Ali and his new girlfriend just returned from a holiday in Malaysia. A few months before he left Male he spent his entire savings of Rf 10,000 to get the 'nice number plate' that he had wanted for over two years. Recession? Economic virtues? Well, Ali doesn't need to worry too much. He financed his Malaysia trip from a pay-if-you-can loan from his friend and the expenses of his two children, aged 12 and 9 from his previous marriage, whose expenses for the last five years have been taken care of by their grandfather, a Sarudhaaru at a government school are his last worry - at least for the time being.
Azoo, a twenty something job-hopping graduate who normally earns about Rf 8000, continues to shop, shop, and shop until she drops dead. It’s been six months since she quit her last job. But her insatiable appetite for her favourite DKNY fragrances, L'Oreal cosmetics and that occasional Jimmy Choo shoe continues unabated. Credit card debt? Well, that's not her worry. Her father regularly pays off – along with a good doze of scolding - the mountains of debt she accumulates on her credit card from advance rentals he collects from the two room apartment rented at their house.
Half way around the world, perhaps unbeknownst to both Ali and Azoo, the governments of US, UK and other industrialized countries and the corporate giants that seemed virtually infallible until recently, are struggling with their finances as the financial crisis gets deeper and murkier. For them there is still no turn around in sight. Consumers in those countries whose pockets are hundreds of times deeper than our Alis and Azoos are tightening their belts like they never did in the last thirty years. They are ditching their iPhones, flat-panel HD TVs and their gas-guzzling SUVs.
Ali and Azoo are among a growing group of hundreds of epicurean youth who live a Paris Hilton inspired live-in-the-moment life. I of course don't blame them for their spend-thrift mentality. Consumption is something so deeply embedded in us; it is so much hard-wired in our psyche now. What I sometimes have difficulty in understanding, though, is why our people continue to spend like as if there is no tomorrow while people in most parts of the industrialized world are bracing for the unhappy days with the homespun virtues of increased cost-cutting and parsimony. I'm sure if they had a choice, most people in the industrialized world too would continue to spend like our Alis and Azoos do. Choice – that's what differentiates our there's-no-tomorrow spendthrifts. Unlike the people from the industrialized world who are compelled to become financially independent by the time they reach their twenties, most of us have created the opportunity for us to continue to leech on our families or someone close to us, well beyond our thirtieth or even fortieth birthday. While the people in the industrialized countries literally feel the pain of the global financial meltdown, we continue our there's-no-tomorrow lifestyle; either blithely ignorant of what's happening in the outside world or willfully passing our pain to those unsuspecting victims around us who are inured to pain.
Azoo, a twenty something job-hopping graduate who normally earns about Rf 8000, continues to shop, shop, and shop until she drops dead. It’s been six months since she quit her last job. But her insatiable appetite for her favourite DKNY fragrances, L'Oreal cosmetics and that occasional Jimmy Choo shoe continues unabated. Credit card debt? Well, that's not her worry. Her father regularly pays off – along with a good doze of scolding - the mountains of debt she accumulates on her credit card from advance rentals he collects from the two room apartment rented at their house.
Half way around the world, perhaps unbeknownst to both Ali and Azoo, the governments of US, UK and other industrialized countries and the corporate giants that seemed virtually infallible until recently, are struggling with their finances as the financial crisis gets deeper and murkier. For them there is still no turn around in sight. Consumers in those countries whose pockets are hundreds of times deeper than our Alis and Azoos are tightening their belts like they never did in the last thirty years. They are ditching their iPhones, flat-panel HD TVs and their gas-guzzling SUVs.
Ali and Azoo are among a growing group of hundreds of epicurean youth who live a Paris Hilton inspired live-in-the-moment life. I of course don't blame them for their spend-thrift mentality. Consumption is something so deeply embedded in us; it is so much hard-wired in our psyche now. What I sometimes have difficulty in understanding, though, is why our people continue to spend like as if there is no tomorrow while people in most parts of the industrialized world are bracing for the unhappy days with the homespun virtues of increased cost-cutting and parsimony. I'm sure if they had a choice, most people in the industrialized world too would continue to spend like our Alis and Azoos do. Choice – that's what differentiates our there's-no-tomorrow spendthrifts. Unlike the people from the industrialized world who are compelled to become financially independent by the time they reach their twenties, most of us have created the opportunity for us to continue to leech on our families or someone close to us, well beyond our thirtieth or even fortieth birthday. While the people in the industrialized countries literally feel the pain of the global financial meltdown, we continue our there's-no-tomorrow lifestyle; either blithely ignorant of what's happening in the outside world or willfully passing our pain to those unsuspecting victims around us who are inured to pain.
10 comments:
you r getting better at this. good post. happy blogging to you. didi
Is it something wrong with our youths upbringing?
A young cousin of mine has friends like those described in your post. Basically, they don't work, laze around, socialise and live off their parents. They have state-of-the-art mobile phones, motorcycles, and are always seen hanging out at expensive coffee shops but they don't work.
