Friday, March 29, 2024 | Ramadan 18, 1445 H
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EDITOR IN CHIEF- ABDULLAH BIN SALIM AL SHUEILI

Patience is life’s lesson that ensures success

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Five-star hotel in Oman receives letters of compliments because of the ‘Fatherly Figure’ and Ami Habib has proven to be an asset  


Lakshmi Kothaneth -


lakshmiobserver@gmail.com -


It was an advice from a person who has had patience as a companion throughout his career and continues to be so. Habib Mohammed Rashid Awaladthani has been in the same profession for the last 36 years. He has met thousands of visitors to the Sultanate over the years and that is because Muscat Intercontinental is one of the first five-star hotels in the country that came into being in 1977.


By 1981, Ami Habib (uncle Habib, as he is fondly called today), a young man then, started working as a “coffee man” at Muscat Intercontinental. He used to make his own coffee mix and brew it.


One of his happiest moments was when a group of people arrived from different parts of GCC countries for a conference, but stayed in different hotels. However, every evening after the meetings they would come to him at the hotel for his Omani kahwa.


Among the thousands of people that he came across were ministers, celebrities, authors and tourists with whom he has exchanged greetings, but not necessarily remember their names. But he never forgets the faces.


Filming him was fascinating, but learning from him was even more intriguing. The hotel’s Human Resources Manager Yusuf al Rahbi describes him as an ‘Icon of Hospitality’, while Front Office Manager Suhail al Balushi describes him as one of the most punctual professionals, and ideal to manage the door as it is very important to have the ‘sense of arrival’.


He arrives almost 45 minutes to one hour ahead of his duty time and leaves after handing over in the most perfect way to the next person. The hotel receives letters of compliments because of the ‘Fatherly Figure’ and Ami Habib has proven to be an asset.


So what makes a person remain consistent in the same job for more than three decades? Not just stay but continue with passion. Greeting is an art for Ami Habib that visitors approach to shake hands with him even if there is no common language between them.


At a time when most people jump for the next opportunity that would secure an increase in salary, how does one stay content in one particular job? The fact is Ami Habib has not achieved the comfort of security of building a home for his family or having his children educated, something he didn’t have, as his schooling days were before Oman’s renaissance.


Ask him about the advice and he says with calmness, “Patience. Patience will take you to success.” Where did he nurture the wisdom from? “Life has taught me,” he answers.


He has seen the development of the country, seen greenery and buildings come around the hotel. Education is important and one must get it, he insists. But the career is one’s choice, he stresses. He does not make his own kahwa mix. But retirement is unthinkable for him because it is almost like a rhythm for him — the work and his family.


The purpose of life is highly significant in our lives, Ami Habib reminds us. It is not just enough to exist, but to excel in what you do. He has become a brand in his own right. He uses communication skills at all levels. From clicking of the kahwa cup on the Della — the coffee jug — to the eye contact and the art of shaking hands.


Customers arrive after long journeys or they might have many issues going through their minds, but uncle Habib has a knack of soothing away their pressures with his gentleness. It is all about the ‘sense of arrival’, you soon understand.


But there is one opportunity that is yet to be tapped. I can visualise Ami Habib’s kahwa mix, an Omani product that could go pan-Gulf and across the globe. It was the way he used to roast the coffee. That is what would make the product unique.


Learnt two Arabic words from him that also explained his priorities in life and the secret of his success — A’amali and Awladi — his work and his family members.


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