Friday, August 31, 2007

We need to become a more caring society

An article on Haveeru Online draws our attention to the increasing cases of suicides in Maldives.

Acts of suicide or attempted acts of suicide should be taken very seriously from their loved ones and the community as a whole. While we do not fully understand why people take their own lives, we should do whatever we can do to find out what motivates some people to take such extreme action.

For some people it may be total desperation, having exhausted all the means to solve their problems. Attempting suicide even while many regard it dishonourable, they just can't find their way out of the abyss of the profound darkness that their lives have fallen into.

They resort to suicide as an end to all suffering.

The issue of mental health also has to be examined to determine whether people needing treatment are getting diagnosed correctly and getting the required treatment.

Just by looking at the symptoms, we can see that our society is cracking up at the seams.

How did this happen to us?

Before tourism brought the affluence that has seen our GDP climb to the highest in the region, and our elites enjoying the best luxury- our subsistence was mainly based on fishing. Our needs were less and our people led simple lives. Our people helped each other and most people would agree that they were happier then. Social ills such as suicides and drug abuse were no where near to the kind of alarming proportion that has reached now.

Is this a true reflection of the reality? If the argument does hold, then where have we failed the most vulnerable segments of our society as we advanced in affluence?

We are a 100 per cent Muslim nation as required by our Constitution. Suicide is forbidden in Islam. Do we hear this message adequately being delivered to the masses by our Imams? Some people say that many imams are becoming political imams, they are increasingly preaching what is politically correct.

The crux of the argument is that we can help our society only if we start caring about our citizens. Every individual life is precious, valuable and important.

I just read another headline on Haveeru, quoting the deputy minister of gender who says that our constitution is in the way of drug rehabilitation and enforcement. That just doesn't make any sense to me.

Our nation is making economic progress, not in wealth distribution but by the increase in GDP. We are moving backwards in decent human goodness and caring for our society may become a lost value unless we reverse this trend.

Thursday, August 30, 2007

Searching Sikh turbans.... Is it security or paranoia?

America's largest Sikh civil rights organisation, the Sikh Coalition, has strongly opposed new headwear screening procedures put in place by the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) earlier this month.

"Telling screeners to search people in turbans is the same as telling them to search black people or Arabs or Muslims. The policy allows screeners to single out travellers on the basis of their religion. The message this sends to the public is that people who wear turbans are dangerous," said Amardeep Singh, Executive Director of the Sikh Coalition. "That attitude challenges the spirit of religious pluralism on which our country was built," he said.

The Sikhs say this is racial profiling, even though screeners are also permitted to search travellers wearing cowboy hats or straw hats.

Sikhs claim that turbans do not lend themselves to hiding of explosive devices anymore than do skullcaps worn by Orthodox Jews-- a head covering that is not on the list of those that can be examined. The Sikh faith only permits the turban to be removed at home or in private.

The turban is the only form of religious garb specifically identified by the TSA as an example of headwear that could lead to secondary screening at security checkpoints. Other examples include cowboy hats and berets.

Until now turbans have been searched or removed only to resolve an unexplained alarm from an airport metal detector.

Sikh men wear turbans to cover their hair, which they leave uncut in accordance with their religion.

Tuesday, August 28, 2007

When the stock market turns against you

The concept of wealth creation is fairly new to Maldives. Wealth meaning an abundance of items of economic value, or the state of controlling or possessing such items, and encompasses money, real estate and personal property.

While there are wealthy individuals in Maldives, creating wealth to allow mass participation has come only recently.

The Maldives Stock Exchange also known as The Securities Trading Floor (STF) was established on 14 April 2002.

Stocks exchanges do not exist to redistribute wealth, but they facilitate companies to expand their business and increase their market share. They also allow investors to invest in shares who then get a chance to get dividends and share in the wealth of profitable businesses.

At any stock exchange, share prices rise and fall depending, largely, on market forces. Share prices tend to rise or remain stable when companies and the economy in general show signs of stability and growth.

An economic recession, depression, or financial crisis could eventually lead to a stock market crash. Therefore the movement of share prices and in general of the stock indexes can be an indicator of the general trend in the economy.

United States is the world's largest economy and the New York Stock Exchange is the largest stock exchange in the world.

Anyone who is following the global stock markets knows that the US housing industry is in a deep downturn now.

Stock markets across the globe have been rattled badly by a rise in defaults on U.S. subprime mortgages, loans to borrowers with poor credit histories. The reason: U.S. investment banks package lots of mortgages together and sell them like stocks and bonds to banks and investors around the world.

While the Maldives Stock market is very small and isolated from the global market, the global market swings does have an impact on our economy, especially when the world oil prices increase as we have seen recently.

Maldivian economy is heavily dependent on oil, to drive its tourism, construction and other industries forward.

Maldives has experienced rapid economic growth and development in recent years, supported by a dynamic tourism sector. However, the tsunami of December 2004 gave us an awakening of our economy's susceptibility to factors beyond our control. This came after the decline in tourism following the September 11 terrorist attacks in USA.

According to an MMA article, the Maldivian government has announced plans to introduce a corporate profit tax in the next few years.

When this happens there will be several companies who will fudge their accounts just like the vast number of traders who under invoice the value of the goods they import to Maldives in order to pay reduced import duty- an important source of revenue to the Maldivian government.

Therefore more scrutiny and oversight would be required to check the accounts of the publicly traded companies in the Stock Exchange of Maldives.

In other words, the investing public should not assume that just by buying stocks of listed companies, they are guaranteed a return on investment in the form dividends year after year.

When we look at the United States, the bastion of capitalism and the free market, some prominent examples of fraud and bankruptcies have caused millions of dollars of losses to investors.

Corporate America was shocked and the general public was outraged when Enron and WorldCom, giants in their respective field of energy and telecommnications declared bankrupcy with their top executives involved in fraud.

Not too long ago, perhaps many will still remember the young financial trader Nick Leeson who brought the oldest merchant bank in UK, The Barings Bank to its knees when he overtraded and lost USD 1.4 billion, twice the available trading capital at the bank.

The lessons that we can draw from these incidents is that the stock market while it can make it possible for a person to make money, it can also cause huge losses to investors.

Thus, when a investor buys MTDC (Maldives Tourism Development Corporation) stock, it should not be assumed that such investor will continue to make dividends year after year.

Investors always have a responsibility to find out about the companies they invest in and not become complacent in their scrutiny of how the companies are run.

The free media also has an important role to inform and educate the public of the risks in the market.

From time to time smart crooks will appear to manipulate the system and take advantage of unsuspecting employees and investors. If employees and investors remain vigilant, this challenge can be met.

