Present-day Maldivians are a people in flux. The ‘modernity’ we experienced in the last decades has turned out to be largely economic and material, vesting us with a deep sense of unease about our own cultural and spiritual roots.
Partly, this is due to the new dynamics of identity formation, generated by forces resulting from globalization and increased exposure to the outside world. Through this process, an entire reference system has been replaced and modified and a new paradigm has emerged for us to follow in order to live coherent and meaningful lives.
However, this paradigm has not come readymade. Each of us in the community is putting bits and pieces together in a way that makes most sense to us—and then find common ground among our fellow Maldivians. A daunting task sometimes, but nevertheless fulfilling.“The moorings of the traditional reference systems are being eroded with new influences. Both western cultural influences as well as more than a whiff of the air of fundamentalist tendencies that are blowing in various parts of the world today have reached Maldivian shores. With the introduction of the multiparty system in June 2005 the various groups jostling to promote their worldviews and ideologies have clashed on occasion, resulting in harsh exchanges in the media. And more disturbingly, there have also been clashes between the police and members of the public. Street muggings, petty crimes and the abuse of hard drugs also have strikingly increased over the last few years.
“Rapid urbanization, globalization and other cultural and economic influences had changed the mindscapes and the imagination of the society without parallel developments in the country’s legislation and social norms, leaving the Maldivian community in a seemingly rootless void. The most unpleasant consequence of this state is the loss of feeling for the fellow man, members of the Maldivian community. For centuries, Maldivians have viewed themselves as members of an extended family. This mindset has come about, and reinforced over the years, from the closely-knit community of Maldivians where families were literally related to each other. The island geography of the nation and the close proximity of our living spaces have also contributed to this.
A philosophy of ‘each unto their own’ seems to prevail in the Maldives today, in the domain of politics, society and community values. Hence, social and cultural incoherence is not only a looming threat, but already, and to a large extent, a living reality that Maldivians are having to face, even if somewhat reluctantly. Hence, the need to invoke concepts such as oagatherikan is crucial if we are to make the transition into a twenty-first century multiparty democracy without sustaining lasting damage to our cultural identity and social unity. We need to relearn to see ourselves again as members of the same extended family. But our view of the family has to transcend the traditional family of blood relatives and encompass the universal family in which different worldviews and ideologies coexist with each other. We need to rise above the communal mindset fostered by the realities of living in an island community. We need to see ourselves as different, and differing, individuals navigating through the new political dynamics of globalisation and the still unfolding information revolution. Identities and lifestyles are not restricted to geographic regions any more. The most crucial values and relationships unfold through interaction and contact with forces previously perceived as ‘outside’.”