Postcard from Bishkek

Rudyard Kipling, (his full name was apparently Joseph Rudyard Kipling), was an English author who wrote novels, short stories, children’s stories and poems.

Tomorrow marks the 147th anniversary of his birth in Bombay where his father was a Professor of Architectural Sculpture.

He is best remembered for:

• The Jungle Book  – a collection of stories which includes the Mowgli stories and Rikki-Tikki-Tavi;
• the Just So Stories;
• Kim;
• The Man Who Would Be King; and his poems
• Mandalay;
• Gunga Din;
• The White Man’s Burden and
• If— (written in 1895 although it was first published in 1910).

He was one of the most popular writers in England in the late 19th and early 20th centuries but his reputation has changed as the British Empire retreated, (George Orwell described him as a “prophet of British Imperialism”).  It is true that most of his work is based in the British Empire, but that is the world in which he grew up and lived and he had the ability to stories in a way that involved the reader whilst at the same time conveying a real feel of how it felt to be live in an age of empire.

I am often amazed how even the Russians seem to have taken to the story of Mowgli, even though Kipling represented their greatest opponent in the Great Game.   When I was standing on the Terrace of Baltit Fort in the Hunza valley, looking down on the valley floor below, I couldn’t help but think of the Cary Grant in the film when Gunga Din stands and blows the bugle to warn the advancing British column that they are heading into an ambush.  I came late to the story of Kim, the boy Spy accompanying a holy man on his spiritual journey in search of a holy river … whilst at the same time keeping an eye open for Russian spies in search of an easy route to encroach on British India.

Perhaps the most inspiring words he wrote, however, were in the poem If …  epitomising Victorian stoicism, self-control and the “stiff upper lip” which are often (mistakenly ?) taken to be classical characteristics of the British … and much parodied.

 

Unfortunately, there’s another use of the word If: If only …, which is often used to express a wish, a regret or a complaint.  For example:

• If only I knew how to use a computer, (i.e. I don’t know how to use a computer and I would like to learn how to use it);
• If only I had a million dollars, (i.e. I wish I had a million dollars – so that I could …);
• If only I had woken up early, (i.e. I didn’t wake up early and …);
• If only you wouldn’t arrive so late all the time, (i.e. I’m annoyed because you always come late and I want you to arrive on time).

 

A few years ago, Investment Now, the journal of the International Business Council, (IBC), used to feature a regular  ”IF only …” article called:  ”What I would do differently if I were starting afresh …“,  and the idea was that each issue would feature a businessman who would give the benefit of his experience, by looking back with hindsight and giving a brief description of an “If only I had known …” or an “If only I had … ” situation.  The trouble is that it really involves the author owning up to a mistake, (… and nobody likes doing that), but perhaps the most memorable contribution was from a local businessman who said something like … “go elsewhere and start my business there!”

He was complaining about the corruption that he had faced and the constant sense of uncertainty uncertainty in the country – and that was before the upheavals of two revolutions and rolling power cuts.

He’s not alone in his concern … President Atambaev was asked a question in a press conference about whether he felt “ashamed” about what was going on in the the country, (now that’s not particularly “diplomatic speech”, is it), and he confessed that Kyrgyzstan had experienced instability “not just for two years, but for a much longer period”.  ”“I feel ashamed of many things in our country,” he continued … but then, surprisingly added, “particularly, when a foreigner tells me that he won’t come to the country as people spit on pavements here.”  Now, that’s definitely not speaking “diplomatically”.  I wasn’t sure if I was more surprised by the fact that someone would say this to him – the President of the country – or by the implied suggestion that this is the most shameful thing that goes on here.

Mind you, he does have a point … after all, it’s the little things that count: “why spoil the ship for a ha’penny of tar” … “look after the pence and the pounds will look after themselves”.

I wonder of the management of Kumtor and the other mining companies are having similar thoughts.  The prospect of “rich pickings” must be far outweighed by the constant bickering over “international agreements” which aren’t really “international” because they are not a foreign government or an “international agency” like the United Nations; tax disputes; confrontations with sections of the local population; and so on and so forth.

This week the Economy Minister at least acknowledged that IF it wasn’t for Kumtor, then the country would be in dire straits.  However, the commission looking into the affairs of the company have come to their conclusions and their report is said to be a “book”.    They are talking about the need for the company to pay large sums in “penalties”, increased tax payments, revising the existing agreement under which it operates, possibly even replacing it with a new legal entity headed by a Kyrgyz citizen … and even threatening to take it to court, or at least to arbitration.  It has been acknowledged that this last point could be a mistake leading to a suspension of work at the mine, the loss of jobs and less money received by the budget … not to mention sour relationships with donor organizations and financial institutions and  frightening away other potential investors.

