The Maldives Police Service have confirmed they are investigating staff at Vilu Reef Resort and Spa at the request of both the Ministry of Tourism and the resort’s operator Sun Travel and Tours, after a video of a controversial ‘renewal of vows’ ceremony was leaked to YouTube.
In the video, a Vilu Reef staff member, acting as the ‘celebrant’, unleashes a tirade of insults against the couple in Dhivehi in the solemn tone of a religious preacher, sparking both local and international outrage.
The couple, identified by the AFP as Swiss, appear oblivious to the humiliation as 10-15 resort staff look on and make disparaging comments about the couple’s appearance, and urge the celebrant to “make them suck mouth” – a Maldivian phrase to denigrate the act of kissing.
Non-Muslims are unable to be married in the Islamic country, however many resorts offer ‘traditional Maldivian’ renewal of vows ceremonies and the country is a popular destination for honeymooners.
Sun Travels and Tours issued a statement yesterday afternoon saying the corporate management of the resort was “deeply saddened by this humiliating event and expresses its serious concerns over the incident, including the content shown in the video and the unforgivable conduct displayed by the staff involved in the incident.”
“The management is in the process of contacting the two tourists who were victimised in this incident to extend sincerest apologies for this unacceptable incident. The management would offer compensation for the abuse they have suffered,” the company said.
“We sincerely apologise for the damage and serious repercussions this incident could cause to the tourism industry of the Maldives, the image of the country, the Maldivian people and their government.”
Speaking to Minivan News today, CEO of Sun Travels Ahmed Shakir confirmed that police had taken up the investigation “and the people directly responsible have been removed from the property.”
“Two employees have been removed to Male’, others have been suspended from duty and forbidden from leaving the staff area of the resort,” Shakir said. “[Staff] on the resort are being individually questioned as to how informed they were [about the incident].”
Vilu Reef Manager Mohamed Rasheed told Minivan News on October 26 that the that the staff member who uploaded the video, Ali Shareef, did so as “a joke”, without “realising the seriousness of the potential consequences”, and complied with management’s request to remove the video from YouTube.
Rasheed also said that he had become aware of the nature of the ceremony conducted by Food and Beverage Assistant Hussain Didi, and had banned Didi from performing any more ceremonies.
Shakir said today that the company was waiting on the advice of its lawyers as to whether it had grounds to take action against Shareef, and had established a proceedure for conducting the weddings and “eliminate the reading of anything in Dhivehi during the ceremony.”
Minivan News understands the company is attempting to contact the couple and explain the situation, and offer undisclosed compensation.
Shakir would not divulge the identity or nationality of the couple, “as we believe that at this stage it would do more harm than good.”
He would not comment on whether the humiliating ceremony was an isolated case or whether the behaviour had occurred before, but said the resort was “investigating”.
Police Sub-Inspector Ahmed Shiyam said the resort was cooperating fully with the police investigation.
“We are discussing with the Prosectutor General’s office as to whether there is any way those involved can be charged,’ Shiyam said.
Not uncommon
Disparaging of guests in Dhivehi by resort staff was not uncommon, claimed Vice President of the Tourism Employment Association of the Maldives, Mahrouf Zakir.
“Sadly this is very common, and not only in Vilu Reef but even in very upmarket luxury resorts,” said Zakir. “I’ve seen it happening, and not just for wedding ceremonies but birthday songs as well. It’s a stupid thing to do, I think it’s crazy.”
“I don’t think this is new – if you look at the Vilu Reef video there are 15 people standing around for the ceremony, and a lot more people in the background. The management must have been aware of it.”
Many upmarket resorts actually prohibited Maldivian staff from speaking Dhivehi in front of guests, he noted.
“I know it’s difficult to believe, but the workers don’t do this out of disrespect for the guest. They don’t think that far. I know it probably doesn’t make sense, but they just do it for fun as they know guests don’t understand the language.
“We have to raise awareness among resort workers that this is unacceptable, as well as talk to the Ministry [of Tourism]. Many resort staff come from local islands, and simply do whatever they want for a laugh.”
Deputy Minister of Tourism Ismail Yasir said the Ministry was “very concerned” about the impact the incident would have on the Maldives’ reputation, and was also investigating to determine whether the practice was common.
