“You are swine” and “the children that you bear from this marriage will all be bastard swine,” a tourist couple renewing their marriage vows in the Maldives were told in a ‘traditional Maldivian’ ceremony conducted in Dhivehi at Vilu Reef Beach and Spa Resort.
“Your marriage is not a valid one. You are not the kind of people who can have a valid marriage. One of you is an infidel. The other, too, is an infidel – and we have reason to believe –an atheist, who does not even believe in an infidel religion,” the ‘celebrant’ tells the couple, who appear completely unaware of the humiliation they are being subjected to.
A 15-minute video of the ceremony was uploaded on YouTube on October 24 2010 by a member of staff. Vilu Reef Manager Mohamed Rasheed told Minivan News that the staff member who uploaded the video did it as “a joke”, without “realising the seriousness of the potential consequences”.
Vilu Reef Beach and Spa Resort advertises itself as a place where couples can renew their wedding vows “hand in hand against a golden sunset backdrop” and where their “everlasting love” can be sealed by a “kaleidoscope of romantic hues” that covers the sky during the sunset.
In the video the ‘celebrant’ briefs the couple in English, prior to the ceremony, that it will be conducted according to “not only Maldivian” but also “Arabic and Islamic” norms.
Two wedding rings inside an open coconut, which appears to be lined with mother of pearl, are in front of the couple along with two fresh coconuts. The couple seem dressed for the ceremony, the woman in white as favoured by Western brides.
“Don’t look at her chest”, a man – possibly the videographer – is heard saying as the woman leans over to take a sip from the coconut. She adjusts her neckline.
Men, about ten or more, surround the area both outside and inside the palm fronds, which appears to be a make-shift wedding venue.
The celebrant twirls his thumbs over a piece of paper that he appears to be studying with deep concentration. A male voice asks him if the document is “something new”. He replies that it is “the seventh Article of the Penal Code”.
The document, of which there is a brief close-up in the video, has absolutely no relation to marriage laws in the Maldives. Words that are legible on the document refer to “staff employment”, suggesting that it is a document relating to employment regulations.
Asking the couple and other ‘officials’ to raise their hands as is customary for Muslim prayers, the ‘celebrant’ begins his marriage vows.
“Fornication has been legalised according to Article six, 1.11 of the Penal Code”, he chants in a tone favoured by religious scholars. “That is, frequent fornication by homosexuals. Most fornication is by males,” he continues.
“Research has shown that men have a higher sex drive than women,” he says. “According to Article 8 to 6 of the Penal Code, converting to Islam, or circumcision, is not desirable under any circumstances.
“Germs of anger and hatred will breed and drip from the tips of your penises,” he says.
The ‘celebrant’ then switches from his improvised “Islamic and Maldivian marriage laws” to reading aloud from the document in front of him in the same ‘religious’ tone. This time, what he chants to the couple is to do with terms of employment.
When he returns to the ‘marriage vows’, he refers to certain Articles of the Constitution and combines ‘Section e” and “Section f” to create the word “balhu”, which in Dhivehi means “swine”. ‘E’ in Dhivehi is the letter ‘baa’ and ‘F’ the letter ‘lhaviyani’.
The ‘celebrant’ mixes the two letters to make the word ‘balhu’, the full version of which, as used by the ‘celebrant’, is ‘nagoo balhu’. The literal translation of the term is ‘crooked tail’, believed to refer to a pig’s tail, and is considered to be one of the worst insults in the Dhivehi language.
“You are swine according to the Constitution,” he declares, solemnly.
He then asks the couple to stand up and hold hands. The ‘officials’, too, stand up and place their hands on the couples’. They form a séance-like circle and the ‘celebrant’ begins chanting.
“Aleelaan, baleelaan…”, he begins. What he is chanting is not a verse from the Qur’an, or marriage vows in Dhivehi, but are the words of a popular Dhivehi children’s game.
Words of the game, too, are changed to say “black swine” instead of what is contained in the original.
“Before buggering a chicken, check if the hole is clean. That is because the people of the countries that you are from are familiar with the taste of the ****holes of chicken,” he chants, still with hands held over the couples’.
