Recommended reading:
Sinking Streets Chapter 01 - The Male’ City Swimming Track
TVM Haze
Mohamed Nazim’s 2010 confession - a turning point for Maldivian minorities
A collection of Yameen Rasheed's writings on Maldives, Secularism, Standing up for Maldivian Minorities, and Fighting Religious Radicalism
The Sustainable Fishing Practices of Dhivehi Reef Fishermen (and how the resort industry is screwing them over)
A timeline of religious extremism, minority struggles, and human rights abuses in contemporary Maldives
My Experience Dealing With Maldives Police Service
The Greatest Maldivian Visual Artists of the 21st Century
Splinters Act I - The Akasha Frontier
Interesting and inspiring content by Dhivehi / Maldivian artists.
Read More
Nothing brings Maldivians together like a good roast 🔥.
Read More
At 12AM on Friday the 23rd of November 2018, a whole bunch of Maldivian twitter users changed their profile pictures to the one above. It shows a young Ali Rameez leaning back, relaxing his head against his arm. The incident is referred to by some as #NationalAyyaDay.
Read More
Chapter 02 of my work in progress book "Sinking Streets".
Our lives are framed by doorways. These portals that open onto the street. In Male’ City, there is no such thing as a front yard. There are more cemeteries than parks – a good thing as a lot of the trees that have not been felled exist within their walls. A lot can happen in these doorways. Lovers flirt, children play, the old watch a rapidly changing world pass them by. If you are lucky the doorway will open to a path instead of straight inside your home.
Read More
The message this election from all sides of the Maldivian political spectrum has been clear. We do not want you. We do not respect you. We will not tolerate you.
Read More
Here is question for Maldivians: Can you name your constituency and your elected official without having to check it somewhere?
These are some visualisations of the public voting records of the people's Majlis session in 2015 that amended the constitution to allow for foreign ownership of land or freeholds. Land is an incredibly scarce resource in the Maldives, with the majority of Moldavians living in cramped quarters, never getting to access most of their own country.
Street harassment is a huge issue in the Maldives. Many women share stories about how they get harassed almost every single day while just walking to work. This has led to many social movements, such as #Nufoshey (don't harass).
The Maldivian entertainment industry has historically led the charge against harassment, responding to this atmosphere of fear by creating some groundbreaking music videos that both shocked and enlightened, dramatically reducing the incidence of street harassment in their wake. Here are three shining examples.
The polarising hashtag caused an uproar and week long drama across the Maldivian twitterverse and tweeps debated the controversial topic. Are men trash? Are men trash, but is the wording wrong? Have people who say men are trash actually not met enough men who are not trash? Are women responsible for the men in their life being trash? Can they simply just filter them out? All this and more below. This is of course just a taste. I also did not include some of the nastier stuff from obvious troll accounts.
Read More