Sunday, December 30, 2007

Sombre economic predictions for 2008

Some economists predict that the U.S. economy will slide into recession next year. The outlook is the gloomiest in years and the World economy will take a hard hit if the world's largest economy goes into a recession.

The U.S. Federal Reserve has cut interest rates three times since September, lowering its benchmark rate to 4.25 percent. Economists expect the Fed to keep cutting, dropping the rate to as low as 3 percent by midyear, which would be the lowest since May 2005. That should help the economy because lower interest rates encourage consumer and business spending by lowering borrowing costs.

The U.S. economy is expected to be most vulnerable in the first half 2008, when growth is so slow that even a mild shock, like another surge in oil prices, could push it into recession.

Click below to listen to the United States presidential candidate Dr.Ron Paul discuss economic and currency issues.

Saturday, December 29, 2007

An unislamic silence

These are early signs of going overboard.

In an MDP meeting recently, this is what President of MDP’s Consultative Council on Islamic Affairs Adam Naseem has said as reported on Miadhu.

Quote. "Speaking at the gathering Sheikh Adam Naseem noted that many of the customary practices practiced currently are alien to Islam and are imported to our modern culture from other religions. He said such acts as “holding a moment of silence” was unIslamic and as such, such a moment will not be held in memory of Late Saleem." Unquote.

Following this nitpicking logic, our country will have to start a national house cleaning exercise to weed out unislamic elements if the conservatives have their way. With increasing influence of the religious parties in Maldives, the politics that gets played out could mirror the political chaos that is happening in Pakistan. The politics is not based on issues, instead it is based on keeping personalities in power.

The tragic death of former prime minister and opposition leader Benazir Bhutto in Pakistan is a stark reminder of the gruesome reality of imposing twisted notions of religion in political governance. There are some hard-line radical clerics who believe that Benazir Bhutto was too much of a liberal who supported US in their fight against terror and therefore she must be eliminated. While it may be unseemly to talk about benefiting from a person's death, her death is another chance for the world to realise that dictators and clerics who oppress their people using religion can never deliver peace and no one is safe, for they only create conflict within society.

Islam is a religion of peace. It respects and calls for individual rights, liberty and justice for all. But a country like Maldives which claims to be a 100 per cent Muslim country does not care about individual rights or equitable distribution of wealth to allow its citizens such respect and proper living conditions.

In Maldives, our clerics need to keep their focus and address major issues such as education, housing, health care, employment, drug addiction, equitable distribution of wealth, and social justice. These are the critical issues for our society. Our status as Muslims cannot change with a minute of silence.

Friday, December 28, 2007

Drawing inspiration from 'Room to Read'



Room to Read is a non-profit charitable organization founded by former Microsoft employee John Woodand based in San Francisco. It is dedicated to building education infrastructure in developing countries to end the cycle of poverty.

It all statrted in 1998, when John Wood, Microsoft’s director of business development for China, went on an eighteen-day trek through the Himalayas. He stopped for tea and met a headmaster from Bahundanda, Nepal, who invited him to visit his school. John found eighty kids crammed into classrooms for fifteen to twenty, and 450 children studying from cast-off Danielle Steele–type adult novels.

“Perhaps, sir, you could help us get more books?” the headmaster requested.

After returning from the trek, Wood managed to collect over 3,000 books from friends, acquaintances, and donors. He then returned with eight donkeys and delivered the books. In 2000, after a rough transition out of Microsoft, he founded Room to Read and is operating it to this day.

John Woods left a all-consuming lucrative job at Microsoft to follow the passion of his heart to donate books and build education infrastructure and he couldn't be happier to see the smiles on the children's faces.

Room to Read has created more than 2,000 schools and libraries for children across Asia. From his first trip to Nepal, where he was struck by the country's 70% illiteracy rate, through his courageous decision to leave Microsoft, to the logistics of growing and expanding the Room to Read initiative, Wood comes out as an honest and caring person.


The Room to Read's unique "adopt a project" form of donating, in which you are told how much money is needed to build a school/library/computer lab or award a scholarship and therefore know exactly what your money goes to, has met with considerable success. They have operations in many South and Southeast Asian countries, including Nepal, India, Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos, and Sri Lanka. They are currently expanding to Africa, with South Africa being their first country in that region.