“Do not treat with kindness people against whom violence is being committed. Commit more violence against victims of violence. You are not people who have been sent to this world to commit violence.”
He then returns to the matter of staff salaries, which he continues to chant in the same tone as he had done the insults. “Do not complain too much about salaries, or matters regarding salaries. That is against the Penal Code. This is not something I am saying for your benefit – it is a law that we have made.”
He begins to chant loudly about “black swine”, stringing insult after insult and delivering it in the same rather ominous tone that Maldivian religious figures choose to deliver their sermons in.
“You fornicate and make a lot of children. You drink and you eat pork. Most of the children that you have are marked with spots and blemishes… these children that you have are bastards,” he continues solemnly.
Someone else is heard at this point to tell the ‘celebrant’ to “say a little bit more, and then quit.”
The concluding chant is delivered in a gentler, softer voice: “Keep fornicating frequently, and keep spreading hatred among people. The children you will have from this marriage will all be bastard swine.”
While the couple are putting rings on each other’s fingers, someone is heard saying that the recording should stop. “Don’t you worry about it,” says someone else, and the recording continues.
“Aren’t they going to suck mouth?” someone is heard asking. “Make them suck mouth”, it is urged. ‘Sucking mouth’ is a term used by Maldivians to denigrate the act of kissing.
“So now, in Maldivian law, in Islam, you are already married”, says the ‘celebrant’, returning to English. The hapless couple are then told to relax and enjoy the celebrations that are to follow, by the end of which a certificate of their nuptials will be ready for them.
Once the ceremony is concluded, the celebrant, who is dressed in a shirt and tie – with the shirt left to hang loose over a traditional Maldivian sarong – swaggers out of the makeshift wedding venue – tugging at his tie and proclaiming himself “President of the Maldives Mohamed Nasheed.”
The celebrant, Vilu Reef Manager Rasheed told Minivan News, is an assistant Food and Beverage Manager named Hussein Didi. As he leaves the wedding venue having concluded his job, someone announces his presence, as “Ghaazee Hussein Didi”.
A Ghaazee is the Arabic name for a judge or magistrate, also adopted to mean the same in Dhivehi.
People clap loudly as the couple, whose marriage vows have just been mocked in some of the filthiest language known to Dhivehi, are videoed making their way to the next part of their ceremony – the planting of a coconut tree to mark the occasion.
Various types of insults about the woman and the man, their clothing and demeanour, are being spoken throughout in the form of a running commentary in a sports video.
As the bride bends down to plant the coconut tree, a man is heard is exclaiming, “Can see her breasts!” The ‘commentator’ observes, “She is wearing something”, he knows, he says, “because my beard has gone grey watching those things… I have seen so many of them now that I don’t even want to look any more when I see them.”
The groom, who is watering the new coconut tree which they have just planted, is totally unaware of the manner in which his wife and her breasts are being discussed by the group of Maldivian men ‘officiating’ at the renewal of their wedding vows.
‘Celebrant’ Didi tells the couple they should return soon to check on the progress of their plant, testament to what had taken place on the island that day.
The video concludes with the ‘commentator’ repeatedly urging the ‘celebrant’ to make the couple ‘suck mouths, suck mouths’.
The resort’s Manager Rasheed was unable to tell Minivan News how much the occasion had cost the couple or where they were from.
Asked if the couple had been made aware of the nature of the ‘wedding vows’ they had taken, Rasheed said they had been sent pictures but not the video.
“Our package includes sending them pictures on the CD the very same night”, he said. Rasheed added that the resort does not have a written ‘khuthuba’ or sermon from which to read, nor is the role of the celebrant undertaken by a designated person.
“It is done on a rotating basis. We have been doing it for ten years now, and from a very small start, it has grown into a very successful part of what we offer at Vilu,” he said.
Rasheed said he had become aware of the nature of the ceremony conducted by Didi shortly after it happened. He had banned Didi from performing any more ceremonies, but did not feel it was necessary to take any further action, until the video appeared on YouTube.
The staff member who uploaded the video, Ali Shareef, a shop assistant, is not being disciplined or investigated further, Rasheed said. He complied with the request by the management to remove the video from YouTube.
The ‘celebrant’, Didi, however is currently under investigation by the Head Office in Male’, Sun Travel and Tours.
