AfD - The News That Could Occur Next Year in Germany

In a stunning upset, the Alternative for Germany (AfD) party has been declared the victor in the national elections, carving out a clear majority in the Bundestag.

The victory makes Frauke Petry, the spokesperson of the AfD, next in line for the Chancellery. The unexpected result also questions the very existence of EU, as Ms Petry repeatedly denigrated the institution during the campaign, and promised to take Germany out of EU if it meant, in her words, "subsidizing the lazy people of Greece and Spain with hard working German money". The results have thrown world markets into turmoil, further depressing the Euro.

Europe is in the midst of a stunning upheaval. Following from Brexit, and the shock election of Donald Trump as the President of USA (and the dismantling of NATO, followed by the cancellation of Paris Accord and the TTIP), Hungary, Holland have both voted to leave the troubled organization.

If Germany, a founding member and leader in the EU chooses to depart, it may well be the death blow to the EU. The Chinese yuan has already risen ten fold in thirteen hours since the election result.

It was thought for a long time that Germans would never warm to a political party pledging allegiance to neo Nazi ideals, denigrating migrants, peddling Islamophobia and anti-Semitic propaganda and insulting long standing allies. Indeed polls right the day before the vote gave a huge lead of 29.5 points to now outgoing Chancellor Angela Merkel.

The party has also pledged to take Germany back to its "Christian roots" and sought to strengthen the church and family values in Germany. Its closeness to the Vatican has also raised eyebrows, with the Pope choosing to remain silent on some of the outrageous statements issued during the campaign.

In hindsight, the Holy See must have seen something the polls had all missed. An anger at the current state of government, the bureaucracy in Brussels, the numerous Muslim migrants and the crimes alleged to have been committed by them (all debunked as false news by Politico Germany) and the "I-know-best" attitude of the ruling Christian Democratic Union.

It now remains to be seen how Europe will reshape itself in the years to come following this cataclysmic election.

Why I am skeptical about the US led witch hunt on FIFA

By now it's old news that an US-led investigation has led to Swiss officials arresting seven top FIFA officials in Zurich, and the US fraud inquiry has already indicted 14 people. Loretta Lynch is the woman who took on FIFA. Amidst all of this, Sepp Blatter has just won re-election as the head of FIFA.

Pardon me if I am not amongst the majority who are 100% enthusiastic about the US led witch hunt into FIFA.

1. Blatter has been good for world football. For so long has football remained an Euro-centric game, with some token South Americans. It was Blatter who took the World Cup to Asia (in Korea/Japan 2002) and to Africa (South Africa in 2010).
2. It was Blatter who expanded the World Cup to 32 teams, and then changed the rules so that African and Asian teams have a greater chance of qualification.
3. It was under Blatter that a lot of investment has gone into football outside the traditional powers. Cricket could learn something from the way FIFA globalizes the game. No wonder Africa and Asia loves Blatter.
4. Everyone seems up in arms about the decision to award the games to Russia and Qatar (with allegations of bribery and corruption) yet no one bats an eye into the way Germany nipped the World Cup in 2006, right when everyone assumed it would go to South Africa. The media keeps bringing up the corruption of the Qatar bid, yet no one talks about how Salt Lake City got the Olympics from IOC in 2002.
5. When did the US start to investigate FIFA? Right after their failed bid in 2010. If they had been awarded the world cup, all things were then hunky dory?
6. US Senators repeatedly tried to pressure FIFA into dumping Russia as a host. Citing the occupation of Crimea and Russia's involvement in Ukraine, they conveniently forget all the wars and lands occupied by the US soldiers since the Second World War. The Iraq war alone has caused the deaths of far more civilians than any recent Russian military adventure.
7. All of this as FIFA was set to suspend Israel. The Palestinians have now dropped their effort after the corruption probe.

So yes, it does look like there was corruption in FIFA, but there's a whole lot more going on than it meets the eye.

Erdoğan and Women

I am reading up on what exactly the Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has said that is so offensive to women, and have to admit much of it isn't (some, yes).

• He bemoaned the fact that women in rural Anatolia do much of the manual labour while their husbands "play cards in the local coffee house".
• He said Islam requires the men to provide for the family, not the women.
• He said women are not the same as men (note: this is translated as "equal", but doesn't mean the same thing).
• He advised women to have at least three children.
• He said a true believer of Islam will never commit a violence against women.
• He said Paradise lies under a mother's feet.

