Random Reflexions

There has been much furor and jubilation in the camps of radical and fundamental religious groups these past two days. If they were given the proper resources we might have witnessed members of the Adhaalathu party donning Christmas lights on their beards as they rode in a march of celebration on their camels ululating all the way. That would have been more appropriate a celebration for what, in my opinion, amounts to be an amendment to the draft constitution that in one stroke of the pen completely eliminated the one article that should inspire us to be patriotic towards this bloody country of ours. And instead help create and pave the way towards a 7th century style theocracy.

The amendment proves beyond a shadow of doubt that our hearts, our minds and our soul and the essence of our very being - our very patriotism - lies somewhere in a box in the desert of a lunatic asylum that is Arabia. We have demonstrated the appalling shallowness of our mentality and the unparalleled cowardice of our nature. Not one member of the constitutional assembly rejected the proposal because suddenly the irrational, illogical and unthinking religious personality emerged almost as if it were a modern day miracle!

In one single sentence we have not only made the constitution the laughing stock of the world but possibly created thousands of criminals of conscience and a constitutionally forced race of zombies.

The problem with this amendment is not its coercion of people to follow Islam and the superiority given to religion over nationalism (by our standards a very insignificant part of being human it seems) nor is it about the assumption by the constitution that the country is 100% Muslim either. No. This is vastly more serious than that.

This is about the problem of creating the constitution of this country, once again, based on vague and questionable notions. Notions that this time reek of the overpowering stench of religious propaganda towards creating the 100% radicalized nation of Islam. Notions that are so highly susceptible to interpretation that they belong only in religious texts written in a foreign and prehistoric language - not in the constitution.

What is altogether more disturbing is the fact that we Maldivians, by way of our incredibly stupid, ignorant and shallow nature, will not see beyond the surface of this. Many of us will dismiss any dissent toward this amendment and will not think twice before vulgarly ordering our fellow dissenting countrymen to leave the country - proudly giving ourselves a pat on the back for upholding Islam. Such is our selfishness and the shallowness of our compassion towards our compatriots. - towards our own blood. Today our patriotism rolls with the desert sands of Arabia and there is no turning back.

From today onwards we can throw our dreams of democracy out the window and embrace the cold backwardness of theocracy.

November 21, 2007 | Permalink | Comments (19)

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The Age reported on the 31st of October that Afghan police working at a highway checkpoint noticed something odd about a burga clad woman passenger in a vehicle. She was unusually tall and when questioned refused to answer. The report goes on to say that when the veil was eventually removed, police found not a woman but a 27 year old Siberian man with a long red beard.

The most startling discovery, of course, was the 500 kg of explosives inside the vehicle.

While I most respectfully honor the rights of women to dress as they want as long as it fits in with norms of any civil society, I also see why government policies against veiled women may have come about, along with those regarding broadcasting of images and glorification of suicide bombers, given the situation after the bomb of 29th September.

Many of us have already forgotten about that terrorist act and many more have already brushed it aside as an inconsequential event – as something that may never happen in the future. We can give this kind of indifferent thinking leverage only once the forces that conspired towards this terrorist act have been fully accounted for and all possible networks thoroughly investigated and put under surveillance. That is, if it is ever possible. Given the latest reports about the extent to which the perpetrators of the bomb have had connections to international terrorist organisations, full surveillance and control may never be possible at all. That should be worrying for everyone, every citizen.

We should realize that this event has (or should have) completely shaken and taken us by surprise and has forever changed the course of our small country. For a country like ours, when faced with the unknown and unknowable size and operations of sinister international terrorist organisations, this means treading in completely uncharted territory. The heavy-handed reaction from the government we see today is, I believe, a result of this.

On the 29th of September we should have been woken up to the realization that the world is now a place where our lives and those of our loved ones could be destroyed by selfish and barbaric men any time, any day,– regardless of our religion, colour or creed. Men, - it must be noted and vividly imagined - like the one stopped at the Afghan checkpoint, who have no reservations about wearing a burga and posing as a woman for a solely destructive purpose. A purpose that is inspired and powered by dangerously irrational religious beliefs. There is no man that can stop a divinely ordained mission on earth, is there?

There is no doubt that women have the right to wear the veil on religious grounds but unlike many other religion inspired attire the full veil is possibly the only one worn exclusively by women that can also be abused by men. Whether we like it or not there will always be the uncertainty of who is really behind the veil. Having said that I believe the government’s policy on veiled women can be described as childish. I believe there are other measures that can be taken to root out extremist terror ideologies.

