Off With Your Head! Capital Punishment in the Maldives

I guess we had it coming. With a bunch of extremists acting as cheerleaders for the government waving imaginary pompoms and doing verbal cheer routines, what else can we expect? Home Minister Umar Naseer signed an order mandating Maldives Correctional Services to implement the death penalty couple of days ago. What's worse, he says it's unnecessary to wait for formulation of necessary regulations. According to this article in Minivan News, he says “We will not wait for laws to be drafted and passed. The law allows for implementation, and it is at the discretion of the home minister to order implementation". The minister has ordered to set up the necessary equipment and set up to execute the death sentence through lethal injection at Maafushi prison. This worries me no end. 

This decision on capital punishment came close at heels of the verdict of a very high profile case - the brutal murder of MP and religious scholar Dr Afrasheem in October 2012. Hussain Humaam Ahmed was found guilty of the murder and sentenced to die. This verdict itself was highly disturbing. It is not secret that Humaam has given incredibly contradicting statements regarding the murder of Dr Afrasheem. He has even denied any involvement at one point. This haphazard nature of his confessions had always had me racking my brains. Especially why nobody is concerned about the motive. Why would Humaam, admittedly a youth with quite a colorful track record, want to target this politician and scholar? While Humaam's previous crimes have involved violence they have been regarding gang rivalries and such conflicts. Dr Afrasheem seem so far removed from this world of gangs and drugs and crime. Is it likely for Humaam to just get it in his head one day to attack Dr Afrasheem on his doorstep and kill him? But once Humaam was framed arrested no other questions seem to be asked. And following a long delayed and much talked about trial, the sentence is out. He is sentenced to death, and thanks to the Home Minister's sudden order, it might actually be carried out. The sliver of hope that remains is President Yameen has stated that the Minister's decision had not been discussed at cabinet and perhaps the rest of the cabinet might, just might, take a vehement stand against this order.

I've always worried too much of John Grisham and Tom Crichton books will end me up looking for intricate plots and conspiracies in the most simplest of things. However I don't think this is one of those instances. I don't think I'm blowing it out of proportion to say I think Humaam is sent to his death to cover up something far bigger regarding this mysterious and shocking murder. The entire country remembers what Minister Naseer has said during his time campaigning in the presidential primary election against current president Abdulla Yameen. Half of them might deny or might choose not to recall, but we know what we heard. He did insinuate that President Yameen was responsible for a wide array of wrongdoings happening in society, had connections with gangs and drug lords, and most shockingly that he had some involvement in Dr Afrasheem's murder. He specifically said a youth who was suspected of being involved was seen with Yameen. After famously leaving their party PPM following his defeat in the primary elections, he is now back as the Home Minister of the current coalition government. He is now serving the very person he alleged was involved in such heinous activities. This alone is mind boggling. But what's more alarming is that he is now rushing to put to death the person supposedly connected with the murder he had accused Yameen of being involved in. We all connect the dots. Why are we not saying anything? 

Lets leave my conspiracies aside. Let's look at the dismal state of our judiciary. I think it'd be safe to say that the majority of the country understand and accept that our judiciary needs urgent and extensive reform. We acknowledge numerous cases of gross miscarriage of justice, and people from differing political ideologies can agree on this one issue. Do we really think we should let these dubious judges decide the fate of a human being? Can we trust them to make just fair judgments knowing what we know about the state of judges and the judiciary? Can we leave people's lives in their hands? Whenever I say this people jump quickly to label me unIslamic or 'laadheenee', completely missing the point that I'm more worried about the people who make these judgments, about the failed system that the country has lost faith in, about taking an innocent life. I am emphasizing the fact that Islam emphasizes the death sentence should not be executed even if there is the slightest doubt. And in cases as Humaam's there is so much of it!

I always say we Maldivians love to poke our noses into other people's business. But when it really matters that we speak up, sadly we don't. 

Read More

Everyday Sexism

It looks like I find things to rant about everywhere I look. Maybe it's just me...or maybe society's just doing things wrong, constantly. Get your act together people. So many rants in my head I can't even manage to sort them out and get them down on my blog.

