Another busy day ahead of me, though aware of the everyday hectic schedule had a rather late last night much as every night, owed to the social behaviour rehearsed by everyone. The time is 8.00 a.m. I enter the office in a rather weary state of mind and go through my task-in folder to determine how my energy for the day needs to be allocated.
On a normal day I contribute nothing fruitful till my breakfast cum coffee fix at ten thirty, however my work agenda for today seems that it needs some amendment. For I have the hectic task of transferring some funds for a project that I am responsible for, and that would mean getting involved into something productive before my mind switches on the ‘work’ button. As if I have am to even think of saving some energy and get along doing the rest of my work for the day I better start off going to the bank right away.
Stop right there! Hold your mockery! Despite how simple the task may be given that you have not carried out the certain task in Male’, the environment I live in requires any sort of dealing even the simplest withdrawal and deposit with a bank only possible for those in possession of the highest patience, guts of a primitive trader and free time of a kindergartner. I for one person sadly not encompassing any of the above mentioned characteristics, hence put me in such a situation to label this otherwise would be simple task on my top hectic list.
If you are thinking that you are reading the most blasphemous ideology given of a bank well, I do not blame you but let me define what a visit to the bank is like in the Maldives, so as you can have an understanding. First of all the bank starts to operate at 8.00 a.m. well nothing wrong with that, but then again similar to myself most employees who work there had a late last night and hence their mindset is not in the perfect state to operate. A more sever issue is that it stops operating at 1.30 p.m. and when I say it stops it fails to provide any service after that time frame. Meaning that the bank is only open comparatively for a short period given that government sector operates departments work from 8.00 a.m. till 2.30 p.m., around 5.00 p.m. for private sector firms and even up to 11.00 p.m. for some.
However the real issue being that, during this short time frame, despite some steps that bank branches had taken to get more organised in dealing with customers in recent years (automated allocation of queue positions) hardly would any one refer to the service as efficient. At any given time slot after 9.00 a.m. if you are to enter any given branch of any given bank, you would come across endless queues of customers waiting to be serviced and a waiting area filled with people trying to get hold of the attention of the bank teller. Sometimes you come to wonder if you are in a bank or at a primitive local fish market for all the pulling pushing and shouting that you might experience.
If you are wondering how come the allocation of queue positioning fails to address the issue, well the reason being is that there is such a demand for the services by customers that a typical waiting time for your turn if lucky could be between half an hour to an hour. If unlucky, which consists the most your number could be nothing anywhere close to a realistic position that would be serviced for the day. If by chance you had the free time of a kindergartner you could easily becomes a millionaire by obtaining appointment numbers from the system and selling them to the highest bidding customer, only if it was legal I am more than glad to shift career paths. A realistic and well practiced shot at getting your task done within a short time span at a bank branch would be to find someone who knows a teller or an employee at a bank branch who could carry out the task required ‘under the table’.
Snapping back to reality, well I see myself already running short of time to make my journey to the bank before everything starts going all berserk. Upon arrival I come to realise that I had been indeed arrived later than I projected for there seems to have gathered a considerable amount fellow myself who had come early to the bank. I take a respective queue number. Having had the rare opportunity to find an empty seat to sit in till my number comes up I shift to wonder, what can be done to change this hectic procedure, for myself being in the youth find this taking a toll on me everyday I practice this expedition.
Indeed thinking from a simple perspective the blame goes to the banks. For it is putting its customers on otherwise would be risky position, failing to provide their service anywhere close to an efficient level. Policies such as charging on conventional services such as using the ATM and introduction of new services well practiced around the world such as telephone and internet banking would bring some relief to this issue. I for one person would even for a nominal fee would opt for a more convenient option that what is open right now.
Leaving the world of fantasising about solutions to the many issues that need to be addressed I enter reality upon seeing my number on the screen, I approach the counter to be received by a jadedly smiling teller. After a simple procedure I am done transferring the required funds. Fifteen minutes had passed in the bank. Luckily managed to start off my day rather well having had achieved my task of the day. Time to head off for breakfast with friends and then head to work at 11.30 a.m. to contribute something productive to my company.