So what exactly is offensive? He didn't try to outlaw abortion again (he tried it once and failed), he never tried to outlaw women's employment, he never tried to outlaw women's education (in fact his party repealed the law that banned headscarves in universities which empowered more women to seek education, and similarly they repealed the ban on headscarves in Parliament so now more conservative women are now MPs).

Yes, some words of what he said ("women are more suited for home because of their delicate bodies") smacks of patriarchy and is offensive. But actions speak louder and Turkey has grown in leaps and bounds (men and women) under his leadership. When the "secular" army banned observant Muslim women from campuses, Parliament and other government institutions I did not hear of any feminist being offended, so stop being hypocritical now.

How To Plan A Trip To Europe - Part 1

I get a lot of hits on this blog searching for "Europe vacation planning" or seeking specific details of an European trip. They are probably attracted to my Europe posts. Even though this is a bit earlier in the year, it's never to early to plan your European vacation! Here's some advice I can give to anyone doing a tour of Europe.

Everyone Should Do It
Travelling through Europe via the train and experiencing all the diverse cultures is everything they make it out to be, and much more. It had been one of my life's to-do items, and I wasn't disappointed. And you won't be either. There's no vacation like an Euro-vacation.

Start With a Map
Europe is big!

When we started planning our vacation, I wanted to visit everything! Germany, France, England, Italy, Switzerland, Netherlands, you name it - I wanted to see it! I wanted to visit all the big cities and little places! Soon though, we realized with the limit of our holiday time and cost, we had to prioritize. So my first suggestion would be - get a map of Europe.

That way, you can see how far apart the places are that you want to visit. Some cities are of course a 'must-see' (it depends on you) and some are 'nice-to-visit'. With a little bit of googling for travel times, you can have an idea of what cities you can reasonably visit with the time you have. For me, it meant omitting Germany and Netherlands as they were too far away from the other places I wanted to see.

Early Planner vs. the Impulsive Traveller

While there is some romance in the idea of not knowing your destination and deciding it on the day, I root for being the early planner every time. I travelled to Europe in July, but by March had all my hotels, tickets, etc. booked. While this does have some drawbacks (I wanted to later add Napoli to my trip, but changing the air tickets was not possible) I saved over $1500 by my calculations by booking in March rather than waiting till May. Basically the earlier you book, the cheaper some hotels and rail/air tickets are. I knew exactly what dates I would be travelling from one city to the next and had my route/trip planned to the minute.

Rail Passes vs. Tickets vs. Reservations

Rail travel is the way to go around and see Europe. Unless you have some specific place you want to visit that has no public transit (impossible in most of Europe) or you want the possibilities that a car gives you, rail travel is the way to go in Europe. The network is well connected, super fast and you get to see a lot of the scenery as you travel.


Buying rail passes for Europe can be complicated. You have to know the differences between tickets, passes, and reservations. Here's the primer:

When you buy a tickets from A to B, you can journey from A to B. For example, buying a ticket from Paris to Basel will allow you to travel from Paris to Basel only, on the day and time you bought the ticket for.

When you buy a multi-day pass, you can use one day of the pass to travel on that day on any participating train in any participating country. When you buy the pass, you can choose the number of days, the countries the pass will be valid in, and the class (economy or first class, etc.) and pay accordingly.

However, and this is the big however, some routes ALSO require you to buy a reservation if you are using a pass. So for example to travel from Paris to Basel using one day of the pass, you also have to buy a reservation on that route. Your pass will NOT BE VALID on that route without the reservation. A reservation costs way less than a ticket, but you still need it (for specific routes).

You can visit raileurope.ca to get started.

To Be Continued ...

An MBA Analysis of the Swiss Minaret Ban

A good solution is rarely a single course of action. A good solution always looks at the big picture, considers various relationships between all factors, and then coordinates multiple activities to realize the big dream.

A good solution is both complex and simple at the same time. Let me analyze the Swiss minaret ban using an MBA perspective.

Here I will talk about the problem, my executive summary, then an analysis of the factors (Porter's 5 force and SWOT), before breaking down my solution.

The Problem

The Swiss have banned the construction of minarets in mosques.

