Toxic cloud

Ominously it approaches Male from the west now that the monsoon winds have changed that way. 

Thilafushi in Maldives is an environmental disaster in itself. The fumes from Thilafushi’s open burning of Male’s daily stock of garbage produces a hideous mix of toxic gases that rise in a visible plume 24 hours of the day and spreads it’s poison all around – the Galu-Falhu on its west and Villingili island to the east. A cocktail of mixed refuse is transported and dumped into this little shallow lagoon called Thilafalhu just a crow’s flight to the west of Male. For the past 40 years or so this shallow spot in the lagoon has been the sea-fill for all of Male’s municipal litter. Now with all this filth buried into its bowels, this shallow has been transformed into ‘Thilafushi’ – an island, by now of veritable size, containing warehouses, oil depots, office buildings, and most notably of all, the garbage dump of Male City, our little Capital. Daily, tons of this unsorted municipal waste of 130000 people is transported in huge barges to this spot in the serene turquoise waters of this island paradise. But the scene on Thilafushi is far from that of a paradise; it’s the stark opposite.  

On these days of soothing westerly zephyrs the ominous haze quickly floats the one mile or so distance and envelopes Male in an invisible ambience only noticeable by the unusual stench that pervades Male on and off ever so infrequently. Perhaps it’s nothing to worry about some say. Just imagine the thousands of chemicals inhaled wilfully and directly by perhaps a clear 50 percent of Male’s inhabitants who sport cigarettes dangling from their lips. So why worry of the occasional wafts from Thilafushi? The difference of course is that this is an environmental outcome affecting not just those unconcerned about their health as the smokers are, but those who are concerned and yet can do nothing about it except to curse the approaching plume.  

One can now add to this the ballooning condition of air pollution in Male city where motor vehicle traffic now abounds to throttling proportions and the resulting jams are the norm that forces both riders and pedestrians to continuously inhale mega doses of unleaded petrol fumes.

The Health Ministry’s marking of the world no-tobacco day also happened in a day of frenzy and then its message died with a whimper. The smokers continue to puff away like chimneys relishing the cheap prices the cigarette companies levy and irresponsible government policies allow. Yes, in not knowing or being oblivious to these prevailing facts, Maldives maybe bracing for a non-communicable diseases epidemic of epic proportions not too far down in the future.

When will our policy makers do something about the open dumping and burning on Thilafushi? Surely, the city council or the housing ministry – as the case maybe – can devise a garbage-segregation at the house-hold level policy that can solve this issue of open burning of plastics at Thilafushi? Male will then have a true windfall of a ‘cleaner’ plume from Thilafushi, even if nothing else is done. But of course the culprit of the dioxins must be collected and put to recycling.  I am sure we can take a page from what the tourist resorts are doing about this. And of course, in a country that is so effete in its soil-content, but where many are into vegetable farming and now also foraying into the pleasures of home-gardening, could we not make gold from garbage by commercially composting this one third or so of collected garbage? We will create jobs and reduce our import of biodiversity-damaging compost from outside our shores. For the know-how on composting, there are sprouting local examples also. But given our aversion to listening to home-grown solutions, I guess “a prophet is never heard in his own country” adage applies too well here. Alas, for us it has always been alien solutions that seem to attract us!  

And that goes for our other habits also. As such, in regards to our second case here, when will we as a public wake up to the tricks of the cigarette companies to keep us who are in poorer countries hooked and clearly directed towards the disease and slow death these products augur?

Ramzaan Mubaarak!

Dear Readers,

It's that time of the year to replenish our dipping spirituality. The next thirty days can be the beginning of another refreshing chapter in your lives. This is the holy month during which the first revelation came to our Beloved Prophet Muhammad (SAW) in that lonely cave on Mount Hira. This was the beginning of a transformation of the human race with the injunction that to "read" was the basis of life. To learn and to know and to put into practice the good ways we are supposed to live and create and recreate the future for posterity.

The Prophet Muhammad (SAW) is the Blessing Allah sent to all humanity -- not just to any one Nation as the others of this celebrated ilk were. He brought us the message of Mercy from Allah (SWA), and together through The Messenger's superlative example, showed us how to be the best among the best. How to tread the path to Jannah.

