The American magazine 'Entertainment Weekly' has brought the first video advert in the print media. Much like the singing greeting cards, when you turn the page the advert gets loaded and played on a small screen. The internet has been delivering video-embedded-in-text technology for some time. Now Pesi Cola and CBS are taking it to a new level in the print media.
Monday, September 21, 2009
Saturday, September 19, 2009
Thursday, September 17, 2009
Build Trust and Increase Tolerance
This year Maldives has marked the International Day of Democracy, a day observed on the 15th of September each year. The UN member countries are expected to commemorate the International Day of Democracy to increase awareness, to respect and promote the values of democracy and human rights.
In his message on the occasion of the International Day of Democracy, Coeur-Bizot, the United Nations resident coordinator said, “Public confidence and trust in the new government and the democratic institutions need to be strengthened through reinforcing strong mechanisms for transparency and accountability.” He also called to strengthen the civil society as well as the free media- an important institution in a free society that has the task to scrutinise and debate public policy reflecting the views of the people. He went on to point out that both the UN Special Rapporteurs on Freedom of Religion or Beliefs and on the Freedom of Expression and Opinion have noted the absence of the freedom of religion in the Maldives.
In a statement from the government marking the day, vice president Mohamed Waheed said, “First of all, it is very important that political philosophies of parties become clear,” he said. “Today what we are seeing from most parties is that they are formed around their leaders.” He also said different philosophies of political parties should be known to the public for it to be debated and built upon.
The declared ideology that all political parties hold in Maldives is that Maldives must remain an Islamic state and that all Maldivians must be Muslims as required by the constitution. Maldives is on the path of building a democracy with the separation of powers and independent institutions. Presently political parties do not engage the citizens in any meaningful dialogue regarding any political philosophy or the various issues facing the country. There is no bipartisan agreement among the lawmakers while crafting policies to tackle the nation's problems.
Although we are following the US model of the presidential system of governance, we do not follow the civil decorum that we see in the US Congress. On few occasions in our parliament chamber, members' heckling and unruly behaviour became so bad, the speaker had to call off the session. Our parliament needs to determine what is their acceptable decorum and make it a more productive institution.
We are a nascent democracy trying to find our foothold in a fast changing global world.
As Thomas Jefferson, a founding father and third United States president said, "Every government degenerates when trusted to the rulers of the people alone. The people themselves, therefore, are its only safe depositories."
Therefore, the people of Maldives have to be empowered and kept informed, enabling them to keep a watchful eye on their government while trusting the elected leaders to do their job and deliver the results. An unbiased free media has an important role to play to achieve this objective.
A lot depends on the elected officials to create a more equitable system to distribute wealth even within the context of the capitalistic free market economy. Lot of work also needs to be done to move beyond the political apathy which is so widely prevalent in our society, build trust within the community and with the leaders and become a more tolerant society.
In his message on the occasion of the International Day of Democracy, Coeur-Bizot, the United Nations resident coordinator said, “Public confidence and trust in the new government and the democratic institutions need to be strengthened through reinforcing strong mechanisms for transparency and accountability.” He also called to strengthen the civil society as well as the free media- an important institution in a free society that has the task to scrutinise and debate public policy reflecting the views of the people. He went on to point out that both the UN Special Rapporteurs on Freedom of Religion or Beliefs and on the Freedom of Expression and Opinion have noted the absence of the freedom of religion in the Maldives.
In a statement from the government marking the day, vice president Mohamed Waheed said, “First of all, it is very important that political philosophies of parties become clear,” he said. “Today what we are seeing from most parties is that they are formed around their leaders.” He also said different philosophies of political parties should be known to the public for it to be debated and built upon.
The declared ideology that all political parties hold in Maldives is that Maldives must remain an Islamic state and that all Maldivians must be Muslims as required by the constitution. Maldives is on the path of building a democracy with the separation of powers and independent institutions. Presently political parties do not engage the citizens in any meaningful dialogue regarding any political philosophy or the various issues facing the country. There is no bipartisan agreement among the lawmakers while crafting policies to tackle the nation's problems.
Although we are following the US model of the presidential system of governance, we do not follow the civil decorum that we see in the US Congress. On few occasions in our parliament chamber, members' heckling and unruly behaviour became so bad, the speaker had to call off the session. Our parliament needs to determine what is their acceptable decorum and make it a more productive institution.
We are a nascent democracy trying to find our foothold in a fast changing global world.
As Thomas Jefferson, a founding father and third United States president said, "Every government degenerates when trusted to the rulers of the people alone. The people themselves, therefore, are its only safe depositories."
Therefore, the people of Maldives have to be empowered and kept informed, enabling them to keep a watchful eye on their government while trusting the elected leaders to do their job and deliver the results. An unbiased free media has an important role to play to achieve this objective.
A lot depends on the elected officials to create a more equitable system to distribute wealth even within the context of the capitalistic free market economy. Lot of work also needs to be done to move beyond the political apathy which is so widely prevalent in our society, build trust within the community and with the leaders and become a more tolerant society.
Wednesday, September 16, 2009
Salih Yucel's interview on Islam
Salih Yucel, lecturer at the Centre for Studies in Religion and Theology at Monash University in Australia has spoken to Minivan News. His talks deal with the theory and practice of Islamic law, the Sharia law on some important social matters.
