Student housing brochures often portray a very neat workout on possible tenancy arrangements and precautionary measures to take into account in considering a contract. In reality many estate agents don’t offer seriousness on all the aspects. I had a bizarre incident last year. The estate agent gave me a very casual receipt for the deposit I made and promised to send me a formal receipt once the funds were deposited in the government sponsored third party. That never occurred and the government sponsored scheme on having the deposits in a third party account was not followed by the agent. A month into my tenancy the landlady transferred the house management to another estate agent. When my agreement came to an end, neither of the agents were agreeing to refund my deposit and I had to take some stern measures. I decided to write a letter, which I in fact did. The letter was well received and I had my deposits returned within 5 days.

In case you, as a reader, are in a similar situation, please feel free to copy this letter and use it as it falls fit. By sharing my letter to my landlady, I accept no responsibility whatsoever for anyone else’s financial wellbeing.  The facts of each case is usually very different and proper legal advice must be sought to plan one own cause of actions.

Mrs. E*** H****,
21 K**** Road,
H****,
Birmingham B** 8**,

21 October 2008

Dear Mrs. E*** H****,

I, the former tenant of 3 B***** Terrace, K** Road, Selly Oak am contacting you regarding the return of my deposit.

I paid a deposit of £ 695 on the 28th September 2007 to be held by W*** Estates Ltd, which as my tenancy agreement points out, would be returned by the landlord after the end of the tenancy.

I vacated the property and returned the keys to B**g**** as of 1 October 2008 at 1130hrs (Ref. your letter dated 29 October 2007 notifying me of your instruction to B**g**** to manage the property on your behalf) after it was inspected by B*** J H**** of B*g**** on the 29th September 2008. I have paid all the rent that is due, have left the property in a clean and tidy state of repairs and all utility bills have been paid.

I would therefore request that you return my deposit of £ 695 by cheque at the address provided.

Please could you respond within 7 working days.

Yours Sincerely

Abdulla Yasir
M*** Hall, Flat ** – Room *,
Edgbaston Park Road,
Edgbaston
Birmingham B15 2RL

Cc: B*g**** Chartered Suveyors, 5/2 C****** Road, Birmingham B** 1**.

Travelling through Dubai yesterday and I came across this stunning new design by Marlboro.

The packing is, I must say, very well thought throughout. The colour RED represents fire and blood that welds strength and power, to say the very least. The letters of MARLBORO is also presented in italics in order to harmonize with the overall Racing theme. This new limited pack can most certainly lure trials. In fact I thought of buying a carton for a present for some of my friends in the Maldives only to realise I could be harming their health.

The vast majority of the Maldivian youth and also the adults smoke and engage with this brand in particular. Coffee shops are filled in smoke that every time I go into one, my shirt smells just as much as if I were a smoker.

This is no longer the case in the UK, where I currently live. Smoking indoor is banned in exchange for better health. Living in the UK, I don’t also see as many youth and even adults smoking.

There are good enough reasons to quit smoking. Free time spent in smoking and damaging ones health as well as others (through passive smoking) can perhaps be put to better use by doing something good. If unworried about health, it is wise to think that money spent on tobacco could be better used to cause greater good to ones self, the society or even the world that we are in.

PLEASE STOP SMOKING and DO SOME GOOD.

The picture below, taken in September 2008, is the only picture I have of me with my siblings. On the left is Ahmed Zahid – my full brother and in the centre is Jannath Waheed – my full sister. I am there on the right, wearing a tie. Surprisingly we three have never sat together for a picture.

The Maldivian Students' Association (UK) holds its first EGM (Extra Ordinary General Meeting) of 2009 at 9 Rosemount Avenue, London.

Pictures from the event are now in my gallery here.

Enjoy

Midhfa Naeem (Midhu) makes it to Birmingham today. Maldivians in Birmingham therefore roamed around the city in delight. For more pictures click here.

A few years ago when I enquired from Maldivian Students Association if there were any Maldivians living in Birmingham I remember Jaa saying that Birmingham was a big blank in MSA membership. It turned out so true; there were no Maldivians in Birmingham in the first few years I spent. Occationally Saud who is reading for his PhD at University of Surrey visits me but then that was it.

Thing began changing late last year. Dr. Fazana Firdous spent a few months in Birmingham and we happen to meet a few times. Also late last year Samah and Saeed came by for a few months for seasoning.

It is a lot different this year. We have Anil and Shiru for three or more years, Vuly for four long years. Saeed is of course back in Birmingham for a month. Relative to zero Maldivians in Birmingham as it once was, we at the present time have a count of 5 including myself. So we decided it is time we got together for some fun. That’s what we did today. 

I know of a few other Maldivians living in cities nearby and look forward to meeting them one of these days. Attention Sodiq in Coventry and Midhu living in Warwick, if you are reading this post, note that I will see you in your own city soon.

In the picture: from left  - Shiru, Saeed, Vuly and myself. More pictures in photo section - click here.

These are my first few days with a brand new Nikon D90 with the 18-105mm kit lens. D90 is a good consumer class camera and is ok with me because I am neither a photographer nor a flikr-grapher. For me it is about freezing memories and experiences. 

I now carry my D90 on exploratory trips I do mostly on Saturdays. Last weekend I visited Manchester to learn a bit about British history and I took some pictures too and they look stunning. Want to see them? Re-sized pictures are now in the subfolder ‘Exploring Britain’ and can be accessed via the main folder ‘Beautiful Places’ in Photo section. In the very near future I will be visiting Cambridge and Bath, but first I am visiting Museum of Welsh Life and Cardiff this Saturday.