A public ban on all popular fatwa CDs can be one - and there are many, many out there. The Ali Rameez fatwa CD is said to have converted many, otherwise moderate (or irreligious), women and men and pushed them towards the religious right of the belief spectrum. How so many were so easily coerced into a fundamental (and often extreme) belief system by an uneducated pop star should have been a wakeup call for the government. (It is also as a result of feeble religious knowledge, ignorance and credulity of many to start with).

Whatever we think of these government policies we have to realize that terrorism has arrived on our shores in full force. Whether its arrival is as a result of negligence or oversight by the government or not it is here and the veil and the feminine identity associated with women who adorn it can and has been stolen by selfish and barbaric men towards heinous crimes against innocent people. The reality, and one can blame a million things for this, is that the veil, the beard and the sawed of pants has become the uniform of the Islamist terrorist.

November 20, 2007 | Permalink | Comments (6)

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Here's the problem. This country is economically unsound, socially unstable and its future uncertain. Those that have options have plans to move their families abroad for a better life. Many have already taken the plunge. In fact, for some even in the unstable, civil war torn neighbour Sri Lanka there is future certainty and promise of a better life to be found. For the growing number of our educated and professional elite, highly industrialized and developed countries are ready to greedily embrace them any time.

The problem of brain drain is a huge problem even today in many countries of the Middle East and South Asia, where, much like us (or worse), their future is uncertain and the environment unpredictable. Many professionals, doctors, engineers, accountants migrate to countries of the West in search of better pay, better education for their children and better living conditions. The result is the stifling effect of the brain drain felt by the losing country. It sort of creates a cyclic effect out of which losing countries find it hard to break free from.

Here too we are creating similar conditions for a possible mass brain drain. Social problems such as child abuse, about which little has so far been done by the government, is on the rise. People, especially educated, thinking fathers and mothers worry about their child's wellbeing and innocence, not just from teachers and strangers but from relatives with whom they are forced to live in congested conditions. There is a growing hopelessness fueled by the inaction of authorities to properly punish perpetrators. A sense of lawlessness in the system is always at the back of everyone's mind.

The emergence of gangs within the last 5 years or so have made the streets unsafe for children and women. Just few days back a boy was stabbed 9 times by knife and sword wielding gang members and now his life literally hangs in the balance. What is worse is the lack of proper medical equipment and services to save that boy's life and for that matter anyone's life from anything more complicated than influenza. I've been told that one of the major gangs is funded by crooks that work for the government - people who partake in shaping the future of this country. The sense of hopelessness is further reinforced by this kind of information.

Economic stability is under threat too as we face the rising oil prices and bloated budgets. The recent rise in the price of powdered Milk for instance is a simple example of how everyone gets affected. The struggle for survival is not a struggle anymore - it is a war. And it has spilled into the streets in the form of drug abusers, gang members and loitering youth that have no direction in life.

Then of course there is the threat of terrorism. Reading about the links between the perpetrators of the bomb attack of 29/9 and international terror networks and "cells" is so frightening that every thinking and able Maldivian must be grappling with the impossibility and uncertainty of a sound future for this country and possibly already making plans for a future elsewhere.

This maybe our only real home. This maybe where our forefathers lived and the last remnants of our culture and tradition survive. But today I don't see a future for my children here. As every day passes by as the possibility of living a contented and happy life, here in this very paradise that is ours, is becoming impossible to fathom.

With our future so bleak, or simply uncertain and non-existent at this point, the educated elite is planning to leave this country behind for the dogs. The result will be the brain drain and that is a sad thing to happen to a country.

November 17, 2007 | Permalink | Comments (21)

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After marking the 3rd anniversary of this blog I thought about how I can give something back to the blogger / viewer community out their and here is the result of it.

Introducing MvBlogosphere companion extension for Firefox!.

Here's what this extension will let you do (when you are on mvblogs.org):

• Lets you select which blogs you want listed when you load mvblogs.org. In other words, lets you hide some blogs you don't want to read.
• Lets you mark or highlight some blogs that you find interesting. The blogs will be highlighted every time you load mvblogs.org providing you with an easy way to locate your favourite blogs with a glance.
• Let you hide the Flickr photo area. If you are like me, you'd want this (sorry Flickrers, don't worry your feature is next).
• Lets you hide the blogs listing area (for people who want to view just the Flickr photos)
• Lets you display the Favicon beside the blog post titles on the blogs listing

The hiding and the highlighting of blogs will take effect immediately and will remain until you remove highlighting (by clicking on the 'gray' highlight icon of the highlighted blog post) even after you reload. For unhiding blogs, you'd need to manually edit the list in the MvBlogosphere Options window.