Ok so firstly I note, tomorrow is a big day. Its the primary elections for MDP to determine who gets party tickets to contest in the upcoming parliament elections. This is personally important to me because my husband is also contesting and putting up a tough fight in a tough constituency. He's been working for nearly four years with the constituents so I truly feel he deserves this...and I would say this even if he's not my husband and I'm completely smitten and biased. The thing that bugged me about it was however someone commenting that she was so pleased I was also not contesting like some married couples seem to be doing these days. She felt it ridiculous that both the husband and wife would compete in elections...well for different constituencies of course. I think a marriage lasting through a couple contesting for the same seat will be nothing short of a miracle!

Anyways, I found this strange though. When I met my husband we were both political appointees. Both working for the same President, in the same office. We became husband and wife 3 years later. Just because my husband was contesting in an election did it mean I am not entitled to have the same political ambitions? Because I married someone who is interested in a political career I cannot? Even though I myself was equally involved with the party and its political activities? Not that I am interested but hypothetically speaking is it fair? I think if I had any such inclinations people will have no right to criticize me chasing any political goals that I might have just because my husband seemed to have the same ones. And why is it always the woman who is seen as making the odd choice where ambitions are involved, whereas men are just given a free pass?

That brings me to another rant. So couple of days ago I was added to this viber group of constituents campaigning and anticampaigning for and against primary candidates. The only thing I said was I felt it better not to attack each other and engage in blame games for losing the City Council seat in the recent elections but in stead focus on the upcoming elections. After all we'd all have to back the candidate who won the primary to ensure we got the parliament seat so I felt such damaging words between the campaign camps was just unnecessary and destructive. However the mudslinging went on and I refrained from saying anything further. There seemed to be no point. However I could not hold back my indignation when the subject of the two female candidates was broached. One wondered if one of them was single. Another commented on the poster of the other female candidate and said she was pretty when she didn't open her mouth. Perhaps it was all in good fun. But we often let these things slide as just 'harmless fun', so much so that people don't realize they're actually being sexist and discriminatory and that their actions are wrong. Nobody questioned about the relationship status of the male candidates, no one cared how they looked in their posters, no one cared if they had kids. Its unfair that women have to be judged on so many other levels, on entirely useless things that have nothing to do with their capabilities or eligibility for whatever post they are contesting.

I also detested that the two ladies, Ms Mariya and Ms Velezinee contesting for Machangoalhi Uthutu constituent were often referred to as being in a 'catfight'. The fact that they're women shouldn't matter. What should matter is the fact that they're well known people putting a strong fight to win the ticket. It should not matter if they're male or female - but sadly it does. So what they wear becomes an issue. How they walk, talk, dress, laugh, do their hair - these are all issues. Issues that contesting men don't face. We seem to be progressing so fast yet on these matters we are still in medieval times.

Everyday I come across instances that baffle me. Everyday I find something or other that make me question, why is it that society sees me as a lesser being? Why is it that a woman who speaks her mind is labeled obnoxious or bossy or difficult or showing attitude, when a man doing the same is just being confident or displaying leadership? Why is it that when a woman is ambitious and is committed to achieving her goals she is labeled selfish or manly or aggressive? The day a woman gets married she does not bury her thoughts, she does not set fire to her brain, she does not dump her dreams in the bin. She does not say, that's it. I'm now a wife, and beyond that I have no life until I become a mother, and then motherhood shall consume me. That's what I shall live for. I don't think any woman thinks that on her own - society forces her to though. Society tells her that she comes second to all the other people in her life and all of the things she wants to do are for any 'leftover time' after she does everything for everyone else. Women should take a stand but they can't do this alone. Men need to take pride in their smart, empowered, capable, brilliant wives and not be threatened. Let her shine, your lives will be so much brighter!