Many seem to think this is the problem. To me, this is a symptom.

Here is how I frame the problem.

There is a growing intolerance in Switzerland towards practicing Islam the way Muslims want in Switzerland.

This to me is the bigger picture, as well as more specific. We can already see that there's two issues (underlined) that can be tackled.

The Executive Summary

We need to implement "Forward, Switzerland" which is the name I give to an Integration Plan for Switzerland and her Muslims.

Its target is to ensure Swiss Muslims fit seamlessly into the Swiss culture while Switzerland becomes more accommodating of special needs of its own citizens. All this will be achieved with a focus on traditional Swiss values of secularism, tolerance and goodwill. In the end, Switzerland will emerge a stronger nation, an example to others, a bastion of liberty - hence the name "Forward, Switzerland".

The Analysis

Undertaking a Porter's 5 force analysis on Swiss Islam, we can make the following conclusions.
Suppliers: People who will become Muslim - they have high power because they love the values of freedom, secularism, liberty and traditional Swiss values.
Buyers: People who are already Muslim - have definite demands, fitting in with the Swiss tradition and environment.
Substitutes: Other existing religions - have low power because traditionally the conversion rate of Muslims into other religions have been low.
New Entrants: Other new religions - also have low power as Islam is an established religion.
Rivalry within: many Islamic sects who tend to nullify each other (same day Eid anyone?).

Therefore we can draw the conclusion from this that the Islamic community in Switzerland must address traditional Swiss values of liberty and tolerance, while trying to unify the Islamic community itself. This will also lead it to build a better brand image.

Let's come to the more interesting SWOT analysis.
Strengths: Islam is an established religion, and in Europe it has a history. Support can be garnered for objectives (including money) from the wider Muslim community.
Weakness: Swiss population of Muslim is small, plus Islam has a terrible PR problem. Brand image in Switzerland is one of violence that has to be changed.
Opportunity: The sudden prominence of the Islamic community as the victimized, particularly in secular Europe, and a position of sympathy from European leaders.
Threats: The hot headed extremists within the community can hamper any dreams.

Therefore we can draw the conclusion that the Islamic community in Switzerland must act quickly to realize the sympathy, must control its extremists and try and garner support from the wider Muslim community for its plan as soon as possible. Remaking the brand image will take a long time, but it has to be started.

A third part of the analysis, that I will not go into here for sake of brevity, involves breaking down the salient factors (immigration, rituals, cultural baggage, xenophobia, history) and understanding the relations between them, and how they play into the solution.

The Solution - Forward, Switzerland

1. Build Mosques

There is nothing in the law that says a mosque cannot be built in Switzerland. A key objection to obtaining local permits for building mosques in Switzerland has been the construction of minarets. Often, racist elements of the local community would object to a mosque being built because it had a minaret in it. The objection was to the minaret (You can read this lengthy article).

Well, in Islam, a mosque can be a room, or even a clean ground. Minarets were historically never part of the mosque and only started appearing 80 years after the death of the Prophet. Many Muslims don't know it, but even domes and arches that we now associate with mosques were only popularized during the Ottomans.

Switzerland and her Muslims needs more mosques, and now with no objection to minarets (no minarets permitted by law) the construction process of mosques should be faster.

2. Raise Money

Money will be needed for construction of mosques, for charitable initiatives, for public relations and for upkeep of Islamic institutions in Switzerland. Money exists in Switzerland (the country is super rich - and therefore her citizens - Muslims included). The wider Islamic community has funds also.

3. Mosques support charity

Every new mosque in Switzerland should come with a soup kitchen attached. When a neighborhood gets a mosque, they are also getting food and support for the needy and homeless in the area. This is the tradition of the Prophet, the tradition of the early Islamic community in Medina and the way mosques have traditionally worked.

4. Read our history

Do you know how the Prophet got around to establishing an Islamic empire from zero in Medina? He arrived as a refugee, a leader of fellow refugees, and what did he do?

Ya aiuhan nas
O people.

Ibsus Salam
Exchange the greetings of peace with one another.

Wa atimut tawaam
Feed those who are hungry.

Wa sallu bil laili wannaasu niyam
Pray in the night when the rest of the people are asleep.

Idkhulul jannata bissalaam
Surely you will enter Paradise in peace.

