Stand Up 4 Freedom

Flower from aneh dhivehi rajje.....

Corruption in Coral islands

I present a peaceful country, Maldives, situated a few hundred kilometers southwest of Sri Lanka. Maldives, an archipelago, extends to about 870 km in length and is formed by 1190 islands, large and small, of which about 201 are inhabited. The archipelago is comprised of atolls and coral reefs and has a temperate climate, with an average temperature from 25 to 30 degrees Celsius. It is humid and has an annual rainfall of 2100 mm (84.0 ins), which enables the inhabitants to cultivate their local crops.

The Transparency International CPI measures the perceived levels of public-sector corruption in a given country and is a composite index, drawing on different expert and business surveys. The 2008 CPI scores 180 countries (the same number as the 2007 CPI) on a scale from zero (highly corrupt) to ten (highly clean).
Denmark, New Zealand and Sweden share the highest score at 9.3, followed immediately by Singapore at 9.2. Bringing up the rear is Somalia at 1.0, slightly trailing Iraq and Myanmar at 1.3 and Haiti at 1.4.
While score changes in the Index are not rapid, statistically significant changes are evident in certain countries from the high to the low end of the CPI. Looking at source surveys included in both the 2007 and 2008 Index, significant declines can be seen in the scores of Bulgaria, Burundi, Maldives, Norway and the United Kingdom.
Similarly, statistically significant improvements over the last year can be identified in Albania, Cyprus, Georgia, Mauritius, Nigeria, Oman, Qatar, South Korea, Tonga and Turkey."
Note: Source from Transparency International Report 2008

A ride around HulhuMale'...

Taken on 19th September 2008, Friday @ Hulhumale, Maldives.

Few minutes before breakfast......

few mnts before my breakfast.... Location: Hulhule Island Hotel.

Its that time of year again! Yes, I'm referring to the month of Ramadans in which Muslims like myself fast.
Yesterday we went Hulhule Island Hotel for Ramazan breakfast.. It was a wonderful day.... i mean sky,clouds,food and almost everything....
One of my foriegn friend ask me all the time, "Why do you fast?" Well most of the time I just tell them that our religion requires us to and thats pretty much about it. But the truth is that its actually a bit deeper than that. Our religion requires us to fast for a certain reason. The reason we fast is so we can see how much we should be thankful for. Meaning, when we fast we put ourselves in the positions of all the poor people around the world who cannot afford food or drink. We actually experience this feeling, not being able to drink, or eat but only till sundown, whereas many of the poor people have this feeling for many days, maybe even a week. This is only them month in which we try and refrain from bad things like...., so it should be good to try and quit during this time if you are capable too. In my own personal opinion I don't see fasting as a burden, I see it as something that will educate me, and teach me to always be thankful for what I have got, because I'm probably a lot better off than other people in the world.

British tourists turn their back on the Maldives

The number of British holidaymakers visiting the Maldives has fallen by nearly a fifth

There has been a sharp decline in the number of Britons visiting the Maldives, according to the islands’ minister for tourism.

Figures from July show a drop of 18.9 per cent compared with July 2007, part of an overall fall of 6.6 per cent in tourist numbers.

This is the largest slump since the aftermath of the tsunami in 2004, which killed at least 82 people in the Maldives and flooded the capital, Male. The decline has been blamed on construction delays, rising fuel surcharges and worldwide economic woes.

The Maldives, popular with honeymooners, usually attracts 100,000 Britons per year.

Abdulla Mausoom, the Maldives minister for tourism, said he was optimistic that the downturn would not last. He added that the number of Russian and Chinese visitors had increased by 63 and 24 per cent respectively over the past year. Last week, tour operator Kuoni named the Maldives as its second most popular destination, with bookings up 20 per cent on 2007.

Several new resorts have opened in 2008, with a further 63 resorts under construction. But a plan announced in June to lease another 31 islands for development will not go ahead, according to the ministry of finance.

source: telegraph.co.uk

Sunset @ Villigili

Villingili is an island just northwest of Male' and about a ten minute ride by ferry.I recently took a half-day trip to Villigili. Just to surf, swim, capture sunset and also to meet my friends.