Maldives is now talking about good governance these days and we should hope the regulating authority keeps its end of the bargain to make sure that smart crooks don't rob the ordinary investors through fraud in the capital market of Maldives.

This is especially important for Maldives, because ordinary people will buy shares with their life savings and their lives will be shattered if the crooks get the better of them.

Ordinary investing members of the public cannot take the shock of a huge loss since we do not even have the safety net of universal health care or adequate social benefits that they can fall back on, should their investments go wrong.

Monday, August 27, 2007

Healthy Snacking

Renowned nutritionist Keri Glassman is providing a useful weight loss plan in her book 'The Snack Factor Diet.'

She wants you to ruin your appetite with snacks.

Glassman provides four weeks' of menu plans and recipes, including more than 100 snack ideas.

Read More here.

Sunday, August 26, 2007

Time to rest the case

Presidential versus parliamentary system:


So which system is better? Is one better than the other?

These are ridiculous questions that the Maldivian nation was confronted with in a political campaign run for Aug 18th- when voters cast their votes to determine our system of governance.

The contentious result in favour of the presidential system has been bitterly divisive, creating even more enmity within our small communities.

Now one can ask, does this kind of end- when neighbours of an island ganged up and torched an opponent's house, justify the means of how we arrived at the winner?

We know that both systems of governance are used in liberal democratic countries of the free world with suitable modifications to suit the demands of each country.

The success of both systems is dependent on how politics is driven within the system and how the other institutions prevail in terms of checks and balances over the governing branch where they have to.

Since Maldives has chosen the presidential system, it is fair to look at the American presidential model- the most powerful country with the world's largest economy.

Historically, we know America chose the presidential system in order to move away from their colonial master Britain which maintains the parliamentary model. Britain was rightly accused of plundering and colonising independent nations. In the modern world, we hear increasingly that America is on an imperialistic expansion path, most recently invading and occupying Iraq.

With the American system of checks and balances here are some aspects on their negative side.

According to US Government report, an estimated 12 million individuals are residing in the United States as illegal immigrants. This has become a huge social problem and successive administrations have failed to resolve it.

A report released by the Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority estimated that 82,291 people were homeless in Los Angeles County on any given night in 2005, with about 48,103 of the county's homeless living within Los Angeles' city limits. This is the city of the rich and glamorous and one would think that the world's richest nation can surely afford to house the homeless.

I am not implying here that the American system isn't good. It certainly is good for them and they are the most industrious country in the world.

After six years of the first world war, much of Europe was devastated with millions killed and injured. It was with the US Marshall Plan, the United States was spending a great deal to help Europe recover.

The plan was in operation for four years beginning in July 1947. During that period some USD 13 billion in economic and technical assistance were given to help the recovery of the European countries that had joined in the Organization for European Economic Co-operation.

Even before An estimated $9 billion was spent during the period from 1945 to 1947. Much of this aid was indirect, coming in the form of continued lend-lease agreements, and through the many efforts of American troops to restore infrastructure and help refugees.

Similarly America helped Japan sustain and recover to an incredible economic success after the Hiroshima and Nagasaki bombings that ended the second world war. The war cost Japan millions of lives and left much of the country's industry and infrastructure destroyed.

With industrial development aided by the US, Japan achieved spectacular growth to become the second largest economy in the world. Japan has a parliamentary system.

Japan's rise to become a world power and the world's second largest economy from the economic rubble after the devastation of the second world war is a phenomenal record.

Does that make the parliamentary system better than the presidential system?

This comparison is a meaningless exercise. Each country must choose a system that will give the best quality of life, make opportunities available, and provide liberty and justice for a fulfilling life to all citizens.

Even when we look at Asia, China and India with very different governing systems are the leading industrial giants, with other countries trying to foster economic integration with each other.

To me, both the presidential and the parliamentary systems have their advantages- none being superior to the other.

Now it's time to put one more arduous exercise behind us and slog on with life.

Saturday, August 25, 2007

Fighting giants to protect small retailers

Mukesh Ambani, chairman of Reliance Industries (RIL), one of India’s two largest business groups, wants to realise a dream.

He has launched a $5 billion country-wide chain of supermarkets five months ago. So far about 140 Reliance Fresh neighborhood stores covering a total of more than 370,000 square ft have been opened in 17 cities, directly linked with farms for the supply of fruit and vegetables.

This has especially upset middlemen who have traditionally handled the produce between farms and shops. Street vendors, who sell fresh produce from barrows, are also affected but Reliance allows them to buy direct from its depots in order to offset their protests.

India has a strong culture of labour unions that protect the rights of the smaller retailers and the big boys are not able to have an easy ride. In a country so vast and diverse with widespread poverty especially in the rural areas, such action is necessary to avoid the battle-tested capitalists from wiping out the small retailers to claim their market space.

Foreign investors such as companies like Coca-Cola (KO), Kentucky Fried Chicken and Walmart have discovered the power of street demonstrations in India.

Some consumer rights groups and local politicians are fighting the entry of big retail giants like Reliance Fresh. They say Reliance is going to be a monopoly.

According to Rediff, Reliance's 10 newly opened shops were shut down in Lucknow on Thursday, August 23 -- and Mukesh Ambani's retail chain has encountered stiff opposition in Tamil Nadu.

It will interesting to see how this case gets played out in the court.

Friday, August 24, 2007

Can a Muslim be considered a fake?

Here is an example of how some people wearing Buddhist monk's robes were labelled as fakes.

According to a Buddhist Channel TV, Bogus monks and nuns from Thailand have been collecting alms from Singaporeans and evading police by making speedy getaways as reported by The Sunday Times of Singapore.

Numbering as many as 100, they take refuge in a four-storey hotel in the red-light district of Geyland.

They are Thais on social visit passes who use the guise of religious robes to prey on the sensibilities of HDB heartlanders. The scam has been going on for at least two years.

They work in two shifts during the day when they don the monk's robes and go begging. After they return to their hideout, they change over to t-shirt and jeans. Some were even seen strolling with their girl friends in the evening.

When a Singapore reporter confronted and asked why they were doing it, a smiling monk (fake) replied that they were poor people and needed to make a living.

The whole group made a quick exit from Singapore when the journalists started trailing them, before police came looking around for them.

The fake monks operate from syndicates which are based in Johor in Malaysia and Hatyai in southern Thailand, said a spokesman for the Thai Buddhist Temple in Singapore.

According to the article, a fake monk can make as much as 800 Singapore dollars (526 US dollars) a day, but usually the amount is far less. This figure is hard to believe but who knows the generosity of the faithful believers seeking nirvana by helping the monks.

