Abu Dhabi: The capital’s road toll system launched its first day of operations today (October 15), even though motorists will not face charges until 2020.

Traffic was fairly smooth in the morning, with the usual congestion downtown during school drop-off. In fact, there were no visible signs that the system was operational as motorists crossed the four toll gates.

On Sunday, transport regulator, the Integrated Transport Centre, announced a toll-free period until January 1, 2020. During this time, the system will be tested, and motorists will have a chance to register on the payment portal.

Many motorists had earlier reported difficulties registering on the portal. Now, with the toll system operational, Abu Dhabi motorists say they soon hope to receive by SMS their login details for the payment portal.

“I travel for work to Taweelah every day, passing by the Shaikh Khalifa Bridge. I have therefore been waiting to register on the toll payment portal, but haven’t yet received my login information,” a Sri Lankan engineer said.

Exemption applications

Other residents are awaiting further details on how they can apply for toll exemptions. The ITC expanded the categories of people exempt from the toll charges on Sunday, adding the elderly, retired personnel, individuals with special needs, families of the martyred and families with low income to a list that already includes, among others, public buses, taxis, and emergency response vehicles.

One resident said he had found it very easy to apply for an exemption from Dubai’s Salik Road tolls.

“I just had to send an email, attaching the birth certificate and disability certificate of my daughter who has Down Syndrome. About a little more than a week later, I received an email approving the exemption for my car. I hope Abu Dhabi’s system will be just as easy,” said S.P., a South African father-of-two.

Reduction in congestion

The ITC has stressed that the toll system is being introduced with the aim of reducing congestion downtown, and in the hope that commuters will opt for more sustainable modes of transport, such as public transit and carpooling. In recent months, the public bus system has therefore been enhanced, with 147 additional trips planned across the sites of the four toll gates, namely Al Maqtaa Bridge, Shaikh Zayed Bridge, Shaikh Khalifa Bridge and Al Khaleej Al Arabi Road, past Mussaffah Bridge.

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Dubai: The wait for police paperwork in lost passport cases has been reduced from four days to one thanks to a new blockchain platform, announced Thursday.

The new service starts next year and links Dubai Police, Dubai Courts, Dubai Public Prosecution and the General Directorate of Residency and Foreigners Affairs, to ease the process of obtaining a lost passport certificate to three easy steps.

The four government bodies signed a Memorandum of Understanding on the sidelines of Gitex this week, agreeing to share data between parties to streamline the process.

Dubai’s attorney general Eissam Eissa Al Humaidan, said, “The new service will cut the time it takes to register a lost passport. Usually it takes four days to get a certificate but the new service will enable the customer to get it quicker in three steps rather than eight.”

Usually when someone loses their passport they have to request Dubai Police to issue a letter and then he or she needs to get it stamped by the GDRFA, Dubai Courts and Dubai Public Prosecution, before revisiting the police station to collect a certificate.

Then the customer must apply for a new passport at their embassy before finally visiting the GDRFA to get a new residency permit.

In the new service, the customer will get a lost passport certificate from police, before heading to the embassy and GDRFA.

Tarish Eid Al Mansouri, director-general of Dubai Courts, said, “We will provide the necessary budget for the project and will have a network to keep all parties automatically updated with passport data. There will be a team made up of people from each of the government bodies to achieve the new service.”

Major General Mohammad Ahmad Al Merri, director general of GDRFA-Dubai, said, “We are working with government bodies for more cooperation to ease procedures on customers.”

Major General Khalil Ebrahim Al Mansouri, Assistant Commander-in-Chief for Criminal Investigation Affairs at Dubai Police, said, “The MoU, is part of the government’s strategy to use Block Chain platforms in 50 per cent of government transactions by 2021.”

Al Mansouri said that customers could get their certificates online through the Dubai Police website or via the smart app.

How the new service works

– Open the service via the Dubai Police website or app

– Apply for a lost passport certificate

– Go to your country’s embassy with the certificate to apply for a new passport

– Visit GDRFA Dubai to get a replacement residency permit in the new passport

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Attracting votes

Dubai: As voting got underway in the UAE for the Federal National Council (FNC) elections on Saturday, some voters here shared their thoughts and outlined their criteria for choosing their next representatives to the 40-member council.

