Thoughts To Ponder About

Where did all the tuna go!

2011-09-10T10:27:00.000-07:00

The hullabaloo of the Male’ fish market and the sounds of the busy street filled with people of all works and ages continue to be the real face of the capital Male’. The scene also gives a glimpse of the human and environmental dimension of dwindling fish stocks. Most people enter rushing in to the fish market, often worried and unhappy about high prices. With increased heart beats, over active sweat pores and a tightened nose to shut out the stench of the different types and qualities of fish, people keep moving in and out of the market.

As a child growing in Male’, it was one of my routines to visit the market every evening, often twice or thrice a day. Fortunately there was more than enough of fish, most days and the basic economic principle of more supply reducing the price works perfectly. As the evening fades, price goes low enough for my landlord to buy 4 or five skip jacks of about 1-3 kg. In those years of the mid 90s only very rarely does the price of a tuna goes above Rf 50.

However a complete turnover has taken recently toppling the price of a tuna to Rf 100-150 on a daily average. This may not be shocking to a youngster who visits market these days, but it is something alarming for a person like me who has seen the old fish market in the vibrant years shifted to a new two story market and beyond. Throughout all these years what I have seen is a constant reduction of fish landings and a hike in price of our most preferred and accessible protein source, tuna. In the early 2000, for a University assignment I collected information from fishermen and found that they were able to catch 30 metric tons of tuna per day and this was the time a new fleet of modern fiberglass boats of larger capacity ventured in. They also claimed that they can often catch double this amount especially during high seasons, but had to sell under the price. This was also the period when yellow fin fishery for Japanese sashimi markets started booming. Sadly the average catch kept on dwindling down steeply. To make things worse our fishermen kept on practicing the traditional pole and line bringing super quality tuna, while lagging behind their purse seiner rivals who were scooping out the entire Indian Ocean.

With no doubt over fishing has led to depletion of stocks bringing us to the dilemma we have today. To make matters worse we are in no way near recovery for stocks and we may either loose stocks of certain species or may have to force ourselves more restrictions. This will then lead to a revolution which will not only affect our nutrition but also will torment our culture and traditions and way of life. We have lived as seafarers and our forefathers got stranded on these islands with nothing except the bounties of the seas. We have lived as fisher folks for centuries and sometimes we refer us as having blood of fish. It is hard to make a living from traditional tuna fishing these days, while also making it impossible to enrich our diet with the goodness of protein and omega-3 much sought after from the tuna. It has now become a collective struggle of the entire nation to harvest and live on the bounties of our seas. It is hard to even imagine the devastating consequences of dwindling fish stocks on the human and environmental dimension.

Boycotting the Israel and the Maldives Political ties

2009-10-05T11:40:00.000-07:00

The recent saga going on to boycott Israel and the Maldives diplomatic ties is a serious blow to the democracy and international relationship. Some politicians are rejecting the intentions by the current government to strengthen diplomatic ties with Israel. The government’s decision to strengthen the political ties with Israel became the fuel for the ongoing political war between the ruling party and the opposition. Some parliamentarians and opposition activists have even vowed to oust the government on allegations of undermining the Islamic principles of the state. Of course both the Palestinians and Israelis have engorged in a war to gain secure statehood for both sides. Israelis on their part have infringed the international law by rejecting to hand over the occupied land. Palestinians on the other hand are fighting their way by ensuing terrifying acts, such as suicide bomb attacks against ordinary Israelis.

The harsh reality of the plight of the people of both sides is indisputable, that the ordinary lives are seriously affected by this war. As such, we cannot demonize the ordinary people of both Palestinians and Israelis. In fact the vast majority of Palestinians and Israelis want peace and some of the IDF; soldiers, who fought in the recent fighting’s, were the first people to publicize the heinous acts carried out against Palestinians. Moreover a large number of Israeli human rights activists protested against these acts and several academics also took their side. So the well learned Maldivian parliamentarians should seek knowledge before revolting a public uproar against a country and her people. The majority of people in Israel are peace loving and wants to end this war through a two state solution. Hence our people need to unite with the people of Israel and open up our country to them so that we can work together to achieve peace. I see a bright future for world peace through such diplomatic ties. Israelis have lost trust in most Arab states due to lack of democracy in most of these states. If we as a budding democracy can bring them to negotiation tables on the sunny side of Maldives with our Muslim brothers and international community, who knows Maldives may be the historic place where the fruits of peace ripen. We also need to look at how Prophet Mohamed (Peace be Up on Him) showed patience towards stubborn and brutal people. When he was attacked in Thoif and when he got the power to crush the whole city of Thoif he chose to give them a chance. This is the Muslims way of treating brutal and fierce people.

We can never achieve peace by demonizing a people and alienating them. In every nation the majority of people love peace and solidarity. We should not look at diplomatic relations from a single point of view. How many peace loving Israelis would love to enjoy a peaceful and quite holiday in the Maldives? There are many things we all can learn from sharing and caring. After all the real ties are between the people of nations, not with the politicians.

Where does all the dollars go?

2009-09-01T00:10:00.000-07:00

The leakage of foreign currency from the country has never been addressed till now. The major sectors in the country employ foreign labor who take away much of the tourism dollar earned. The high leakage from the tourism sector itself worsens the staggering situation. A large percentage of the tourism dollar goes to the travel agents, while importing all major essentials including fruits, vegetables and meat for the tourist resorts also adds on to this. Moreover the large number of expatriates employed in resorts also adds on to this. Sadly there are also so many laborers employed, who can be easily replaced by Maldivians. The businessmen are more worried about the immediate profit they gain from employing cheap labor, rather than the long-term impacts of this on the country’s economy.
Another booming industry in the country is the construction industry which too employs foreign cheap labor. While this group of manual labor doesn’t cost much to the loss of foreign money, the heaviest burden is put on by professionals such as doctors, engineers, nurses, teachers, accountants etc.
As I have some experience from the education sector and lot of my friends work in this sector, I would share some of my thoughts. From my days of schooling till now the strangest thing in the Maldivian education system is the “disease” called “tuition” or in other words private tuition. It’s such an irony that even the most intelligent and capable students are either required to undergo private tuition or forced to do so by parents who want their children to do the very best. I believe the tuition culture was a creation from our beloved foreign teachers. Even though a large proportion of these teachers are genuine and working hard to enhance their students’ performance some teachers never make enough effort in their daily routine school teaching. Instead they priorities their tuitions and spend so much time on private tuitions they neglect their classroom teaching. The immense amount of money paid on tuitions is leaked out from the economy and hence will elevate the dollar shortage problems. Moreover these teachers are paid more allowances than local Maldivians doing the same jobs. My suggestion is that all teachers be paid on a packaged basis, which could be revised every 3 years. For instance based on the current situation all foreign secondary teachers can be given a package of ten thousand rufiyaa. Similarly higher secondary teachers can be given 12 thousand and principals can be given 15 thousand. Since there is no way to stop the tuition business of foreign teachers this kind of package pay will lessen the burden on the dwindling economy of the country. A similar package can be given to doctors and nurses and other professionals as well.
Foreign laborers also take on manual jobs which are considered dirty by locals such as garbage collection from households. In my opinion this can also be regulated if a proper municipal waste collection be setup. It will be worth investing a high amount to ensure that on a long run this dollar is not leaked out. For instance a company can do collection at certain times of the day. Male’ can be divided to small regions and collection can be set up. Also special collection vehicles can be designed instead of Lorries or pickups as they are too large to move around some small streets.
Every little effort is worth in a big crisis, like this.