Now we know what a person has to indulge to become a fake monk.

I am just wondering under what conditions could we say that someone is a fake Muslim? Or could we even say so!

Thursday, August 23, 2007

Appalling xenophobia

Whatever has gone wrong with our humanity?

We bring in foreign workers do the work that the Maldivians are unable or unwilling to do. Therefore, foreign workers come in as our guests and it is our responsibility to take care of them and to provide them safety.

The Bangladeshi High Commissioner to Maldives has threatened to withdraw his country's 25,000 workers if our government cannot guarantee their security. This comes after a reports of twenty five Maldivians who broke into quarters shared by one hundred and fifty Bangladeshis working for the Municipality’s Road Construction team.

These street gangs are beating up and causing harm to the most vulnerable people in society.

If the foreign workers leave our shores because of the actions of a minority of Maldivians, it will paralyse our economy- we may not even able to look after our aging parents.

This matter is especially painful to the Bangladeshi community as one of their brethren was brutally murdered in Kulhudhufushi. It was a heinous crime. Reports coming out from Maldives suggest that it is a crime of passion involving another Bangladeshi.

Our society is in serious trouble and is falling apart.

Our state must respect international human rights obligations and guarantee equal protection of the law to all persons, and ensure that perpetrators are brought to justice.

The way things are happening in Maldives, long before the rising sea level can ever claim maldives as its victim, we could destroy ourselves into extinction.

My heart goes out to the Bangladeshi workers who pay so much money to come and work in Maldives, and in our land of the 100 per cent Muslims we exploit and abuse our trust.

This is really sickening. Our social apathy shows the level of our hypocrisy. In any civilised society, there will be such public outrage the politicians will be forced to listen and act.

The greedy capitalists only know how to make more money at the expense of decent human beings and every good human value.

Wednesday, August 22, 2007

No fish to catch in South Maldives

According to Haveeru Online, an unusual fish drought being experienced throughout the country lately could likely be caused by climate change- fishermen from southern atolls where fishing had been good for years have said.

Fisherman are facing hard times and one fisherman said they can hardly make Rf 4000 per month.

A fisherman in Fuvahmulah, said that it was better to not go fishing these days. "How can we go fishing? There's no fish to catch. It's better to stay at home than go out every day and burn expensive oil in a fruitless search."

The poor fishing is also reflected in the price of fish at the fish markets, where fish prices have skyrocketed. This has led to difficulties for locals who depend on fish as a source of daily food.

The United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) in a report said that the tsunami waves of December 26 completely smashed the fisheries sector in many countries of the Indian Ocean.

Since Maldives accounts tor 22 per cent of the fish catch in the Indian Ocean according to our fisheries minister's address, what actions have our government taken to help the fishermen to ride through the difficult times and if any help was offered is it sufficient?

According to Fisheries Ministry, fisheries industry development in Maldives is hindered by the high costs of providing support infrastructure due to the wide dispersal of the country’s population.

If the what the ministry is saying here is that they are unable to provide support services to all the islands, resulting incidents like Dhidhoo fisherman having to dump their catch into the atoll office- that is not an acceptable reason.

The fisheries ministry must make it possible to provide all the necessary support services to the fisherman even by opening up the fisheries sector more to the private sector.

Since majority of our people on the islands depend on fishing for their livelihood, every possible action has to be taken to help the fishermen.

Scientists have been warning us that global warming has an effect on world fisheries and in some parts of the world, fish stock are rapidly depleting because of over exploitation.

It is time for Maldivian politicians to stop political wrangling and take on a serious attitude to tackle the nation's problems.

Tuesday, August 21, 2007

Heartache for doctors in Maldives

According to a news article on Miadhu Online, local doctors working for the biggest hospital in the country, IGMH, have reportedly begun a two-day protest.

The local doctors reportedly began the protest as two female doctors had been harassed following a recent death of a child.

This is a serious development that reflects the gradual erosion of trust between the medical profession and the public who need their service.

By the nature of their profession, doctors and nurses in the hospital are always trying to do the best for the patients that come to them, always providing the best care they can.

Even in situations when something does go wrong or if a patient is unhappy about a particular outcome, there has to be a process to investigate the complaint and action must be taken in a transparent manner to bring closure to the matter without inflicting severe damage to the medical profession.

There are times even the best doctors with the most advanced medical technology are unable to prevent a painful loss. Such situations are emotionally draining on doctors and nurses as it is devastating to family and loved ones.

In these heart-breaking situations families experiencing the loss should have the forbearance to with hold judgement if they disagree with the outcome, until they exhaust all means including legal process to determine guilt or neglect. Families should not cause rancour to the medical profession, whose services we need to treat our illnesses and save lives.

In my analysis of this situation, I'm not blaming anyone or passing a judgment against a genuine grievance or any other unfavourable outcome. I do not know enough about the management of the hospital to be able to do that.

But as a kidney transplant patient whose surgery in India did not go well from the very beginning over ten years back and now faced with doing a second transplant, I can understand the heavy burden of responsibility that we put on the doctors.

In hindsight, those close to me and I too feel that my first surgery could be been better handled for a more long-lasting outcome. But I also realise and accept that these are complicated procedures and even with the best intentions and efforts, something could go wrong. I bear no ill will against my surgeons.

Monday, August 20, 2007

New realities for Maldives

These are exciting times for our nation and our people are living on the edge. Frantic work has been done to convince our people that there is a political system that will solve their problems.

In other words, we are made to believe that it is the system that caused the problems. Therefore, the system needed changing.

The verdict by the majority of those who voted is that they want a presidential system of government.

This is a defining moment for the history of Maldives. We shall see another hybrid system taking shape to replace the existing hybrid. To me, this exercise is a sheer waste of time.

We are now at a turning point in our history. It may turn out for good or it may turn out for worse. Merely expressing good intentions will not guarantee good results. Our sense of reality will be reflected in the world events that will affect our lives in one way or the other.

If our model of economic development is based on making impulse-based decisions as we have largely been doing up to now, some of the problems of our past actions are bound to continue with serious consequences.

Let's take one example: Housing.

In the 1970s when Male' became full and more land was needed to house a growing population, first we dug up the dead and put up the living in their place.

Next, we reclaimed the shallow breakwater taking the shoreline of Male' close to the reef edge. When the seasonal tidal waves started affecting the nearby homes, we sought help from Japan and barricaded the vulnerable areas of our island with huge tripod stones. Now we have lost the white sandy beach around Male.'

After that, we took over Viligili, a former tourist resort for our housing and later undertook massive reclamation to make Hulumale against huge foreign borrowing while we still have large uninhabited islands that can be used for housing, industrial development, infrastructure and ports.

