Intimidating Civil Servants and Judges

The rising trend of intimidation of government officials and judges is spinning out of control. It started a few years back as closure of island offices; blockade of atoll offices followed, and now contempt of courts is becoming the norm.

There seems to be little point in making the judiciary independent, if it can be threatened into submission by thugs. There is no point in establishing a civil service, if its functionaries are continuously harassed.

The whole thing could perhaps have been nipped in the bud if decisive action was taken at the point when island offices were being closed. But unfortunately at the time politicians in Male felt it was not their problem. Now it is perhaps too late.

This reminds us of the experience of Martin Niemöller during Nazi days: "In Germany, they came first for the Communists, And I didn't speak up because I wasn't a Communist; And then they came for the trade unionists, And I didn't speak up because I wasn't a trade unionist; And then they came for the Jews, And I didn't speak up because I wasn't a Jew; And then... they came for me... And by that time there was no one left to speak up."

In the latest incident of this nature, Hulhudhoo Magistrate Ali Nazeer is facing a constant barrage of verbal abuse and death threats. To read the details of the case in Haveeru Daily click here.

World No Tobacco Day, 31 May

On 31st May each year WHO celebrates World No Tobacco Day, highlighting the health risks associated with tobacco use and advocating for effective policies to reduce consumption. Tobacco use is the second cause of death globally and is currently responsible for killing one in 10 adults worldwide.

The theme of World No Tobacco Day 2009 is tobacco health warnings, with an emphasis on the picture warnings that have been shown to be particularly effective at making people aware of the health risks of tobacco use and convincing them to quit. More and more countries are fighting back against the epidemic of tobacco by requiring that packages of tobacco show the dangers of the product's use, as called for in guidelines to the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control.

WHO created World No Tobacco Day in 1987 to draw global attention to the tobacco epidemic and its lethal effects. Tobacco is the number one preventable epidemic that the health community faces.

A Mausoleum for Nasir

It's a beautiful gesture to dedicate a mausoleum to Ibrahim Nasir, the father of modern Maldives and its independence hero. From a distance, the monument erected in the eastern courtyard of Male's Friday Mosque looks beautiful too. But only from a distance. When one gets closer, the quality of the workmanship leaves much to be desired and compares very unfavorably with the stone carvings in the mausoleum of King Ibrahim Iskandharu in the western courtyard.

For environmental reasons one could understand why coral stone is no longer a suitable material for a mausoleum. But surely something more suitable than concrete could have been found, perhaps limestone, marble or even slate. The material actually used is concrete, cast on fiberglass moulds.

When one looks at the assembled structure, individual blocks are out of alignment by as much as a couple of inches. Because of this, straight lines on the carved design look wavy, and the curves are interrupted.

For some odd and unexplained reason, a news reporter has asked an official from Islamic Ministry what he thought of the mausoleum. His enigmatic reply was, "No shrine has been made and no shrine will be allowed to be made." [No one has said this reply resembled the statement of Mohamed Saeed al-Sahaf, the Iraqi Information Minister during the American invasion, "There are no American infidels in Baghdad. Never! They're not even within 100 miles of Baghdad. They are not in any place."]

Shahid elected Speaker

In an avoidably chaotic first meeting of the new People's Majlis, Keyodhoo member Abdullah Shahid has been elected Speaker. Ahmed Nazim was elected Deputy Speaker.

When the Majlis convened at 11 am today, it went into an avoidable debate allowed by the interim speaker Mohamed Hussein, following a point of order taken by Mariyaa Ahmed Didi saying that if the speaker uses his casting vote following a secret ballot, his vote will no longer be secret. Instead of going on with the agenda, which is to elect a Speaker and Deputy Speaker, Mohamed Hussein decided to ask for members' opinion on the hypothetical situation: what to do if there is a tie in the secret ballot? One clause of the Constitution says the speaker must not take part in a ballot. Another clause says the speaker must use his casting vote in case of a tie.