Wednesday, December 26, 2007

No place to flee

The Maldives has fragile environment and our Environment Minister has said global warming is destroying coral reefs of the world and this is posing serious threats to economic and social development and survival of many countries. He said about 27% of coral reefs has already been lost and faster loss of coral reefs is inevitable unless global warming is tackled urgently.

We have a fragile democracy too, one that is just beginning to shape and is fraught with difficulties as the political parties remain polarized and jostling for power.

In December 2004, a major earthquake followed by a tsunami hit Asia and Africa, devastating many coastal areas. Almost 200,000 people in eight countries perished in a few hours, and over 100,000 are still missing.

According to the UN, the estimated cost of the Indian Ocean mechanism would be US$30 million (not including maintenance), a far cry from the billions in damage caused by last month's Asian tsunami disaster, and a worthwhile investment to avoid the massive human loss suffered by the affected countries.

The Meteorological Department in Male' informs that it has the capacity of sending an early warning signal to Maldivians before a tsunami or earth quake affects Maldives.

Following such a warning, where are our people to run to get away from the disaster even if they get few hour escape time? We live in such cramped living conditions, the government will have to come out with clear guidelines on where the people can escape before such disaster occurs. The easier part will be to to issue the warnings. The difficult part will be to educate the vulnerable communities and implement the evacuation plans by our Government departments.

Sunday, December 23, 2007

The row over music

Is music allowed in Islam?

Adaalat versus the Supreme Religious Council.

According to Miadhu, "In Dheenuge Magu, Shiekh Mohamed Rasheed has said that expressing joy, singing, beating drums, using tambourines and playing music on Eid days, wedding receptions and circumcision ceremonies are allowed within the boundaries of Islam.

“Mentioning the boundary, religious scholars have said that it has to be done in such a way that it does not put an obstacle in performing religious obligations, not in a way that it put obstacle in the work to do to feed your family, and in a way that bad actions are not included in a ceremony and that no bad words are not included in a song”

Sheikh Hussain Rasheed has said that there is no controversy among the scholars that singing without music and without bad words and love is allowed in Islam. But he said that the majority of eminent religious scholars agree that singing with all modern music instruments excluding tambourine are not allowed. "



Does this mean all the killer songs, the magnus opus of Hindi entertainment that drown our nation's radio and TV are unislamic? Does it mean Muslims should not watch them and our learned religious scholars failed to get this right?

Saturday, December 22, 2007

Beeratehin : Are they still around?

Beeratehin, were a culturally and intellectually inferior class of people who thrived in Maldives. There were seen as unintelligent. They were hard-working and they were exploited. Most importantly they were outsiders to Male', the Capital of Maldives where the superior people resided. Traditionally, a significant gap has existed between the elite living on Male and the remainder of the population inhabiting the outer islands, those atolls distant from Male where the Beeratehin harvested the seas to eke out a living.

These days we don't hear the word beeratehin, the word probably has been substituted by 'raajethere meehun' as the term is more politically correct.

So, have Beeratehin gone extinct?



Click here to read the meaning of 'beeratehi' as given on Radheef, the Maldivian dictionary.

Male, the traditional seat of the sultans and of the nobility, remains an elite society wielding political and economic power. Members of the several traditionally privileged ruling families; government, business, and religious leaders; professionals; and scholars are found here.

Since the monarchy was abolished, the facts about the aristocracy and ancient titles, offices and ranks have been forgotten. However Maldives still has the emotional trappings of a caste society. People are still very much class conscious and subservient to deep rooted nobility. Those who despised the old "beyfulhu" ways are the ones who are now interested in re-imposing the class system since they now see themselves as the "upper classe". They now use the upper-level of speech and address which they once condemned in the past.



Islam has been used to up hold the different caste-based traditions such as nobility and the clerics who portray them as holding a monopoly over morality, have cleverly used religious rhetoric to follow blind faith. Thus even though the term beeratehin is no longer used, they still serve at the pleasure of the elites.


A fundamental change in thinking is required in the interest of national unity. Ultimately, it is important that our leaders and people recognise that it is respect for basic democratic rights and human rights that will save us from the brink of barbarism.

