Who are the worst kind of Maldivian idiots?

Have you ever come across a situation where you gave your opinion on a very serious issue and the other person dissed your viewpoint offhandedly by saying you are a "know all"?

In Maldivian language Dhivehi, they would say something like: "aan, kae thee dhen maa ingey lhaa ekey", loosely translated to; "yes, you are a bloke who knows too much".

Initially, I used to think that this kind of criticism and hostility was directed at me because the other person felt jealous of me, perhaps because I had a higher level of formal education than him.

But a friend yesterday opined that that's something the other person says because he feels "inadequate" about himself.

"It’s a way of overcoming that sense of inadequacy by silencing the person who chooses to talk and express opinions," my friend said.

"It’s not a personal jealousy against anyone. I think it’s more to do with their insecurity over their lack of understanding of very basic issues a literate person is expected to know," my friend said.

I expressed my opinion that then these kind of people could be the "worst kind of Maldivian idiots" to which he replied that "that’s actually the overwhelming majority".

"Actually, in a country where people choose to go to university largely to get that piece of paper that entitles you to climb the bureaucratic ladder or to carry the title Doctor, Al-Ustaz, Al-Sheikh, Illmuveriyaa, etc., for you to be a big shot sitting with a politician, that is actually quite understandable. The man who went to university in 1993 and did a Degree or Masters could continue to be a Director General or a Deputy Minister and practically do nothing at work and still continue to attend all the donor funded conferences around the world without actually reading a single book in more than 20 years. His CV (curriculum vitae) will list 10 pages of conferences he attended in say, environment, sustainable development of small island states, etc., but still be totally clueless on matters that any year 8 student is very familiar with," my friend elaborated.

He added: "I know this ‘doctor’ from the Maldives National University (MNU). He is a very high ranking person there because he carries the title ‘doctor’. But any average high schooler’s intellectual depth and general knowledge I presume would be far better than that of this particular ‘doctor’. I thought academicians are required to do research, get them published in peer reviewed journals or at least have a general sense of intellectual curiosity".