We may soon run out of space to bury the dead in Male' as the multi-tier burial grounds are fast filling up and our housing problems are still not over. Soon we may be given fatwas for speedier recycling of graves.

We still can't provide affordable housing to the poor. In spite of impressive economic growth that continues to make our rich even richer, many of our citizens are unable to afford their own homes.

The pride of man makes him love what he owns, one of the most prized asset being one's own home. Therefore, for Maldivians to move away from becoming a species of tenancy, paying rent eternally to the superior landlords, the government has to come up with plans for affordable housing directed at the lower tier of society.

In a country where land is considered as a means of subsistence, it is essential to provide the security of a land estate to every individual. This way the citizens of our country can genuinely claim ownership to the land they call home.

Regardless of our hybrid system of political governance that gets evolved, the peoples dream for a better life requires forward thinking and determined action.

Now our political landscape has entered an era of pork barrel politics where politicians will need to satisfy their constituents who elected them by fulfilling their promises. This will become a reality for Maldives because the basic essential services and development are not provided on an even basis to all the islands.

At every future election, the increased aspirations of the people will be the agenda that will be carried by the contesting members of the parliament.

In the absence of clearly defined national goals and policies of development and a dedicated civil service team to deliver the results, the newly emerging trend will bear a heavy burden on an incompetent government.

Our government should stop playing 'divide and rule' - a tactic that was used by past colonial masters to suppress and control the natives of the lands that they captured in the quest to build up their empires.

Our political parties should induct capable young talent into politics creating a self-renewal process, so that the political leadership remains vibrant and the most dedicated and the best in our society can become top politicians to lead the country for the good of everyone.

Right now, we see just the opposite of this happening. Even foul-mouthed loons who have no respect for humanity are lurking around disturbing our peaceful communities. Political parties are only interested in buying votes either by lavish spending or by making promises with no intention to fulfil them.

The result is the election of many self-serving politicians who are squandering opportunities to bring about the much needed social and political reforms.

We desperately need our brightest creative minds to step forward to serve our community. We need to bring back discipline and excellence into every aspect of our work and our life.

We live in an age of unprecedented opportunity and we can leapfrog on the path of prosperity if our leaders exercise good judgement. But good judgement is not only an intellectual attribute, it has to match the political reality as well.

John W. Gardner, the president of the Carnegie Corporation, in an address said this:

"The most important moral of all is that excellence is where you find it. I would extend this generalization to cover not just higher education but all education from vocational high school to graduate school.

We must learn to honor excellence, indeed to demand it in every socially accepted human activity, however humble that activity, and to scorn shoddiness, however exalted the activity.

An excellent plumber is infinitely more admirable than an incompetent philosopher. The society which scorns excellence in plumbing because plumbing is a humble activity and tolerates shoddiness in philosophy because philosophy is an exalted activity will have neither good plumbing nor good philosophy. Neither its pipes nor its theories will hold water."

Sunday, August 19, 2007

Can Maldives ever become a liberal democracy?

According to Wikipedia, liberal democracy is a representative democracy in which the ability of the elected representatives to exercise decision-making power is subject to the rule of law, and usually moderated by a constitution that emphasizes the protection of the rights and freedoms of individuals, and which places constraints on the leaders and on the extent to which the will of the majority can be exercised against the rights of minorities.

The rights and freedoms protected by the constitutions of liberal democracies are varied, but they usually include most of the following: rights to due process, privacy, property and equality before the law, and freedoms of speech, assembly and religion.

Of late, we hear some politicians talking that Maldives is on a reform path towards becoming a liberal democracy. But is this only political rhetoric aimed at pleasing a demanding west, or is there a genuine desire for this staunch Muslim country to ever give the citizenry the freedom of religion?

Islam nor its culture is the major obstacle to political modernity, even if undemocratic rulers have sometimes used Islam as their excuse.

In Saudi Arabia, for instance, the ruling House of Saud relied on Wahhabism, a Sunni brand of Islam, first to unite the tribes of the Arabian Peninsula and then to justify dynastic rule. In Saudi Arabia, Islam's tenets have been selectively shaped to sustain an authoritarian monarchy.

Would the Maldives be prepared to offer foreigners of other faiths who have lived, seek and contributed significantly for the good of our society a right to citizenship? The answer to this question will show whether we are on the path of becoming a liberal democracy.

Saturday, August 18, 2007

Changing goal posts for optimum exercise

In the age of instant gratification, the official fitness guidelines for healthy adults which were adopted by the World Health Organisation has been revised. The previous 30 minutes of gentle exercise a day is not enough to improve your health according to scientists.

The new guidelines say:

· 30 minutes of moderate exercise a day is still the minimum, but vigorous as opposed to moderate activity should be "explicitly" recommended

· Combining days of moderate exercise with other days of vigorous exercise is better for you

· Moderate exercise should be in addition to daily activities such as casual walking, shopping or taking out the rubbish

· People should do two weight-training sessions a week

Consult the doctor would be good advice for persons suffering chronic illnesses.

Friday, August 17, 2007

Economic growth has become a secular religion

According to an article authored by Professor Robert H. Nelson who also wrote 'Economics as Religion,' "The reason Americans have had such a long-standing separation of church and state is that they have had powerful common values, apart from official church doctrine, that have helped to hold them together.

There have been shifts in the vision of America over time, but through its history, American secular religion has been based on a belief in democracy, capitalism, free enterprise, and economic progress."

Through out the world the American dream is hailed as the best model of economic development based on the free market theory of capitalism.

So it is with great religious fervour that developing countries who are in need of financial aid from America and other developed countries follow the economic growth of the much heralded US model.

This American economic religion has helped greatly to resolve what Robert Nelson calls 'the market paradox.' The market paradox arises from the fact that an economic system has to be based on a considerable degree of honesty and altruistic behavior, but it must also encourage individuals to pursue their own advantage in the market.

Economist Milton Friedman once speculated that free markets and American-style religious pluralism have gone hand in hand, stimulating both economic growth and religion.

We are at a time in history when increasing affluence generated through the free market initiative has enabled us to live longer and healthier lives more than ever before.

It has generally allowed a shortening of working hours and therefore more time for individuals to spend on leisure. Economic growth is also closely related to the development of science and culture.

For all the benefits that we have received from economic growth, we still find that we have to grapple with poverty, malnutrition and disease that has not been eradicated.

While direct attacks on economic growth are rare, increasingly we hear of the damages caused to environment, the inequality of wealth distribution, and the unhappiness caused by the constant pressure to compete.