Read More

Here there everywhere

Thank goodness for Twitter - now  I can just shoot of my rants whenever they pop in my head. Unfortunately a 140 characters is usually not enough. Now I'd say thank goodness for blogs, so I can elaborate on my Twitter rants. Ah our lives today - 24 hrs connected. To what though, I often wonder. To whom are we connected? We spend so much time analyzing random strangers and know more about our social media pals than we do of our families. In fact we are so busy scrutinizing our frenemies' facebook photos and Whatsapping about a common nemesis' yet another barrage of selfies on Instagram we overlook looking into our selves, fixing what's wrong with us.

Anyway to get to the point, I recently ranted on Twitter about a few things that bugged me recently. And here I rant again. Because like I said, 140 characters just ain't enough.

I was walking from our apartment to my mom's place, and I saw this expatriate worker making his way slowly down the street on a bicycle laden on all sides with garbage bags. Out of nowhere zoomed two youngsters on a bike and one of them just stretched out his leg and kicked his wobbling bicycle. Just like that without a second thought about it. I was completely shocked. They didnt even look back. The expatriate worker almost fell, the bicycle stumbled but he managed to hold on to it. A couple of his bags fell and he picked them up. He was back on the bicycle and on his way by time I reached up to him. I could not fathom the carelessness with which this young person committed such a crude act. What was his beef with this poor worker? What made him just act out so cruelly towards another person, even if it is a person seen as a lesser being in our often hypocritical and racist society? Let's admit we are racists, before going any further. You wouldn't see any such act committed against a white person. In fact people fawn over Caucasians from cafes to shops to schools, anywhere. So I guess its not an outsider thing. We are just cruel to these workers. These workers who do the jobs that we deem to dirty or lowly for us. We'd rather sit on our bums and shamelessly be fed and clothed by our parents because we can't bring ourselves to earn a penny if we're not employed at a posh office where we can strut in shiny shoes and silk ties. So we'd treat the people who actually clean our houses and our streets, throw our garbage, build our homes, stock our shops, even babysit the kids and do our grocery shopping, like utter crap because we somehow feel we are 'above' them? Such foolishness disgusts me.

And then we make excuses for people who lack such common decency saying its because they lack education, that its because of their ignorance. No, humanity is not something you learn in school. You don't need education to be a decent person. Just like courtesy is also common sense. You don't need charm school to be able to hold open a door for someone, to make space for someone on the ferry, to give up your seat on the bus for an old lady, to say please and thank you... I can't accept it's a matter arising from ignorance. We just need to cultivate a bit more consideration towards the people around us, it's not rocket science.

We like talking about things like white supremacy. Well you know what, we Asians are bigger promoters of white supremacy than the white folk. We discriminate against the Bangladeshis, sometimes we are discriminated against by the Chinese, the Chinese by the Indians, the Indians by the Malays, the Malays by the Sri Lankans....what nonsense is this. We discriminate among ourselves so much, and we yet we all fawn over Caucasians. So it's us who put them on pedestals. No wonder South Asian women are obsessed with skin lightening creams, East Asian women are shelling out thousands for cosmetic surgeries to narrow their noses and widen their eyes and attain more european features, and so on. We constantly look down on ourselves and look down on our neighbors too.

Ok looks like I have veered off course as well. But thats what rambling is all about eh!

Nighty night,

Toodles

Read More

Recipe: Kulhi Riha [Maldivian Spicy fish Curry]

As my first recipe I thought I'd post a traditional Maldivian kulhi riha (spicy fish curry) to kick things off ...

Ingredients

A fillet of tuna, cut into half inch long pieces
two table spoons vegetable or olive oil
half a large onion, chopped thinly
two cloves garlic, chopped fine
4 one inch long pieces of pandan leaves
2 cloves
4 cardamom pods
one stem of curry leaves
4 teaspoons chilli powder [or 2 tsp chilli powder and 2 tsp cayenne powder]
1 stick cinnamon
1 tsp cumin
1 tsp pepper
1 tsp turmeric, more to soak the fish
4 tablespoons 'githeyo mirus sauce' available in Maldives [any chilli sauce or tomato paste will do]
coconut milk [half a bowl thick, bowl and half thin. You can use packet bought and use less water for thick milk and more to dilute for thin milk. This is about half a grated coconut's milk]
1 tsp salt