So, this Ramazaan is yet again the chance for us to reflect on the Mercy and Compassion of Allah (SWA) and imbibe the tremendous gift we have in our Holy book the Quraan. It is a solution for all times and for ills -- the absolute recipe for the trials of humanity. It is a month when the dark forces of evil are in retreat by the will of Allah (SWA), and so an opportunity for us to work on the good with the least of resistance -- itself a Mercy from the Almighty.

May you all have a Blessed Ramzaan and happy life!

Abdul Sattar

World no-tobacco day: lets throw away that stick!

Today is world no tobacco day. All over the world this day is marked to flag the insidious danger of smoking to the human body. So that we will take heed.

It is a curious anomaly that our body – the thing that we so consider as the most important things for us to preserve, or show off – is at the receiving end of such a noxious thing as the smoke from our cigarettes.

Scientific studies testify unequivocally that cigarette some contains thousands of poisonous chemicals that can cause an array of bodily harm. In fact a former Director General of the World Health Organization once famously said that the cigarette is the only product in the market when used exactly as is suppose tot, will make you sick or kill you.  Thus one wonders why we and our government just allow these killers in packets, to move so freely in our midst. We seem to condone such killings just because it is not a gun, machete, bomb or knife that doing the killing. But surely wen we know something wrong we need to prohibit it with all he strength of our being. Why do we talk so against pesticides and industrial chemical such as the organo-phosphates and the carbamates, and the so called dirty-dozen of chemicals that we ban internationally with trans-boundary agreements and the like, that seem to show inordinate global concern for human life.

The Bhopal Union Carbide factory fiasco of decades ago is still told even to grandchildren in India and in classrooms and lecture halls, and so are stories of mutation of human fetuses due to dangerous chemicals in food production and in pharmaceuticals. But the chemicals we inhale daily in our cigarette smoke - the ammonia, acetone, benzene, hydrogen cyanide, etc. -  is quietly hushed up by politicians and business houses as inconsequential to health. Instead, we spend billions to build hospitals and other edifices, both physical and social, to treat the end-of-the-line diseases that are the  result of these inhalations and ingestions. Globally, at least 1200 people die everyday from the consequences of cigarette smoking. It's like three jumbo-jets crashing everyday with none surviving. Yes, sadly, by discounting the seriousness of the cigarette smoke both first-hand and second-hand, we give a blind eye to a primary cause that land many of us in hospital or grave in the first place.

To many who may not be aware, it would be shocking to know that cigarette smoke does not only cause lung cancer but is the cause of many other health risks. You may like to visit Google or the WHO website for further awareness that can save you still. So why do we have this killer in the loose? Why are big shops with only disingenuous posturing of human concern allowed to operate and make money off hapless citizens putting their future health in jeopardy? The answer must be our greed for making a buck even at the expense of the health of our youth. This indeed is criminal – especially in this age of the internet and awareness. We cannot allow such a danger to be left unattended when we in the name of development, tinkle around with projects that only give us short term benefits. Perhaps that is the politics of having only a short term vision called the myopia of politics.

As one who has advocated cigarette smoking cessation in all of my professional years I feel that the biggest impediment to keep such killers on the loose is the easy public access and availability of this killer to the public and the sad and deep lack of our awareness of its stealthy tactics to our body.

I know that our young people - even with the throbbing hormonal changes buzzing in their bodies – will have the sense to know right from wrong. So it is not just the hedonism of youth but our Nation’s feeble laws and enforcement that allow these white long criminal sticks to function with impunity that must urgently be brought to justice.

Then there are the tobacco producing business giants who spend billions of dollars on advertising the glamour of smoking either overtly of covertly, subtly or brazenly, that entice our hormone-confused youth. But awareness and enforcement has given great dividends to the West who have effectively reduced their cigarette consumption in huge amounts. Smoking in the street, in public places, and even in restaurants and at sports events and the like is not booked any more in these ‘developed’ countries. And so this loss by the cigarette companies is patched up by the irresponsible governance and foolish youth of developing countries. Little do we realize that these companies are taking us natives of their previous colonies for a ride. Our hard earned money and our lungs are burned up to make them rich. Do we see that foolishness we are trapped in? We need to wake up. It’s not an emulation of the West to be smoking when they have stopped. Yes, no one in their right mind will like to be fooled over and over again. When we are cheated for a few Rufiyaa in a retail shop we are upset, but when these Companies cheat us with our health on a continuing basis, we just inhale the toxin in oblivious bliss time and time again imagining that we are just cool and admirable.