Provinces are essential for good governance

2009-08-30T01:32:00.000-07:00

The creation of provinces by the newly elected government turned futile due to the anticipated resistance from the Opposition. There is the talk of government expenditure and increase in government spending due to the larger number of political appointees. However a large proportion of these appointees were the councilors anticipated to bring a local level of governance by electing them through a local election. The intention of local level governance was based on good governance principles of empowerment of locals to participate in the decisions that affect their lives.
The form of decentralization the government is advocating is called “devolution” where sub national units of governments or provincial level governments are created and strengthened financially and legally to manage a designated province. This is the very first of a long phase of good governance. The aim of this strategy is to create more open, responsive and effective local governance, resulting in a representational system of local Island level decision making. By making provisions for local island communities and provincial level of governance the local islanders can effectively manage their own affairs. Additionally closer contact between central and local authorities can also be achieved, enhancing effective systems of local governance enabling local people’s needs and aspirations to be heard where by making the government interventions more socially accepted.
Sadly the Parliament has a majority of very young but charismatic members with very little experience on governance and local livelihoods. Some of them are just fresh graduates and many others have not had good education and hence cannot comprehend the importance of this. President Nasheed’s efforts are immense to advocate on these issues, however the opposition twists and turns the story. We need provinces as providing all services to the highest standards are neither feasible nor financially sound at island or atoll level. As a matter of fact the population would be too small to provide any services on a user pay basis. Another argument from the opposition is that there will be issues of resource allocation as most of the fishery resources are common to all Maldivians regardless of the island or atoll. I believe that this is not an issue if we look at the broad context of provinces. If all land and water is state property it will all be equal to all citizens. The opposition however is confusing federalism and decentralized governance. Federalism as created in some countries like Australia is totally different from decentralized governance. In Australia the Commonwealth was created by states to run their international and other affairs and hence this system and the model of provinces we follow for good governance is totally different.
We need a parliament of highly efficient and experienced professionals unlike those who babble and waffle as the saying goes “empty vessels make more noise”.

Can we cut down government spending by reducing pay to civil servants

2009-08-12T01:28:00.000-07:00

The decision to cut down the government spending by reducing the pay for civil servants has come as a shocking wave throughout the country. The instance the finance ministry decided to increase pay for government staff at the beginning of the year was the silence before the storm. While the whole world was facing an economic down turn the Civil Service Commission (CSC), revised the salary scale of the civil servants and urged the government to take action. The decision to increase the salary also came as a commitment of the current government during their campaigns.
The increase in pay also was influenced by the sudden increase in the pay of parliamentarians of the country. Due to the compounding effect of several factors the pay for civil servants was increased. This then lead to an increase in prices of the daily essentials, especially the rent. Increase in rent lead to the increase in the price of all the goods. While the prices of all goods and services have soared and inflation keeps rising, the government decides to cut down the pay of civil servants. This will further widen the gap between the rich and poor and lead to a financial disaster. Without taking any measures to cut down the costs of the daily essentials the government should not have taken this decision. Abolition of import duties of daily essentials also had not changed the price of these goods and the prices of vegetables and fruits are as high as countries like Australia. Additionally the rent paid by the poor islanders working so hard is leaking out of the economy as most land owners from Male’ has moved out of the country to live in livable cities like Colombo, Trivendrum and KL. Sadly the price of a two bed room apartment in Male is as high as that of prices in Singapore and Malaysia. However only those fortunate enough to hold a land in Male or are rich enough can fulfill this dream. This leakage is compounded with the widening of the gap between the rich and poor and hence the government needs to address these issues before reducing the pay of the civil servants. Even with post graduate education, there is no way to make ends meet in the current situation. The working hours for civil servants also makes it impossible to do any part time adding to the burden of bearing extra costs.
I strongly urge the government to consider these issues and I strongly feel people from other islands working in the civil service to go on a strike. We all should remain at home till we are served justice. There is no way for us to pay a rent more than our salary and survive this economic down turn. Since all properties rented are based on a legally binding agreement, the housing ministry should set up a committee of lawyers who can stamp these agreements based on a monetary scale set by government authorites. If the rental prices are not regulated the economic leakage will be so high that the country will fall in to a deeper economic recession.

the root cause of the socio-economic problems in the country are mainly due to the uncontrolled rental charges while by law most of the land and are state property.

If a person is renting a house build on state property the state have the authority to regulate the rental charges for that property. Hence enacting a proper proeprty law for the country is highly essential as people from islands other than Male are given an unfair disadvantage on the expense of others.

Guilty until proven Innocent!

2009-07-06T22:35:00.001-07:00

Ever since the DRPA hogged up the majority of the parliament in the recent election, the government has been faced with the saga of their power hunger. The powerful majority for Kaaminee clan and the loyalists of Thasmeen has yet again proven that the local island communities were mesmerized by their sihuru, fanditha and haahooras. Speaking in common sense the bogus of throwing money to powerful loyalists of former regime in their strong holds such as in Raa Atoll has yet again shown the public cannot exercise their rights.
Since the DRPA members and loyalists are innocent until proven guilty, while the ruling party members are guilty until proven innocent, the separation of powers in the country is put in to an even greater test now. While the judiciary seeks for supremacy over others by over ruling any criticisms, the DRPA majority parliament also has fallen in love with a supremacist dictatorial authority. They are in a false belief that the executive can be made their puppet by using the power of impeachment. However the infant new government has immense challenges to overcome this saga of supremacy played by DRPA parliamentarians.
The current game plan used by DRPA parliamentarians to conceal the inconvenient truths of the former regimes corruption allegations comes by the code name “guilty until proven innocent”. The convenient solution to the inconvenient truth of corruption allegations used by DRPA members in the hopes of escaping the charges is not beyond commonsense. Some members run on a wild goose chase such as demonizing the president on allegations regarding the sipping of some Shiraz during an interview with an Indian reporter. Others carry on questioning the genuineness of Presidential Commission for investigating corruption allegations as well as Anti Corruption Commission and Auditor General. These game tactics has made the media to move away from the real problem we need to resolve, the corruption allegations by auditor general on former regime. It is undeniable that the former regime has embezzled state funds and their nepotism and despotism has transformed some loyalists in to business tycoons. The proof needed to charge these tyrants may never be uncovered as long as they keep using the money and power and tyranny. Meanwhile a bunch of lawyers claiming to be honest citizens has joined hand in hand with these tyrants. This will cause immense losses to the country and to the future generations.
Sadly some parliamentarians claiming to be honest and loyal to the nation and the people are found to be loyal to only Golhabo. I wonder when these people will come to see the reality and help our future generations to inherit a free and fair nation. Sadly money speaks for most of these parliamentarians and some young and hopeful future politicians are putting their career at stake by being loyal to only Golhabo. They still have the high hopes of bringing the Kaaminee clan to power to enjoy the tyranny of the past. The current DRPA parliamentarians are now putting their political careers in to a great test by being loyal to tyrant, ruthless Golhaa. Lack of visionary in rising to their seats and for future will put a dead end to their political career. If only they could understand the wave of change and the reality that today’s generation will be replaced by a younger generation with the aspirations and dreams for a free and fair nation, they should act in favor of the people.

The realpolitik and “Back me! Or I will sack you”

2009-06-05T00:19:00.000-07:00

The realpolitik which we are facing is not merely a coincidence but based on circumstances faced by the infant democracy fruiting in the Maldives. Recent sacking of the AG and Communications Minister were part of this. The truth is that no executive can exercise his responsibilities without the backing of his ministers. So there is no reason to criticize president for the expulsion of them from the cabinet. There is a twisting and turning of every good deed done by the hopeful new president and apparently every step he makes is heavily criticized by the opposition. The separation of powers has gone to the extent that public service is separated from the elected executive and the executive is being treated as an alien in the democratic regime. Rule of law is becoming a joke as the staggering allegations of corruption by the ousted dictatorial regime keeps denying every speculation and sweeping their white collar crimes under the carpet. The president is enduring the fate of a canary in a coal mine due to the push and pull from both sides of the political realm. His own party is pushing him forward for justice to prevail against the former regime politicians. Meanwhile the opposition is frying him and daring him to take any action. The biggest stunt so far is the denial of the legitimacy of the presidential commission. It’s a bit skeptic for him to do it independent of the other powers of the democracy. However the need for it is undeniable given the inadequacy of the system to deal with corruption allegations of former regime.
It is an undeniable truth and also an inconvenient truth, that Golhabo and his family and friends embezzled state money and funds for their own wealth and to make their own coffers fat. Walk around the capital and there is no need to go much deeper to prove this. The high rise buildings and the wealth of the former regime is not something which has come out of the assets of the nepotistic allies of Golhabo. The most agonizing and bogus thing about the former regimes manipulators is the ridicule they make of themselves by convincing the public that former regime ministers like Zaky should be put on trial for corruption. However the public never understands that they are accepting their crime as they are willing to go on trial if Zaky is given the same fate. They are in false belief that this could intimidate the justice. From my understanding it clearly indicates these so called honest, humble, and kind hearted politicians are completely accepting their crime by justifying the need to put people like Zaky on trial.
It is also not surprising that the, newly elected parliamentarians starting a wild goose chase by bringing bills such as halving the paycheck which they adored and made legitimate all by themselves. I myself was agonized as this bill was put forward by one of the MPs whom I have great respect. It could have been more worth if they all start doing their job without trying to make a big “haa-hoo” and try to understand the realpolitik. Of course they do get an unreasonably high pay while most people including me are paying through the nose to make ends meet. Sadly most of them do nothing but babbling in a room where the remaining half of them just warm their seats.
The separation of powers is the main issue of the current Parliament, and their main agenda is to put the president from the frying pan in to the fire. All in all the parliamentarians have yet again fooled the public, by giving a blind eye to the gist of the matter. It seems the parliament is the stage for political contests among the politicians, amusing the people as in a cock fight. I just wonder whether any MP has ever assigned representatives in their constituencies and publicized their agenda and their principles and their plan for serving the constituents and the nation. Dear MPs, you get paid heaps of money not just to keep your ass down inside the parliament and sell your vote to the highest bidders. You have bigger roles inside and outside the four walls of it. Reach out to us and be answerable to us. Back us now coz in the next election we will sack you.