Despite the religious insults in the video, Yasir said he did not believe the video was evidence of rising extremism.
“I don’t think this is extremism,” he said, “just irresponsibility on behalf of the management of the resort. It has had a huge impact on our reputation, and I would like to assure people that the government is doing everything in its power to make sure this does not happen again.”
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minivannews loves this attention and will milk it for all the damage it can cause the maldives and its tourism industry. I mean, these were the same people who ran a boycott of some maldivian resorts before their party came to power in the maldives. The whole fiasco was a set up
Maybe tourists should stay away from resorts and then Maldivians will learn to treat tourists with respect. Don't they realise the proverbial killing of the goose that lays the golden eggs??
I agree with Mr. Zakir on irresponsibility of the management. As I mentioned in my comments yesterday on this issue, look deep down to find the causes, the reasons to trigger grownup staff to behave in such a manner.
Sun Travel plays a huge role in tourism and we all support the hard work of the owners. However, it is time the company and its owners and employees clean up their acts, especially in social activities that are legally prohibited and religiously unacceptable.
Hussain, an x employee of Vilu reef and wedding coordinator clearly said that this behavior is common on Vilu reef, as well as other resorts. Now, why should Hussain be held accountable or used as a scape goat?
A young artist, volunteer in all social works and a decent married guy got 10 years in jail for having one joint (cigarette made of drugs). At the same time, a drug load dealer busted with drugs and dirty money was released due to lack of evidence, but police had it all.
Three Bangladesh labourers and an Indian driver were deported after getting busted transporting alcohol for someone in powerful status who never even was touched.
A Maldivian student was recently expelled from Lale school for violence forgetting that the principal just paid a few hundreds of ruffiya as penalty for physically beating a student.
WHY DO WE HAVE TO TURN A BLIND EYE TO THE TRUTH???
I don't know who the hell Hussain Zaki and the other boys are, and i don't believe an inch that this is a natural character of these boys. I get enraged when we all jump into conclusions and safe guard a few and pretend nothing ever happened.
Once again, something wrong is going on in our resorts in regards to the staff welfare, rights and treatments they receive from the owners. And the tourism ministry and related bodies have given no damn shit about it. This is nonsense using power and police threat yet this is a straight forward case the tourism ministry should investigate.
Hahahahah, Hussain gets fired and degraded in public, Sun Travel gets a boast it really needs to curtain actual realities of its dirty deeds, the police used for cover and the truth dies.....who loses?
"Ignorance is bliss" as the old saying goes. If we were ever the subject of this kind of behaviour, we were unaware of it and enjoyed every minute of our time in a unique part of the world. The Internet has it's downside. Have the investigation and move on...
a face saving act from Minivan dhoa? lol
There is an article on child abuse arrests. It has just 8 comments for hours. Vilu reef got over 200 comments in few hours.
Did you know that five cases of alcohol were stolen from the bonded warehouse in hulhule last Friday? in the same week some people tried to take liquor out using fake documents. The police were there, made arrests and the victims released.
What a joke..A loner addu boy Hussain Zaki gets the media coverage and yet one more sensitive issue (alcohol) is going unreported. Media too is playing a game.....its time we introduce aljazeera network to get the truth
I would like to Urge the TEAM to work on the productive things like creating awareness amounsgt the resort staff on Hospitality and Behaviour than acting as the fueling source for all industrial action in resorts.
This is indeed a very unfortunate event and the reputation of entire nation has suffered as a result. A Good Lession Learned for those who take HOSPITALITY as a Joke. What we have to realise as nation is that Hospitality and Tourism is the industry which brings 40% of Our GDP Directly and 80% of the Total GDP with the subsidiary industries.
So it should be the responsibility of every citizen specially those working in resorts to protect this industry. The reality is our Tourism industry is faced by manay challanges and competion today.
Thanks Sun Travel for taking this seriously, But I would like to urge all resorts operators to be more vijilant.
This is a real shame, I've visited various resorts over the last few years as a British tourist and really don't feel that the behaviour of these staff-members can be reconciled with the friendly, well-mannered treatment that I have received as a guest in your country.
However, this is damaging and it is important now that articles like this which clearly demonstrate that such behaviour is not condoned in the Maldives are extremely important.