Thursday, December 20, 2007

Global Warming : Spread the message



A High School Teacher's Web Video Is Among YouTube's Most Watched. Whether global warming is caused by humans or cows, climate change is a reality that affects all of us.

What action will Maldives need to take if the islands were to be wiped out?

Tuesday, December 18, 2007

Adversarial Politics

The formation of political parties and their involvement in the political process in Maldives has not helped to bring about an easier path to political reform that the country has embarked upon.
Most Maldivians now believe that a one-candidate, one-party system isn't in the spirit of democracy and isn't good for most of us. While we cannot expect perfection from political parties and candidates, we do want choices, and an honest exchange of ideas. Differences between political parties and office holders prevent secrets, and lead to public debate and ensure we hear both pros and cons on issues. This is the adversarial politics of democracy.

The politics that we are seeing in Maldives is turning out to be skulduggery, with twists and turns and switching of allegiances. The recently resigned foreign minister and the presidential spokesman's heated public exchanges about the autopsy of the Maldivian whose mysterious death saw his family get embroiled with the Government is a sad reflection of the state of our national politics.

We need to shift the focus of our politics from an all out adversarial fight to a more collaborative one because the issues that we face are complex. From housing, health care, education, drug addiction, employment, fair distribution of wealth and social welfare are all interdependent and we need to find lasting solutions. We have to find common ground so that we can all cooperate and develop on a progressive path. We have to give up capitalising on conflict and taking advantage of each other's weakness.

With a new constitution that is nearing its completion, one would have hoped that the way forward would be smooth. The difficulties of getting to this point over the last three years has shown that the pages of a constitution does not lead to proper governance and a thriving democracy. We need to build up independent institutions and choose a more civic temperament to communicate and resolve our problems.

Over the years, Maldivians have become more cynical as a people and as a result are more detached from their political leaders and from each other. Cynicism has destroyed our civic values and eroded our confidence as a people. Our character defined by our unity and social harmony is almost non-existent now. We are also losing faith in the idea of freedom. Politicians can rise to the challenge and reverse this trend.

With an eye on next year's presidential election, political parties are bad-mouthing and finger-pointing at each other and working overtime. What is emerging is bitter rivalry showing us the darker side of humanity.

The true success of a democratic society will depend on the willingness of their citizens to take ownership of their communities and government. The political parties and the political process must allow that to happen in Maldives. Maldivian political parties will have to ease up throwing barbs at each other and get back to dealing with the issues of the country.

Monday, December 17, 2007

Mayor of Mumbai calls for a no-car day.

Mumbai formerly known as Bombay has a population of 19 million and is the commercial and the entertainment capital of India. Mumbai houses many important financial institutions, such as the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE), the National Stock Exchange of India (NSE) and the corporate headquarters of many Indian companies and numerous multinational corporations. The city is home to Bollywood, the largest film industry in the world.

This vibrant city is being choked by heavy vehicular traffic, immense air and noise pollution which is putting their lives in danger. The mayor of Mumbai Dr Shubha Raul is urging, just for a day, not to use four-wheelers and two-wheelers. Instead, to take public transport like local trains and BEST buses to help cut the pollution level in the city.

While every one accepts that pollution is silent a killer, keeping the private cars off the roads, even for one day will be quite a difficult challenge in a city that is gasping for breath.

Sunday, December 16, 2007

Who's to blame for sexual promiscuity in Maldives?

As reported on Haveeru, 29 per cent of children under the age of 18 in Maldives have sex outside the marriage.

According to a study the main reason for such sexual activity among kids is BOREDOM.

What is going on in this country that demands by its Constitution that all Maldivians must be Muslims? Isn't it the worst cliche to call Maldives a 100 per cent Muslim country when in some aspects we are no better than any secular country?

Who will the politicians blame for this one?

Here's the blame game for some other social ills.


  • Maldives has kept the flood gates to drugs wide open. From heroin our youth have moved for the latest and deadliest high, the crystal methamphetamine also known as ICE. The parents are responsible to control the children.

  • Gang violence and mob killing. The killing can only stop when those who are doing it stop it.

