets are available in Indian Super mar-ket, Filli café, Today’s Fashion and Asian Town Cricket Stadium Gate Number 1.

Cricket tournament at Asian Town StadiumPic: Salim Matramkot / The Peninsula

THURSDAY 14 DECEMBER 2017VI

Prime Minister and Interior Minister H E Sheikh Abdullah bin Nasser bin Khalifa Al Thani at the “Sonna’a Al Majd” Operetta, organised by the Ministry of Education and Higher Education in Katara Cultural Village. Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of State for Defence Affairs H E Dr Khalid bin Mohamed Al Attiyah, a number of Their Excellencies the Ministers, dignitaries, education officials, school principals and parents attended. The national operetta was held in the framework of the National Day celebrations and was presented by school students.

Qatar Petroleum, since its inception, has led the con-tinuous growth of Qatar's oil and gas industry and has expanded its operations to

many countries around the world. Managing Director and Chief Execu-tive Officer of Qatar Petroleum and Chairman of the Qatargas Board of Directors Eng. Saad bin Sherida Al Kaabi highlighted the slogan of Qatar's National Day this year, which trans-lates into "Promise of Prosperity and Glory", saying that these words of Emir H H Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani enlighten the nation's path to a brighter and stronger future.

On the occasion of Qatar National Day, Eng. Al Kaabi underlined that the wise leadership of the country has been always keen on giving its peo-ple with the strength, confidence and the hope for a more prosperous future, noting that Qatar has become a model and an example of develop-ment and social and economic

well-being.Qatar Petroleum has accomplished

several achievements this year, includ-ing the inauguration of the North Oil Company (NOC), a joint-venture between Qatar Petroleum owning 70%, and the French oil giant Total for the remaining 30%. The North Oil Com-pany has successfully completed all transition activities to take over the operation of the giant Al-Shaheen Oil Field.

QP also established Ocean LNG Limited for marketing its future inter-national LNG supply portfolio sourced outside of the State of Qatar. The com-pany is a joint venture owned by a QP affiliate (70%) and an ExxonMobil affil-iate (30%). It was driven by its aspirations to continue to be a global LNG leader, and to invest in LNG projects outside Qatar.

In terms of international opera-tions, Qatar Petroleum, in partnership with ExxonMobil, signed a sharing contract with the Cypriot government

to explore and participate in the pro-duction of the country's offshore Block 10. Qatar Petroleum also entered into agreements with Chev-ron, whereby Qatar Petroleum acquired 30% participating interest from Chevrons 75% share in three deep-water offshore leases in Morocco.

In April, the US Department of Energy authorized Golden Pass Prod-ucts LLC (Golden Pass) to export domestically produced liquefied nat-ural gas (LNG) to countries that do not have a free trade agreement (FTA) with the United States. The project includes the establishment of LNG production lines with a total production capacity of about 15 million tons per year.

On the other hand, Qatar Petro-leum made a strategic decision to merge Qatargas and RasGas into a single entity, aiming to create a world-class operator in terms of size, service and reliability, and creating great opportunities for cost savings.

The company also announced an inte-gration of Qatar Vinyl (QVC) into Qatar Petrochemical (Qapco), aim-ing to enhance the competitiveness, financial performance, and resilience of both companies.

Despite the unjust siege, QP has worked to maximise business oppor-tunities and self-reliance and turn challenges into opportunities. Just few days after the siege was imposed, Qatar Petroleum and Shell Gas and Power Developments signed an agreement to develop liquefied nat-ural gas (LNG) marine fueling infrastructure at strategic shipping locations across the globe. After that, QP launched vessel-borne fueling facility for all vessels lifting any Qatari seaborne imports or exports.

Within on month of the siege, Qatar announced plans to raise LNG production from 77 million to 100 million tonnes per year, an increase by 30%, by doubling the size of the new gas project in the southern

sector of the North Field, which Qatar Petroleum had announced last April. This will double the size of the project to 4 billion cubic feet of gas per day, which constitutes a 20% increase from the current North Field produc-tion rate, or about 1 million barrels of oil equivalent per day.