Interim Speaker Mohammed Hussein thought there was a contradiction between the two clauses. However, many members felt there was no such contradiction. This difference of opinion led to a volley of 'points of order,' which wasted more than one and half hours of the Majlis's valuable time. In the end it was decided to go ahead with the vote first and to deal with the issue later if it arose.

When the floor was opened for proposing names for the post of speaker, Ahmed Thasmeen Ali proposed the name of Abdullah Shahid and Abdullah Yaameen seconded it. Mariyaa Ahmed Didi proposed the name of Ibrahim Mohammed Solih and Reeko Moosa Manik seconded it. When the names were put to vote Abdullah Shahid won the election 42 to 33.

When the floor was opened for proposing names for the post of Deputy Speaker Mariyaa Ahmed Didi proposed the name of Ahmed Hamza and Moosa Manik seconded it. Ahmed Thasmeen proposed the name of Ahmed Nazim and Abdullah Yaameen seconded it. Gasim Ibrahim proposed the name of Mohamed Nasheed and Ahmed Shyam Mohamed seconded it. But Mohamed Nasheed withdrew his name. When the names were put to vote Ahmed Nazim won the election 41 to 33.

The way the vote went is a strong indication of the strength of the two major parties. It does not augur very well for the ruling MDP.

As the new Majlis is sworn in

Much has been made out of the fact that when the newly elected People's Majlis is sworn in tomorrow it will be the first Majlis in 75 years to include only elected members. This however is only academic. Once members used to enter the Majlis at the pleasure of the King, later at the pleasure of the President and now at the pleasure of the party bosses. However there is one significant difference: a powerful opposition.

Looking superficially, one might believe that the opposition PA-DRP Alliance would win the elections for Speaker and Deputy Speaker. But they are quite likely to be surprised. In a secret ballot there could be floor crossings, which is likely to affect DRP more because its members are less bound by ideology compared to MDP.

Once the teething problems are over, the Majlis has a full legislative agenda. Urgent matters before it include:

1. Penal Code;
   
2. Criminal Procedures Bill;
   
3. Prisons and Parole Bill;
   
4. Drug Law;
   
5. Decentralized Administration Bill;
   

Police Search for Evidence in Nazim’s Office

The police raided opposition MP Ahmed Nazim's office Sunday, apparently in search of incriminating evidence in relation to allegations levied in the Auditor General's report on the former Atolls Ministry. Released on 8th May, the report suspects three companies (in which Nazim holds shares, though he is not mentioned by name) of using corrupt practices to win a contract worth about 2 million rufiyaa for supplying harbor lights.

The three companies under suspicion are Namira, Standard and Neyza, which the report believes belong to the same owners who used them as fronts to bypass regulations that require a minimum of three quotations for a bid to be valid. The report does not specifically say whether the three are legal companies duly registered with the Trade Ministry, though this appears to be the case when one considers indirect references to their shareholders.

Police raided Nazim's office at 1.20 am on the night of 24th May and seized a number of documents, a laptop computer and two hard drives. This was done under a search warrant issued by the Criminal Court.

The raid comes two weeks after the Audit Report and one week after President Mohamed Nasheed created a presidential commission to investigate misappropriation of state funds by members of the former government.

Nazim who was recently re-elected to the parliament from Dhiggaru constituency has been the subject of many unsavory rumors, perhaps partly because of his meteoric rise to fame and fortune. Notable among the rumors are alleged misuse of his position in STELCO to promote his personal trade in electrical goods and alleged corrupt practices relating to rural electrification projects. However, none of these allegations have ever been proved against him.

A Mega Harbor for Thilafushi?

As announced on 20th May, the Government has decided to nationalize private harbors in Thilafushi. The move, which is intended to stop drug smuggling, will require implementing a mega project to develop a commercial harbor rivaling that in Male.

There are seven ports in Thilafushi developed by private investors, including MTCC, Apollo Group, Nalahiyaa Group, Villa Shipping, Cement Fihaara and Coastline. These ports constitute investments worth millions of rufiyaa and handle the major share of building material and hardware imported to the Maldives. The government now proposes to bring them under Maldives Ports Limited.