There are 479 candidates listed for Saturday’s Federal National Council elections in the UAE.

Identifying concerns

After casting his vote at the Dubai polling center, Sultan Bin Saeed Al Mansouri, Minister of Economy, told Gulf News the elections play a key role in identifying the concerns of Emiratis and addressing them at the higher level.

“What is important for us in the UAE, and for our nationals, is that we choose our candidates based on their priorities and their agendas that have been presented, whether it is on the economy, on the environment; it could be political or it could be social,” Al Mansouri said.

Representing issues

“And, of course, through that, we’re able to identify — and through the government also — what are the priorities of our nationals and maybe we can address them also at the higher level, eventually.

“We are eager to see the new elected members to the Federal National Council and to be able to also represent these issues in a more detailed way.”

National progress

“From my side, in the economy [ministry], we’re very much happy to see any of the issues that are raised and also how we can address them in an amicable way, to be part of the progress of this nation and develop it even further.”

‘Very effective’

As for the voting process, Al Mansouri said it took him less than two minutes at the ballot.

“The process is very easy and can be understood by all the parties, different age groups, because you need to have it very simple, very effective, and that’s what I have seen here today. It took me less than two minutes for the whole process, which is good. You either recognize your candidate through their number or through their picture,” he added.

Voting criteria

Other voters said that their choice is based on several factors.

Some key criteria that stood out for some in picking a candidate: A “proven track record” in their field and someone who is “well connected”.

Mohammad Al Muhairi, an Emirati businessman who also works in a government department, said the decision to chose a candidate over others “is based on so many factors”.

Public interest

Al Muhairi, who has voted in the past four elections, added: “The candidates are our friends, and our brothers and sisters. Regardless of who will win, they are devoting their knowledge, time and effort to realise the purpose of the FNC, to serve the people’s interests.”

He said the attention to detail and superior facilities at polling booths “shows how seriously the UAE government is committed to this process”.

Done in 30 seconds

The actual electronic vote casting at the digital touchscreen booths takes only around 30 seconds if the voter knows the candidate’s number, Al Muhairi said.

“Even if you don’t know the number, you can go through the list very quickly and easily. The arrangements here are very smooth, as always, and they are constantly improving.

“I really want to thank the election committee for the great job they’re doing.”

Education priority

Another voter, Abdulla Mubarak, said he voted for a school principal who has a proven track record of improving standards.

“Education is a priority for me. And I know the candidate, who was a school principal, and she really made a difference in the community,” added Mubarak, a government sector employee who voted for the third time in his life.

“It’s important to look at the achievements of candidates,” Mubarak said.

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At 3:45am every morning, the alarm would ring. Time to go. With incomplete sleep and a back hurting from driving constantly, Hamza (name changed on request) would rub his eyes and start to get ready. After picking up the staff from their accommodation, he would have to make his way in heavy traffic, ensuring no one was late.

“A mini-bus driver’s job might look easy, but it’s not,” says Hamza. The 46-year-old, from the Indian state of Kerala is not a minibus driver anymore, but he recalls his driving days as “very stressful” and explains why minibus drivers drive the way they do.

“Many people say minibus drivers drive rashly, but they never understand why we have to drive fast sometimes.”

Battling sleep and traffic

“I would try to be in bed on time daily by 8:30 and 9pm so that I wake up on time.”

Even sleep is stressful. “We sleep knowing that other people’s work depends on us to get them to work on time. The staff needed to dropped off at 8am but we start much early. So you have to be up and alert when the alarm rings. So late to bed cannot be an excuse, even if you have a restless night’s sleep.”

Hamza said most minibus drivers experience the same problem, irrespective of whether they are driving staff from their accommodation to their workplaces, or dropping passengers who share cars. “Many times the passengers we pick up, would sleep off in the minibus. The ride gets quiet. We keep the volume of the radio or the music player low, so as to not disturb sleeping passengers.”

Many times, early work hours means landing straight into rush traffic hours. “The vehicle moves so slow, means constantly shifting between the first and second gear.”

With a combination of silence, slow-moving traffic and sleeping passengers in the back, drowsiness kicks in. “But, we tell ourselves to stay alert. So many lives depend on our alertness daily,” added Hamza.

“With both hands, both legs constantly working and our brain constantly pushing to stay alert. It gives you a lot of tension,” Hamza’s said, for drivers travelling between the emirates daily, the job is tougher.