Tuesday, January 23, 2007
Thursday, January 18, 2007
Expatriate workforce in the maldives
The expatriate work force in the Maldives keeps on growing day by day. According to employment ministry’s website, by the end of November 2006, the total has reached 53329(1). This means that around a sixth of the population are foreigners. The question is whether this is a problem or not.
It can be said that the expatriate work force is essential for the country’s economy given the scarcity. The economy woudn’t definitely be growing in its current pace if this labour force is not available. We cannot keep on complaining that the number of foreign workers are increasing. It is obvious these workers fuel the growth of our economy. Inaddition the income received by the government in terms of work permit fee, provides a substantial part of the government spending. If the government starts to charge the amount it proposed in 2007 the work permit fee will contribute more than 2% of the government budget.
Labour can be seen a scarce resource in the Maldives even though the ‘unemployed’ are increasing. But this unemployed group can rather be seen as voluntarily unemployed.
One can argue that these people volunteer to be unemployed because of the availability of cheap labour from neighbour countries. Well, it’s true that many young school leavers refuse to work as unskilled labour at low pay. This is particularly true in the capital. The youngsters in Male’ refuse to work in blue-collar jobs which most of them consider gross. The picture in the islands is different. There are few job opportunities available in offices and administrative area, but many school leavers set off for fishing right after leaving the school. The problem of unemployment is less for male-school leavers in the island.
Apart from this, the employers tend to employee foreigners too for some reasons. One can be that the labour turn over is low when foreigners are employed. Maldivians in the private sector tend to change their jobs quickly some times as soon as two weeks. When a better opportunity is infront the custom is to leave the job to go for the better job. That’s fair enough. Everyone wants to go for the better one. Since the private sector does not offer much if not any benefits for the workers. So the main motivation for the people who changes jobs is money.
So what can be done to change the trend. Even though the foreign labour force helps in the economic growth, they withdraw a substantial amount from it. There need to be more ways of motivating the voluntarily unemployed group to get employed. The private sector needs to introduce a system which provides work benefits for its work force.
1. http://http://www.employment.gov.mv/Resources/Statistics/2006/Occupation/november%202006.pdf
It can be said that the expatriate work force is essential for the country’s economy given the scarcity. The economy woudn’t definitely be growing in its current pace if this labour force is not available. We cannot keep on complaining that the number of foreign workers are increasing. It is obvious these workers fuel the growth of our economy. Inaddition the income received by the government in terms of work permit fee, provides a substantial part of the government spending. If the government starts to charge the amount it proposed in 2007 the work permit fee will contribute more than 2% of the government budget.
Labour can be seen a scarce resource in the Maldives even though the ‘unemployed’ are increasing. But this unemployed group can rather be seen as voluntarily unemployed.
One can argue that these people volunteer to be unemployed because of the availability of cheap labour from neighbour countries. Well, it’s true that many young school leavers refuse to work as unskilled labour at low pay. This is particularly true in the capital. The youngsters in Male’ refuse to work in blue-collar jobs which most of them consider gross. The picture in the islands is different. There are few job opportunities available in offices and administrative area, but many school leavers set off for fishing right after leaving the school. The problem of unemployment is less for male-school leavers in the island.
Apart from this, the employers tend to employee foreigners too for some reasons. One can be that the labour turn over is low when foreigners are employed. Maldivians in the private sector tend to change their jobs quickly some times as soon as two weeks. When a better opportunity is infront the custom is to leave the job to go for the better job. That’s fair enough. Everyone wants to go for the better one. Since the private sector does not offer much if not any benefits for the workers. So the main motivation for the people who changes jobs is money.
So what can be done to change the trend. Even though the foreign labour force helps in the economic growth, they withdraw a substantial amount from it. There need to be more ways of motivating the voluntarily unemployed group to get employed. The private sector needs to introduce a system which provides work benefits for its work force.
1. http://http://www.employment.gov.mv/Resources/Statistics/2006/Occupation/november%202006.pdf
Monday, January 01, 2007
Creating Incentives and Opportunities for Productive People
The medieval China was bright lit by new inventions and ideas. During the Sung period (AD 960 -1270), the Chinese invented paper, waterwheels, water clock, gunpowder and (possibly) compass. These inventions would have made the economy of the country to boom rapidly, but surprisingly the country’s economy stagnated. It was Europeans who made use of these inventions and grew faster. Why was medieval China stagnated? A research done by an economist (William Baumol) in 1990 states that China was stagnated because of the low social status accorded to the individuals engaged in entrepreneurship, commerce and industry. So medieval china did not develop an entrepreneurial class and their technological advances were not translated into economic growth.
