Some are not miserable enough to deserve help

Today, I was visiting a shelter for boys - some of them are orphans, others had abusive parents. I was expecting fairly miserable conditions, and that was exactly what I found. 31 little creatures and a handful of teachers living in a two storey bungalow with no garden or playground. Iron furniture - double-deck beds and chest-high closets - cramming their tiny rooms. There's not enough of even this basic iron furniture - since not every boy has a bed, they tend to pile up their mattresses in the middle of the room and sleep all together, hugging each other like little kittens.

I was lucky to visit the shelter during school holidays, so I got to meet most of the boys. They are truly wonderful creatures - curious, friendly and lively. They are flocking around a table with colourful books, curious about animals, places, Apache Indians and ancient Egypt. Unfortunately, for some of the boys, these colourful books are the only education they will ever receive. There are 5 boys in the shelter, whose parents forgot or lost their birth certificates, the kids were condemned "stateless" and now, no school will accept them for studies.

While we are flipping through the bright pages of children's encyclopedia, Jeroen - a young volunteer teacher from the Netherlands - is telling me snippets from the life of the shelter. What really amazes and puzzles me, is that the shelter runs completely on voluntary donations - the state doesn't pay a penny to the shelter. There are 2 Chinese kids in the shelter, the rest are Tamil boys. The shelter is not allowed to take on Malay kids, because they cannot provide Halal food and they don't have prayer rooms. The shelter does not comply with these demands because Halal food is more expensive and there is not enough space as it is to accommodate an extra prayer room . Yet, since there are no Malay kids, there is no govenrment support. Kind of a vicious circle.

On my way back home, it is not the scars on the little bodies, nor the skinny arms and short cropped hair, nor the 5 boys who cannot go to school that hover on my mind, it is the sticky thought that the state refuses to help the shelter. I cannot believe that there may be a reason enough to decide that one shelter might not deserve to be supported. Selective welfare is like someone, trying to decide that you are less miserable than another, or you are miserable all right, but you are not important enough to be helped. When I think of those little boys, I cannot imagine who would dare to judge that they should be left to the mercy of voluntary donations.

Isn't charity sexy?

Yesterday, I was at another big Indian wedding here in Malaysia, and I was talking to one of the girls about charity. She is carving out time in her busy work schedule to do some charity work, and add purpose to her life. She confessed that, in the beginning, it was not easy to talk publicly about her charity work. Even now, most people would ask: "Why are you wasting your time?"

Angelina Jolie is a UNHCR (UN agency for refugees) Goodwill Ambassador.

This stuck in my mind and I started thinking, isn't charity something so fulfilling and amazing? No, to tell you the truth, at least in Malaysia, charity is completely not sexy. Here, most of the organisations in the non-profit or charity sphere are dominated by foreigners. People from all around the world are eager to come and work for little or no reward to solve problems Malaysians don't want to even acknowledge.

On the other hand, Malaysia has a large proportion of very rich people. Their wives, who don't need to earn an income beyond "pocket money", often end up doing some thing or another to keep them occupied. Besides the bustling social life, there are really two options - either open a little business, a pet project, such as jewelery, cooking or fashion; or, as an alternative, find a job - a busy-job, not a purpose-job. And some do charity, sporadicly and somewhat apathetically, "soft charity", something like making glamor shots to raise awareness in non-controversial, although surely important, issues.

Wouldn't it be great if more affluent women got involved in charity, and I mean hard-core charity, the not sexy kind of charity, something a bit controversial and not generally liked. If these rich women could meet eye to eye some of the most vulnerable and marginal communities in Malaysia, talk to them, understand them and sympathise with them, wouldn't that be amazing? I'm convinced it would make a huge difference in this society.

How to donate in Estonia

I've been donating 5% of my income every month. Well, since I started having an income. It does feel amazing. But this is not what I was going to share.

From day one, when I decided to give away X amount of money to make this world a better place, I bumped into the question: "Who do I give the money to?" When you only have a little to share, you want to be sure that even this little bit is going to make a difference.

I know there is a bit of my money in this amazing incubator for the prematurely born babies.

Here is the dilemma - those who truly need the money (grass-root NGOs) usually do not have the voice to ask for it, and those who look sleek and credible (big foundations and charities) seem rich enough, where a little drop that I can offer will hardly make any difference. And then there is another dilemma - are the little players efficient enough to really make the difference, and are the big players going to channel my money to the charity or their own administration?