However, since these harbors are not on contiguous plots of land, the possibility of joining them together into one large port is minimal. A separate major port will need to be developed to provide the services currently handled by the individual ports.

Thilafushi is not the only place in the Maldives where private port facilities exist. Many islands leased on long term basis for industrial work have their own facilities for unloading goods directly from foreign going vessels. On temporary basis, resort islands under development also get permission to unload imported goods directly. With so many different port facilities, smuggling of drugs and dutiable goods could very well be widespread.

However, it is not as if private individuals are allowed to unload goods as they wished without any control. Under the existing arrangement unloading of goods can only take place under the supervision of MNDF and Customs officers onboard the ship. There could of course be loopholes in the system (as will be in any new system developed to replace it).

Nationalizing the ports in Thilafushi will not only help to control smuggling, but also will help to make the port facilities more efficient and widely available to all importers. However, it will involve major investments, not to talk of the millions of rufiyaa needed for compensating the current owners. After that, millions of dollars will need to be invested to develop a modern port similar in size or larger than Male Commercial Harbor. Of course there are many investors for this type of mega projects.

How about Consensus for Speaker and Deputy Speaker Posts?

In a flagrant display of belligerent posturing, the DRP-PA Coalition has announced its own candidates for the posts of both the speaker and the deputy speaker of the newly elected People's Majlis. Such posturing followed by a contentious election would only politicize the esteemed post and hamper the speaker's ability to function effectively. In order to avoid such dilemma, efforts are made in parliamentary democracies to reach consensus and avoid voting.

For example, after the Indian General Elections in 1998, the BJP led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) had the numbers in the 12th Lok Sabha (lower house of Indian Parliament) to get its own candidates through. But it negotiated with the Congress led United Progressive Alliance (UPA) to share the posts. Ultimately C.M. Balayogi of NDA was elected speaker and PM Sayeed (a native of Minicoy) of UPA was elected deputy speaker unanimously. Later when Balayogi died he was replaced by Manohar Joshi of NDA, again without opposition. This arrangement continued through the 13th Lok Sabha. In the 14th Lok Sabha, which ended last week, Somnath Chatterjee supported by UPA was elected speaker and Charanjit Atwal of NDA was elected deputy speaker by consensus.

As of now it does not appear as if the Maldives Majlis is heading for a consensus. On Wednesday, the main opposition Dhivehi Rahyithunge Party (DRP), which won highest number of seats in the recently held parliamentary election, decided to submit the names of Abdulla Shahid (Felidhoo) and Ahmed Nazim, (Dhiggaru) for Speaker and Deputy Speaker respectively. Though not officially announced so far it is rumored that MDP will propose Ibrahim Mohamed Solih (Hinnavaru) as its candidate for speaker.

In the recently concluded parliamentary elections, DRP/PA coalition won 35 seats. The ruling party, MDP won 26 seats and 13 seats went to independent candidates. A total of 39 seats are required to secure a majority in the parliament.

Mohamed Hussein (Kanditheemu) the senior most parliamentarian in the Majlis will chair the first sitting of the Majlis to be held on 28 May, secretariat of the People's Majlis has revealed. The election of the speaker and deputy will be held during the meeting. For the sake of democracy, one hopes the two leading parties will find a consensus avoid a fractious election.

Sexting

Sexting definitely exists in the Maldives, though its true extent is not known. From the many incidents of nude photos of Maldivian girls appearing in ‘oriyaan’ sites, it is apparent that sexting is not that rare either in the country. There is at least one reported case in which a young lady lost her government job after her nude photos were leaked by her ex-boyfriend.

For those who are hearing the word for the first time, sexting is a new word recently coined by joining ‘sex’ and ‘texting.’ It refers to the act of sending sexually explicit messages or photos electronically, primarily between cell phones. Sexting was reported as early as 2005 in the Sunday Telegraph Magazine, and has since been described as taking place worldwide.