I am content with the kit lens so far but I wish to lay hands on the new 10.5mm DX - fisheye lens that promises a 180° view - now that is a picture. I really love good 360° panoramic photography. I have already made provisions in my photo section for 'Panoramas' and as and when I capture some, I will insert them. 

Below is a picture of myself, Shihab and Shahuru taken from my CANON IXUS 75 a little earlier today. Not only are they both respected bloggers but good friends whose company I enjoy very much.

Being a Muslim country Friday is a national holiday in the Maldives. For those in the private sector like me, it is the single day off in a week. Because I was away from the country for a while, yesterday was marked my first free Friday-holiday in years and I dashed away from the busy sightings of Male’.  Is a single day enough? I am not very sure. It is certainly a time out and I am happy for it.

The Maldives is famous for being a low lying micro island state and many of my friends living in the WEST often and sometimes even repeatedly ask me if the islands in the Maldives are really sinking and if I would be washed away from the face of this earth during their lifetime. I am back in Male’ the capital of the Maldives and I am happy that in this instance the island state is still afloat. Hopefully I will live long enough to return to meet my friends in the UK in a few months time.

Dear Shahuru,

When we were very young, we wanted to grow up faster and to a great extent read our age older than the actual and felt good about it. In our thirties, it is no longer fanciful to think about the age, although celebrating the birthday is still all right. For a very good friend you have been to me, I wish you the very best in life and a very happy birthday.

Warm Regards
yasir

Everything that was left outdoor last night was covered in thick snow this morning, yet it is early spring in Birmingham. Not so surprising today’s SKY News reported ‘spring on hold as snow sweeps UK’. Spring replaced by winter weather, it is terribly cold outside, but I had to reach Sainsbury’s near home for my groceries. At Sainsbury's, just as I reach the till with my weakly shopping I saw a freely distributed recipe for a tuna savoury and I took one, which I thought is a ‘must-share’. The dish is called 'chunky tuna cake' and the recipe is now attached in the downloads section.

Cheers

My first ever encounter with a life size robot amazed me. A custom built car drove the robot to the site. Once on site, the robot leaves the car and entertains the audience. It can walk, dance, sing and cry and these actions amuse people. More entertaining is how it chases people. Its ability to become very personal (through commenting) and manoeuvring (comes as close as mare inches to people) is astounding. Is this just a robot or a man inside a robot costume?

Guess what? This is not an official Ad of NEXT SALE, but a picture of Samah and Saeed inside Bullring, Birmingham.

Saeed is returning to the Maldives tomorrow...so sad. Samah is still around for a few more days but then he is also leaving soon. You know what? Having met them just today, I can say that they have transformed their ability to think; after all, this is what education is about, isn’t it?

I applaud their courage and bravery for risking their job/career to advance their knowledge. The risk they took will certainly pay off soon. I am confident that they will both have good career progress and I wish the very best for their future endeavours.

Sadly I am stuck here for another year and half doing a LAW degree but hopefully I will visit Maldives in 2008 for a little break.

It is festive time in the UK and the streets are flooded with shoppers and confused tourists (like us in Guildford).

Here is a picture from my visit to Guildford, Surrey. Guess what? Neither me, nor my friend Saud, is in the picture, rather this is a picture of Meekail, Hafa and Yooh moving about in the town centre in search of a good amusement centre (i.e. a place where they could go and spend some quality time). There are many interesting places for children to visit in Birmingham (i.e. West Midlands Sufari park, Sea Life Centre, Cadbury World, and so on) but I must say it is a rarity in Guildford. On the flip side Guildford is much calmer and greener. Oh yes, very green. I wanted to visit the new world-class Glasshouse at RHS Garden Wisley so much but circumstances didn’t permit me to make it there, this time around. The Glasshouse marks a new chapter in horticultural excellence with life-long learning at its heart, and I intend seeing it someday.

For now I am back in Birmingham; I wish everyone a very prosperous New Year in 2008. This is definitely my last blog post.

In a few days it will be Christmas; the New Year is almost upon us and there is much to look forward to in 2008. Greetings to all my readers.

Next year will be a historic year for the Maldives; the people will vote for a new form of government under a brand new constitution. If we now resolve our animosities and come together with ambition and compassion not just for one’s self, but for the community and the country, we could build a great country that would amaze the world.

My message for the new year is: together, we can do anything.

Just this week alone I have had contact with three friends that were school mates many years ago. They all live abroad and if it hadn’t been for my blog, I’m sure they may not have found me. Conversely I wouldn’t have known where to find them. It is so delightful to find lost friends and it’s an amazing realization that today we are only limited by our own imagination.

On the night of power, the Angel Gabriel appeared to the Prophet Muhammad and revealed to him the first verses of the Koran, that the Koran declares that Ramadan was the month Allah’s words were sent down, and so should be spent in fasting. Today marks the end of this holy month of fasting and I send my very best wishes to all Muslims celebrating Eid. May the spirit of goodwill that has prevailed through the holy month of Ramadan continue throughout our life and redeem us of our shortfalls. Eid Mubarak

Abdulla Yasir

It was indeed an honour to have met many Maldivians during Ramadan Ifthaar (organised by Maldivian High Commission) on October 6th and Freshers’ Fair organised by Maldives Students Association – UK (where new and current students and families meet), from October 6 to 7 in London. Of course I made a lot of new friends but to know where each and everyone were located and what they studied were very interesting as it was indeed very diverse. Hopefully we will get to meet each other sometime soon.

Thank you Mr. Adam Hassan the Acting High Commissioner for the wonderful Ifthar arrangement and Mr. Mohamed Muizzu the Chairman of Maldives Students Association UK for the continuous support that you extend to us as students.

.