Baltic Turbo

"More than 60,000 people – around five percent of the Estonian population – have voluntarily participated in genome sequencing. The data is then anonymized and used in conducting comprehensive healthcare analyses. “It’s voluntary, and you also could choose commercial providers to do this,” remarks Deniss Ojastu, Head of Business Area at the globally successful software developer AS Helmes. He rhetorically adds: “But whom would you prefer to trust – a commercial company that owns your data or your national health administration where you take ownership?”

Trust in institutions, schools, the police, or the government in general is a precondition for creating democratic digital societies that work. I’ve experienced this sort of trust before in Finland. In Germany, we’re quick to dismiss smaller countries as less complex and under less public scrutiny than we are. Deniss Ojastu won’t let that slide. “We’re regularly having the same kinds of debates as Germany. Since we take them seriously, Estonia has manifold regulations and powerful barriers in place that prevent unauthorized access or data abuse. If, despite this, a physician managed to transfer your data illegally, he would be immediately stripped of his access.”"

Source: https://www.gernbotschaft.com/baltic-turbo/

Participating in "Teeme ära 2013"

I am...

...a proud participant of the country-wide day "Teeme ära 2013" ("Let's Do It" 2013) which took place yesterday. I was one of around 32.000 people all around Estonia who contributed on a voluntary basis to cleaning their communities from garbage and litter.

My wife and me have helped to clean up  the small beach (Kalarand) next to the community we live in Tallinn. The sunny day and the emotional support of dozens of other volunteers (including many kids) - that helped to make us feel really good about what we did :)

Cleaning Kalarand 04/05/2013 | Courtesy of http://telliskiviselts.info

Talents back home or six economic reasons for not emigrating

Recently, there came another small positive news from Estonia. Initiated by some proactive people there, a new project has been started some weeks ago. It's called "Talendid koju" (its slogan in English sounds as following: "Let's bring talents back to Estonia"). Its purpose is to facilitate exchange of information between the most outwards-oriented Estonian companies and organisations on one hand, and the talented young people of Estonian origin studying and/or working abroad. The objective is obvious: to make sure that many young people would actually come back to Estonia - those who are uncertain about the future in connection to their homeland.

A very good initiative in any case!

I don't know if I am really qualified to be called a "talent", but I am not yet going back to my homeland. The reason is... love :) My dear reason has come to Norway to study for two years in the Master programme at the very business school which I am graduating from. So, we have decided to stay for another two years in Norway.

Interestingly, many - both in Norway as well as in Estonia - find it so natural that people like me want to stay in Norway for a longer period of time (or even emigrate here)... Well, I love Norway - I am a total fan of this society - it's by far one of the best countries in the world to live. The overall standard of living is without any doubt higher here, the society is on the higher level of development, but...

...here are my six economic reasons why I don't plan to stay much longer in Norway (you never know though):

1) It's nice that there are high salaries in Norway. However, it's somewhat misleading without taking a look at the level of prices. They are prohibitively high in many cases. The average salary might be six times higher in Norway than in Estonia. At the same time, the food prices are 2-3 times, the apartment rents in the capital are 3-4 times, and the beer prices 4-5 times higher in Norway.

2) Well, someone can argue that the difference is still large. Yes, it is. It's especially nice to travel and shop around abroad when having incomes in Norway. But I wrote about the average prices here. As a foreigner, without previous connections and profound understanding of the society, with relatively poor command of the language, you are always naturally limited in (a) what you can achieve and (b) how fast you can achieve it. I have much more natural advantages in Estonia, not abroad. Thus, the probability that I will get higher than average incomes is also higher in Estonia - be it through the paid job or the venture revenues.

3) People don't usually take into consideration additional direct costs involved in the life abroad - costs of travelling home and back, long-distance calls, the need to buy some things you already have back home (which might be more expensive to bring).

4) Norway is a stable well-developed society. What is there to change? What is there to really contribute to? If I was to be happy with an average level of salary and bourgeois everyday security, that would be a good option. My ambitions are definitely higher. I want to feel that I can make THE difference. And it's much higher probability to make this difference in the country like Estonia or Kazakhstan. Thus, there is an opportunity cost translating into lowering personal ambitions when living abroad.

5) Perhaps most importantly, Estonia is the country that I feel the strong mental connection with. My parents and grand-grandparents were born there. I love to be there. I love Estonian nature and Estonian food. That's my place. No further explanation is needed. Thus, there are additional social and emotional costs involved in living abroad for an extensive period of time.

6) It's quite rare I can hear young people from different countries speaking about the responsibility towards their homeland. I feel that I bare this responsibility towards both the nation as a whole as well as my parents. Both have invested in me - with the financial means and otherwise. I feel the moral obligation to pay back - with my efforts, dedication and care.