In October, a consortium compris-ing Qatar Petroleum, Shell, and China National Offshore Oil Corporation (CNOOC) announced the winning bid-der for the Alto de Cabo Frio-Oeste block in the prolific Santos hydrocar-bon basin offshore Brazil, which contains some of the most promising hydrocarbon prone areas in the world.

In November, QP entered into an agreement to acquire a 30% partici-pating interest in the contractors interest under the exploration and pro-duction sharing agreement (EPSA) for Block 52 offshore in the Sultanate of Oman, in partnership with the Italian energy company Eni.

QP accomplishes several achievements this year

In its debut year, Qatar Today Women of the Year has honoured ten Qatari women, from different categories with

awards, who have left their mark in var-ious sectors in 2016-17.

Oryx Publishing & Advertising also pre-sented a special award, “Qatar Woman of the Year”, to the Minister of Public Health H E Dr Hanan Mohamed Al Kuwari, who has excelled in the healthcare sector for years and guided the country to the pinna-cle of success in this sector.

Ten Qatari women from different cat-egories won the awards. Eman Al Obaidly won Inspirational Woman of the Year award while Humanitarian of the Year award was given to Ameera Al Nuaimi. Medical Pioneer of the Year award was won by Dr Basema Al Houri,

Sportswoman of the Year award went to Roza Saleh while Naila Al Thani won Cre-ative Woman of the Year award.

Young Talent of the Year was won by Amal Al Muftah, Hospitality Pioneer of the Year award was given to Amal Al Shammari and Mariam Al Bishri won Engineer of the Year award. Technocrat of the Year award was won by Fatima Al Kuwari. Another special award, ‘She’s Mercedes’ was given to Asmaa Al Thani.

Aisha Alfardan, Vice Chairwoman of QBWA, said: “This award is a great way to honour, recognise and celebrate the contribution of women who have excelled in their respective fields, whilst inspiring future generations of women to achieve their full potential and maximize their contribution to the Qatari economy.”

10 outstanding citizens bag 'Women of the Year' awards

THURSDAY 14 DECEMBER 2017 VII

THURSDAY 14 DECEMBER 2017VIII

Qatar National Day celebrations has kicked off at Darb Al Saai. The opening started with rais-ing of the Qatar’s flag. About 29 activities are being organ-

ised this year at Darb Al Saai by various government organizations.

The whole country has entered into festive mood to mark upcoming National Day with full fervour and preparations are under way to make the event mem-orable with colours of loyalty and unity.

People can visit Darb Al Saai in two shifts — from 8am to 12noon and from 4pm to 10pm except on Friday when it will receive visitors from 2pm to 11 pm. This year, the motto of Qatar National Day celebrations is “Promise of Pros-perity and Glory” which has been taken from a quote of the Emir H H Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani.

Almost all public and private sector organizations have announced celebrat-ing National Day with their unique activities. Qatar Foundation (QF) will join in this year’s festivities by hosting an exciting schedule of events at its Darb Al Saai tent. The theme of this year’s activities is “Siraj”, QF’s new 3D anima-tion edutainment TV series, which aims to instill a love of the Arabic language from an early age in children.

Additional Darb Al Saai activities include an immersive QF Tram experi-ence, interactive storytelling sessions and an exciting horse-riding simulator, catering to all ages and designed to pro-vide learning opportunities that will promote and preserve Qatar’s culture and heritage.

Some of the exciting activities on offer this year include the QF Tram experience, which will take visitors on a journey detailing Education City’s schools, universities and research cen-tres, while highlighting QF’s ongoing sustainability efforts.

Additionally, QF’s popular National Reading Campaign will host a series of interactive games and learning oppor-tunities for children, such as a book swap, story maze, and Scrabble, as well as the innovative Reading Truck.