In my own view, I think that what these guys did was incredibly cruel and the poor unsuspecting couple, whose humiliation is now being reported to millions of readers and viewers globally, must be absolutely horrified.
However, on our last visit to one of your islands was during the World Cup in June and the resort we stayed at was screening matches on a large screen which had been specially erected in the staff quarters. Clearly, this area was normally out-of-bounds for us tourists and many of us commented on how basic the living conditions were for the staff who worked so hard for us.
I think that if you take a large population of naive young-men, squeeze them all together in cramped conditions, put them on a desert island and restrict their movements it is hardly surprising that some bad-behaviour is going to occur - perhaps there needs to be a way that these workers can let off some 'steam'.
Nonetheless, none of this would put me off visiting the country again as I know that this behaviour is only limited to a minority.
I truly hope that this whole debacle doesn't impact too seriously upon your tourism industry.
Good luck Maldives.
Where is MATI when we need them??
this is not extremism????? this is exactly what happens when government sponsored intolerance is spread by governmental arms like Islamic ministery, this kind of direspect to other faith was promoted by zakir naike and this is the result when preachers say Maldivian tourism is not allowed in real islam
@ Mohamed & Real
there is nothing to disagree from your comments. the media and the authorities definitely are digging a hole here. look at the cases of Conrad Maldives Resort completely destroying the native island Mandhoo's environment to develop its world class resort on Rangali, and the One and Only Reethi Rah..media and the govt remained silent..no concern? why this publicity for Vilu Reef incident? is this a new kind of presure at Shiyam to sign for MDP? its the sense i get from this. of course the wedding mockery should be investigated and actions should be taken but why only this time? why are you all concerned only now? where were you all (media/NGOs/Govt Agencies) when a multi million dollar project at its own liberty ripped up an island off of its natural curtain?
@Mohamed alcohol and child abuse may be your favourite topics. but it may not be the case for everyone. if you want to comment on your favourite topics nobody is stopping you from standing in the middle of Majeedhee Magu with a placard and commenting on what you like 200 times an hour.
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.
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)
EVERYONE STOP VISITING MALDIVES! LET IT SINK!
This is really a SHAME to all Maldivians. And yes of cause I agree - Minivan news loves the attention and is ruining the Maldives Tourist Industry just for the attention their gaining off this disgraceful news.
"Disparaging of guests in Dhivehi by resort staff was not uncommon, claimed Vice President of the Tourism Employment Association of the Maldives, Mahrouf Zakir."
Waaaaait a second, did I get this right? The "Vice President of the Tourism Employment Association of the Maldives" himself knew about this beforehand, and didn't even lift a finger to stop it until he had to when this video was leaked?
That's just great.[/sarcasm]
These tourist can swoop mega bucks from Sun Travel
The ACT is deplorable.
But is this a one off act with such straight faces?
The investigation should go beyond the visible into the culture of xenophobia, dehumanisation of people, and the lack of values.
That is certainly not Maldivian hospitality.
If Yasir thinks this is not a result of rising extremism in the Maldives, then he must have his head buried somewhere else.
This is either a direct or indirect result of the hatred and intolerance preached by the 'extremist' so-called religious scholars day in and day out in our schools and in our homes by our media!
Where is the religion of peace and tolerance that we knew and practiced in the Maldives up until the early '80s?
Renew your wedding vows on the beach of the tranquil island of Vilu Reef, just the two of you hand in hand against a golden sunset backdrop. As the Maldivian sunset transforms the sky into a kaleidoscope of romantic hues, seal your everlasting love. After the nuptials, sail away into the sunset in our love dhoni, your first voyage as man and wife. Afterwards, indulge in a romantic dinner under a canopy of thousand stars before retiring to your specially decorated villa
The next morning, enjoy a leisurely breakfast in bed."
So says the resort website..Sounds wondeful. Oh well. It will be the YouTube video which will cause the most damage, not much anyone can do about that now!
Bravo Minivan News for publishing this news article despite the understandable backlash from some petty influential people in the Maldives tourism industry who will protect thier interest with every means imaginable (including hiding the dirty truth about Maldives tourism).
Sorry Maldives... most people live in the 21st Century... where they respect the rights of others (including people who practice other faiths, religions, belifs etc and have different languages etc) in other words a world where human rights are respected.
