Even
in his 80s, Mohamed bin Rashed AlNaqbi remembers everything - people, places
and events. His memories return back to his childhood in Ras AlKhaimah. He has
born in 1935, in Khat village. He did not join any official education, but he
learned to write and read by spending time with a “Katateeb” in the mosque located
in the village.
Thereafter, he joined Alqasemeyah primary
school in RAK which is the oldest school in RAK town and then he travelled to
Qatar in 1960 to continue studying in secondary school. After his graduation, he
came back to the UAE and got a job offer to work as a teacher in Khat school
and then after a few years he was promoted to school manager.
Currently, his experiences and memories are
being used in a good way, giving an exceptional record of his life before and
after the union in 1971. Mr.Mohamed talked about the Emirate of Ras Al Khaimah
now and how it had been 60 years ago. He covered most sectors such as political,
economic, social, cultural, arts, media, and sports changes and developments in
the emirate during these years.
The Emirate of Ras Al Khaimah has an amazing
archaeological heritage and rich cultural history. This area has combination of the various different
landscapes: mountains, coastal beaches, mangroves and the desert; in the past
there were no roads, no transportations and no buildings. The life was so
simple. He added, people in the past used to travel from RAK to Dubai using
camels and taking almost 3 days for one way and the purpose was business,
selling and buying. It was really very difficult.
One
of his memories: he talked about Khat water spring as one of the famous sulphur
water springs in the UAE which made it a touristic place long ago. It was 50
years back with only one castle used for the purpose of fighting and defense.
Khat spring water was only a water tunnel without any facilities such as roads,
hotels or swimming pools. Meantime, people come from different places by camel
and stayed for a few days. People who were
living in this village used water in agriculture and farms. Now it has a lot of
changes such as two swimming pools for men and ladies separately as well as healthy
massage center .Roads reach to touristic places. In addition, a hotel is built
on top of a mountain close to the old castle and overlooking the village. Moreover,
a lot of villas were built in the same place.
Finally, he added that the life now has become
more comfortable after difficulties which were faced in the past. A lot of
changes involved sports, transportations, buildings and roads. “Life is
generally getting easier. I was an eyewitness to the overall progress and construction
achieved in the record time. When I recall the story of RAK, people might not
believe me since the young generation has been born and raised in luxury, and
live in air-conditioned comforts, own luxury cars. Yet, my generation would
absolutely understand what I am talking about.” Mohamed said.
