Archive for Views

Give Back To Japan

// March 17th, 2011 // 1 Comment » // News, Views

The Maldivian people have had a long standing friendship with the Japanese people and their government. Japan has contributed immensely to our development and they continue to aid us in developmental projects, infrastructure, education and by the masses of their people who come here as tourists.

It would be safe to say that each one of us has in one way or another been touched by the generosity of Japan’s people. Personally I have always remembered and been thankful to them for building Kalaafaanu School where I attended primary school.

I recently saw this building in Laamu Fonadhoo.

Tsunami Monument - Laamu Fonadhoo, Maldives

Funded by the people and govt of Japan, this monument is designed to commemorate the tsunami that struck Maldives on 26th December, 2004. This park is where the local community gathered on that day seeking Allah’s protection in the face of that calamity. The monument was officially unveiled on 26th December, 2006.

Maldivian Red Crescent has launched a relief fund for victims of the Japanese earthquake and tsunami. The decision to launch the fund was based on receipt of confirmation from the Japanese Red Cross that they would be willing to accept ‘unearmarked’ cash donations from the Maldivian Red Crescent on a bilateral basis. Japanese Red Cross has to date not launched an appeal for international assistance.

For now the mechanism that is set up is two bank accounts at the Bank of Maldives. The details of the accounts are as follows.

Account Name: Maldivian Red Crescent Japan Fund
MRF account Number: 7701-176022-004
USD account Number: 7701-176022-005

All donations will go to the Japanese people through the Japanese Red Cross.

Maldivian Red Crescent will simply facilitate the process of collecting and forwarding the generous donations of the Maldivian People to the Japanese People. Therefore this aid response probably will not be accompanied by an extravagant media campaign. However I believe the Maldivian people have enough to thank the Japanese people for and would come forward and take this opportunity to “Give Back to Japan”.

For more information please call the Maldivian Red Crescent headquarters in Male’ on 3341009.

Two Things To Keep In Mind When Applying For Jobs

// December 15th, 2009 // 2 Comments » // Views

I recently had to go through about 115 applicants for a job vacancy, to short list the candidates for interviews. I was sometimes surprised by their submissions. One or two had submitted nothing more than a copy of their National Identity Card. Many of them did not include a cover letter and most of their CVs were inadequate, incomplete or unprofessional.

I believe this should be covered in our school syllabus. After all, the purpose of schooling is to make us ready for employment. And if our students are not even aware of what a Cover Letter is by the time they leave school, let alone know how to write one, then our school syllabus is seriously lacking in the life skills that they are so keen to claim that they impart on the students.

I am not going to write in detail on how to write cover letters or CVs. You can Google and find out. But I just want to stress upon the importance of writing a good cover letter when you apply for a job. I am sure everyone is aware of the importance of the first impression of a candidate when he turns up for an interview. That is why we all make sure to dress nicely, act confidently and professionally when we go for interviews. Well, the first impression at the interview comes much later than the application itself. It is the Cover Letter that is the real first impression. It is the first chance that you get to show the employer that you are both qualified and capable of doing the job.

So always, always remeber to put in a lot of effort to write a good cover letter whenever you apply for anything. You should write a cover letter even if it is an application for something other than a job. For example, when you are applying for a scholarship. You can use the cover letter to sell your case on why you should be selected over the other applicants.

The other consistant mistake I noticed in the applicantions that I went through was the contact email address. These days it is important to include an email address, as the lack of one will almost always be taken negatively. But sometimes it is better not to give your email address in order to maintain a professional image. Can you guess when this might be the case?

It is better not to give your email address when your email address looks like one of these:

avoi@….com
revision.chamber@….com
foot_loose@….com
dhombetty@….com
fatstar@….com
cuvvay@….com
heartless123@….com
x.clusive@….com
i_meet_u@….com
ammati@….com
meekaakubaa_it_is_me@….com
push123@….com
bigaru@….com
incantation@….com
a.i.n.t@….com
exhotic@….com
munty_191@….com
prince_abubu@….com

Of course these are not taken directly from the application forms but they are derived from them. I know that these days we make email addresses when we are very young. And at that time we have a tendency to use nicknames in our email address. Or sometimes we try to make one that is more unique than the next person. Which is fine to use between friends. We can still continue to use our old email address for leisure. But when we go out into the professional work place, it is time to make one that is a little less embarassing.

Here are some general guidelines in choosing a professional email address.

  • It is fine to use any free email provider but it does not necessarily have to be limited to hotmail, live mail, yahoo or gmail. It can be any other provider of which there are many available. But care has to be taken to make sure your email address isn’t going to end up having something like address@sweaty.com, address@sexysuzy.com, address@bingbong.com or some other silly ending. If you think the domain is something you will find funny to see on a job application, then choose something else.
  • The email address should preferably be your name. If you can’t get your proper full name than it is alright to use initials. For example if your name is Ahmed Ibrahim and ahmedibrahim@…..com is not available then try ibrahimahmed or aibrahim or a_ibrahim or a.ibrahim. You can try to get one of these on all your choice email providers. Having meaningless, exhotic or funny words in your email address will reflect upon you and make you look unprofessional.
  • If you are not able to get a desired email, you can put indercores or dots in an appropriate manner. They should not be placed in a position that makes your email address hard to remember or read. For example it is better not to use ib_rahim@….com or ibr.ahim@….com. It is also not a good idea to end with an underscore. There should not be m.o.r.e_t.h.a.n_o.n.e undercore or dot in the email address.

If you can’t get a desired email address in one of the more popular email providers you can try ones that are less popular. For example the Global Mail Exchange is an excellent email provider that not many people have heared about. So chances are that your name might still be free for you to grab. What I like most about GMX is that they allow me to POP my mails using Mozilla Thunderbird. This really increases my efficiency and productivity and it is a far more convenient way to check my mail. GMX also lets users choose email addresses as short as 3 characters long while most other providers ask for a minimum of 6 characters.

At the moment GMX is also running a charity program whereby for each new user that signs up and then check mails again within 4 weeks, GMX will donate $1 to UNICEF to help schools in Africa. So go get your brand new professional email right away. :)

Hamid Ibrahim – Maldivian CG Guru

// September 10th, 2009 // 1 Comment » // Views

When I first heard of the Maakanaa Show which was being aired on the local VTV Channel it was described to me as being on par with animations coming out of Pixar. I was pleasantly surprised that finally Maldivian artists were developing such quality 3D art and animations. I have known for some time that there actually are talented and capable people in Maldives who could achieve this but that they simply lacked the (financial) motivation to put in the effort. I was very interested in checking out this groundbreaking show. But alas, when I finally got to see one of  the show’s episodes I was disappointed. I guess it was partly because I was having such high expectations. I mean, surely any animation that can be compared with Pixar’s has to be better than this. But on the other hand, the show really is groundbreaking in terms of being a fully animated show being produced in the Maldives.

If you want a sample of work by one Maldivian artist you can check out Hamid Ibrahim’s portfolio. My two favorite of his works on this site are the tropical wood tent and his depiction of the folk-lore based sea monster Ranamaari. In fact the latter was recently featured on a couple of the leading western computer art magazines. And if you check out this animation that he made just for fun, you can imagine the quality of work he can do if he was actually paid for it.

Maybe someday a Maldivian company will produce an animated feature film that can actually compare with Pixar. I know there are people with the talent and knowledge. There just needs to be the proper market for it.