Why Make Things Simple When They Can Be Complicated?!

I would suggest that this should be the motto of the Greek civil service. Anyone who lives in Greece knows full well how it operates – or rather how it doesn’t operate. I had to deal with them again yesterday, which is why I’m writing this post now.

As in every country, there are plenty of intelligent and common sense people in Greece. The problem is that hardly any of them happen to be in the civil service. As I watched all the poor people, yesterday, running back and forth with sheaves of papers in their hands I thought how disrespectfully we treat each other. Most issues that people need to sort out are basically quite simple and yet we have to go from one desk to another, collecting papers, rubber stamps and signatures, whilst desperately hoping that we can get it all done without having to come back again (a forlorn hope).

One of my own particular peeves each time is what they call the ‘protocol number’. In almost every piece of business, the person you are dealing with will tell you that you have to go and get this number before he/she can proceed. You go find this person – usually a woman stuck in a small office somewhere – and they write down your details in a large ledger, with a number, before you can go back and continue. Almost invariably, someone else is now being attended to and you again have to wait.

Why can the person you are dealing with not just put a number in the computer? Why do we have to run off to get a number from someone writing people’s names and numbers in a huge ledger like a throwback to Victorian times? Why do we need to go to what seems like a minimum of five different people in five different departments to get anything done?

Greeks are proud – quite rightly – of the great minds that lived here in ancient times. But these people – Socrates, Aristotle, Pythagoras, Hippocrates etc – were great thinkers that thought out of the box and their ideas and discoveries are still fundamental to so many fields such as maths, physics, medicine etc today. Why can’t the minds in Greece today not think like that any more?

Unfortunately, as I mentioned above, the intelligent ones are usually not in the civil service. This is partly the reason why things don’t work simply and efficiently, but the main reason is the political cost that would accompany making it efficient. An extremely high percentage of people working in the public sector are not needed and it often seems that a lot of the procedures have been created just to justify the existence of them all. I don’t know the exact figure, but over 30% of the working population are in the public sector in Greece. This is an enormous figure, and we are basically paying a huge amount of money for these people’s salaries, benefits, pensions etc and they are not actually producing anything. Plus the fact that a large number take early retirement.

However, no government will risk the political cost of reducing the numbers and ensuring that those that remain are efficient and suited to the job. And simultaneously help create work in the private sector. I was thinking, where else is so much inefficiency and bureaucracy tolerated. Imagine going to buy an airline ticket, for example. The employee in the agency tells you that you have to go to another employee to get an application form to buy a ticket, which you fill in and then go to two other people in the office for them to stamp and sign it. Then they tell you that you have to go to the airline office itself to get a confirmation form that there are seats available. Having got that and come back to the travel agent, you have to go to another person sitting in the corner of the office who will write down your details in a huge ledger and give you a protocol number. Finally, you get your ticket! Yet this (and much worse!) happens in the public sector.

When will someone have the courage to create a public sector which is respectful and helpful to people? Wouldn’t it be great if you came to one of the services and a smiling person greeted you as you came in and asked how they could help you. Then they accompany you to one of the assistants who deals with your issue without sending you to anyone else. While you are waiting, someone else comes and asks you if you’d like some coffee. And everything is dealt with quickly and efficiently in a clean and welcoming environment, without you having to get up from the seat.

In the words of John Lennon, “You may say that I’m a dreamer; but I’m not the only one”

James Bond Driving Citroen 2CV In Corfu

Well, I couldn't resist posting this short clip of the Citroen 2CV car chase in the James Bond movie For Your Eyes Only, with Roger Moore (Mr. Sauve).

The scenes are shot in Corfu and very close to where I live in the north west of the island. In the village with the narrow streets (Pagi) there is a cafeneion just where the 2CV turns upside down, where I regularly sit and have coffee. The only thing we never see there is a bus going to Madrid!! In the film this was supposed to be Spain, but those who live on the island or have visited it know that it was most definitely Corfu.

Enjoy the chase through the olive groves and the narrow streets!

