Mohammed wishes all a year full of accomplishments

Staff Reporter / 1 January 2013

DUBAI - Twitter is all agog with His Highness Shaikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum’s New Year tweets.

 Followers of the UAE Vice-President, Prime Minister and Ruler of Dubai are hanging on to every word he is saying online and spreading the good word around by retweeting them. His tweets in English and Arabic on 2013 were retweeted over 6,000 times in 24 hours after they went online on December 31. The responses prove that social media users share in his optimism and sense of purpose.
‘‘For 41 years, we’ve gone by a golden rule; Each year should be better than the previous one & each achievement stronger than its predecessor,’’ Shaikh Mohammed said. The Arabic version of the tweet was relayed 2,416 times by eager fans, while the English version was retweeted 503 times. The Vice-President shot off six tweets in English and Arabic with his New Year thoughts and greetings at 9pm on the last day of 2012 and the response in 24 hours has been nothing short of overwhelming.
Shaikh Mohammed’s Arabic tweets on New Year’s Eve were retweeted 4,816 times and the English versions 1,734.
‘‘Wishing you all a Happy 2013 full of accomplishments, blessings and happiness to you and your loved ones,’’ he said on Monday evening. He was upbeat on what to expect in 2013 and said: ‘‘Although 2012 was a successful year full of significant achievements in UAE, with God’s help 2013 will be even better and greater ...’’
Shaikh Mohammed was an early mover to social media on Twitter and Facebook, which he joined in 2009. He interacts often with his legion of social networkers and spells out his agenda for development while laying out his vision of governance for the country. The responses have been phenomenal and he now boasts over 1.3 million followers on Twitter with 1,204 tweets so far.
On December 28, he went on Twitter, asking people to celebrate his Accession Day on January 4 by honouring the labourers of the country. “This year, like previous years, I asked the authorities concerned not to make any celebrations for the Accession Day on January 4,” he said. “In the last two years, we highlighted key segments of the community that deserve our gratitude and attention such as orphaned children and mothers. This year, we focus on a new group: general labour employees such as gardeners, janitors, construction workers, domestic workers among others.”

Source: Khaleej Times (Dubai).