So when you so naively infringe upon the rights of the "other" and do it in the most cruel way dont expect it will not come out and bite in the ass ! We live in the 21st centruy if it wasnt minivan news it will be someone else that brought the attention to this horrific incident.
I am glad that we live in a world where ugly truth about the real Maldives (a place where human rights are trampled upon on a daily basis...a place where difference and diversity of beliefs, culture, race, sexuality, opinions are still forcefully rejected by means of violence intimidation by society in general and government regualtion) could no longer be easily hidden and brushed under a mat as has happened so often in the past.
I cant wait to see the day when Maldives is singled out for what it really is "a hell / nightmare for anyone who belives in rule of law and human rights and respect for the other "
ތުނބުޅިބާލައިގެން ތިބި ބަޔަކު ދިވެހި ޓުއަރިޒަމަށް ގެއްލުންދީ އިޤްތިސާދު ބިރުވެރިކަމަށް ގެނެސް ސްޓޭޓް ޓެރެރިޒަމް ހިންގައިފި.
ދިވެހިތާރީޚްދުށް އެންމެ ގެއްލުންބޮޑު ކަމަކަށް މި ފަހުން ފާހަގަ ކުރެވިގެން މި ދިޔައީ ސަންޓްރެވަލްގެ ރިސޯޓެއްގައި ހިނގިހަޑިމުޑުދާރު ޢަމަލެވެ. މިއީ ސްޓޭޓް ޓެރެރިޒަމްގެ ގޮތުގައި ދައުލަތުން ދަޢުވާ ކުރާނެ ކަމެއްކަން ދުނިޔެ ޤަބޫލު ކުރެއެވެ. އަޅުގަނޑު މިތާނގައި ފާހަގަ ކޮށްލަން ބޭނުންވަނީ މިއޮތްހާ ދުވަހު އަޅުގަނޑުމެން ދިވެހިން މިތިބީ ތުނބުޅިލީ މީހުންނާއި ހެދި ބިރުންނެވެ. ތުނބުޅި މުއްލާއިންނާއިހެދި ރާއްޖޭގެ އިޤްތިސާދު ގެއްލި ގެސްޓުންނައިސްގެން ދިވެހިން ބަނޑަށްޖެހޭ ވާހަކައަކީ އާ ވާހަކައެއް ނޫނެވެ. ނަމަވެސް ކަންތައް ވެދިޔަގޮތަށް ބަލާއިރު މޫނުމަތީގައި އެއްވެސް އިސްތައްޓެއްނެތް އަންހެން ފިރިހެން ވަކިނުވާ ބަޔަކު ހިންގި މި ޢަމަލަކީ " ދަ ޑާރކް ސައިޑް އޮފް މޯލްޑިވްސްގެ " ގޮތުގައި ދެން ލޭބަލް ކުރެވިގެންދާނެ ކަމެއްކަމީ ޔަޤީން ކަމެކެވެ. އަނެއްކޮޅުން ދިވެހިރާއްޖެ އިޝްތިހާރުކުރަން ބޭނުންކުރާ ސްލޯގަން " ދަ ސަނީސައިޑް އޮފް މޯލްޑިވްސް" އަކީ 800 މިލިޔަން ޑޮލަރުގެ ބްރޭންޑް ނޭމެއް ކަމަށްވާއިރު މި ޚަރަދު ކައިރި މުސްތަޤްބަލެއްގައި ހޯދުމަކީވެސް ފަސޭހަ ކަމެއް ނޫނެވެ. އަދި ހަމަ މިފަދަ ސިޔާސީ ހަލަބޮލި ދުވަސްވަރެއްގައި މިކަން ވެގެން ދިޔުމަކީ ސިޔާސީގޮތުން ޤައުމުގެ ނަން ބޭރުގެ ދުނިޔޭގައި ހަޑިވެ ހުތުރުވެގެންދާނެ ކަމެކެވެ.
މައްސަލައިގެ ތާފާތު އެކިމިންތަކުން ބަލާއިރު ދަންނަވަން ޖެހެނީ މި މައްސަލައިގާ ފިޔަވަޅު އަޅަން ޖެހޭނެއެވެ. އަދި ފިޔަވަޅުއެޅުމުގައި ތިރީގައި އަންނަ ނުކުތާތަކަށް ވަރަށް އިސްކަން ދޭންޖެހޭނެއެވެ.
