I suppose couples who have just returned from getting married at the Vilu Reef Beach & Spa Resort on the Maldives must be wondering what was actually said at their ceremony.
Thousands have now watched the shaky YouTube video of the Swiss couple renewing their wedding vows at the resort where the celebrant calls them ‘swine’ and ‘infidels’ and much worse.
Opinion on the Internet seems to be equally split between those condemning the locals appalling rudeness and the foolish westerners wanting to attach some sort of faux spirituality to their marriage.
I suppose it’s the equivalent of a chef spitting in the soup at a posh restaurant, something we’ve all thought about but don’t want to dwell on.
Locals working for tourists the world over come to resent the incomers, but of course if the tourists don’t come the locals have no work.
This is particularly true of the Maldives, which contains many very poor people who as a matter of course rub shoulders with the super rich. These disparities have produced an ugly response.
The Maldives government is now engaged in damage limitation and the two local people seen on the video have been arrested. On the official Maldives’ website a government spokesperson says, ‘No stone will be left unturned to ensure that an incident like this never happens again.’
Well, they had better make sure it doesn’t because the Maldives have no natural resources outside of fish and banks of sand and no other industry except tourism. If the tourists stop coming then they really have nothing.
My bet is that the rich and those on a once in a lifetime trip wont be put off, but in future many will want their wedding vows in English or a language they can understand.
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