Postcard from Bishkek

The name James Bond is known all over the world … the name of the character created by Ian Fleming as the hero in his novel Casino Royale in 1953.

Apparently Fleming wanted a name that would sound as ordinary as possible … “brief, unromantic, Anglo Saxon and yet very masculine”.  He picked on the name of an American ornithologist and wrote to ask permission … and got the reply, “Fine with it.”  Little did either guess quite what to follow.

Fleming went on to write a total of twelve novels featuring the British Secret Agent that he had created – as well as two collections of short stories … and seven other writers have continued the “franchise” following the author’s death in 1964 … not to mention a series of stories about “Young James Bond” and the Diaries of Miss Moneypenny … television and radio programmes, comics – sorry “graphic novels”, video games … and of course the films – there have been 23 of them to date and they represent the longest running and second highest grossing sequence of films ever made.

Bond, the real James Bond, was born in Philadelphia on January 4th, 1900 who as a teenager, (following the death of his mother), lived in England and attended Harrow and Cambridge.  After graduation he returned to the states and worked for a while in a Bank before quitting and going on an expedition to the Amazon.  He went on to become an expert in the birds of the Caribbean – publishing was to become the definitive book on the topic, Birds of the West Indies, in 1963 .

There are often little cameo performances or references in films and other stories, linking the author and the ornithologist, Secret Agent 007 – “licensed to kill” and the author of Birds of the West Indies.

It must have been difficult for the real James Bond when growing up as a child, having a birthday so close to the Christmas/New Year holidays … one big celebration overshadowing his moment in the limelight, having to make do with one present each year instead of two like everyone else – even it was presented as a “combined” Christmas and Birthday present.

Well Christmas has come and gone – although we have got Orthodox Christmas to celebrate next week – and so has New Year.  It was a busy night and I didn’t meet the New Year tucked up in bed as I usually do.  New Year’s Eve was busy with lots of running around trying to get everything done before Bishkek closed down for the holidays … the kids had visitors and so I was late cooking a meal – Roast Beef but no Yorkshire pudding, (that’s something I have never managed to master – my father would have been most disappointed with me for that – it was one of his specialties).

New Year’s Day itself was quiet … the city center was more or less “dead” with all the shops and offices closed.  One cinema was open and the kids went off to watch a film, (47 Ronin starring Keanu Reeves – it was only released on December 25th, but is already in the cinemas here).  I stayed at home – I didn’t fancy having to watch it in Russian.

However, I did get to watch S’ Lorkym Parom! (Irony of Fate or Enjoy your Bath) on TV – again!  This is a Russian classic from 1975 – one of the most popular Soviet films in history. It’s based on a play written in 1969 and the Director is a genius with many, many wry comedies to his credit … one of my favourite Soviet directors – actually the only one I know by name.  I have seen several of his films and have yet to be disappointed.  Some of them are really excellent, but I am not sure how they would be received in the West.

This one is about a guy who goes to a sauna on New Years’ Eve and gets blind drunk.  His friends take pity on him and decide to put him on a plane so he can go home and see in the New Year … but they put him on the wrong flight … and he ends up in Leningrad.  He is in such a state that he doesn’t notice and hails a taxi, giving the address and dozes off.  Now, just as every city, town, village and hamlet used to have a Lenin Street, it appears that bath Moscow and Leningrad had a 3rd Builders’ Street – and it turns out that the same architectural plans were used to construct Apartment Block number 25 … so, once again he doesn’t notice the mistake … even when he comes to Apartment 12 he doesn’t realize his mistake because the key from his Moscow apartment opens the door … and so his comedy of errors begins.

When it was first aired on TV, it was seen by an audience of 100 million people … but the TV station had to reschedule another airing a month later – to meet the popular demand.  Later it went out into the cinemas where, again it was a great hit.  It’s now shown on one station or another every year – often two or three … and I actually caught two different performances on New Year’s Day.

Now that’s a record for James Bond to emulate.

 

James might have been kept busy this week … there were reports on the website of Vechereniye Bishkek, (Evening Bishkek -  Bishkek’s most popular newspaper), that the Tajiks were mustering armoured vehicles near the Kyrgyz border – which they flatly denied, saying that all were safely tucked up in their bases.  It may have been a case of misinformation but remembering the news last week about how many incidents there were on this border last year, it sent tensions rising for a brief moment.  Fortunately, it proved to be groundless – they weren’t even commanded by a single Ronin – but it would be interesting to know the source of the rumour.