In the end of the day, you just want to buy that vaccination or a textbook for a kid, and not get your money lost among the expenses of running the charity.

And then there is another question - how can I reach out to the most vulnerable people? And who are the most vulnerable people?

I decided to donate my money in Estonia, because that is where I am from. But I live in Malaysia, do charitable work here, and the misery of people and problems that I encounter here, in Malaysia, seem so enormous, that nothing in Estonia seems to match them. But then you can look at Burma (one of the least developed countries in the world), and problems in Malaysia seem like nothing to match.

I was getting increasingly overwhelmed, until, one day, I decided to take a deep breath and do it one step at a time. I decided to look at it from the perspective of one human being - a sick child in Estonia is just as unhappy as a sick child in Burma. Helping just one child will still reduce the amount of human suffering in the world, even if just by one child. And the idea is not in me alone being able to reach out to every single person in the world and to help the most miserable soul on the planet, but in every one of us helping at least one unfortunate being, making even the smallest contribution to make this world a better place.

With some kind of a peace of mind, I started looking into Estonian charitable causes, I donated to some hospitals, and... I got stuck again. I just couldn't find decent information on which would be the best cause to donate to. And then I came across a donation portal on the website of Swedbank - one of Estonia's biggest banks - it had it all nice and clear. It might not be good enough if you are running a donor organisation, but it is more than enough for a private individual.

I want to share the link with everyone: https://www.swedbank.ee/private/about/support/donate/projects (you can see it in English if you press ENG in the corner of the banner picture), and I hope that at least every Estonian, who comes across this blog article, will feel like giving. It is so easy, and so amazingly fulfilling!

Change

I have always believed in America, despite all the shame and criticism it has been facing over the past years. Listen, guys, we've all had our bad leaders! The previous president of Estonia, Mr Rüütel, was not in too much favour. And sometimes, we re-elect our bad leaders - Mr Rüütel used to be comrade Rüütel and head the Communist Party of Estonia when it was still a part of the USSR.


What amazes me is how some countries, those which are truly democratic, are able to change. Change in spite of anything. Americans have proven to the whole world that they are able to change. Democracy is not a mere word there, it is reality. This is particularly striking on the background of some other self-appointed democracies, where power swiftly changes from one closet-tyrant to another. Or better yet, where power doesn't change hands at all, the tyrant changes his titles, so as to keep the nice theatrical smile to the rest of the world, while pointing his finger at a fig-leave constitution.

I am not fond of political speeches, since I've written a score and I know how they come about. But this time, I was keeping my breath reading Obama's victory speech. It was inspiring and sincere. I congratulate Americans on their choice. And I want to thank them too, for, as one of my friends said, I was able to wake up to a bit better world this morning.

The picture in this blog is taken from Postimees.

Is Ukraine laughable?

I'm not following the news too much these days, but once in a while, I do come across the news on Russian TV channels. Predictably, they all start with Putin's 10 minutes on how good has life become in Russia, but here I'm risking to drift away... I was actually going to write about Ukraine.

Since Ukraine has chosen to start "westernising", particularly, since the latest turmoils didn't end up in the change of direction eastwards, all the news from and about Ukraine have been tinted by desperate attempts of sarcasm. Political maneuvering in Ukraine is never called anything but "the circus" or "playing democracy". Everything that comes out of this country is ridiculed by the Russian news agencies.

There is one thing I particularly dislike about the Russian foreign policy - the attitude "you are either with us, or against us". When it comes to humans, such kind of idealism is a sign of immaturity. Russia could do much better than kindergarten style whining and bullying.

Predictable surprises

The news from Russia today were all predictable and familiar like deja vu - flexing the oil-muscle (this time for Ukraine) and scheming to eternalise Putin's power. BBC's correspondent says that Putin's announcement came as a shock. I think a twist like that was predictable. Putin announced that he might aim for the post of prime minister of Russia after his presidential term. Will Russia become a parliamentary "democracy" now? Time will show. At least there are no limits to the number of terms one can serve as a prime minister, and that is something with potential for eternity.