The fear of losing job and money

Talking about the accident that took place on September 30, Hamza said, “In my experience, most minibus accidents happen due to over speeding.”

“You know why we drive fast?” Hamza asked. “Many times it’s because our passengers complain that they are getting late for work because we didn’t drive fast enough.

“When the traffic is bad, we automatically get delayed, it is not because we were inefficient.”

But, that again, is not an excuse. We have to be on time, there is no two ways about it.

“If we reach late, or punch in late, we lose our salary. If we drive fast and cross cameras, we land in fines that get cut from our salary. It’s a loss wither ways. And, if all these offences are repeated too often, we are fired.”

“If we reach late, or punch in late, we lose our salary. If we drive fast and cross cameras, we land in fines that get cut from our salary. It’s a loss wither ways. And, if all these offences are repeated too often, we are fired.”

Hamza (name changed upon request)

“We are scared, we will lose our jobs and we drive fast wherever and whenever we can,” he added.

“Our salaries are not much, sometimes Dh2000 or a little more, but I know minibus drivers who make much less than that. And, after our company is done issuing fines, we are barely left with any money to send back home.”

Hamza came to Dubai when he was just 16, in the year 1993. After working two jobs he went back in 2001, got married and returned to join as a driver at a hotel. Like many expats, Hamza also came to the UAE to support his family.

“We have families, and children, waiting every month depending on our meagre salaries, to pay for household costs, education and other things.”

He said: “To us, our health, sleepiness or hurting backs become secondary, when we thing of the money we need to save.”

Low salary, multiple drivingjobs

While minibus drivers who have fixed jobs of transferring staff from accomodations to companies, have enough tiime to rest, some of them don’t rest enough. Why? According to Hamza, it is because someof us have salaries so low, that we take up partime jobs to transport people.

“Some of us finish our shift and take a second round of passengers, so we don’t get wnough sleep.”

“And, to ensure everyone reaches everywhere on time, we end up driving a little fast. It is scary but we do our best to keep our passengers safe,” he added.

Maintaining the vehicle

For many minibus drivers, maintenance of the vehicle is also there responsibility. “When we take the vehicle to garages and ask for repair work that cost high, sometimes, our company or managers don’t believe it and require us for a tally. So we try to take the vehicle to cheaper places for repair. It hasn’t personally happened to me, but I know many fellow-drivers who have said this,” said Hamza.

Shape of minibuses unsafe

Another minibus driver,36, who transfers staff of a hotel daily added: “The shape of the minibus, is not like other cars on the road, they are flat in the front mostly. Since there is no hood part, in case of a crash, the driver and front passenger are mostly unsafe.”

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Dubai: UAE students turned into “flight controllers” on Monday and were able to “command” a space drone camera on the International Space Station (ISS) under the supervision of the first Emirati astronaut Hazzaa AlMansoori.

Hazzaa’s third live video call on his fifth day in space went beyond the usual question-and-answer session.

Instead, it was an interactive educational mission from the Japanese segment of the ISS called KIBO (Japanese for Hope) to teach students how to make a command table to control the Int-Ball, the world’s first zero-gravity camera drone.

The Int-Ball, or short name for the Internal Ball Camera, is a 1-kg 3D printed ball that is 150mm in diameter. It has two glowing blue eyes, a camera inside and can be controlled from the ground in real time.

Before the session with Hazzaa, Shinobu Doi, Manager for KIBO Utilisation Centre from the Japanese Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) taught students how the Int-Ball works using the law of Action-Reaction, also known as the Newton’s third law of motion. It states that for every action (force), there is an equal and opposite reaction.

Saving time

Doi said the aim of the Int-ball is to reduce the amount of time astronauts spend using a camera to manually photograph their work or equipment.

With the Int-ball, astronauts can spend more time on their experiments and less time taking photographs which the Int-ball can take for them through commands sent from the ground station in Jaxa.

In a recorded video, Hazzaa and back-up astronaut Sultan AlNeyadi taught the students at the Mohammed Bin Rashid Space Centre (MBRSC) tent how to maneuovre the Int-ball.

By 12.24pm, Hazzaa began his live session and explained how the Int-ball works, which has gyroscopes inside to control its speed and brakes. Assisted by Nasa astronaut Nick Hague, Hazzaa said the ISS works the same way at an altitude of around 400km.

