Lale English teacher resorted to begging, sleeping in fishmarket

When English teacher John Campbell accepted a job at Lale Youth International School two years ago, he had no idea he would be leaving the country with scarcely more than the shirt on his back and an expatriate horror story far removed from the picturesque experience of a resort worker.

At one stage in December 2010, penniless, starving, robbed, waiting for the school to pay his remaining salary and unable to get a response from any authorities, he was forced to sleep in the capital’s fish market for seven nights before being rescued by an immigration official.

At night, Campbell would sit in the doorways of shops and read by the light through the windows. Famished, he eventually resorted to begging outside Indira Gandhi Memorial Hospital (IGMH).

“It was my first experience of begging,” says the Australian national, who has 10 years experience as an English teacher and a wife who currently lives in Thailand.

“I hadn’t eaten for six days, but people gave me enough for a coffee. The humiliation was better than starving, but it was not something I want to repeat.”

He was eventually found by an immigration official and taken to the immigration lock-up, where he was fed and allowed to come and go as he pleased. Later, he was moved to another building that was being refurbished –

“I don’t think it was official,” he says, praising the department worker for the help he received.

Campbell says his problems began when the Turkish-run international school failed to pay him one month’s salary on completion of his contract. He claimed that the school also required foreign staff to initially pay a US$1200 “passport deposit”.

“The school didn’t want to pay the end of my contract. I had a flight on November 16, 2010, and they made an offer of US$300 but only if I signed a statement agreeing to make no further claims against the school.”

It was common practice, Campbell said, to give departing teachers a cheque in rufiya shortly before their departure, knowing they would be unable to change the money – and then offer a significantly lower amount of dollars.

Unlike other teachers Minivan News spoke to, Campbell took the cheque, “but the bank would not change the money.”

He left the country and flew to Thailand to visit his wife, and attempted to change the cheque there. Banks were uninterested and the best “unofficial” rate he could get was Rf 40 to the dollar – more than three times the pegged rate of Rf 12.85. He changed enough to survive, and returned to the Maldives to pursue his remaining salary.

Prior to leaving he had sought to press his case with assorted authorities in Male’, particularly the Education Ministry and the Labour Department.

“Five emails to the Labour Ministry and two handwritten letters delivered personally, but they refused to acknowledge that any letters had been received,” he said. “I even tried writing letters to the President’s Office.”

Unable to penetrate the Maldives byzantine bureaucracy and without the contacts to do so, Campbell met a Maldivian man who agreed to help him in exchange for Rf 500 a week. When Campbell visited Thailand on conclusion of his contract, the man also arranged for the storage of his possessions.

When he returned to continue pressing his case, “I discovered that he had taken everything I had. My clothes, shoes, paperwork, sound system, surfboard, tools, materials, fittings – everything I owned apart from my boat.”

The small hand-made sailing vessel was Campbell’s hobby during his spare time in the Maldives, and was made from 90 percent recycled materials.

“I’ve been boat building since I was a little kid, I built the first when I was 11 years old – the first that was big enough to use. In high school, I would buy boats that had been written off and restore them to resell. Then I started making surfboards – it was good money.”

His aim was go on weekend sailing trips to local surf spots – although he adds that the real enjoyment was the relaxing focus of constructing it.

“I had finished it the day before I left [to Thailand]. I left it on the shore near the Hulhumale’ ferry terminal, after towing it up the beach and tying it up. Two weeks later, I found it a few hundred metres from the ferry terminal, smashed to pieces on the rocks and stripped of all steel fittings.”

After his possessions were stolen Campbell went to police and gave the name, home address and two telephone numbers of the man he claimed had taken everything he owned. Nothing happened – “at least 20 people told me they’ve seen him around Hulhumale’.”

“It felt like I was seen as an acceptable target. I lost everything – for the first 14 days all I had was a ticket back to Australia.”

Unwilling to give up on his possessions or the money owed him by the school, Campbell sought a refund for the ticket from the Malaysian airlines office.

That money lasted two weeks, “and then I had nowhere to sleep, no support, and nothing happening [with my case].”