On the positive side - my respect towards Ukrainian election "circus" is growing. Messy as it is, it looks exactly like the first steps of a new democracy. As one of the Ukrainian politicians wisely said - no-one knows the outcome beforehand, and that what makes it a democracy after all.

Bucketful of nonsense

I do follow Russian news to some extent – to be aware of “another” opinion – but there are limits to how much nonsense one can take. With years, Russian news experience has become increasingly painful. I’m talking about the kind of pain one feels watching people embarrassing themselves.

Today, I managed to sit through the weekly summary news on the main Russian TV channel, the ORT. The amount of wrinkles on my face must have increased considerably from all the frowning and grimacing.

First, I felt a blow of nostalgia, some kind of memory about my Soviet childhood. The new prime minister of Russia – a mister Nobody promoted by the President out of the complete blue – got unprecedented support by the parliament, in fact, the highest ever in Russian history. Who would have expected such an approval of the President’s protégé?

The new prime minister of Russia is a separate long story to tell. It is the predictable big surprise before the parliamentary and presidential elections – a strange move both anticipated and puzzling.

Then, there was a 15-minute report on the President’s moves over the past week, with lots of quoting his remarkable opinions and praise to his foresight, consideration, wisdom. Only the words “our father”, “his holiness”, and “the great teacher” were not uttered in the report, although they were strongly implied on.

Then, in the best Soviet traditions, the reports moved over to bashing every bit of news from abroad.

When a reporter started mocking Ukrainian democratic attempts with a lot of vigour and sappiness, I thought that the Russian propaganda machine has no mercy to those who dare to turn away the almighty Russian supporting hand, such as Ukraine, Georgia or the former Soviet “allies”. I could only laugh bitterly at the blatant burial of Ukrainian democracy on Russian TV. Pathetic as it may seem to some, at least Ukraine is still struggling. Russia, on the other hand, has long lost the lust for fighting for the democracy, and has contently moved to blindly loving and idealising of those in power.

Nostalgia, amazement and disgust, were then replaced by a strong sense of lunacy, when yet another report looked deep into the last performance of Osama bin Laden on TV. The suggestion that bin Laden has never existed and is a myth created by CIA, skilfully costumed, enacted and publicised “in the best Hollywood traditions”, only to boost the ratings of Republicans and Bush in particular made me speechless. This conspiracy bullshit was the main message of the report – the report in the weekly summary news on the main Russian TV channel.

Like a little kinky touch, all the evening news shows on this main Russian TV channel end with a little extra, produced specially for the Estonian Russians, the so-called local news. This is always a curious bit on how Russian propaganda is “seamlessly” brainwashing its foreign compatriots. But that, again, is a whole new story.

Goodbyes

Actually, I am faithful like a dog. At least, I have been very true to my profile picture. It has served me since the beginning of digital age, or at least, since the day it was digitalised from an ordinary film. The truth is, it was so long ago, I do not dare to admit its age.

Time goes on, we grow older, with all the good that comes out of it - in other words - we change. With this in mind, I have to officially and solemnly update my virtual image. From now on, I will appear on-line with a picture suitable to my age and real self. Do not be surprised that I change my profile photo with such a bang - I really have been true to it!

Ironically, I also have to announce this posting as my last personal, narcissistic, self-obsessed piece of writing (in other words, all this stuff that is overwhelming blogosphere). From now on, I'm dedicating this site exclusively to social blogging. But I will try to keep the not-so-serious style, at least where I can still laugh at the world.

Revolution

"There will be no splendid revolutionary breakthrough with oranges, tulips or roses in Russia... Our revolution, if it comes, will be red, because the Communists are almost the most democratic force in the country, and because it will be bloody." - Anna Politkovskaya, in her las book A Russian Diary. She was murdered in October 2006.

The Father of the Nation

Thirty eight percent of Russians believe that nobody but Putin can manage leadership of their country. A quarter of all Russians don't see anybody at all who can manage Russia. (Ненадежные люди) This is the result of persistent extermination of democracy in Russia throughout the Putin-era.

I have finally got my hands on "A Russian Diary" by Anna Politkovskaya - the book I've been itching to read. It wasn't exactly a holiday reading, but I could not put the book down while I was uselessly spending time in Phuket. I think this is one of the most disturbing books I have ever read. Now, I feel sorry and disappointed for the Russians.

