When a Mother Sexually Assaults her Son

Sexual practices among our supposedly pious community never fail to amaze or shock us. Take the recent case of a 41-year old woman assaulting her own 7-year old son to gratify herself sexually. And this happened in an appalling week in which another child abuse case –from Thoddoo –and a gang rape case were reported.

Some 'experts' have been claiming that the increase in such reported cases is because of more awareness and more reporting. This however may not be true. Crime reporting was much more complete in the past, particularly during the 70s and beyond, when it was near impossible to get away with a serious crime. Thus, it's more likely that the 'experts' are trying to cover up their own inaction.

It may not be out of place here to ponder on the type of moral education we give our youngsters. The mother would have entered school age in 1974, since she is now 41 years old. What have we taught or didn't teach since then to make her what she is?

[To read the details of the case click here]

IGMH Spends Rf 849 to Serve 1 OPD Patient

IGMH spends an average of Rf 849 to serve each patient, Auditor General’s Report has revealed. We can assume that this figure will approximate the cost of an OPD consultation because over 95% of those served in IGMH are OPD cases according to the report. This is far above the average of RF 100 charged by the private sector for OPD consultation.

So IGMH will save considerable expenditure if it allows private doctors to come and practice in its OPDs. Even if the hospital pays 100 rufiyaa per consultation to the doctor, the hospital will still save more than 700 rufiyaa per consultation.

It is not that difficult to identify where IGMH’s wasteful expenditure goes. The Auditor General’s report highlights several areas: poorly planned building construction and modifications, purchasing unused machinery, poor maintenance of equipment, etc.

[Read the details of Auditor General’s Report (Dhivehi) click here.]

What is at Stake for MDP and DRP in Thimarafushi

In a 'raazuvaa' (Maldivian Chess) challenge match, the player who wins the last three games swaggers away in triumph, irrespective of how many rounds were played earlier and who won them. Winning the Thimarafushi seat in the re-poll scheduled for 11 July would give MDP a raazuvaa type chance to walk away like a winner, despite the setbacks it suffered in the main Majlis elections.

For DRP on the other hand, a defeat for Ghassan, scion of their beloved 'Zaeem,' at the hands of Thimarafushi Mustafa, more famous till now as a sea cucumber merchant, is unthinkable. DRP revolves around Zaeem and Ghassan is his anointed successor.

Earlier, the High Court of Maldives had annulled the results of the two ballot boxes polled in Thimarafushi on 9^th May, citing the prevailing atmosphere, which in its opinion was not conducive to a free and fair election. The Court ordered a re-poll be conducted after establishing a more ambient atmosphere. This has left the two main candidates gunning for each other.

Miadhu Daily reports that Mustafa believes some people had spread stories and created confusion and doubts on the situation in Thimarafushi on Election Day. He says these stories were spread after Ghassan was sure of defeat. Mustafa also claims he has information that DRP is sending a group of gangsters to destabilize Thimarafushi and cause unrest.

In the meanwhile, Ghassan Maumoon has told DhiTV that the atmosphere in Thimarafushi is still not conducive for free or fair voting. He said election commission members and a large number of police officers must remain on the island to ensure peaceful and calm voting. Ghassan also complained that he had not been given the opportunity to hold a rally in the island.

Mustafa's chief weapon against Ghassan appears to be to raise chauvinistic feelings in Thimarafushi, playing on the fact that Ghassan is from Male. Ghassan's tactic appears to be to appeal to the youth by emphasizing Mustafa's age, calling him Mustafa Bey, which in Dhivehi has a double meaning (elder brother/old man).

According to an analyst, going by the results (not officially released) of the valid vote boxes in Guraidhoo, Gaadhiffushi and elsewhere, Ghassan has a lead of approximately 260 votes in hand. Mustafa needs to gain two thirds of the Thimarafushi vote to cover this deficit and win. This is not as difficult as it seems because Mustafa had earlier gained that much and more in the canceled results.

Will Flats Exacerbate the Crime Rate?