Unwilling to exploit the hospitality of his hosts at a local guest house without being able to pay them back, he moved onto the streets.

“I had no money left to pay for the hotel, and while they would have let me stay I didn’t want to rack up a debt I couldn’t pay,” he said.

Lale Youth International was not responding to calls when Minivan News called to corroborate Campbell’s story, and Biz Atoll, the Maldivian company that holds the agreement to run the school in conjunction with the Turkish group, requested Minivan News to call back later and then did not answer the phone.

However, a source familiar with the school and its employment of foreign staff told Minivan News that the Campbell’s treatment was not unusual.

“In one year, the contract was changed 2-3 times. The school was supposed to pay one month’s salary after completion of one year, but it seems they were not willing to do that,” the source said.

“They did it to a Sri Lankan boy who worked there – he begged for his salary in dollars, before leaving to Sri Lanka, and they made him buy it from them at a rate of Rf 14. He paid because he had to.”

Campbell, the source attested, “was a very good teacher” – and one of the last native-English speakers to leave the school.

“There were problems in the contract that worked to the advantage of the school,” Campbell says, “such as clauses that said in the event of any contention between staff and the employer, the employer’s opinion counted. Anyone who could read English would understand the contract was untenable.”

Campbell’s sister eventually paid for his flight out of the country.

“Why not the thief’s family?” he told Minivan News, from Thailand. “It seems I’ve made a large donation to the Maldives economy. I had to make a citizens arrest of the thief because the Hulhumale’ police couldn’t find him after six weeks of looking. I had to re-seize my property by myself because they were too busy at 6:00am in the morning to accompany me. I retrieved about 25 percent of it, but not the money stolen as well. Afterwards they were very keen to get me out of the country.”

“All the difficulties were created by the school’s refusal to pay on time, and having to stay and fight them then return and fight again, with no one holding them accountable – Maldives government departments are the worst case of ‘jobs for the boys’. It cost me more than anything, and I’m left in debt after two years.”

Minivan News reported on Lale Youth International School in May last year, after the Human Rights Commission of the Maldives (HRCM) launched an investigation into claims children were being abused.

Later that year, the Criminal Court found the former principal, Turkish national Serkan Akar, guilty of assaulting children and sentenced him to pay a Rf200 (US$14) fine.

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

After the sentencing and the release of the HRCM report, the government briefly discussed repossessing the school from the Turkish consortium.

Former Education Minister Mustafa Luthfy told Minivan News that the government eventually decided “to continue with the Turkish group, following certain amendments to the agreement and proposed changes. They brought in some changes, but they still need to do more.”
Addendum: Following publication of this article, Principal of Lale Youth International School Mehmet Akif sent Minivan News a letter in which he claimed that the school had fulfilled its contractual obligations to John Campbell. The letter has been published in accordance with the school’s right-of-reply.
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77 thoughts on “Lale English teacher resorted to begging, sleeping in fishmarket”

  1. It is exactly things like this that bring a bad image about Maldives and the current "government". Just amendments, no action. We should thank DRP for the no confidence vote against this former minister!

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  2. This is disgusting and the authorities should look into this immediately.
    Maldivians used to be a hospitable people but if this story is true, the Police, The Education Ministry and the Labour Ministry should be ashamed of themselves.
    It is time that we hold officials accountable but it seems that nothing has changed at all from the previous regime, if these things are happening still.

    Has Minivan tried to get the perspective of the Authorities on this?

    If he has been seen begging in front of IGMH and sleeping on the floor in the Fish Market, why has this story not come out sooner?

    The only one to come out of this with any credit is the Immigration Official.

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  3. sad story.
    onething seems to resonate the whole story and the story of everykind these days.-MONEY and DEBT-
    if there were a way to evolve out of money and debt, provided enough for everyone, how peaceful could the world be?

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  4. Sad to hear your story. We Maldivians really need to change the way we treat others.