The Unsung Heroes

2009-05-17T20:18:00.000-07:00

The recent parliamentary election was the most highly contested in the history of the Country. Some constituencies had as many as ten or more candidates represented by different parties and independents’ as well. This was never seen in prior elections. Usually 2 or 3 candidates will contest along with their dummy’s, used to disaggregate votes. During this election patriotism was shown by many islanders and they took this opportunity to voice their constituency’s aspirations and dreams. Many were in fact so patriotic that they preferred the candidates who were born and raised in their constituency. Some believed that it will help future generations of their constituencies to become more aware and active in politics. This election also became a turning point for longest serving MPs and the public has yet again shown the rhythm of change echoing the nation.
However influence has again infiltrated in to the thick democratic plasma and got in the way of democracy. Lot of influential figures was still able to overpower some genuine, patriotic and charismatic young contestants. In some of the constituencies, rich and powerful hogged the seats, making the patriotic and genuine candidates disheartened. However one thing we need to keep in mind is that in the “democracy” we enjoyed for the past 30 years the elections have always been bigotry, where loyalists of the regime and rich people hogged up the whole political arena. This still lingers on in our society, even though we have embraced the true democracy. Some candidates who won the seats were alleged for corruption and yet swept away a large majority and won their seats. This shows our public being blindfolded by a group of influential people in the society for financial gain from such candidates. Some candidates who won the seats have hardly put their feet on the soils of their constituencies and others who claim to belong to them have never seen the sunrise on their constituencies. We may be highly educated, rich and influential and belong to a strong political party, but understanding the aspirations and dreams of local communities is not something one can earn by just visiting their constituency once in a blue moon. Many educated people in the society fail to understand the pain and grievances of our local islanders. When we visit an island we see our islanders behind a white washed wall. It is simply not enough to understand them in such a way. Yet money had spoken during this election, whatever the means how it has infiltrated the free and fair curtain is unclear.

I salute the unsung heroes of this election who had come forth with selfless, patriotic and genuine concerns to improve the life of local islanders. You may have lost this time, yet you have shown to your constituents that, young charismatic, patriotic and selfless, leaders have grown among them and you will always be considered an aspiration for the younger generations of your constituencies. Live with them and be with them and show your genuineness and selfless, patriotism to your fellow citizens. Someday they will stand up for you and will realize that true heroes are among them.

Credibility of opposition

2009-04-29T00:01:00.000-07:00

The audit reports from various institutions governed by former regime shows corruption being the major setback during the time the regime upheld power. The untold stories and the publicly known secrets show that the allegations were in fact true. However the DRP candidates for the Parliament keep on denying these facts and blaming the current government. The really sad thing is that a lot of people still are not well aware of this. I believe that most DRP candidates have lost their credibility due to the leadership which during its reign in the country was nepotistic and despot.
Whenever a long ruling regime falls, it takes lot of time and courage and wisdom to return back and gain the public’s trust. For instance the failed BJP government of neighboring India is enough proof that this is the case. If we look at the public approval of much such failed leadership it will show the real truth behind this. For instance the opposition in Australia and USA are far below the approval rate of the ruling parties. People like Nasheed (AKA Kutti), were able to realize this as they are better informed than most of the DRP candidates. The candidates who are showing overwhelming support to Golhabo will lose their credibility even more with their current campaign strategies, whereby using Anti-campaigning strategies. The easiest way to gain trust is to face the public and admit that the DRP rule had problems and also a total reformation on the helm of the party is critical. No political party has succeeded with a long ruled dictator leading the party. There is a wind of change around the globe, not only in politics but in everything from the way people live to their thinking. The psychology of young emerging youth is to move with change and this is the current pattern of thinking, not only in Maldives but around the whole world.
The well learned and skilled leaders in the DRP are slowly moving away unless they are bound to the party due to some unresolved and inescapable obligations. Like the President said it is far easier to maneuver and manipulate the DRP loyalists as they are on a wishes cycle which started from DRP itself. The long list of such people can be counted starting from one of the loudest former vocals of DRP, Mr Imad Solih. I believe the current opposition lacks vigor and wisdom as well as credibility to oppose the current government successfully. The personal attacks from both sides are cracking the foundation of democracy. Let alone DRP, leaders such as Mr Umar, and Dr Hassan as well as Mr Gasim is lacking the necessary tools to fully exercise their opposition in a democratic and convincing manner to the public. Eventhough I try not to be biased to anyone in this article, I believe that MDP has shown over time and again and again, the political resilience, through skill full political tactics. The way MDP has come to power within the grips of a dictator is enough to write a PhD in Politics and Democracy.

Life at the backdrop of Theemuge

2009-04-17T22:01:00.000-07:00

I felt sad and shocked and dismayed when I saw the Audit Report of the FORMER Presidential Palace. It was disgusting to find out the lavish life style of Golhabo and his family. Well tears flowed from my eyes, and lot of memories flashed back. I remembered how I walked across the Shabnamee Goalhi next to the Palace. I was a child then, but was doing hard labor everyday, carrying loads of shopping on my shoulders across the small street. Back then I never knew I had any rights. I never felt how lavish my president and his family were living as I walk along this street starving and tired.
I was a malnourished skinny slave driven boy working like a donkey for some Male’ resident. I had to do all the chores of the house but was only given a place to sleep and adulterated food. But I was trying to get something which was my goddamn human right as a citizen of the Country. I was trying to get education. Alas! I just got tears in my eyes today. I never cried back then, as I thought my country was poor, like me and my family back in the island. But now my eyes are flowing with tears as I know while I was walking across that street everyday with heavy loads on my shoulders and starving, my president and his family and his friends unfairly took away my rights. Where was your sense of faith and human dignity and the kind heartedness in you then? This boy who desperately walked on the next street to your palace was starving yet had a dream to serve his nation and is proud to be doing it now. But what were you doing to his nation and his family and his society! You were ripping and looting it off with your family and friends. What has your regime given to him! Dear Mr Ex president, today I cried, and I’m happy you cannot make me cry anymore. Can you imagine my sufferings, yet you lived this lavish posh life on the backdrop of the slavery I have to undergo because you cannot even provide any education in my island. Where was my human rights, where was my dignity! Where were my rights as a child! It’s a shame that you still claim you’re the humble and kind leader. You have brainwashed us for too long. But the proofs are coming now and we will not get stung any more from your den. Today is the day I bury the respect I had for the whole of your family and your friends and your regime. Will you still say there is no proof! Will you still say that you don’t mind to be trialed in the International Court of Justice? Where is the Justice for this boy and many others like him? Who will pay for their sufferings? What was their fault other than being born to an island and a country you were ruling ruthlessly? I have no answers, but there is a day for you to answer all this. Can you say to GOD on the Day of Judgment that there is no proof of any atrocities done by you, like your saying to us now?