Studies focusing on communities with public housing units have consistently found that these communities have higher rates of violence and victimization as compared to similar areas without public housing.* Further, public housing estates in Britain, the United States, and Australia are frequently plagued by crime problems.** Experience in the Maldives in relation to tsunami temporary housing and Sinamale also corroborates this, though no formal research has been done. This raises questions about the advisability of going for public housing such as flats, especially in a country already plagued by rising crime rates.

In nearly all islands with mass tsunami housing, be it Hulhudhuffaaru, Ungoofaaru or Bruruni, rifts developed between the immigrants and the local communities because of high crime rates among immigrant youth. And yet, the same youth were innocent young men before they moved into public housing and got involved in drugs.

Sinamale in the capital is a hotbed of crime, where drug deals are made openly. Under-age kids who work in regular shift duties to peddle drugs have become so rich that many of them drive battery cycles (too young to get license).

Considering these facts, how advisable is it to build more flats in Male and other crowded islands? This is an issue policy makers need to ponder.

References:

* http://www.allacademic.com/meta/p_mla_apa_research_citation/1/2/6/3/0/p126300_index.html

** http://cad.sagepub.com/cgi/content/abstract/45/2/256

Fatal Attraction to Strange Pets

Owning strange pets is a craze that's fast catching up in the Maldives. Apart from the usual cats and love birds, it's quite common these days to find cockatoos, iguanas, guinea pigs, monkeys and even tarantulas in Maldivian homes.

Many people who own pets actually think of themselves as animal lovers. But their love often becomes a type of fatal attraction that lands the animals in cruel conditions and sometimes death.

As a typical example, let me cite the case of the four parrots recently smuggled into the Maldives. Customs officers discovered them wrapped in plastic bags with adhesive tape and hidden under the boiler suits of the two smugglers. [See above photo from Jazeera]

Smugglers get away with this sort of cruelty because misguided 'animal lovers' who buy the creatures tacitly condone such actions. Further there is no comprehensive wild life protection law in the Maldives.

Of course, strange pet ownership is not restricted to the Maldives. Two-thirds of Australian households have at least one pet, according to Petnet. Loving pets is not new, but the way we treat them is.

Pets are becoming more humanized with Doggles (dog sunglasses), gourmet foods, portraits, funeral and cremation services. And it's a big money spinner.

Dogs and cats are the most popular pets in America, but some people prefer more unusual creatures for companions. Visit a pet store, and you may see snakes, hermit crabs, tarantulas, hedgehogs and even Madagascar hissing cockroaches. Some people even have alligators in their bath tubs.

Population Consolidation is Dead

As a national development strategy, population consolidation is as dead as a dodo. After a quarter-century long attempt to implement the strategy in various forms and names, the time has finally come to put it in its rightful place: the dustbin of history.

The strategy originated in the mid 1980s as the 'Selected Islands Development Project,' though the word 'population consolidation' was not coined till the mid 1990s. The purpose of the project was to counter in-migration towards Male by providing 'pull factors' such as health care, education and housing in selected islands.

The strategy was a washout. When it was launched, Male population was less than a quarter of the national population. Today it is more than a third and increasing. Statistics indicate that the declining trend of island population has crossed the point of no return. Between 2000 and 2006 an estimated 22,452 people migrated from the islands to Male. This rate will accelerate further as services in the islands continue to deteriorate, ironically as a result of declining population, which has entered a vicious cycle.

When island populations decrease below a certain critical level, there would be a mass exodus from the atolls. Past experience shows that the critical level could be about 250 inhabitants, at which point basic services become near impossible even with subsidization. Cases in point are Maavaidhoo and Faridhoo in Haa Dhaalu Atoll and Dhiyadhoo in Gaafu Alifu Atoll. Inhabitants of these islands have been desperately petitioning the government for relocation.