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  5. If this is true.Its seems to be true too.Need to change the management of mentioned school.It should be run by the government or 100% Maldivians.We all know Turkish will be rude and those people cannot run a school in Maldives.They cannot discipline our children.If they run it what will happen is that our children will learn to do suicide crimes and they will not respect anyone including their own parents too.
    Are we having the same kind of a government that we used to have.Seems like nothing has changed much.How come we can move forward if we have issues like this? Are we taking our steps backward?
    Im so worried about this nation,day by day we are losing control of it.Criminal are running around the street,no one is willing to stop them.Corruption is so high.If anyone need something from the government side only the possibility is to have friend in one of the top position.if not it is not possible.Need to have diffident color etc...Are these the changes of promised to the public,Are these the freedom we are looking for? Are these the Islamic faith we follow? and the list goes on....
    Maldivians need to work together as a team.Im so confused of all these party system.We are so divided and nothing works properly.Shame on us.

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  6. "Maldivians used to be a hospitable"

    Please read Pyrard before generalising. This myth of the perfect past need to be smashed. In every society and every country there will be bad and good people. And in everyone there is a good and bad part.

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  7. Reesha, I have read Francois Pyrard de Laval, long before you were born and I do not have to go back in history but we were a hospitable people but if this story is true, then it is a blot on The Maldives.

    This is not just one man stealing from him but the whole system of the Government failing him.
    That is the biggest worry about this whole thing.

    I hope that Minivan can get the perspective of the respective Authorities on this story and publish their responses too.

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  8. This is a private matter between the Australian teacher and his turkish employer who happens to be an investor in Maldives.. worse things are happening to Maldivians. An isolated case of a white man's life should not be of a higher prominence

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  9. If only he had gone to a local newspaper office to tell his story. I am sure it would be published. Now of course it is too late to say 'if only'.

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  10. I feel sorry for the foreigners who come here to work. Most of the times their Human Rights are compromised to extreme lengths. The government better do something about this and issue an apology.
    How many foreigners in this country do not have enough space, food, water, jobs even. And they face violence, threats and sometimes death as well. Our constitution needs to be for humanity not just for Maldivians.

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  11. To Mr. Campbell ... I sincereley apologise and am ashamed to hear of such a story in Maldives. We are traditionally a very hospitable people, but its sad to see this kind of things happening. I am indeed very sorry for you.

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  12. How can government do something? They are always after maumoon. Anni has got a phobia.

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  13. Jeez this is rediculous. What's wrong with this world? Why do punks on the street have to betray trust just to steal clothes and surfboards... I am a former student at lale and knew Mr. Campbell personally. He did not deserve any of this.

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  14. @Manik
    you didn't read it properly. Pyraad writes how the islanders took advantage of the shipwrecked sailors. nasty barbarians. hospitable people my foot. some are good some are bad as reesha said.

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  15. The School should be taken back and overhauled. The School Management are totally incapable of teaching let alone deal with kids. Even the principal has an attitude. They cannot afford to give their students the relevant teaching materials. Besides those who have the power (like the principal) uses his position to buy their requirements from personal "contacts" or their friends. They do not want to use the Maldivian suppliers for school requirements to source the needs of the School. On top of this parents are not willing to work together with even the good teachers.
    The place is messed up and Lale falls below any acceptable niveau for a School

    On another, the Authorities should take the cases of Expatriates seriously. Incredible stories are occurring
    all the time.

    I am sorry for Campbell. Would have helped if I had known...

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  16. Jesus, I am so sorry for Mr. Campbell. Not only him but nobody deserve any kind of this.

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  17. I have one question?

    Is it that he wanted to experience this or is it that he just forgot to make one simple phone call to home and ask for help.

    I really don't see a point why he should be begging? Utterly nonsense.

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  18. These are not schools, these are organized money laundering criminal rings operating in small countries like Maldives, where there is weak law enforcement and corrupt government.The counterpart in Maldives must be an uneducated thug, who might not have even a clue, what these guys are doing. the government of Maldives has no guts to investigate anything.

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  19. Mr Campbell, you have tasted the real management of a school and its management under this MDP government. You have been lucky enough to convey your cries through MN, but there are many Maldivians too who has similar stories and the present government has done nothing to help them too. Sadly MN doesn't bother to listen to them and print their stories here as MN is an ally of MDP.