  • Bursting prisons. Prison rules are to blame for escaping prisoners during family visits.

Fake Tuna to be used in Tossing Competition

A tuna being tossed at the annual Tunarama Festival, Australia.

Australia's competition to see how far someone can throw a tuna is going green next year. Organizers of the Tunarama Festival held each January in Port Lincoln on the remote Eyre Peninsula are replacing the real thing with polyurethane replicas for the highlight event, the frozen tuna toss.

Each year, contestants in four categories hurl fish weighing up to 10 kilograms as far as they can, usually using a technique akin to an Olympic hammer thrower's. The winner in each category receives $1,000 Australian ($890).

Tuna tossing is the highlight of the annual social calendar in Port Lincoln where fishermen who have grown rich from catching the prized fish and exporting them to Japan for high quality sushi and sashimi.

One good-sized tuna — known for their high-speed swimming and deep red flesh — can fetch more than $5,000. A local artist has sculpted the fake fish to look just like the real thing. "The dimensions are perfect," said Ms. Merriwyne Hore, the acting manager of the 2008 festival.

Some locals are unhappy that the real fish would no longer be thrown.

It is not clear why after the toss, the parts of a real fish cannot be eaten, by humans or by animals. What can't be eaten can be composted. How is it "greener" to use polyurethane which will eventually end up in a landfill is also not clear.



Although the organisers of this contest have to cave in to pressure from the environmentalists fighting against the depleting tuna stock, the locals can still enjoy the camaraderie of the event with a look-alike tuna.

Friday, December 14, 2007

Killed for not wearing a hijab


Canada has reported the country's first honour killing. A memorial for Aqsa Parvez is set up at Applewood Heights S.S. in Mississauga, in this undated handout photo. Sixteen-year old Muslim Mississauga teenager Aqsa Parvez died on Tuesday of wounds suffered in an attack on her Monday — allegedly by her father who strangled her. Friends of Aqsa painted a picture of a young girl eager to integrate into Canadian society, in ongoing conflict with her conservative Pakistani father who insisted she wear the hijab.

Aqsa Parvez was largely estranged from her family and sleeping away from home in recent days. Her friends said she returned to her home in Mississauga on Monday only to collect her belongings. Friends described her as a hardworking and cheerful girl who loved dancing, fashion and photography - interests that often clashed with her strict her home environment.

Police arrested the victim’s 57-year-old father, Muhammad Parvez on Monday morning after receiving a 911 call from a Mississauga home from a man saying he had killed his daughter. He is being charged for his daughter's death.

Friends of the dead girl told journalists that Ms. Parvez’s relationship with her father was antagonistic. She used leave home in track pants and hijab, then change into close-fitting jeans and remove her hijab when she got to school. She wanted to live her life the way she wanted to, not the way her parents wanted her to.

The full details of the killing are not yet available and other aggravating factors (e.g. Mohammad Parvez’s mental health) have not been discussed publicly. What is clear from news reports is that Aqsa’s refusal to wear a hijab was the catalyst to her murder and that her friends sensed that her home conflicts could quickly spin out of control.

Canada’s Muslim community has always remained moderate, although the tragic death of Aqsa Parvez has brought fears of militant Islam that has caused terror and death in Paris, London and Stockholm. The sight of a woman in a full burqa is an extraordinary rarity outside of a few small urban pockets. And such horrors as that allegedly visited upon Ms. Parvez remain almost unheard of.

Canada is not Europe and we should not read too much into this family tragedy. At this stage, it may be premature to suggest that this was a case of the clash of two cultures but what we know is that the murdered girl wanted to be "free" and independent of her family's devout Muslim beliefs. There lies the whole problem.

It is amazing how some Muslims feel wearing a headscarf is more important than a life. Such intolerance and insanity should have no place in any society.

While this incident could turn out to be domestic abuse and murder, it brings the spotlight back on the radical fanatical thinking of some Muslims who would insist adherence on their uncompromising values. This is where the danger lies and it is such unaccepting intolerance that needs to be wiped out from all societies.

Aqsa’s father who is no longer living in Pakistan and has migrated to Canada for a better life has to accept the fact that his family has come to a country where women are not forced by any man to wear uniforms that define them as property or symbols of their family’s “honour.” And if Aqsa's father accepted it, she might be alive today.