Fehendhoo, South Maalhosmadulu Atoll, is the latest island to join the migration queue. At the time of the latest Census in 2006, Fehendhoo had 114 people living on the island. The number has now declined to 64 in just three years. (This figure must not be confused with the registered population of 206, most of who live in Male). The 43 households in the island have requested for relocation to Gan, Haddhunmathi Atoll. The reasons put forward for relocation are the usual: lack of development opportunities, lack of education. Last year the island school closed because there were no students.

In Census 2000, there were only 17 islands with population below 250. But by 2006 there were 30 such islands, indicating the rapid decline in island population. These 30 will soon be on the queue for relocation. Even large islands are not immune from population decline. In 2000 there were 17 islands with population over 4000. However by 2006 the number of such high-population islands had declined to just 9.

The writing on the wall is clear. There are few islands with any potential to develop. The island population is declining so fast that soon there will be no population to consolidate. And finally there is no money to implement such mega projects. Population consolidation failed in the past; it will fail in the future.

“Sir also did it to me”

The recent incident in Huvarafushi where a tuition teacher molested a 14-year-old boy highlights how often child abusers take advantage of their position as teachers, which automatically inspires trust especially if they teach certain respected subjects. But in this particular case the accused is a math teacher.

Mohamed Idrees, Saamaraage, Huvarafushi, allegedly took the 14 year old to his tuition center and lured him with porn videos before molesting him. According to the boy's family Mohamed had done this on four separate occasions.

Interestingly, this case might never have seen the light of the day if not for a protest march organized by Huvarafushi youth following another case of child abuse involving Hussein Naseer, a 21-year old van driver, who allegedly molested an 8-year old boy. After the march, the 14-year old got the courage to come out and say, "Sir also did it to me."

Baby Deaths from ‘Natural Causes’

It's simply not enough to say a baby in custody died of 'natural causes.' A neglected baby dying of malnutrition or unattended medical conditions would also die of a 'natural cause,' it may be argued.

As far as international human rights instruments go, the word 'custody' does not refer exclusively to jails or police detention centers. It also refers to all situations where people or children are kept in institutions managed by the state, except on a purely 'voluntary' basis. Thus borstals and children's homes come under this definition.

It is the responsibility of the state and those in charge of custodial institutions to ensure that basic needs of the inmates are met, including food and health care. In addition to establishing systems and benchmarks to ensure that basic services are provided it is important to organize a system of regular inspections. Further, in case of any serious mishap like death, a full and impartial inquiry must be conducted.

Questions that need to be answered in such an inquiry would include: Was the child's nutrition adequately taken care of? Did the baby suffer from a disease? Was it treated for the condition? If the baby did not respond to treatment, was it evaluated for referral abroad? Was there any neglect, and if so who was responsible?

It's simply not enough to say one has regulations on paper. They must also work on the ground. And how does one conclude a baby died of 'natural causes' before the inquiry has even begun?

Privatizing Schools

Ministry of Education and Invest Maldives have announced opportunities for private investors in Maldivian schools. They told a group of 19 potential investors that four schools are up for grabs including Ameeru Ahmed and Ghiyaasuddin in Male, Afeefuddin in Kulhudhuffushi and Muhibbudin in Hithadhoo.

These four could evolve into elitist private schools like Eton or Doon Valley School, as Education Ministry hopes. But they could also flop like EPS, MES, Ameeru Ahmed and Nooraanee School, which were doing extremely well some years back. Do we know what went wrong with them and how to prevent such mishaps in the future ventures? The following are some issues worth pondering:

Affordability: Many parents pay as much as Rf 1500 rufiyaa per month per subject for private tuition. So they could afford higher school fees. That is the good news. The bad news is when it comes to paying school fees many parents consider even Rf 200 very high.

Quality: One has to pay good salaries to get good teachers. This can only happen if adequate fees are charged.

Government interference: Many private schools failed in the past because of government interference. Can the government resist the temptation to meddle in the new private schools, particularly when they would be operating in government buildings?

Discipline: This is the main problem with government schools. Can the private schools enforce discipline especially when many of their pupils will be the spoilt kids of rich parents?