Another result of my holiday readings is a curiosity about upcoming Russian elections. Estonia, Poland, Lithuania, USA and UK have already fallen victims of pre-election circus. Putin is exploiting the idea of Russia being besieged by the enemy, the same way he exploited Checnya in 1999/2000 and ultra-nationalist sentiments in 2003/2004. All these emotions are peas from the same pod - Russian nationalism and xenophobia - so eloquently put into "Russia for the Russians!" slogan.

(Office goodies. Source: Wikipedia)

So what will happen later this year and in March 2008? An article (Ненадежные люди) in a Russian paper half-ironically suggested the following scenario. [Following is my abridged translation of an excerpt from the article.]

"Long before March 2, 2008 - the "black day" in the calendar, when Russia will be forced to elect a new head of state during the next presidential elections - its citizens should start to cry: "How are you leaving us, the father?" («На кого ты нас, батюшка, покидаешь?») If the cries are loud and intensive enough, and if in addition to selfish bureaucrats and bootlicking politicians, simple people will join the cries - the whole apartment blocks, schools, factories and other working and non-working collectives, maybe even the international community, which has surprisingly started bullying Vladimir Putin lately, will understand that "the will of the people is the God's will". Like Kazakhs cannot live without Nazarbayev, like Tajiks will be lost like little children without Emomali Rahmon, like Azerbaijanis cannot deal with their difficulties without Aliyev family - the same way Russians will be orphans without Putin."

My guess is that nothing remarkable will happen in Russia during the following elections. Opinion polls indicate that hardly any changes will take place in the current composition of the Russian parliament Duma. Overwhelming majority will vote either for the Putin's party, or strongly por-Putin fictious parties. Pathetically, the clowns in the Communist party and Liberal Democrats (a very confusing name for those populist sensationalists) will be the only opposition.

My speculation is, however, that Putin will surprise the whole world by some unexpected twist in the presidential elections, which will catch everyone off-guard and guarantee his return to rein in 2012. He might even stay, defying all reason - who knows.

Secularism lost battle to Islam

I am a political optimist. I instinctively believe that humankind can only move towards a better world order.

I was born in the Soviet Union. My baby flus I spent at home watching funerals of Soviet leaders, who passed their reign postmortem, like good monarchs, to yet another life-long head of state.

My childhood years were spiced by the thrills and excitement of Gorbachev-era novelties - perestroika, glasnost and uskoreniye, which brought along a taste of freedom and market economy (although not the actual goodies).

Then came an unprecedented declaration of Estonian independence. Political maturing of my teen years, with the Singing Revolution, the Baltic Way and the unsuccessful August Coup, gave a different spin to my world views. What seemed absolutely unlikely just about a year earlier, suddenly became a reality - Estonia became free and could finally go its own way.

This way, all through my youth and into adulthood, brought us into Nato and the European Union, and into the age of blissful democratic-capitalist happiness. No wonder it made me a political optimist.

My naive optimism got an unpleasant blow this morning. It was a slap by the only readable Malaysian paper - the NST. A tiny news (Syariah court sole authority on Islam) in the corner of page n. announced that Syariah will have supreme authority over any issue involving Islam. The situation, in which "I am the only one who can judge my own actions", has been established and cut into the legal fabric of modern Malaysia.

Now, every non-Muslim Malaysian has to pray that none of their family or close relations go insane and convert into Islam. If that happens, you can call yourself doomed and hopeless. Syariah will give unarguable priority to a Muslim (or Islamic cause) in any argument, and there is no-one who will take your side since anything concerning Islam is in the realm of Islamic court to judge. Here goes secularism - welcome religious dogma to judge our hapless fates!

This was another step further from the separation of legislative, executive and judicial power - such a classical combination to guarantee justice and equality.

Russian people dislike Estonia

Sergei Matvienko, the son of the mayor of St. Petersburg, announced today that he is giving up his Estonian residency, withdrawing all his business interest and selling off his property in Estonia (Демонтаж Сергея Матвиенко). The announcement comes one month after the Bronze Soldier events, which apparently triggered his decision. What was he waiting for so long? Call me a realist, but I have hard time believing that a rich businessman would give up good profits for an arguable mater of ideology.