He said the ISS has four gyroscopes or devices that measure or maintain rotational motion, which are controlled by the flight controller so it can maintain its altitude and continue to orbit the Earth without hitting any space junks.

“Flight controllers” for a day

During the session, Hazzaa quizzed the students to choose a command that would make the Int-Ball move upward. The students chose command number four which was sent from Jaxa to space, in effect making the students ‘flight controllers’ for a day.

And true enough, as the command was executed, the Int-Ball moved upward showing Hazzaa on the camera, the image displayed on the screen. He then congratulated the students for a job well done and for proving that they learned something from the session.

For the Q&A, Emirati students based in Japan were invited to the Jaxa headquarters to ask Hazzaa their questions.

Mariam Al Suwaidi asked Hazzaa what kind of robot he would build for the ISS if given the chance.

Hazzaa replied: “A robot with four arms to help me (and astronauts) do different tasks on board the station.”

Another student, Mansoor Al Mansoori, asked how Hazzaa was able to know the orientation of the ISS, figuring out which was “up” and which was “down”.

Hazzaa admitted it was very difficult in the beginning. He said: “The first time I was on the ISS it was difficult for me to determine where was up and where was down. But the good thing is we have the deck. This is our reference. Everything is oriented upward. This is the same thing we simulate on ground during our training.”

Hazzaa ended the 21-minute live call waiving his hand with a smile, pleased with the students’ inputs.

Some of these students travelled all the way from Fujairah like Hoor Rashid and 30 of her schoolmates from the Al Itqan School. She told Gulf News: “I’m interested in space. Maybe in the future we can pursue it inshaallah. Living in space is interesting. And looking at the Earth from the ISS is exciting.”

From Al Muhaisnah in Dubai, Filipina 10th grader Ma. Erika Julia Alquiza from the United International Private School said she appreciated the opportunity to contribute from Dubai.

“Despite the fact that matters like space technology and exploration are often seen as serious topics for adults, the UAE and MBRSC specially tried to include the efforts of the youth such as myself in their activities and saw us not as children but as individuals who can give our fair share of contributions… by sending a command to the robot (Int-Ball) while interacting with Hazzaa,” she told Gulf News.

Hazzaa will hold one final live video call on Tuesday before his scheduled return to Earth on Thursday after eight days in space.

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Dubai: Being in the right place at the right time proved the difference between life and death for 49-year old Pakistani expatriate Mohammad Siddiqui.

On September 17, while on his water delivery duty close to RAK Hospital, he experienced chest pain and collapsed.

He was rushed to the hospital’s emergency ward where medics immediately administered resuscitation and repeated shocks to bring him back to life. A quick ECG (electrocardiography) confirmed that Mohammad had suffered a heart attack and an angiography revealed that all five of his arteries in his heart were 70-100 per cent blocked.

Yet Mohammad had no clue leading up to this incident that he was even remotely ill.

Coronary Artery Disease (CAD) is a silent killer that strikes those who least expect it, and the only way to detect it is preventive screening, say doctors, who add that subsequent diet and lifestyle changes can then help remedy the situation.

Ahead of World Heart Day on Sunday, RAK Hospital shared Mohammad’s tale in order to prompt others to get themselves checked.

Mohammad had to undergo Rescue Angioplasty for the right coronary artery that was completely blocked. This was followed by off-pump coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG) where doctors put four more grafts in his blocked arteries. Thanks to quick action Mohammad was back on his feet within a week.

Dr Arun Goyal, Senior Consultant and Head of Cardiac Surgery Department at RAK Hospital who operated on Mohammad, said UAE residents should read the signs leading up to a heart attack that include discomfort and chest pain.

“We all know that the first hour is crucial when it comes to heart attacks, and the medical help a patient gets in that time period can prove to be a life-saver,” said Dr Goyal, “However, what we often see is that people fail to recognise the symptoms or wait for the discomfort to pass, thinking that they will consult a doctor later.”

In June of this year a 45-year old Yemeni expatriate who was jogging in Khawaneej Park after sunset, collpased suddenly.

A passerby summoned the ambulance and paramedics from the Dubai Corporation for Ambulance Services (DCAS) rushed to the site with a defibrillator to get the heart beating again.

