Category: Society & Culture

Elderly businessman allegedly murdered in Hoarafushi

A prominent businessman and seller of oil and hardware products has been found dead inside an abandoned house on Hoarafushi in Haa Alifu Atoll.

Police believe that 70 year-old Hussain Mohamed Manik may have been murdered.

An official from the island office told Minivan News that the body was discovered by the caretaker of the building last night.

“There were no injuries on the outside his body,’’ said the island official. ‘’He is from another island but has lived in Hoarafushi for a long time.’’

He said the incident had triggered uproar among the islanders.

“I heard that some of the islanders set huts belonging to gangs on fire. They believe that gangs were involved in this,’’ he said.

Local media reported that Manik’s hands were tied behind his back with rope, and that the body was lying on the ground in a prone position when discovered.

The island official said that it had rained heavily last night, and that  “nobody goes out in the rain. The streets would probably have been empty.”

Police Sub-Inspector Ahmed Shiyam said police had received the report this morning.

“We are currently investigating the case and it is very difficult to disclose any information,’’ Shiyam said, adding that the team dispatched to the island included Commissioner of Police Ahmed Faseeh, Deputy Commissioner Mohamed Rishwan and a team from of Serious and Organised Crime department.

President Mohamed Nasheed meanwhile expressed concern over the alleged murder. In statement from the President’s Office Nasheed sent “his deep condolences to the members of the bereaved family” and instructed the Maldives Police Service to “thoroughly investigate” the case.

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Comment: Self-awareness and spirituality sustains a society

Self-awareness and spiritual empowerment hold the key to freedom and raising the status of people in a society.

Education and economic independence, and financial security no doubt, do impart self-confidence to a person. However if the person is not well equipped with self-awareness and spiritual power within oneself, it is difficult to sustain the confidence that comes with a good education and a good job.

That is the reason why it is not uncommon to find well qualified and well educated men and women, holding powerful jobs weakening and losing their self esteem when faced with a difficult situation in personal or professional life.

That is why we find executive managers, top government officials, members of parliament and other such people who should be role models for our society not demonstrating a constant code of standards, behavior and values.

What is spiritual empowerment?

Spiritual empowerment is not about religious rituals, robes, ceremonies and practices. Spirituality is about awakening the ‘consciousness’ that we all humans have been gifted with. It is the consciousness to recognise the ‘truth’ about self, about relationship of self with the people and nature around. This consciousness helps you to understand and become aware of ourselves and all things that have an impact on your well-being and our inner peace and happiness.

This awareness is empowering because it is the beginning of taking care of your own self as well as understanding others in a better way. Only when you know who you really are and what you really want for your ultimate happiness can you begin to make choices consciously to create realities that result in your happy self. And only then you begin to appreciate the need of others to be happy.

Awakening the consciousness

Your minds are conditioned by the educational system, traditional parenting, religious preaching, and other good-willed people around you to think in the way that conforms to the norms of the society and the prevailing system.

This does not necessarily have to do with ‘spirituality or the needs of the soul’. This conditioning does not get you in touch with your ‘self’. The further you are from your ‘inner truth’ or your ‘true self’, the more powerless you become. You are more vulnerable to exploitation and all the things that can erode your self confidence and self esteem.

Ideally the process must begin at an early age. Values that are primary to building strong and powerful personalities need to be part of family and educational systems.

Personal and social change is a continuous process and so is empowerment. Educational systems that do not provide for developing courage and attitude to rise above social and personal hurdles need to be scraped out rethought and restructured to make the best use of the learning years of a student, so that they can gain a sound mental and spiritual foundation that will enable them to become adults who are economically independent, contribute to the society and service humanity.

The behavior of the empowered person

Empowered people act out of choice. They have a belief system not conditioned by the messages received in the past but based on their wants, choices and values. They align their thoughts, words and actions and do not waste time in criticism and judgment. They create harmonic environments, respect individuality and values diversity is accountable and proactive and implements their activity in a safe way.