How many thousands of other Aqsas hate the hijab but wear it without complaint because they fear their fathers’ or their society's wrath? It is time in all these countries such matters be rationally and openly discussed without resorting to violence such as that which led to Aqsa's death.

All Muslim societies will have to deal with bigoted thinking that leads to violent consequences. If Canada gives a fair trial to Mr. Parvez, and is convicted and sentenced without the case being hijacked into a referendum on Islam, Canada will have sent a clear message to all religious radicals: there is ONE law in Canada and everyone is subject to it regardless of their different customs. Canada has one chance to solidify the distinction between religious and legal authority before activists on both sides of the multiculturalism debate including those against domestic abuse and feminism turn this tragic domestic abuse case into a political circus.

Wednesday, December 12, 2007

What about safety of workers?

This article on Haveeru reads that two young men, 16 and 22 years old, fell from a height of 40 feet while working at Alimas Carnival. The report states that the men were seriously injured and that they are being treated at IGMH after initially going the ADK hospital.

When an incident like this occurs, in most countries the Government Authority responsible to oversee workers safety will immediately launch an investigation to determine if all safety precautions were taken in working in high rise places. Since Maldives does have a 'Building code of Safety from Falling' in place, one wonders whether this matter is being investigated and why journalists do not report on these vital safety matters.

If the men are contract workers or under employment, the employers are also answerable for their safety and they have to conduct their own investigations. I assume they are responsible for the workers medical treatment and workman's compensation depending on the disability.

How does this work in Maldives?

Tuesday, December 11, 2007

The Battle of Reform is heating up

These are nervous times for politicians wanting to cling on to power. Politics is a dirty game and every rule, if there is any, is made to be broken. No refereeing is required for the victor takes all and the vanquished must be destroyed as the ancient Romans did inside the Colosseum in front of the watchful eye of their emperor who amused in the gory gladiator fights.

The nation is bleeding from old wounds. The hostilities among rival armed gangs in our nation has reached staggering heights. Only the tough and well-connected can survive. A significant number of our youth are depressingly high on drugs and we are just waking up to the reality that we have been in a culture of denial for too long.

The holier-than-thou political Imams of our country with their self-righteous hypocrisy of intolerance have destroyed religious unity and harmony which we took for granted for all these years.

We face turbulent times ahead. Now we have to bite the bullet to solve our problems brought about by the folly of our leaders.

This the beginning of the deadly game of brinkmanship between rival political parties taking aim to grab political power. The sole purpose of the opponents is to bring down the present government and seize power.

The main opposition political parties who were at each other's throats until recently have declared a truce and formed an alliance to challenge the government. One would think these are strange bedfellows, given the hard line opposition of the mainly conservative Adhaalat to the secular MDP.

Presidential contender Dr. Hassan Saeed now accuses the Government of wastefulness and arrogance. Echoing the Alliance's shared vision of what an interim government should look like, MDP leader Mohamed Nasheed (Anni) who has defined himself by his unflinching opposition to President Gayoom has called for the president to be given immunity from prosecution.

It is impossible to guess where our country will end up on this path of reform. Looking back into history, we know that political leadership transitions have always been messy. We have wretched social conditions in Maldives from housing, health care, pensions, rising cost of living etc. The voices of public disquiet of unaddressed grievances are growing louder. Even our parliament where traditionally stone-faced men who represented unsuspecting constituents has become more boisterous. Their unholy alliances and shifting loyalties has nothing to do with any political ideology or betterment for their constituents. It is an intriguing public spectacle of scheming chameleon-like characters. Socially, our country is operating at boiling point, a dangerous level for a country that depends on the tourist dollar promoting itself as a tranquil paradise for the rich and famous.

Sunday, December 09, 2007

Supreme Religious Council losing conservative grip

What evoked the ire of the Supreme Council to struck down Dr. Afrashim Ali , a Maldivian scholar from preaching was mysterious to me until I read this article.

Now we know that the Supreme Council has worked up a residency law that imposes a residency requirement of one year before a preacher is allowed to preach. What could be the purpose of this law?