Youth of today must wake up. Please be conscious of your bodies in all respects – not just only with clothes, hairdos and colognes. Just like any physical thing, your body too withers with time and you don’t have to make that process any faster by the inhalation of these toxic fumes just because in this youthful moment in your live, you feel invincible. Just wait for another decade or two, your whole being will cry in the regret of what you do today.

I wish you well for the future and advise you to urgently crush that packet of killers that you carry in your pocket with such love and passion, with the realization that this is just your ego’s deceptiveness egging you towards your destruction.  For that magnanimous act of crushing that cigarette packet, your body will thank you forever.  Pumping iron at the gym only gives you a physical shell of your outer body that you hope to show off, but sadly an inside that is festering ever so slowly but surely.

Mark these my words my dear youth of Maldives: what I write here is not empty words, but truths that are backed by scientific research coming from the scientific intelligence of the very part of the world that you all so attempt to emulate.  So please take wise steps right away to prevent a life of regret for yourself.

Our body says: if you look after me for the first 40 years, I will look after you for the next 50 years. 

Solid walls

Solid walls often don't give way! But yes, an earthquake is another story. 

In Maldives, our day is consumed by the political impasse we face. As in the few Friday prayers past, we are all hoping earnestly and beseeching the Creator of hope for a solution to our national quagmire.

To be able to make a difference there has to a difference in our thinking. As the famous saying goes, those who created the problems cannot be asked to solve the problems they created. This squarely relates to our Maldivian political situation. Everyone seems to be aligned with one party or another. This must be the only country in the world where the public is most politically engaged. (a recent study also attested to this). This is good and it can also be bad for there is no middle thinking for eking out compromises. Another issue also concerns the nature of our parties. We all know these are really not parties but groups of hopefuls (for whatever purpose) aligned behind human beings who they seem to revere. Some call such grouping cults, others call them gangs, and yet others may call them alliances - yet all for some nefarious end. True parties have ideals that signal the basic life needs of society. And in the situation of cults and gangs our mind is swept away primarily, and many a time even absolutely by the allure of the leading personality, leaving the real issues of the everyday citizen behind as secondary. The grapple for the pole position seems the primary goal -- and that has to be filled by these luminous personalities. Thus our egos become hugely involved in this process of following the leader in subservience  (and we call this democracy?!). And as we all know, our ego never wants to lose. So it whispers to us to keep on staunchly aligned with these big personalities, for it is the only way our egos survive.

Only when we can become aware of this decadent and regressive binding force our own egos dictate on us, can we become liberated enough to think independently of the real issues that plague our nation. Until such time it will be just a tug o-war that the stronger in stinging words or in so-called legitimized authority will win. Rationality and deserving will be neatly kept out of this process.

We need a coalition of those who are not aligned to these individuals for real forward movement to happen, even though it may now seem an impossibility. National flag carrying in the nightly demonstrations signal some such leaning towards cohesion, but the underlying party dominance cannot be easily allayed --especially in the face of the vituperous rhetoric that is released. What many may still believe however is that there is something about calmness and humility and silence that moves the heart. And there is an absence of this in our midst. Newton's law is inherent here. For every action there is an equal and opposite reaction. A truly non-aligned coalition is the change of mindset our nation needs. Remember it's our mind that is the cause of our joy, sorrows, hardships and agonies, and so follows our envy anger and jealousy.

And yes, we have hope. We have the tools with us to make this change but we need to align our will to want to use those tools. They are right at our doorstep, but as it is said, we don't see the diamond under our feet but search for it elsewhere first. Yet finally we always come back to our origin. And so must also our nation come back to our roots. No one away from our shores can be the solver of our problems.