A cardiology team comprising of doctors; Mahmood Azmi, Adel Sissi, VJ Sebastian and Murli Neelkathan, carried out clot removal and stenting in between cycles of CPR as the main artery of the patient was completely blocked.

The clot was cleared and a stent was fitted anbling the patient to be up and about within a few days of surgery. Doctors say the episode could have been fatal had not the ambulance arrived and revived the patient in time.

Impact of blocked arteries

Coronary arteries are the blood vessels that supply blood, oxygen and nutrients to your heart muscle. The build-up of plaque, cholesterol-containing deposits in the arteries causes the arteries to thicken slowing down blood supply to the heart which results in the heart muscle receiving less bood supply. The heart has to pump harder. This can be especially noticeable during physical activity, when your heart is beating more rapidly. At first, the restricted blood flow may not cause any symptoms. However, over time, as the plaque continues to accumulate and your arteries narrow, you may develop signs of coronary artery disease.

Five major reasons for artery blocks

– Smoking causes plaque build up

– A diet rich in saturated fats such as red meat and trans fat present in processed foods

– Obesity

– High choleterol, lipids and triglycerides in blood result in plaque deposits in arteries

– Sedentary lifestyle, with no exercise

Five signs of an impending heart attack:

– Chest pain, tightness and breathlessness

– Nausea, Indigestion and Heartburn

– Pain that maybe arising in the chest but radiating to your left arm

– Feeling faint and dizzy..

– Pain radiating to your jaw

Free heart checks on September 29

– Prime Hospital and all Prime health clinics offer free consultation for heart, cholesterol, blood pressure, Random blood Sugar from 9am-1pm and 5pm-8pm for all residents

– RAK Hospital offers free heart screening by cardiologists, which will includes height, weight, blood pressure, sugar levels and ECG if required between 9am-4pm

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DUBAI: Following the incident of an Emirati woman slipping into a coma during a septoplasty at a day care centre in Dubai in May, the Dubai Health Authority (DHA) has mandated that all day care centres should obtain international accreditation.

It may be recalled that the 24-year old Emirati woman slipped into a coma following a septoplasty that went horribly wrong in May 2019. The patient suffered a cardiac arrest on the operating table and had an oxygen deficit to the brain that resulted in brain damage and coma. The day care centre staff were not trained in Advanced Cardiac Life Support (ACLS) procedure that all accredited faciltiies have and that could have prevented the coma. The patient was flown to a long term care hospital in Chicago where she continues to be under treatment.

The centres have been given until the end of 2020 to get fully accredited. This move will ensure that all day care centres, which treat and discharge patients the same day) will operate according to the highest standards of medical care and safety procedures, bringing them on par with the hospitals in Dubai that are already compliant with international accreditation.

The cost of accreditation varies between US $3000-10,000 (Dh10,800 to Dh36,0000) minimum per annum but adherence to international standards can ensure high medical standards and eliminate any room for negligence.

Patient’s choosing a health care facility can check on the hospital or day-care centre’s website to know if the facility has an international accreditation. Additionally, the certification is displayed at the reception and patients can also enquire at the reception about the accreditation. For example, DHCC’s Hasan Surgery Centre, which is the first day care centre in the UAE and GCC to obtain an accreditation, prominently displays its AAAASD accreditation at its facility. All day care centres working to meet the 18-month deadline for international accreditation will also be able to add that detail to their facility’s website.

Why is International Accreditation so important?

The accreditation bodies set stringent standards for patient safety, hygiene and competency and undertake continuous monitoring and supervising of the centres to see that the standards are being maintained.. If the centres are found to be noncompliant, the bodies advise the centre to take steps to reimplement systems. If the centre is found failing in its effort, the accreditation is withdrawn. The gold standard in such accreditations are the American Association for Accreditation for Ambulatory Services Facilities (AAAASF), the Joint Commission International (JCI) or Health Standard Organisation (HSO) accreditation from Canadian health care regulatory body. There are recognised certifications from Australia or UK too.

DHCC’s first day care centre with American accreditation in UAE

The Hasan Surgery centre at the Dubai Health Care City (DHCC) is the first day care centre in the UAE and the entire GCC countries to have the AAAASF accreditation since 2016, much before it was made mandatory. It also has a local accreditation from the Dubai Health Care Regulatory authority (DHCR).