Terrorism taking its roots in to our soil

2009-04-11T20:27:00.000-07:00

The news of the capture of a group of armed Maldivians near the Pakistan- Afghan border was shocking and I was dismayed by this news. It reminded me of a boy who was sponsored by a certain group believed to be the “DOT” who went to study in Pakistan. Sadly after 2 years the family was informed that he died as a martyr. By eaves dropping these neighbors of mine I came to know that the boy was actually taken to a battle field in Afghanistan and was recruited by the DOT gang. The poor parents of this boy were naïve in believing the DOTs who had a cruel intention of recruiting such boys and getting heaps of money from the fundamentalist Islamic terrorists harboring in Afghanistan. The sad thing was this incidence was never even reported to police as the family was brainwashed that their child died as a martyr and they should be happy. I spoke about this incidence to some of my friends who know the boy. However we came to a conclusion that if the family was not willing to inform this incidence to police, we cannot help them at all.
This is the tragedy faced by many poor islanders, who are naïve and unaware of the atrocities of the DOTs. Hence I think it’s time that our police establish a counter terrorism unit and bring these criminals to justice. I believe it’s a form of slavery and the most heinous crime one can make by taking away the children of the poor families, promising to provide them with better education. It is also high time that we stop educating our children from the fundamentalist Madhrasas in Pakistan. I’m sure the education they get is nothing but abuse of Islam and brain washing to take part in their version of “Jihaadh” which true Muslims never believe.
The stand taken by our Islamic Affairs Ministry on this issue was very straightforward and they are totally against this kind of Jihaadh. Our well learned Mnister Dr Majeed said there is nothing in Islam which encourages you to go to these places and fight by the name of Jihaadh. He stressed that caring about the family and embracing your responsibilities to the nation is a much more worthwhile Jihaadh than taking part in this terrorist activities.
Hence our public and our society must be educated on the cunning atrocities of DOTs and their heinous crimes against the human rights.

carbon neutral dream

2009-04-02T23:46:00.000-07:00

"Carbon Neutral" has been buzzing in the Maldives, ever since the “age of the stupid" premiere. The government has recently employed an envoy for climate change and also inaugurated a council to advise the president on climate change issues. Instead of the tail wagging the dog, the dog has started wagging the tail with regard to climate change issues. After all climate change is a global issue which needs to be addressed at a local level as well. The inauguration of this council is a way forward as most of the world leaders have taken climate change advisors on board.

The council indeed has a wide array of professionals who are experts on the issues of climate change and sustainable development. I would like to see this council starting to plan our development so that our communities and their livelihoods become more resilient and resistant in the face of climate change. When I visited the islands impacted by coastal erosion and flooding due to swells, the most striking thing was the poor design of infrastructure in the islands and the poor planning. This is something which needs immediate attention as we are experiencing more and more unprecedented weather extremes. To help build better residential homes which can cope with such frequent and unprecedented events we need to provide incentives to the local community to build their homes in a more resilient manner. Just having a building code will not suffice as the costs involved is a far too bigger burden for ordinary islanders. Hence better loan schemes for home building and subsidies on certain building materials can help the island communities to be better prepared. Meanwhile to combat water and food shortages as well as other major social impacts on local communities due to the weather extremes, we need to carry out social impact assessments. We also need to allocate funds to combat disasters and need to review our preparedness.

The recent water shortage in the islands is just an alarm bell from this ticking clock. It shows that we have an uncertain future and how much we need to do for future. Becoming carbon neutral without addressing these issues would be a green wash. The local communities need to build a resilient and resistant livelihood before we begin a cleaner development approach. Perhaps this could be the beginning for us.

I wish we begin with a better legal framework and incentives based approach to address climate change issues and its impacts, before we move to a carbon neutral scheme.

Time to say sorry

2008-11-04T15:01:00.000-08:00

The expresident of Maldives should be acknowledged for his wise decision to hand over pwer to the democratically elected president. However it is his duty as a peace loving man to respect the constitution and election results. Additionally he had no choice as the people clearly showed they need a change.
However he should publicly say sorry to all citizens of Maldives before leaving the post. For all the pain and grief caused to the people and families due to the unlawful shooting in Maafushi Jail. For all the political prisoners and the way they were treated you should say sorry. For all the money stolen by your friends and cronies and those which you gave them for free on the expense of us, you should say sorry. For not doing enough to bridge the gap between rich and poor you should say sorry.
I really wish the expresident say sorry for every crime and and every atrocity which happenend in his regin whether its intentional or unintentional. Dear expresident if you do so people will forgive you and if people forgive you ALLAH almighty will forgive you. It will also help you to rest in peace and live happiliy ever after. You should make your last speech as a president to ask forgiveness from people and to get the love and respect from the people.

A real HERO is dead

2008-10-31T18:16:00.000-07:00

I was deeply saddened this morning to hear about the death of the 15year old Shaneed. He is a real hero who died so young but believed in something lot of Maldivians never did. He believed in change and he fought for it. I wonder what went on in his little mind. What dreams he had of this Maldives which was reborn yesterday. What dreams he had for his future and his country. Sadly he died without seeing it but he has given us a legacy. A legacy of believing in ourselves, having faith in ourselves and never to give up in our cause was what he left us. I wish this will be the last brutal death we would see in our beloved nation. Let this hero be given what he deserves and pray that ALLAH almighty grant him paradise. Let us all vow not to repeat the mistakes and continue our lives peacefully. I will always remember you as my HERO, who fought for us, our country and for the change we wanted.

There will be no more tears in heaven

2008-10-28T19:17:00.001-07:00

The Maldives was awakened to a new dawn of hope and prosperity today. Thanks to all those who made this possible thorugh lots of sacrifices and may ALLAH Almighty bless us with prosperity and jsutice and grant us happiness and freedom.
All the years of sufferings and injustice to the poor people is over. I prayed and believed in it and the collective efficacy of the National Alliance has made this possible today. We should now start with a new begining and digout all the roots of evil from our soil. Those corupted and dishonest senior government officials shold be immediatley removed from their posts and those who are committed and serving loyally has to be acknowledged. I wish and hope that justice be brought and we have a free society.
we have awaken ourselves from the long ignorant and intoxicated sleep that we were put down by the dictator. We all should embrace this change and go ahead.
"wahthan edhey gothah"

My paradise is crying for a change

2008-06-17T19:37:00.000-07:00

My beloved paradise
My beloved Maldives

Your the paradise on earth,
But only for your ruling dictator and his cronies

I was born on to the bosom of your white sandy beaches,
surrounded by clear blue waters,
shaded by the tall lush palms

Alas! you couldnt quench my thirst
as the breast I suckled werent nourished

I couldnt get my vitamins as the fruits and vegetables were not affordable
I got my vaccines but even a minor fevr from an infection could not be cured,
as there is no proper health facility except the shamans

I couldnt get a good primary education as my school had no resources and trained teachers
I was forced to leave my family and friends and go another island for good education
Then I got something better than the rest of my friends in my island

But I lost half of my classmates because of the drug and violence
Some of them died in blood baths of gang violence
Your beaches get washed with heroin and hashis more than the coconuts

I lived like a refugee in a refugee camp in the so called developed capital of yours
There is no dignity, nor respect for a decent human being in the conditions there

When I finshed my school there was no university for me to do my higher studies
and when I returned to live in my island it was polluted socially and materially
there was no safe drinking water, nor a sewerage system and no job for me

came back to the garden of eden filled with concrete for a job,
the job i got was not enough to pay rent and to live a decent life.
I wish I was the fisherman I was born to be,
But I even lost the very identity of mine

All my life Im struggling to live in you
Oh my paradise where art thou?
How come are you my paradise?

Desperate decisions leading to more desperation

2008-05-29T16:28:00.000-07:00

The 30 year old regime in Maldives has continued its deception and still are doing so. Over the years the nation has not seen much development as it ought to have. Yet the failed policies continue and the viosionaries keep on dreaming. While many developing nations are heading for sustainable development we are going backwards and our politicians are doing everything against the sustainable development principles. According to the 1987 Bruntland report sustainable development is "meeting the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs”. We all know the political agenda of the regime has flavoured their decpetion tactics with 2 unachievable visions, i.e population consolidation and mass tourism development. If we look at the 2 terms, growth and development, growth is mostly a quantitative change while development is a qualitative change. Because of high dependency on tourism and lack of natural reosurces we need to develop the tourism sector for the benefit of people. Because of disparity and difficulties and unfeasible economic nature of transport and develpoment in many small islands we need to focus on population consolidation. However the way these things are done currently by the regime undermines the public consensus and the awareness of public on these issues. Since the government has been ruled as a family buisness solely to make profit and to fatten the coffers of "Endheri" and "Kaaminee" clan the whole government and the government revenue is used for profit making. This has undermined the public and the desperations of public has turned in to frustrations. To soothe and calm the public tourism is brought to all corners of the country, undermining the essence of development i.e "More does not mean good". "The complexity of human-ecological systems, and the limitations in our current state of knowledge of the dynamics of these systems, make it hard to predict precisely where critical thresholds lie" (Global Environment Outlook, GEO4). This statement is very true and the vargaries associated with the current policy to develop resorts in the lagoons of some islands by reclamation and population consolidation should be taken cutiously. If there is anything like precautionery principle this is where we need to employ it. Our tourism is dependent on sand, surf and seas and the reefs and the values to which this tourism exist will be cannibalaised by this kind of tourism dvelpment. As more tourists are becoming environmentally conscious and seeking more green tourism, such artificial conditions will upset the current markets. However the "well learned people"believe over time such artificial sand beds will transform into natural islands and again is envisioned by illusions. Currently over 80% of our islands are facing threats of climate change and erosion is a major issue. Hence changing the dynamics of coastal and marine systems for such develpments will surely hamper the worsening conditions. However the magic word EIA is now used as an excuse for each and everything from not providing or not doing to overdoing and over exploitation. Hence or other wise we need to look at concerns of MATI and the government needs to to oblige in sustainable development and resource conservation, as well as environmental protection and maintenance of biological diversity.