Click here to see what mvblogs.org may look like after installation of this extension.

Download the extension here: MvBlogosphere companion extension for Firefox

But please read some of the instructions first. Click here for instructions.

There is so much more that can be incorporated into this extension and if I have the time I will put them in. Meanwhile, if you think of a cool feature let me know.

So yeah, thank you all for visiting this blog and taking the time to read and comment. This is for you.

November 15, 2007 | Permalink | Comments (11)

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Today marks the 3^rd anniversary of this blog. This blog in its previous incarnation came to life on the same day of the same month in 2004.

It gave me a reason, today, to dive into the archives and read some of the posts that have shaped this blog. There are 210 published posts (including this one) and 114 unpublished ones that were once upon a time published and over 2,300 comments. The unpublished posts are those that were about my kids and family. I decided to remove those as my posts, over time, became more political and controversial. Also when it got listed on DO and some of my posts made their appearance there I knew this blog would never be personal in that sense anymore.

According to Google Analytics, during October there were some 1,400 absolute unique visitors with the majority of visitors arriving from DO and then MvBlogs. These visitors, it seems, spend an average of about 4 minutes per visit and does 2 page views each on average. I've been told this is a pretty good figure by web standards because as it turns out most web surfers have very short attention spans.

I must be doing something right.

About 55% of all visitors are returning readers. That means 44% are new visitors. This also suggest a good balance between the two types. Firefox tops as the browser of choice by visitors to this blog.

Over the 3 years there has been an explosion of blogs from Maldives and Maldivians abroad. Still I feel more should join. We Maldivians are a very opinionated bunch, aren't we? So why don't we bring the coffee table chatter and debates to the blogosphere and expose them to a wider audience? Blogs are an excellent communication and feedback tool and it works both ways between people, the public and the government. What's more, it can be a living history of how this country is shaping up and where it is going.

Recently there have been calls from various bloggers and commenters to ban and remove certain blogs from MvBlogs. MvBlogs is a bastion of free speech in Maldives and is in my opinion a reflexion of the diversity of our thinking. And it should remain as such. If we close a door here then ultimately we will end up closing all but a few doors.

As for me, 3 years on, I feel I will not stop blogging as long as I live. That is a promise I make to myself and to all you faithful readers.

Thank you for the 4 minutes of your time. It means so much to me.

November 14, 2007 | Permalink | Comments (10)

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Recently a friend and I went for a ride around town as per the famous local pastime.

"You know, I really don't get it. What's with the license plate number system of this country? Seldom have I come across a more complicated system of numbering. The mix of letters and numbers seem a little over the top, isn't it?", I said.

"No, it is not. In fact, by simply looking at the number plates highly trained police officials can tell who you are, your address and what you had for lunch and dinner for the past year and, get this, they can also tell whether it is you who is driving the vehicle and if so what colour underwear you're wearing.", he said.

"Amazing, new technology?".

"Yep. Whoever designed it was either super-smart or was actually a prehistoric life form from the Cambrian explosion," he said, and added, "I suspect it is the latter."

By this time we were passing Aifaanu building and the Hulhumaale' ferry terminal was right in front of us.

"Have you been to Hulhumale'?" I asked.

"Yeah. Once or twice I think. Nice place and the ferry ride there makes it all worth it."

"How so?"

"Well the ferries themselves are probably designed to give you a 20 minute experience of how it feels like to be in the kuda golhi along with 100 or so others. The air is foul from the stink of cheap perfume and day old sweat from buruga clad women and school children and sweaty men and it is nicely contained inside a carriage that is designed for maximum suffocation by having no ventilation mechanisms at all."

"Ack!"

"Yep. There is only one thing that can survive that environment for more an a few hours in a stretch."

"What?"

"Cockroaches. And you'll find a lot of them once in a while heading outside the carriage to get some fresh air. And look at the way ferries have to maneuver to make a departure.", he said pointing at a departing ferry.

"Yeah. I've seen that before. Why did they build this terminal the way it is? Soon there will be a need to have a bigger terminal and bigger ferries. Even now I suppose. And why can't we have a proper ferry system. After all they're transporting passengers not vegetables!", I said quite irritated.

"But that's the thing. They ARE vegetables. Not one of them will complain. For us Maldivians, almost any situation however miserable it is, is ok."

