UAE is a dream destination of hope.

There's a plan and the course that is charted out by the leadership to reach this destination is clear.

In a year defined by the pandemic that has ravaged lives and economies, the UAE provides a million reasons to hope for those in distress.

In this country, hope is not an aimless pursuit, that which is tossed about on the stormy seas of life.

It is not a rudderless ship that is wrecked on some distant shore, neither is hope prosaic and poetic - it is a planned, definitive destination in a voyage that has many uncertainties.

There's a plan and the course that is charted out by the leadership to reach this destination is clear.

Indeed, this Hope is even on its way to Mars in the form of a satellite that will open our eyes to unknown planets and world beyond our blue planet.

Hope is about exploration, hope is celestial, hope is infinite in the UAE.

This National Day is a celebration of the Emirati zest for life that has risen above the challenges of the year that many would like to forget in a hurry.

The year has been a nightmare for millions who have lost their all to a tiny pathogen that continues to baffle experts about its origins.

The beginning of this pandemic has not been fathomed but the end is in sight.

This country exudes hope and energises the weary soul as it focuses on the future that sheds the vagaries and wanton lust of wars, conflicts and catastrophes.

The UAE's optimism about the future on the 49th National Day stems from the way it handled and brought the coronavirus pandemic under control.

Officials tracked, traced and treated victims.

Sacrifices were made, lives were lost, businesses were affected.

Yet hope shone the...