Abdul Turay

The Great Migration Published Postimees  13 Sept 2012 Recently, I asked a group of young people, if they have Facebook accounts. They looked at me like I was mad. "That's like asking us, do we have a noses?" one of them said. "Come to think of it even people who don't have noses have Facebook accounts," another said to much laughter. Last week 6 th July, Kanal 2 did a program "Minu Facebooki sõbrad". It was a light hearted look at the social network phenomenon. But the whole Facebook is king challenges some of our cherished beliefs about modern Estonia. 10 years ago when I first visited here, Estonia was more advanced than my own country the United Kingdom. It was a revelation. Estonia was my introduction to whole concept of social networking. Rate.ee was founded in May 2002, that's a year before Orkut, or MySpace, two years before Facebook. I so wasn't impressed when I first saw Facebook. "So...

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Two Tribes By Abdul Turay Published Postimees 13 August 2012 A couple of years ago, I went along with my wife to a manor house in the heart of England which every August, for the last 30 years, has been a jamboree (Rahvapidu) for the Estonian community in Britain. I expected a celebration of Estonian culture in Britain. Singing, dancing, selling handicrafts and Estonian foods; that sort of thing. I discovered, two tribes gone to war. The foreign Estonians (Väliseestlased) believe they have worked to preserve and promote Estonian culture for over 60 years, not only in the UK but in the other four Väliseestlased communities, Sweden, the USA, Canada and Australia. Here was their view of new Estonian immigrants to Britain. “We don't mix with them at all, we don't socialise, we don't even understand them. It's like apartheid,” said one of them, who understandably didn't want to be name. The story of Estonians in Britain is an inte...

On Immigration Policy by Abdul Turay Postimees 13 July 2012 For once I have subject where I can draw on personal experience not just for colouring and commentary but for analysis. Immigration, let's talk about it. You may think you've read everything there is to say, but there are some things that no one is saying, no-one dare say. Once again a gap has opened up between what the business elites and technocrats who run the country want, and what the people want. The elites want more immigrants. The people do not. It really is that simple. The elites are going to win. Here are the arguments if you need reminding. As some of you will remember, last year the Estonian Development Fund (EDF) did an analysis of Estonia's future in the centenary year. Leave aside the oxymoron of a government sponsored venture capital fund, this set out four possible scenarios for Estonia's future. None of these scenarios are perfect but broadly speaking, two ...

Meikar and the Poster Boy By Abdul Turay Published Postimees 12 June 2012 "All domestic politics are now European politics," so said Quentin Peel of The Financial Times at last month's Lennart Meri conference. It's has been creeping up on us for some time now. I've noticed it personally. I was at a conference about year ago. I got talking to a senior British journalist, a former head of an international agency. He wanted a detailed breakdown of what was happening with Estonian politics. We discussed Savisaar's problems with KAPO and Russian secret service, which were still current at the time. We scanned a newspaper together, I translated for him. He was sceptical. Now even journalists and investors who have no direct interest in Estonia are fishing for information about what exactly is going on. I spoke to a journalist working in Brussels recently. He was keen to know every detail. He wasn't going to report on it. Nobody died,...

The invisible beautiful Estonian film. By Abdul Turay Published Postimees 3 May This time I will move away from talking about politics and talk about culture. Since it is the 100th anniversary of Estonian cinema I might as well add my 50 cents to the debate. Kevade (1969) Lets borrow metaphor from that eh...em.... “masterpiece” of contemporary American cinema, Shallow Hall, starring Jack Black. There is a scene in film where Jack Black asks his co-conspirator that if he was dating the most beautiful women- Linda Carter if you're interested- would he care if everybody else thought she was ugly?” “No!” his companion says without hesitation “Because everybody else would be wrong.” Let's push that concept up a gear. Male readers, would you rather date someone beautiful and invisible or someone plain and visible. How vain are you? Is there point in dating a model if no-one else can see her? The Estonian film industry is both beautif...

The Austrian Factor By Abdul Turay Published Postimees 4 April 2012 Patriotic Estonians wants two things out of foreigners. They want their country to be noticed, and they want it to be liked. And there exists a small group who are growing in influence in America on talk radio, satellite television and the internet, who do both. They are knowledgeable and successful, one of them is a candidate for president of the United States of America. They are known as the Austrian school economists or Austrians for short. There is just one problem. The world's leading intellectuals from all spectrum thinks the Austrians are crazy people, Nutters. It is a bit disheartening to say the least. What this means is when ever you read something positive in a foreign publications about Estonia, you have to take it with a pinch of salt. What you are reading, as many people think, might just be the ravings of mad person. So let's examine the Austrian school, find out why they like E...