United States itself exposes this glaring contradiction.

What an irony it is that the city of the stars, the city of the rich and glamorous is also the homeless capital of the United States. Los Angeles has about 4 million people while nearly 10 million live in Los Angeles County, which embraces a sprawl of 88 cities. Los Angeles County is the second biggest urban concentration in North America after the big apple, New York.

A report released by the Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority estimated that 82,291 people were homeless in Los Angeles County on any given night in 2005, with about 48,103 of the county's homeless living within Los Angeles' city limits.

The United States has powerfully demonstrated that economic growth alone does not solve society's problems such as poverty.

As explained in 'The Moral Consequences of Economic Growth,' by Benjamin Friedman- a professor of economics at Harvard University, the market economy does not automatically guarantee growth, social justice, or even economic efficiency; achieving those ends requires that government play an important role.

In other words, there is a role of government in promoting growth and making sure that it is the right kind of growth.

The problem is that this goes against many American economists who tend to have a strong aversion to advocating government intervention.

Their basic presumption is often that markets generally work by themselves and that there are just a few limited instances in which government action is needed to correct market failure; government economic policy, the thinking goes, should include only minimal intervention to ensure economic efficiency.

But as we have seen in the US homeless example, the results on the ground do not bear that out.

Thus, there is a convincing argument that governments do have a role to play to bring out a more sustainable and an even handed development that will benefit everyone from the rich elites to the poor across all sections of society.

Therefore, governments need to provide adequate intervention to ensure economic growth gives a better life to everyone, without leaving growth entirely to the Adam Smith's 'invisible hand' of the free market to decide how growth and development should take place.

Countries that need to deal with poverty and other aspects of social inequalities will have to call upon their governmnets to influence measures that will redress the imbalances rather than entirely depending on the free market to do the job for them.

Wednesday, August 15, 2007

Overdosing on expresso

Too much of anything can be harmful. So it is with coffee. A 17-year-old waitress Jasmine Willis, drank seven double-espressos during the course of her shift at her dad's sandwich shop in Stanley, Co Durham, England.

Customers there began to notice the difference.

"My nerves were all over the place," she said yesterday. I was crying in front of the customers and had tears streaming down my face. I was drenched and burning up and hyperventilating. I was having palpitations, my heart was beating so fast and I think I was going into shock.

The teenager went too far and got rushed to hospital suffering from an overdose.

According to the British Coffee Association, drinking a daily cup or three may reduce liver diseases and stave off Alzheimer's but caffeine stimulates the heart and central nervous system and may temporarily increase blood pressure and raise cholesterol levels.

So beware of the dangers of pumping too much caffeine into the body.

Tuesday, August 14, 2007

Can microcredit help the poor in Maldives?

Professor Dr Muhammad Yunus, Nobel laureate and founder and managing director of Grameen Bank, delivered the inaugral Nobel Laureate Lecture organised by the Institute of Policy Studies (IPS) in Singapore yesterday.

Prof Yunus related an example of the social experiment that he launched in 1976 to help the poor in Bangladesh through his Grameen Bank. He lent the equivalent of US$26 to 42 workers. They bought the materials for a day's work weaving chairs or making pots, and soon paid back the loan.

The Grameen Bank's credit scheme has helped the poorest of the poor, and this method has made significant contribution to tackle issues of poverty and development worldwide, particularly in Bangladesh.

Since then, the Grameen Bank has disbursed 290 billion takas ($7.2 billion) and boasts a loan recovery rate of 99 per cent.

The microcredit system took off in the United States after 1986, when Prof Yunus was invited by then-Governor of Arkansas, Mr Bill Clinton, to help alleviate the state's poverty situation.

Singapore faced with an increasing wealth gap between the rich and poor is looking into the feasibility of the Grameen model of microcredit here.

Can the microcredit finance help alleviate poverty in Maldives? Prof Yunus could be invited to Maldives to give his opinion.

What is quite amazing is to see how one person can make a huge difference because he cares. This is what social entrepreneurship is all about.

Monday, August 13, 2007

Helen Keller is a shining star

The story of Helen Keller (June 27, 1880 – June 1, 1968) is one that would rank as one of the most inspiring in America and perhaps the world has ever known.

At nineteen months of age, she became deaf and blind due to an illness.

In 1886 her mother, Kate Keller, was inspired by the account in Charles Dickens' "American Notes" of the successful education of another deaf-blind child.

Soon after, the Perkins Institute for the Blind delegated one of its teachers and a former student, Annie Sullivan, herself visually impaired, to become Helen's teacher. Thus began a 49-year-long relationship, up to Annie's death in 1936.

First, Sullivan got permission from Helen's father to isolate the girl from the rest of the family in a little house in their garden. The next and most daunting task was to instill discipline in the spoiled little girl, for she was driven into rages by her indescribable handicap and completely out of control.

Though fate was unkind to Keller, she had a teacher who was determined not to give up on the deaf-blind child. Eventually, it paid off when Keller learned to fingerspell the alphabet and read Braille.

Even as a little girl, Helen expressed a desire to go to college, and in 1900 she entered Radcliffe College and graduated cum laude in 1904 – the first deaf-blind person to graduate from college.

Even though her life was a constant struggle, she wrote twelve books and authored numerous articles. She is an outstanding example of the triumph of the human spirit over a physical handicap.

Founded in 1915, Helen Keller International (HKI) is among the oldest international nonprofit organizations devoted to fighting and treating preventable blindness and malnutrition. HKI is headquartered in New York City, and has programs in 22 countries around the world.

Decades after her death, Helen Keller continues to inspire people all around the world with legacy of her work.

"Life is either a daring adventure or nothing. Security does not exist in nature, nor do the children of men as a whole experience it. Avoiding danger is no safer in the long run than exposure."
-Helen Keller

Sunday, August 12, 2007

Shopping for e-fatwas worry Egypt's Grand Mufti

The chief Muslim cleric, the Grand Mufti in Egypt wants tighter controls on who may issue religious fatwas.

The Grand Mufti says more fatwas have been issued in the past 10 years than in the previous 1400 years. Modern technology has made it easier than ever to issue or receive a fatwa, one of the religious edicts that guide Muslims' interpretations of Islamic law.

The Internet, satellite TV and even the telephone is being used to distribute fatwas. You can even get an e-fatwa personalised for you.

This unorthodox explosion of fatwas while being sought by a younger generation, is causing grave concern for Egypt's Grand Mufti-one of the most respected among the Islamic scholars.

I am not a fatwa seeker but was curious to find out about the types of fatwa being issued. One particular fatwa by the Australian mufti Sheik Hilali struck me.

