Category Archives: Society

Day before yesterday, I was at Thaajuddeen School to attend my daughter’s Parent Teacher Meeting. After the meeting, I brought her to the ferry terminal and called her mother to fetch her from the Villingili ferry terminal.

After the ferry left, I tried to get a taxi to come back to the STO Trade Centre. I struggled with quite a few others including several school children who were waiting to catch a cab to go to school in the scorching sun.

Taxis are not regular and reliable as would have been experienced by any frequent traveller from Hulhumale, Hulhule or Villingili to Male’. They are the only means of transport available to those who are not fortunate enough to own a car or a motorcycle. Taxi availability depends on the drivers’ mood, whether their children are going to school that day, whether there was a riot which they have to be up for, rain, and so many other things.

The relevant government authorities will tell us that this cannot be done because the roads of Male’ are too congested. But the funny thing is, there is more than enough room for several hundred mortobikes and cars every month. When a bus service is to be given to the public, the congestion comes in.

And the taxi drivers will protest! Is it the welfare of the taxi drivers or the greater welfare of the general public that the authorities are interested in. The thing is that the people who have to make these decisions are not faced with the consquences of the neglect or the delays (in years) in decisions that affect the public.

Even if not a formal public transport system, a school-bus service would solve several social issues that we are faced with now. Firstly, the cost of transport to school by children will be less, children going to school in the rain and in the scorching sun will be saved from the related health issues, less school children roaming the streets, several parents would not have to skip work everyday to take and fetch children from school.

If the people who ran the government were the ordinary folk, they would have dealt with issues that were important for the ordinary folk. But the fthing is, that in Maldives the government is run by people who could care less about the general public.

Maldives … the Sunny Side of life:
Maldives has been branded the "Sunny Side of Life" for visitors from affluent countries. The visitors can enjoy the white sandy beaches, pristine clear blue lagoons, the refreshing breeze of fresh air and complete peace and serenity in this country; that is if you are prepared to pay for the package. The degree of a taste of heaven depends on how much you are willing to pay.

A taste of paradise is a reality for those who can afford it. Yet there are only a handful of people in the country where this paradise exist, who can afford the same. The majority who live in the periphery are told that they have the blessing of Allah the Almighty. That they are fortunate to have the blessing of the Creator. And finally the other day, the President told us that we have to be proud of to be Maldivian.

The result of this type of conditioning is that we as Maldivians have become accustomed to living a lie. And the biggest lie of all is going to be continued again shortly in the constitutional amendments that is going to happen shortly (it can take a few more years if the MPs do not find someone who can buy them for millions of dollars each!).

The lie is: that all Maldivians are and must be Muslims. What this practically means is that you must believe in Islam. The clause was put in the Constitution when the Maldivians were subservient to a Monarch; rather subjects of a King.

Maldives … living a Lie:
As a nation of people conditioned to lead a life that is pegged to a set of lies; the so called "reform process" that has been plagueing the country for nearly seven years now has also chosen to follow the conditioning.

The pillars of the reform process have told that they will give up their lives to protect and safeguard the lie. Almost all political leaders and political parties have personally pledged to fight to keep the lie as the pillar of the new Constution; if it can be called new.

It is not a surprise that new things forged by old minds and old allies will only protect the lies that have brought them riches and prosperity, wouldn’t they?

The truth is that the so called "opposition reformists" claim that they will not accept any formula for the future of Maldives that has Maumoon in its inception, design or implementation. They don’t understand that some Maldivians have minds of their own; free from the clutches of those who were our masters and want to continue to be. What they are saying is true! But the semantics is wrong.

The future of Maldives can belong to the people only if the formula of reform will not have "the former Masters of the People" in the inception, design and implementation of the reform formula.

 

This morning I got onto the eight ten ferry from Villingili to Male’. Villingili is a satellite island of Male’, eight minutes by ferry from the capital mainland. As I boarded the ferry I had to walk down the walkway in between the two rows of benches; one to each side of the dhoni.

 

It is common practise that when passengers board the ferry they sit on the aisle side of the bench. The beches are kept in rows with hardly enough space in between for someone to move into the window side of the bench if someone is sitting on the aisle side. However, those boarding the ferry first are so focused on the ease of getting down the ferry as it touches the terminal, that they prefer to sit on the aisle. Some people who board the ferry later prefer to stand somewhere to avoid inconveniencing those sitting on the aisle side of benches, even when there is space in between people sitting on the benches.

 

I took up the subject with another friend of mine who boarded the ferry with me this morning. Both of us were sitting in the last row of benches. Half the ferry was empty then, but the aisle seats were full on all rows. My friend recalled that when he visited the US for a tour of twenty one days this year what struck him most was how concerned people were about NOT inconveniencing others; aware of their existence in relation to others. This he said was not a part of our culture.

 

We never thought that our actions or inactions could inconvenience others. That sense of respect was non-existent in our society. We thought: was it a fault of the education system, or that we were simply not a civilized society yet.

 

In my opinion, recent manifestations of our society show that we are tribal in nature.