When Ali was nicknamed ‘Ask Ali’ during his student years because of his knowledge of culture and tourism, he had no idea it would flourish into a newspaper column. Ask Ali, which is featured in The National’s M magazine, has since successfully expanded into the Ask Ali online portal, an Ask Ali TV show and the book, Ask Ali: A Guide to Abu Dhabi.
But tourism, hospitality and all that followed, is not a career Ali chose. “I wanted to become an air force pilot,” he confesses. “But my mum wasn’t too keen and she insisted that I would be the first Emirati in hospitality and make Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nayan proud.”
Ali decribes his life here in the UAE as, “one that I embrace, where I feel protected and relaxed – I live very comfortably, even though I am an Emirati without a Maserati!” And when it comes to his future, the best piece of advice he ever received was from an old man who said, “Son, each person’s future has already occurred, therefore you shouldn’t complain if things don’t work out, it’s always meant for a greater reason – simply learn from that experience and appreciate life’s ups and downs.”
