A Day in the Woods

I always get excited before a trip. That is the reason I could not get enough sleep the night before the trip. I woke up at 5am as we planned to meet in the bus stop at 630 am and head to the city to catch the tour bus. In our group we had four of us who happen to meet randomly in the University. It was a good mini bus for such a long drive. We mostly talked about the units and classes till we stopped for morning tea in a small town between the Melbourne and the Grampians. It was small quite suburb. After the tea our journey began, and passengers in the bus broke the ice and started talking. It was hot and sunny day and cannot see outside very clearly. The bus went across the farm lands and bushes and had beautiful views. We also crossed the village called ‘Ararrat’ where gold miners from China settled long back. The driver also said that it was a village where the AFL rules were born. He also said that the Chinese dig the graves of their ancestors because they believe that they will be buried in the birth land. When we reached to the Grampians we stopped at the Brambuk Centre of Aboriginal heritage. We had a small presentation on the tools used by Aboriginals for hunting. We took few pictures and headed to the balconies. The balcony walk was around 2 km’s and it was fun to walk in the bushes but the heat affected all of us. From the balconies the view of various rock and stone patterns and valley and the Lake Wartook was visible. But to my surprise my camera battery went off because I did not charge my battery in the previous night. I know, things like this are always meant to happen to me. You must be wondering how clumsy I am. But my friend manages to take some pictures and shared with me. Then we headed to MacKenzie falls which was about 3 km down and accessible with stair case. However, there was also a wheel chair accessible balcony where you can see the view of the water fall. Me and a girl I met in the bus called Trina from Denmark walked down to the base of fall however, find it difficult to climb up. It was so tiring and had to take rest every now and then. This was the last sightseeing. We all had to have ice cream or water afterwards because of the heat. We had a little time to relax in the benches opposite to small ice-cream local shop. I think it was a peak day for the shopkeeper as many were buying ice creams to beat the heat. Then at around 4 we headed back to Melbourne. We stopped at the Ararrat to grab something to eat. I for the first time had a noodles from ‘noodles bank’ in a take away pack. Then it took another 2 and half hour ride to reach to the Melbourne city. We took train back home and it was 1000 pm when I reached home. I had a fantastic day but was very tired due to the heat and sad that I could not catch many views as my camera battery went off. But it is worth visiting Grampians if you love rock climbing and enjoy the sinister stones and rocks.

The First Anniversary in the Power: achievements and challenges

It passed a year in 11th November 2009 since the new government took over the power. Majority of Maldivians had high expectations when a 30-year old regime was finally brought to the end by a new government. Although some were not convinced of the presidential candidate, Maldivians wanted to see a change. However, now people are not sure if their choice was right. It is also noted that the new government came to power during a very critical global situation. The global financial crisis was at its peak and Maldives being a nation solely dependent on tourism and financial aids suffered incredibly. Moreover, the various reports published in daily news papers also evident that previous government was not very wise in handling financial matters. Additionally, Maldives also experienced the challenges in diplomatic relations due to its autocratic rule existed. Besides, politico-economic challenges there were numerous social problems such as drug addicts Islamist threats. The crime rates rose in the capital where it has overcrowded population and spread around other islands making the life of a normal Maldivian miserable. The whole population seems to experience kind of political epidemic which sometimes took a violent nature. Now, let us see the various achievements and challenges new government experienced in a year in the power.
- Economy
The government came to power during the global financial crisis and also had to deal with the mismanagement of finance by previous governments. Hence, people cannot expect a sudden success in economic area. The government main goal was to minimise the affect of the global financial crisis in Maldives. The government rushed to business reforms and privatisation process. The various foreign trips were undertaken to get foreign investments, the main targets being the India and the European Union. The President spoke about the various projects to be handled by the foreign companies in various parts of the Maldives. However, it is unfortunate that there is not much progress so far. As the global economy began recovering now, Maldives also started recovering but still the inflation and the inequality in the salary existed. Additionally as Maldives is import-oriented country, it also has a problems in foreign trade which caused a rise in inflation. It is also hard to say that government is very successful in controlling the inflation. Hence, in my opinion still it is early to criticise the economic scenario of Maldives. The government has a good plan for economic development but without outcome.
-Politics and foreign relations
The ruling government claimed that they are the first democratically elected government. However, since the election MDP led coalition did not enjoy a very peaceful relation. As a result, Qaumee Party already left the coalition and Adalath Party is on the edge of leaving the coalition. Since MDP took over the power there are lots of political conflicts between and among parties. This is indeed expected, as the criticism is a door to the success. However, I am not sure if Maldivian politics is taking a national interest or invested personal interest. Although the government claimed that they ruled for a year without any political prisoner, it is also very challenging to work with people who lack the compromises and corporation. It was also a challenge when MDP lost the majority of Majlis to the opposition. This is evident from the recently held unsuccessful no-confidence motion taken against Minister of Foreign Affairs, Dr. Ahmed Shaheed. There are controversies against this motion, where some believed that it was merely motivated by reasonable politics but rather it was more a personal grudge between Dr. Shaheed and Speaker of the People’s Majlis, Mr. Abdulla Shahid. Ibra, prominent personality in politics and ex-MP, said that this no-confidence motion was not valid and was put in the agenda of the Majlis unconstitutionally. Further he also said that it is a good time to take a no-confidence motion against the Speaker or the people’s Majlis. These quarrels between parties caused it hard to concentrate on the development of nation rather it halt the national development. May be the ruling party does not posses a very good communication and cooperate skills. On the other hand, Maldives also took a turn in its diplomatic relations where more priority is given to the West than East.
Social problems
Male’, capital of Maldives has been overcrowded with people who either migrated looking for better jobs or education or better life. However, they ended in a mess. I do not have to bring the social conditions of Male’ here. The migrated families bear the costs while owners of the land benefit. Migration took over an extreme turn that government unable to fully regulate it. The land owners in Male’ earned buckets of currency while the islanders loose everything they earned for rent. I fully support the decentralised administration however, not convinced if it is going to be implemented any soon. The decentralisation has been an ideal way to stop the rapid migration. If the new government could at least spread development in seven zones then I think there might be a solution to the migration hence, people will be willing to settle in their islands. Apart from this, the Islamic extremist also began spreading in Maldives. These people use religion as a tool for both as oppression and gather support for their cause. If government is not able to control this right now soon Maldives might become second Afghanistan or Pakistan.

