Posted on 11/04/2010 7:14:49 AM PDT by subcorpus
Hello.
It is all over the internet. I am sure you would have already seen the amateur video of the foul-mouthed wedding ceremony by now. The video shows celebrants of a muslim wedding ceremony reading some nasty stuff in local language in a prayer like fashion to the unsuspecting foreign couple in a tourist resort. Foreigners cannot get officially married in the Maldives, this was a celebration to renew vows. Nevertheless, it was a shameful and a derogatory act by the celebrants. It should not have happened.
A lot have happened in the week following the release of the amateur video on YouTube. The celebrants of the ceremony have been taken in to police custody for further investigation. Government authorities have issued official apologies. The tourist couple have been identified and promised full compensation. I am also of the opinion that the management of the tourist facility should also be investigated for lack of proper care to their clients.
I was shocked and deeply saddened that something like this happened in my country. A country which relies heavily on tourism, where the market for foreign "weddings" is on the rise. Articles on local blogs and social networks show that most Maldivian share my sentiments. I was equally shocked and flabbergasted that an incident like this was reported in a local English language newspapers, with word to word translation of the reading at the ceremony, ensuing which, the story was picked up and reproduced in several major international newspapers.
It is a fact that a free media is important to a democracy. The media plays a crucial role in todays world. It is the conscious keeper, watching over the functionaries of society and it attempts to attend to the wrongs in our system by bringing them to the knowledge of general public, hoping for rectification.
But there is an often neglected but an important aspect to media, it is called responsible journalism. No content should be published in the sole intention of expanding readership. The editors of online newspapers know well that regional readership is a thing of the past and anything that they publish on their website can and will be viewed globally. If the media aspires to become a respected institution, it should make a genuine effort to strike the precarious balance between engaging content, entertaining the reader, and possible consequences of their reportage with national interest at heart. There are certain domestic issues that do not need to be broadcast world over.
This particular incident happened in a secluded tourist resort, and could have been handled without it being reported on BBC, CNN, The Telegraph, The Independent, China News and all big name news outlets of the world. Just because an article can attract traffic to a website does not justify its publication. It is quite evident, the approach of some branches of the media to this story was not only irresponsible but also positively damaging to the dream destination image of this country.
I also found it hard to believe that heads of government offices were giving out interviews about the incident to foreign media. I thought the government would be doing everything that they possibly could to contain the problem and mitigate the damages. Top level government officials answering questions by foreign media in the hope of lessening the impact may have just attracted more attention to the event.
I hope this is the last incident of this kind to ever happen in this country. We need to make people more aware that tourism is no fair game, but each and every tourist should be treated with care and respect. It is the money that they spend here, that drives our economy. It is the revenue from the tourism industry that help us survive as a nation and as a country.
One more thing. I got married a few years back, and like all Maldivians, I had a muslim wedding ceremony. A good share of the ceremony was conducted in Arabic, and like most Maldivians, I have absolutely no clue what they said. Hmmm.
Laterx.
www.subcorpus.net
Muslim countries are not on our vacation destination list.
We got a good laugh out of it. ps. Could you have had a Christian wedding ceremony if you had wished to or do the followers of Moe-ham-head ban such things?
I’d rather vacation in a Mexican jail!
I was equally shocked and flabbergasted that an incident like this was reported in a local English language newspapers
You're equally disturbed that it was reported in the local English language, are you? Unsuspecting tourists were treated like pigs and you are as disturbed by the reporting as by the treatment?
I think a sense of proportion needs to be developed here.
What else should you expect from a gutter religion?
A lot of stuff that we Westerners think is “cute” or “fun” is actually quite bad for us.
Yup. I stick to the good ole USA.
There are very few places outside the states I have any interest in. I’d like to visit Australia and New Zealand, maybe take a look at the Amazon basin and Iceland would be kind of neat.
You want reporting of the truth suppressed for your own advantage? Typical Muslim!
You think they should have tried to ignore it? How would that have helped? The cat was already out of the bag. It would have looked even worse if they had chosen to keep their mouths shut, it would have made them appear complicit and look like what happened didn't matter to them.
Talking about it openly, showing that the behavior was unacceptable, IS the only way to "mitigate the damages." Muslims should take note of this and not be so quiet about the extremists in their midst. They should speak out, and speak out LOUDLY whenever there is a terrorist attack. Keeping your mouth shut only makes it look like you agree with what was done.
A great service has been done for the readers world-wide who need information to help them choose where to vacation.
nope, no choices ... its only muslim weddings for us ...
that is one reason why foreigners cannot legally get married in maldives :(
But i hear they parliament is trying their best to amend this ... but its not easy when a country is 100% muslim ... but i think we will eventually bow down to pressure ... as our economy is heavily dependent on tourism ...
Thought we are 100% mulsim, alcohol and pork is legally and readily available to tourists in tourist facilities across the country ... :)
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