Katara Cultural Village is also all set to organize a number of colourful activ-ities. Katara General Manager Dr Khalid bin Ibrahim Al Sulaiti recently said that Qatar’s National Day celebrations for

this year have a special symbolism as they represent the Qatari people’s unity behind their wise leadership.

Katara will provide its visitors with the most beautiful celebrations and would dazzle its visitors through inno-vative events through which Katara would be transformed into a place full of national meanings and a platform of culture and heritage.

At Darb Al Saai, many governmen-tal and non governmental bodies are

participating like the Ministry of Munic-ipality and Environment, Ministry of Defence, Traffic Department, Police Col-lege, the General Directorate of Civil Defence, Qatar Development Bank, Qatar Foundation etc.

The Police College will participate in the celebration and launch the big-g e s t p o r t r a i t o f E m i r H H Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani named “The Dignity Image” at Darb El Saai. In an attempt to set a Guinness

World Record, more than 14,000 people would be required to colour the portrait.

Also there is par-ticipation in Darb Al Saai from Qatar Foun-dation for Social Work (QFSW) and the cent-ers working under its umbrella. The partic-ipation of the QFSW will be through a spe-cial event for children “Kids Qatar” which includes a number of different games.

To facilitate huge number of visitors during the whole 10 days celebrations, the National Day organiz-ing committee has

allocated vast parking areas for visitors. To address any medical emergency case, the Committee has also offered medical services and ambulances in col-laboration with a number of medical insti-tutions under the supervision of Hamad Medical Corporation.

M e a n w h i l e , “Embrace Doha”, a Qatari company specialising in cultural events, launched an eight-day National Day Festival yesterday whcih aimed at showing support to Qatar amid the current blockade by offering a unique blend of events and activities to visitors at the Cultural Vil-lage Foundation – Katara. To be held from until December 19 at Katara Esplanade, the festival called “Labaih Ya Emir” (Here I am at your serv-ice, O Emir) will comprise four sections namely Cul-ture, Educat ion, Entertainment and Local Village.

Darb Al Saai turns festive with many activities

Pics: Salim Matramkot / The Peninsula

THURSDAY 14 DECEMBER 2017 IX

In celebration of Qatar National Day and Qatar’s strong sense of unity, a newinitia-tive #MyHeartIsQatarhas been created by Jaidah Group for citizens and residents alike torecord their voice in support of

Qatar.#MyHeartIsQatar provides people with an

easily accessible platform to show their pride by using voice messagesthrough a new mobile app and specially made recording booths.

Launched by Jaidah Groupon the occasion of Qatar National Day celebrations hostedby JaidahAutomotive at the Chevrolet Showroom in Jaidah Square, the #MyHeartIsQatar initia-tive allows everyonewho calls Qatar home a way to “talk from the heart.”Inspired by the pop-ular Tamim Al Majd murals that have seen thousands of nationals and expatriates pen mes-sages of supportand solidarity with Emir H H Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani and the peo-ple of Qatar, #MyHeartIsQatar extends and deepens the concept further.

By using the simple and easily accessible #MyHeartIsQatar mobile app, anyone can record their messages of support directly from their own device. These messages are then collected on a dedicated microsite and from there users are able to share them through social channels using the #MyHeartIsQatar hashtag. Extending the initiative further, a special recording booth is located at Jaidah Square and a roaming booth will be made available at malls across the country.

Announcing the #MyHeartIsQatar campaign was Mohammed Jaidah, Group Executive Officer of Jaidah Group: “This year’sNational Day cel-ebrations come with feelings of immense national unity,and loyalty to Qatar and His High-ness the Emir. Energised by this incredibly inspiring groundswell of national pride,#MyHeartIsQatar is an easily accessible way for anyone to talk from the heart, record, and share their feelings of support for Qatar.”

