Scratching a national itch
We are at a crossroads. At this crossroads we are confronted with concepts that are alien to us: democracy, freedom and rights. Although some might argue that these aren't really new concepts, in that we've always had them to a certain degree, these are still concepts that we will need to fully understand if we are to move forward towards reform. The reform from within us and the reform at a national level.
Few years ago just after the current political uprising (if one can call it that) began in earnest someone told me that those who wanted change in this country were demanding drastic changes. By that he meant that these changes could possibly allow for the establishment of a secular society - one where religion is not part of the state or where freedom of different beliefs are permissible. I was then asked how I felt about such a change. I did not think much of it back then. But in his opinion the most changes would not be political at all. He did not have a problem with a new leader or a new system of governance but was terrified of secularity.
Although we're said to be almost 100% literate this statistic is based on our ability to read and write only Dhivehi. But what does this mean in today's world? Due to the lack of Dhivehi publications in science, philosophy and history (etc) - there are tons of religious publications in Dhivehi - a large majority of us are still living in a mental stagnation. Our 100% literacy title is useless in today's world. In other words, educationally and mentally we are not ready for secularization - and therefore even democracy - for many more years to come. The fear reaction from my acquaintance is therefore a natural one.
As such I believe one reason why many of us are terrified of political change is because of the fear of secularization of this country. On our journey to attain a proper democracy we have to embrace and accept many international conventions and declarations. These are concepts as alien to us as democracy itself. When we do embrace them western democracies will applaud us and Arab monarchs and dictatorships will scorn. It will probably become a tricky situation because to a large extent we do live under the shadow of Saudi Arabia, say, for financial aid more than our religiosity.
All the same, whether in the future we go through such a political metamorphosis or not we Maldivians are certainly going through a sort of identity crisis. It is quite possible that this identity crisis is brought on by talks of the so-called reform process - a sort of on-going side effect. What was once just an idea in our heads is now become reality and we are living its defining moments. We are learning to open our eyes and opening ourselves to critical thinking and in doing that some of us are going through sensory overload. While others are hopelessly clinging to their old thinking methodologies. It is something like a personal reform process that everyone is going through.
While some are forming more liberal (or moderate) religious view others are resorting to fundamentals. While still others are relinquishing religious beliefs or expressing their disbelief some are fighting hard to preserve our grassroots religious traditions. Then of course there is the movement between different political parties. Same people, same blood, same culture, same traditions but forming different beliefs and views.
It is certainly crucial for our future. But it will only be beneficial if we learn to use it in productive ways. The reform process has to come from within us first and foremost before we can really understand and use the concepts of democracy, freedom and rights for our own betterment. And in the process we will automatically learn to become tolerant but only if we let liberal views prosper. For that we need literacy and education in English and be recognized as being truly 100% literate in that regard.
Whatever one might call it: personal reform, identity crisis or religious metamorphosis we are experiencing, we're all scratching a national itch for reform from within and getting ready to accept the concepts of democracy, freedom and rights. It may take years but still, it's a good thing.
coxsharp | February 6, 2007 6:28 PM | Reply
Isnt the patriotism in you talking here?
maldivian guy | February 6, 2007 8:46 PM | Reply
I like you Simon... luv your blog… but your not going to like this comment...
A while back another Maldivian blogger addressed the same trepidation about Maldivian identity, personal reform and activism. Curiously you downplayed the importance of Mary-Jo’s post (in addition to your denigrating sentence about discovering her womanhood) by saying...
"I certainly have not destroyed my identity as a Maldivian for it to require restoration and I think the same can be said of most Maldivians."
Fortunately for you your comment did exactly what it was supposed to... no one dared except Dosbe to say anything contrary.
This new blog post from you today (which holds many truisms no doubt) would have had a greater impact on me if it didn’t sound so hypocritical. I’m beginning to think a friend of yours (who is incidentally a friend of mine too) was right to say that you love being the center of attention and finds it pertinent to rain on anyone else's parade. :-)
Anyhoos... what happened to your plans of moving to NZ?
nass | February 6, 2007 9:22 PM | Reply
I think it's not only fear, but they use that for political reasons also. (like the 29 members in parliament).
From what I've seen here in malaysia, I think if ppl want to live in peace, they can live in peace even if they had all kinds of religions. Its only the ppl who provoke others that cause problems.
Simon | February 7, 2007 12:28 AM | Reply
Maldivian guy,
Do you watch scooby doo cartoons? I do and I find it chuckle inducing every time some villain or monster is unmasked to reveal the real culprit. In the end it all becomes clear and you go "oh..it was that guy all along!".
Dosbe, I like your comment very much.