The Government's Information Minister has promised to defy the Government’s own highest religious authority by allowing the moderate preacher Dr Afrashim Ali to appear on state broadcaster TVM.

We need the silent liberal voices in Maldives to support the view that the Information Minister has boldly taken on this case. For far too long, the liberals have allowed the conservatives to go unchallenged, thus emboldening extremist and intolerant thinking in the name of religion. The liberal scholars need to take the lead to espouse moderate views creating a culture of acceptance and tolerance as good Muslims should be doing.

As an institution, the current Supreme Council has failed to maintain religious unity, i.e, if the word 'failure' appears in their dictionary. On their watch fanatical groups fostered in Male and elsewhere and they could not stop extremist groups from taking the law into their own hands in Hinmadhoo in the name of practising their religion.

For the foot soldiers to be united in diversity, there must be unity of tolerance among the scholars and preachers. Unity in Diversity means to explore and enhance common values that emphasize interdependence, equality, justice, human rights, and the sanctity of each individual’s dignity. The religious conservatives must be willing to coalesce with their liberal counterparts to build a more inclusive community and support the diversity of religious opinions without insisting adherence to dogmatic views.

Saturday, December 08, 2007

Who should wake up?

UNICEF has launched a Wake Up campaign in Maldives. It is a nationwide drug campaign aimed at preventing drug abuse and promoting recovery among addicts throughout the Maldives, a country known as a holiday haven for the rich and famous.

Here are the reasons for waking up according to wake up website.

Why? – As you read this, drug abuse is increasing in the Maldives

  • Children as young as 9 and even 7 are starting to experiment with dangerous drugs
  • The most popular drug in the Maldives – heroin – or brown sugar – is one of the most highly addictive and destructive drugs in the world.
  • Drug addiction can happen to anyone, regardless of age, gender, economic status, or the family they belong to
  • Every family is affected by drugs, either directly or indirectly – therefore it is in the interest of each and every one of us to take action.
  • We are a small community and when one of us suffers, we all end up suffering


Drug addiction can happen to anyone, regardless of their age, gender, economic or social status,” said UNICEF Representative Ken Maskall. “Many people don’t realize that addiction is really a chronic, progressive condition that requires professional treatment, help and support. For a small country like the Maldives, if one member suffers, we all end up suffering, especially children. It is in the interest of each and every one of us to take action now and to say no to drugs.”

Heroin addicts are increasing in Maldives. Many believed that such explosive growth in heroin use was caused largely by population shifts, overpopulation and poor employment prospects on the islands. When parents or siblings are drug addicts, it is easy for children to be affected by breakdown of family ties, and possibly abuse that follows as a result of the addiction.

Knowledge can be power and so we should applaud UNICEF's effort in the Wake Up campaign to educate the people. But if UNICEF Rep's statement that 'being a small country if one member suffers, we all end up suffering' holds true for Maldivians, then we would not have this problem. The solution to this problem lies in our Govt's ability to stop the influx of drugs into Maldives. So far, they have not been able to do so. Rehabilitation, recovery and assimilation of recovering addicts into the mainstream society will become an easier process if we make it a national goal to stop the import of drugs into the country. Until we stop the drug trade, sadly the battle against drugs will continue to be a losing one as we have seen up to now.

Friday, December 07, 2007

Making more money with less fishing

An AP report reads, "At a time when a quarter of the world's fisheries are considered depleted, can commercial fishermen make more money by fishing less? A study published in the Friday edition of the journal Science says they can, with one condition.

They must be in a cooperative fishery, like those operating in New Zealand and Australia, where individual fishermen own a share of the total harvest _ known as individual transferable quotas _ rather than the competitive fisheries more common in the United States, where it is a race to catch the most fish.

The idea is that when there are more fish and no race to catch them, fishermen spend less on fuel and other costs chasing far and wide to fill their nets, and can concentrate on delivering a high-quality product to the dock, said lead author Quentin Grafton, research director at the Crawford School of Economics and Government at Australian National University."

Read more here.

In Maldives, tourism has grown significantly and currently accounts for 33% of GDP, a quarter of total employment and more than 60% of the Maldives' foreign exchange receipts.