In January 2009, a survey of 1200 teenagers in America reported that one in five had sent explicit photos of themselves. A social danger with sexting is that material can be very easily and widely promulgated, over which the originator has no control. It is rather easy for explicit photos to end up in wrong hands because often what was once the right hand could also become the wrong hand, when he turns into an estranged and jealous boyfriend.

According to a CBS report in January 2009, three teenage girls who allegedly sent nude or semi-nude cell phone pictures of themselves and three male classmates in a western Pennsylvania high school who received them, are charged with child pornography. In October a Texas eighth-grader spent the night in a juvenile detention center after his football coach found a nude picture on his cell phone that a fellow student sent him.

The Case of the Confused Attorney General

Fathimath Dhiyana Saeed is a sharp and smart woman. She would even have made a good Attorney General (AG) had she given more attention to understanding her role and responsibilities as a cabinet appointee. Sad, but her stint as AG has come to an abrupt end Monday when President Mohamed Nasheed sacked her under Article 115(f) and 137(a) of the Constitution, perhaps breaking her grandfather’s record as the shortest serving AG of Maldives in history.

This is not the first time Dhiyana was confused about her role. She was similarly confused when she was serving as an appointed member of the People’s Majlis during the regime of former President Maumoon Abdul Gayoom. From her speeches and voting pattern in the Majlis, it appeared she sometimes believed she was sitting in the opposition benches rather than among the President’s members.

Dhiyana may have had valid legal points on the issues over which her relationship with the president broke down –influencing parliamentary elections and creation of provinces. However, going to the press with her opinions was a different matter. If she was unhappy with the President’s rejection of her advice she could always have resigned.

In an interview given to Miadhu Daily, Dhiyana said “I joined Attorney General’s office as a State Attorney, after which I held the position of Executive Director and today as I leave office I have held the position of Attorney General; I am happy because I know that I have fulfilled my duties and responsibilities as per the constitution and in the best interests of the people, if I weren’t able to do that I would be holding my head down.”

MDP and independents score highest vote shares

The results of Majlis Election 2009 announced* by the Elections Commission on Sunday indicate that MDP scored 31.1% of valid votes, which is the highest vote share of any party or group. This represents 51,167 votes out of the total of 166,082 valid votes cast. MDP is closely followed by independents, who scored 30.3% vote share, or 49,862 votes.

DRP which bagged 28 Majlis seats, scored 24.8%, or 40,822 valid votes. However, since they scored this number through only 59 candidates, their scoring rate is higher at 692 votes per candidate. This is higher than MDP’s scoring rate of 682 votes per candidate (MDP fielded 75 candidates) and the independents’ scoring rate of 202 votes per candidate (with 247 candidates).

PA scored 5% of the vote share or 8,283 votes. They averaged 460 votes per candidate (18 candidates), which is considerably lower than MDP scoring rate. JP, DQP and other parties scored a combined vote share of 9.7% or 15,948 votes. They averaged 285 votes per candidate (56 candidates).

The following is the list of individuals who scored the top 10 results in terms of numbers:
1. Gasim Ibrahim (JP) 1,961 votes
2. Ahmed Siyam Mohamed (Ind) 1,423
3. Mohamed Musthafa (MDP) 1,423
4. Ibrahim Mohamed Solih (MDP) 1,413
5. Ahmed Mohamed (DRP) 1,395
6. Rozaina Adam (DRP) 1,378
7. Mohamed Ghassan Maumoon (DRP) 1,324
8. Ahmed Shareef Abdulrahman Yoosuf (Ind) 1,317
9. Ahmed Makhloof (DRP) 1,280
10. Eva Abdulla (MDP) 1,243
Interestingly the 7th and 8th top scorers lost the election.

[* includes Thimarafushi interim results, though not officially declared by Elections Commission]

A Saturday of Contrasts for South Asia

Saturday the 16th of May was a historic day for South Asia. The Congress Party in India was swept back to power with the country’s highest margin of victory since 1984. The two-decade long ethnic conflict in Sri Lanka came to a military conclusion. But in Pakistan, Taliban militants exploded yet another car bomb in the North Western city of Peshawar, highlighting the country’s uncontrollable tailspin into the bottomless abyss of Islamic militancy. (For Maldives too it could have been a significant day if the Elections Commission had gone on with its original plan to announce the results of the Majlis election.)

