Maldives and Political Intrigues in the Indian Ocean

The day I returned from Huraa Island and en route to Gan Island I was received by my Maldivian contact, 'Murray', at the domestic airport at HulhulMale Island, next to the International airport. He was bursting with excitement when he told me "one of the ministers in your state has died and there is a bit of excitement in your country". I was nonplussed since I was not up to date with the news and he was indeed familiar with Indian politics than most Maldivians being a businessman himself; but I learnt the details later. The unforgettable Tamilnadu Chief, Ms. Jayalalitha, had just passed away creating a political vacuum and political intrigues had already started playing up in this influential southern state, which would lead several months later to historic events that would change the dynamics of Tamilnadu politics for ever.
"I told him that it was not my state but a neighboring state - Tamilnadu, and we do have some issues with them, in fact". "Yeah, crazy state", he said without bothering to explain. I didn't pursue his opinion further either. I had read in a travel brochure somewhere that migrant Tamil mercenaries had a couple of years back attempted a coup in the Maldives unsuccessfully.
As I had waited for my ferry bound for Huraa, I had noticed Chinese workmen working on an infrastructure project nearby. They seemed to be a restricted group and I guess didn't speak English either. Anyway one wouldn't deny the fact that China was investing massively in Maldivian infrastructure where India had left off several decades back when it built Maldives' first sophisticated hospital - The Indira Gandhi Memorial Hospital. India's loss was China's gain and China is increasingly investing in Maldivian tourism, seaways and airport businesses. Maldives' national airline services major Chinese cities and one can see a lot of Chinese tourists around Maldives though they form closed circles restricted to resorts catering to Chinese and speak hardly any other language other than Mandarin, making them hard to engage in social conversation or activity.
China no doubt sees economic investment as political influence as well, which is welcome to many countries like Maldives, given the strength of Chinese economy today.
At Gan Island the resort was run by about 22 young Bangladeshi men, 2 Maldivians,about 4 Nepalese and one Malayalee from my home state. The owner's wife was Thai having settled in Maldives after marrying a rich Maldivian businessman, who seemed to be forever on tour, mostly to Malaysia.
I happened to converse with the young Bangladeshi and Nepali men in Hindi which they happened to be conversant in. One of them spoke some sort of polished butler English as well, and I used to have conversations with him around supper time when he served me the usual fish biryani routine I had decided to stick to. He told me that Nepalis were very close to India culturally historically, and financially dependent as well, but Nepal was increasingly turning towards China for infrastructure and trade development. That's a good thing, the young Nepali told me - Nepal desperately needed investment in infrastructure and needed to be developed whether it was China or India.
Maldivian politics itself is pretty murky and seems to be full of self- serving corrupt politicians who favor nepotism and the Maldivian political scenario is pretty unstable and dictatorial. A huge multi lane bridge over the sea is being built to connect Male island with the artificial HulhulMale, but frankly I didn't see it progressing any bit, other than the awe factor. The lights from the bridge shine out at night twinkling over the calm sea, giving you an impression that good times were ahead for Maldivians, but it exactly is - a monument to corrupt politicians who want to impress Maldivians that awesome development is happening. Not to be missed by the presence of huge billboards featuring the awesome bridge and the awesome president.
Maldivians are financially better off than most Indians but certainly not because of their corrupt politicians!