There are these kinds of signs in the Maldivian economy as well. Some of the most important industries are considered to be of industries for lower social class. Yet people in these industries could be individuals with high potential to innovate. Normally these kinds of ‘social classification’ have come culturally but even now we can see that social division is being fed and grown. Resultantly it acts as a moral disincentive to the productive people.
For example, fisheries sector is considered to be a sector for people from lower social class. Consequently, the industry was handicapped with only a few advances by our own fishermen. Most of the innovations to the industry were adopted from a foreign country. The point I want to highlight is that this is not a problem with fishermen. Fishermen work very hard but they lacked incentives to develop. These disincentives are mainly driven by their lower social class.
An opposite interesting case is the social status associated with women. This is a case that virtually applied to the whole world. As social status given to women are improved, the productivity and hence the economic growth increased in many countries. Women participation in the economy increased significantly.
It can be said that there are few opportunities and incentives for creative and innovative people in the Maldives. Vulnerability and Poverty Assessment survey done by Ministry of Planning and National Development in both 1997 and 2004 shows that self-employment and employers in the country has fallen significantly. Number of employers have halved while the self-employment fell by 19% in 7 years. These numbers suggest something. In my opinion, it is stating that the Maldivians are facing hardships in starting businesses and continuing them. There are huge barriers in front of people who are trying to make a career themselves. There are powerful forces pushing new entrants down. It could be the bureaucracy and laws or anti-competitive practices by leading business people or low incentives to individuals who want to create something on their own. It is a combination of these and several other factors.
We need to change our way if thinking and avoid harmful social classifications to make our people more productive. We need to provide incentives (both moral and economic) to make them think, research and find new ideas and technology. We need to encourage and appreciate our people’s ideas to make it fruitful.
References
Bernanke, B.S, Olekalns. N, Frank, R.H. (2005), Principles of Macroeconomics, Australia
Ministry of Planning and National Development (2004), Vulnerability and Poverty Assessment II – Preliminary Findings.
There are these kinds of signs in the Maldivian economy as well. Some of the most important industries are considered to be of industries for lower social class. Yet people in these industries could be individuals with high potential to innovate. Normally these kinds of ‘social classification’ have come culturally but even now we can see that social division is being fed and grown. Resultantly it acts as a moral disincentive to the productive people.
For example, fisheries sector is considered to be a sector for people from lower social class. Consequently, the industry was handicapped with only a few advances by our own fishermen. Most of the innovations to the industry were adopted from a foreign country. The point I want to highlight is that this is not a problem with fishermen. Fishermen work very hard but they lacked incentives to develop. These disincentives are mainly driven by their lower social class.
An opposite interesting case is the social status associated with women. This is a case that virtually applied to the whole world. As social status given to women are improved, the productivity and hence the economic growth increased in many countries. Women participation in the economy increased significantly.
It can be said that there are few opportunities and incentives for creative and innovative people in the Maldives. Vulnerability and Poverty Assessment survey done by Ministry of Planning and National Development in both 1997 and 2004 shows that self-employment and employers in the country has fallen significantly. Number of employers have halved while the self-employment fell by 19% in 7 years. These numbers suggest something. In my opinion, it is stating that the Maldivians are facing hardships in starting businesses and continuing them. There are huge barriers in front of people who are trying to make a career themselves. There are powerful forces pushing new entrants down. It could be the bureaucracy and laws or anti-competitive practices by leading business people or low incentives to individuals who want to create something on their own. It is a combination of these and several other factors.
We need to change our way if thinking and avoid harmful social classifications to make our people more productive. We need to provide incentives (both moral and economic) to make them think, research and find new ideas and technology. We need to encourage and appreciate our people’s ideas to make it fruitful.
References
Bernanke, B.S, Olekalns. N, Frank, R.H. (2005), Principles of Macroeconomics, Australia
Ministry of Planning and National Development (2004), Vulnerability and Poverty Assessment II – Preliminary Findings.
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