"Well, did YOU complain?", I asked.

"Yep. To one of the guys in charge."

"What did he say?"

"He said so far no one's complained. Hehe!"

"Hah! Hey you know that guy we used to hang out with...the one with the bucket-of-bolts motorcycle?"

"Yeah. I heard he's bloody rich now after winning and then selling one of those lucky draw resorts. Apparently he's bought a house or two in some country and moved family there.", he said.

"Yep. Don't you think that is unfair? Shouldn't everyone get a share in that. Shouldn't the government plan it for everyone's benefit? How I came to know about this was through a another friend who ended the delivery of the news by saying 'gadha lhaaennu dho?!'"

"Yeah, I think we are mentally ill or something. What to do!"

As we passed the row of jolifathi at the artificial beach he pointed at a couple of guys smoking and said they were smoking a joint. How he knew I don't know. Anyway, we continued.

"One day at around 2 am I was sipping coffee with a friend at the Seahouse restaurant. The place was practically empty and we were about to flee the scene when in pops two girls clad in tank-tops and mini skirts. My friend signaled them to come and sit with us."

"And?", I asked curiously.

"Well, apparently they were bored and was looking for a way to party. And my friend asked them what makes a party for them."

"And?"

"One of the girls said that the night before they had cocaine. I almost spat out the bit of arecanuts in my mouth in shock."

"Woah. Really!?!"

"Yeah man. We're way outdated. Hehe. And guess what? They said they had better hurry because they had school the next day."

"Shit man!", I said shocked.

"Yeah, you know what this country needs, Simon?", he asked me very seriously.

"A new leader?"

"No man! This country needs one big enema!"

November 13, 2007 | Permalink

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One of the hardest things about translation from English to Dhivehi is translating user interface elements of computer software. I am translating a complex remote-sensing application used in commercial fishing and the obstacles I face at translating the menu items, the tool bars and the various diaglog boxes is proving to be frustratingly difficult to cross.

Besides the lack of straight forward words for user interface elements such as "exit" or even "options" there is something inherently strange about using regular Dhivehi words in the context of a software. For instance, the word "window" - the rectangular area containing various user interface elements - when directly translated would be "kuda dhoru" or "dhoru". So instead we use the English word as it is and that is the common and accepted practice today. But there are words such as "print" that can be translated in proper context of software but still sound equally out of place.

When we say "chaapu kolla" we immediately get the image of a giant offset printer chugging out the daily newspaper.

Of course, a lot of it has to do with the lack of words for technological terms when technology first arrived here. Those people bestowed with the responsibility of advancing our language did not find a need to fill the vacuum created by the lack of Dhivehi words for technology that we use everyday. We just ended up using English words for the terms when referring to elements of software and hardware. Maybe somewhere in the future popular culture may help evolve new words for aspects of software and technology.

Although Dhivehi provides for richness in poetry and can be effectively used in writing and oration we find that there is much to be desired from it when it comes to technology. In that sense Dhivehi has not been a very progressive language. Just because we have 10 words for "coconut" does not mean in anyway it has a rich vocabulary (rich in a poetical or phrasal sense perhaps). Obviously these words came as a result of the coconut playing an important role in our past. But does it play that same role today as does, say, the computer?

It is natural to find in any culture richness of words that describe things and activities commonly found and practiced in that particular culture. For instance, while (as previously mentioned) we have 10 words for coconut we have just one word for the different kinds of alcoholic drinks such as wine, tequila, chardonnay, champagne, beer etc: All of that is "ban'gu raa".

Strangely enough we find that there is an abundance of words related to sexual activities and genitalia in Dhivehi. Indeed, our forefathers had done their job to perfection in that department. We find that Dhivehi is very rich, sometimes embarrassingly so, in this department.

For instance, "nakasthelhun" is the word that very specifically describes the act, by a man, of attempting to continue having intercourse even after he has achieved orgasm. Another, "Hotukolhu" is the very specific word for the rear-end of four legged animals. One can easily guess at how these words would have come about or even the context in which they were used. In the case of the first example it is vividly obvious. In the latter case, well, I wonder in what context such a word would have been used.

There's more. We even have a word specifically for the penis of young boys. And while there is no specific word for vaginal lubrication in English, we've got one! So on and so forth.

In my opinion, we ought to come up with words for technology that have now become essential to us. The official French vocabulary did not have a word for "email" so they adopted the French sounding word "courriel" from Québécois French. Perhaps could we follow the same method by consulting linguists of our neighbouring countries.