who and who should be liable for their actions

2008-05-22T16:38:00.000-07:00

Two of the most prominent lawyers who worked in the regime as attorney general's has resigned from the government and its an enigma that the regime is lashing their whip and trying to make them liable for the atrocities done to people during their days in office. If those who were mistreated are crying for justice they have the right to do so. However the funny thing is the regime itself rumbling this saying they should be responsible. They never realize that this is the very atrocity they carried out in their own backyard. If the former AGs are responsible why not the president and police commissioner be liable for all the atrocities. This is surely a defamation fiasco aimed at former AGs especially Hasan as he is going to contest in the upcoming presidential race. But let everyone know that the former AGs resigned and its convincing enough for me that they did so because they do not want to be part of the unfiar justice system. So rather than them being held responsible we have to Make Loanstar and Golhaa responsible and we should call an immediate resignation of both of them and they should under go a trial. They are now suspects in these atrocities. What about Evans murder, what about the shoot outs in jail, what about the false convictions and sentences given to political leaders. these atrocities are continuing and we become antagonistic to former AGs. Its a shame that we allow the 30 year old regime to continue with this. Wish there is a better justice system where we can try these suspects.

And THEY lived happily ever after!!

2008-05-06T21:54:00.000-07:00

The story always ends like this. As long as GOLHAA rules the story will always end in the same way. When Civil Service Commission (CSC) started fuunctioning it got abused like the way all commisions before were treated. This is all done by GOLHAA's cronies, no matter what law what rules at the end of the day everything is twisted and turned using all means, to achieve one goal i.e. the cronies to live happily ever after on the expense of the helpless public. Recently junior and senior ministerial posts were created for the same purpose. Now the courts are ruling against CSC to entertain DRP parlimentarians. No body bothers. Whats the parliament doing. Are they sleeping in the middle of this chaos and fiasco. After all CSC was given birth through parliament. This is not a simple small game as we think. All those 10 bloody selfish uunlawful Parlimentarians should be removed from public posts and GOLHAA cannot just give posts to his toy boys from public companies. He is done that as of his own companies. This really sucks. Where is democracy??? Where is freedom? Dear MR Golhaa,. We always end up like villians while we the citizens are innocent. You and your unlawful cronies always live happily ever after... and the story goes on and on and on........

Grooming by you and your system is gruesome

2008-04-07T19:36:00.000-07:00

Shame on you Mr Golha!!!. Now you started talking about grooming young people to be productive and innovative. What have you done to our young generation? How could you even think of this poetic speech? While you’re talking about grooming young generation the truth is you have grilled the whole young population for the past 30 years. What this generation have achieved from the past 30 years of social engineering by you and your cronies is drugs and violence and an economically deprived society. A society with no hopes for young generation, where there are no ways to develop and learn and earn. Do you know the pain their parents undergo to educate them and to send them to school. But the schools and education system cannot cater for the young generations. Our education system is proud to mark 75 years, but what have we achieved. Where is the University for young people. Does the education minister even know what goes on in a school and teaching and learning in a school like Majeediyya or Aminiyaa. Well no reason to bother I guess. All cronies and their family goes to expensive schooling in Singapore and London on the expense of our poor island youths. What have you given us? Still a fishermen’s son will end up a fisherman. This is the social engineering of you. Shame on you and your 30 years of ruling!!. Shame when you talk about grooming young. You have wiped a whole generation of young by transforming the society n to social diseases like drugs and violence. Look at Male, is there enough facilities for the youth to enjoy a good life. Dont worry you and your cronnies can send your kids to abroad for fun. Who cares? When the poor Fishermans son grows up he can take him to fishing and he can remain happy at least he will not be a drug addict. God is paying you well with your sons. All you cronies and nepotist’s kids when you send abroad for education does is abusing drugs and prostitution and when they come home they take the good jobs just becoz of nepotism. And after all our sacrifices of gaining knowledge we end being ruled by ignorant fools. we have to cleanse our system from you and your cronies and families. Please leave us and go an live in your palaces build abroad.

Thunder Dragons made it in jsut a year, what about the Sea Dragons??

2008-03-25T20:49:00.000-07:00

Its of great pleasure to know Bhutan became a pure democracy just in a year. What a shame to us Maldivians who turned out their monarchy status before second world war and still living under worse conditions than a kingdom. Its been 30 years since we began our journey in to democracy and still are ruled by same dictator for 30 years, who still wants to remain in power. Sadly he still claims he is bringing democracy to Maldives. While his highness King Jigme believes no leader should be choosen by birth instead of merit our president who claims he is democratic thinks its his birth right to remain in power till death. Guess only one person believed in same thing and thats the great Pharoah who claimed to be God. Dear Mr President, Isnt it time that you learned a lesson. How could democracy thrive when such a power hungry dictator is leading our country. Its so awkward that some Maldivians still believe and trust the "Golhabo King" president of Maldives.Please my dear "Sea Dragons" its time we become a democracy coz we have been much old interms of freedom. We have ousted our kings much long ago.We also have courage and guts and we also have got great leaders. Why are we still believing only Golha can rule us. We even thought only Amin Didi can do it but Nasir did it. then we thought only Nasir can do it but then it became otherwise. So think and dont fall in to the old traps. A muslim can never be stung twice by the same insect. Lets not be bitten twice by the same Thah makunu (bed bug). Lets oust this thah makunu and his family from ruling us and sucking our economy and our blood.

To bring democracy to us we need a ruler who loves our people and respect our dignity and freedom, NOT a dictator. Well its not suprising that it happened in Bhutan as the king believes that beauty of life is with happiness you give to others, not just happiness for you alone.

Sudden change is our social attire!!

2008-03-22T20:18:00.000-07:00

For centuries Maldivians have been having a clean white social attire where our people enjoyed peace and tranquility. However the recent rate of crimes and violence involving henious crimes such as murder is making us to think what has gone wrong in our society. Many people are blaming the politicians for these changes, especially the government propaganda is blaming the opposition for instigating violence. None the less the facts are showing that its the exact opposite of their propaganda. For nearly 30 years people are ruled with a fist of iron by a dictator and people were pushed to limits in September 2003, with the incident of Maafushi jail. This was the turning point for the Maldives politics and it became the root cause for people to fight against the so called democratic government. However this also came with lots of anti social behaviour from the public. It was a public uproar against the regime and the frustrated people had no other means to show oppression. In the meantiime the regime also kept on using violent techniques fuelling the situation and the government itself used tactics of violence to create fear among people through criminal gangs and thugs. In their minds they hoped to control oppression by allowing criminals and thugs to rule on. No sooner the fabrication of party politics came in, the regime wanted to use its propaganda and resources to blame opposition politicians for all chaos while masterminding all sorts of criminal actions. Police were demotivated and kept silent and blind and some people took the law in to their hands making things to go worse from bad. The police lost their credibility and as the only mean to gain public confidence they got divorced from the national security force which. It dampened the situation while the public had already lost confident of the commissioner who was the root eveil behind Maafushi killing spree. Criminals took all advantages while opposition politicians kept on working day and night to inspire people and enlighten people to freedom. The regime used criminals to oppress the opposition politicians hoping to use fear as an intimidation weapon. Criminlas got more power and blessing of some senior regime nepotists and violence continued. After nearly 3 years on criminals lost credibility and formed rival gangs as a means of power controll. The country then fell in to chaos with criminal gangs controlling the whole capital. Police were powerless as the criminals used police as alibi and vitimised them. All the while innocent people continue to sufffer the rampage and the social attire of white worn by society has got reddened with blood. The regime keeps ruling and blaming the public and opposition for everything hoping to gain the lost public trust. However it goes in vain and its time the regime accept their failure and let the country be ruled by wise men.