Minivan News has learned that the ‘wedding package’ offered by Vilu Reef Resort lasts an hour, costs US$1300 which includes the services of a ‘celebrant’, a sailing trip and Maldivian music and dancing.
The happy couple can obtain photographs of their beautiful ceremony in the Maldivian sunset on Vilu Reef Resort for an additional US$440.
CEO of Sun Travel Ahmed Shakir was unavailable for comment.
Warning: Video contains profanity
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@ibrahim kalo
Like i said before your 'idea' of 'rajjetherey' people is a relic from the past. Almost reminiscent of the caste system in India. But I feel you sincerely believe what you are preaching. Although it sounds like xenophobia to me, i do not think i am experienced enough in life convince you otherwise.
I'm almost inclined to believe that you must be royalty. I mean have some relation to the royal families of old. I'd hate to think that all Male' folk think in the same vein towards islanders.
I am certain you know better about the Maldivian culture and history. But some things that caught my attention,and i could be wrong but,
"beerattehin" is a term used by all islanders towards any immigrant from another island.
Then It was not me who said that Giraavaru people are the original settlers of male. In fact from what i know the Giraavaru islanders were resettled in Male' from Hulhule'. Specifically to the reclaimed western side of Male', roughly along the 'kanbaaisaarani hingun'. And they have more or less maintained their island culture,in form of their mannerism, accent of talking etc. And it doesn't mean that they are in anyway inferior to us. You can even see it in the youth of Giraavaru people, who are close friends of mine.
Mr. Shiyam you are abusing what god has blessed you with. 3 days back, the parliament wad discussing the rights of women and children, while you were divorcing and throwing away your wives out of your house, to accommodate a brand new one less than half your age, and while your managers were abusing foreigners and risking the tourism industry of this nation to make more money for you. You will pay for this some day.
Assalam Alaikum,
This is really horrible and unacceptable! i have read some comments and i want to comment as an ex-butler and tourism worker for a decade! its really sad, these things happen cox of wrong eduction and due to lack of descipline. I have seen some weddings, organised some weddings and involved in them, and never seen something so wasteful than this. but time to time in resorts you will find some staff speaking in local languages against the guests due to work pressure and i knew one day it will be known to public. those who say this is islam, its wrong this itself against islam, islam teaches to treat guests kindly if we are believers! the balhu is dog, not swine and i found that the style of article has a hidden aganda. be it demolishing our tourism or maldivian or its beliefs and make maldives out of 7 wonders. the people who harrassed this couple shud face the severest punishment by law and couple shud be compensated and shud offer them a service recovery! theres no need of spreading hatred anymore! Inshallah may Allah guide us to the true path
This item is now in The Daily Mail today, a fair and even report (mostly) and readers comments are evenly divided between those who are offended, and those who believe the tourists brought this on themselves by participating in a ceremony they could not understand. The storm will pass, for me The Maldives will always be THE best place in the world!
Beyond belief the mentality of our fellow Maldivians. But this sort of acts now doesn't surprise me at all by the way our culture is changing from a civilized society to a mockery society. The whole Maldives is getting sucked into bad politics, unruly and a society with no discipline - if you really look at what happening to us - it is quite comical - we may end up a in a comedy show- not bad. Anyway let this be another lesson learned...
As a Maldian living abroad who has watched that, I have to say that was absolutely disgusting. Made me sick in my stomach. Horrifying to watch really. That makes a mockery of the whole nation and Islam as a religion.
Is that really how you treat another human being?. Is that really how Islam teaches you to welcome a guest? How can these people even consider themselves as Muslims?
This news is all over the place. Check out Google news and its spreading like wildfire at the moment and I'm sure it'll be on the front pages of every travel related website. This will damage the tourism industry of Maldives much more than that Tsunami did. Say goodbye to the new seven wonders thing. We don't really deserve that if this is what we've become.
I for one hope the 'people' who are are responsible for this gets hit with the harshest punishment legally possible under law.
The couple should also sue the resort for every penny it has, because their faces are all over the internet and they will be mocked for the rest of their lives because of these bunch of retards.
men without beard brings nation to the shame, state terrorrism by maldivian beard shavers
http://www.villimale.com/?p=820
attn: minivan news, your freedom allows you post articles but wheres my freedom of commenting, u havent uploaded my comment so far!