Kumtor, of course, deny any wrong doing and blame the commissions conclusions on misunderstandings and misinterpretations.

 

The gas situation has improved and most places seemed to have been switched back onto the system.  There have been some worrying noises, however, about possible price increases in the new year.   If only the same was true for electricity!

An accident in the main Toktogul power station coupled with demand exceeding design limits for the system means that we are facing a series of rolling power cuts to cope with the “crisis” – that’s the word used by the Economy Minister – so it’s official … and serious.  At the moment Bishkek is exempted from these rolling two hour outages  that the rest of the country are suffering, but I don’t think that will last for long.

Ironically, during the President’s End-of-year press conference held in the Congress Hall at the Ala Archa Presidential Residence … there was a power cut … and everything went dark.  Strange – I’ld have thought they would have had an emergency generator to kick in the case of an interruption in the power supply … and maybe they did – but that didn’t make the press reports.

 

Apparently, Kyrgyzstan has improved its standing in another international rating system … this one measuring charity and philanthropy.  It actually got into the top 100 – just … it came in at 99th out of 150 countries – in the survey carries out by the British Charities Aid Foundation, but that marked an improvement of 24 places over their position last year.  The study covers not only monetary donations to charity but also volunteer work and “helping needy strangers” – but I am not I see from the reports how that is measured.

Leader of the overall ranking was Australia, followed by Canada, Ireland, New Zealand, USA, the Netherlands, Indonesia, the United Kingdom, Denmark and Paraguay.

The surprising thing in the result is that although the “richer” countries tend to score higher on the question of donations to charity, (for example,  Australia, Canada, New Zealand, USA, Netherlands, and the UK ), countries such as Liberia, Iran, Oman, Philippines, Qatar and Turkmenistan score higher on the other scales … hence Turkmenistan ranks 13 in the overall statistics (!) and way ahead of Germany, Sweden and France - and which is a far cry from the usual image of the country.

Apparently only 7% of the population help various charitable funds, but 23% are involved as volunteers and 43% give alms.

One example of this was the mass action organized by an activist to clear snow from the streets in the city center by calling on volunteers to spend an afternoon shoveling the snow from the sidewalks.  They seem to have done I am not sure how effective it was in that it only really affected a small are of the city center.  One problem was that, like most things here, it seems to have been done at very short notice with only a limited advance announcement.  It did however urge the city authorities to issue yet another “feelgood” message about how the, and their employees, (about 500 “janitors” and labouters), are working to keep the streets clear during the inclement weather.

He’s also arranging for improved street lighting – at least in a very small area of the city center, a dual carriageway which is very poorly lit even though it is home to a variety of monuments.  Perhaps this isn’t the best moment to undertake such a project, what with the power cuts and so on … indeed most of the street lights in Bishkek, apart from along the four main thoroughfares in the city, have been turned off.  We turned off our Christmas/New Year lights in the office, even though the Municipality asked us to put them up, so that we couldn’t be accused of wasting electricity unnecessarily.  Anyway, apparently, he’s paying for it himself and says that although he would like the initiative to cover a much wider area of the city, his pockets aren’t that deep, but he hopes that this will serve as an example of what can be done and that the municipality will take up the idea and build on it.

 

The President has now signed into law the Bill which raises parental liability for parents and carers for the upbringing and education of children introducing tougher fines for the “over systematic consumption of alcohol drinks, drugs and psychoactive substances, vagrancy or beggary.”

On the other hand, he’s said that he won’t sign the law imposing fines on those who don’t know the Kyrgyz language, although he did add that requirements concerning the state language for public servants would be tougher as from next year.  I wonder what he has in mind.

 

One of the big items of news this week came from just over the border in Kazakhstan.  A military plane crashed as it approached the airport in Shymkent on a flight from the capital, Astana – killing all 27 people on board, (20 passengers and 7 crew).  One of those passengers was the acting Head of the Border Guards, who had been in post only a few months having been appointed in the aftermath of the shooting of fourteen border guards at a remote post on the Chinese border… apparently by one of their own number, although he has now retracted his “confession”, saying that it was “forced” out of him.

Eyewitnesses say that it fell from an altitude of about 800 meters, (that’s just over 2500 feet) before exploding and bursting into flame.  The weather conditions at the time were bad, “a raging blizzard” and some reports suggest that the weather was probably the main cause, although a criminal investigation has been started to see if there had been any violation of Air Traffic Rules.