Scottish Government Declare That Parthenon Marbles Should Be Returned To Greece

Scottish ministers have declared that there is a clear right for the Parthenon Marbles to be returned to their place of origin, where they were 'removed' by Lord Elgin at the beginning of the 19th century.

A Scottish Government spokesperson said: "Ministers believe that Greece is perfectly capable of displaying and conserving the Parthenon Marbles appropriately, and support the view that the people of Greece have a right to receive back one of their most important cultural treasures."

There is now a suitable venue for them to be displayed - the new Acropolis Museum - below the Parthenon in Athens. Hopefully, the pressure will continue until the British Museum bow to the inevitable and return the stolen property to their rightful place.

Most People Think Parthenon Marbles Should Be Returned To Greece

Photo: Urban (Creative Commons)

The Guardian newspaper in the UK set the question "Is it time to return the Parthenon Marbles?" to its readers and up to now the replies are Yes - 96.8%, No - 3.2%. An overwhelming vote in favour of the return of the Parthenon Marbles to Greece to be housed in the new Acropolis Museum. The online survey still has 3 days to run, so if you wish to vote, you can do so here.

As I mentioned in my previous post here, the British Museum is fast running out of arguments or excuses as to why they should keep the Marbles. Remember, they were stolen from the Acropolis in the early 19th century by Lord Elgin (which is why some people call them the Elgin Marbles) and then sold to the British Museum.

Over the years, the British Museum claimed that there wasn't a suitable venue for them to be displayed, but that argument no longer holds since the opening of the much-acclaimed Acropolis Museum earlier this week. So now all we can say to the British Museum is - Time to return the stolen goods to their rightful owner so that they can be displayed in their rightful setting - next to the Parthenon - for all the visitors to enjoy.

For more information on the Marbles and their return to Greece, you can visit The British Committee for the Restitution of the Parthenon Marbles and you can also sign a petition, if you so wish, at Return The Marbles.com

10 'Firsts' In Corfu

Continuing the occasional series of Corfu Lists of 10, these are 10 firsts from the island of Corfu. These are by no means the only ones, but give an indication of the role that Corfu has played in Greece in various fields. We are talking about modern Greece, by the way.

• The first theatre in modern Greece and the Eastern Mediterranean. The San Giacomo (now the Town Hall) in 1720.


• The first Greek opera. In 1867 The Parliamentary Candidate became the first opera composed on an exclusively Greek libretto and was performed at the San Giacomo.


• The first university in modern Greece in 1824.


• The first governor in modern Greece - Ioannis Capodistrias.


• The first library in modern Greece.


• The first bank in modern Greece.


• The first lighthouse in Greek waters. In 1822 the lighthouse was built in Corfu and in 1825 the first floating lighthouse was built at Lefkimmi in Corfu.


• The first lady mayor in Greece - Maria Desilla-Kapodistria, 1956-59.


• The first tennis club in Greece.


• The first cricket club in Greece.

Athens Acropolis Museum Opening On Saturday

Photo: Christos Vittoratos

Finally, the new Acropolis Museum in Athens is opening. This Saturday, 20 June is the official opening and dignitaries from all over the world will be present. The museum is located at the bottom of the Acropolis hill, which has the Parthenon on top. Designed by Bernard Tschumi and Michael Photiadis, it has a total area of 25,000 sq. meters, with exhibition space of over 14,000 sq. meters, ten times more than that of the old museum on the Hill of the Acropolis.

The opening of the new museum brings back into focus the issue of the Parthenon Marbles, called by some the Elgin Marbles after Lord Elgin who stole them from the Parthenon in the early 19th century and then sold them to the British Museum because he needed the money.

One of the arguments the British Museum used to put forward for not returning the Marbles to Greece was that there wasn't a suitable place for them to be displayed in Athens. Perhaps there was some validity to this argument before, but now there is none. From what I have seen so far, it is a wonderful new museum and would be a more than fitting setting for the Parthenon Marbles. However, the British Museum do not see it that way. They allegedly offered to 'lend' the Marbles to the Athens Museum for a few months, if Greece renounced its claims to ownership!

Now this controversy has been going on for many years, but I have a feeling that the British Museum are now fighting a losing battle. To put it simply, if you buy stolen goods from somebody and then the original owner asks for them back, what right do you have to say 'No. They're ours' ?