Here is what Sheik Hilali said:

In the religious address on adultery to about 500 worshippers in Sydney Sheik Hilali said: "If you take out uncovered meat and place it outside on the street, or in the garden or in the park, or in the backyard without a cover, and the cats come and eat it ... whose fault is it, the cats or the uncovered meat?"

"The uncovered meat is the problem."

The sheik then said: "If she was in her room, in her home, in her hijab, no problem would have occurred," meaning no rape would have taken place.

He said women were "weapons" used by "Satan" to control men.

Muslim community leaders were outraged and offended by Sheik Hilali's remarks, insisting the cleric was no longer worthy of his title as Australia's mufti. Hilali has now retired.

With the advancement in technology and communications, the stagnated monolithic establishment of our theology has finally come under pressure to reform.


It appears that the learned men in robes can no longer just preach but they also have to deliver to a demanding younger generation. Now the learned men have to do the chasing to live up to the increased expectations of the Internet generation.

Those shopping around the vast virtual world of the Internet will continue to do so until they reach the opinion that sanction's the behaviour they want. The traditional Muslim authority for issuing fatwa such as the Grand Mufti needs to reach out to this group of people.

Saturday, August 11, 2007

Rich/Poor wealth gap in Asia is alarming

The Asian Development Bank (ADB), the multilateral development financial institution aimed at helping its developing member countries reduce poverty and improve the quality of life of their citizens has sounded a grim warning.

The wealth gap that separates the richest and poorest citizens in society has increased across Asia, according to a ADB study released this week. Asia and the Pacific remains home to two thirds of the world's poor.

The figures measured the difference in income between the top and bottom earning sectors several years ago, and then compared the results with recent findings to track the progress of Asian economies in minimising the rich/poor divide.

The study found that in spite of astronomical growth in the emerging Asian markets, many of the poorest citizens were being left behind whilst the rich elite grew more powerful.

China was highlighted as having the second worst wealth gap issue in the region, behind only Nepal, where inequality was said to have widened more considerably than Asia and indeed the rest of the world.

The Asian Development Bank put the rising inequality down to problems with investment in rural and agricultural areas, leading to increasingly affluent sub-urban environments.

According to ADB President Haruhiko Kuroda, "ours is increasingly a region of two faces. One is the shining Asia of vitality and wealth, and the other is its shadows, where desperate poverty persists."

Kuroda called on governments of Asian countries to facilitate the construction of an environment that nurtures the private sector in order to create jobs for the hundreds of millions of unemployed and underemployed Asian people.

"Prosperity with inclusiveness means reaching out to the 620 million Asians who still live on less than 1 U.S. dollar a day," he said.

He emphasized that the goal requires sustained and broad- based growth growth that generates jobs and raises incomes by absorbing the surplus labor of poor.

In the past there was insufficient wealth creation. Now the problem is that there is too much wealth helping only the rich elites soar into unparalleled heights while the poor remain stuck to the bottom.

ADB boss has sounded a stark warning. Maldives too, need to move fast. The people's special majlis has to put into place a social security system that can take care of health care for all, an adequate pensions scheme and most importantly, a more equitable distribution of wealth.

How can such equitable distribution of wealth be achieved?

This is an argument that goes back to ancient times. The out-and-out capitalists argue that in society every one entitled to the fruits of his labour and that the state should not take it away.

Those against would say that too much wealth with a small group of people is undemocratic and can lead to social unrest. They say the rich should contribute to help the poor.

Whatever is the right formula for distribution of wealth through taxation and other means, every citizen of the nation deserves to live in dignity and the state has the duty to make the conditions right to make it possible.

Friday, August 10, 2007

Become a refugee or give up citizenship

Commenting on my post of 6.8.2007 on 'Political temperature is rising', an anonymous reader gave an out-of-the-box solution to solve our nation's problems. Acknowledging the nation's problems, difficulties and possibility of natural disaster the writer went on to say this:

"What i would suggest is that we all agree, come to a conclusion and we let go of Maldives for Sale. We should distribute the returns among everyone equally and let each person decide to chose there future destination country. Earning around $4-5 million per head can be the best thing that would happen to the history on man kind on earth. That day we can truly say we were proud to be Maldivians."

I must admit that this idea never occurred to me before, although I have felt that it may be good to relocate people to another country, on a voluntary basis.

Looking at the state of our country, no one can deny that we have problems. The majority of our people are living in poverty while our elites prosper. The distribution of wealth is grossly unequal and the income gap between the rich and poor is increasing. Our justice system falls in favour of the rich and powerful. The majority of our youth are addicted to drugs. Our young are finding it difficult to look after their aging parents. So for sure, we have plenty of problems.

In order to make my decision, I shall reflect on my own life. I am from Havaruthinadhoo and when I was very young as a collective punishment for the impoverished and neglected south that ceded to Suvadive rule, former prime minister Ibrahim Nasir decided that the entire population of my island should be evacuated. The people of my island were given 24 hours to leave the island. The people of my island and I became refugees overnight in our own country.

I have always believed that in order to punish some people who were involved in a conflict, such an action on entire population was unjust and brutal. Shortly after going to another island I was brought to Male' where I grew up. I started a career with the government as a clerk.

As a civil servant, I was asked to come to Singapore and work in MNSL. Since my passion is to serve, I did my best in the role that I was assigned in very trying circumstances. After 20 years it was time to elevate the elites from Male' to our positions. I have explained about the capitalist's creative destruction in my last post.

Ruthless capitalists are only interested to stay in power and make money at any cost. My service with MNSL was brought to an abrupt end without any notice. Two other staff who worked under me were dispatched from Singapore to Male' on a 24 hour notice. They had absolutely no fault. There was no other reason deserving to change the two dedicated staff, other than that they had to be replaced by the elites.

These were life shattering experiences for me, the latter coming at a very difficult time in my life.

Now coming back to the original question, would I be prepared to sell my citizenship as one among the rest in order to sell Maldives to the highest bidder?

Even against my background, the answer is not easy for I would be in anguish to let go of Maldives. The fault doesn't lie with the country but we need to be practical. Therefore, I would readily do it to go with the majority so that everyone can have a better life.

I would go for that solution to avoid even one person being killed and mysteriously thrown into the sea.

I would gladly do it to save our younger generation from the scourge of drugs, a menace that is spreading unabated, as unscrupulous drug pushers have the upper hand and we as a society have failed to stop them.

My decision is not based on greed for money. To me, peace and unity of the people are more important than money- I'm not saying that I don't need the money, I do but just that they are not the most important in my life.