Whats the big fuss? Don't you understand that this is what all Muslims think about non-Muslims. Just ask a Chinese living in Malasia or a Hindu living in a Muslim area in India. Just because this involves a European Christian you get all upset.
Welcome to the "real-world" Global Ways of ALL Muslim true-believers!
Don't be alarmed, be alert! Most Muslims are fortunately decent humanistic non-believers, about 50% methinks.
Maldivesresortworkers please grow up a bit and stop trying to justify this behaviour. Show some respect for other people and for yourself.
There is clearly nothing funny about this video, it's just nasty and childish. I feel sorry for the couple but I feel sorry for Maldivians too - this shows them in a bad light and we must remember not to judge all the same simply because of the pathetic act of some idiots.
There are plenty of bad apples in every country, sadly.
Don't balme it all on me. Don't say that I did not do enough to develop a respectful society in Maldives.
Don't say that I didn't educate the people. I've built school.
However, people may say these schools were with low quality school systems, low quality syllabus, low quality teachers - most who're drop-outs from the school. Also people may say there is not a single university in the country after I've reigned in power for 30 long years. Yes, true. I was going to build one this year but the people wanted to elect Mohamed Nasheed (oh, how much I hate that little guy.....#%^&).
So please elect me or Yamin again in 2013. You need a good leader. A leader who studied in an Arab country. Not a leader who studied in the UK.
I will make sure these things are totalls erased from the face of Maldivian lands when I or my party people get back to power. Just imagine how smoothly we were running the country before.
Speaking as a maldivian,Im ashamed today that i even belong here having to see such low class acts.they wanted a traditional maldivian wedding.They had such respect for our tradition, and this is how these scumbags return the favour.Personally, I want to apologize
for the Beautiful couple. Its shameful, and these retards need a good lesson.
Also if anyone of us get elected again, we will install the hatred to other religion like we've always been doing. We can't let the current president make friendly agreements with Chrisitian USA and Jew Isreil. We will only promote ISLAM with zero tolerance towards other religions. This is proven with all the debates from our guys so far. Be it parliament or TV or anything else.
Gay-yoom
(yes, the wannabe president again)
Disgusting. And to think these ppl were even HIRED for the job. These guests pay thousands to be here and ENJOY their stay. Not be humiliated infront of everyone.
Tourism is the main source on income for Maldives. Now that you've destroyed that, What do you suggest now, You good for nothing fools? Thanks alot. Thanks for humiliating Maldivians.
Seriously, how jobless CAN you get?
& to the couple, Im sorry.On behalf of ALL maldivians. Excluding those fools ofcourse. For us, they arent maldivian anymore.
Just started my car to speed up global warming and rising of current sea level. www.wikipedia.org: "With an average ground level of 1.5 metres (4 ft 11 in) above sea level, The Maldives is the lowest country on the planet.[8] It is also the country with the lowest highest point in the world, at 2.3 metres (7 ft 7 in)"
This news is making big rounds in Switzerland. Most Swiss, and I myself, are disgusted. Many have voted to not visit the Maldives again due to having perceived this incident as an apparent hostile Muslim stance against Western tourists.
Based on the comments here I'm glad to see many good reactions from other Maldivians concerning this insult. But the damage has already been done.
Is it just me who thinks this is hilarious?
Some idiot couple with more money than sense, spending who knows how much money to go abroad to get married, despite having no knowledge of Maldives culture or language (evidently), presumably just to show off to everyone how wealthy they are, and they get made to look fools by the locals. Fantastic!
Why wouldn't they want their friends and family to be at their wedding, as would have been the case if they had got married at home - or are they too rich and self-absorbed to have any friends?
We will have the last laugh because you know what hurts you most is that we will just stop coming to your shitty so called paradise. See how you feel when your wallet is empty . If i behaved like that in the United Kingdom i would be charged, tried and prpbably fined or sent to prison. Shame on you, shame on you, shame on you !
