Red tape & Perunoita

Perunoita

Potato planting has begun: I had to smile when I saw this headline featured on YLE's english news web page. Maybe it was a slow news day, but at least it suggests that (along with the fact that the ground is no longer obscured with a thick layer of white stuff) that spring has finally sprung in Finland. Those of you who think it is almost summer where they are (in toasty northern Britain for example) for can sod off and read another blog. Anyway maybe people pay more attention to seasonal food in Finland than in UK?

I also thought my brain was turning into mashed potato at one point today (well actually I didn't but I'm trying to stretch a link between two unrelated pseudo-news items).  This was because we have had several brushes with Finnish 'red tape' (punaisen nauha?) this week as we needed to get copies of our passport certified (€30+ at British Consulate; €6 from Notary Public at the Maistratti - although I'm glad to say the consulate did tell me when I was enquiring), and have been trying to figure out how to get the payments for 'workforce training'. This 'training' (studying Finnish in my case) support payment is €8 per day as long as you do less than 20hrs a week (otherwise it is considered a full-time course in which case you can't be unemployed) which the EURES Työvoimatoimisto (employment office) adviser said I could get when I signed on. With me so far?  I knew two more things: Kela pays; the course has to be approved by them before it is booked or paid for.  Except it turns out neither of those things is strictly true. 

First we hunted through the Kela and Mol.fi websites without much success.  I did work out that time spent on the course had to be logged on the same form as used for unemployment benefit claims - but there didn't seem to be a form for applying for permission to take a course. After a brief argument dicussion with Konna we decided to go to the local Kela office and ask (luckily realising that Kontula doesn't have one before we went there so head off to Itäkeskus). Arrive. Take ticket - oh look, 25 people in queue for 5 desks... 

Wait. Time passes (and if you know Konna you can imagine how much she enjoyed that).

One hour later... Get as far as introducing myself suomeksi before handing over to Konna to explain. Discover Kela needs instruction from työvoimatoimisto to make payments, but usually it is for their own courses... oh and have I got my E301 from UK yet? (Luckily yes!)

Okay so now we need to go to Hakaniemi.  Arrive and marvel at lack of security or clear signs,but  eventually find 'immigration' section. Take ticket - ooh only 12 people in this queue, but only 2 desks. 

Time passes... bing-bong 749 flashes up - our turn.

Hei, olen Emmdee.  Tämä on minun kela-kortti; ja passi jos tarvitset. Olen rekisteröidänyt työtön, ja haluisin mennä suomen kielen kurssi...

[They don't have any courses, I have to find one first...]* 

*in Finnish - hey, someone spoke to me in Finnish! 

That's okay I already have found one - and have the details. How do I get permission to take it and get the payments?

[Okay, I've noted you have asked on the system.  Now you need to get a certificate from the course organiser to say you are enrolled. Then we will tell the Kela they can make the payments when you do the course]

So no forms?! And do we have to come back here again! No - luckily it can be posted, but now a trip to the Helsingin Seudun Kesäyliopiston toimisto (luckily only 10mins away) is needed... trudge to the Open Summer University office; enroll; pay; get certificate. Phew. Saga over.

A bad day for Finland

Finnish flags on a better day...

This morning I, like most other citizens and visitors of this small country, looked out their windows to see the Finnish flag hanging forlornly at half-mast from a nearby flag pole. And in Finland that means in front of almost every state and municipal building, most housing blocks and offices and many individual homes.

The events of yesterday were terrible, and all the more shocking for Finland after the similar events of last November. I won't repeat the details, but see YLE (in english) for the state broadcaster's reporting of the incident. There has been an understandable range of reaction to this: shock; a desire to blame; questioning the role of police and government; calls to tighten gun laws and security.

There has also been concern on how this event reflects on Finland: prime-time national TV news noting that the story had been carried around the world as a major news item. And of course the media both here and abroad has latched onto the YouTube connection (although to be honest I would almost be surprised if someone of his age didn't express himself on YouTube, Facebook, MySpace, or the plethora of other similar online spaces).  As has been reported widely,  Finland has a very high private gun ownership of over 1.6 million weapons for only 5.2 million inhabitants: the 3rd highest in the world.  While many of these are for hunting which has a strong and long tradition here (the validity of which I will leave to others to debate) the first question to ask is 'why does anyone need to keep a hand gun at home?' as the only vaugely reasonable use for this type of weapon is for target shooting in a firing range. It seems like this is something the government is likely to want to change (although it has been pointed out this was said last year too), the next question is what else will the authorities (national and municipal) actually do in reaction to this?

I for one hope it won't lead to a fences, control and surveillance mentality in Finnish schools, something that I have encountered time and again as an architect working on British schools and education buildings.  Although the safety of the students and staff must be a priority, one has to question the effectiveness of these types of measures, apart from the psychological one of 'Look we're doing something'.  If you have a metal detector and you find a gun or a knife you need guards to deal with it. Are they armed too? And as this case shows, what about petrol bombs? Ceramic blades and guns? Fences and be cut or scaled by the determined.  Security gates bypassed.  As well as shutting out the community (again psychologically if not literally), making these institutions look like prisons surely also sends a damaging negative message, 'its dangerous here'. 

I don't think it will happen though - maybe unlike the UK - the emphasis here (this is the Nordic model remember) seems to be on trying to tackle the root cause (by social and community welfare support), and for government to try to look for long term solutions rather than short-term (even cosmetic) ones. We'll see.

To add to the gloomy tone of the day yesterday it was revealed that:

• Finland no longer tops the list of least corrupt countries, dropping to no.5 after last year's election funding scandal. The UK is ranked 16th also down 4 places.
  
• Most people (including the 50% of staff) believe that fraud in the Kela (the social security system) is common.
  
• The head of the Finnish armed forces has argued that the anti-cluster-bomb treaty will weaken Finland's defences and cost too much. 
  

So there it is. We probably drove past Kauhajoki on our visit to Seinäjoki in the summer, which makes this more 'local' than you might think for us.  The previous posts on this blog may have focused on the beautiful woods and lakes, the great architecture, the traditions and culture; but there is a darker side here (as with anywhere, truth be told):  There are high depression, alcoholism and violence rates; there are bad buildings/architecture (particularly in 7o's/80's suburbs) as well as the good; there is a perceptible resistance to the idea of outsiders, foreigners and other cultures in parts of Finnish society (which varies from an undertone to outright racism in some cases, but is often unrecognized); and there are some bad people. 

But I came here with my eyes open: Finland still has much to offer, and much to be proud of, for it's citizens and visitors alike; let's hope the damage to the nation's psyche is not too deep, and the right actions are taken for the future.

See also: 

Finland asks 'what is wrong with us?' (Guardian)

So much for the peace and quiet of the countryside (finnstuff blog)

[edited 25.09 17:45]