Adding that the campaign is a reflection of Jaidah Group’s vision in supporting its nation and its people, Mohammed Jaidah continued: “In line with our vision which is deeply rooted

in our love and loyalty to our beloved Qatar, #MyHeartIsQatar is our contribution to support our resilient nation and its people; an opportu-nity for everyone to use their voice and speak up. By staying together in solidarity, we will remain strong and achieve a brighter future.”

The launch event at the Chevrolet Show-room in Jaidah Square witnessed a large number of attendees comprising high-ranking officials, VIPs, and Jaidah Group employees, their fami-lies and friends and packed with Qatar-themed activities. The voice-recording booth was a great success and attendees were extremely excited and enthusiastic to participate in voicing their support and pride in Qatar.

People can start participating immediately by downloading the #MyHeartIsQatar mobile application through the official website myheart-isqatar.com, Google Play and the Apple App Store,or by visiting the recording booth.

Qatar Airways’ official cel-ebrations of the country’s forthcoming National Day kicked off on Tuesday with an event for the airline’s

employees and guests from local media and social media influencers highlighting Qatar’s rich culture and heritage.

The event took place under the patronage of Minister of Transport and Communications H E Jassim bin Saif Al Sulaiti, and was hosted by Qatar Air-ways Group Chief Executive Akbar Al Baker. In attendance were Chairman of Qatar Civil Aviation Authority, Abdul-lah bin Nasser Turki Al Subaey; Director-General of Qatar Aeronautical College Sheikh Jabor bin Hamad Al Thani; former Chairman of Qatar Civil Aviation Authority Abdul Aziz Mohamed Al Nuaimi and Head of Mesaimeer Pass-port Services Centre Major Yousuf Abdullah Al Muhaizia.

The event featured a range of activ-ities celebrating local culture, including henna painting, falcon handlers, tradi-tional Qatari Ardha as well as handicrafts and booths offering traditional local foods. The event was open to all Qatar Airways Group employees and their families and also marks the year-end celebrations of the airline’s 20th anniversary.

Akbar Al Baker said: “I am honoured to be here alongside members of our local community in celebration of our country’s National Day. A core value of Qatar Airways is expressing pride in Qatar, and this year especially, we cel-ebrate our patriotism, solidarity and unity as a nation.

“This year is a particularly impor-tant one for us as an airline, as we celebrate our 20th anniversary of glo-bal operations. As our country’s national carrier, we are passionate about bring-ing people from around the globe to Qatar, so that they can discover for

themselves the generous hospitality and unique heritage of our country. We look forward to many more years of successfully bringing the world to Qatar.”

The two-day event held at Airport Park adja-cent to the airline’s Head Office, featured with a special performance by famous Qatari singer Fahad Al Kubaisi, as well as a poetry reading by Qatar Airways pilot Sen-ior First Officer Hadi Al Qahtani, who composed a special poem in honor of the occasion.

Qatar Airways pas-sengers on all flights departing Doha on National Day will be offered a spe-cially-designed box containing a selection of delicious dates, so they can join in the country’s annual cele-brations. Each passenger will also be

provided with a specially-produced set of postcards showcasing images of Doha taken by local photographers to mark the special occasion.

The year 2017 has been a

tremendously successful year for Qatar Airways, as the airline has won more than 50 awards across multiple cate-gories since January, including being named ‘Airline of the Year,’ by

international air transport rating organization Skytrax. Qatar Airways was named ‘World’s Best Business Class,’ ‘Best Airline in the Middle East,’ and ‘World’s Best First Class Airline Lounge’ at the Skytrax awards cere-mony held in Paris in June.

Qatar Airways proudly flies the flag of the State of Qatar to more than 150 destinations worldwide, bring-ing people to Doha from every corner of the globe via the award-winning, state-of-the-art Hamad International Airport.

The national carrier of the State of Qatar is one of the fastest-growing air-lines operating one of the youngest fleets in the world. Now in its 20th year of operations, Qatar Airways has a mod-ern fleet of more than 200 aircraft flying to business and leisure destinations across six continents.

