Island Chic’s Babble

Maldives in the past few decades have made considerable achievements in social, economic and political fronts.  We have done well in terms of improving our GDP per capita ($2912 in 2008 at 1995 constant price), building a world class tourism industry, eliminating extreme poverty, achieving a high literacy rate (over 90% of the population) and [...]

I don’t mean to be over excited but i think it’s quite cool that i can finally find my tiny teeny home in the virtual world, which has never happened before even with Google Map. Thanks to National Geographic’s  interactive map of Maldives!

I grew up on a tiny island in the Northern most atoll of [...]

For a job related event, recently I have had to provide a detailed description of the Maldivian traditional wear for women. To my dismay, there were almost no descriptions available online & i decided to attempt a description of my own. Perhaps, it might be helpful to someone else who’s looking for it!

The photo shows [...]

When I read the news that Maldives has slipped a few places in the Corruption Index (on a scale of 1 to 10, with 10 being the least corrupt and 0 being the most) it was definitely a surprise!
Since embracing a fully democratic mode of governance with the election of President Nasheed through multi-party elections [...]

Usually stagnation is bad and change is good. However, human nature almost by default resists change when comfortable for too long with a particular way of doing things. Perhaps the Maldivian government is a good example.

It was a huge achievement for the Maldivian Democratic Party and its supporting parties to instigate a change in our [...]

I grew up on a tiny island in Northern Maldives. My island though small was very beautiful. I also had the perfect family. My mom, dad & I lived in a lovely house on the beach. My dad was a teacher on the Island School and earns Mrf 2500. My mother was an expert dress [...]

Since English News Paper, The Guardian reported on November 10, an interview with the Maldives President saying that Maldives will begin to divert a portion of the our annual tourist revenue into buying a new homeland – as an insurance policy against climate change, it has been one of the most read news items on [...]

One of the key obstacles to the development of Maldives, without debate, is the housing issues and urban congestion in the capital, Male’. It is also a major contributor towards unequal distribution of wealth and the income disparity in the country. Let me elaborate.
Majority of the resources in the Maldives, whether [...]

Cronyism, nepotism and favoritism are buzz words (literally or otherwise) within various forums involving Maldivian government employees. We have long suffered a system which has somewhat ignored the elements of meritocracy as determinants of a public servant’s path towards success.
In an ideal democracy backed with an efficient bureaucracy (a perfect example is the [...]

Even though Maldives enjoys a robust tourism industry and its revenue contributes to roughly one third of the country’s GDP, the wealth from the tourism sector lies with the top 10% of the country’s rich and affluent. The poorer Maldivians, especially those who live in the small i
slands far away from the capital [...]