Directions

- A trick I learnt from my mom was to soak the washed fish pieces in a little turmeric mixed in water for a lil while before cooking. This balances out the taste and enhances the flavor.
- Leave the fish in the turmeric water and heat the oil. Sautee the onions, garlic, curry leaves and pandan leaves.
- Add the chilli powder/ cayenne powder, cumin, pepper, turmeric, cloves, cardamom pods and cinnamon stick. The aroma will be tantalizing!
- Add the fish and coat the spice mixture well.
- Once the fish have cooked a few minutes, lower the heat and add the sauce.
- Coat the fish again and add the thin coconut milk.
- Cook until the milk starts to bubble.
- Add salt. I add very little salt. You can add more if you prefer.
- Turn off the heat and add the think milk.
- Your kulhi riha is now ready and will be a beautiful red color, fragrant with the smell of spices!
- Best served with a sour mango salad and white rice or roshi [Maldivian bread]

PS- Enzis has bottled githeyo mirus sauce [Maldivian chilli sauce] which is very nice and perfect for kulhi riha I found.

Read More

Lessons for 2014... or rather, things I should remind myself for peace of mind

Hello 2014! So with the start of a new year I renewed the list of resolutions, as we do. The usual suspects were rounded up of course. Fitness, clean eating, less procrastination, spending time with my loved ones, handling finances better, and so on and so forth - from the more obscure 'to follow dreams' to the more precise 'drink 1.5 litres of water a day'. One of them was also starting to blog again...on a shiny new blog. And more importantly, sticking with it.

Before I venture out all shiny eyed and hopeful smiles in to this 'year of good things to come' [according to random online horoscope readings], there are a few things I want to tell myself, in no specific order. For future reference. And maybe they might help somebody somewhere out there as well.

1. We always read about how we should cut off negative people from our lives to be happier. That's incredibly selfish. Maybe they're that way for a reason, maybe they need your help. Or just a little time to get their act together. I've whined my friends' ears off and drowned in self pity at times myself - sometimes I just needed someone to give me a good shake and a couple of slaps and say, get it together woman! Maybe dig into some ice cream after that. Reaching out to people is never a bad thing eh? And you might regret not bothering to help them if something bad really does happen. Would you rather live with the guilt? I don't think so.

2. That brings me to point number 2. You can only help people who WANT to be helped. Some are just lost causes. Seriously. Knowing the difference can save you a lot of needless heartache and worry, not to mention time which you could have spent enjoying good things in life - like an interesting book, or even better, a banana cupcake with nutella frosting.

3. Not to connect everything, but that brings me to point number 3. Don't deprive yourself. If you're worried about your waistline and that number on the scale you don't even want to remember, do something about it. Walk, jog, do yoga, dance, jump through hoops, play tennis, swim, run after your kids or up and down the stairs, I don't know. Don't tell me you can't eat a delicious a cupcake even though you'd love to. If you're diabetic, forget everything I said. My mom's perfectly happy with her sugarfree treats, proving you don't need a heap of sugar to let your taste buds swoon in bliss. Point is, whatever it is that does the trick, enjoy it. Without going all crazy. I do have limits mind you.

4. Your relationships are your business alone. No one knows you better than yourself, so trust yourself to make the judgments on who to love, how to love - nobody else can tell you how to love the people you love. Phew that's a whole lot of love there. People love to meddle - especially here in the Maldives. Nod, smile, do your own thing anyway.

5. People slip up. You will too. Go easy on them. In the long run forgiving is lighter on the soul. Having said that, if it happens one time too many, its not to be taken lightly. Know when to forgive, when to say no, when to move on and when to give up.

6. All that about not going to bed angry? Forget it. Sometimes its the best thing you could do. Even if you're sleeping like the bed's split into two different continents. Usually you wake up with a cooler head, and more likely in a mood to say your sorries and whatever it takes for you to make up. Maybe all your crankiness needed was a rest, who knows.