Qatar Airways will be adding flights to many more exciting destinations to its network throughout the remainder of this year and 2018, including St. Petersburg, Russia; Canberra, Australia; and Cardiff, UK, to name just a few.

Qatar Airways event highlights rich heritage

A new way to express national pride: #MyHeartIsQatar

THURSDAY 14 DECEMBER 2017X

Qatar Olympic Committee President H E Sheikh Joaan bin Hamad Al-Thani pointed out that the current

year witnessed many Qatari sporting achievements in different foreign events, which was the result of the great support given to the sport sector by H H the Emir.

Qatar participated in the Asian Indoor and Martial Arts Games, which were held in Turkmenistan's capital of Ashgabat, and managed to land 11 dif-ferent medals; four gold, four silver and three bronze. Additionally, Qatar partic-ipated in the Islamic Solidarity Games in Azerbaijan's capital of Baku and won 12 different medals; two gold, three silver and seven bronze. Other accomplish-ments noted were the achievements of the special needs team who won two gold, two silver and one bronze medals at the Special Olympics World Winter Games 2017 in Ramsau, Austria. Further-more, the special needs team won a gold and a silver medal at the World Para Ath-letics Championships in London.

H E Sheikh Joaan said that the beach volleyball team won four out of five Asian Championships in 2017: Bara Master in Satun in Thailand, Qatar Masters in Doha, Grand Osaka in Japan and South Sumatra in Indonesia. He also said that the team won the 26th edition of the Arab champi-onship in Oman, pointing out that the beach handball team won the sixth Asian championship in Thailand, qualified for the 2018 World Championship in Russia and achieved the bronze medal at the 10th World Games in Wroclaw, Poland.

There were many achievements in 2017 by Qatari athletes, most notably the Olympic champion Mutaz Barshim who won a gold medal in the high jump com-petition at the World Athletics Championships in London. He also was the champion of the 2017 Diamond League after winning the first place in the five rounds (Doha, Shanghai, Oslo, Birmingham and Zurich).

Additionally, Barshim won the 2017 Best Athlete of Asia Award, which is granted by the Association of National Olympic Committees. He said World Ath-letics Championships held in London also witnessed the excellence of the runner Abdalelah Haroun who won the bronze medal in 400 metres. The QOC President pointed out that the promising Qatari weightlifter Fares Ibrahim accomplished various achievements in 2017, most nota-bly two gold and one silver medals at the Junior World Weightlifting Champion-ships in Tokyo and two gold and one silver medals at the Asian Youth Weightlifting Championships in Nepal. Additionally, Fares won a 94kg silver at the World Weightlifting Championships in Anaheim, California in early December.

Global track and field star Mutaz Essa Barshim thanked his coun-trymen for their ‘support’, terming his IAAF World Athlete of the Year award as a ‘moment

of pride and honour’ for Qatar. Barshim, the 26-year-old high jumper, was named IAAF’s Men’s Athlete of the Year.

World champion and a two-time Olym-pic medallist, Barshim edged Britain’s long distance star Mo Farah and South Africa’s 400m champion Wayde Van Niekerk. In an astonishing run of form, Barshim remained undefeated this year in 11 competitions.

“It is a moment of pride and honour,” Barshim said after being crowned the world’s premier athlete at an IAAF cere-mony held in Monaco.

“I dedicate this award to Emir H H Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani and to Qatar Olympic Committee (QOC) Chairman H E Sheikh Joaan bin Hamad Al Thani for their support,” Barshim said.

“I would also like to thank all the ath-letes who have competed against me or backed me, the various sports clubs where I have trained and to all the coaches who have been associated with me,” Barshim said in a clip posted on social media.

“I would like to thank my family for their support. This is truly a great moment for the Arab world. It is a major achievement and I

am proud of it. It’s breaking ground,” he said. “It shows if you work hard, have the right team around you, everything is possible,” Barshim said. “Qatar has talented athletes who are capable of making the nation proud,” Barshim added.