I don't believe I would be acting against the nation's interests since we do face an environmental threat in addition to the problems that we continue to create, whether it is in the name of democracy or anything else.

Thursday, August 09, 2007

'Creative destruction' - A modern management mantra

Creative destruction, introduced in 1942 by the Austrian economist Joseph Schumpeter, describes the process of transformation that accompanies radical innovation.

In Schumpeter's vision of capitalism, innovation by entrepreneurs was the force that sustains long-term economic growth, even as it destroyed the value of established companies that enjoyed some degree of monopoly power.

Creative destruction epitomises the power of capitalism. The absolute relentlessness of creative destruction and entrepreneurship has become a defining feature of modern day free market capitalism.

"In a free economy, they never stop—never. Schumpeter wrote that all firms must try, all the time, "to keep on their feet, on ground that is slipping away from under them."

Someone, somewhere, is always trying to think of a way to do the job better, at every point along the value chain. Whatever has been built is going to be destroyed by a better product or a better method or a better organization or a better strategy.

This is an extremely hard lesson to accept, particularly by successful people. But business is a Darwinian process, and Schumpeter often likened it to evolution.

The creative destruction can occur within a large innovative company (big companies like Toyota, Microsoft), it can also to happen with start-ups, particularly since they now have so much access to venture capital.

An example of how this 'creative destruction' has happened in Maldives would be the case of Maldives National Shipping Limited.

After a prolonged difficult period of running old ships, in 2001, three other staff and me (Mohamed Hilmy) were abruptly changed from our Singapore jobs to Male'. This part is quite typical of the capitalist's creative destruction and I have no argument on that.

Here is where the issue is:

After we were changed, the new management set out to make a case that Abdul Nasir who worked under me has misused funds and that some bills were missing as the new management could not find them.

Since MNSL had shifted office, old records were kept in a store. For several months, Abdul Nasir was made to look for missing files and bills. Even though Abdul Nasir managed to somehow trace all the bills and showed them to the new management, they retained them for Audit but again declared them missing later.

They went on and prepared a statement of missing bills as unaccounted finance and forced Abdul Nasir to sign the statement. Whether it is right or wrong, once a staff member under me is held to account, I have to accept the responsibility for their actions.

Abdul Nasir has explained all this to the Anti-Corruption Board of Male'. He has shown the missing bills to them from the copies that he maintained with him .

There was no misuse of funds as cleared by the Anti-Corruption Board, as well as by an experienced independent auditor and a separate Singapore Audit firm. The auditor and the audit firm were both appointed by the Directors of MNSL earlier in 2002 for the same purpose on 2 difference occasions.

Yet, someone is selectively leaking the earlier accusations to the press to put Abdul Nasir and me in bad light.

Abdul Nasir voluntarily offered himself to the parliament office yesterday (ie the following day the issue was discussed in parliament and telecast the same night) to explain once again all of what he did with the Anti-Corruption Board for over two years.

Why does MNSL continue to do this?

My own feeling is that within the new management there are people who crave public glory by putting other people in bad light, completely disregarding how the company has operated in the past.

This is a reflection of capitalism in decay. More about this aspect in another post.

Wednesday, August 08, 2007

Wynona searching for love

Wynona Judd's 'I want to know what love is' is an emotionally charged gut-wrenching song. It is a poignant song that carries a very powerful message.

In November 2003, Wynonna appeared on The Oprah Winfrey Show discussing what she described as a "severe" dependency to food and her obesity.

Wynona partnered with her famous country singer mother Naomi Judd to form the 'Judd's' which became the most popular mother/daughter team. The duo won five Grammy Awards and a vast array of other awards and honors. Wynona has a half-sister Ashley Judd, who is a film star and stage actress.

Wynona went through a traumatic childhood, separated from her biological father when she was very young.

Wynona (below) sings 'I want to know what is love' after completing the Opera interview. Her song moves many in the audience to tears, including her mother Naomi seen wiping a tear, sitting on the right of Opera. Sitting to Naomi's right is her sister Ashley struggling to control her tears.


Tuesday, August 07, 2007

Globalisation is changing our values

Maldives is a nation of 100 percent Muslims, a nation living by the ideals of Islam and following the virtues of a liberal democracy for political governance.

We are part of the global community of nations, connected by our faith, culture, ideology and most importantly affected by the fast changing technology.

Filial piety- the love and respect for parents is a strong tradition in most of the eastern religions. This virtue is eroding as the relentless competition in the capitalist world marches on.

In a talk that Singapore's founding father and first prime minister Lee Kuan Yew (presently minister mentor) delivered, he reaffirmed the outstanding ability of Singapore's current political leaders and lamented on some aspects of how Singapore had changed - 'burning up' money with fireworks for a few moments of joy instead of building community centres, for example, or young couples putting their aged parents in institutions because they had their own lives to lead.'

We are faced with a similar problem of looking after aging parents in Maldives. There is talk of building old-folks home for our seniors, as many younger families are finding it difficult to look after their old and sick parents.

As global capitalism spreads after the cold war ideological rivalries collapsed, nation states are beginning to live by the values of a free market economy- a prominent feature of globalisation.

There are those who argue that globalisation is eroding the welfare state. Conservative politicians are raising the alarm saying: money has become mobile across the globe; capital gravitates to where tax rates and wage costs are lowest and levels of regulation less burdensome.

The terrible greed revealed in the United States by the corporate scandals of Enron and WorldCom has eroded public confidence in business and business leadership. Following the two biggest bankruptcies in US history and huge losses to employees and customers, a cry for a 'values based' leadership is heard across the business world.

In the United States, there is growing unease among the general public and elected officials that in the process of globalisation, American jobs are outsourced to cheaper destinations.

Thus, the anti-globalisation movement is calling for protective measures for the good of communities rather than seeking to increase more profits for the shareholders.

Businesses operate in communities that are deeply divided by inequalities in wealth, health, knowledge, influence and life chances. Globalisation more than anything has brought the business world head to head with poverty.

Globalisation and capitalism has all the potential to solve critical social problems facing the world - if business leaders and managers have the resolve to take their social responsibility seriously, in addition to making profits for their business.

Business has the capability of bringing creative and sustainable solutions to many of the ills facing the world such as ill health, illiteracy and unemployment, and to reinforce freedoms and choice, if it engages in the challenges which will contribute to its long-term sustainability and profitability.

Monday, August 06, 2007

Political temperature is rising

It is not only global warming that is increasing our climatic temperature, but even more potently perhaps in the short term, is the rise in the political temperature across our nation as our community struggles in the relentless pursuit for social and political reform that has still not arrived.

