Thank you President Gayoom…and Happy New Year to you too

I received my president’s customary New Year card. Just like the 36 odd thousand others in the government of Maldives I receive at least a half dozen of them every year. Every time I receive a card from him I take a few seconds to think about how bad an aesthetic sense he has before tossing it into my bin. I must tell my president that his photography obtrudes upon all my senses in a very unpleasant way.