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  20. hello john, where ever u r now i'm sure u're doing alright. it was great to know ya and good times we had. Cheers. Kashif

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  21. Stupidest story I ever heard. This guy is not worth calling a teacher if he does not know where the relevent departments are and what to do. I do not want our children learning from this sort of people.

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  22. Ahmed Ashfam, at some point in life someone wants to take care of their own s***. Mr Campbell didn’t want to accrue any debts and he made the wisest decision at that point. There are some people who associate being ‘white’ with being rich. I would rather beg than accrue debts that I have no clear plan of repaying. In some of my comments on Minivan I have been insulted and told to stuff like ‘shut up your Prime Minister is a sexual offender’ or ‘go back to your Vatican….’. Fact of life is that there are people who are struggling to make ends meet in every nation of the world. There are jobless people in all countries of the world, including the very richest countries. Some of the ‘whites’ come to your country in search for a better life and are genuinely committed to earn the dollar or rufiyaa by sweating it out. Some have no ‘home’ to call because family units are not as strong as they are in Maldives. Do not believe that the West or down under is a land where honey flows free. Life is all about working for it, not expecting handouts. Mr Campbell wanted what he had worked for, and therefore rightfully deserved. I have friends who have had their unique experiences in the Maldives, close to Campbell’s. At one time a group of us had to raise funds for three stranded colleagues from Philippines who were mistreated and were thrown here and there by some officials who should have been helping out. How I met my wife, and how I ended up marrying her is one such story. She and her family helped me at the nadir of my stay in your beautiful nation. Anyway, my point is that sometimes you have to just sort your mess. That’s life.

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  23. Utterly disgusting. How could all these government institutions fail so miserably. As one person had said, all this government could care about is what Maumoon does, did or if he had some secret deals that everybody should know about. I am no DRP supporter, nor have I ever been the biggest fan of Maumoon, but MDP and their supporters seem to be obsessed.

    This is probably just ONE of the thousands of horrible stories to come out from the Maldives. Just ask any Bangladeshi's. How many, do you see sleeping on the road late at night. Just go around Male one night and you will see what I am talking about.

    This story makes me angry to an extent I cannot even describe. I am just so ashamed of our corrupt government...and even the police! All they can do is make up a volleyball team, label it the Police club, and win trophies while citizens suffer everyday.

    I am sorry to say, but the Police AND the government are failures.

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  24. This is a very interesting article. I am some one who lives in Hulhumale and know what happened to him here. His supposed friend/thief is a drug addict. Hulhumale community knows this. How come he didnt know this whne he have live here and been friends with longer than that? He was taken to the house one rainy night and the family allowed for him to stay the night but refused to let him stay longer. Why did the family refuse? Because John was liasing with a drug addit who was looked after by the family. How can a family trust a person who comes home with an addict and claims that he is penniless, and looked like one.

    Why do the family have to pay for his ticket? What did they take from him. His so called friend/thief fed him by food taken from his home, his family washed John's clothes and ironed them to keep them nicely while they were in his safe keeping. If I remember correctly he was fed by this suppose friend/thief for days before he left to Thailand. John did claim all the things from his house accept a guitar and an electric jug on 5th February early in the morning. He said those were the things missing so why is he saying he claimed 25%. He was allowed into his room to take his belongings despite the owner of the room not being present. He told the family that he had given 800 dollars to him. Qustion is why did John give him the money when he dont have any for food and rent? According to this article he never had 800 dollars to give to anyone. If he had that much why did he beg.

    Another point is that Police never went to ftiend/thief's house looking for him for 6 weeks. Because John never filed for a case. He only filed for the case on the morning when he wanted to get his stuff. That is what John told this family.

    I think if he had seeked proper help then he would have got it. He was involved with people who cant help but can have fun with him as you can see from other comments.

    I think Minivan should print things after checking on it. Why didnt you check from the thief's house. I am sure he will be happy to give the details of them. How can it be a thief when John brought the things by himself to a house to keep despite knowing that family was not happy about it.

