Under the patronage and in presence of Major General Mohammad Ahmad al Marri, GDRFA Director General and in presence of HE Major General Khamis Matar Al Muzeina, Dubai Police Chied, HE Jose Eugenio Salarich, Spanish ambassador to the UAE, Edwin Samuel, official spokesperson of the British Government in the Middle East and North Africa as well as a number of prominent personalities and embassy representatives, the First Positive Energy Forum 2016 was convened at the Jumeira Beach hotel recently. The Forum is a qualitative step that links institutional culture in Dubai to the directives of leadership to build the government of the future in a positive spirit, and the adoption of this policy through training employees to be more productive, and exploit employees capabilities through instilling a positive energy to implement the vision, foster competence and enthusiasm. Based on the firm belief in the need to promote a culture of positive energy, HE Major General el Marri launched, during the Forum, the ‘Free your mind' initiative. HE Major General Mohammad Ahmad al Marri, GDRFA Director General, in his presentation titled Employee happiness comes from the customer happiness, emphasized that the Directorate launched a number of Government initiatives aiming at improving quality of life in the UAE, especially that the Directorate is an integral part of Government. He explained, "In collaboration with the pioneer and excellent entities of government, we adopt positive energy, to contribute in implementing the smartest and most sustainable city, and to position ourselves as a main pillar of the world economy, as a continuation of the Dubai success story, in line with the vision of HH Sheikh Mohamad bin Rashid al Maktoum, to make Dubai a prime destination on all levels". He concluded saying, "be optimistic...those who are in the UAE will only find virtue...those who accompany the ideas and plans of Government can only find success...Success is built on positive energy which will be our motto and we will work on developing it in all parts of our Directorate." The GDRFA is the first interface of Dubai with visitors and the first impression they get about the UAE showing that it is the land of happiness through the smile and positivity of customs employees. Dr. Muna al Bahr, member of the Board of Trustees and Acting Executive Director of the Al Jalila cultural center for children, in her presentation titled, "Positivity in Humanitarian work", focused on two main elements, the first being love which, for her, is the basis of everything. She explained that we have many misconceptions about love and added that the Prophet indicated one is a believer only when he wishes onto others what he wishes onto himself. She also discussed the importance of transforming the ego to become a part of the a wider and greater universal energy". Dr. Aisha Busamit, director of communication and corporate communication at the Dubai Sports Council talked about her personal experience in positive thinking and said "words you say are not a mere reflection of what goes on inside your head but also program your mind which changes words into reality. So, if you want to have a positive behavior, you must always say positive words, such as I can, it's possible, and optimism". Happiness expert Med Jones, president of International Institute of Management, USA also gave various comments and data explaining the formulas for the happiness of people and individuals based on scientific studies. He said that the happiness economy is the new science. Happiness should be taught from a very young age and should accompany us into adulthood. Governments should devise policies to measure happiness, benefit from it and seek always to make their people happier. At the end of the Forum, HE Major General Al Marri announced the launch of the ‘Free your mind' initiative, which aims to spread the spirit of culture, education and innovation, as well as increase the knowledge of employees in modern means that are not time consuming and provide an institutional environment to disseminate positive energy, encourage human resources through the use of modern (smart) techniques in enhancing the efficiency of institutional education. The initiative will develop a short video that summarizes the main dimension of ideas of the a book or study chosen by the employees about the following themes: - Positive energy - Time management - Excellence at work - Making people happy