Back to the Museum. If you want to find out more, you can visit the site www.theacropolismuseum.gr. You can even watch the opening live on Saturday via their website. For those of you who are going to be in Athens this year, the entrance tickets until the end of the year will cost ony 1 Euro. Fantastic value!

Photo: Fusslkop

New Olympic Airlines Uniform Design - Vote And Win Free Tickets!

Following my previous post about the contest for Olympic Airlines new logo, the new owners have announced that they have chosen 3 designs for the new uniform, which the public can vote for until June 7.

Voters will be entered in a draw to win free tickets to a destination of their choice for after October 1 this year. There will be 100 winners.

To vote you need to go to the site www.oafashion.gr I have to point out, though, that the site is only in Greek.

It seems to me that the sequence is the wrong way round. Surely it would be better to choose the logo first and then the uniform, based on that? But then what do I know.

Design A New Logo For Olympic Airlines And Win 20.000 Euros!

Marfin Investment Group, who recently took over Greece's national airline - Olympic Airlines, have announced an open competition for the new logo.

Logos may be submitted to the Contest Committee by designers, advertising companies, design firms and other related companies. The deadline for submissions is May 29th. The name of the new company will by Olympic Air, and the five rings of the current logo will be maintained, while no restrictions are placed on the fonts or colors used in the new logo, although designers are asked to keep the old logo in mind so that the new logo proposed will reflect both the tradition and the development of the Greek airlines.

Three short-listed logos will receive 2.000 Euros each and they will be put on a special website so that the public can vote. The design winning the most votes will receive 20.000 Euros.

There's also an incentive for people to vote, as 50 of the voters will be drawn randomly and will receive two round-trip tickets each for OA flights in Greece or abroad from October 1, 2009.

Google Street View Not Allowed In Greece

I previously posted here about the company Kapou in Greece which had started a site with street views in Thessaloniki in northern Greece, with plans to expand to other cities. Well, their operations have now been suspended by the Greek Data Protection Agency and Google's plans to include Athens in their Google Street View have not been allowed until they can provide some more information.

Before they are allowed to include Greece they have been asked to provide guarantees that the service is not an invasion of personal privacy and to state how long the images will be kept. They have also been asked how they will let people know of their rights if they are photographed.

One official from the Data Protection Agency stated, "We are not going to allow our country to become a Big Brother society."

I had a look at some other cities around the world on the Street View site and, to be honest, don't see what the fuss is about. All the car registration plates and people's faces are blurred out and didn't see anything that could be construed as violation of people's privacy.

Am I missing something?

When Does 'Illegal' Become 'Legal'? - When You Call It A 'Tradition'

Some of the traditions that exist around Greek Easter made me think of how we can get away with doing almost anything just by calling it a 'tradition'. At any other time and for whatever other reason, these things just wouldn't be allowed.

At the beginning of Lent, on Clean Monday, the village of Tyrnavos has its famous Phallus Festival. In fact, they call it' Dirty Monday'! On the Sunday and Monday the small town is filled with phallic symbols. People eat phallus-shaped bread, drink through phallus-shaped straws from phallus-shaped cups, kiss ceramic phalluses, sit on a phallus-shaped throne and sing dirty Greek songs about the phallus. Men, women and children!

Could anyone do this anywhere else or at any other time? Of course not. But call it a tradition and you've got carte blanche.

Elsewhere in Greece on Easter Saturday, we have the Rocket War on the island of Chios. Two sides fire rockets at each other across the town centre (see photos) and the winner is the side that hits the bell from the other side's church! People have been injured, houses have been burnt, people have to put protection around their houses, but - guess what? - it's a 'tradition' so it's OK!

Photos from Reuters

In other villages in Greece, 'brave' men dance in the central square with home-made rockets - lit - in their hands. Hands and arms have been blown off in the past, but, hey! It's a tradition!

Have you got anything you'd like to do, but you're not allowed to? Get together with some other people, create a'tradition' - you can surely think up some 'historical' justification - and then go ahead. You can even make it a tourist attraction!