Abu Dhabi/Dubai: It’s that time of the year when looking forward to living out a brand new clutch of 12 months enthuses people into making new resolutions all over again. It could be a desire to up their health quotient, switch to a new job, de-clutter their mental space or anything that holds the promise of making them feel happier, stronger, more successful. Gulf News spoke to residents and a first-time visitor to the UAE know why they continue to make New Year resolutions and what they are.
For Mohsin Mohammad, an Indian expatriate, 24, his New Year resolution is to find a good engineering job in Abu Dhabi. “I have made resolutions earlier but never followed through with them. This time, I am motivated [because], if I can find a job, it will build my future,” he said. Mohammad finds Abu Dhabi to be a beautiful, peaceful city and the UAE an ideal country to settle down in. Finding a good job, he said, would also help him make his parents proud of him. “I want to be able to look after them,” said Mohammad.
Glarese Pallipadan, an Al Ain-based Indian expatriate, believes New Year resolutions must have been started by a procrastinator whose guilt got the better of him or her. But that does not make her look askance at them. “I believe in New Year resolutions just like I still believe in Santa Claus and Easter Bunny. It is fun to have a list sorted at the beginning of the year as it feels like having ultimate control of my life,” said Pallipadan. Her resolution? “Actually going through friends’ snapchat messages before tapping them off the screen before they even begin to play.”
Ahmad Al Hosni, a first-year Emirati university student, is resolute as he looks forward to 2017. “My resolution is to keep up with my studies until I graduate. University is a new chapter in my life and it’s exciting because if I work hard [at my studies], the future is full of potential,” he said. Each year, Al Hosni said, is a stepping stone towards the main goal of finding a good job “so I can help my country, and then start a family”.
On the other hand, Prakash Thangavloo, a Singaporean expatriate businessman who is visiting the UAE for the first time, prefers to keep his New Year resolution the same year after year. “To enjoy good health, be around with my family, and succeed in my work.”
He explains the rationale of his tried and tested resolution. “I have four children who are all grown up now and that makes me a proud father. But I also want to be a proud grandfather. So it is important to look after my health and that means living a healthy life in 2017. I had a good 2016, and I want 2017 to be an improvement on it.”
He will be celebrating his New Year in the UAE. “It’s always nice when you get to see and visit a place you have never been to before,” said Thangavloo.
— Karthik Nair is an intern at Gulf News