    I am not saying injustice didnt happen with him with the School but he should understand Maldivian society too. If you do associate with a certain level of people that you will be seen as one of them and treated like that. Thus it is hard to trust someone like that.

    I dont think Maldivian offices is so hard that you cant send a letter. Maybe you might not get an answer worse come to worse. But not being able to send a letter is hard to believe.

    I just thought I should share this information to bring a different light to this stoy.

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  25. Something is wrong with this story! It doesn't make sense to me guys! This guy doesn't have any friends in Maldives? Not a single cent in his savings? What about his embassy in Colombo? Sounds like this story has been a bit exaggerated?

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  26. Can Minivan news tell the readers which month's salary was not given to Mr.Campbell?

    He had 11 month contract with school, starting in Jan 2010 and ending on 16th Nov 2010. The school has paid him salary for Jan, Feb, March, April, May, June, July, Aug, Sept, Oct, Nov.

    Although the contract ended on 16th Nov, the school paid him full month salary for Nov, issued return ticket to Australia on 7th Nov, which he later refunded and used money and which is why he was stuck here.

    Moreover, he left Maldives on 2nd december and school cancelled his employment approval on 5th Dec and later he illigally entered Maldives.

    He was demanding for Dec 2010. How can school pay December salary when is contract was over by Nov 16th?

    He went to labour ministry, they explained him very well what his rights are, and what school should be giving him. They told him that even school need not give him Full Nov Salary.

    The real story is that since lale contract was over he arrange with somone(stealer) to conduct some boat building courses in maldives. After leaving Maldives on 2nd december he return to Maldives but could not proceed with this project and he had problems with (stealer).

    He was not begging when he was working for Lale'. When his contract was over the school issued ticket and he went. After that he came to Maldives for his own purpose. Why would the school be responsible for his actions? The school was in contact with Labour Ministry, Australian Embasy and Immigration on this matter. No sensible person will blame the school on this case. He told school staff that he was on Tourist visa.

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  27. Yeah. We are upholding our religious belief.Point Plus.

    Probably he was a Christian, or heaven forbid, a Jew. God will not be good for him and will not save him.

    Iraadhakurevvaigen ehen evee.

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  28. The school has to take the responsibility. I dont think any letter would be kept unanswered by the Education Ministry, cause they are not only handling just one teacher. They are doing much better than we expect. Doing good for the nation our children and future.I thank the Ministry specially Dr. Musthafa and the Present Minister Shifa.
    Kameh vaa irah Ministerunnaa dhimaalah halheey levvun ei mikamuge hallenun. Ministry kandaalhaafa zimmaatha havvaalukoffa, mussara dehvey thanthan mi school thakaky, ethaagai muazzafun thibeyne. keeyvetho mimiihunge masooliath rangalhah adhaa nukureven vi..
    Hama ekani eh side ehumaki ves rangalhu gotheh noon, school geisverin mikamaa bunanee kikey tho, konme dhon mie haky rangalhu mihetho? Mihaaru huri kaakuba Principal akah? kuri principle mige 6 mas kurin fonuvaali, dhen mihaaruhuri Principal ves neyngetha? Mi John aki kihaa varegge mei hehkan egen vaasne, minage recordeh ves onnaneennu?

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  29. tragic. system failure.also tells a little something about what we, as a people, are becoming.

    "Unwilling to exploit the hospitality of his hosts at a local guest house without being able to pay them back, he moved onto the streets." <<< my respect for this guy!

    also,there are southasian migrant workers living in worse conditions. and i dont see any immigration officer who will ever help them out. or maybe they dont want to be helped and deported. their conditions will be worse for several reasons, including language barrier, illiteracy, and racism in this country.

    and i suspect this whole LALE things is a case of political black mailing. not by a sixteen year old, but the people in power. there are a LOT of "keyo" behind this "bithufangi". now only if we could lift this and see. negligence and corruption!

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  30. OK, the Maldives' system has failed him. But could he not really approach his HC in Colombo before he had to resort to begging? Did he think begging is less shameful than taking a loan?