7. That brings me to, you don't always have to be right or prove your point. Somethings you most vehemently hold to be true might not be so true after all. No point in dragging it out or being stubborn about it. Apologize, admit you're wrong, let it go. It doesn't make you a lesser person to say you don't know something either, even if it seems like the most obvious thing and everyone else knows about it (like Emoji...I still have no idea about it although the whole of Twitter is buzzing about it apparently). Insisting on something just cos you're too stubborn to bow down, or refusing to accept that you can be ignorant about something - they're just not worth it. Especially if you're having a tiff with your partner. Throw away the score cards.

8. While you're at it, throw away the chore cards too. Don't get me wrong- I am truly impressed when couples say they split all their chores. I myself can't do it though. And I don't even try. This is why. I can't usually wait for my husband to do the chores in his time. I'd rather do them myself because that is how I get my peace of mind. And that's what matters to me - my peace of mind more than keeping track of who does what around the house. While this might seem like a heavy load, it's actually not. I don't want my husband to do the groceries or accompany me because he, like most men, can't stand spending much time in a shop, let alone four or five shops. I would rather stroll at my own pace, look around, spend the time enjoying the shopping so I prefer to go alone. At home my husband does more to help out when I don't direct him that he needs to do this and that, and I end up appreciating his efforts more. I realized things are much sweeter around the house when we don't have chore schedules to nag and complain about - we do what we can when we can, and that's enough.

9. While on nagging, I'd say pick your fights carefully. One might say, why fight at all? Any marriage needs a fight now and then. Fighting's healthy. Air em out, clear your conscience and all that. Its how you fight that you should worry about. No need to be vindictive, call names, humiliate - once you say it, its out there. You can't take it back. So fight wisely, and choose what you want to fight about. Here's the thing- if you nag about everything, after a while it'll prolly be just background noise. But if you only make a fuss about things that really matter to you (and seriously, socks on the floor or a towel on the bed really can't be that bad), they'd know you mean business and will take it more seriously.

10. Cook together. You might occasionally snap about the excessive pepper but its still one of the best ways to bond. And sometimes, they might end up making better pasta than you.

11. Traveling together is wonderful of course, especially if you're spontaneous on your travels and not fretfully planning out your itinerary to the last minute. However somethings have to be planned. Its not the ideal blissful getaway when you forget your travel documents and essentials, bookings, random things that make life easier like imodium meds for an upset tummy, mosquito repellent for those pesky fiends, sun block...would save you time and hassle if you didn't have to run around hunting for those. Point is, somethings are better left unplanned. But some planning gets you far.

12. You can't choose your relatives. If you're like me you're not the type to cut them off if they get a bit annoying either. And as we all know well, they can grate on your nerves. Oh you've grown so much fatter, are you losing your hair, when are you going to to have kids, are you having that acne problem again...these are usually the 'pleasant' greetings one can expect from relatives even if you hadn't seen them in ages. I believe this is not just a Maldivian thing. With me it's mostly my yo-yo weight...and now inquiries on having kids. You don't want to be rude...and that's precisely why they are as they are. Because they know can say any of it and get away with it, being relatives. So humor that nosey great aunt, compliment that ginormous brooch, and fool proof in any situation nod and smile.

13. I've left the two most important things to the last. Jobs, projects, hobbies, random things that catch your fancy, they come and go. People stay. At least the people who matter. Cherish them, and be there for them. You don't need to tell people you love them, or shower them with all kinds of extravagant generosity. They'll know by your presence, and that's usually what matters to them.

14. Please yourself. Shape up, dress up, put on that crazy neon eyeliner and scarlet highlights, for you not for anyone else. Pleasing people is an exercise in futility. You might as well please the one person you can please - yourself. You'll never worry about disappointing other people ever again. And people who really love you, will still love you even with that ridiculous make up job and the 80s hair. They'll even tell you how crazy you look but they'll stick around.

So there. That sums up the 14 things I wish to remember in 2014. Hopefully I shall also be making time to exercise with no excuses, reading good books and eating good food while listening to good music, and spreading a lil bit of luurv...

Until the next post,

Toodles!

Read More