[ad_1]
The career diplomat, who spent a promising career managing the diverse business and philanthropic efforts of the world’s longest-serving finance minister, marvels at the symbiotic relationship that began to develop in their childhood
KT photo by Neeraj Murali
Mirza Hussain Al Sayegh, a diplomat-turned-board member of the Al Maktoum Foundation, is Sheikh Hamdan bin Rashid Al Maktoum, the world’s longest-serving finance minister since 1983. Alter ego, he passed away in March 2021.
Al Sayegh abandoned a promising diplomatic career that began during the establishment of the UAE on December 2, 1971, while heeding the call of the country’s founding father, Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan, in nation-building.
History shows that Al Sayegh was only one of 25 Emirati graduates during the reunification period with a “Bachelor of Business Administration from the University of Jordan”.
“The next few years were easy as I made steady progress in my diplomatic career,” Al Sayegh recalled of his salad hours in his office at the Sheikh Zayed Tower.
“In 1971, I joined the fledgling Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MoFA) in Abu Dhabi. In 1974, I was appointed Head of the UAE Consulate in Mumbai – now Mumbai, India. That same year, I became the UAE Ambassador to London Embassy Counselor and Minister Plenipotentiary,” he said.
“I was familiar with India since I was a child, as my family often went to Mumbai for health checks, as the medical facilities in Dubai were not as advanced as they are now. Also, since our ancestral home was located in the old city of Bur Dubai, I am very familiar with Indian traditions. And cultural understanding is more than a nod to what was and still is a home away from home for the Indian diaspora,” he said.
“Perhaps, my relationship with the late Sheikh Hamdan was more than providence. You could call it divine intervention, because we have known each other since we were four or five years old when he was still in my father’s school . Later, we attended the first public school in Dubai for primary education,” he said.
Decades later, this link was rekindled when the late Majid Al Futtaim encouraged him to manage Sheikh Hamdan’s numerous companies and organizations, spanning a variety of business and philanthropic endeavors in the UAE and abroad.
“I have traveled the world with Sheikh Hamdan, often in a short amount of time. That is the beauty of our enduring love and mutual admiration, because I never question his decisions because I have a firm bond with him.” confidence,” says an affable Al Sayegh, a brilliant storyteller who effortlessly gushes anecdotes about his “mentor.”
KT file photo
However, the deeply rooted Dubai native has excelled under Sheikh Hamdan, largely because of his relentless pursuit of knowledge and love of scholarship.
For example, during his diplomatic stint in India, he got himself admitted to the prestigious Delhi University for a postgraduate degree in Political Science.
This degree served him well and in 1976 he was appointed Counselor and Minister Plenipotentiary (charg d’affairs) at the UAE Embassy in London. In 1979, he represented the United Arab Emirates at the meeting of the Political Committee of the United Nations General Assembly.
In 1980, he completed a two-year postgraduate degree in International Relations at the University of Southern California in London (UK programme).
Initially, Al Sayegh was in charge of Sheikh Hamdan’s investment affairs, a connection that has deepened over the nearly 40 years the association has been in existence, expanding his activities to include a wide range of banking, business, philanthropic, educational and civil society organisations.
Thinking of Sheikh Hamdan’s kindness, Al Sayegh’s eyes watered. He recounted an incident that summed up “a great man whose loss I am still appalled by.”
He said: “A few years ago, we flew to Kentucky, USA on a jumbo jet. Halfway, over the Atlantic Ocean, one of the plane’s two engines stopped, and this was informed by the captain. When next to him, he listened to the captain. He told him ‘You are the captain. You should make the right decision, not me. But remember one thing. Everyone on board is my responsibility. So, whatever What decisions do you make, think about the people behind me. I’m amazed because he cares more about his people than himself. Nobody does that,” he said.
There is another similar incident in Al Sayegh’s memory.
“We arrived from London on a Friday in October 2009. Normally, on the day we arrive, I’m not in Parliament. But when I went to Parliament on Saturday night, he told me we were going to London tomorrow. I got nothing Ask him because my bags are always packed. This time he’s going to London for a test and from there to Ohio, Cleveland because of his health,” he added.
Al Sayegh is full of interesting anecdotes about Sheikh Hamdan, he could “write a book about him”.
His generosity resonated not just with Al Sayegh, but with everyone he came into contact with.
“His loss is irreparable as I have immersed myself in hobbies such as horse racing, swimming, reading and hunting. I also find comfort in my five children and four grandchildren,” he added.
Serve Your Majesty
Al Sayegh played a key role in helping the late Sheikh Hamdan realize his sporting interests, which he pursued for almost 40 years through the racing and breeding of senior horses.
He was director of Shadwell Stud, a powerful and influential breeding empire that Sheikh Hamdan owned, championed and had in mind.
He is the driving force behind the popular Dubai International Arabian Racing (DIAR), one of the best and most prestigious full-day thoroughbred Arabian races in the world and held at Newbury Racecourse in Berkshire, UK .
Race Day was founded by Sheikh Hamdan to bring awareness to the Arabian dog breed and the Arabic culture behind it.
Sheikh Hamdan has been a passionate and generous supporter of UK Police Treatment Centers for many years. He financed the construction of a fitness facility at Castlebrae in Edinburgh and then financed the construction of the first of Castlebrae’s two Alter G treadmills. He also created the Al Maktoum Library, a room for quiet reading, study and relaxation for wounded officers as they recovered.
He traveled the world to fulfill Sheikh Hamdan’s dream such as promoting education by establishing secondary schools in Africa and cultural centers in Ireland, England, Netherlands, China, Australia and the United States of America (USA).
He also holds memberships of well-known local universities such as the British University of Dubai, the American University of the UAE, the University of Abu Dhabi, the University of Fujairah, the Gulf Medical University and the Al Maktoum Institute of Higher Education in Scotland, and the Australian National University Cultural Center Member, Canberra.
joydeep@khaleejtimes.com; leslie@khaleejtimes.com
[ad_2]
Source link