1. ކުށްކޮށްފައިވަނީ ތުނބުޅި ބާލައި އޮމާންކޮށްގެން ތިބި އަންހެން ފިރިހެން ވަކިކުރަން ނޭގޭ މީހުންކަން މީޑިޔާގައި އެމީހުންގެ ފޮޓޯދައްކައި މަޢްލޫމާތު ދިނުން
2. މިހެން ހަދަން މި ޖެހެނީ ތުނބުޅި ލާފައި ހުރި މީހަކު އެއްވެސް ކަމެއްގައި ޝައްކުކުރެވޭނަމަ އެކަން މިދިޔަ ސަރުކާރުންނާއި މިއަދުގެ ސަރުކާރުން ލޭބަލްކުރަން މަސައްކަތް ކުރާތީ އަދި ކޮށްފައި ވާތީ ހަމަހަމަ ކުރުމުގެ ގޮތުންނެވެ.
3. ހެދުން އެޅުމުގެ މިންގަނޑު ކަނޑައަޅާއިރު މީގެ ފަހުން ރެސޯޓްތަކުގައި އެފަދަ ޓެރަރިސްޓް ހެދުން ނޭޅުން/ ސަބަބަކީ މޫނު ބުރުގާ އެޅި މީހަކު ކޮންމެވެސް ކަމެއް ކުރިއޭ ކިޔައި މޫނުބުރުގާ މުޖްތަމަޢުން މަނާކުރަން ދައްކާ ވާހަކައިގެ އަނެއްކޮޅު.
4. އިސްލާމް /ދިވެހި މާއްދާއިން 90 މާރކްސް ލިބި ފާސްވެ އަދި އިސްލާމްދީން ރަނގަޅަށް ޕްރެކްޓިސް ކުރާ މީހުންނޫން މީހުންނަށް ވަޒީފާ ނުދިނުން/ ސަބަބު އިޚްލާސްތެރި ތެދުވެރި ވަފާތެރިންނަކީ ﷲ އާއި އެކަނލާގެ ރަސޫލާގެ ޙައްޤުއަދާކުރާ މީހުން ކަމުގައި ކަށަވަރުވާތީ.
5. ތުނބުޅި ބާލާ މީހުންނަކީ ރާއްޖޭގެ ޓުއަރިޒަމް ބަދުނާމު ކުރާ މީހުން ކަމުގައި ލޭބަލްވެ ނިމިއްޖެ..އެހެން ނުވުމަށްޓަކައި ދިވެހި ޓްއަރިޒަމްދެކެ ލޯބިވާ އެންމެން ތުބުޅި ބެހެއްޓުން އަދި އާޚިރަތާއި ދުނިޔޭގެ ހެޔޮގޮތް ލިބިގަތުން.
6. ތުނބުޅި ބާލާ މީހުންނަކީ ޓެރަރިސްޓުން އަދި އެއީ ގެސްޓުންނަށް ނަފްސާނީ ގޮތުންނާއި މަޢުނަވީ ގެއްލުން ކުރާބަޔެއްކަން ހާމަ ވެގެން ދިއުން.
7. މިއޮތްހާދުވަހު އިސްލާމީ ތަޢްލީމަށް ބާރު ނުދީ ހުސްއެކަނި އިނގިރޭސި ތަޢްލީމް ދީގެން ނިކުތް ތާހިރު ނަތީޖާއަކީ މުޅި ދިވެހި ރާއްޖެ ބޭރުގައި ބަދުނާމްވުން..
8. ނިއު ސެވަން ވޮންޑާރސް ފުނޑުފުނޑުވެ ނިއު ސެވަން ޓެރެރިޒަމްއަށް ދިވެހިން ބަދަލުވުން.. އަދި ތޯލިބާނުން ރާއްޖޭގައި އެބައުޅޭކަމަށް ދެއްކި ދޮގު ވާހަކަތައް އެއަށްވުރެ ހުތުރުކޮށް ތިމާމެންގެ އަނގަޔަށް ވަނުން.
