Double Happiness

HONG KONG, China – 喜 (xǐ – in Mandarin or hei – in Cantonese) is the Chinese character symbolic for joy or happiness. When two 喜 join together, the ligature 囍 has the same pronunciation as 喜 and may be sometimes pronounced as 双喜 (shuangxi in Mandarin) or 雙喜 (soeng hei in Cantonese), meaning double joy or double happiness.

Perhaps double happiness is best to describe the achievements of Abdallah Subaiyyal, Vice President of Fujian Integrated Refining and Polyethylene Project (FREP) in the Year of the Ox (i.e. January 26, 2009 to February 13, 2010).

The first joyful moment came on September 29, 2009, when the Chinese Vice Premier Zhang Dejiang presented the China Friendship Award to Subaiyyal at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, making him the first man from the Arab world receiving such honorable recognition.

The China Friendship Award is the highest prize conferred to expatriate experts working in China by the State Government. The ceremony is normally conducted prior to the National Day of each year by China’s Bureau of Foreign Experts and Affairs. However, the 2009 ceremony was different and in fact somewhat a memorable one – not only because Subaiyyal was the first Arab to receive the friendship award, but also the year 2009 marked the inauguration of FREP and the 60th Anniversary of the founding of the People’s Republic of China.

Good things come in pairs. Subaiyyal was once again awarded the Friendship Award but this time the award was conferred by the Fujian Provincial Government. On February 6, 2009, Subaiyyal received the Fujian Province Friendship Award at a ceremony hosted by the Fujian Foreign Affairs Office.

Subaiyyal’s excellent contributions to the economic development of the Fujian province as well as his utmost professionalism towards the FREP venture were criteria for the awards. Most of all, he has been the key driver between the friendships of Saudi Arabia, China and the Fujian Province ever since the venture was formed in 2007.