I am ashamed that this could happen on such luxury Islands that try to sell themselves as very serious Hoteliers etc. But I must say that this cannot be the same opinion towards the rest of the Maldivians. I lived there during 83 - 85 and had the pleasure and priviledge to meet many a educated and disciplined Maldivian.
I think this is the act of some ignorant Maldivian Resort owner who has the support directly or indirectly of the present government to behave in this manner. In the Maldives, just like any part of the world, if you have connections to the Government you could do just about anything. I am saying this with experience.
I have taken Alchohol in the capital city of Maldives along with members of high class families of Male who own more than 5 of the biggest resorts.
I hold the owners and the managers of the resort responsible for this behaviour.
I have a friend from Maldive. Couple of years back he said that the Arabs and Pakistanis have changed the Maldivian Culture and people of Maldive look at Westerners or even Indians (who are not Muslims) are infidels and pigs. There were sermons in some mosques in Maldive, which preach hatred against non-Muslims. He showed me some videos, translated to Maldivian Language. Culturally Maldive is moving towards more intolerant Wahabi Islam. So this news is not surprised me at all.
My friend also said that, there were hidden cameras which shoot intimate scenes of couple who come to Maldives to enjoy the serene nature. Most of these videos smuggled into Dubai and from there it is distributed around the Middle Eastern countries.
i dont see something wrong with that. it's a funny ceremony at all. that must be fun
this is so disgusting, I have been to the Maldives for the last 7 years, and due to book for Feb 11, seriously considering not going now, I really hope that every member of staff in this chirade has been sacked and not employed elsewhere, I hope that the Vilu Reef Beach and Spa Resort reimburses the couple completely for thier ruined holiday and confirms that this has been done to the world's media.
I for one will never visit Vilu Reef Beach and Spa Resort and as said before, seriously considering not going to the Maldives again - I am so upset by this.
Greetings from Europe!
Seems like The Maldives just got to my no-list. No reason to travel there anymore.
If I´m not welcome to any muslim countries, even if I would respect their own traditions, then I´ll just let them play among each others. I can definitely spend all my money somewhere else. And I will, thanks to the social media!
Let them be proud and poor from this on!
What a shame! I had just started planning a trip to the Maldives with a group of friends. Your beaches are so very beautiful. But your people? This video is so painfully, deeply revealing that I am speechless. Everyone present – and there are men standing behind the palm fronds listening – everyone is colluding with this ugliness; everyone is in on it. And it may seem funny to their juvenile minds, but deep down it shows such gross hatred... and here it isn't hatred of a big amorphous country like the USA, which we've come to expect from Islamic communities, here it's hatred of two young people wishing to affirm their love. It's hatred of love itself, basically – probably a deep envy of the joy love brings, manifesting in this vile repressed sexuality of the so-called "celebrant". Celebrant? Nothing celebrating about him and his twisted mind – pure unadulterated ugliness, I'd say. A holiday in the Maldives? Forget it.
No point debating the issue - you may as well make plans to quit the islands now. It's over for the Maldives.
Concerning the 'valiant' efforts of maldivesresortworker's attempts at "damage control"...
"Damage control", huh.
Damage control for what? The damage that will be caused by their bullshit?. I say it's more like a lame attempt to reduce the glaring implications of their crime.
A "joke" he says. I dunno, but I don't think a lot of people found this funny at all.
That's what a fellow criminal would be doing. Trying to downplay the crimes of his fellow criminals.
With that out of the way...
"GUYS, I POSTED THIS WORLDWIDE. WAT DO."
I think this story just shows shallowness on both sides. First of all, I would never get married in a language I couldn't understand. What's the point of that? Secondly, it may be the Maldives, and we're supposed to think "ooh, what a beautiful, exotic place", but it's only exotic to us, not to the people who live there.
And anyway, how "beautiful and exotic" is it to get married in a little shack made of leaves, with traffic roaring past, with people milling around outside, with the "celebrants" in t-shirts? "Cheap and tacky" doesn't begin to cover it. If this is the Maldives' main industry, that's a sad state of affairs.
Of course, the trickery is despicable too, and one thing that worries me is that the "celebrant" probably meant the curses to have some effect. It's been said here that this was all just a "joke" - but I'm not so sure. Anyway, yes it was disgusting and childish of them. But - what this shows is ignorance and gullibility on the side of the Westerners, who have been sold this ridiculous image of a "tropical paradise", and the cynicism and disrespect beyond belief on the part of the "celebrants".