On the Brink of a Budget Crisis

Maldives national budget is on a collision course with a cash crisis, as warned by International Monetary Fund (IMF). Actually IMF need not have bothered: All the signs of an impending crisis are painfully obvious to all of us.

All major sources of government revenue are ebbing. While a global economic crisis has decimated tourist arrivals, Mother Nature has also not been kind to us in the fisheries sector. Fisheries earnings have come down 54% from $46.1 million to $18.6 million in the first quarter of this year. Tourist arrivals have come down 10% from 266,877 to 239,355.

As a consequence of this, Government revenue has gone down 34% in the first 3 months of this year compared to the corresponding period last year. However the expenditure has been uncontrollably escalating during this period. As a result, the gap between revenue (Rf 1.6 billion) and expenditure (Rf 2.28 billion) has widened to Rf 937 billion.

The crisis is largely due to a series of ill-advised and unrealistic pay hikes. In the search for a solution to this the government is stuck between a rock and hard place. One solution is an across-the-board salary cut of about 30%. The other is a devaluation of the Rufiyaa by the same percent. Politically speaking, both are equally unpalatable.

How did we land in this impasse? Here is the timeline for the genesis of the crisis:

• January 2008: Government employees' salary increased by 16 to 60%.
  
• February to April 2008: A reckless spree of double and triple promotions to senior government employees adds to the salary burden.
  
• April 2008: Majlis passes Employment Law, which introduced unaffordable overtime payments.
  
• May 2008: Salaries of magistrates and judges increased.
  
• June 2008: Majlis Members decide to hike their own salary, triggering a series of strikes by different sectors for further salary increases.
  
• September 2008: Majlis endorses a salary hike for independent commissions.
  
• February 2009: New salary structure implemented, which cost the exchequer an additional one billion rufiyaa for the year.
  
• March to May 2009: Civil Service introduces a wide range of allowances, adding to the burden of unpaid wages.

Taking Theemuge as Court

Housing the Supreme Court is perhaps the best idea so far proposed to make use of Theemuge, the former Presidential Palace. It would not only give an appropriate status to the building but also help to preserve the building in pristine condition.

Theemuge is important to Maldivians not because it was occupied by Maumoon Abdul Gayoom but because it was built with millions of dollars of public money and is part of our national wealth. Preserving the building in good condition is important not because it has sentimental value for the former first family but because its interior is made of expensive and delicate material, which would be damaged if unlimited access is given to all parts of the building.

Unlike the other ideas put forward for Theemuge such as operating offices, using it as Supreme Court would cause minimum damage to the building because the apex court would not be as crowded as a run-of-the-mill government office. So, let's hope this is the final idea for Theemuge for now.

No Punishment Enough for this Mother

How do you propose to punish a mother who abuses her 8-month old son in cahoots with her lover, batters him and finally kills him? Life imprisonment, judicial execution or stoning alive? Unfortunately, going by past history, the mother even if found guilty is more likely to walk free, at most after a couple of years.

On Wednesday night, the battered child of Noor Zaadhaa, 28 years, Silver Leaf / S. Hithadoo, was admitted to the Intensive Care Unit of Indira Gandhi Memorial Hospital with signs of sexual abuse and what would turn out to be fatal injuries. The child died next morning.

The police have arrested three people in connection with the murder, including the child's mother (the buruga clad woman in the photo above), her 46 year old lover Mohammed Waheed, Gold Wish, Male, and an undisclosed person. The three had reportedly tested positive for opiate drugs.

Such heinous crimes have become so common in our (supposed to be 100% Muslim) country that the public's sense of outrage is numbed. After being the topic of hot gossip for a couple of days, this story –like all other such stories –will soon fade from our collective memory.

Is this the right time to reduce import duty?

Listening to the ongoing Majlis debate on the Import Export Act, where Member after Honorable Member spoke about reducing the import duty on a variety of items, it appears as if they believe the national treasury is bloated with loads of surplus cash. But as is painfully obvious, the reality is different. In fact, the financial situation is so precarious that unless additional revenue is generated the budget will be insolvent at the end of the year.