Fisheries is the main activity outside of Male and the tourist islands. It employs 19% of the country’s labour force but accounts for only 6% of its GDP. Fisheries exports are mostly canned and fresh tuna, which is the second largest source of foreign exchange for the country.

Maldives needs to develop the fishing industry. Maldives has been graduated from LDC status by the United Nations in December 2004 to "become" a Developing Nation with a three-year grace period ending in November 2007. Since our economy is highly dependent on imports which will deplete our foreign exchange it is necessary to intensify our efforts on development of fisheries and our agriculture.

The cooperative fisheries is an interesting idea from which the Maldivian fisherman can benefit to improve their livelihood and alleviate poverty. The fisherman can form cooperative societies like many other developing countries. They can also set up their own marketing and distribution networks. Such cooperatives can undertake other income generating activities with financial support by the government, or foreign donor agencies where necessary.

Wednesday, December 05, 2007

Grim news about young drug users

National Narcotics Control Board (NCB) has confirmed that there are some four and five year old children in Maldives that have used banned substances.

What is happening here is clearly abuse of children by parents or others who have no idea of the harm they are causing. TV Maldives blacked out the news once the the NCB official revealed that 4-year old children were involved in drugs. Bringing out these facts into the public domain is not to glorify the drug abuse or its trade. But Maldivians will have to face up to the facts even if we do not like them. There is no loyalty, no trust, or security with the drug users. It is all about the 'high' which will eventually kill them, unless they can get help and stay away from drugs.

As a society, we have to ask an important question. Should we save our children from drugs? For any sane society, the answer is a resounding 'yes' excepting for the drug addicts who are not in control of their senses. Such people's children must be protected by the State and NCB must intervene to stop such adults causing harm to their children.

There are few things more tragic than having a promising young life cut short prematurely due to drugs. What starts as an experiment turns into an uncontrollable obsession and leads to the most degrading way to end a human life.

Maldives is emerging as a market for hatred

The waves of global violence and mass murder that we see and read about with increasing frequency has firmly entrenched its roots in Maldives. We have seen a home-made bomb go off in Sultan Park and to our dismay, we are increasingly witnessing gang warfare and even mob killings in what we used to call peaceful communities.

How did our people turn out to be blood-thirsty killers?

First, our politicians, our parliament and the members of the special majlis are all busy in political wrangling leaving the country to slip down into social anarchy. Robbers are running rampant in stealing while rival gangs are engaged in murderous violence making it appear that this is a country that does not have a police force entrusted to protect its citizens? For a moment, you gasp to think whether that this is the same beautiful country described as paradise for the sun seeking rich and famous, also featured among the first to sink due to sea level rise and climatic change of global warming. Religious hard-liners are creating pockets of religious chaos with flourishing extremism and fanaticism leading some youngsters being indoctrinated into terror. If the killing spree continues unabated, you shudder to think that suicide bombers may follow soon, as Pakistan whose chaos has appeared on our shores has reported its first female suicide bomber. Around 20 percent of our nation's residents under the age of 15 are using banned substances, according to the National Narcotics Control Bureau. Wayward youngsters who comprise more than 40 percent of the population of 300,000, with nothing meaningful to look forward to are increasingly turning to drugs. The problem of drugs continues to flourish despite a growing tourism industry which has made the 100 per cent Muslim Maldives, the richest nation in South Asia. Per capita income is 2,674 US dollars.

If getting rich should solve more social problems because we have the means to do so, we certainly don't see this happening yet. Maldives now has a sub-culture of drugs mostly young people who need our compassion and treatment but instead they are stigmatised and labelled as 'parteys' or 'druggies', words that are used to demean them. For some strange reason, we are out to destroy our own people. It is said that 80 per cent of recovering addicts relapse after rehabilitation. This drug abuse and addiction could destroy a large segment of our young generation, their families and our communities with unimaginable consequences.

As usual when a tragic incident like the mob killing occurs, Members of our Parliament in hastily convened meetings fall over each other to express their concern and frustration over the increasing violence on the streets of Male’. Beyond that, such expressions broadcast for public consumption turns out to be idle chatter for nothing constructive ever happens to make the streets safer or to reduce the violence. Over the years it has progressively worsened from street brawls, to fights using sticks and sharp objects to sword fights out to kill each other.