Thus, taking into account all these costs and the moral reasoning, it's not at all so obvious that you are better off in another country which has higher standard of living than the one you were born to.

Why will I vote in European Parliament elections

In about two weeks from now there will be elections to the European Parliament. As Estonia is a part of the European Union and I am an Estonian citizen, I will vote as well to choose six representatives to the Parliament from my homeland. Although I am in Norway, Estonia is one of the few countries in the world (the only one?) which has introduced an option of national e-elections. I am going to use my electronic ID card plugged in to the computer, insert my personal passwords and give a digital signature for a political party that I prefer.

"Nothing depends on me anyway", "Politics is a dirty game", "They all are self-serving idiots out there in parliament", - quite often one can hear such opinions. And... people don't vote.

Why do I vote?

1. This is the purest expression of democracy. I have a choice. I have a right to vote. My choice matters. Huge amounts of people around the world don't have this privilege. I cannot allow myself not to use this privilege.

2. It is one of the fewest opportunities to express my political view, to give a vote for ideology that is consistent with my personal values.

3. I am a definite fan of the European Union. Entering the EU was in my opinion the best thing that happened to Estonia after the break-up of the Soviet Union. Estonia got into the context of European values and democratic principles, it got to actually contribute to European affairs. The EU project is very unique in the world - with its level of mutual agreements (which are anyway hard to achieve), with its freedoms to move, to sell, to work, to study abroad, with mutual dialogue. I can be confident that the war between the EU states is unimaginable - the latter is actually enough for me to be a definite supporter of a common European project.



I found a really great website which helps the European Union citizens to define their political views and correlate them to the parties that they can vote for (and to all other parties in the EU for curiosity): www.euprofiler.eu. I advise to go through this evaluation for everyone who is thinking about the voting.

Singing Revolution (Laulev revolutsioon) in Estonia - a thing to be proud about

I am critical about some things in Estonia as my country (as any critically-minded person is about his or her society). And normally I don't like to boost with the words like "Estonia is the best" etc. But, among others, there is one thing which makes me proud about my home-land and which is worth to learn from. It is so-called Singing Revolution in the end of 1980s.

These thoughts came again to my mind while I was watching the movie with this name in July. Me and my colleague Kristi showed this movie to foreign volunteers who came for their service to Estonia (it was a part of their cultural preparation during the training me and Kristi did for them). I watched this movie for the first time then.

Singing Revolution is the term characterizing the chain of events which eventually led to national re-awakening of Estonians and break-up from the USSR in 1991. But the way people expressed their wish for independence, their desire to build their own country was not military. People did not use guns or any kind of violence. They were singing. About Estonia, about the nature, about their families, about the weather, about the sea, about their country. In the peak moments of the time of Singing Revolution there were more than one hundred thousand people singing together. This brought unity and focus to Estonians (as well as to Latvians and Lithuanians, where similar events were happening simultaneously) who managed to proclaim their independence from Soviet Union.

The good things about this movie is that it is done by Americans, not Estonians. Americans managed to stick to the facts and videos available from this time, while staying objective. And the final result is excellent - everyone feeling part of this country would not probably be left cold after watching this movie. It is emotionally very intensive movie, which shows how something very desirable for more than 1 million people has been happening.

Having been in Bosnia I know what can it lead to when people take guns, start to kill, destroy, rape and wound. Unfortunately, that is precisely what is still happening in many parts of the world. Why cannot all revolutions be singing?

"Singing Revolution / Laulev revolutsioon" is obligatory watching for all Estonians, all people interested in the history of Estonia, all people interested in the history of 21st century and in international relations.

The best promotion for Estonia

In Almaty me and other AIESECers have organized nice tradition - since about 6-7 months ago we are meeting virtually every Sunday evening at my place and having "Cinema Club". We are watching art-house and just good non-mainstream movies.

Last Sunday, when Jaan was still there, we were watching Estonian movie "Klass" ("Class") from Ilmar Raag. The movie is about school violence. It is dynamic, aggressive and scary movie. Definitely the best Estonian movie I have seen since we got independence back in 1991. Actually, it was one of the best movies I have seen during these past 6-7 months of having "Cinema Club" every Sunday.

None of my Kazakhstani friends left untouched by this movie. It was shocking, it was hard, but it was excellent!

Later on, out of curiosity, I spoke to some other people, read some materials in Internet and discovered that it actually became quite popular among many people in several countries, including Russia, which Estonia does not have good relations with. I've heard and read opinions like "I don't know anything about Estonia except that they removed this monument, but after this movie I got interested in this small country".