I deal with that in detail here.

Note: Feed those who are hungry.

Of similar interest should be the Treaty of Hudaibiyah, and how the Prophet turned a position of disadvantage to his advantage. The Treaty was hampering to Muslims in a legal, strategical, and military fashion.

Or so they thought.

5. Have Convert Outreach and Progress Programs

Following Islamic commandments, Muslims in Switzerland must reach out to non-Muslim citizens. Outreach programs that boost conversion rates (hence more mosques and $$$s are needed) should be started.

Not only must they try and convert people into their faith, they must also try and ensure converts are looked after, AFTER conversion. Often, new converts fall prey to extremists, or become disillusioned and leave, or fall into hard times.

A good proper new convert strategy will ensure not only that Muslims in Switzerland address their problem of small numbers, but will also change the Islamic community in Switzerland itself to become more in tune with Swiss values. This also reduces the xenophobia and increases cultural acceptance of Islam in Switzerland by her own people.

6. Deal with extremists

Any extremist risks harming the brand image of Islam in Switzerland and must be dealt with immediately. Muslims in Switzerland needs to focus on their own issues (Palestine, Afghanistan can come later). Extremism is not tolerated in Islam nor in Switzerland. Islam stands for justice, freedom and equality, and so does Switzerland. If people don't think so, it is the job of the brand manager (i.e. Muslims in Switzerland) to ensure people think so.

Muslims also have a bad habit of hiding their extremists or making excuses for them. This has to stop.

Conclusion

This multi-pronged approach will ensure that not only do Muslims change themselves in Switzerland for the better, to become more in tune with Islamic beliefs AND Swiss beliefs, but that Swiss resistance to Islamic principles is also reduced.

In the end, the following of this plan "Forward, Switzerland" will ensure proper integration of Islam in Switzerland to the benefit of both communities, which are really one community after all.

Bangla song copied by Romanian!

Usually it's the Bangladeshi musicians who stand accused of lifting (copying) songs from Bollywood or the English artists. Here, however, is a clear exception!

Here's the link to the remix of a Bangla classic written by Radha Romon Dutta in the year 1870!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ssrGmOKUcM0

It's a real nice piece of music that I have listened to many a time.

Now here's the link to a Romanian song that was released in 2008.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CVxPOf1phjM

You judge and tell me!

Thanks to my friend Nabil for the info.

Eurotrip Diaries - Rome (Part II)

Continued from: Eurotrip Diaries - Rome (Part I)

Day 15

Tomorrow is Sunday and the Vatican attractions are closed, so we have to do Vatican City today. This would be our fifth country on the tour. We are there early at 9 in the morning. The square is very empty.

Another obelisk, with St Peter's in the background.

For fans of Angels and Demons, this is AIR.

When we got to the Vatican we saw one long line snaking its way along the columns. A couple of people tried to get us to join a tour group.

Since the line was moving fast, and we really were not interested in the Vatican museum, we declined their offer.

The Vatican basilica is huge. It is unlike any other place of worship in Christendom I have seen.

And everything somehow feeds into the basilica.

When we got there, we were lucky there was some special service going on, with some cardinals and some people in white clothes – so part of the front of the cathedral (is that what it’s called?) was blocked.

The site where the Camerlengo burnt himself to death, in the movie - you guessed it - Angels and Demons.

Some of the pictures in the cathedral were really extensive, and I am really in awe of the artists - could have taken snaps of the pictures all day!

Since the service was going to take another half hour and we had to wait till then to see the front of the cathedral, we decided to climb the cupola.

The cupola. You can climb to the very top.

And so we do. Here's a view of the church services going on from way up.

As far as I could learn, some cardinals from Asia were visiting, and this was some service to honor them as well as induct new members into some order.

You can climb up the basilica dome (we paid a bit extra to use the elevator – but even afterwards the top part still had to be done by stairs - and it was another Pisa climb for us) – the view of St Peter’s Square and Rome from the top was something to be seen. It wasn’t as high up as the Eiffel Tower or as precarious as the Leaning tower of Pisa, so we moved around and got some great pictures.

The Vatican Gardens

We then headed down - the service was over so we could explore more.

Michelangelo's Pietà.

I found it strange as to why they had closed it during the prayer service. Unlike some of the other painting and sculptures in the Vatican, this one had no nudity.