These events signify the tragic contrasts between the three South Asian countries born from the remnants of the British Empire in the aftermath of World War II. In Sri Lanka, its seemingly intractable ethnic militancy is coming to end, while the Islamic militancy in Pakistan is beginning to go out of control.

In India, the Congress won a general election, where the main issue at stake was development. As Rahul Gandhi said after the victory, this signals that Indians have rejected caste and religion based politics. This contrasts sharply with the General elections in Pakistan last year, where the main issues were religion and sharia law.

One wonders if the reality of Pakistan today is what its founding father Mohamed Ali Jinnah and its poet laureate Sir Mohamed Iqbal had dreamt.

Drug Smuggler Sentenced to Life

Mohamed Wasood Bisthaami (38) the Sri Lankan national who smuggled 4 kg of Brown Sugar (heroin) into the Maldives on March 2008 was sentenced to life imprisonment by the Criminal Court on Thursday. This case involved one of the biggest drug hauls ever in the Maldives.

Bisthami along with his female accomplice Sameen Ummul Faumiyya (56) flew in from Islamabad via Dubai carrying the 15 million rufiyaa cache of the contraband in five packets hidden in false bottoms fitted to their trolley bags and suitcases. Maldives Customs Service officers nabbed them at Male' International Airport in a special operation.

In the meanwhile Faumiyya (see photo above) has jumped bail and fled the country.

Lessons from Majlis Results

From the composition of the new People's Majlis (preliminary) one can draw certain tentative conclusions on voter preferences and their vision of the future role of the Majlis. Below are a few points for discussion.

• Voters appear to have a distinctive inclination towards mercurial candidates who can express themselves fluently and create high drama on the Majlis floor. This is indicated by the success of Reeko Moosa Manik, Nihan, Alhan, Thoriq, Ali Waheed and the two Nasheeds. On a positive note, these members appear to be at a higher intellectual plane compared to who they are replacing. Thus this time it may not be just talk, but also substance.
  
• There doesn't appear to be too many buyers for the MDP slogan 'fulfilling promises,' as compared to the DRP slogan 'holding the government responsible.' It doesn't require rocket science to find out why. 'Holding the government responsible' is the logical function of a parliament. Further, in a presidential system a parliamentary majority is not indispensable to fulfill government promises.
  
• The relative success of DRP/PA Coalition despite all the audit reports detailing their past deeds shows that the Maldivian people are not vindictive. Instead of harping on the past they appear to want to move on.
  
• The electorate has given a strong thumbs-up signal to the party system, as indicated by the overwhelming success of party candidates, many of who were unknown and would have ended with 2 digit results without party backing. While it is true that 13 independents won, some of them are not really independents in the usual sense of the word. People like Nasheed, Ahmed Shyam, Red Wave Saleem and Zahir Adam are independents just because they wanted to fight the election that way. None of them will suffer from the usual disadvantages faced by run-of-the-mill independents, and the voters know that.
  
• An interesting side story is the success of Dr. Afraasheem while his critics Sheikh Ilyas and Hussein Rasheed Ahmed did not make it. However, this appears to have less to do with their religious views and more to do with local politics. Afraasheem had the full backing of DRP, the dominant political party in Raa Atoll. In contrast, Ilyas and Hussein Rasheed had to fight not only DRP, but also MDP, their own coalition partner. Afraasheem also enjoyed the luxury of belonging to an elite family of Ungoofaru from where he won the election.
  

Some Big Guns Misfire

Election 2009 has thrown quite a few surprises for a large number of big names in Maldives politics. According to the preliminary results announced so far, many veteran parliamentarians are on their way out of the Majlis. Some of them failed probably because they made wrong political decisions on party affiliation; others because they could not perform to expectations, while yet others simply because they were unlucky.

Perhaps the unluckiest is Ibrahim Ismail, who will best be remembered as the main architect of the current Constitution. He was ousted by the massive MDP wave that swept across Male. Ibra was simply unlucky to be pitted against MDP Chairperson Maria Ahmed Didi.