Dr Hasan Ali, European-board certified plastic surgeon and medical director of the centre, spoke to Gulf News about the necessity of this international ratification. “I think having one international accreditation is extremely important as it not only provides reassurance to patients but the stringent demands on high standards of safety, hygiene and competence ensure the centre is ever-vigilant and focused on patient safety. This is the best way to reduce the margin of error and strive towards excellence,’” Dr Ali said, whose centre recently renewed its AAAASF accreditation for the third year.

150 centres in Dubai Health Care City accredited

The DHCC has already begun implementing the mandatory accreditation criteria. Dr Ramadan AlBlooshi, Chief Regulatory Officer, DHCR, said “International accreditation has been mandated by the UAE Government for all hospitals, and in line with Vision 2021, health authorities are working to ensure that all public and private hospitals are accredited. As a regulator, we have been driving efforts in the field, and have accredited 150 outpatient facilities so far. It is encouraging to see a DHCC-based clinic such as Hasan Surgery that specialises in aesthetic surgery lead the way in seeking additional international certification and recognition for their standards.”

Thomas S. Terranova, AAAASF Executive Director, added: “In July, AAAASF conducted a triennial resurvey of Hasan Surgery, which demonstrated that the centre not only achieved the highest level of patient safety standards during its first survey, but also maintained its compliance with them.”

Core requirements for AAAASF accreditation:

• Floor plans of a day care centre must indicate that it has space for designated consultation, examination, surgery and recovery areas. These plans require to be approved by the accrediting body.

• Doctors working at the centre must have qualifications as per the local laws of the land and privileges to operate at a local hospital in case a patient has to be transferred in case of an emergency

• The qualification of the staff nurse, the doctors, anaesthetists and the ancillary staff has to be up-to-date.

• Staff must have training in Advanced Cardiac Life Support Course (ACLS). (In the case of the day care centre where the Emirati woman underwent surgery ,the staff was trained in ACLS) .

* The accredited centre has to send a full report regarding one complicated surgery every month to the board with detailed notes on what was done.

• If a patient dies during surgery, the board will investigate it.

• The AAAASF has strict guidelines on infection control, pest control and hand hygiene which is reviewed constantly.

• The operation theatre is commissioned every six months (the walls, the equipment and the air vents checked for any bacterial infestation).

• There are other Key Performance Indicators (KPI) that the centre is to follow in terms of the number of surgeries, the positive outcomes.

• The centre must also hold academic events on the education on patient safety and quality.

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“As a professional pilot, I’m used to praying while flying at high speed,” UAE’s first Emirati astronaut Hazzaa Al Mansoori said at a news conference in Baikonur yesterday when asked about praying.

As a Muslim, Hazzaa has to pray 5 times a day, but the question is how he would do it – due to time and space constraints. Hazzaa will be orbiting the earth every 90 minutes, which means he will be witnessing 16 sunsets and sunrises a day.

“Of course in space it will look a little different. I plan to record a prayer as I go down to earth, ” he added. 

So how will he pray five times a day and how will he figure out which way Makkah is?

Dubai Islamic affairs have tackled this dilemma for Hazzaa with a prayer booklet, and recommended for Hazza to follow the timings of Makkah in Saudi Arabia. As the land where the message of Islam started, this, they said, would be easier and better than the country of the launch.

In the booklet, the scholars at Dubai Islamic affairs have said that Hazzaa in space won’t be absolved from praying or fasting, and he has to administer those worships as a Muslim. They advised him to face Earth while praying if possible.

A song to my mother

As astronauts wait, strapped in, in the spacecraft, music is played to them right before the space flight begins. It’s a tradition and it helps calm them before the flight.

When asked if they have chosen a song that will be played to him while they’re sitting on the Soyuz spacecraft before launch, Hazzaa said: “I chose one song for my mom because I believe that we’re all here because of our parents. I chose one song for her to thank her.”

Hazzaa’s first words before lift-off

Hazzaa was asked by Yusuf Abdal Bari from Dubai TV about what he would say before lift-off – since Yuri Gagarin, the first man in space, has the famous line “Poyekhali” which means “Let’s go!” and Neil Armstrong, first man on the moon, has another popular line “Houston, we have lift-off.”