9. މީޑިއާގައި ބޭރުގެ ބަސްބަހުން މިކަހަލަ ޤައުމު ބަދުނާމު ވާފަދަ ވާހަކަތައް ނުދެއްކުމަށް ސަރުކާރުން ބާރުއަޅައި މުޅި މީޑިޔާވެސް މިކަމުގައި އެއްބާރުންލުން ދިނުން.
10. ދިވެހިޓުއަރިޒަމަށް މިހާތަނަށް އެންމެ ބޮޑު ޚިދުމަތެއް އެބައެއްގެ ފަރާތުން ލިބިފައިވާ އައްޑުއަތޮޅުގެ މީހުންގެ ބަޔަކު މިކައިވެނި ކޮށްދިނުމުގައި ބައިވެރިވެފައިވާތީ އައްޑުއަތޮޅު މީހުން މިކަމާއި ވަރަށްބޮޑަށް ވިސްނުން.
މަތީ ގައި މި ހިމަނާލީ ކުޑަކުޑަ މިންވަރެކެވެ. ބާކީ ތިޔަބޭފުޅުން އަމިއްލައަށް ކޮންމެސް އެއްޗެއް ކިޔާ މިކަންކަމާއި މެދު ވިސްނައި އިންސާފު ޤާއިމް ކުރާށެވެ. -ރާއްޖެ އިސްލާމް ޑޮޓްކޮމް-
ނޯޓް: ތުނބުޅި ބާލައި އޮމާންކޮށްގެން ތިބި ބަޔަކު ރާއްޖޭގެ ޓޫރިޒަމަށް މިދިން ބޮޑު ގެއްލުމާމެދު މައުމޫނު ފައުންޑެޝަންފަދަ ޖަމިއްޔާތަކުން މި މީހުންގެ ޙިމާޔަތުގައި ޖަލްސާއެއް ބޭއްވުމަކީވެސް އެކަށީގެންވާކަމެކެވެ. އަދި މިމީހުންގެ ދިފާޢުގައި ހިލޭސާބަހަށް ޢާޒިމާ ޝުކޫރުފަދަ ލޯޔަރުން ވަކާލާތުކުރެއްވުމަކީވެސް ހަމަ އެކަށީގެންވާކަމެކެވެ. ފަހަރެއްގައި މައްސަލަ ނިމޭއިރު ލޯޔަރުން ވަކާލާތުކޮށްގެން އެކަންކުރި މީހުންނަކީ ކުރިން ތުނބުޅި ބަހައްޓައިގެންއުޅުނު އެކަންކުރަންވެގެން ތުބުޅިބޭލިބަޔަކަށްވެސްވެދާނެއެވެ.
there is some truth the first comment by alilamb:
The video showed the staff culture. If you see the film 'FULL METAL JACKET' there are worse abuses but taken in context, u understand it.
Its very unfair to blame the staff waiters there. The video is all about a) lack of standards in the resort b) how careless the management is c) how the staff are repressed.
Why would a decent resort do a wedding with a waiter there.. He was not trained for the job and he did his best.. Do not blame the guys. Its totally the fault of a) the management b) the tourism regulator from whom we heard nothing..
@ mohamed/Real
You see,,,using drugs is something you do on your own...ofcz if you plan on having a gang crash, thats a difrent case..you bring it on yourself only.
As for rape...your actions effect two families in major,,,the victim and the raper. therefore; again somethn you bring onto yourself.
The effect of these kinds of atrocities are like cigarette...it takes a community out slowly and piece by piece. Though drugs have become a growing epidemic in our country, its still the more shorter term losses accounted for a portion of the community. It has also not failed to get media attention as well as community outbursts in recent years. So we, as a community have joined to deliberate.
however- we cannot say the same in this case....this started in the most social network and as a result is now a well know incident through out many countries.
A foreign frnd called me..asked me to open the clip and explain (on wireless phone) what is being said in the clip...he saw the clip at Minivan..but he wanted to just hear it from some one he trusted...that we were capable of such a degrading act.towards humanity, religion and community. after i told him the many details, he was shocked....
Should i have lied to my friend? But by telling the truth, i had opened another mouth to the outside world....I mite not have taken the correct decision to tell..but i made the honest one.