Then it was time to visit the Gretto (or the place where all the Popes are buried – so it’s their tombs). There was quite a crowd in front of John Paul II’s tomb – it was quite well lit and highlighted too – but there are no photographs allowed and the guards hiss at you if your talk. After this tour, the exit (called "Uscito" in Italian) leads back into the basilica.

We were now quite tired, it was 1 pm and still we were to do the Sistine Chapel!

The Sistine Chapel is part of the Vatican museums which are different from the Basilica so we had to exit St Peter’s square and walk for 10-15 minutes along the Vatican Wall until we got to the entrance of the Vatican museums.

We literally walked around an entire country!

Remember the first scene in Rome (Angel and Demons) where Robert Langdon is met by Olivetti?

On the way to the Museum, we met many tourist guides offering their services for the museum. Neither of us was really interested in the museum, only the Sistine Chapel and a tour guide through the museum would take three hours. There were reportedly thousands of rooms and nothing (no exhibit) was labeled, so that’s why guides were needed.

As it is, our own tour last nearly two hours. The Sistine Chapel is right at the end of the guided path, so you HAVE to go through the whole museum to get to the Chapel.

Every few minutes we encountered a sign that said “Sistine Chapel” and pointed at one way. It became a game to spot another such sign. There must have been more than 50 such signs on the whole tour.

Which was shame because by the time we got to the Chapel our feet were too tired and body too numb to really appreciate the chapel. The Vatican forces everyone to go through the museum and after sometime, all naked paintings and sculptures and art pieces and ancient rock collections start looking the same.

FINALLY ...

The Sistine Chapel.

WOW - heard to believe ONE guy painted ALL of this!

There was a strict no photography policy at the Sistine Chapel but everyone seemed to be taking pictures while keeping one eye out for the guards. I also took pictures as well as a video!

Swiss Guards

The concluded our tour to the Vatican City. When we had gotten back to our hotel after lunch, the plan was to just rest for an hour before heading out. In fact, we slept for nearly three hours, before heading out around 7 pm to the Spanish Steps.

Another obelisk.

There was a bunch of Bengali hawkers there and suddenly they started to run! We turned and saw some police chasing them.

Chiggi Chappel (again, for fans of Angels and Demons) and its obelisk.

Day 16

Castel Sant'Angelo - the the secret lair for the Hassassin and was seen as the last existing church of the Illuminati in the movie Angel and Demons.

Hmm - maybe the Rome post should be the Angel and Demons post.

The castle took around 1 and half hours to finish. We got in free due to our Roma Pass. We then had the whole day left with nothing planned to do, so we decided to head to the Vatican again (our bus left from there). As we approached, we saw it was highly crowded.

It was Sunday, but still ... why the crowd?

It was the POPE!!!

The Pope was giving a speech (or celebrating Mass). We got blessed by the Pope, for what its worth.

Our last night of our Euro trip. We were elated to have done it, and happy we were going home, but yet a bit sad to leave.

And so ended our Euro trip. It was 16 days of non stop fun and excitement and walking and sight seeing and gorgeous sun (sometimes too much sun!) and beautiful sights we had only read about or seen in books.

I can't wait to return someday.

Eurotrip Diaries - Rome (Part I)

This is the final installment of the Eurotrip Diaries series. I split Rome into two parts as there was a lot to cover. We visited London, Paris, Basel, Lucerne, Zurich, Venice, Florence, Pisa, and now our final destination Rome. We knew our next destination was back home and it meant the end of our holidays, and back to the grind. But, let's start at the beginning.

Day 14

8.10 am. Early morning check out. At this rate everything for the last few days have been early morning. Amazing how loud a dollar store alarm clock can be!

9.00 am. Eating breakfast (Chef Express at Club Eurostar, la di lah, I feel so grand) and still no sign of which platform our train to Rome will be on. The notice says platform 12 but unless the numbers come up on the big screen at the top we can’t be sure. This is Italy. Things change at the last minute.

9.23 am. Our train is at 9.33. Still no sign of the platform. We go and wait at one end of platform 12.

9.30 am. A train pulls into platform 10. Lo! They announce this is the 9.33 train to Rome! We rush madly to platform 10, to find our coach (no. 1) is at the other end. Never have I run so fast with a carry on in tow. We needn’t have rushed. This being Italy, the train is 10 minutes late. Or as they say here, “Ritaro”.

