Campaign photos – Image or substance?

Male streets are awash with the smiling faces of aspiring politicians who are running for our Majlis elections – those ranging from sheepish smiles to confident and overconfident ones; and those few with facial lines that tell of years of experience and many of those who are no more than children just out of school. But in the flashing of color photos or the lost faces on banners that seem to be the hallmark of their campaign setups, in a small square mile such as ours there seems to be such a crowding of these in numbers and colors that attempt chiefly to highlight image more than content; not to negate however the presence of catchy or pithy phrases that can keep the onlooker guessing.  Being and academically qualified youth; asking us to elect so and so this time; the promise of patience or that of orchestrating the separation of powers, or to keep harmony in the midst of diverse view are all beckoning us from banners between the trees on our streets.   

It appears that those who are running are merely attempting to pander to the shallow emotions of our polity and not to any deeper aspirations for nation-building. Looking cool or presidential in photos seems to show a superciliousness that really should not be the draw of the public. It should be humility that brings those running from their high perch to the ground level where the ordinary people inhabit. We want leaders who walk the streets just like us or who are seen to be those who inspire confidence from what they have given to society in the past rather than taken from it. Those that meet and smile and talk to us on the pavements rather than from convention daises or TV platforms. That is indeed the hallmark of the good candidate.

To be fair to us citizens, age and experience also is a factor that separates the caring from the avaricious. Most faces on the walls and the banners seem too cool to seem responsible. The photo-shop touched faces may have cleaned up some of the lines of experience from the faces perhaps, but that just seems to make them more like children than serious adults, and don’t seem cut-out to be the experienced faces of the bodies that we elect to make the laws that would govern the functioning of our nation of the future. In this present context and time of our budding democracy more clarity is needed from those aspirants. Do these running really want to serve the nation, or themselves? Would they flock in such a throng to the available seats in the Majlis if the pay and package was only ceremonial and thus befitting the service mandate we give to those who we select to manage our house for five years. I tend to believe that this task should actually be a labour of love from a national sense and not an act to merely sequester a secure financial future for oneself and family.  And for a young person with a service-to-society mandate and mercifully a long life to live InshaaAllah, this is a lot of money from the nation’s coffer – money from the public’s pocket to look after him or her for the rest of life.

Then there is the issue of dismantling these pin-ups when the election is done. It then becomes junk that litter the streets or mar the city landscape. This is evident from the remnants of the presidential elections that still remain as such persisting tatters or wall-effacing graffiti. Likewise, the wall colours of party affiliation splashed on adherents' walls still seem to linger on even though many who define parties have crossed the party floors in search of lucrative opportunities that increasingly signal to us the folly of our parties which doesn't seem to breed anything useful in our society; but sadly, only resentment among families and friends.

Beyond this pasting of images on the walls, I wonder if a statue would not be more permanent and perhaps more decorative than these tattered remnants on walls that must be a nightmare to the municipal authorities too. But then this is where we notice the crossing of the line that defines secularism and our religion and we can't by law contradict the edicts of Islam as our written law being subordinate to it. But soon our fetish with our image on paper and the speed with which such conduct is being accepted as a way of political life may in time cross that barrier of even acceding to erecting statues as nothing to be that much concerned about.

Perhaps we need to reflect on these a bit deeper to fathom their consequences in our future. Getting carried away by our ego's calling may lead us to a place too difficult to get out of in the first place - and even worse, those who lead us there may also not like what they would see in that future they so desired if they did arrive there. Our wishful desires of today may be ones we may want to truly shun when a few years in our lives have passed and sanity has dawned on us in the process we call growing-up.  

Atoll development -- nurturing good investment

Any development is about investing effort and energy into things we do to make an improvement. In the case of personal development it is about the focus we give to improving the aspects of character in ourselves that make us better people given the objective we have in mind  -- whether it’s a skill for earning a better living or imbuing ourselves with the goodness of moral values that make us better human beings. By acquiring those skills or character we invite others to have confidence in us and draw them to us as friends, spouses, business partners, employees, even team-members in sports.

We can extrapolate this even to our national development or local atoll development in Maldives. Yes, an atoll is not a person but it’s a confluence of persons or in this case personalities. When the people of an atoll become the aggregation of such goodness, the way others look at them is transformed from a state of social invisibility to a condition of visibility. Our attention is drawn to things that we like or we see the potential for gains that will make us be a part of it. This has great relevance in the case of investments that will boost the economy or the social well-being of an atoll. This being so, the atoll leadership has a lot to do to invite this visibility. To the degree that the atoll council members can become such good human beings with the leadership that will draw others to invest with confidence or decide to relocate to live there will be the hallmark of the leading atolls of the future.

Our policy on decentralization should be used to good advantage to share the benefits with the people of the atolls. However, this will require the polity of the atoll to be aware of such windfalls that could be theirs by electing leaders that will make the cut and show progress; not dynastic incompetents who will only warm the seat for another five years until the tamasha begins again. It is a huge leap of awareness that we all need to have, and each of us must make the effort to understand our role in this our newly found democracy. And it is for us to realize that people's power – as the essence of democracy - is truly possible only on that fateful day of elections. Our decision that day will keep us in joy or tears for the next half decade. Let's make our choice count and not be led up the garden path over and over again.  