As for our mutual "friend" - let's just say that people who know me enough to call themselves my friends know me well enough to have no chance in hell to say such a thing.
If you talk to Mary-Jo sometime, Dosbe, could you kindly convey my apologies? Tell her that her post was important enough for me to comment on it.
And Dosbe, you're the ONLY person I told about any NZ plans.
Doh! ;-)
hamza | February 7, 2007 12:56 AM | Reply
Hey Simon you stole the Scooby-Doo reference from me. Lolz. Naughty naughty. Bad attention-hogger. :p
On a more serious note we have to accept that all this reform, democratizing and liberalization is clearly not a linear process. If anyone's interested there are scores of case-studies from Latin-America and the Middle-East which will illuminate my point. We all talk as if all this is an inevitable change hurtling us toward the conclusion to some grand narrative but the truth that I feel is not emphasized enough is that no country in the whole world is or ever will be 100% democratic. There's a lot of give and take involved and often democratization regresses back to authoritarianism in the event of a crisis and vice versa. Although the government is taking steps (whether sincere or insincere) to consolidate our democracy (sadly before basic infrastructure is even in place) only the future can tell us whether this consolidation will stand the test of time.
As for the shifting identities, we are slowly but surely building an urban, "hyper-literate" sub-category of foreign-educated individuals who feel some paternalistic obligation to educate the savages. Whilst this effort is not necessarily so sinister as that sentence made it sound, we have to be aware that while the relatively small percentage of Western- and Islamic-educated individuals do have a great deal of influence, the majority-rule system of democracy will not allow them to have the last say. Therefore, there's no need to extend our (college-educated Male' people from both extreme's) identity crises to the whole of the Maldives without actually studying the lives of your average rural Maldivian in the middle of the spectrum. I guess what I'm trying to say is that Male' although important will not be THE decisive element in a popular election (assuming it's not rigged) and hence, it's too soon to expect any major changes in attitude to be represented on a national scale.
alinitkin | February 7, 2007 11:45 AM | Reply
SIMON YOU JERK!
How could you! Do? something like that!
taking some papers from a strange man, and then dropping them?
your parents said nothing about taking papers from strange men with stools wedged in their ass?
maldivian guy | February 7, 2007 12:55 PM | Reply
Simon... dude... I’m not Dosbe. My IP should prove it (unless he’s in India too). Besides I don’t think Dosbe is cowardly enough to write under a false nick and not own up. And just coz I mentioned Mary-Jo doesn’t mean I’m him either:-)
As for Mary-Jo... tell her yourself.
As for NZ plan... you or Dosbe must have mentioned it to someone else, even if ambiguously… coz it wasn’t Dosbe who mentioned it in passing, it was someone else. Actually I wasn’t sure if it was AU or NZ. Was a shot in the dark.
Anyhoos... my comment wasn’t meant to spawn hostility or watever. It was just mild criticism. I’m sure you can handle...
ashraf | February 7, 2007 1:17 PM | Reply
Im tired of this "Maldivian" shit.
THANK YOU!
Samiyya | February 7, 2007 1:35 PM | Reply
All of you, stop picking on Simon. He's a nice guy most of the time, which is more than can be said for most people.
ibrahim hameedh | February 8, 2007 8:38 AM | Reply
Dear Nass,
The fact that pigeons fly in Maldives is proof enough that animals can exist in peace without believing in a God. If you'd discard your superstitious faith in Al-ilaahaa, you might be able to take flight and see yonder.
Thank you.
Athena | February 8, 2007 2:13 PM | Reply
Hi Simon
A few thoughts.
First of all, being literate in English doesn't make you literate in the sense you mean. I have been living in NZ for most of my adult life, and I find people here are more ignorant than a lot of Maldivians. Mostly people DON'T formed INFORMED opinions, they usually follow the media...
As for the identity crisis, I think that we might have been having it since Maldives converted to Islam. Maldivians were forced to give up their ancestral culture almost overnight. People were not given enough time to adjust to the new culture that was almost forced on them. (FOR those HOTHEADS out there, this is not a crack against Islam, I am simply stating a fact of life)
On top of that identity crisis, if you spring this one on, I can imagine the confusion.
AND yeah, any truth to the NZ plans?
ismail hameedh | February 8, 2007 2:28 PM | Reply
Athena:
Be careful. It's a very dangerous religion, and a lot of its followers will kill for their Arabic god, The Allah.
Thank you.
melburnian | February 8, 2007 2:48 PM | Reply
Hey, whay not come to melbourne. It is much better than the black kiwis.