A slightly better example of “citizen journalism” came with a short clip posted on a social networking site.  A couple of people had been standing near a government office building and happened to spot through the window that one of the civil was busy … watching porn.  One of them whipped out their mobile phone and started recording … then climbing over a low fence to get to the window to get a better picture.  It’s a pretty grainy picture and not possible to make out the identity of the culprit, but you can just about make out that it is probably a porn site on the screen.  Apart from cultivating comments like “Shame”, an awful lot of the concern expressed was the fact that the state was paying for the traffic.  Two other thoughts crossed my mind … I recalled the reports about how much porn is apparently watched in the Houses of Parliament, (in London, that is), and then the former IT teacher worried about the poor ergonomics – sitting with your back to the window thereby getting reflected glare from the window on the screen.  I’m sure, however, that James Bond would have had concerns about the security implications of placing a computer screen so that it could be seen from outside through a window.

Videos posted on social media are beginning to be quite a common feature of life here … remember Telephonegate, (purported recorded conversations between Maxim and his uncle about how how to stage a third revolution), Tekebaev in an intimate encounter, the Kumtor 3 million extortion, to mention just a few examples.  Some seem to have the markings of someone in the authorities playing a game courting public opinion but others seem to be anonymous attempts to expose something.  Well, yet another one has appeared – this time featuring the head of the spiritual administration of the the Muslims in Kyrgyzstan, (the Muftiat), in an intimate situation with a woman – whom he says is his wife.  No-one knows where it has come from – or why it was posted.

Another job for James?

Another report, this time from Russia, raised the question of the future of the Manas Transit Base once again – suggesting that history might repeat itself and it might simply be restructured and renamed so that the Americans could continue to use it.  After all, the journalist commented, they have invested considerable sums not in modernising the airport but in creating a new air traffic control system resulting in single radar space involving some 26 stations scattered around the country and which would cover air space in neighbouring countries as well.

At the same time, he pointed out, the American Embassy is being relocated to a much bigger compound… with much of the building actually being located underground … down as far as 28 meters underground.  He speculated that much of the “intelligence gathering” functions currently carried out at Manas will be transferred to this new complex.

 

One of the things I missed on New Year’s Eve was the traditional broadcast by the President – congratulating the populace on the holiday.  It’s a bit like the Queen’s Christmas Message … and although I didn’t see it – I did read it the next day – and it seemed reminiscent to me of Martin Luther King’s famous Dream Speech.  It didn’t have the same delivery or impact but it did use the Dream motif with hopes for a new society – which is a very powerful one.  The message was clear, (to me): “we’ve taken the first steps but there’s still a lot to be done to build a new, powerful, independent, democratic Kyrgyzstan”, (that’s my paraphrasing – not a quotation).

Earlier, the Prime Minister had said “we are making progress … the economy is showing positive results”.  That may be the case, the official figures seem to show it, but regular readers will know of my cynical regard of official statistics – and to the way that statistics are (mis)used.

 

You may recall, for example, that last week I referred to a Gallup Survey that showed that most in the former Soviet republics considered that the break up of the union had been harmful … that in only a few countries – e.g. Armenia – was there a clear majority that felt it had been “useful”  Here in Kyrgyzstan 61% felt that it had been “harmful”, 16% that it had been “of use”, 8% felt neutral about it and 14% “did not know” or refused to answer the question.  So, I seethed when I saw a headline that “3 out of every 5 Kyrgyz citizens wanted to return to the USSR”.   They weren’t asked that question and they didn’t say that – they said that the breakm up had been harmful … that’s all … they didn’t say that they wanted to put the clock back and return to the Soviet Union.  I can think of several “Nationalists” who could quite easily agree that the collapse of the Soviet Union had been harmful but would not want to return to Moscow’s fold …

To be fair, it was only headline that I take issue with.  The report itself, short though it was, was a fair description of the survey and its results – probably because it relied heavily on the press release from Gallup.  It did, however, miss out some of the other data in the press release about age differences and how younger people, who hadn’t grown up under the Soviet system tended to be positive about the new sovereign status of the independent countries.

I can’t argue with the numbers themselves – they show what they show … like it or not … but I can take issue with the way that they are presented – and it struck me that this was a gross misinterpretation of the survey’s results, going well beyond the available data.

One of the odd things about the survey was that the Armenians were much more positive about the collapse of the Soviet Union, but they are well down the road to “recreating” it (or something like it – at least in some respects) by applying to join the Customs Union.

So it was interesting to see an analytical piece suggesting that one of the founder members – Kazakhstan – is beginning to get “cold feet” about the concept of the Eurasian Economic Union.  This is almost as surprising as Armenia’s position … Kazakhstan was the last of the former Soviet republics to declare independence (on 16th December, 1991) and it was the first to join the founding members of the successor Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) – Belarus, Russia, and the Ukraine – pushing through the ratification of the agreement in just two days, although it took them a bit longer to ratify the Charter.