If the outgoing reform-minded justice minister is to be believed, we, the intelligent descendants of the homo sapiens have failed to make our habitat safe enough for own dwelling. Crime has become rampant and the crooks are having a field day roaming around freely while the law abiding citizens remain in the fear of being looted.

This is really a grim picture, one that is reminiscent of the dark ages.

Our elites enjoy all the vagaries of modern life, and our country promotes the 'tranquilty' of pristine islands to draw in tourist dollars that drives our economy forward. We are a nation of 100 per cent Muslims, Muslims who practise the religion of peace.

Our nation of 360,000 inhabitants has sufficient resources and earns enough revenue to provide a life of abundance to everyone if proper distribution is done.

What then is so wrong with our society- from crime, drug addiction of youth, lack of a strong moral foundation and lawlessness?

Just as a parting fancy thought, one wonders if the human beings did not colonise these islands, even the birds could have easily made it into a peaceful sanctuary - a prospect that we seem to have so miserably failed. What an irony that would be!

Sunday, August 05, 2007

Wake up Maldives!

On the day when the Maldivian ambassador to UN told the United Nation’s General Assembly that climate change and rising sea levels were our country's biggest enemy, Indian south east monsoon wreaked havoc on parts of India, Bangladesh and Nepal.

According to a BBC report the rising flood has affected so far:

India: 12 million people stranded, mostly in Bihar, Uttar Pradesh and Assam.
Bangladesh: Seven million people marooned.
Nepal: Thousands of people displaced in the south.

Millions of people have lost their homes, their crops inundated by the floods and they have no food to eat. Helicopters dropped food to some two million people in 2,200 villages in eastern Uttar Pradesh, India.

India's monsoonal weather is an annual phenomena that brings natural disasters such as major floods, droughts, cyclones and this has killed or displaced millions. India's long-term climatic stability is further threatened by global warming.

Maldives is on the leeward side of India and is very fortunate not to suffer the disastrous consequences that our neighbours face every year. But we should avoid complacency and do whatever we can do to protect our small community scattered over small islands barely above sea level in the Indian Ocean.

While it is necessary, much more needs to be done urgently beyond our pleas for world action to stop rising temperatures that is contributing to the global warming.

Such efforts for our small communities to relocate or rebuild are thwarted by the organized chaos in the country's political system. After more than 38 years of presidential system of government, politicians have forced our nation to go through an absurd exercise.

Instead of addressing the issues of the current system, the people are asked to decide on the presidential system or the parliamentary form of government.

Few people know the difference between the two systems, even fewer genuinely want to know the difference, and most don't care what it is as long as the current system is changed.

Isn't it time for some introspection? For the leaders of this nation feared to sink by rising waves to ask themselves, 'What is the purpose of what we are doing when our survival is at stake?

Saturday, August 04, 2007

What's the case for Male'/Hulule bridge?

Maldivian government is proposing to build an overhead bridge connecting Male' to Hulule at the cost of Mald RS 700 million. A further Mald Rs 7 million has to be paid to the consultants.

Doesn't the government have more urgent and pressing priorities to spend its money?

Following the tsunami of 26 December 2004, there are many Maldivians still living in temporary shelters awaiting permanent living conditions. There are several outer lying islands still without proper landing facilities. There are also many islands where residents do not have proper sanitation, though the capital Male' enjoys good sanitation and medical care.

It seems development is focused only for the residents in Male, while needs of the people living in the outer islands are largely neglected.

A bridge between Male' and Hulule is not a necessity as there is good sea transport between the airport island and Male' which takes about 10 minutes travelling time.

On the fragile coral reef seabed of the cramped and bustling capital city Male, divers are reported to have seen a crack at one end.

The fallacy of belief in unfounded political glory coupled with the desires of greedy business elite and stupidity gives a deadly combination of factors for an ecological disaster.

Friday, August 03, 2007

Affirmative action needed against inequality

Maldives is reaching a point where excesses of wealth and power with a dominant elite mainly resident in the capital Male' is making the people of this nation incapable of empathizing with one another.

In other words, the inequitable distribution of wealth largely experienced by the people in the outer lying islands is simmering discontent and a call for retribution is being expressed aloud.

Maldives history shows that the elites of this nation have always engaged in polity that perpetuated their power and wealth, thus ignoring the interests of the weak and under privileged by the systematic misallocation of its resources.

Ignorance and incompetence may also have contributed to this unfortunate outcome for the citizenry of a nation that is 100 per cent Muslim, a religion that calls to redress such maldistributions.

It is also a bizarre twist of irony or hypocrisy of unparalleled proportions, that you find some political leaders within newly emerged political parties preaching for Islamic ideals while conveniently overlooking the business elites who exploit the nation's resources, creating an ever-widening income gap between the rich and the poor. This is the capitalist's way of depriving the workers.

As a glaring example of what is wrong with this society; let's take the case of social security. Maldives has failed to implement a social security system upto now. Such a system primarily refers to social welfare service concerned with social protection, or protection against socially recognized conditions, including poverty, old age, disability, unemployment and others.

This appalling situation is in spite of the fact that the economic growth of the country has risen impressively with per capita gross domestic product (GDP) climbing to above $2,500, the highest in the region.

Yet, the poor have to depend on the benevolence of the wealthy elite or at the mercy of the government's bureaucracy in order get essential and basic medical treatment. The government needs to put in place a social security system that can give the poor the dignity of life without them having to seek handouts from anyone, including the clutches of the wealthy elite.

Thursday, August 02, 2007

Lessons from history - Quotes

(1) "My kind of loyalty was to one's country, not to its institutions or its office holders. The country is the real thing, the substantial thing, the eternal thing; it is the thing to watch over, and care for, and be loyal to; institutions are extraneous, they are its mere clothing, and clothing can wear out, become ragged, cease to be comfortable, cease to protect the body from winter, disease, and death."

-- Mark Twain[Samuel Langhornne Clemens] (1835-1910)
http://quotes.liberty-tree.ca/quote_blog/Mark.Twain.Quote.EC77


(2) "That the sole object and only legitimate end of government is to protect the citizen in the enjoyment of life, liberty, and property,and when the government assumes other functions it is usurpation and oppression."

-- Alabama, Declaration of Rights Article I Section 35
http://quotes.liberty-tree.ca/quote_blog/Alabama,.Declaration.of.Rights.Article.I.Section.35.Quote.5244"


(3) Give me the liberty to know, to utter, and to argue freely according to conscience, above all liberties."--

John Milton(1608-1674) Poet:
Source: Areopagitica, 1644http://quotes.liberty-tree.ca/quote_blog/John.Milton.Quote.7393