Hazzaa said as part of his culture, he entrusts everything to God, and said he thought his first line would be, “Tawakal na ala Allah,” which is Arabic for “We rely on the name of the almighty Allah.”

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“As a professional pilot, Am used to praying while flying at high speed,” UAE’s first Emirati astronaut Hazza Al Mansoori said at a news conference in Baikonur yesterday when asked about praying.

As a Muslim, Hazza has to pray 5 times a day, but the question is how he would do it – due to time and space constraints. Hazza will be orbiting the earth every 90 minutes, which means he will be witnessing 16 sunsets and sunrises a day.

“Of course in space it will look a little different. I plan to record a prayer as I go down to earth, ” he added. 

So how will he pray five times a day and how will he figure out which way Makkah is?

Dubai Islamic affairs have tackled this dilemma for Hazza with a prayer booklet, and recommended for Hazza to follow the timings of Makkah in Saudi Arabia. As the land where the message of Islam started, this, they said, would be easier and better than the country of the launch. 

In the booklet, the scholars at Dubai Islamic affairs have said that Hazza in space won’t be absolved from praying or fasting, and he has to administer those worships as a Muslim. They advised him to face Earth while praying if possible.

A song to my mother

As astronauts wait, strapped in, in the spacecraft, music is played to them right before the space flight begins. It’s a tradition and it helps calm them before the flight.

When asked if they have chosen a song that will be played to him while they’re sitting on the Soyuz spacecraft before launch, Hazza said: “I chose one song for my mom because I believe that we’re all here because of our parents. I chose one song for her to thank her.”

Hazza’s first words before lift-off

Hazza was asked by Yusuf Abdal Bari from Dubai TV about what he would say before lift-off – since Yuri Gagarin, the first man in space, has the famous line “Poyekhali” which means “Let’s go!” and Neil Armstrong, first man on the moon, has another popular line “Houston, we have lift-off.”

Hazza said as part of his culture, he entrusts everything to God, and said he thought his first line would be, “Tawakal na ala Allah,” which is Arabic for “We rely on the name of the almighty Allah.”

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Baikonur: In just a few hours, UAE will mark history in its space journey with the launch of Hazzaa AlMansoori to space. He will embark on his journey to the International Space Station from Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan and bookmark this page for live updates throughout. You can also download the GN app for notifications and updates.

11.25am

Sole Bonaventura and her husband Memo travelled all the way from Dubai to Baikonur to see Hazzaa off to his journey.

11am

Journalists wait outside the Cosmonaut hotel, from where the UAE astronauts, Hazzaa AlMansoori and Sultan Al Neyadi, will head to the launch site.

A historic journey

First Emirati astronaut Hazzaa AlMansoori will blast off to space onboard the Soyuz MS-15 spacecraft with Russian commander Oleg Skripochka and Nasa astronaut Jessica Meir from Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan.

Hazzaa will carry on his shoulders the hopes and dreams of Emiratis and Arabs as he breaks through into the space frontier by being the first Emirati in space and first Arab on the ISS.

Hazzaa and his backup Sultan Al Neyadi are the UAE’s national pride. Their mission is the culmination of nearly two years of preparation and hard work together with officials from the Mohammed Bin Rashid Space Centre that oversees that UAE Astronaut Programme.

The hunt for the UAE’s first astronauts was announced no less than by His Highness Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, in December 2017.

Some 4,022 candidates vied to be the country’s first ambassador to space. This number was cut to 95 and was further trimmed down to 9 and then two.

When Hazzaa and Sultan were announced to be the top two candidates in September 2018, Sheikh Mohammed said: “Hazzaa and Sultan represent a new phase for Emirati youth, and they will raise the ceiling of ambitions for future generations…. Arab people can achieve, if given the suitable conditions, and the Emirati youth are representing all Arab youth.”

Hazzaa and Sultan were sent to different countries that have space programmes as part of their mission. They trained side by side at the Gagarin Cosmonaut Training Centre in Star City, Russia, in Nasa in the US, and the European Space Agency in Cologne, Germany.

They completed their final qualification exams on September 1 and 2 before they were flown to Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan for the final launch preparations.

Today, both Hazza and Sultan stand proud with their people and the Arab world as they prove that for Emiratis, their ambitions and dreams are without limits.

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