When it comes to commodities Maldivians have very little restraint as to how much they are willing to spend - regardless of the quality of the merchandise. Businesses know this all too well, and they are ready to exploit the hottest commodity coming to town: the FIFA World Cup.

I have learned that the World Cup is so hot that the nation's only TV channel is able to sell the advertising rights to each game at a price of nearly USD 7000. That's almost a total of half a million dollars for the whole tournament. The only return for enterprises investing this money is the potential growth of their respective businesses. Yes, my eager reader; USD 500,000 blown on a football competition for no monetary benefits whatsoever.

What can half a million dollars do, you ask?

• Half a million dollars can set up a decent school for teaching a (single) bachelor's programme in computing with the capacity of 20 classes of 10 students each, AND cover all overheads incurred through a period of one year
• It can cover the current overheads of any secondary school in Male' (Maldives) through a period of 2 years
• It can account for a month's payroll for all government staff of the Maldives along with a 50% increase in all salaries
• It can buy two Porsche Carrera GTs (one of the fastest, most expensive cars in the world)
• It can buy two 3-bedroom suburban properties in Australia

I just wonder what percentage of people of the World buy Porsche Carrera GTs. From when two (or was it three?) Jaguar R Types (what about the Corvette, BMWs, Mercedes, etc?) were brought into this country, the indigenous buying-power ratios went topsy turvy.

When will Maldivians learn to prioritise (ie. education before Porsches)?