On the top of the list of those who made wrong decisions in their campaigns is Mohammed Ibrahim Didi (Mody). Despite being closely affiliated with the ruling MDP, he decided to fight his Fuahmulaku seat as an independent. In the end, he lost to MDP official candidate Shifaq Mufeedh (Histo).

Veteran Ahmed Abdullah also appears to have made a mistake in leaving DRP and fighting his Laamu Atoll seat on a Jumhoori Party ticket. He was swept aside by the rising tide of the DRP/PA wave in the atoll.

Ruling Coalition bigwigs ADK Nashid and Hassan Afeef surprised everyone by losing seats that were considered very safe till the results were announced. Their loss could perhaps be attributed to overconfidence.

Despite a very credible performance in the Majlis, Ibrahim Shareef (Mavoata) also lost his home seat this time. This could perhaps be because voters were not very happy with his tendency to change parties.

Voters appear to have rejected candidates who openly took advantage of their membership of the last Majlis to further their business interests. Similarly they also appear to have rejected those who have given valuable services to the Majlis in the distant past but are now obviously past their prime.

All in all, voters appear to have used their discretion very well to reject whom they rejected. An exception to this generalization would be Ibrahim Ismail.

Islamic Ministry to Privatize Friday Prayer Leading

In a revolutionary move, Ministry of Islamic Affairs has announced it will outsource Friday Prayer and Eid Prayer leading on contract basis. Up to now these prayers were conducted by imams employed by the Ministry, who have now been given notice.

The Ministry has not revealed the details of the bidding procedure, or how the bids will be evaluated. However it is likely that the Ministry will employ a prequalification process. Permanent Secretary Mohammed Didi indicated this when he said 'capable' imams will be selected. Even though Didi did not spell out what he meant by 'capable,' Shaikh Ibrahim Fareed should not be very surprised if he does not find his name in the list of 'capable' people.

As of now it is unclear whether the bidding is open to foreign imams from countries like Saudi Arabia and Egypt, who will face difficulty in reading the Dhivehi parts of the sermons. However, this should not preclude them totally, as it can be circumvented by using Arabic transliteration. With transliteration they would do considerably better than Maldivian imams of the Latin Khutuba era.

For those not familiar with 'Latin Khutuba,' a little explanation may be in order. During the 1970s President Ibrahim Nasir abolished Thaana script and replaced it with Latin script (basically the English alphabet.) As a consequence, Friday sermons were also changed to Latin script. Old imams had difficulty reading the sermons and some could not finish even by Asuru Prayer.

[For details of the news in Dhivehi click here]

What Happens after the Elections?

The following Mullah Nasruddin story gives a clue to what will happen in the aftermath of the general elections slated for May 9:

When Mullah undercut the local donkey merchant's prices for the third week in succession, the merchant was worried. "I don't know how you offer lower prices than mine. I use my slaves' free labor. They steal fodder from neighbors to feed my donkeys. So how do you keep your costs lower?"

"Simple," Mullah replied, "you steal labor and fodder. I steal donkeys."

In this story substitute 'merchant' with one of the political parties and 'Mullah' with another party. Also substitute 'labor' with campaign effort and 'fodder' with monetary gifts. And yes, I forgot, 'donkeys' with members (the pun is not intended).

Like the merchant some parties are spending on 'labor' and 'fodder'. But the smart parties are waiting for the election to be over to buy the elected members. As Mullah would have said, this is a much more cost effective method of stealing the public mandate.

So how will the whole thing end? This could depend on what is on offer. Let's sum this up in poker terms. If independents have a Full House, then DRP has Four of a Kind. But it's MDP that holds the Royal Flush.

Swine Flu Update

As of 5th May, 21 countries have officially reported 1124 cases of influenza A (H1N1) infection. Mexico has reported 590 laboratory confirmed human cases of infection, including 25 deaths. The United States has reported 286 laboratory confirmed human cases, including one death.