"Klass" is not shiny out-of-tourist-magazine-welcome-to-Estonia-movie. It is not meant to be PR for Estonia. But it definitely is. And it has brought more fame for our small country than much of what has been done with intention to do so.

Conclusion: Estonia's biggest asset is talented people like Eri Klas, Neeme Järvi and Ilmar Raag. And we need to continue to create environment, where such people can create and be recognized. I know Ilmar Raag personally from the times when he gave lectures at my alma mater in Tartu. After this movie I started to respect him even more. Thanks to people like him it is a good feeling to represent Estonia abroad.

Beauty of the mind versus stupidity in the streets

While I was enjoying beauties of my favourite town in Estonia - Tartu, while I was relaxing during the hiking trip to the swamps, hundreds of mainly Russian-speaking youngsters were crashing the shops, houses, kiosks and fighting with police in the centre of Tallinn. Supposedly because of the monument on the picture below.

It all started because of the monument. The situation has never been so bad at the streets of independent Estonia. Alcohol sales are forbidden. Mass gatherings are forbidden. Estonian embassy in Russia does not work. Russian officials threaten Estonia. Everyone is anxious and nervous about what is going to happen at 1st and 9th of May.

The monument is a Soviet-time memorial for Soviet soldiers who were fighting against German Fascists during World War II. The noble cause, indeed. So is it seen by ethnic Russians in Estonia - as many other Russians around the world. There is at least one person in almost every Russian family, who was killed in the war against Fascists during 1941-1945.

Soviet soldiers liberated Estonia from Germans fascists. And occupied Estonia for another 45 years. So is it seen by ethnic Estonians. There is at least one person in almost every Estonian family, who was deported to Siberia by Soviet Communists (in major part by Russians) in 1941 and 1946-1949.

So, the monument for Soviet soldiers symbolizes heroes and legends for some and occupation and repression for the others. Big difference indeed.

The understanding of what happened in 1940s and later on is as different.

Estonians and Russians get different history, they get different mentality.

The gap between them is widening even more by mass-media.

Estonian media, presenting what is happening around the monument, concentrates mainly on what damage it has been to Estonia and how big threat does violent Russian minority, backed by Russian official agenda, present to Estonia.

Russian television, which actually is propaganda machine, completely loyal to Kremlin (and being the most important source of information for Estonian Russians), presents what has happened, as yet another repression of local Russians by Estonian state, which drives neo-Fascist agenda and uses violent force against Russians.

The gap is widening.

Diplomatic relations between Estonia and Russia have hardly been tenser than at the moment. Some fiercest Russian nationalists among officials in Russia propose using force against Estonia.

Relations between Estonians and Estonian Russians are as bad as back in the beginning of 1990s.

It's sad to see that people deaf. Deaf to each other. They are deaf as millions of their predecessors throughout the whole nasty history of manhood.

People just allow themselves to go along with provocations of some hysterical nationalists, with irresponsible TV-reporters, with feeling of belonging to the mass. They prefer that to the dialogue and understanding of the real reasons behind some actions.

Many local Russians don't understand that the very presence of the monument in the heart of Tallinn symbolizes all the tortures and repressions done by Soviet Communists on the soil of Estonia.

Many Estonians don't understand that Russians suffer because of lack of concrete identity. Many of them don't really belong neither to Estonian, nor to Russian state. Instead of integration, we can see marginalization, resulting in violence in the streets.

That's the same as the feeling of a shy man, who is not really loved by women and cannot get along with any woman for 15 years. One day this man cannot hold whole negative energy inside him. He rapes a woman.

Who is guilty in this case? Surely, man, who commits crime? But doesn't part of the guilt lie on society itself, which has excluded man from its pleasures?

I, Deniss Rutšeikov, originating from Petserimaa , a piece of land formerly belonging both to Estonia and to Russia, coming from mixed Setu-Russian origin, being raised in Russian-speaking family, being educated in Russian-speaking high-school and Estonian-speaking university, a chief of one the leading youth organisations in Estonia, a citizen of Estonian Republic, claim that there is no nation, which is guilty in anything. There are no "good" or "bad" nations. There is just lack of education resulting in stupid actions.

I believe in humans. I believe in beauty of their minds. I hope for another "singing revolution" like in Estonia of 1989-1991. Rather than for another former Yugoslavia in 1991-1995. Rather than Chechnya in 1994-2004. Rather than Northern Ireland in 1963-1998. Rather than Somalia at the moment. Rather than Sri Lanka at the moment. Rather than all of these atrocities done by stupidity, not by the beauty of the mind.