Is music a poison or an enigma??

2008-02-01T04:21:00.000-08:00

The tuna soup (GARUDHIYA) media in the Maldives is now flavoured by the stipulation of music and singing in Islam. It may be a complicated issue as we follow a moderate form of sunni Islam in the country. The question of music and Islam became a hot debate when a PhD scholar gave his views about music in a televised interview. It has caused outrage to the religious fanatics who believe music and singing are prohibited in Islam. I dont like to believe such views as music, poetry and singing has its roots in Arab world where Islam was found. Thus lots of music instruments and lots of poetry have its origin in Arabia. For example the Tambourine is an Arabic insrument. Music played a vital role in the life of Muslims and Poetry was taught in mosques during the days before Madharusaas.

But of course Islam forbids fornication, hence if music is mixed with any acts of fornication then we can say such acts are haraam. The way music is used in our culture is very humble and it does not provoke acts of fornication and much of it has become a cultural norm. However some indecent acts are seen on local television and we better have a better censorship for such acts.Moreover its not created by musicians, but by infidel directors and producers of such things we call as ALBUMS. However music is a booming industry and lots of people are going to resorts to play music. So the point here is music is a form of art and it should not be prohibited and as a budding country interms of human rights and individual freedom we need to think about this deeply. God never asked us to give away the pleasures and comforts we enjoy but we have to enjoy without indulging in to fornication and without avoiding our religous obligations. How can a muslim call another fellow muslim a non believer just because he likes to listen to the sounds of waves and water fall or perhaps a soothing music like those from Mozart.

The many sounds we hear and we listen are not just music or songs, but we also listen to nature and using this sense of hearing given to us we enjoy life.

lets enjoy life withut fornicatons or sins and lets pray that ALLAH almighty will prosper us in this world and hereafter.

Attempt to harpoon a president in office for 30 years

2008-01-07T23:57:00.000-08:00

Cartooning and lampooning of Maumoon has continued over the past three or four years. It has been a norm in the obedient society which was groomed to oneness in all aspects for nearly 29 years. However the harpooning attempt which took place just a while back was a shock to the whole country. While condeming this attack on all grounds it also has become an eye opener to all of us. Terrorism has taken its roots in this country over the past one year. With the triggering of an explosion in a park near the largest holy Mosque in Maldives and the violence on the rise, fear became indulged in the evryday lives of people in this peaceful heaven.

Well there is a Maldivian saying that "the ekel you sharpen will pierce in to your own eyes". This is the reality of this violence. Over the past years people have been deprived of various rights and the worsening socio economic factors lead to the demise of social harmony once enjoyed by us. The terror we face now has not been created on one fine day with the fabrication of party politics in the country. It has been inflating over the past 30 years and blasted out with the inception of party politics and a new wave of freedom.

We are still in an enigma, and most of us are unaware of what freedom means and we are still not aware of our rights. While we talk about common street crimes and violence everyday, the hidden white collar crimes go on raging our economy. Corruption is at its peak and a handful of cronies of the government keep on fattening their coffers.The soccial injustice to common people are ripping them of their moral and ethical values. All this atrocities are like an ekel sharpened by the lomg term president. And it has finally pierced his own eyes literally. Thus an attempt to harpoon him became a vivid reality which we dont want to hear. There is no reason to point finger at any person or party or instittution for this. The truth is "emeehaku feyhunu iloshigandey hereynee emeehakuge lolah".

Let us all be aware that the president has done lot of good things to us while he has also failed us in many ways. So its the people who will decide the political future of this country.Gone are the days of hiding behind the curtain of fear. People are now saying enough is enough.Surely a change may be the perfect solution or it may perhaps become a disaster.Mr President has come to power with a horse skin and over the past years it has grown thick enough to become crocodile skin. If he could allow the country into a smooth transition to a perfect democracy we may perhaps accept his crocodile skin as well as his crocodile tears.

prices going high

2008-01-02T19:27:00.001-08:00

A new year came with high hopes and blessings from loved ones and peole around us. However the signs so far are showing an ill omen. The past year also was an unhappy year for msot middle class and lower class citizens in terms of finance. Fuel prices were fluctuating and remained higher than avaerage throughout the year, while rents and prices of bare necessities went on increasing alarmingly.

The head lines on the second day of new year was marked by the record high fuel prices. It would again cause an increase in prices of many goods and services as most are dependent on fuel. The taxi fares which were increased last year by transport authority may escalate this year as a result of increase in fuel prices. Increase in price of any goods or services agitates the land owners of Male' and they think that its a sign that people are getting more money and hence they start to increase the rent.

Its not rocket science to understand why prices are going high, but I always relate economics to the very basics. In basic economics it says wants are unlimited and reosurces are limited and this leads to demand and supply. Rents are going high because the demand is more than the supply. Rents are the main factor for increase in prices of many other goods. So how can we increase the supply. Well the central authority or the government can do this by building flats and housing units enough to reduce demand. In many cases the flats build are not to ease the demand but to resolve public outcry over the government's negligence. This escalates the problem as corruption becomes the foul play in distributing such flats or lands. So if the government builds enough housing units within a short period of time the supply will be enough to ease the demand and hence to reduce prices.

Also land owners need to think in a rational manner to avoid the abuse of unfortunate people who dont have lands in Male'.

Why is it so difficult to quit quitting?

2007-12-26T00:34:00.000-08:00

I often hear the words " I quit" and sometimes I find it hard to believe that while some can quit things often others find it hard to quit.We often find hard to quit a stronger commitment such as a relationship or something we are obsessed with. Some quit their studies and some quit their jobs and some quit their life. Some even quit quitting. Sometimes we see that it becomes difficult to quit quitting in politics. Some politicians quit quitting and can remain in their position for 30 to 40 years.Why?. I feel its not because they are mad or bad, but because they are sick. May be its a psychological disorder.

Hmm what im trying to say is that if this is a psychological disorder then we must treat quitting and being unable to quit as psychological origin. I asked a friend of mine who quit his blog and he says there is no apparent reason(www.thoughtsunboxed.blogspot.com). Man, Im gonna miss your blog.There goes quitting, but i bet you, my old friend you have quit for a reason.

Lets look at a few more examples of quitting. The new maldives quit from an old regime due to frustrations mound over them as a result of failures of the regime in bringing reforms. Well quitting if u get furstrated is a sign of good health. But the regime however is unwilling to quit and this shows there is a psychological disorder in those who refuse to quit. Another mate of mine quit her studies and career because her health is not sufficient to continue it. Well so my friends quitting is not a problem as long as u do it for a healthy reason, but being unable to quit quitting is a big problem.Think about it if u cant quit quitting .Thats when you really need a psychiatrist.I should quit my quit quitting idea now, other wise I may become a psychopath.

My friends,Bondhu, Machaa, Bhai and Mahathiyaa

2007-12-25T00:48:00.000-08:00

In our little country we have got many friends from neighbouring countries. I always used to think about them and I used to encounter with them when I go for my frequent coffee or tea or breakfast at the various cafes, kadas and hotaas and restaurents. Most of the time I come across with them in hotaas.

Thinking about why there is such an influx of legal and illegal immigrant workers and reasons for them to come to Maldives is not a suprise. In a place where discrimination towards certain types of manual labourers such as rubbish collectors, waiters and construction workers and a young aged population with no interest in such work is one reason perhaps. But also the greedy buisness people who could save their penny easily by getting cheap labour could be another cause.

No matter whether they are illegal or legal or from which ever natioanality they are happy people. They do donkey days of work and get only one hoilday in the week which of course is evident when we walk around Male' on a friday evening. When ever I enter a hotaa they usually come and ask what do I need. Sometimes when I tell them cool water in dhivehi they bring normal water and viceversa. I am not sure whether it is because they dont understand the dhivehi language or because they have a motive of getting satisfaction by being irritative and assertive. Some customers talk to them in a raised voice, with threatening vulgar dhivehi words, and treats them in a more unethical manner which some may say as animal like treatment. No wonder why many of us Maldivians find it irritating to be polite and thankful to people who serve us.May be Maldivians have become such arrogant and unpolite people because they may feel disgusting to thank a dirty manual labourer. Some even avoid these friends in consideration with hygiene. Well it is of no suprise when such tough men work like donkeys without any breaks to refresh they would of course smell like goats. Moreover being not well enough to spare a deodorant or a good quality soap with theier earnings is another reason or perhaps not being provided with enough freshwater to cleanse their body in their traditional bathing style in rivers as their bosses dont like to see a fat water bill.

