I live in the Greatest City in the World!

Not just by me, but also according to Reader's Digest, which has ranked Stockholm the world's No 1 in eco-friendliness and environmental thinking and calls it "the world's greenest, most livable city". At the other end of the 72 place-long list is Beijing. The magazine is basing its ranking on a range of criteria such as public transport, air and water quality, local environmental laws, energy prices, waste management and green areas. The governor of Stockholm, Per Unckel, thinks the city's green thinking in its housing development is a key factor and markets the area of Hammarby Sjöstad. And he's probably right, because many governments - the British being one of them - have visited Sjöstaden to learn about sustainable housing. (Almost as many have visited Stockholm to study the congestion charge scheme.)

Stockholm can do at least one thing better though. It did not - and I can't understand why - participate in the European Car Free Day last week. If Rome can manage to ban cars in the city centre for a day, Stockholm definitely could!

Unequal Numbers

Sweden is supposed to be - and probably is - one of the most gender equal countries in the world. Yet,

• Only 8% of companies controlled by the Gender Equality Ombudsman live up to the 13 year-old legal requirement to do a survey of salary levels once a year
• Only 9 of the 296 companies on the stock exchange have a female CEO

And earlier in the week the media reported that the gender pay gap remains steady.

Sigh.

Swenglish

I read a quote from Swedish linguist, comedian, film director and TV presenter Fredrik Lindström about Swedes and the English language:

When people say that they speak fluent English, as well as they speak Swedish, then I want to take them out in the kitchen, pull out a kitchen drawer and say: Talk about these things now!

I think he's so right on! Swedish politicians and officials working at EU institutions and international organisations often turn down the possibility to receive simultaneous interpretation with the argument that their English "is perfectly fine, I don't need it", when they are really not at the level needed to discuss matters properly, or run their own cooking show in English for that matter. They don't realise that they are limited in their comprehension, vocabulary, creativity in using the language, etc.

I have lived in English-speaking countries for five years and work in an English-speaking working place, but I'm still aware of my limitations and feel that I learn new words, expressions and subtlities of the language every day.

Just a Thought

It seems to me that people (read: the government) think that the worse thing you can ever do is to misuse welfare benefits (e.g. staying home from work even though you're not that sick or getting payments for caring for a sick child in the home even though the parent is the one sick as it pays better) while to cheat the system by not declaring (paying) taxes on labour and services (e.g. building work or cleaning services in your home) is permissable and in fact quite understandable and normal*.

But isn't the latter as bad since both scenarios in effect mean that you cheat the taxpayer? Either by trying to milk the system or avoiding to pay taxes you are supposed to pay.

* Especially among the centre-right government ministers.

I'm a Dinosaur

I really thought I was going to be Monica but for some reason I am like Ross...

Which Friends Character Are You?
	You are Ross. You're intelligent and adored by your parents. However, your lack of social skills causes you to talk too much and try too hard. While your friends pick on you for your nerdiness, they better watch our for your rage.
Find Your Character @ BrainFall.com

I have always thought Ross was a much better character than how they just described him though.

Democracy à la China

I read in (Swedish broadsheet) Svenska Dagbladet the other day that Chinese school kids are choosing class reps in free elections. Perhaps a good sign for the future, or not...

The article tells the story of some third graders who are choosing a class constabulary, a story that is the subject of a coming documentary "Please Vote for Me" looking at how free elections take place in an autocracy (presumably to be shown in the non-Chinese world). The election campaign is a tough one and seems to centre around pointing out the opponent's bad sides. "You don't have any self-confidence", says one eight-year-old and points out to the class that his opponent cried again recently. "You won't be able to control the class if you're that sensitive."

The Chinese director Chen says he wanted to do the documentary because he expected to see unrepressed, naive longing for freedom, but the third graders, pushed hard by their parents to win the attractive position, turn out to be shrewd political players. One father supports his candidate son by buying the class gifts and excursions and says to his son: "[Opponent] Cheng Cheng will probably say that you hit your classmates. Then you must say 'I have supervision over the class and if I'm not strict they will not obey me'".

The director argues that the Chinese one-child policy means that the children are always surrounded by adults and therefore very early on absorb the rules of the social game. And thus also those of the dictatorship. In this way children provide an interesting reflection of the adult world's values. According to Chen the school elections demonstrate how long the road to democracy in China is. "The dictatorship's values sit deep down in the Chinese society and free elctions are far from the same as when a country is governed by democratic ideas."

Who won the election? The little dictator Luo Lei with the bribing father. The bribes, the tough hand and the speech about the good leader who punishes his subjects seem to have been a hit with the classmates.