Over the past one and half years the budget has been overwhelmed with ill-advised salary hikes, unaffordable overtime payments, fanciful allowances and, above all, reckless spending to woo the electorate. As of now the ability to pay salaries is also in doubt, let alone implement programs to fulfill government promises. In this situation, talking about cutting an important source of government revenue appears out of place.

Import duty normally accounts for about a third of government revenue. If the proposals currently being discussed are adopted, it would lead to a revenue loss amounting to Rf 500 million, according to Economic Development Minister Mohamed Rasheed.

MPs supported reducing import duty believing it would reduce the cost of living. However experts differ. They say that even if duty is waived on diesel and essential food items, it would not help the people unless the current dollar shortage is adequately addressed. So this may not be the right time to reduce import duty.

[To read details of the Majlis debate click here.]

Handicraftsmen versus Tourist Shops

The lucrative tourist souvenir business in the Maldives has always been controlled by a handful of shrewd businessmen, many of who have gone up in life to become rich resort owners. The artisans who create handicrafts and curios, on the other hand, have little choice but to sell their products to shops at a tiny fraction of the market price. But then this is how things should be in a free market economy. The rich will get richer and the poor could only hope to get a few crumbs thrown down at them –the so called treacle down effect.

Not satisfied with the overwhelming advantages they already enjoy, some shop owners have also been using unfair (? illegal) trade practices. They import cheap products from neighboring countries and palm them off to unsuspecting tourists as Maldivian products. This deprives local artisans of their already meager earnings. According to Miadhu Daily, Maizan Adam Manik, recipient of the 2008 UNESCO Award of Excellence for Handicraft, has recently said that products of foreign origin are being sold in Maldives under ‘Made in Maldives’ label. He said shop owners often use misleading information in their sales pitch, sometimes with pictures of impoverished elderly people, to raise sympathy and sell foreign products.

Minister of State for Economic Development Adil Saleem has identified the urgent need for an authentication system for Maldivian products, Miadhu Daily reports. Considerable work has been done to produce an authentication logo, Director at the Economic Development Ministry Mohamed Luaiz has revealed. However the work has been delayed for various reasons.

This is not surprising since the long arms of businessmen reach the corridors of power in Male to ensure that no policy or regulation detrimental to their monopolistic practices is implemented. But again this is how things should be in a free market economy.

California Schools to Phase out Textbooks

California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger has unveiled a plan to save money by phasing out school textbooks in favor of internet aids, BBC reports. He says converting to online study will help keep pupils more up-to-date.

Gov Schwarzenegger believes internet activities such as Facebook, Twitter and downloading to iPods show that young people are the first to adopt new online technologies, and so the internet is also the best way to learn in classrooms. But it is believed the real reason Gov Schwarzenegger wants the change is money. Last year California spent $350m on textbooks and can no longer afford it.

The Maldives also spends millions of rufiyaa each year to provide school textbooks, many of which are actually not used in classrooms according to parents. Perhaps we could also think of going for I-textbooks in the future. But it is currently not feasible as most students don't have easy access to computers either at school or home.

[To read more on the California initiative click here.]

Dr. Shaheed sues Umar Naseer

Legal redressal for defamation is a necessary evil, as Foreign Minister Dr. Ahmed Shaheed would tell you. He has on Sunday filed a civil lawsuit against Islamic Democratic Party (IDP) leader Umar Naseer to recover Rf. 57,898,477 from him for alleged defamation.

Such lawsuits are the downside of unfettered freedom of expression, which in recent years has caused irreparable damage to the reputations of respected public figures. Something had to be done about it. As Shaheed's lawyer Dr. Mohamed Jameel said, one hopes this case will set a legal precedence that would be a deterrent to anyone tempted to make unsubstantiated accusations against opponents. Miadhu Daily quotes Dr. Jameel as saying, "We have to make people who make such allegations answerable and accountable. There are certain limits and boundaries stipulated in the new Constitution for freedom of expression."

