"Bombay survives on the scam; we are all complicit. A man who has made his money through a scam is more respected than a man who has made his money through hard work, because the ethic of Bombay is quick upward mobility and a scam is a short cut. A scam shows good business sense and a quick mind. Anyone can work hard and make money. What's to admire about that? But a well-executed scam? Now, there's a thing of beauty!"
-- Suketu Mehta, "Maximum City: Bombay Lost and Found"
This applies so well to Makdives. And men like Mohamed Ali Janah are living examples of this. Thousands of poor Bangladeshis abandoned on the streets after being left unpaid for months. He repeated that multiple times for years. Now he is one of the richest & politically powerful men in Maldives. People have forgotten how the crook amassed his fortune.
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