    This is one the examples of bad journalism since JJ took up the job, as there was no effort on JJ's part to scrutinise this bloke.

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  31. 1. Shock to read that the school is still running!! The school must have support from some high level Gov officials? Pretty amazing that a money laundering company is not being charge!

    2. Maldives is still a friendly and hospitable country compare to many South Asia countries. But the sad truth is that Maldives is also famous for mistreating foreign labors and cheating foreigners.

    One man once told a Sri Lankan business partner that in full honesty he couldn't recommend any of his country man to him for business dealing (including himself)
    simply because there is nobody that can be trusted. Surely, you Maldivian will not agree with it. Can your try to think of just 1 person you can truly trust and put your money with? You are lying to yourself if you say yes. This unethical culture is common throughout the country, why?

    Mr. Campell, you should read the history of the country before you come. You are much lucky than another foreigner Richard who was put inside prison for 15 years for no crime committed.

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  32. Dear Minivan News, where is your sense of responsible journalism here? I would also like to know where Minivan News stands on earning its authority and respect through fairness, objectivity and sound investigative procedures and judgements. For a small country that is undergoing far more than its fair share of issues and problems, what is your objective in running this article? You bring shame to journalism. Please, as a fellow journalist and Maldivian who practices journalism abroad,I appeal to you to practice Minivan journalism, not skewed journalism.

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  33. I know Mr. John very well. He has mislead the writer. His intention was to mislead the parent and wanted to give a bad name to the school. I also think JJ Robinson wants to make sure Laale gets a bad name. ---Some one who knows JOHN.

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  34. As a person who knows campbell and Lale and this issue i just want to highlight the following points.
    1. There is no specific details regarding which months salary has not been given.
    2.I know that 2 officials from australian embassy located in colombo visited maldives regarding this case. they did took information from school as well as other departments. Why did the australian embassy did not ask the school to pay him as per his demands. Why did the family of campbell being asked to pay for his ticket by the embassy. Is that the australian embassy is also corrupted???
    3.If mr.campbell is so called " very good Teacher" why the school did not extend his contract while he was pleading for it.
    4. I request mr. jj robinson to ask mr. campbell when did and why the school has changed his contract and others. This information is available even with labour ministry.
    5. At last i want to tell u that NO institution can pay money as per the demands of people based on NOTHING. The school has done best for him. But today he is trying to destroy the school. As mr. campbell and JJ robinson are Jews they will not be happy to see a muslim international growing in this country.

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  35. its sad that it happened to john campbell. but first things first, john campbell is a kafir!!!

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  36. This persons contract has been over by 16th November 2010. After his departure from maldives, the schools responsibility must be over. You cant take responsibility of your former employees. And i request mr. JJ to change this heading. you cant claim saying still he is a teacher of lale.

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  37. This story actually has nothing to do with Lale although headline comes in the name of Lale. Minivan news regularly targets lale for obvious reasons which the Maldivian general public does not realize. let me high lights some of the facts of this case;

    - Mr. Campbell was NOT lale teacher when he begged or when he slep in fish market. Instead he was a former employee.
    - Mr. Campbell had 11 month contract with school which ended nov 2010. The school has paid him for every single month during his contract.
    - The school gave him return ticket to Australia, after completion of contract.
    - Mr. Campbell went to Thiland instead of Australia on 2nd Dec 2010.
    - The school cancelled his employment approval from labour ministry as he left Maldives on 2nd Dec 2010.
    - Mr. Campbell return to Maldives from Thiland todwards the end of Dec 2010 and refunded the ticket the school has given to him to go Australia. And he told he was on Tourist Visa.
    - Mr. Campbell demanded for Dec 2010 salary from School. School refused because his contract was over by Nov 16th and there was no new contract. Infact Mr. Campbell did not apply to renew contract when it was announce to staff.
    - Mr. Campbell was allowed to Maldives [probably by mistake from immigration] as a worker, although the school has cancelled employment approval, which is requirment for a work visa.
    - The school was in contact with Labour Ministry, Australian Embassy, Immigration, Maldives Police Service regarding the matter.
    - The Authorities did not find any failings on the part of school.
    - Mr. Campbell did not inform the school anything about his return to Maldives and he was in the country for his own reasons and nothing to do with the school.
    - The contract the school had with Mr. Campbell has got approval from Labour Ministry.