Or we can simply adopt the English words as we have done so far and make them official. In which case, part of my translation services would vanish. So while it is still there and "hotukolhu" is amusing and useless at the same time, I need to find a word (or maybe a short sentence as it maybe) for "preferences".

November 12, 2007 | Permalink | Comments (7)

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On the 30th of October this year, I had traveled 5 billion miles through empty space. If I were traveling in a straight line I would have reached 900 million miles away from the very edge of the solar system, way past the planet Pluto.

All that distance I traveled at the incredible speed of 107,218 km/h. That is 19 times faster than the fastest bullet as it leaves the barrel of a gun and 86 times faster than the speed of sound in dry air!

And allI this time I have travelled on board a fragile and beautiful spaceship on which I share accommodation with many others. A spaceship that is unlike any other. One that protects me and other voyagers from the vacuum of space and the harmful rays and radiation of the stars. Its shield keeps me and itself safe from the impacts of stellar debris that it encounters on it's long journey.

The vast majority of my fellow passengers on this spaceship simply cannot grasp the fragility of their vessel. Their minds cannot truly comprehend the immensity of space and the insignificance and vulnerability of the ship in cosmic terms either. And yet this is the only spaceship we have.

This is Spaceship Earth.

November 8, 2007 | Permalink | Comments (7)

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I just finished watching the recent Al Jazeera program Frontline Maldives and I must say that the panel interview was more cringe-inducing than a good episode of The Office (UK). I felt like cowering behind the nearest coconut tree but realized I wouldn't find any within a kilometer. Umar Naseer and the two Nasheeds looked and sounded more like three sunbaked football rowdies in ill fitting formalwear participating in an impromptu debate on which they get to parrot lines from pre-canned pseudo-political mambo-jumbo and appear (to the untrained eye, mind you) as politicians.

Anni is as predictable in his rhetoric as anyone else in this circus. His use of prepackaged adjectives is as predictable as day and night. We can be sure that today, as it was several years ago when Anni came to the political limelight, should he open his mouth out will flow a certain collection of adjectives with almost sublime fluidity. "Oppressive", "tyrannical", "iron-fist", "ruthless" and so on. That and "rigged polls" and conspiracy theories are as old and overused as a decade old pair of pirate's undies and frankly, Anni, we could do with a fresh pair. When are we going to hear something solid, something worth our time and attention from the MDP camp? Of course, I did support the core of what MDP stood for few years ago. Now I’m not too sure.

Here's a question. What do you get when you give Internet access to a highly programmed military android and tell him to look up on Islamic democracy and radicalism? You get Umar Naseer, who, it seems, had just been reactivated from standby-mode into a world where (God forbid!) men and women actually dance together! Of course, one advantage of having Internet access for him is so he can look up on quotable quotes-websites and demand "firmness" almost as if he is talking about a piece of steak in a fancy restaurant. And he spoke of a wave of radicalism as if he had just read a certain blog post by a certain blogger.

He sums up the mentality of about 75% (my figure) of the entire population of this country: that religion has the miraculous answers to all forms of socioeconomic ills. That mentality is exactly what is taking this country down the pits to extremism and creating polar differences in social attitudes. Don't tell that to Mr. Umar because he is busy planning the shut down of non-existent shops that sell alcohol and is heavily involved in the invention of an "Islamic wheel".

Then of course there is minister Nasheed. Either Al Jazeera used CG enhancement to digitally erase the strings attached to his limbs or he was on remote control. I suspect it is the latter. Public TV and radio, which is under his ministry's control I presume, is full of religious flimflam like the Seerat, morning, noon and night. Then of course in the hope of balancing things out we are presented with pop-culture rubbish that is the complete opposite of the said religious flimflam. The entire TVM, for instance, is a gigantic sketch show.

Like the broken record that the current administration likes to play, Nasheed predictably brings in the "30 years of progress under Maumoon" line. If we were to anthropomorphize these 30 years of progress we would see a healthy man turn into a man who sleeps in a box, is uneducated, unemployed, malnutritioned, on drugs and suffering from gonorrhea. Of course, according to Nasheed the current administration can create the man at three speeds: long-term, medium term and immediate.

The 30 years of progress line is a myth because if it were true and the vast majority of people were happy, fulfilled and content with their lives then we would not be in the current situation we are today. Just because modern technology arrived on our shores does not mean we have progressed as a nation.

November 4, 2007 | Permalink | Comments (27)

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