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Abu Dhabi: He stood at a busy intersection in the heat of an Abu Dhabi afternoon and did a full circle pointing at the buildings he helped build: three major landmarks in one intersection alone.
A short drive through the capital and David Spearing points at the buildings as if they were a part of his portfolio. "But I have to admit, I do have a favourite building that I want to show you," says the 70-year-old retired structural engineer.
After leaving Britain in the mid '60s, Spearing was convinced by a friend to help with a construction project in the UAE. He agreed to an assignment for a maximum of six months. Little did he know that 40 years later he would still be here and become an integral part of building modern Abu Dhabi.
His portfolio includes popular projects such as the world's largest flag pole near Marina Mall, Heritage Village, the first pedestrian underpass, Etisalat buildings, the cricket stadium and several embassies. That's in Abu Dhabi alone, and doesn't include the countless neighbourhoods, hotels and towers he has been a part of throughout the UAE.
With a razor-sharp memory, down to the colour of the hotel where he first stayed, Spearing recalls his first few days in Abu Dhabi. "We were trying to get to Al Ain and of course there were no roads at that time so we had to drive through sand dunes, getting stuck quite often.
"I remember I got out of the car to look at the sand dunes that were all around us. This was July 1968, which was the peak of the heat. I thought to myself, 'Two days ago I was in Oxford, England and today I am going to die in the Empty Quarter of the desert'," the Cambridge University alumnus laughs.
In a trip that now takes roughly an hour, Spearing and his convoy spent 10 hours getting to Al Ain.
Spearing stands in front of his masterpiece of sorts, and proudly says, "This, I believe, is the oldest commercial building in theUAE and it's called the Rashid Al Wida," Of all the high-rises and glass towers which he has had a hand in, Spearing favours a boxy four-storey building sandwiched between skyscrapers on Hamdan Street. Built in 1969, the first floor of the building was used for shops while the top floors were apartments.
Despite all his accomplishments and survival stories, Spearing is a celebrity to a very different crowd than just engineers and construction gurus. Tennis stars and their families know Spearing on a first name basis and he speaks of Roger Federer and Serena Williams as if they were his neighbours. Since 1974, Spearing has been a steward at the Wimbledon Tennis Championships in England. "I have the best job in Wimbledon," he says as he pulls out pictures of him sitting next to families of tennis superstars.
As a steward, he organises the box where the players' families sit. Of the seven seats in the box, each player is allotted three, which leaves Spearing the seventh seat. His record has made him the longest-serving steward in the history of Wimbledon and gained him quite a reputation.
One of the trademarks is the cap that Spearing wears to all of his games. On it, the words "The Club" are inscribed. Thousands of miles away from Wimbledon is the Abu Dhabi's oldest recreational facility, known as The Club. "It's a piece of home that I take with me," he says. Spearing's long stay in the UAE coincided with the beginnings of Gulf News, and he recalls the changes over the years.
"I had a connection when the paper when it first started. I was in Dubai at the time so I read it from day and I am still a subscriber now. Even when I moved back to Abu Dhabi in 1980, I still read it. It has developed so much over the years. What I enjoyed most is the mixture of local news and international news. I always enjoy reading the editorial page. Some times I fully agree and others I disagree, but either way they are very stimulating.
"If I may be very honest, I don't enjoy the advertising supplements. There is too much of them. The paper is the thickness of a book. In the past 30 years only one thing has made me very upset. I don't like President George Bush, but I did not enjoy the letter you wrote to him on the front page when he came here. It was very distasteful of you to write that letter, very bad taste. Other than that I have, and still, enjoy Gulf News very much."
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