Explaining how the figure of 57,898,477 was calculated Jameel said the amount included his fees as well as reparation for damages to Shaheed and his family's reputation and his future career prospects. He said this is how such are calculations are made in other countries too.

Miadhu Daily reports that Islamic Democratic Party (IDP) in early March alleged that senior government officials, including foreign minister Dr. Shaheed, accepted US $ 2 million in bribes to recognize Kosovo independence. The bribe was allegedly from Behgjet Pacolli, the leader of New Kosovo Alliance (NKA).

Back to Bicycle

The recently introduced ‘Back to Bicycle’ and ‘Walk to School’ campaigns are noble initiatives –on paper. For them to actually come to the roads certain basic issues must be addressed –issues that forced men to buy motorcycles and girls to become pillion riders in the not too distant past.

In one way, the Walk to School program is already 80% achieved even before it is launched. That’s because approximately that proportion of parents who take kids to primary schools are women and nearly all of them walk –not a problem because in most cases primary schools are within walking distance. The remaining 20% of parents are men who take their kids on motorcycles. It will be this 20% who must be persuaded to walk to school. In order to facilitate this they must be given more time off from work.

Imagine someone who works in Ghaazee building. If he has to take a kid to Taajuddin School he will need about 40 minutes for the 3-way trip. It will take a lot of persuasion to make someone do this in the mid afternoon sun, especially if that someone has a motorcycle. Further if 40 minutes of the one hour break is spent for the trip, he will need an additional half an hour for lunch.

Not long ago, most people in Male had bicycles. Girls used to ride nice looking brands of bicycles instead of riding behind someone. All this stopped mainly because of uncontrolled bicycle theft. Motorcycle thefts are relatively less common, not because they are more difficult to steal, but because they are more difficult to dispose off since they require registration and regular updating of fee payments.

Looking back on the whole thing, bicycles could have been retained on the streets if some minimum facilities were provided. For example, keeping a parking attendant or two around Huravee/Ghaazee building area and a few other strategically located places could have prevented a lot of thefts. But that was the past. How do we do it now?

Sibling Rivalry among Majududdine’s Descendants

The ongoing legal imbroglio between Yacht Tours and Maldives Tourism Development Corporation (MTDC) has drawn in quite a few of the descendants of Chief Justice Ibrahim Majududdine, an illustrious personage of the Meedhoo line of judges. Majududdine served during the reign of King Mohammed Imaduddine IV during the 19th Century. Many of his sons, grandsons and great grandsons held and continue to hold key positions in the legal system in Maldives.

As an interesting coincidence, Majududdine's great grand children are playing lead roles in all aspects of the Yacht Tours case. To start with, Yacht Tours owner Jabir is married to former Attorney General Dhiyana Saeed, a descendant of Majududdine. Tourism Minister Dr. Sawad is also married to a descendant of Majududdine. Chief Justice Abdullah Saeed is a direct descendant of Majududdine, and so is Attorney General Husnu Suood, who has recently stated he will play a role in the case. Prosecutor General Ahmed Muizzu is also a descendant of Majududdine, though so far there has been no role for him in the Yacht Tours case as no criminal liability has been identified so far.

The Yacht Tours drama is being enacted against the backdrop of the approaching appointment of the first Chief Justice of Maldives under the new Constitution. Some possible choices for the prestigious post include, Husnu Suood, Abdullah Saeed, Muizzu and Dhiyana. Other possible choices among the descendants include Hassan Saeed and Munavvar. Of course there are very strong contenders, who are not related to Majududdine, for example Justice Ahmed Faiz Hussain and Shaheen Hameed.

In the meanwhile the Yacht tours case appears to be hotting up. Minivan News reports that when Suood was asked about the inordinate delay in resolving the dispute he laid the responsibility squarely on the doorstep of Abdullah Saeed. "When the Chief Justice does his duty, then it will be solved," he said. Strong words indeed.

On his part Abdullah Saeed isn't backing down either. "We can't hold a stick to them [Civil Court] and tell them to speed it up," he retorted. "I don't accept the attorney general can make such statements. It amounts to undue influence over the courts." He explained the case was in the Civil Court's jurisdiction and the Supreme Court only had a supervisory role over that court.

