Did you hear about the new regulation in the Maldives?

I heard that from the 1st of January 2007 a new regulation is coming into force in the Maldives which prohibits the wearing of trainers except in a registered gym. All those who wear trainers outside a registered gym (including their own homes) will be charged - this offence carries a minimum sentence of 10 years in jail. This new regulation is by ministerial decree.

This new regulation will apply to all those who have worn trainers from the 1st of September 2006.

So anyone who had worn a pair of trainers outside a registered gym from the 1st of September 2006 stands being prosecuted.

YOU THINK I'M MAD? BEFORE YOU DIAGNOSE ME AS SUFFERING FROM SCHIZOPHRENIA AND INCARCERATE ME IN GURAIDHOO..read the following:

"On Saturday, the Justice Ministry’s Aisha Shujune, announced defamation regulations in the Maldives were to be changed from January 1, 2007, to make it a civil offence with maximum damages set at Rf.1 million.

The new regulations are to be instituted by ministerial decree, without going through parliament.

This means from next year, breach of defamation regulations will carry a maximum fine of Rf.1 million (US$ 78 125) for “meaningful loss,” and will no longer incur a banishment sentence. There will also be fines for “material loss,” where a claimant can ask for compensation for income lost as a result of damage to his reputation or “honour”.

The new restrictions will be imposed retrospectively, to be applicable to anything communicated since September 1, 2006, leaving many journalists open to lawsuits for regulations which had not existed in the same form at the time, and which they would not have known about at the time.

SOUNDS FAMILIAR?