I am happy to see Vilu reef acting on this disaster. They should find the guests and apologize. if we do a mistake, we should pay for it..life never comes with no strings attached...1 persons loss is another persons gain. Thanks for the final word minivan
Thanks to the fellow readers and commentators without which this would have gone like many others go...to the pit and never heard from.
Thanks again
Police has nothing to do with this. this is FREEDOM OF SPEECH!
have a civil law suit. i think in Nasheed govt there is no freedom of speech. No one can be taken to police of speaking am i correct JJ Robinson
FOREIGN MINISTER'S COMMENT
I appreciate what Yasir has said in his statement.
But read below:
'I was shocked and horrified,' Mr Shaheed told AFP when contacted in the capital of the atoll nation, Male. 'I could not see the entire video because my children were around and I didn't want them to hear the bad language that was used. -- AFP
What is the relevance of this comment. What kind of damage control is this!
This comment is getting picked up by international press. i read this on Singapore Strait Times.
Really, government should manage PR better. It is totally uncordinated and all over the place
Obviously Sun Travels must have known about this ! Who gave this Guy permission to conduct Weddings ???
Obviously the management of Sun Travels must have known about the Mockery and were probably laughing about the Couple's Humiliation while watching this video till a couple of days back !!!
And now, when this has become such a Huge issue (http://www.presidencymaldives.gov.mv/4/?ref=1,5,5598) they are looking for a Scape Goat ! And of course, the staff have become the Ultimate Target !
Why didnt they take action the first moment they knew this occured ? Why didnt they condemn this the First time round ?
Can Sun Travels management really dump this issue on the staff ? Must not the the Management take some level of responsibilty for this ???
I honeymooned in the Maldives over 20 years ago and loved the place and the people. I am not sure I would be comfortable coming back now. I am afraid that this story confirms for many people in the West, that the basic philosophy of Islam, that of peace and tolerance, is being lost in teachings of intolerance and hatred for any non-Islamic people. These were ordinary people, and I find their abuse of a couple of innocent honeymooners shocking and deeply disturbing. I don't think it was a joke. I think that the people on this resort believed what they were saying. Acts of terrorism come from this same fundamental belief that we in the west are the source of all your problems, and are inferior and worthless and deserve whatever horrors you want to inflict on us. It is not a comfortable thought. Nor is it fair or correct. Please, treat people as you find them. We all deserve to be treated as individuals, not as anonymous representatives of some religion or country to be treated and despised because of your prejudices. This is not a way forward. Thankyou.
All these addu bastards should be banned from working in resorts. then such things won't happen. they are sick minded.
No body got hurt or killed here, whats the big deal as the headlines say its a fake wedding ceremony, so everything said is also fake.If Minivan news wants make millions out of this, they can pull the string every day.
This is a culture started by resort owners when they deal with resort boys, I have heard many times them calling Nagoo balhu to every one who work in his resorts. Then Shiyam, Gasim all these people have wealth but no education, they don't know anything about culture.
What disgust me even more are the comments above from those who seem to think that it's all the resort's fault and the workers did nothing wrong.It really shows the Maldivian views, isn't it.
All the major news sites have picked up this story now - its on the front page of a major australian paper and of bbc.co.uk
wonder how that'll effect the tourism trade here.I agree with the comment regarding goose that lays golden eggs. Perhaps its time for a hard lesson.
I will never, ever, ever go to the Maldives, nor ever, ever, ever recommend the Maldives to anyone. It is clear this disrepectful treatment to visitors in widespread and culturally embedded.
Tourism will be affected and no doubt the poor will suffer as always but this abuse of innocent westerners must stop. This is not isolated and has apparently been happening for some time at all resorts! Shame on you all involved and it will be a catastrophy for your tourism industry.
it's absolutely ashamed, for any reason they have done it it's not funny!
yes there are lot of sad things going on in referent resorts, almost all the resorts perform Maldivian cultural shows , like boduberu the drummers sing with totally bad things on front of tourists, singing is totally different event , but this is also something has to stop on front of valuable tourists.
if we can't stop this , these kind of acts makes our tourism poor.