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  38. Mr Campbell actually tried to build a boat in the premises of Lale Youth Int'l School using fiberglass which indeed shall not be allowed....But he was given permission to build the boat using fiberglass materials which is health hazardous (in a school environment)...

    But a sensitive guy from Hulhumale' emailed and also talked to Dr Mustafa Luthfy, Dr Nazeer and Ms Shifa (now Minister of Education)regarding this issue and Education Ministry through HDC tried to stop it but the Principal Serkan (Turkish) told "we are paying money and the Ministry has nothing to do with such things done in the school premises"

    If Mr Campbell was begging in Maldives, that must be after he was doing this with the help of Turkish management

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  39. I got this version from a Lale teacher.

    Lale has signed the contract with him before he started work, which they changed after saying that the new amendment were made for all which says that instead of paying the two months salary (Nov/Dec) upfront as was initially agreed and signed, they would now make it after the two months to which he refused. He is right since an agreement signed can only be changed with mutual consent of both parties and not only when Lale sees it fit.

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  40. MDP government claims there are democratic, the right of weak is left by this government. its not only the Lale school even the Sri Edu Manged Giyasudeen International school is run by the same way. citizen of maldives are misguided that they are running privately, infact government allocate the public funds to the Giyasudeen International School. this government is so corrupted.

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  41. Mr. Campbell is not a proper teacher. He was building a boat and in class he was showing films to us. When the new management took over last year July they found all. First they asked him to remove his boat from school premises. Second they observed his classes and Principal and deputy principal asked him not to show certain vedios to us. He was a english teacher. But showed thai movies to us.

    Earlier this guy comes to school in short and T shirt. But new management even stopped this. This guy does not believe any religion. He beleives logic. He told us there is no reason to beleive any religion as there is no god.

    This guy has told us that after his departure he will destroy the name of the school as deputy principal has rejected his request for the extension of contract.

    It is sad some body was begging. But i'm happy atleat this guy is away from us. He maild so many stuffs to me asking to distribute in the campus. And i gave some of them to the management.

    We are happy the school has brought much much better teachers from south Africa and ireland. And now things are very good. As there are more maldivians and so many excellent teachers the school looks like a complete new school. The school is managed by very good maldivian who listens our voice and trying to do his best to us. Mr. Campbell good luck for u. We dont want you back to maldives.
    Thanks.

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  42. How would you expect a foreigner to get justice in this country when locals don't see anything like justice here.

    Things are going from bad to worse. Politicians are blaming each other for the mess. Those sitting in the seats of power, like MPs, Judges, ministers etc continue to receive fat salaries whilst the affairs of the country are going down the drain.

    Mr Campbell; this is how it's in the Third World; really sorry this happened to you.

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  43. I am disgusted but not surprised. The fate of some construction workers is even worse. It is a deficiency in the system. People do not pay their staff or contractors or even sub-contractors. Sadly it is the practice of the Government too. It is impossible to recover money owed through the system.

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  44. Sorry about your salary, buddy. It was eaten up by the parliament - they wanted another raise, eh.

    Oh, and the dude who turned Maldivians into drug-hungry psychopaths just did a houndini after the Singaporean Police started a manhunt for him.

    Hope you get back to your turf soon.

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  45. Mr Ahmed Bin Addu Bin Suvadheeb,

    I agree with your comment with a slight addition, like some MPs, some Judges and some Ministers and authorities like NSPA Head Ali Waheed are simply working for their FAT Income but not for the people or for the country....This is the real PROBLEM the country is facing in this early stage of our DEMOCRACY...

    After all, I thank President Nasheed for his valuable efforts and his courageous shown to the people with the BIG and HUGE CHALLENGES and of-course working together with the very old and TOO MUCH SMART CRONIES of the 30 year old DICTATORSHIP

    Wassalaam

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