The following countries have reported laboratory confirmed cases with no deaths - Austria (1), Canada (140), China, Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (1), Costa Rica (1), Colombia (1), Denmark (1), El Salvador (2), France (4), Germany (8), Ireland (1), Israel (4), Italy (2), Netherlands (1), New Zealand (6), Portugal (1), Republic of Korea (1), Spain (54), Switzerland (1) and the United Kingdom (18).

Some WHO recommendations

• WHO advises no restriction of regular travel or closure of borders.
  
• There is no risk of infection from this virus from consumption of well-cooked pork and pork products.
  
• If you are not sick you do not have to wear a mask. If you are caring for a sick person you should wear a mask.
  

How can you protect yourself and prevent illness?

Practise general preventive measures for influenza to prevent infection:

• avoid close contact with people who appear unwell and have fever and cough;
  
• wash your hands with soap and water thoroughly and often;
  
• practise good health habits including adequate sleep, eating nutritious food, and keeping physically active.
  

How do you care for an ill person at home?

• Separate the ill person from others, keeping the person at least 1 metre in distance from others.
  
• Cover your mouth and nose when caring for the ill person.
  
• Wash your hands with soap and water thoroughly after each contact with the ill person.
  
• Improve the air flow where the ill person stays. Use doors and windows to take advantage of breezes.
  
• Keep the environment clean with readily available household cleaning agents.
  

What should I do if I think I have the illness?

If you feel unwell, have high fever, cough or sore throat:

• Stay at home and keep away from work, school or crowds.
  
• Rest and take plenty of fluids.
  
• Cover your mouth and nose with disposable tissues when coughing and sneezing, and dispose of the used tissues properly.
  
• Wash your hands with soap and water often and thoroughly, especially after coughing or sneezing.
  
• Inform family and friends about your illness and try to avoid contact with other people.
  

How quickly will influenza A(H1N1) vaccines be available?

The first doses of Influenza A (H1N1) vaccine could be available in five to six months from identification of the pandemic strain.

Vandalizing tombstones

The wanton destruction of historic tombstones in Hukuru Misky compound on Friday night is shocking beyond words. Who would want to vandalize these last vestiges of our glorious past, and why?

As usual the index of suspicion has been directed at drug addicts. But why on earth would they do a thing like this? They have absolutely no motive, unless of course someone paid them for it, which again raises the question as to who made the payment. From the scale of the destruction it is pretty obvious that this was no random mischief committed by intoxicated youngsters.

If the vandalism was preplanned, then who planned it? There is certainly no dearth of groups in the Maldives who believe tombstones must be destroyed. But as there are ongoing investigations, it may be out of place here to speculate about possible culprits.

Apart from a few mosque inscriptions and copper plates, tombstones in various parts of the Maldives are the only material evidence available on Maldivian history. The most important collections of tombstones are in Hukuru Misky and Koagannu in Meedhoo, Addu Atoll (see picture above). A large number of tombstones in Koagannu were vandalized in the recent past based on a superstition that if one breaks a tombstone one could commit Quran to memory.

Whoever did the destruction and whatever the reason, the act must be condemned in the strongest terms and the perpetrators brought to justice.

Saving honor at the cost of murder

In certain societies, people are prepared to go to any length, even murder, to save their honor. In the Maldives too, many a newborn baby has been gruesomely murdered to save family honor. The ghastly infanticide last January in Omadhoo, Thaa Atoll, is typical.

According to the details of the crime emerging from the ongoing trial, Aminath Hussein, Kasthoorimaage, Omadhoo, Thaa Atoll, drowned her newborn child in a tub of water. She then buried the body in the island beach. Allegedly she was helped in the act by her mother and husband. Such help from family members is a typical feature of this type of murder, perhaps in a deranged attempt to save family honor.

Even in the days when adult homicide was extremely rare in the Maldives, infanticide was relatively common. Apparently people considered infanticide as a lesser crime than other forms of homicide. However, such murders in many respects are worse than the average homicide, and must be given the strictest punishment.

[To read the details of Omadhoo murder in Dhivehi click here]