I got elected into the Central Committee (2006) for the Maldivian Students' Association (UK) beginning of this year. It does come with a bit of work load, especially since the MSA website comes under my care now. I am working on revamping the site soon in an concerted effort to make it more useful for prospective and current Maldivian students in the UK, after all, the website acts as the center of communication for MSA activity. I am also trying to push for changes and activities that I think will help towards making MSA a real success story.

Quite a few seem to view MSA as a redundant establishment; as just another front of influence by our beloved government. It may be or may not be the case, however, what I do know is that it is a tool that can be manipulated for achieving good. There are a lot of difficulties the students face here. Everything from getting visa to finding accommodation has obstacles and difficulties littered along the way. Students are now required to spend about 2 weeks in Colombo in order to get a student visa for entry into UK. What the government has done to alleviate this hassle is not known by many - including the Minister of Education who recently visited the UK and met the students. The lovely Minister informed us all that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs has been asked and hasn't responded on the matter. So, hello Mr. Foreign Ministry and hello Ms. Education: can you please get these things sorted out before the world expires? I can understand there are more pressing matters which is precisely why I understandingly said "before the world expires" - that should give ample time, I hope.

There are a lot of areas that MSA can make itself useful. For example, new students are often fresh off the sandy beaches and are parting the safety net of family and friends for the first time. Thus, as can be expected, quite a few of the students also have to battle with the differences in culture. Apart from handling the silent but nonetheless prevalent racist attitudes, students also have to digest and find a solution to having a good time with the fellow British colleagues who on routine finish up day at university and then retire to alcohol for solace. In addition to obvious culture shocks, most of the students coming have never lived alone, never cooked, never managed a budgeted life etc. A student association can definitely help in preparing and offering help to students to settling in - from buying utensils, books, clothes and other gear to hunting for food and whipping up healthy, edible concoctions. It would do great benefit to build and maintain a healthy support group for all students, new and old. I know a bit too many students who freaked out at the behest of the world separating them from their loved ones. Not all who arrive have family/friends already in the UK to call and ask for help when needed. A familiar face, a familiar story and a familiar language does seem to go a long way in offering comfort. The MSA can facilitate a lot for the experienced students too. Part-time jobs, internships, holiday work and scholarships can all be facilitated by MSA. These are little things of importance that the association can achieve and should strive to offer.

By now, a few of you would probably jump up and say "but MSA is only a tiny student body run by students - in their own time". Yes! So what?s MSA to do? Organize yearly meetings and leech money from whoever would be kind enough to spare a few cash notes to be put into the good use of arranging "bilehmeerukohlevvun" as we Maldivians are so used to back home? A glance at the MSA constitution shows many an objective proudly listed. If there is a constitution outlining a modus operandi and goals to achieve, then it should be followed otherwise the objectives might as well all be replaced by the single word "naacharangy".

Lastly, I must note an interesting development this year. The government (Maldivian of course!) has "blessed" the MSA with the responsibilities of managing 9 Rosemont Avenue- a government owned house used for Maldivian student boarding and as an MSA activity hub. There hasn?t been proper (if any at all) maintenance done over the years, leaving the house in utterly poor conditions. The house is truly in an unholy mess. I sympathize with the students living there. Of course, all of this is justified by giving out the rooms in the house at a discounted rate. However, is that enough when the house breaks several UK housing rules? It doesn't even adhere to the fire and safety regulations. Jeez! Many students have raised their concerns over the matter and as everything political everywhere, a committee was created to "investigate". The committee has now compiled a report along with a prioritized list of renovations that would hopefully make the building decently habitable. This is all fine and dandy, but the funds for renovations has to be obtained from the government. Hopefully, there will be no difficulty this time, just as the Minister promised.

Now that vented out a few (MSA) things on my mind, I must say that I hope this year will be a very productive year for the association and the student community.

Yes, I AM around still.

Not much of my blogging lately I realize but I just can't seem to gather my thoughts into a coherent set to be written down. It is not about my thoughts being in disarray, not at all really. Rather than the inherent chaos attributable to one's thoughts throwing my thoughts into tantrums, it is more of my thoughts annihilating each other. You know, sort of like each thought invalidating the predecessor. So even though I have many things to say, on everything from social issues, politics to technology and life in general, I just can't say it! For, by the time I sit down to actually write about something that had caught my fancy for longer than 5 minutes, the thought processes would have forked into a quintillion or so offspring and each would lead down a entirely different path. Some of the thoughts would, inadvertently, end up questioning and evaluating the whole basis for me coming up the parent thought itself and then again fork into a gazillion or so subs that debate and evaluate the validity of the thought. I am sure that by then alarms would have gone off somewhere in the cognitive operations of my brain, unfortunately it goes unheeded as even more thought processes start off - some backtracking and invalidating the reasons that gave rise to a particular thought while others evaluate and consider a given thought as valid and excusable for the given circumstance.

This whole affair of thoughts can be perhaps compared to evolution: thoughts fighting for survival. Well, I am sure it is like evolution but I shall refrain from justifying this claim. I am writing this under extremely controlled circumstances and any foray into explaining how this is like evolution would probably kick off the starting domino piece for the eventual massive orgasm of thoughts where all have been annihilated and the very bit of creative license I invoked in comparing my thoughts to evolution would have been invalidated and the claim made void. This all may sound a bit weird (possibly) but I assure you - I am not exaggerating here.

Anyway, I am loosing the grip on my brain processes that allowed me to write this. Soon I may loose the grip entirely and that means this post would never make it to the blog. It would be erased and blasted into oblivion like many a post I've attempted to write over the past few days. I shall now retreat back to loony land.

Toodles.

Eid Mubarik to all, on the occassion of Eid ul Al-haa.

The winter break is (sadly) finally over and it is time to head back University, back to the lectures and books. This semester is going be busier than the last and there are a couple of exams littered around here and there throughout. Hopefully, it will be as fun and enjoyable as last semester.

I got back to Reading today after spending much of the entire 4 weeks off in Bristol. The train ride to Reading today was pretty much eventless. My room was freeeeeeezing when I came back, so much so that I was bothered enough to go out and shell out some money for a mini heater. It has made my room so much warmer since! The holidays could have been better but I don't really intend on complaining. I did get to settle several pressing business matters and work out some major personal dilemmas. All in all, the 4 weeks of holidays has seen me through some amazing mini-miracles that has set quite a few important things in seemingly the right direction. What more could I ask for eh?

Toodles.