Perhaps we adults smile each such day for the momentary ego boost we get from the presents we receive in exchange for our vote, but our children would certainly cry when they discover what we left behind for them.

Can we look a bit further?

A couple of days ago on my morning walk I saw glistening things in the water in Male harbor along the stretch from the coast guard building all the way to the boats moored across HSBC.  The sun had not risen as yet, but the early glow of it reflected off these to seem like jewels in the water. Upon closer look however, I found that these were empty pet bottles and energy drink cans and cigarette carton wrappers all bobbing up and down with the billows of inward sweeping waves or on the wake of boats. I was not surprised, for this I noted was not uncommon in Male in the present time. Just as the streets were being littered carelessly by pedestrians, our pristine sea is also the dump yard for some thoughtless beings that inhabit our emerald islands. Even with the trash bins out as the new venture of the City Council (it is high time – dear public officials!), the good habit of aiming the trash to the bin seems a bit far-fetched still; we still seem too tired -- even after the energy drink – to make that trek to the nearest bin for disposal. Most trash still seems to linger around the bin or across from it when these should be inside. But that will take some time, I say to myself, as I continue my walk with a bit of lament for the past neutralizing some of the tonic of the crisp breeze that is never in short supply on these ethereal Maldivian mornings.  

In actuality, what we do in life is not for ourselves but for our future generations. At the Youth Ministry sponsored Kissaru at the Social Education Center a week or so ago, I was pleasantly surprised by how many young people expressed the desire and hope for a peaceful and harmonious Maldives where we all lived in a context of sharing. These were young people and I thought of how we adults are suppressing these sweet and hopeful dreams. If we reflect on what is happening in Maldives we see that our anger and envy is being projected by us adults who have instilled in ourselves over these years of growing up, a sense of competition and wanting to be one-up on our neighbor, and with the examples of the social menu we observe on our media for expansive dissemination of our negative anxieties, we perpetuate this ill feeling to these young people who have only sweet hopes for tomorrow.

What may I ask is the role of us adults if not to create a more able and positive society of tomorrow. Not one that will take years back again from the place we have had on the moral scale. We may think that our wealth is the indicator of development. I will say that this is following a lead that someone else has set for us. In this East of ours, we have had the moral compass as the indicator of human progress. We cannot be throwing these away to espouse alien concepts just because it is seen to be the path to development. We adults need to keep the dreams of youth moving in the right direction and only then can our Maldivian society survive the turbulent sea of discontentment that will be our future.

Consort of our ego

We can't all be right and wrong at the same time. It doesn’t require an Einstein’s mind to figure that out. Then why do we seem to always be struggling to convince others of our view to be correct? Obviously there has to be a reason and that relates to the realm of our ego. The strength of it is determined by the degree to which we attempt to have our way. What makes us feel what we say is right is our ego. The ego never likes to lose. So even at the expense of deceit it would attempt to convince the other soul wrong.

But how can we all be right just as we cannot all be wrong while on the same subject? But we do go on this vain attempt time and time again for the gain the ego is destined to have. Actually our ego is what others see as our personality or individuality. The ego's rise to its prominence in each one of us is at a high point when we have become an adult. But of course this soul-scorching path of the ego can continue as it gets bloated over time as our lives show us ever higher paths to wealth, position and authority. Thus, as we move ahead in these departments of life, only very few of us find the salvage of modesty that can subvert the expanding ego.

The path to spiritual development of any human being is possible only when we can give a deaf ear to our ego. Yes, true, as long as we remain human we cannot do away with our ego altogether. But we can surely learn not to listen to it and be servant to it by heeding its constant prodding. And how do we do that? Simply put -- by being a good listener; listening to what the other person has to say for what it might be worth, and not negating right away another’s opinion even though he or she might be less endowed with worldly power than we think we may be. Such habitual practice will slowly translate into the behavior of respect for the other person and an awareness that we can indeed defer in difference without falling out with each other.

But the pull of the ego is so strong especially when there is wealth and power on which we stand, and more of it beckoning us from the finish line so to say, and most of us are swayed beyond control falling headlong into the web of hedonism that the ego has laid out for us, from which it is very difficult to extricate - come only a tragic calamity as wake up call.

We all want peace and harmony in our little corner of the world in Maldives. But for bloated egos, this can be possible. We can be still be human if we prefer, and enjoy the fun of this world as long as we live, but really only if we can choose not to go overboard as the consort of our ego.  

Get-rich-quick cannot be our national solution

We all yearn to be well-off for having a comfortable life. In the past this was achieved through time and toil. Now there is a major shift towards getting rich fast. This is a necessary consequence of the industrial revolution where the prevailing ethos was production without conscience -- with no thought as to whether there was a social necessity for all that production. Proponents would argue that the more that is produced the more the have-nots will have. Opponents would argue that it is not true -- the trickle-down theory is not valid; and the industrialists' concern remains the bottom line. At the end of the day the motive is to have the maximum income.