We need to get out from behind our dark sunglasses where our egos want us to hide and allow ourselves to peer into the soul of our brother and come to terms. There only the solution lies. We need to let some warmth and softness prevail even against the seeming odds of adversity. Lessons from our Prophet will energize and inspire us (if only we care to look there) to know that with great power is also the necessity to exercise restraint, humility and dialogue.

Solid walls have a way of not giving way. 

Building bridges

The political upheaval our Nation of Maldives has gone through now for the past month or so is unprecedented. The shocking court ruling on Raees Mohamed Nasheed to a 13 year jail sentence is indeed a staggering moment in our political life; a devastating blow to our Nation as yet tottering on the road to democracy. To many this has been a harrowing period of national anxiety over the future of an intensely popular political icon. The rampant opinions of a political framing culminating in the decision of a corrupt judiciary are just too loud and seem only too blatant.

The short march of our multi-party democracy has indeed torn our nation apart. What began as a hopeful introduction has deteriorated into chaos and resentment on both sides that will surely scar our nation for generations to come. Sadly there seems no constituency on a middle path that will see or hear out the mutual decadence that is going on. The argument that this is the teething problems on the path of democracy is but an excuse to gain time to fleece national wealth. Political coteries - AKA political parties- with a train of hangers-on have no clear issue agendas except the singular hope of ascension to power that seem to justify sacrificing even the life of a national icon just to have the chance to fatten on the booty. It is sad that at this early stage in a small 100 per cent Muslim nation such as ours, we witness such greed and resentment, just for the sake of winning the glitter of this world.

Yes, this is the governance of today driven by the politics of money and greed. Democracy and a new Constitution touted as means of promoting social harmony through the separation of powers that is to work against the inherent human desire to dominate is not elevating us to our soul, but dragging us deep into our ego. Yet we say that Islam reigns above this Constitution. So where are the beautiful lessons we glean from our Quran and Ahaadees?

In a democracy too there are processes established to follow a due process. When selfishness and gain take precedence over the common good that politicians are there to uphold, chaos will be king. As a faithful and well-meaning citizen of this country, I beseech those in power to be true Islamic democratic leaders -- those that have deep and exemplary Eman and patience as the critical ingredients that make them tick.

On the more mundane level, while we plan to build bridges that will connect islands, let’s also plan to build the more important network of bridges to our hearts.

Dream merchants

Given the happenings of the past few months, I cry for the state of our nation! Being an islander myself (not a Male born) I feel the grief of many who seem shunted out of this process called democracy and its fancy underpinnings we have inherited from those who created this process far away from our shores, and yet seem to have espoused even before we could even articulate the word  “democracy” as it should.

Sadly, given our level of understanding, for the island voter who has not been involved in the nefarious world of politics, the direction of his vote will be to the one who will not jeopardize his state of presently enjoyed status of life. For him it is the availability of his daily food rations, the sale of his fish for a good rate and the availability of fuel for his fishing dhoani. Perhaps now it is also the access to schooling for his kids and the hospital for getting treated for his health ailments; now we can also throw in the mobile phone and the flat TV.

Beyond this, the murky world of politics that engages with the exchange of lucrative deals in expensive mega contracts, corruption in the dispensation of jobs and promotions and attendant financial and related benefits and how lofty political positions are used to maintain power and authority lie the serene world of the other islands. Social nattering on these deals in the past were no more than hushed conversation pieces to pep up an otherwise balmy existence. Even now in the new bustling era of democracy, hyped up rhetoric and social unrest has not made the issues any more owned by us in the islands. Still these seem of no immediate concern to them because they are firstly unaware of this nefarious world and also disengaged from the understanding of the consequences of such actions and behaviours that for them lies far away from their everyday lives. They (most of them) are still too innocent to fathom the depth of such intricacies. In this absence of awareness, the political game is being played and winners and losers decided based on base compromises and arm twists. The island voter is given what he wants to fuel his everyday needs without exhorting one bit to his need to nurture the compassionate society of tomorrow that his children and grandchildren will have to inhabit. 