Suhail | February 8, 2007 3:27 PM | Reply
Isamil, with all my respect, Islam-i is not a dangerous religion, but a few who are not following Islam and its essence are abusing the weakness of Islamic people who are mostly illeterate and are used to follow a particular way of life without question. These people are to led believe that anything that is foreign are anti-Islamic and Zionist Propaganda.
hamza | February 8, 2007 5:05 PM | Reply
Better than the black Kiwis? This is something someone should post about. The socially accepted form of racism that has such a strong hold on the collective Maldivian conscious. I am not so naive as to believe that aesthetic preferences can be turned around by preaching equality but the horrible racial slurs and prejudice that we, as a country, practice towards dark-skinned people have to stop one of these days.
Crime and depravity are always defining features of the "black" people as we Maldivians understand it. There is no rationale behind it. Black people are just basically criminals. Nobody gives a damn about the lasting effects of colonialism which left a large part of the African economically devastated. But of course it's not the poverty which explains the crime and ignorance, NO, it's the color of their skin.
We never give a shit about geography when it comes to dark skin. They're all undoubtedly "African". The common Maldivian never refers to a black American as a citizen of the U.S. It's always "kalhu lhaa", "Africa aathun" or something even much more colorful. While European-Americans, regardless of their ancestry are always just Americans.
Some of our closest ancestors don't escape our hate either. We would rather never talk about our embarrassing Dravidian relatives in South India. Us? Tamil? No fucking way.
No matter how distasteful we find this topic it comes with a host of social problems. Maldivian parents giving favor to their lighter-skinned children (my heart broke once when I saw that one of my friends' relatives ignore her darker-skinned child unless at mealtimes and that the boy had, over time, accepted his "inferiority" and follows his lighter-skinned brother like an adoring remora, hoping to get leftover scraps of affection). Teachers at school are more likely to get along better with the paler students. Because of the social stigma associated with dark skin, taunts, isolation and social marginalization often comes with skin color.
The truth is that we are all differing shades of brown yet our unwavering adoration is reserved for the ever-elusive Caucasian shade of skin. This is not exactly racism per se but an inferiority complex which might have something to do with the imbalance of power and the remnants of colonialism. However this is not an excuse to perpetuate a system of ignorance and discrimination.
Simon | February 8, 2007 6:24 PM | Reply
Hamza,
I think he was talking about the All-blacks, as in Kiwis, as in New Zealanders.
But you're right we are biased and racist when it comes to the colour of the skin.
hamza | February 8, 2007 6:32 PM | Reply
Haha. I understand so little about that part of the world. Any excuse to try to make a point I guess. :P
melburnian | February 8, 2007 10:00 PM | Reply
Racism, heirarchy systems is that what Maldives is all about? I came across this blog whle searching about Maldives. It gives a totally different picture of what is talked about your country.
Athena | February 9, 2007 1:40 AM | Reply
hey melburnian
I sure hope you were talking about the ALL BLACKS. And there is no such thing as Black or white kiwis. Its just Kiwi regardless on the colour of your skin. If you want to refer to the European sect then its Pakeha, if its the indeginious then Maori, the rest fits under Asian, islanders Indians and blabla , But when you say Kiwi, it means all New Zealanders.
As for racism it exists everywhere, but, I find that Maldivians have it ingrained in their system. We don't think twice about labelling SL's Orin or kattala, or bangalhee, in derogatory terms, and I have seen more than my share of how even parents differentiate between their fair skinned kids to their darker ones.
Its a sad world with sad people.
Suhail | February 9, 2007 12:00 PM | Reply
Hamza
The derogatory term for blacks is Baburun, and it was mentioned in Siyarath as well. That being mentioned in Siyarath makes it ok and acceptable.
hamza | February 9, 2007 5:50 PM | Reply
Suhail, I hope you aren't trying to say that the Islamic religion is solely to blame for our shameless racism (the same form of it exists in predominantly Hindu North India). Religion keys in as one factor in social issues but culture and education is also important.
Athena | February 10, 2007 2:27 AM | Reply
Suhail
A term becomes derogatory when it is used in that sense. Also a term goes from a description into a racial comment with the change in wind, ie the political wind and political correctness. BLACK used to be okay to describe black people , but now its not ok, it has to be African American.
Same way, when the Seerat was translated, baburun (I am sure that is was not an arabic word,)probably was not derogatory or was not meant to be. But in today's world it is so. Just because it is in the seerat it doesn't mean its sacred. But don't take it out of context and blow it out of proportion. what we hear is simply a translation, so change the world baburun to something more acceptable. thats all it takes!