The decision is Mr. Matvienko’s to make. I cannot say that I am devastated by the prospect of loosing a bunch of filthy-rich “new Russians” residing on a private island in Tallinn. Neither do I believe that their absence is going to be a blow on Estonian economy. In this situation, I want to say a simple British “hmm…” with a shrug.

It is a different matter that worries me in the news – the decision came under the pressure of acutely negative Russian public opinion towards Estonia. Apparently, Mr. Matvienko has been under fire for his Estonian business long before the last month’s scandal. What irks the Russians in this matter? According to the news, it is the idea that a rich Russian businessman is investing into the economy of a hostile neighbour, while Russia could do with more investments into its own economy.

A public opinion poll, conducted by a Russian company earlier in May, shows that 53% of Russians support breaking all diplomatic ties with Estonia (Россияне наполовину порвали с Эстонией). It looks like all but the 3% who did not know how to answer the question, disapproved of the decision to move the Bronze Soldier. Curiously, if I had to answer in the same poll, I would not find a box to tick, which would properly represent my view on the matter – supporting or understanding the Estonian side is not even an option.

President Putin openly announced that Estonians had betrayed his farther who was fighting in Estonia in WWII and, at one point, had to hide from the Nazis in the forest (Behind Putin's Estonia Complex). Estonian country folks, who were bringing food to the hiding Russian soldiers, eventually gave them up to the Germans. It was a twisty story. No wonder Russian president doesn’t like Estonians. But Russians love their president, so here you go.

Estonians, however, do not share similar sentiments. No matter how much Estonians despise Russian state-sanctioned propaganda and brainwashing against our country, we can hardly match the vigour and imagination of Russians in showing our indignation.

At the same time, in a Russian town of Stavropol, two gangs met up in a forest and had a massive fight (Чем дальше в лес, тем больше скинхедов). Hundreds (!) of young people were beating each other, killing one Chechen student and injuring many more, in the course of “resolving misunderstandings”, while police was watching the events from a distance. The Russian news report that the clash between apparently Slavic and Caucasian (from the Caucasus) gangs was of purely ethnic character, but there is no official comment on the events.

Russian racism is not conspiracy, paranoia or urban legend – it is a reality. Now, do remind me – why did they call Estonians Nazis and fascists?

PS Links in the posting are pointing to the news, from which the information is gathered. The Moscow Times article about Putin is very good (and in English). Other articles are in Russian. The picture is from Postimees.
PPS Being of half-Slavic and half-Estonian origin, such postings do not come easy, despite the mocking tone.

Afterthoughts

A few illustrations to Russian anti-Estonian propaganda. This time, it is neither official, political or media originated fury - this is every-day life for you.

The sign on the shop door says: "Attention! There are no products from Estonia, and there will never be any again!"

The sign on the restaurant door says: "No entry for Estonians"

The billboard shows a road sign to Estonia being crossed over and says: "All other countries without restrictions and with friendly prices"

The sign says: "No entry for Estonians and dogs"

While Russia seems to be far from reconciliation, the life in Estonia is moving on, almost as usual. I suspect that there is still a lot of emotion boiling under an apparently peaceful surface, but I believe in the calm-loving nature of our people.

After weeks of silence and no-talk on the controversial issue of the Bronze Soldier events, my Russian friends in Estonia have started sharing brief comments. I guess everyone has much to say, but no-one really wants a discussion. I am amazed at the deep shock that these events have caused.

At least one consolatory observation I have made over the last weeks. While many Russians in Estonia do not approve of the government's decision, many more have said that Russia should have no business in this, but it has pursued its interests nevertheless. This unacknowledged fear of Russian meddling seems to be the only point that everyone agrees on. And that is a refreshing sign after all. We all want our future in Europe, and there is no other way.

PS. For the sake of intellectual property rights and in response to a comment on this posting, I have to say that the pictures used here were not taken by me. They first appeared (as video, not still images) in a TV news and have been later forwarded through internet without any reference to the source. Therefore, all I can say is that they were found on-line.

In the information vacuum

BBC news irk me - inadequate, Russian-minded, inaccurate. I had to look for the new channels of information on the events in Estonia. Actually, the focus is slowly shifting to Moscow where Estonian embassy has been literally sieged by young Russian activists. Today, Estonian and Swedish ambassadors were attacked physically.