Strategies for empowerment, transformation or change lie in values, beliefs and rules. Unless you are willing to analyse, reflect and change any of these strategies (those that do not support the life you love) there will be no change. The tools that support you to change are your thoughts words and actions – a manifestation of your beliefs, values and rules.

Aminath Arif is the Founder of SALAAM School

All comment pieces are the sole view of the author and do not reflect the editorial policy of Minivan News. If you would like to write an opinion piece, please send proposals to [email protected]

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Life imprisonment and two months fasting for man who murdered brother

The Criminal Court has convicted Saeed Hussain of Neykurandhoo in Haadhaalu Atoll of murdering his own brother in October last year.

“Considering the confession of the accused, and as it is proven by the words of the doctor who declared the death of Umar Hussain [his brother], the death was the direct result of the stabbings,’’ the judge said.

The judge said that Saeed could not prove that his actions were conducted without the intention of murdering his brother, ruling him guilty of murder and sentencing him to life imprisonment.

He also ordered that Saeed fast for two months.

Saeed’s brother Umar died after he was stabbed nine times in different parts of his body. One of the attacks cut the veins in his neck.

Saeed admitted that he stabbed his brother but claimed he was drunk at the time, did not even know how many times he stabbed his brother. He claimed he attacked his brother after he reportedly saw him attacking his mother.

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Comment: Corruption must not taint PK relief funds

I was responsible for looking after one of the largest disaster programmes in the Maldives following the tsunami.

I was one of the members in the decision making body of Action Aid International of a 30 million pound Tsunami Rehabilitation and Reconstruction multi-country programme in Thailand, Sri Lanka, India, Maldives, Indonesia and Somaliland.

Immediately after tsunami, I went with UNDP teams, Oxfam, Red Cross and other disaster teams to conduct initial disaster assessments. It was a time consuming, trying process to assess the damage done by the tsunami and identify the needs of people.

No group of people, community or country wanted the same things. It was hectic, tiring and required extensive development to help the survivors.

I wonder why the PK Relief fund is deliberating and has announced it will be sending a there member team to Pakistan. They were careful to announce that they will not spend money from the PK Relief funds for the visit, but in same breath they said that they will raise funds for the visit to Pakistan.

This sounds same thing to me – they will be using the name of the PK Relief fund to raise funds, which is akin to spending PK Relief money. I think this is a waste of resources and energy as the money should be donated to the Government of Pakistan.

Providing disaster relief is a technical and difficult task, and requires experts to conduct a disaster assessment. The processes require conducting an assessment of the damage, identifying the needs of the people as well as the infrastructure.

It’s futile to think that a team who has no knowledge and understanding of the country, the extent of damage, the culture and the people can decided on what or where to donate.

The best experts will be the Government of Pakistan or the international parties who are already on the ground in Pakistan evaluating the situation of the floods, such as the UN, Pakistan Red Crescent, Pakistan Action Aid or others. Another possibility is through the Maldivian High Commission based in Pakistan – all these agencies are based in Pakistan and would have firsthand knowledge.

Maldives do not require a team from PK Relief Fund to go to Pakistan.

What PK Fund should plan is how to keep track of how the fund is being spent. Monitor and request whether the funding has reached to the neediest. PK fund can make the Government of Pakistan accountable through good governance and monitoring mechanisms.

Publish the information received from Government of Pakistan and international stakeholders, making it accessible to the citizens of the Maldives at regular intervals, after donating the funds.

I would advise the PK Relief not send a team to Pakistan and hand over the money to the Ambassador of Pakistan. I would also request a public outcry against this proposed action by the PK relief fund Committee, for contemplating such disastrous action on behalf of the Maldivians who donated the funds without expert knowledge of the issue.

All comment pieces are the sole view of the author and do not reflect the editorial policy of Minivan News. If you would like to write an opinion piece, please send proposals to [email protected]

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Nine staff at Alila Villa resign alleging threats of dismissal over strike action

Nine staff members working for the food and beverage (F&B) department of luxury five star resort Alila Villa have resigned following a strike in protest against the termination of the F&B supervisor.