Barshim was congratulated by QOC Chairman Sheikh Joaan who was present in Monaco. QOC Vice-President Dr Thani Al Kuwari was also present at the IAAF gala ceremony. “This award has not come with-out hard work good planning,” Dr Al Kuwari said in a post on Al Kass website.

“This is the result of unlimited support of Qatari leadership in the sports sector,” he added. “This is an award for the entire nation. We hope more athletes will follow in Barshim’s footsteps,” he said.

Stanislaw ‘Stanley’ Szczyrba, Barshim’s coach, said: “It is a dream achievement. Barshim is truly an icon in world athletics. My happiness is indescribable. He has achieved so much through hard work. He is currently the best in the business.”

Barshim’s father Issa, said: “My joy can-not be described. He is the hero. He leads the world in his beat. He is truly world-class. The people of Qatar will be so proud of him. All his fellow athletes have motivated him to reach thus far. Others can follow his foot-steps.” IAAF President Sebastian Coe presented the trophy to Barshim.

The Supreme Committee for Delivery & Legacy (SC) recently unveiled the design of first-ever “movable and

reusable” Ras Abu Aboud Stadium, the sev-enth 2022 FIFA World Cup stadium to be built at waterfront site on Doha’s shore.

Due for completion in 2020, the mod-ular building blocks Ras Abu Aboud Stadium consists of modified shipping con-tainers, each containing fundamental stadium elements that can be quickly assembled and disassembled at various locations as required. The 40,000-seat venue will be located in a 450,000m2 waterfront site on Doha’s shore, where the use of shipping containers as one of the main building blocks will echo the nearby port.

Situated just southeast of Doha and a mere 1.5km from the city’s state-of-the-art Hamad International Airport, it will be serv-iced by excellent transport links, including

a dedicated stop on Qatar Rails Gold Line (less than a 10-minute ride from Doha’s central Msheireb Station and just 25 min-utes from the Airport), direct road connections to the centre of Doha and Al Wakrah, and potentially even a water taxi stop.

The stadium precinct will offer excep-tional views over Doha’s landmark Corniche and into the downtown West Bay area, making it an ideal location for a waterfront development after the tourna-ment and ensuring a vibrant local legacy. Ras Abu Abouds modular design also means construction of the venue will require fewer materials, create less waste and reduce the carbon footprint of the building process, all while reducing the time taken to build the stadium to as little as three years.

SC Secretary-General Hassan Al Tha-wadi said that innovation has always been central to the plans for delivering a historic

FIFA World Cup that leaves a legacy for Qatar and the world, and there is no bet-ter example of this than the design of Ras Abu Aboud Stadium. “This venue offers the perfect legacy, capable of being reassem-bled in a new location in its entirety or built into numerous small sports and cultural venues. I am delighted with this design and confident that Ras Abu Aboud will become a blueprint for future mega-event planners to follow.”

This innovative design was envisioned by Fenwick Iribarren Architects (FI-A), a firm with experience of designing some of the worlds most impressive sports arenas. FI-A Senior Partner and architect, Mark Fenwick, said: “We are delighted to be part of another 2022 FIFA World Cup project, and are very proud that our design for Ras Abu Aboud Sta-dium will go down in history as the first-ever moveable and reusable FIFA World Cup sta-dium.” Federico Addiechi, Head of CSR at FIFA, added: “Qatar is delivering superb results in terms of sustainability and innova-tion, including the proposed design for Ras Abu Aboud Stadium.” Its design also rein-forces Qatar’s commitment to leaving a physical legacy proportionate to Qatars needs after the tournament while heralding a new era of sustainable tournament infrastructure that can broaden the range of countries able to host such mega-events.

Spectacular design of Ras Abu Aboud Stadium unveiled

Barshim relishes moment of ‘pride and honour’

Outstanding QOC achievements

THURSDAY 14 DECEMBER 2017 XI

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