National Day celebrations in Fuvahmulah! :D

I already posted a mixture of feelings and thoughts regarding the National Day, but my post about National Day wouldn't have been complete unless I told you about the celebrations in Fuvahmulah, right? ;)

So, the night before National Day, on 12th January, we had the "Approval of Budget of Fuvahmulah Atoll Council for the year 2013" ceremony. Here's how the ceremony went:

Recitation of Holy Qur'an by Reesham

 Welcome speech, Vote of thanks and Introduction of the ceremony by Director, Anees

Bringing forth the budget to the ceremony by President of Fuvahmulah Atoll Council, Ali Fazaad

Speech by the Atoll Councillors  on the budget
Vice Presicent of the Atoll Council, Abdullah Mohamed

Ali Shaah

Ibrahim Fikry

Mohamed Shafeeq Adnan

Abdullah Ibrahim

Ideas and questions of citizens of Fuvahmulah

Passing the Budget for 2013

Speech by GNAEC Principal, Mr.Abdullah Rasheed Ahmed on National Day
Since the following day was National Day, the organisers of the ceremony wanted to put some national colours in it, so they asked the Principal to give a speech on the subject, which was very insightful. I fully supported his words. He pointed out that, despite each household in the whole of Fuvahmulah, which has around 11,500 citizens, receiving an invitation for the ceremony, only about 100 people actually attended the ceremony and that it showed that we didn't care much about the work of our policy makers, even though their decisions would affect us all. He mentioned that we can't ask our children to love our country and to be patriotic if we aren't and that we should set better examples for the next generation.

Conclusion of the ceremony by the National Anthem
And how do I know this program by heart, because I was the compère and I had to go through the whole program at least twice, rewriting it! :D

On the morning of National Day, there was a special flag hoisting ceremony at 5.45, which I missed because I overslept, having slept late the night before and being tired because of the preparations for the celebrations! Pity, I know, I was really looking forward to attending it! But here are some pictures to show how it went. And again, everyone who attended noted out how little cooperation we received from the people of Fuvahmulah. Seriously people, you need to be more involved in such social activities. (I know I don't deserve the right to say such stuff, seeing as how I missed it, but I DO take part in most of the activities, so there ;) ) Remember the good old times when ( none of us would actually remember this, but if you read Dhivehi stories and accounts of Maldivian Scholars, you'd know this ;)) if one household built a boat, the whole island would cook meals and take them to the spot where the boat is supposed to be first immersed in water! Where is that oneness now? 

Alright, enough with the questions and dwellings. There was an "Athugulhaalun" in the evening, which means lots of people would hold hands together to show our unity and oneness! Shiakko, Potayto, his friend Usher and I were going to attend it. But by the time Potayto was convinced that Iyad, another of his friends, wasn't joining us, it was over. We were on our way to the Fuvahmulah Stadium when we met the people who attended it leave. So we changed our course and went off to the beach to see the sunset. Not very patriotic, but a celebration, in our own unique way! ;) Unfortunately, there were some clouds and Potayto claimed that the sunset wasn't as beautiful as it was the day before (Him and Iyad have this habit of going to see the sunset almost every day! I envy them! ;)) But we had fun, nonetheless! 

Shiakko and I- yes, she is wearing Buruga! Her first Day!

Potayto trying to act gay with Usher :P 

Potayto, like a boss! (Y)

Caught the two very photogenic people by surprise! :D

The sunset, which Potayto claimed wasn't so beautiful because of the clouds! 

Potayto pretending to be Indian when Shiakko put this shell thingy on his forehead :D

Thus ended National Day for me and my friends! :D 

On National Day....

Note: I wrote this post on National Day, 13th January, but I was waiting to get the pictures so that it would enhance the post. But then, I decided to take this post to a whole new direction. Sorry it took me this long to post it!

Firstly, I convey heartfelt warm wishes to all the Maldivians on this auspicious occasion. I may not be so patriotic, but this day brings forth a mixture of emotions.
As all Maldivians are fully aware, "In the year 1558, Portuguese attacked Maldives and killed the then Sultan of this country and established their own rule. It was later in 1573; Muhammad Thakurufaanu arrived here along with his companions and succeeded in ending the fifteen-year colonial rule. " We celebrate our National Day to remember the bravery of Mohamed Thakurufaanu and his companions.

While we remember the devotion and dedication shown by Mohamed Thakurufaanu to our country, we must also think about our current situation. We might not be under the colonial power of any country, literally, but I fear that our minds are being controlled by other cultures and beliefs altogether. This may or may not be an exaggeration, but how many of us would be patriotic enough to give our life defending this country? Only a few! Because we do not love our nation like we should, we are not proud of our motherland like we should.

We have valid reasons for that too. We have ex presidents who claim Maldivians are terrorists, we have politicians who portray the great House of Parliament as a circus, we have corruption everywhere, and we have surprisingly high crime rates for a country that supports only 350,000 people.

Sure, the generation before us gave us reasons to be ashamed of our country. But isn't it upto us now, to change that? If all the youth joined hands and work hard to bring changes, we can make a difference!

As individuals, we can refrain from selling our votes to the highest bidder. Instead, we can decide who would make the best president, who would serve our country best, who would save our country from this downfall and who would return the patriotism to the hearts of young Maldivians. We can elect Parliament members who would put the people's needs before theirs, who would work for the greater good, who would try and make a difference. We can hold the people in high positions accountable for their actions, we can question them, we can make them more responsible, as per our rights!

Youth united can strive for bigger things. We can strengthen our ongoing campaigns against crimes like murder and rape, help to bring out friends who are lost in drug back on the right path, fight against corruption, and demand the policy makers to be more responsible.

There is so much we can do, only if we cared enough. Everyone thinks, that's not my problem, that is for the government, for the Police, for the institutions. But the truth is, nothing would change unless we start at the grass root level, that being us, individuals, at our homes, in our schools, in our society!

I think that these thoughts are worth considering seriously, when we are celebrating our National Day. By finding our latent patriotism, we have to strive to bring changes so that on National Days our children celebrate, they can actually feel proud of their nation, and they would actually be willing to sacrifice themselves for their country! Let's be heroes of the Maldives, who made it a better place for the future generations!

Happy National Day to all Maldivians!