Basically, I think parents just should tell off their children, like in other countries, that by the time they are 18, they are on their own. Parents should stop this "blind love" of their children who are manipulating and using their parents for their own misguided advantage.
So I get really angry when young people on the streets make jibes at expatriate laborers by calling them "Bangaalhees" with contempt. If these young men and women let go of their pride and did some honest work, I don't think Maldives would have an expatriate population congestion problem.
But I have hope for SOME youths of Maldives. I personally know a young friend who takes care of his entire family while others laze around at home. But he may be a rare case.
There really is something wrong with our youth and in our society as well. Majority of us live in an illusion thinking that one becomes a “quality person” if they have all the flashy materialistic things and hangs around in coffee shops with the expense of others, most of the time either boasting or trying to impress who ever would fall for them. If they take a vacation, it has to be just to buy clothes, bags, shoes, electronic stuff etc... The thought of investing in some good books, educational games for their children or even experiencing something adventurous and fun would be out of question. As for recession, average Maldivian does not think that it would have an impact on us. Recently, I was told, “you worry too much! Recession is in US and in Europe!” I just grind my teeth and decided not to say another word.
yes, naimbe. this is really insane. our parents are also to be partly blamed for this. after all they continue to support this behaviour. and these parents surprisingly are not even rich. they are poor people and our youth take advantage of them. the parents in turn let their grown up children take advantage. this has to change if this country is to see any otehr day. we simply cant go on being the nanny sate we are. We dont do anything to solve our problems. we only think and hope that Anni Government is going to solve all our problems. where is this country heading to? I dont know. May Allah help us.
when radio and tv programmes focus on youth issues is based on themes like "why do you think that your boyfriend/girlfirend get angry at times and what can you do to avoid it?" our youngsters would be just shallow for ever. We need to have different set of programming to create awareness, educate people and change lifestyle and behaviour for better.
i think its the culture to blame. majority of parents feel its their duty and obligation to look after their children, even if their "child" is going on 30! When young people start earning they should be required to contribute to house expenses like electricity bills. but most parents are too timid to do this, or it never occur to them or their children do this. People who contribute do so on their own and other siblings just leech off.
Another aspect in our culture is like fenupary said this preoccupation with outward appearance. Someone with 2000 rf salary has a 10,000 rf mobile fone AND replaces it when a new model comes out. And then takes money from their parents to buy shower gel. Personally I think the majority of young people are like that and its extremely pathetic.
The tradegy is, the basic law of demand doesnt even apply in our society. Even when price of luxury goods go up, people dont tend to reduce their demand.
Economic recession? Do we even know what it means? who cares. Well, that's the mentality. I guess there's a lot of work to be done, and a start could be as given in one comment here, to improve the tv and radio programs in order to bring the kind of social reform that we are talking about.
I agree with 1st anon. Very nice post. I love this one Naeembe.
You have expressed my exact thoughts without a single word to rule out.
Although i would like to add somthing. You have described, how parents are giving the life of these pathetic youth. this is common in Male'. On the outeratolls, what happens is the exact opposit. The kid grows up, parents spend on the kids education and this and that according to their means while at the back of parents mind is " we can relax while this kid finish school, cox he will go to a resort and send me money and we just sleaze around the holhuashi's". Now what happens to these kids. they spend their entire life looking after their parents and family and does not get a chance to plan his/her own life interms of time, money etc.
These both crises can be tackled i think if neither of the parties depend solely on each other after a certain age (children). If the parents does not rear their children as finacial investments, but rather to provide a kid a good life of his/her own. Same way the current youth needs to learn to not take anything to take for granted. Its actually fun and adventourous to go through the hardtimes.its valuable and respectable work the "bangalhees" are doing that our inteligent and exalt youth can not deliver. isn't it?
Our media, our culture and social education is very important. its a huge problem i agree.
Thank you for the article.
Maldives is a different from is a other countries of the is a world.
Social believes and a obligations is a very creepy or rather primitive i would is a say. Image is a overrated while lacking substance in our youths. is not is the truth.
Thanks anons, Hilath, Fenupary, Fali, Naseer and Shiham for your comments.
@ hilath – you are right about Bangladeshis. We have a long long way to go before we could even think of looking at Bangladeshi’s with contempt.
@ Fenupary – maybe it’s the inherent lack of quality in our own inner selves that is driving our urge to seek superficial ‘quality’ in the goods and services that we use.
@ Fali – If you don’t have to pay for your electricity bills you don’t think about switching your aircon off because you simply can’t react to a pain that you don’t feel.
@ Naseer - I’m little lost as to what you said about the demand for luxury goods. The few lessons from Samuelson that I still remember about luxury goods say that demand for luxury goods are in fact price inelastic - PED <1 or PED =0. Maybe I’m wrong.
@ shiham – yes, the other side of the same coin - in the outer islands still some people have the typical feudal thinking that when their kid grows up they can depend on their children. I don’t know for how long our parents in the outer islands can go on thinking this as increased urbanization is changing our values.
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