Link to part 1
Link to part 2
Link to part 1
Link to part 2
Saturday, September 12, 2009
Why Our Health Matters by Dr. Andrew Weil
Dr. Andrew Weil, the world's leading proponent of "Integrative Medicine" describes it as a healing-oriented medicine that takes account of the whole person (body, mind, and spirit), including all aspects of lifestyle. It emphasizes the therapeutic relationship and makes use of all appropriate therapies, both conventional and alternative.
In the clip below Dr Weil talks about his latest book "Why Our Health Matters."
In the clip below Dr Weil talks about his latest book "Why Our Health Matters."
Wednesday, September 09, 2009
We need to re-integrate ex-addicts into society
A halfway house of sort organised by some former addicts has been working for recovering drug addicts to help them on their path towards a drug-free life style. The community-based NGO program 'Journey' started in 2005 is being supported by UNICEF, their main funder.(Link)
'Journey' can play a useful role to complement the work of the government's Detox Centres (one opened in Vilimale' recently and others to follow in the islands) which will provide proper treatment and rehabilitation for drug addicts. As the relapse rate for hardcore addicts is high, it requires a multifaceted approach to re-integrate the recovered addicts back into society and allow them to become productive citizens. The addicts who recover should not be stigmatised. They should be encouraged to take up meaningful work so that they can keep away from drug abuse, violence and crimes.
The government should introduce programs and incentives to provide former drug addicts life skills and training to enable them find employment. The government should also introduce policies to offer them employment in the public sector and convince the private sector to employ them as long long they live a drug-free life.
Heroin addiction has become an epidemic in Maldives affecting some 40 per cent of our youth. This is a very serious social problem for our future generation and our country. Rigorous action needs to be taken to control drug trafficking and tough enforcement action has to be taken against those who do to sell drugs and addict our young people.
To stop the plague of drugs, our government and civil society will have to rise up and meet this vicious challenge. Awareness programs should be run in schools, homes and work places.
In treating the addicts, medical and health professionals need to monitor individual cases to make sure that they don't get over the addiction to one drug by getting addicted to another in the process as has happened in some other countries. We need to keep in mind that anyone in our society can become a victim to this epidemic of drugs and a concerted effort has to be made to bring an end to this unfortunate tragedy. Our people should be able to live a life free of drugs and crime due to drugs.
'Journey' can play a useful role to complement the work of the government's Detox Centres (one opened in Vilimale' recently and others to follow in the islands) which will provide proper treatment and rehabilitation for drug addicts. As the relapse rate for hardcore addicts is high, it requires a multifaceted approach to re-integrate the recovered addicts back into society and allow them to become productive citizens. The addicts who recover should not be stigmatised. They should be encouraged to take up meaningful work so that they can keep away from drug abuse, violence and crimes.
The government should introduce programs and incentives to provide former drug addicts life skills and training to enable them find employment. The government should also introduce policies to offer them employment in the public sector and convince the private sector to employ them as long long they live a drug-free life.
Heroin addiction has become an epidemic in Maldives affecting some 40 per cent of our youth. This is a very serious social problem for our future generation and our country. Rigorous action needs to be taken to control drug trafficking and tough enforcement action has to be taken against those who do to sell drugs and addict our young people.
To stop the plague of drugs, our government and civil society will have to rise up and meet this vicious challenge. Awareness programs should be run in schools, homes and work places.
In treating the addicts, medical and health professionals need to monitor individual cases to make sure that they don't get over the addiction to one drug by getting addicted to another in the process as has happened in some other countries. We need to keep in mind that anyone in our society can become a victim to this epidemic of drugs and a concerted effort has to be made to bring an end to this unfortunate tragedy. Our people should be able to live a life free of drugs and crime due to drugs.
Tuesday, September 01, 2009
Our parliament is efficient only to take recess.
The 1st session of the new parliament has ended, with lawmakers taking one month recess after three months of work from June to August, without passing a single bill out of the 51 bills put forward to the majlis. Link Haveeru.
As agents of the people, members of our parliament have an important obligation to hold the executive branch of the government accountable. If our democracy is to succeed with the separation of powers and improve the lives of our people, then our parliament has to respond to the challenges facing our nation. Parliament has the task to scrutinise, amend and facilitate the government's legislative agenda. None of this is being done by our parliament which is turning out to be a self-serving elite that is only interested in protecting powerful forces within the political parties. It appears that the peoples' representatives have forgotten to work for their constituents who elected them to protect the citizens' interests. Instead lawmakers have become very efficient to abide by their internal procedures and take leave, first from January to February, then the month of May and now September.
This is outrageous considering that the lawmakers gave themselves a 500 per cent increase in pay last year.
As agents of the people, members of our parliament have an important obligation to hold the executive branch of the government accountable. If our democracy is to succeed with the separation of powers and improve the lives of our people, then our parliament has to respond to the challenges facing our nation. Parliament has the task to scrutinise, amend and facilitate the government's legislative agenda. None of this is being done by our parliament which is turning out to be a self-serving elite that is only interested in protecting powerful forces within the political parties. It appears that the peoples' representatives have forgotten to work for their constituents who elected them to protect the citizens' interests. Instead lawmakers have become very efficient to abide by their internal procedures and take leave, first from January to February, then the month of May and now September.
This is outrageous considering that the lawmakers gave themselves a 500 per cent increase in pay last year.
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