Nevertheless, government is steadily progressing when considered all the challenges they are facing. However, the policies of government sometimes question its ability to rule a nation. When they said that the government would not spend on unnecessary posts, there were quite many political appointees and it still is going on. Policies such as rise in salary when there was a high inflation and high debt, and increased political appointees, unnecessary foreign visits, and so on brings doubts on their success in the power when they are celebrating a year. But I wish people start seeing changes happening in near future otherwise we do not want to see another mistake. The government should bring national interest for the betterment of the society than pleasing their buddies.

The beginning of Extremism in Maldives

Maldives, an island nation is surrounded by neighbours with a numerous ethnic and religious conflicts. Maldives is a purely Islamic nation but not Islamic state. However, Islam is considered as a state religion. A Maldivian has to be a Muslim according to the recently revised Constitution. Islam has played a huge part of day to day life of a Maldivian citizen. Years ago, it can be viewed that there was homogeneity in the religion where the faith and belief were intertwined to the traditions and customs of the Maldivian society. The reason for this may be because the society had fewer accesses to the outer world or government interfered in the religious affairs. However, things started changing when Maldives started experiencing the aspects of modernity and foreign influences. While a section of society accepted the western values and ideology, others opposed this and attached themselves with the religion. They also started using the traditions of Islam (also hadith and Qur’an) to oppose the views of so called foreigners. They sort of started finding evidences from traditions to strengthen their stands. However, Maldivians do not speak Arabic language and if I am not wrong there are less than 10% who can understand Arab language. Hence, the group of people who themselves termed as a ‘revivalist’ or ‘traditionalists’ interpreted the verses and hadith according to their motives. Most of them educated in neighbouring India, Pakistan, and Malaysia or in Middle East. One of my lecturers, Irfan Ahmad wrote in one of his articles that ‘the interpretation of Qur’an has a many limit and the meaning often influence ‘the condition and the biography of the person reading the text’. This happened in Maldivian society as well. When government started losing its power and power vested it in the so called civil societies, various groups calling for implementation of rights emerged. As consequences of this, people started interpreting the hadiths and radically these interpretations were purely human made. On the other hand, Maldivian society accepted these views blindly because some lack the knowledge or some are too lazy to do research or some can be easily brain washed due to their grievances. Eickelman (2000) argued that religion can retain its influence only by conforming to norms such as ‘rationality’ and ‘relativism’, accepting secularization and making compromises with science, economic concerns and the state. He also contended that the clash of civilisation within other religion is not between the West and homogeneous other but it is between the rival carriers of tradition within the same nations and civilisation.
My point is that it is not a time to blame each other neither time to expose ourselves, but it is time to find the social evils existing in our society and rehabilitate before it is too late. Otherwise we will be seeing more September 29 attacks, himandhu incidences and more radicalised brothers and sisters. Islam does not entertain conflicts neither called for Jihad against innocent civilians, however due to the actions of few lunatics the whole society is going to suffer. These people are not trying to implement 7th Century society but they are so radicalised that they are using religion as a weapon to achieve their selfish agenda. We will never want our society to be like our neighbouring societies where everyday thousands are killed in ethnic clashes. Surely we will not tolerate the religious violence in our society when there existed a common faith.