Hmm strangely no body bothers about whatt goes in the kitchen, except when an occasional hair in a bajiyaa or a piece of boakibaa is evident while savouring the hot an spicy delicacies. Many such kitchens are also infested by roaches and rodent aliens as well and our friends never bother to kill or chase them. May be they feel empathy towards such aliens in their surroundings and want to show others it is inhumane to victimise gods creations.Well its of no suprise as the hotaa is both a bed room cum bathroom cum hotaa. In the night our firends who are not given places to sleep put tables in the hotaa together and spread a sheet on them and sleep over these tables. Sometimes their washed clothes including their undies may be seen hanging on a rope near the corner of kitchen. Well still they are happy and they continue to enjoy the day heat and ocasional rain and the tropical climate, Maldives which of course is the paradise to a person who only enjoys the physical environment.

My dear bondhus and bhais and machaas and mahathiyaas, with your ways and your life and your labour, how could we ever live without you????

to a special someone

2007-11-08T06:54:00.000-08:00

your my dream
your my everlasting friend
there is no one else who can take your place
your name is engraved in my heart in gold

you remember those happy moments we had together, dont you?
those moments are like precious diamonds and i will always cherish those moments
the simple happiness of those perfect moments will always remain with me
with the light of the early day and the quite words i pray i always remember you

when i think of you my soul gets revived
and i want to burn in the desires of your wild dreams
but too much love is not good
I love you so much, and have the fear of loosing you
it makes me to have a distance with you
but i dont want to have this distance any more
loosing you may hurt me, but its unbearable for me to be away from you
please let me love you again and again and forever

your ever loving friend
Ibs

Condeming the attack on 29th September in Sultan Park

2007-10-08T02:04:00.000-07:00

well its not easy to sit without disseminating my thoughts about the recent criminal act of terrorism in Male'. I just wondered about Maldives and lots of thoughts came to me. First thing which came to my mind was rule of Sultans in Maldives. Our history tells that lots of cruel things were done in Sultans Palace where Sultan Park is now. This included killing people and burrying them in huge earthen ware pots which we call "GULHI".Well then our society transformed from the Sultans era to a new modern world, and I thought why this cruel acts again. I could only think of one reason, some of us are still having the thinking we had centuries back. Islam is our respected religion and some of us have grown in to radical fundamentalists over the years. I recently met 2 young fellows who are studying to become lawyers and had a chat with them. I was suprised by their arrogance against west and non muslims. They even claimed that non muslims money and wealth are to be grabbed and they are our enemies. I have to debate with them for hours instead of my busy schedule, and they were so much drenched in this they refused to beleieve anything I told. well in the end I have to vanish from the scene as a kafir ( anon beleiver in Islam). I was so outraged.

Yes of course our beloved prophet Muhammad(PBUH) was born in a desert and his followers were mostly nomadic Arabs. But the religion he brought was to the whole world. So it doesnt mean we have to bring sand from desert to our islands and live a desert life. Fundamentalists view are such that we have to live such a life. Of course for the love of prophet we can do things he had done and surely we wil get blessings for that. But we should know the limits of it. By doing things exactly the way it was done thousands of years ago will not be very relevant at this modern age. Consequently Countries like Saudi are also not following such age old traditions. How can we say that sending childrren to schools doesnt agree isalmic views. Its totally wrong as our prophet asked those non muslims caught in War of Baduru to teach muslim children. He never said non muslims cannnot teach muslims. By not sending our children especially girls to school our economy will get affected as we will not have enough man power to boost our growing economy. Besides keeping women confined to home will elevate poverty and hence such familys will become more and more poor leading to more social problems. The root cause of all this problems is socio economic. As peopple with such extremist views arent earning enough their deprivations lead to frustrations which they show as anti ssocial behaviour against societies well mannered people.

We have to curb these fundamentalist ideologies from our society without any delays. It is spreading like fire in the society. These fundamentalists usually target school leaving age children and teenagers. So we need to satrt an awareness campaign to school leavers. There are 2 problems we need to make school leavers aware, thats is DRUGS and FUNDAMENTALISM. We also need to give career guidance to students. I sometimes wish we could have open day awareness programmes for schools in such issues. Our Education Ministry needs to be more proactive to promote hidden curriculum in schools.

I wish a beter Future for my beloved Nation, the peceful and serene Maldives.

2100 infantry and the culpresco fiasco

2007-09-12T02:18:00.000-07:00

In every government office those who pass olevel or Alevel and join are paid 2170 Maldivian Rufiyaa as a salary.Hence I call them the 2100 infantry.These are a bunch of young and vibrant, people with huge potential.Sadly in our system of good governance and good practice many of the people above director generals are corrupt and uneducated.They have been promoted not on basis of merit, but on their ability to puff air in to senior level people like ministers and deputy ministers.Sometimes if you become the personal caretaker of such people you could immediately get a good promotion. Be aware that sometimes you may be asked to do shopping for your boss or clean his car.If you dare to do this go ahead for a promotion.
Hmm... well the culpresco fiasco is now used by 2100 infantry to escape from their bosses.
In a particular case the boss comes worried.
Boss: have you send that chack to bank yet?
21ooinfntry guy: no sir not yet!
Boss: Why are you so careless! What are you doing in office?
2100infantry guy: Sir im very busy doing all filing and stuff
Boss: you always come here and waste time
2100 infantry guy:Sir actually that check got "culpresco"
Boss: really! then you better hurry and clear the "culpresco" and get it done.
2100 infantry guy: yes sir Ill do it as soon as possible
Boss: you should have told me it got "culpresco",
Well this was the begining of culpresco fiasco. Neither the boss nor his clerk knows what culpresco is.However the clerk got a good excuse and easily escaped from the lashes of his whip.but he was able to make a fisaco of this regarding his boss. So what good is it to keep educated people under the control of such people.Well just because of their experience and dedication I guess, or rather loyalty to a senior or influencial person. Anyways such humiliations go on everyday in our office environments.But im really offended by the culpresco fiasco and hope our 2100 infantry will find better excuses.

sterotyping, an unforgivable crime

2007-09-10T03:04:00.000-07:00

Growing up in a society with so many restrictions and living in a monotonous society for a long time makes a person ignorant in terms of respect and accepting individual differences. However outside exposure and spending sometime in a multi cultural and multi racial society would open our eyes in to the real world. People are different, not because they choose to be. God has created us differently as a test of patience and humanity of us. However in the Maldivian society, people get labeled in various ways and are criticized and even abused. However we all should remember that God created all of us equal and in Gods eyes all are equal, except for his or her good deeds. So if we keep on doing this it’s a shame and we should not encourage racism and hatred in our society. Let’s not be labeled as racists.

Maids on a hunt

2007-09-08T03:34:00.000-07:00

Its a common fashion these days to have maids.In many homes they do all kinds of chores from cleaning, cooking and washing and even baby sitting. Maids come from various places.Local maids are few as they are unreliable according to sources.So, many maids come from neighbouring countries like Sri Lanka, India, Bangladesh and Nepal as well.
Most of the maids are being treated very well and also have a good reputation for being loyal and hardworking.However recently maids hunting jewellery and money in their owners coffers are on the rise.This is not a fault of maids alone,but those keping them as well.In most cases I have heard, maids are given too much authority over the daily running of house.They are given the keys of all rooms and they can go in and out of all rooms easily at any time.As most house owners are busy working, maids enjoy the ownership they are given and their desire of being rich overwhelms the loyalty and honesty for their owners. They then poke in to valuables and start cheating and stealing.In a case i got informed, one maid even went on selling food stuffs to friends which are kept in the house store room.They also are very peeeky and collect jewellerires left in the rooms too.I think we have to have boundaries and restrictions for maids and they should not be given the whole house to rule.Instead rules have to be made for them on how they should work.

inheritance of loss

2007-09-06T04:05:00.000-07:00

Im fed up of hearing the governments lack of support to students abroad, on various government scholarships.Some are complaining of low quality education. I got most complains from students studying in India.Many are complaining about low standard in some colleges.Mainly its English standard and facilities such as laboratories and internet and even food and accomodation.Some times when we say India the government seniors think its cheap. But its not so, if we consider a city like New Delhi, the capital. In Delhi, cost of living is high as standard of living is also high.However government scholars in some parts of india get a pocket money of 200 US dollars while some in Delhi get only 100.Also Delhi is a place where warm clothing is required and even though students live on hostels food is not upto standard.It is so unfair when they get a scholarship and go abroad and their parents supporting them. After all a scholarship is given on merit and its not supposed to be given on mercy or inherited. Well whatever the case it is by getting a government scholarship they inherit so many losses and government must always give priority for high quality education and make sure to provide enough pocket money to suffice the needs of the scholars.After all its an investment for future and quality matters, especially interms of knowledge gained.Mind you an Indian professor told me you get oneroom Universities in India which can sell you Phd and masters. No wonder why so many people have 3 or 4 masters and Mphils, what a joke.But I really appreciate Some Indian Universities and institutes with world class education. but it never comes cheap, so lets not make cheap as an option as these scholars will be our future leaders.

