Mourning Again

Sheikh Saqr bin Mohammed Al Qasimi, the ruler of Ras al Khaima died this morning. He was ninety years old and one of the original rulers of the Emirates when the UAE was first formed. Although I had never heard much about him until today, by all accounts, he was a forward-thinking man who was loved by his people. To read a nice tribute about him, click here.

There will also be varying lengths of mourning, depending on the Emirate. (For the list, see here.) In Ras Al Khaima (RAK as it's gernerally known) where he was the ruler for the past 61 years, will fly flags at half mast for the next 40 days. In addition, government offices will be closed for the next week. It's unclear if the RAK Men's College and RAK Women's College are included in that considering that they are government agencies.

In addition, a number of events including tonight's grand opening of Ferrari World have been postponed until November 4th as a sign of respect. While I think that it is a show of a high level of respect that the highly anticipated opening of a world class amusement park is postponed, I would probably be a bit annoyed were I here in Abu Dhabi specifically for the opening.