Beauty Health Body Light Parlor Busted

The Police have arrested 5 women working in 'Beauty Health Body Light' massage parlor and charged them with prostitution yesterday. The five women, all Thai nationals, were aged between 33 and 41.

According to police sources, the five have confessed to providing 'indecent' favors in exchange for monetary incentives. The police also found in their possession a large quantity of cash and money transfer slips, which they believe to be the proceeds from prostitution.

Massage parlors had been legal in the Maldives since Ms. A**** F*** was licensed by Ministry of Health in 1998 to operate an aroma therapy and masseur training center on the recommendation of a VVIP politician. Ms. A had been a colleague of the politician when he was working as a teacher in Aminiya School in the 1970s before entering politics.

Massage parlors were de-licensed two years back following sustained pressure from Umar Naseer and his Islamic Democratic Party. However, they continue to operate under various guises.

Need for Managing the Expatriate Labor Force

Going by media reports, it appears as if most Maldivians believe that the 80,839 expatriate workers in the Maldives are an ‘issue’ or a ‘problem’ that needs to be solved, perhaps by repatriating them. However, as Human Rights Commission of the Maldives has said in its statement issued on 10th March, expatriate workers make a valuable contribution without which the Maldivian economy will be severely crippled. Thus, what is needed is not repatriation but solving the administrative, regulatory and law enforcement issues related to the expatriate labor force, some of which are:
Administrative issues:
At the end of 2008 there were 80,839 expatriates, up 10,075 from the70,764 at the beginning of the year. In addition, there were approximately 20,000 illegal immigrants according to the Human Resources Ministry. Recently on June 1st, the Ministry has started a registration program for them.
Law and order issues:
In some cases expatriates have been the victims of law and order issues, while in other cases they have been the perpetrators. Here are a few examples from this year:
-Eight persons were arrested on 19 February 2009 on charges of prostitution.
-Two expatriate waiters in a restaurant were arrested on 21 Feb on charges of credit card fraud worth Rf. 700,000.
-A Bangladeshi worker was found strangulated in Thilafushi on 16 April
-Two expatriates were arrested on 21 April with several cases of illegal Vodka.
-Four expatriate workers were arrested in Hulhudhoo, Addu Atoll, on 23 May for group violence.
-A Bangladeshi migrant was found badly battered and murdered on Hulhumale Beach on 1st June. Another Bangladeshi was arrested as a suspect in the case.
Exploitation and human rights violation:
- An expatriate worker fell to death from a demolition site on 11 February.
-A large number of expatriates organized a strike on 15 February saying their salaries were not paid.
-Employees of a prominent construction company organized a protest on 13 April saying their salaries were not paid.

One More Coincidence of the Titanic

The sinking of the great ship Titanic has been associated with an eerie series of coincidences that is still continuing. The latest in this series is the death on Sunday of Millvina Dean, the last surviving Titanic passenger. She died exactly on the 98th Anniversary of the launching of Titanic on 31 May 1911. When Millvina died she had just entered the 98th year of her life.

Some 14 years before the RMS Titanic struck an iceberg on April 14, 1912, a novel written by Morgan Robertson had described another ocean liner, which set sail from Southampton on her maiden voyage. She struck an iceberg and sunk with a heavy loss of life, since there were not enough life boats on board. The name of the vessel in Robertson's novel, Futility, was Titan.

The similarity between the two ships didn't end with the names. Titan and Titanic were approximately the same size, were capable of attaining the same speed, and both were capable of carrying approximately 3,000 people. Both ships were described as "unsinkable" and both ships went down in the same area of the North Atlantic.

William Thomas Stead, a journalist, wrote a short story in 1892 that resembled the Titanic disaster. Stead was also a spiritualist who had received messages through mediums urging him not to set foot on the Titanic. He ignored the warnings and was one of Titanic's 2,223 passengers who died on the fateful voyage.