And of course, because the excitement is inside a school, full of young people, it’s hard not to equate that youthful energy with the youth and vigour of the UAE. At just 51 years old, the UAE has built cities, sent a solar powered plane around the world, successfully delivered the world’s first Arabic Expo and fired a man into space. For such a young country, much has been achieved and it is hard not to reach the conclusion that part of the reason for that is a ‘well, why not?’ attitude, that often exists among the young.
When I consider the grand ambition that I see around me in the UAE, I am reminded of the words of Tim Smit, the man who developed the Eden Project in Cornwall, England. His was also a grand vision, of an indoor rainforest, a garden like no other, a sanctuary and a model for sustainable living. He said: ‘’I filled the project offices with young people. Because they didn’t know that it couldn’t be done…’’. The UAE has a similar attitude. Build the tallest building in the world on foundations of sand? Well, why not? A railway through the desert? Let’s do it. A Guggenheim? A Louvre? A brand new Mosque, Church and Synagogue celebrating the religious heritage of these lands? Yep – we can do that.
Being ‘realistic’ is sometimes necessary and every committee meeting needs a dissenting voice, if only to make the adventurers think harder. But the realists should never be allowed to become too loud a voice – if they did, nothing would change, imagination would be stifled, the dreamers would stop dreaming. As we celebrate 51 years of the UAE, let us also celebrate the dreamers who imagined and the ones who said ‘’so it’s impossible? Let’s do it anyway!’’
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