I also want to note this: Maldivians are supposedly very angry about this, according to what I've read. And why are they angry? Because they are afraid of losing income. In other words, it's all about money. Not about understanding between peoples. Not about hospitality and friendship. Only about money.
Each side is as bad as the other. This is a dispiriting story, and it certainly doesn't make me want to come to the Maldives.
The answer here is simple, and would be the case here anyway. When/if we come to renewing our vows or celebrating so many years of marriage we'd do it in our local community in English.
Minivan is claiming that the messenger has being shot. That minivan is attacked for reporting this issue. But is it not the whole country that is suffering? Read the post just a few lines above this. The message is clear. The damage is already done. Done to whom? To the country, a whole lot of people like us. We have families to feed, parents to care and jobs to attend to. But if the tourists boycott this country then where is the wisdom of the delivered message?
Now, to be fair to Minivan , Minivan is actually doing a lot of good journalism, but being the messenger is also a responsibility. The messenger is responsible for delivering a safe message the recipient can read. That's why they screen letters and packages at post office. They make sure that terrorists do not lace letters with anthrax bacteria or post paper bombs...
In this case, the original writer of the article could have used appropriate wording and theme to do a balanced review of the situation rather than write a highly inflammatory expos'e which got everyone worked up. So this is not about Minivan reporting the issue but how the issue is reported.
I have visisted the Maldives many times, several times to the capital Male. I have ALWAYS respected the fact that this is a Muslim country and I behave accordingly. As a guest I expect polite treatment, I am polite as a matter of course.
This will affect the tourist business, and it will affect Maldivians if tourism drops, there are many other countries in the world as beautiful as your country that people can visit.
This sort of thing will give you and your religion a bad name.
Obedience to God and respect for humanity is written in the Koran, has the celebrant and the other people who understood what was said at the 'ceremony' forgotten this?
We need more harmony in the world not less.
I do not want to visit other countries - especially Muslim ones whilst wondering if I am being blatantly insulted.
This is not funny, if the situation were reversed Muslims worldwide would show their disgust.
Sad and childish your country needs tourism, tourists can go elsewhere to be insulted, many now will.
I guess this has made my mind up for me. I will be not having my honeymoon in the
Maldives as planned. Sad to say...but this does not put the Maldives in a good light.
Nature will take care of this problem, a tsunami will clean the island from its inhabiting arrogant plague. What these Maldivians did to their guests is an insult that is unforgivable. Many Swiss citizens went to that place thinking about it as a paradise worth visiting, paying good money to those that are keepers of this beautiful place, for them to prosper. But these times are over now - spread the word about the infection, it is probably contagious.
Never going to your country, ever. Never to spend my money there. Hope your joke was as enjoyable to you as watching your downfall will be for me.
well, I am not amused
If I were this man that was so insulted along with his wife, I would pay another $1400 to fly down there, find this guy that performed the "ceremony" and shoot him in the head with my .45 pistol while out on a long "cruise" in the open water! His body would never be found!
I sent my son and daughter in law to the Maldives for their honeymoon.
Their wedding was in England, in English.
They had a wonderful time and were very glad to meet so many local people. Towards the end of their honeymoon, my son broke his leg whilst playing football on the beach with the staff!
Everyone was lovely to them, they had a fabulous experience, and they can't wait to come back again.
Well done Minivan News for reporting this, well done to all of you who condemn the abuse of anyone, regardless of their race or religion.
I hope that you can deal properly with the people amongst you who have offended you, and I wish all Maldivians
Love and Peace.
suntravel siyam? vilu reef? his staff? God! the place is worse than this!
My friends and me are shure: Never come back to Maldives.
If there is hate about the tourists, paying a lot of money for all and everything, much more as usual in the rest of the world, so we look for new destinations for scuba diving, where we all are really welcome.
What is funny are the comments that are belittling this incident. Did you know that tourism is your #1 industry? From Wikipedia:
"Today, the Maldives' largest industry is tourism, accounting for 28% of GDP and more than 60% of the Maldives' foreign exchange receipts."