Thus in this rush for production and wealth generation through the market mechanism that panders to the ego of the human being, we lose sight of the old adage "necessity is the mother of invention" perhaps this has its vestiges still relevant but with the invention of the capitalist model it has always been about maximizing profit and getting rich quickly -- by selling the products to those who don't really need these. The marketing profession has made it their perfected art to sell to the gullible customer, by the sweetness of their marketing jargon and images, what we don’t need. We witness this everyday on television, on bill boards and social events and now splashed too on social media. Who really needs the killer cigarettes or the expensive coffees and cars or the designer clothes?  What would happen to us if we don't have them? Certainly we will be healthier in mind and body! But the ego within us doesn't listen to that. It makes us believe that the competitive spirit within us is legitimate and good for us. With such an inflated false-self dominating us, the little voice inside us of the primeval conscience we were born with has the "chance of a snowball in hell", which means absolutely no chance at all!

So the advert on television wins our hearts. We want to be the Marlboro man or take that exotic trip on the Camel to our death. How foolish we are is realized only too late when death and destruction meet us in the end.

So this desire to get rich for the wrong purpose is the source of the evil that we see in our world. It has made us upset the benevolent equilibrium Providence has bestowed on us for living our lives in harmony and we are seeking to blindly find our balance again but not finding it in this turbulent sea of materialism, selfishness and greed. We yearn to get rich quick and then hope to live the rest of our lives in hedonism. What is then the future of the next generation?  Will we give it space for it to grow in sustainable ways or will we strengthen our selfish vantage further? If we seek to go on with abandon along this our chosen path, should we not feel the piercing guilt of betraying the trust we assume from our unborn children by our decision to have borrowed this moment from them, to create mischief on earth?

Our nation Maldives has been thrust into this tumult headlong, and as a small nation of people these new ideals catch on like wild fire and it will burn our house down only too fast to be aware of what is happening. That sinister process is happening even as we sit ensconced in our momentary luxury and social inebriation to these vibrations that are growing. 

Impatience is the driver of selfishness.

When one is satisfied, and as they say in the flow of life, there is no need for impatience. This emotion of impatience in us whenever it arises indicates that we are not satisfied and are not in harmony with the vibrations of the universal mind. And that is the discomfort we feel when we are in the lap of impatience. When we are with our loved ones, and true like-minded friends we don't seem to want to be in a hurry. Thus there is something about impatience that must tell us we are exercising the sprouting of selfishness in us. This is the spiritual truth.

We all have experienced being in a line waiting for a movie ticket, at the groceries, at a self-service restaurant, at the airport immigration counter or in lines for the receipt of free-bees; or even in virtual lines created for the hand-outs of community housing, flats, or even tourist resorts. The anxiety of impatience can be felt when we are in a hurry, or in the throes of selfish emotions that arise because of the lack of supply which might run out by the time the line reaches our turn. Selfish motives inevitably move to shunt the line and get what we want out-of-turn. So increasingly in our societies, as greed and avarice take hold, many jump the line only too frequently revealing that selfish desire to have us serviced with favor. And sure as day, those who harbor such selfishness will use that approach to full advantage when they do have the categorical power to do so, to the extent of implying to others that such considered impunity may not be impunity for them after all. 

Nothing is as insidious as the feeling of impatience if allowed to grow. It will consume us, a community, and even a whole nation before we know it, for this feeling grows ever so deceptively indeed. That is why we need to actively learn to be patient. Communities that learn to be patient will thrive as safe, secure, caring and loving societies. And that must surely be the purpose of good governance and good nationhood. That is why our good Book in Soorah Al-Asr exhorts us to patience so pointedly.

Empowering democracy

Democracy is not about giving things but giving people the dignity that will enable them to hold their heads high. Democracy is about empowerment and freedom. In a crooked sort of way, giving money to people is empowerment. Of course even the job we work at gives us our pay check at the end of the month and it empowers us to live that month through. So why should we not accept money from those who offer it to us without us having to work so hard. 

The difference of course is the sale of our value as opposed to our vice. By earning a fair days work and getting paid for it for the sweat on our brow liberates us, while the taking of money as a commission for immoral services pits us as accomplices in unfair dealings we call criminal and thus imprisons us. So it becomes a curious anomaly that we are swept into such bondage of crime as we attempt to practice this blessing of Democracy. 
My dear reader and fellow citizen of our country and the world, we need to redeem the morality that is our human essence if our world is to survive. Such greed is the basis of physical destruction we see in global warming and our social atmosphere too is melting fast of its accumulated morality like the arctic ice; Just like the physical destruction ravaged by the Asian tsunami, social tsunamis too are sweeping our communities like never before as avarice and greed take their macabre hold.  

We cannot go on fooling ourselves with our heads in the sand like the proverbial ostrich thinking that the day of retribution will never come -- here or in the hereafter!