Talking of planes and military aircraft, President Atambaev has once again been saying how dangerous it is for Kyrgyzstan to house the Manas Transit base and that preparations continue to be made for life without it … adding, “the American military base should not be in our country” … leading some commentators to say that he had left the Americans with no hope of ever extending the lease on the property.

In his speech, Atambaev specifically referred to the possibility that a country with whom the US has “strained relations” could “bomb the base”.  That seems to imply Iran, who has openly said that it has the capability to hit the base in the event of conflict between the two countries.  The President went on to say that he has been “under some pressure” but it is not clear exactly where from: Russia, America, (or possibly Iran?).  Although Kyrgyzstan and Iran have enjoyed reasonably good relationships, there have been a few, occasional, hiccups …  recently, for example, the Iranian Ambassador was “surprise”, (I presume that is “diplomacy speak”), that Iran had not been one of the forty four countries included in the Visa Free Regime introduced in the summer.

One person who is presumably saying “If only …” this new year is the Kyrgyz Ambassador, to Tehran, (sorry – the “former” Kyrgyz Ambassador to Tehran), who has apparently just been dismissed following complaints reported by the Iranian Vice President, (effectively No. 2 in Tehran), when he was here for the summit of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, that the Ambassador “requires” USD200 for a visa and also asked Iranian businessmen for “gifts” in the form of furniture.  Now that doesn’t sound like “diplomacy speak” to me and, after receiving such information from such a high ranking source – it would be difficult for Kyrgyzstan so sit back and do nothing!

 

Also from across the border, in a rare piece of international cooperation, scientists from Germany and Uzbekistan are to begin a project mapping seismic hazards in Central Asia, monitoring water resources and glaciers in the region.  (I am sure they are all related but cannot help wondering if this has anything to do with President Karimov’s well publicized opposition to the Kyrgyz and Tajik plans to dam rivers to create new hydro electric power stations.)  Although it will be headed by specialists from these two countries, the project will involve scientists from across the region and should report in the first half of 2013.

2013 has been declared the “Year of the Toiler” … I misread that the first time I read it, thinking: I know that there has been a lot of controversy about toilets in the country, and especially the state of public toilets, but then I read it again.  It seems a bit like a step back in time, something the former Soviet Union might have declared.

 

A final If only …, although Kyrgyzstan made No. 3 in the “Globe Spots”, Top 10 countries to visit in 2013 last month … Kazakhstan made it into the National Geographic staff’s list of “Where Do You Want to Go in 2013?“ … Oh, if only they had said Kyrgyzstan …

The trouble with “If only …” is that it is a often a retrospective exclamation … looking back to the past, which can be instructive but isn’t very helpful.  At this time of year, especially, we tend to review the events of the past year but also make plans, (call them “resolutions”) for the coming year and that seems much more positive.

Next week, January 1st falling on Tuesday, only Monday is a working day … but, somehow, I doubt that many people will actually be at their desks that day … and even if they are, that much useful work will actually get done.  Still, that will give me some quiet time in the office to sort out the pile of papers on my desk.  If only it turns out like that!

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Well, last week, I ended with Seasons Greetings for Christmas or whatever mid-winter festival you happen to commemorate … and this week it’s time to wish you all a Happy New Year … wishing you all Health, Wealth and Happiness, whatever the 2013 throws at you!

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Postcard from Bishkek: the weekly postcard that I send out as an email also gets posted on the website ianbek.kg each week – and there are other postcards which don’t get sent out.  This week, for example, there has been the following postcards:

• Silk Road Lodge panoramas – Rooms - 23/12/12
• A secular society? - to commemorate the famous reading from Genesis on Christmas Eve in 1968 as part of the Apollo 8 lunar mission … and the controversy it aroused I took a brief look at the role of religion in Kyrgyzstan – 24/12/12
• Merry Christmas! - Maxim has been taking photographs again … this time of Christmas Decorations – 25/12/12
• Turar Ryskulov - Ryskulov was born on 26th December, 1864, into a poor family in a village in Southern Kazakhstan … so, why did Bishkek’s biggest newspaper want to commemorate his anniversary?  - 26/12/12
• Relics - Bishkek has some new “visitors” , Holy Relics of  St. Matrona of Moscow and of Prince Peter and his wife Fevronia).  Who was St. Matrona? – 27/12/12
• Air Crash Investigation - A “masochistic” pastime – watching Air Crash Investigation – 28/12/12

It is now possible to follow me on Facebook, (where I have specific pages for Celestial Mountains and ianbek … and also links.kg and Kyrgyz Diary), and on twitter, (@Bishkekpostcard and @celestialMTC ).

 

Tags: Expat, Life_in_Kyrgyzstan, Weekly_Postcards