Lately, I have turned to the Estonian news channels for my daily dose of information. The coverage has been perfect - fast, factual and with a typically Estonian healthy dose of scepticism. Today, this channel was cut off. Due to cyber-attacks on the information systems in Estonia, I have not been able to access important sites all day. BBC mentioned these cyber-attacks in quotation marks - I guess they have no need to access any of the major Estonian sites.

It might sound too new-age to be a problem, but for a country, which held the first on-line parliamentary election in the world, disruption of e-services is a serious problem.

Now, I had to turn to Russian news sites - at least they indicate the area of new developments in the conflict, albeit under a thick sauce of anti-Estonian propaganda. Then, I turned to the blogs.

Along the way, I found a great article on the true ethnic picture of Estonia. I have referred to this blogger earlier with a pinch of admiration. Guistino, an American in Estonia, has a nice easy language and a lot of knowledge about my country. His reactions to the latest events are an interesting read.

BBC is biased towards Russia

For the last couple of days, I have been reading BBC news holding my breath, and then noisily exhaling and chanting: “this must be an objective unbiased view.” But it is not! BBC is neither objective nor unbiased in their portrayal of the recent events in Estonia.

BBC predominantly quotes Russian officials, who do not spare energy pouring dirt over our government and spreading the most despicable lies, leaving the Estonian officials only a marginal place for comments. As result, Estonia has appeared as a naughty fascist country wanting to rewrite history and discriminating its Russian population.

Many important details are either mentioned on the sidelines or skipped alltogether. There has been no mention that the urgency to relocate (not remove or demolish) the Bronze Soldier monument from the city centre to a military cemetery has been growing with the increasing unrest and demonstrations at its site, that the hasty move finally happened as reaction to unprecedented looting and vandalising on the central streets of Tallinn. The fact that one demonstrator was killed through the knife of another demonstrator and not as result of clashes with police has not been mentioned.

(Picture above: Looting a shop in Tallinn city centre. Source: Postimees)

The most disappointing, however, is that the BBC has not shared half a word on the situation of Russian population in Estonia apart from citing furious nationalist comments of Russian officials on the topic.

Political scene in independent Estonia is probably the best example of “ethnic issues” in the country. At the wake of our democracy 15 years ago, we got a bunch of Russian and other national parties in addition to the classical political parties on the spectrum from socialists to conservatives. A few years ago, such parties vanished into the foggy history, their activists joining various political parties based on their ideology and platform. National parties had lost their urgency and electorate – people did not associate any more based on ethnicity, but based on their political views.

Please excuse my conspirative tone, but this happy time must have been a disappointment to someone who started stirring up forgotten ethnic feelings (=intolerance) anew and bringing people to the Bronze Soldier monument, telling them that they are discriminated and hated.

(Picture: Members of Russian parliamentary delegation inspecting the Bronze Soldier for signs of damage. Source: Postimees)

The latest news about “Russian officials lambasting Estonia” quotes many insults and lies spat out by the Russian parliamentary delegation during an official visit to our country. It has little, however, on the despicable snooping and unruly behaviour of those Russian officials – surprise visits to the places where rioters were held overnight, examining toilets of detention centres for blood stains and the Bronze Soldier for signs of damage, refusing to attend a press conference at the Ministry of Foreign affairs, and only inviting Russian media for an alternative press conference held at the Russian embassy. And there was not a word about the Russian officials demanding Estonian government to step down, which they willingly shared right before the official and supposedly diplomatic visit to our country.

BBC quotes Estonian ambassador to the Russian Federation as saying that Russian youth outside Moscow embassy has been "shouting, committing vandalism, writing on the walls of the embassy, throwing stones" as if this data was subjective and unconfirmed. It has not mentioned a word about Estonian embassy workers being stranded in the building for six days now, about OMON (Russian special security forces) having to escort the ambassador out of the building. Neither has BBC mentioned threats by the Russian youth in Moscow to demolish the Estonian embassy building with hammers and sickles, turn back every car with an Estonian licence plate at the border with Russia, or pictures of insults on the walls of the embassy and vandalising our flag. To be sure, Russian authorities have ignored all the pleas to secure safety and order around the embassy.

BBC quotes Russian news agency and Russian public officials for facts on the events in a different country – a country, which is sovereign and independent, on the events of a purely internal nature. It is not only unjust and biased – it is insulting!