Suhail | February 10, 2007 1:00 PM | Reply
Hamza,
I don't believe Islam is a racist religion, but as in many cases RELIGION ISLAM is used as an excuse to our short comings. And I don't believe Islam has anything to do with racism inherent in the collective Maldivian psyche.
Athena,
the place where I read 'Baburun' in Seerath made me feel that the word was meant to be racist or derogatory. And i also sense that racism was not such a hotly debated issue in the world then and not at all in Maldives. Maybe it was norm in Maldives. My intention in no way was to blame Islam for Racism in Maldives.
My only intention was to remind Hamza a more accurate word for blacks in Maldivian. 'Baburun' probably has come from the word Berber whose root is from the Arabic word BARBAR. Abul Barakaatul Barbar-i is a classic example.
'BLACK used to be ok to decribe black people, ......................., it has to be African American'. Athena, even if he is from Maldives or New Zealand?
Athena | February 10, 2007 2:43 PM | Reply
Suhail
Good god dude. You do take things literally, Black = African American was just meant as an example.
I have no idea what a black maldivian would be called. as it is people use 'kalhu' and 'dhon' to describe pple. In NZ I haven't heard people use 'black' to describe people, they tend to go over by their ethnicity, like, Somali, African , Indian and so on...
hamza | February 10, 2007 5:26 PM | Reply
Political correctness sometimes manifests itself as a form of "white guilt". Unless there is something wrong about having dark skin I see no reason why someone should feel uncomfortable referring to a dark-skinned person as "black" and a light-skinned person as "white". In America this takes on an entirely different racial dimension which I believe would take hours and lines of text to discuss here.
In the particular Maldivian context, what worries me is the accepted wisdom that prizes light skin over dark skin ("dhon veema hai aibu foruvaa" - fair skin hides seven disfigurements-which I hope is the best word to use here) in aesthetics, in the social arena and at home. What we've created is a virtual second class based on skin color which often even accepts this way of thinking, sometimes, to their detriment. It's not as bad as elsewhere but it skews our view of the outside world as well and narrows our focus on world issues. There have been slight recent changes with people claiming to be big fans of Beyonce' (who is hardly even nubian enough) which constitutes an infinitesimally small yet hopeful change in attitude but a lot of awareness raising and social study is needed in order to blow away and understand all the misconceptions and prejudices in our society against dark skin.
Simon | February 10, 2007 7:14 PM | Reply
Hamza,
Good point about the white guilt and I've had half a post already written about it from weeks ago. But what the hell is this topic doing in this post? Hehe.
AS | February 10, 2007 10:15 PM | Reply
It is that itchiness simon. It is the inevitable itchiness that is driving us all in to this frenzy.
By the way am i being marred as SPAM in this blog? Dont you allow anonymous comments?
Places where multicuturalism is at its highest is asking themselves whether we should be calling people by lets say, somali australian,lebanese born Australian, Newzealand born indian,Australian born etc..What should they call them. Australian australian and just forget about the culture and times from where they came from?
I think this whole "sovereign country system" such as being known by a certain countrymen is wrong. We all should be recognised under one ..eh..one world. As long as ourselves dont recognise us as being under "one roof" racism will persist.
The 7 aibu dhon is a very very small aspect of it. If any one thinks bigger i am sure you will get my picture and argument.
ismail hameedh | February 11, 2007 8:53 AM | Reply
It is truly a sad world we live in. Discrimination is rife. Followers of Islam (mostly illiterate adults and people with violent tendencies) follow a deistic form of racism where people are not equal to God. God gets preferential treatment and he gets to enslave humans and do whatever he wants with them. This is the kind of mentality and culture that breeds and inculcates discrimination, violence and inequality.
hamza | February 11, 2007 5:32 PM | Reply
How so, Ismail Hameedh? I would think having an "other" (such as god) to define ourselves as equals (albeit as slaves) would promote egalitarianism.
Let's not base our arguments on religious creeds which, truth be told, don't hold that much sway on the Maldivian population. Bangladeshi's are mistreated (I believe one was actually horrifically lynched, mirroring treatment of blacks in the postbellum South) because of class and the consequential stain on their national identity due to the large number of immigrant serfs doing unskilled labor which is deemed beneath us Maldivians (even the hopelessly unemployed ones). It's not constructive to blame this all on religion and thereby make a difficult situation worse. A lot of it has to do with poor educational standards, xenophobia and the inability of the average Maldivian to travel and see the world.
moyameehaa | February 13, 2007 4:28 PM | Reply
hey..wherez my comment/?
Simon | February 13, 2007 7:49 PM | Reply
Moyameeha,
What comment? If you submitted it should be there. If it didn't appear immediately it should be on my moderation list. I can assure there is/was none.
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