LOVE

2007-08-21T22:11:00.000-07:00

what is love?is there anything as such?Is it a mere attraction or just a desire.Sometimes its hrad to tell waht it is.They say love is blind.Yes thats true, but is it love which is making us blind or is it a selfish desire to fullfill ones needs.Yes love for most people is a mixture of sex and feelings.Is missing someone or yearning to be with some one a sign of love.May be its the hunger in us or our instincts about fullfilling our sexual desires.isnt it more like love.Once this desire is fullfilled and the taste of love is being indulged it doesnt matter anymore.So love is not a commitment to someone in my opinion.Its a commitment to your feelings and your desire to conquer your own self.But why is it that its always a special someone we yearn for? May be its someone today, and another person tomorrow and yet a differernt person yesterday.But at a particular instant its always just one single person we desire, or we yearn for.So love is not a phenomenon that happens as in the ROMEO and JULIET, but rather a creation of one's mind's eye.Its just like a picture in our mind.We can colour it in anyway we want and we can erase it off and reinvent it and repeat it as often as we desire. Is there anything as true love, or giving your heart to some one you love.Im not sure whetehr youll agree, but its not just one person you can give your heart or you can love and neither is it a lifetime feeling.

Scientific TALE OF LOVE
Scientists are finding that, after all, love really is down to a chemical addiction between people
OVER the course of history it has been artists, poets and playwrights who have made the greatest progress in humanity's understanding of love. Romance has seemed as inexplicable as the beauty of a rainbow. But these days scientists are challenging that notion, and they have rather a lot to say about how and why people love each other.
The scientific tale of love begins innocently enough, with voles. The prairie vole is a sociable creature, one of the only 3% of mammal species that appear to form monogamous relationships. Mating between prairie voles is a tremendous 24-hour effort. After this, they bond for life. They prefer to spend time with each other, groom each other for hours on end and nest together. They avoid meeting other potential mates. The male becomes an aggressive guard of the female. And when their pups are born, they become affectionate and attentive parents. However, another vole, a close relative called the montane vole, has no interest in partnership beyond one-night-stand sex. What is intriguing is that these vast differences in behaviour are the result of a mere handful of genes. The two vole species are more than 99% alike, genetically.

Why do voles fall in love?
The details of what is going on—the vole story, as it were—is a fascinating one. When prairie voles have sex, two hormones called oxytocin and vasopressin are released. If the release of these hormones is blocked, prairie-voles' sex becomes a fleeting affair, like that normally enjoyed by their rakish montane cousins. Conversely, if prairie voles are given an injection of the hormones, but prevented from having sex, they will still form a preference for their chosen partner. In other words, researchers can make prairie voles fall in love—or whatever the vole equivalent of this is—with an injection.

Love, love me do
Scanning the brains of people in love is also helping to refine science's grasp of love's various forms. Helen Fisher, a researcher at Rutgers University, and the author of a new book on love*, suggests it comes in three flavours: lust, romantic love and long-term attachment. There is some overlap but, in essence, these are separate phenomena, with their own emotional and motivational systems, and accompanying chemicals. These systems have evolved to enable, respectively, mating, pair-bonding and parenting.
Lust, of course, involves a craving for sex. Jim Pfaus, a psychologist at Concordia University, in Montreal, says the aftermath of lustful sex is similar to the state induced by taking opiates. A heady mix of chemical changes occurs, including increases in the levels of serotonin, oxytocin, vasopressin and endogenous opioids (the body's natural equivalent of heroin). “This may serve many functions, to relax the body, induce pleasure and satiety, and perhaps induce bonding to the very features that one has just experienced all this with”, says Dr Pfaus.
Then there is attraction, or the state of being in love (what is sometimes known as romantic or obsessive love). This is a refinement of mere lust that allows people to home in on a particular mate. This state is characterised by feelings of exhilaration, and intrusive, obsessive thoughts about the object of one's affection. Some researchers suggest this mental state might share neurochemical characteristics with the manic phase of manic depression. Dr Fisher's work, however, suggests that the actual behavioural patterns of those in love—such as attempting to evoke reciprocal responses in one's loved one—resemble obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD).
That raises the question of whether it is possible to “treat” this romantic state clinically, as can be done with OCD. The parents of any love-besotted teenager might want to know the answer to that. Dr Fisher suggests it might, indeed, be possible to inhibit feelings of romantic love, but only at its early stages. OCD is characterised by low levels of a chemical called serotonin. Drugs such as Prozac work by keeping serotonin hanging around in the brain for longer than normal, so they might stave off romantic feelings. (This also means that people taking anti-depressants may be jeopardising their ability to fall in love.) But once romantic love begins in earnest, it is one of the strongest drives on Earth. Dr Fisher says it seems to be more powerful than hunger. A little serotonin would be unlikely to stifle it.
* “Why We Love: The Nature and Chemistry of Romantic Love”, by Helen Fisher. Henry Holt and Company, New York.

a dream come true

2007-08-08T08:13:00.000-07:00

I was awakened by the warm sunshine
Glistening through the window
I walked alone and sank in to a deep pond
I was suddenly bathing in the water
I plunged deeper and deeper
my senses got awakened and I got revived from a bitter past
suddenly I heard a noise and was awake
Yes I was dreaming
but its so real and a dream came true in a dream

resignations and hullabaloo

2007-08-07T21:31:00.000-07:00

well its nothing new, but it came like thunder and lightening.Well it was quite unfortunate for me to be away from this hullabaloo.I was on an island on an official business.It was fun to be there and had done things I never dreamt of.Of course islandness and smallnes is nothing new for me. well one of the most striking feature of an island is walls.Huge walls are built everywhere, making the island look like a concrete jigsaw.May be this is the only way to show the islands is developed and beautiful to the eyes of an alien.But its whats beyond the walls which matters most.Behind the brightly painted walls is suffering and nightmares. But to an alien it seems that behind a beautiful wall is a hidden treasure and remarkable beauty.Can we ever stop these walls and try to show the reality behind the walls.

Chewing betel leaves and arec nuts

2007-07-31T01:26:00.000-07:00

Do you know that the most consumed agricultural product of Maldives is betel leaves.
yes it is, and if you walk near the hotels in Male' you may see red coloured spit across the pavement and it may be appelaing for someone who doesnt know much about this habit.You could get see amazing shapes and sizes of red coloured spit.Sometimes i wonder whether we can promote it as a form of art.Dentists cry out that its causing gum disease in our people. Yet it is believed that it improves digestion and freshens mouth.Also betel leaves provides a good source of income for some islands like Nolhivarn in Hdh Atoll.

About BETEL LEAVES
The betel plant is called nagvalli in sanscrit language meaning serpentine growth. The betel plant is a slender creeper which has alternate, heart shaped, smooth, lustrous dark green leaves with pointed apex. Leaves are edible part of plant which is bitter in taste but aromatic. A cultivated taste creates pan lovers but overeating leads to addiction.

Betel leaf is in use from ancient times as a digestive edible. It is anti-flatulent and mouth freshener. It induces secretion of saliva and digestive juices and generates peristaltic wave which is very important for digestion. It helps digestive tract in functioning well.

Betel leaf is considered aphrodisiac i.e. an agent which stimulates sexual desire. It is a common practice to offer masalapan to newly married couple before retiring to bed. It adds to love making and pleasures is a common belief.

It has a diuretic property also. Betel leaf juice given with milk or honey helps in easing urination.

One ayurvedic school has suggested use of betel leaf in aches and pains, especially nervous in origin. It has analgesic and cooling properties.
THE NEWZEALND HEALTH NETWORK