A bit sad as this is our last rail trip in Europe. After this, our Eurail pass is good no more, having been all used up. It indicates our vacation was close to an end. It was a bittersweet realization.

11.20 am. Rome! We arrive at Roma Termini station. We buy the Roma Pass (which gets us transportation for 3 days in Rome, plus free entrance to any two sites on a list).

12.00 pm. We are at the Coliseum!

Oh la la, there’s a special line for Roma Pass. We buypass all the millions of people waiting to get in, and we use our Roma Pass to get in free. Take that suckers!

12.15 pm. This is just amazing. I am a history buff, and I can just close my eyes and imagine the scene thousands of years ago. Crowds streaming in the entrances by the hundreds. The hot, sticky atmosphere inside the Coliseum.

The thousands baying for blood. The emperor silencing the crowd with a wave of his hand, and then, as a the flag drops, the gates open. Horses, chariots rush in. There’s lots of dust blown about. A tiger. A lion. A few gladiators. Blood everywhere.

In front of me are the ruins of what was once the highlight of the city on a weekend (did the Romans have weekends?).

This is the view Caesar would have enjoyed.

Down below, once can see the remains of what was the holding pens where they kept slaves, prisoners, and animals.

A cell for prisoners.

The sky is picture perfect blue with a puff of white clouds.

Amazing when you think the Romans knew the technology to cement and it was lost for hundreds of years when the Roman empire fell, until it was reinvented in the modern era. The Coliseum’s still standing.

1.30 pm. We have exited the Coliseum and are now walking in Fora Romano, the ruins of ancient Rome. There’s actually a wedding going on here!

The bride looks nonplussed with thousands of onlookers snapping her pictures.

The groom looks like her chauffer!

2.00 pm. Man this Fora Romano’s big. The ancient Romans should have built their cities keeping tourists from 2000 years on in mind!

This is so cool. It’s like a history lesson coming alive.

The Greco-Roman columns, the Forum, Palentine Hill, arches, it’s all here.

Arch of Constantine

I see the arch existed since the time of Rome. Wonder if the arches in Islamic mosques etc. came from there.

Rome is hot! It took us back to our London and Paris days, full of heat, lots of attractions, walking and hot underground railways.

5.00 pm. We are at the Pantheon.

This used to be a pagan temple until it was a Christian church. Interesting to see how much Christianity, particularly it’s imagery and traditions have been influenced by pagan rituals and customs. No wonder Islam is so strict on bidah. The Pantheon’s huge! It looks decrypt from outside but it’s really nice. Despite seeing what seems to be thousands of churches, basilicas and cupolas, the Pantheon’s in a class by its own. We didn’t see the French one so can’t compare.

We make sure to see the parts covered in the movie Angels and Demons as well as Raphael’s tomb.

Again I see some people praying. It IS a church after all. Again I wonder how can you pray with all this commotion!

Obelisks! Already we have seen two obelisks. One’s outside our hotel near some fountain. There’s one in front of the Pantheon.

6.00 pm. Piazza Navona. Another obelisk!

We are at the Fountain of Four Rivers – of special significance to fans of Angels and Demons again.

Man, there’s lots of tourists here!

7.30 pm. After walking back to the Pantheon, then navigating the maze of streets of Rome (why do European streets never go straight?) we finally arrive at the Trevi Fountain.

We can hear its roar from far away, but what really took our mind away was the sheer number of tourists and people just thronging the fountain. It was PACKED! They tell me if you want the fountain to yourself come at 4 in the morning but er, safety is a concern. We see plenty of people throwing coins (even, gasp, one whole euro!) into the fountain. We do a ‘pretend throw’ picture.

Yet another wedding shoot

One thing I have to say is the sheer number of Bangladeshi hawkers I have run into in Rome. At Trevi fountain, they held what seemed to be dollar store cameras, trying to get people to pay them to take their pictures. We fight our way to the front of the fountain and grab a cool seat for some GREAT pictures of our own.

8.30 pm. Back at the hotel. Dinner is pizza and pasta. I think I had more pizza in this last week then I had in my life total!

Continued in: Eurotrip Diaries - Rome (Part II)