(Incidentally, Ukraine never ratified the Charter and although they participate in activities, stricly speaking, they are a member of the Commonwealth)

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Anyway, to return to the positive economic results … although the IMF is projecting growth of almost 8% this year, they’ve got some pretty significant reservations … about the effects of lower prices for gold, the prospect of further political turmoil over the ongoing negotiations with Kumtor and the need to address the weaknesses in the financial sector.  Fortunately, none of that comes as a big surprise … but the strength of their opinion must give some cause for concern.

One statistic that gives a lie, or at least raises a question, about the assertion … there was the report that Kyrgyzstan holds second place in the rankings of wages received in the CIS … second from last, that is, with an average salary of 11374 soms amonth – or USD231.  Only in Tajikistan were they lower – USD158 a month.  Top of the league was, surprise surprise, Russia at USD922 a month, followed by Kazakhstan at USD689.  Remember, those are average salaries … some people receive more – others less.  It might also be interesting to see equivalent figures for pensioners … or specific professions such as teachers, doctors or policemen.

Mind you, some people seem to find ingenious ways of supplementing their incomes.  Take the traffic police, for example.  Last week I mentioned how a survey had “revealed” a number of corrupt schemes that operate in the service and supplemented the salaries of officers … all the way up to the top of the service … and how the head of the department had come to the defence of his employees saying there was no corruption.    Well, he’s had to eat his words.  He says he was misquoted, or at least misunderstood … “misinterpreted was his word.  ”I did not say that there is no corruption,” he is reported as saying, “I explained that after two years of my work in this position, my guys were never detained with a bribe, nobody wrote a complaint and there was no cases instituted …”  He went on to say that drivers should not resort to bribing officers – creating emergency situations by breaking the traffic laws and then resorting to making unofficial and unrecorded payments to resolve their dilemma.  It seems to me a case of the chicken and the egg … which comes first?  Anyway, in the end, he felt compelled to resign his post … saying that he wasn’t fired, but “hints were dropped”.

A couple of enterprising fraudsters have found another way of raising funds … one apparently used somebody else’s passport to go into a bank and arrange a loan – of USD100,000 – then went to the cashier and withdrew the money, only to then disappear.  I can’t understand how it was possible … it’s extremely difficult to arrange a credit here … and very time consuming.  Before any document can be actioned, it needs to be checked and countersigned … there are things like pledges to arrange … and you have to give advance notice in order to withdraw large sums of money in cash.  It’s possible to have an application turned down in a matter of minutes – but to have it approved and actioned can take months – especially for that sort of sum.

Hmmm … didn’t the IMF say something about the weaknesses of the financial sector – but I don’t think that even they were thinking of something like this.

Anyway, it looks to me like another case for 007 to investigate.

Some enterprising thieves decided to help themselves in another way.  A corporate event was being held in the Museum  of Fine Arts, and once it was over, the curators noticed that a painting, (Crimean Seascape painted by Ivan Alvazovsky in 1866), was missing off the walls of the second floor Russian Gallery – and not exactly a small one either, it measured 47 by 54 cms.  Mind you, it seems that it was just a case of the thieves taking it off the wall and walking away with it, they “brutally” cut the canvas out of the frame.   The painting was given to the Museum back in 1955 when its value was estimated at 10000 rubles – at the time which, according to the official exchange rate, that was about USD1900 … that’s about USD15000 today taking inflation into account.  Not a huge haul perhaps, but it’s not clear what it might be worth in today’s market.

Another case for James? … but then again, it’s his birthday – let him have the day off, sitting with his latest “Bond Girl” sipping a Dry Martini – shaken not stirred.

 

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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:

• Take a Hike - I have a confession to make: for a long time I was confused about the difference between such terms as trekking, hiking, rambling and walking. That’s a bit of a handicap for someone working in Tourism in Kyrgyzstan – especially as Kyrgyzstan is known as a “Trekkers’ Paradise” – 29/12/13
• Witnessing for Jehovah - One group that won’t be joining the celebrations this festive season – 30/12/13
• Frenemies and Selfies - Two words … one from the last century … and the other from this – 31/12/13
• A year of anniversaries – 2014 - It’s going to be a busy year here in Kyrgyzstan … with lots of anniversaries to commemorate – 01/01/14
• An initial foray into Issyk Kul - Semyenov’s first trip to Issyk Kul … to mark his birthday in 1827 – 02/01/14
• Signs of progress … -My recent trip to Naryn provided some surprises – 03/01/14

It is possible to follow me on Facebook, (where we also have specific pages for Celestial Mountains, the Silk Road Lodge, The Celestial Mountains Guesthouse in Naryn  and also links.kg, Kyrgyz Diary and Kyrgyzstan Visitki … and not forgetting ianbek), and also on twitter, (@Bishkekpostcard and @celestialMTC ).

Tags: In_the_News, Life_in_Kyrgyzstan, Weekly_Postcards