“The staff resigned after the resort’s management warned them that they would be dismissed if they continued the strike,’’ a staff member working at the hotel told Minivan News. “They were demanding the management reinstate the job of the sacked supervisor, and remained in their rooms without coming out for work.’’

The staff member alleged the supervisor was dismissed for failing to sending his staff to a training class.

“The nine staffs working under him gave in their resignation letter and left the island when they realised that continuing the strike would only get them sacked,” he said.

The staff member claimed resort management had been looking for an opportunity to dismiss the F&B manager, after an incident during final days of Ramadan when the General Manager’s room was vandalised.

“Following the incident police officers arrived at the island and arrested three suspects,” the staff member said.

He claimed the suspects were kept in custody “without any evidence or witnesses”, but were released the next day.

“The three staff [arrested] were the three suspected by management [of committing the crime], but they were unaware of the incident,’’ the staff member claimed, alleging that management subsequently began blacklisting and dismissing “anyone who raised their voice against the management over poor staff facilities.”

“We keep telling the management that this is a five star luxury hotel, and they could do much better than this,’’ he said. “But everyone who tries to raise this subject gets terminated with the slightest provocation.’’

Human Resources Manager of Alila Villa Deepa Manual said Minivan’s information was incorrect.

“Similar events took place in the hotel, but at the moment we would not like to disclose any information regarding the issue,’’ she said.

Vice President of the Tourism Employment Association of the Maldives (TEAM) Ibrahim Mauroof, said the issue of staff mistreatment at resorts was “an issue of concern”.

”Because of the influence of resort owners, staff are often unaware of the rights they have that are stated in the constitution,” said Mauroof. ”Most of the time they do not even know how to demand their rights when they are abused.”

Mauroof added the new laws being drafted governing strike action would narrow the right to strike enshrined in the constitution.

”[The regulations] says that a strike can only be conducted with the consent of management, after it has been provided in a written document,” he said. ”Furthermore, if the strike obstructs the services and affects the customers, the strike can be declared unlawful and striking staff can be arrested.”

He said the issue was “a great concern”, but that it could still be resolved if the organisations involved “came to one table to discuss the issue.”

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Man found dead in apparent suicide on Velidhoo

Police have reported death of a 24 year-old man from Velidhoo in Noonu Atoll, after he was discovered hanged from ceiling fan in his room at 12:35pm yesterday.

An official from the island office told Minivan News that the man was discovered by his father.

“He lived a very normal life and worked in his brother’s restaurant on the island,” the official said.

”According to what most of the islanders are saying, he had this problem with his girlfriend’s father; he had not been accepted by him. He lived together on the island with his girlfriend from Male’ and they were about to get married, but her Dad sent a letter to the court saying he would not give the consent for the marriage to take place.”

Deputy Minister for Health Mariya Ali said the Maldives lacked a comprehensive mental health system, and that the number of psychiatrists in the country was inadequate.

“Normally a person with a serious mental condition will be assessed and taken to ‘Guraidhoo’ (a mental health rehabilitation centre) until their psychotic episode is over,” Mariya said. “But after being discharged, the aftercare is not very strong and patients may stop taking their prescriptions. Their condition can deteriorate and they can relapse.”

Furthermore, Mariya said that it was very likely that the country’s high rate of child sex abuse was leading to a high prevalence of mental health disorders in later life, such as post-traumatic stress disorder and anxiety problems, but that there was little general awareness of mental health issues in Maldivian society.

The Maldives also lacks the equivalent of a ‘Samaritans’ helpline, common in many developed countries, offering counselling and advice for people coping with depression or suicidal thoughts.

”The former government developed a draft mental health care policy with the assistance of the World Health Organisation (WHO), but it was never implemented,” Mariya noted. “We are now revising this policy and after that we should have an idea of what a mental health response system should look like.”

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Police destroy 720 bottles of vodka in front of media

The Maldives Police Services today destroyed 720 bottles of Smirnoff vodka in front of assembled media, after seizing it during a raid in February last year.