Increasing hard-line views on how we should practise Islam and our intolerance of accepting the rights of non-Muslims to their faiths , and the absence of an ideology that guarantees fundamental rights and saves us from the tyranny of a government has left us a bitterly divided community. We have lost our ability to empathise and our humanity only recognises the greed for money. We are a nation that operates at boiling point and since we do not know how to peacefully co-exist, our threshold for violence remains very low. But our delirious politicians will not face the problems of this community. They do not have the wherewithal to make the tough choices and put the community back on a peaceful path.

Tuesday, December 04, 2007

This society is imploding

The day after Haveeru ran an article titled, 'Top dogs of Male’ Drugs Ring arrested', the nation's headline news was the tragic death of a young man by gang violence.

It was reported that one of the two men arrested for drugs had bought a plot of land in Male’ last year for a sum of Rf 2 million. He is currently building a five-storey building on the plot. It was also reported that the same person travels frequently to Dubai, having already made more than 50 trips there since last year; an average of once every two weeks in Business Class. It is not clear whether this man's travels to Dubai had anything to with trafficking of drugs. As alleged, if he is one of the kingpin drug dealers to Maldives, how did he manage to escape the authorities and continue for so long?

Senseless violence has caused the death of a young man of 21 and twenty six people have been arrested in connection with the incident. According to the father of the deceased, his son had received a death threat about six days back. It is really sad that in the tranquil land of the 100 per cent Muslims, Maldivians are unable to feel safe anymore.

A worrisome sign of the psychotic nature of our people much like ancient Romans who enjoyed the gladiators brutal death fights inside their Colosseum is revealed when it is reported that there were some people who apparently stood silent spectators when the horror of a gang murder took place right in the midst of our small tightly knit community.

Saturday, December 01, 2007

Random insanity

These Muslim protesters want a British teacher to be executed for allowing her 7-year-old students to name a teddy bear Muhammad. (photo:Mohamed Nureldin Abdalla / Reuters)

All too often, we are witnessing the muddling of politics and religion in Muslim countries leading to serious consequences.

On Friday, a crowd of about 1,000 young Sudanese men brandishing swords streamed out of mosques to gather outside Khartoum's presidential palace, later marching to the British Embassy and burning newspapers bearing images of 54-year-old Gillian Gibbons.

The crowd demanded that the teacher jailed in Sudan for insulting Islam by allowing her class to name a teddy bear Muhammad be executed following her conviction on charges of blasphemy. The crowd went on calling for her death, saying “No tolerance: Execution”, and “Kill her, kill her by firing squad”.

Dr Khalid al-Mubarak, of the Sudanese embassy in London, blamed the demonstrations on "hot heads" from "hard-line" mosques. He said: "There are many mosques and different groups congregating in different mosques. After prayer, people in particular mosques, not the mainstream, were the ones shouting the slogans to this effect."

The Muslim government of Sudan already seen as a pariah in the international community for the genocide of more than 250,000 in Dafur is facing another embarrassment for their failure to rein in the hard-line clerics.

The Ministry of Justice that dealt with Gibbons case is the same Ministry that was referred to the International Criminal Court in the Hague by the UN Security Council in 2005, which described it as unwilling and incapable of dealing with Darfur's atrocities.

The Sudanese government depends on Western donors to feed about four million Darfuris every day. Like many Muslims governments do, the Government of Sudan is prepared to use Islam for political gains as it appears to do in this case.

Gibbons had one of her seven-year-old students bring in a teddy bear, then asked the class to name it and they chose the name Mohammad, a common name among Muslim men. Each student then took the bear home to write a diary entry about it and the entries were compiled into a book with the bear’s picture on the cover titled, “My Name is Mohammad”.

The case against Gibbons started when an office assistant at the school complained to the Ministry of Education that Ms Gibbons had insulted the prophet by comparing him to an animal or toy.

While Gibbons' action can be taken as a cultural 'faux pas', it is an unreasonable assertion that she has insulted Islam in any way. These are the kinds of unaccepting hard-line intolerant attitudes that Muslims need to change in all societies including Maldives.