So how can the ordinary man on the island’s joalifathi be the steward of this profound concept called democracy? Given that there is no overt public education on democracy in Maldives, our beloved country either before or after the 2008 democratic transition says a lot about the effete nature of our system and the independent commissions that are mandated for this job. Neither are the Parties doing any responsible role in doing this but rather squabbling in the politics of this game with only occasional morsels thrown out to pacify the crying needs around, or the peddling of dreams that the polity seems to swallow in their political innocence. How long do we want to keep the polity in this ignorance and expect this moral decadence that our society is slipping into to be stalled? All well-meaning citizens of Maldives must take up the challenge; democracy will be made or broken only us – We the People.

New Year Resolution

Happy New Year to everyone!

Another new year and more resolutions to be made to make our world a better place! The global geo-political turmoil and the skirmishes of the smaller kinds in our own nations keep us guessing as to what positive omens this new-year will portend. We all want peace and harmony even as we tussle with the negative elements that seem to get the better of us most times.  

A couple of days ago I was invited to a radio talk show in Maldives on “the role of the individual in bringing harmony to a nation”. As I have repeatedly shared thoughts on this topic in various ways through “Rukkuri’ blog, I was more than delighted to share these thoughts on national radio too. As usual, the time available to such programs is always too short to probe the true depth of the minefield of such issues that plague our nation. Yes, disharmony can well be the AKA for our country at this juncture, and thus we need this discussion. To my friend and I in this exchange representing the “Panel for National Harmony”, this topic begins and ends with the individual citizen and about our disposition to always blame the other person for our ill fate. It seems that we never look at ourselves as the perpetrator of our ills. Many who don’t want to look deep into the genesis of human discontentment may not want to accept this at first, but our hope was that when each one of us takes the time to truly analyse the source of our resentment that fuels our divided society, the solution would become clear. I perceived this sense of general resentment from the comments of those that called in while the program was going on. This was a dial-in show and there were two or three callers who did not have questions but comments that seem to lay blame than point to queries or clarifications on what we were discussing. I presume that there are many who may have had genuine questions, but those who have the courage to call and ask are few and those that did yesterday all seemed to have some frustration with the way our public condition is governed. The irritable issue for them was about insensitive public leaders who don’t care about the public’s interests. It was the concern about our Male streets thronged with guest labourers who have no regard for our age-old local Maldivian culture of cleanliness and respectfulness, the streets and sidewalks that were being increasingly spitted on, littered and derelict. Who is to blame but the public officials and those who we have to uphold law and order – those in uniform and those meting out justice in their grand edifices?

Yes, all these are the more proximate determinants of the social decay we see amid our burgeoning materialism -- plush vehicles on our uneven road surfaces, fast motorcyclists that care little about pedestrian safety, and multi-storeyed buildings that crowd every bit of open space in Male. But the real issue we both noted was the irresponsibility we seem to have acquired within ourselves and now don’t see or don’t want to see that society is built on our collective views complementing that of each one of us individuals. We elect our leaders with our own free will in democracy, we crowd this little square mile of space with these over-sized vehicles, litter the streets with impunity, and fill our workplaces with guest labor because our young people have not been nurtured into appreciating the dignity of labor. 

Two generations of the budding nuclear family have destroyed the character-nurturing context and space of the extended family that has shut the child from the supportive presence of grandparents, schools given way to teaching children only to bank information and pass exams, parents who felt that English education was enough to land a child into successful adulthood without any value education, politicians showing that the model of temporary flattery and availability during election time is adequate to convince voters to get the numbers to win, and do as they please from then on, and employers who don’t care about hiring locally with the excuse that Maldivians are too capricious to their liking; no wonder our wobbly sidewalks, any railinged curb-sites, or park benches at any given time of the day or night are all occupied by the bodies and footsteps of the guest workers. 

Soon they will outnumber us. In one way it is a harbinger of a subservient future we may have to face as a nation that is reminiscent of the parable of the Tortoise and the Hare. Are we to slumber in national self-importance and arrogance until another people take us over? That seems to be what our good book also says – paraphrased: until we attempt to change our plight, God doesn’t do it for us. We can change only when we become aware that the power to change is within us and not with those we point fingers at. Let's begin the struggle to change ourselves!