When the world gathers at one place

Published on: Sunday, November 28, 2021

By: James Sarda

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The Malaysian Pavilion based on a “rainforest canopy design.” A Sabah visitor would wish more of Sabah’s iconic wildlife and people should have been displayed as well as Sarawak’s.

Dubai: World Expo in Dubai

THE ongoing six-month Dubai 2020 Expo whose official opening was delayed by a year to October 2021 due to the Covid-19 global lockdowns offers a microcosm of what to expect if one were to visit any of the nations represented by their pavilions spread over what was once 4.3km of desert.

Under the theme “Connecting minds, creating the future” the 192 pavilions are housed under three distinct districts themed Sustainability, Mobility and Opportunity.

Visitors to the mammoth RM29 billion complex financed by petro dollars are greeted by robots who tell curious onlookers – in English of course and not even in Arabic – not to block their way as they whizz around, a foretaste of the Artificial Intelligence that is becoming commonplace.

For a nation which saw camels and tents dot the landscape in the 1970s, that all this is happening in the UAE is credited to the foresight of its founding father, late Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al-Nahyan.

Made up of seven sheikhdoms that share territory with Saudi Arabia, the UAE has also moved on culturally with its Sharjah International Book Fair that attracts leading publishers, writers and celebrities now being the world’s biggest.

It has also set a global benchmark for co-existence and is a role model in the Muslim world for tolerance. It is the only nation that has a Minister for Religious Tolerance who joins non-Muslims in their festivities in their holy places. Now, it is doing the same in innovation and recently established a Ministry of Artifical Intelligence and has space ambitions. It is working on a Mars project with Nasa and already sent an Emirati to the International Space Station, while preparing others for the same.

Back to the expo, entering any of the pavilions transports you to the stage of development that a particular nation is in the fields of innovation, technology, industry and tourism. As well as its contribution in the search for solutions to the planet’s most pressing problems like food and water security and renewable energy.

This is in addition to familiarising visitors to the country’s history, its present and its future vision.

Much of this is conveyed digitally via multimedia presentations that incorporate elements of shock and awe. The presentations revolve around human ingenuity, cultural diversity and entrepreneurship within the global family in tackling climate change, boosting conservation, furthering blockchain technology and AI.

On any given day, the majority of visitors are youths and young adults who are introduced to the kind of innovations that may decide the state of their and their childrens’ world in decades to come.

For instance, whether they would drive electric vehicles or ones that run on hydrogen gas, another alternative green energy solution promoted at the Slovak pavilion, as nations opt for zero-emission technologies.

Each country’s pavilion is built around a theme and hosts some events to introduce visitors to the very best from food to fashion to culture and tourism. Besides Nasi Lemak and Kueh Mueh, the Malaysian one offers fast food by a home-grown franchise.

Located in the Mobility district, the net-zero carbon structure is impressive and depicts a rainforest canopy that highlights the nation’s commitment to forest protection and the Government’s response to the anti-palm oil lobby.

A visitor is also treated to an animated history of the Malaysian jungle and wildlife.

Any disappointment for a Sabahan visitor would be the exclusion of Borneo’s iconic wildlife that captured the imagination of the west a century ago like Orang Utan, Proboscis monkeys, sun bears and pygmy elephants, the latter only found in Sabah.

Or to remind visitors that Sabah’s Kinabatangan, celebrated by David Attenborough in several BBC documentaries, was the subject of the world’s first wildlife documentary shown in western cinemas in 1920 (Jungle Adventure) by famed Hollywood pioneers Martin and Osa Johnson.

Then again, there is no one to blame as there were Sabahans represented in the Federal Cabinet of the previous administration when work on the pavilion was commissioned. It is not known how much was spent on the Malaysian pavilion but is impressive from afar.

Many of the pavilions have been built using recycled materials, which greatly lowers the carbon footprint.

The takeaway for everyone after visiting many of the pavilions is that mankind, indeed, has a shared future, regardless of where he resides on this planet.

The entire complex would be transformed into a high-tech satellite city when the expo is over come March 2022.

Floral designs woven from raffia strings adorn the Mexico Pavilion.

Pix of marine treasures outside the Bahamas Pavilion.

Palau’s Pavilion depicts its smiling people.

The importance of youths in the changing Middle East adorn Jordan’s Pavilion.

Images of Namibia’s old and young welcome visitors to its pavilion.

The Spanish Pavilion.

The Guatamala Pavilion.

The Turkmenistan Pavilion.

An understanding in 3D of the human brain in the Russian Pavilion.

Delicate pieces of silver paper give a shimmering effect at the Polish Pavilion.

The lush Singapore Pavilion.

Royal regalia on display at the Thai Pavilion.

An energetic display outside the Thai Pavilion.

The writer standing at the South Entrance of the 4.3km site.

His Highness Sheikh Mohammad Bin Rashid Al-Maktoum, the Ruler of Dubai looking at a space age vehicle.

The UAE Pavilion.

Exterior of the Russian Pavilion formed by colourful linings.

The sustainability pavilion that looks like a giant spacecraft from the top. Also seen are other pavilions.

A unique pavilion with words on the cones forming sentences.

The Cambodian Pavilion.

Below: The Israeli Pavilion showing images of Jerusalem. It is a stone’s throw from the Palestinian Pavilion (above). The UAE and several Arab nations now have diplomatic relations with Israel.