Such bottles are imported legally at a cost of US$8 and wholesaled to resorts at around US$12, but fetch up to Rf1200 (US$93) on the black market in Male’.

The price has inflated substantially following the cancellation and lapse of most liquor licenses issued to expatriates, giving the total bust a final street value of Rf864,000 (US$67,237).

Assistant Commissioner of Police Mohamed Sadiq said it was the first time police had “destroyed alcohol bottles with transparency.”

‘’Now the investigation of this case is concluded as well as the legal process,’’ said Sadiq. “We terminate seized drugs only after the investigation and the legal procedure is concluded, as it is a responsibility of the police to protect evidence util the court stage is over.’’

Sadiq said although many alcohol bottles had been seized during different cases, items were not destroyed because the legal procedure or the investigation was not concluded.

All the bottles were poured into a hole dug in the ground, in the presence of a special committee formed under the new Act to eliminate drugs and inspect their destruction.

The committee consists of two representatives from the Prosecutor General’s office, two representatives from the Judicial Service Commission (JSC), two representatives from NGOs and two from police.

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Maldivian reggae artist sentenced to 10 years for cannabis possession

Famous Maldivian reggae artist Haisham Mohamed Rasheed has been sentenced to ten years for use and possession of less than one gram of cannabis.

Haisham, of Maafannu Loha, was arrested with a bag containing the illegal narcotics while in a resort to perform a live music show.

The Criminal Court convicted Haisham under Article 4 [a][1] of the Drug Act after he tested positive for cannabis, an illegal substance under the Act. Haisham received five years for using the drug and five years for possession.

The judge ruled that according to witness statements, evidence, and Haisham’s own confession, he owned the bag containing illegal narcotics with which he was found.

Haisham was the lead artist of the band ‘Palm Fever’. He also produced his own music and had acquired a popular following during a career which he started as a child performer at the Inter-school singing competition.

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Lale student expelled in school stabbing incident

Lale Youth International School has expelled a 14 year-old student after he allegedly attacked a 13 year old student with a knife on Thursday.

A member of staff told Minivan News that the 13 year old victim required hospital treatment after suffering the injury to his arm, following a dispute over a girl.

“The parents of the cut student were very upset and contacted police,” the staff member said, noting that the implement used resembled a Stanley knife and had “left quite a scar”.

The student was expelled following a meeting of executive staff at the school. A source noted that the offending student had a history of “violence and behavioral problems” at the school.

“He failed the entrance exams at several other schools, came here and failed our entrance exam, but was still enrolled,” the source claimed, suggesting the matter highlighted “the lack of facilities available [to rehabilitate] juvenile [offenders].”

The source reported that police had fined the offending student Rf 50 (US$3.80) “as they said he was under age and it was the heaviest penalty available.”

However Police Sub-Inspector Ahmed Shiyam said police had no information concerning the issuing of an Rf50 fine, and noted that as the incident was a criminal act it would be investigated and the case sent to the Prosecutor General’s office.

“[The student] used a cutter to cut four inches on the other student’s skin,” Shiyam stated. “The injury was not so serious, but still the parents were concerned about the issue.”

Lale Youth International currently lacks a school counsellor after he returned to Turkey in mid-July, together with four other Turkish members of staff.

“The absence of a recognised counsellor has cost us, but other staff attempted to fill the gap without success,” the staff source told Minivan News.

“This incident underlines the fragility of the Maldivian juvenile system, as well as schools not properly screening students, and not giving them adequate care and education.”

Last month the school’s former principal, Turkish national Serkan Akar, was found guilty of assaulting children and sentenced by the Criminal Court to pay a Rf200 (US$14) fine.

Serkan had denied the charges against him, which included strangling and whipping a child with a belt.

Deputy Prosectutor General Hussain Shameem noted at the time that the Rf200 sentence was legitimate under the current penal code, which was drafted in 1968 and apparently not reflective of inflation.

In July the school’s Deputy Principal Suleiman Atayev, also a Turkish national, fled the country along with the computer studies teacher Yunus Yildiz.

Both staff members left seperately and did not inform the school they were leaving.

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