It is a very unfortunate incident, indeed, and I am sorry to the couple and other couples who had to go through that. As the saying goes, what you don’t know won’t hurt you. There is a possibility [no, a high chance] it the same might have happened to many other guests to that particular resort. The guests didn’t know and simply had the fun of their lives. I put the blame squarely on management. That said, I honestly think it is more of humour taken too far and gone all wrong rather than an intentional attempt to insult the ‘infidels’. I understand Dhivehi and have watched it again and again. It has nothing to do with extremism. On the contrary, it is poking fun at extremism. I am not saying that it is acceptable. No, not at all. But it is the management to blame. I sincerely hope that Minivan and other media do not blow it out of context. What is clear is that the resort management allowed it to go on too far. What might have started as two words of fun here and there slowly grew to what we saw in that video. It would not have reached this far had the resort designated someone with proper credentials to do that task, and had a clear guidelines for delivering on the special ‘package’. It is a rip-off to guests who buy that package. I doubt that the video will put anyone off visiting the sunny side of life. It is humour gone bad.
wel, i dnt really care abt the other comments, all i just wanna say is, yea sumone said those stuff, but i dnt think they wud hav assumed that it wud've been tht mch of an issue, also, can u ppl (maldivians) just stop gossiping for a moment, cos if this goes on like this, u'd see our whole economy collapse because of our own hatred and ego.. so pls, for a moment unite and try to find a diplomatic solution instead of arguing between each-other, damn, our country really is screwed up-all because of our own mistakes.
Minivan news just showed irresponsible and below the level journalism. How can you guys just expose something that may compromise the whole? the thing with you is you just think of Politics and Scoops instead of thinking what risk could it give to the whole country when the masses from the whole world have come to know about it. Some other resorts even admitted that they were doing the same, so what's the fuzz all about?... You are just low level journalists full of crab mentality pulling others down when you get the chance because of your own selfish motives. You just cared about the "Scoop", being like a "one day millionaire" for getting a news like this without even thinking of the risks. You are all unprofessional and low level journalists. You don't deserve to be journalists at all. Very irrational, indeed. Don't even try to cope up with this mess you did causing the country a shame to the whole world, coz you can't make up with it anymore. It's all because of you people from Minivan.
B Freeman, we dont care whether you come to Maldives or not, you guys in Western world do much worse things than this, at least this fake ceremony those guys were just saying things in their language, which you guys have no clue, and also its freedom speech too, they didn't harm anyone. Its an issue because we have crazy regime to get international fame they can go any extend, President Nasheed and his brother Nazim, the editor of this so called Minivan, they can do or write anything to destroy the economy of this country.
We (family of six) have now cancelled our airline tickets and online hotel bookings for the Maldives,other family members and friends are doing likewise. What a disgusting country.
Is is incredible how many Maldivian people have their heads in the sand and cannot face reality...and are trying to hide from the truth. Such as comments from Alilamb, Mohammed, Mdz, disregarded, Aybogik, Italian Maldivian. I applaud the Minivan news for truthful journalism.
@Ekaloa:
I totally agree with you on that...
You just reinspired my faith in Anni by reminding me of the dirty, racist, prejudiced ppl of Maumoon, such as you, who were the reason I supported Anni in the first place. I am greatful you had made that clear to me again!
It seems Ekaloa does not have the intelligence or education to understand the issue. Obviously he is part of the problem in the Maldvies and requires help.
Australian tourist why don't you read bit about this history of Australia and how you guys deal with the real owners of that island, the Aborigines of Australia.When you call Maldives a disgusting country, we cannot reach at all the disgusting level you guys dealt with humanity by killing innocent people in that island now you called Australia, even now you guys are racist,last year itself so many Indian students are killed for nothing.
B.Freeman what issue is here to understand,where you need a PhD, its a fake ceremony done on the basis of everything is comedy and fun, its an issue now because, some people wants make that as an issue.
Hi Australian tourist,
Don't cancel yr visit to Maldives just because of a sad incident we heard for the first time in the Maldivian history.
Please don't blame the whole country for just an unlikely incident...we all Maldivians are so sorry and please visit our beautiful country. We love all tourists my dear
Hassan Saeed must be responsible for this.....
Ekaloa, exactly, it is grade one ethics and education. And you do not pass. So it is okay for your family to go to a country where they do not speak the language and be insulted, ridiculed and degraded in the most disgusting way? You would approve that for your family? This is what you are saying. So you would approve and laugh at this when it happens to your family? Are you able to understand the question? I have my doubts. Your character is in question.