Whether or not you like Americans or tourists in general...take them away and you might as well become Haiti. Good luck replacing 28% of your GDP!
A country is defined by it's people. I will never come.
Yeah - even down in Germany we got this story. What we definitely conlude ist:
Never travel to the maledives.
As the manager and all the people around this "ceremony" seem to know the "procedure", this sheds a bright light to the attitude of muslim hosts towards their guests.
Never.
Wow, so long tourist industry. It's amazing to me how many comments on here are stating that this is no big deal, all in good fun, etc. (see maldivesresortworkers comments). I strongly suspect you don't realize just how widely this story has spread, and how completely unappealing this makes tourism in the Maldives appear. Do you spit in people's food as well? I understand that it is hard work serving people in a resort- the good news is that you're going to get a chance to try out some other sort of industry, as tourism is going to collapse.
This is genuinely a good piece of journalism, exposing a disgusting practice. Kudos for having the courage to run it. People shouldn't shoot the messenger.
For those locals who think this is a bit of a laugh, or blown out of proportion - do you have ANY idea how many places a Westerner has to choose from to spend their tourist dollar? When you're deciding between Tahiti, Bora Bora, Maldives, Fiji, Cancun, Phuket, Sharm el-Sheikh and about a hundred others, which one do you think will be crossed off the list first? The Maldives could have the best diving in the world, and it just wouldn't matter - second best without the abuse will do just fine. You may be good, but you're not THAT good.
I hope the people involved have no trouble looking you in the eye while explaining why you've lost your jobs. Look at how fast people deserted Bali after the bombings, through no fault of the locals. I hope you still have your fish-hooks handy...
This story is now running all over the world, on every news service. There's a lot of mileage in a story involving Muslims hating Westerners. There will be a lot of people going through their holiday videos this week, and calling their lawyers. By the time this is over, the owners might as well have just signed the island over to these people. It'll take a lot more than a refund. Multiply that by how many times this has happened, and you get the idea.
To the good, decent people of the Maldives (and there seem to be a lot in this thread), I'm deeply, truly sorry for what is coming your way thanks to these people.
What's the big deal? It's just like those stupid girls who get tattoos in Chinese that say things like "I'm a stupid whore who can't read Chinese."
You can never get all the facts from just one newspaper, and unless you have all the facts, you cannot make proper judgments about what is going on so by giving us the opinions of the uneducated, [journalism] keeps us in touch with the ignorance of the community.
Shame on YOU! WHO? corrupted news papers? useless politics? worthless education? half-practiced religion? US, the sunny side of life or the uncivilized side of the world??
Such a shame. I visited Lohifushi with my wife in 2004 and felt privileged to enjoy the incredible beauty of your islands and the apparently 'sincere' hospitality of the staff at the hotel.
An incident like this is enough for me to question my experience and also to say I would never return.
What saddens me is the shocking level of intolerance. To all the people leaving comments along the lines of 'lighten up, it's just a joke': really, you think? You'd like me to make some racist, bigoted comments about Moslems here would you? Of course not, it'd be offensive and deeply wrong.
And to think they chargedf usd 1300 for this shitty ceremony, even if the cursing wasn't involved.
I feel sorry for them, but it's a bit like getting a tattoo in japanese - you better make sure first! There is a website on oriental tattoos, people check what you've got written, some poor guy had washing instructions lol
I have visited the Maldives many times including the capital Male. I realise that this is a Muslim country and I behave correctly. I respect the local people, and as a guest I expect some respect in return.
This is NOT good, the Maldives are seriously dependant upon tourism. This is one way to make people think twice about visiting your country.
The Koran says Obedience to God, and respect for humanity. Where is the respect here? Tourists can easily vote with their feet. You may not like them but they bring money into the economy that pays for education and health.
If people are not happy at being insulted then there are many other beautiful places that they can go.
If this is the impression they receive of supposed Muslim hospitality then they will spend money elsewhere.
Had the situation had been reversed and a Muslim couple been insulted then all would know about it.
Lets see if the locals are laughing at the west when their shitty islands are underwater due to global warming. I'm going to through a few more lumps of coal on the fire and i urge you all to do the same.