CHAFF VOLUNTEER APPLICATION FORM

(If you are unable to download this form, send an email to jmatthan@icloud.com for a Microsoft Word version to be sent to you

On completion return form to:

Jacob Matthan, Organiser CHAFF

Chamber For Assistance of Finns and Foreigners

Sarkkatie 7

90250 Oulu

Finland

email: jmatthan@icloud.com

Mobile: +358 44 363 4526

FOR OFFICE USE ONLY

RECEIVED INTERVIEW START REFERENCE 1 2

Please list the currently advertised role(s) that you are applying for

Availability

Approximate date you would like to start work:

Days you are available for work:

For how long do you expect to be available?

Why are you interested in volunteering for CHAFF?

SKILLS

Please indicate in the boxes below the skills that you possess giving a brief explanation

Social Work:

Security:

Office administration (drafting correspondence, answering the phone, filing, fax):

English level: writing – reading – speaking: Finnish level: writing – reading – speaking Swedish level: writing – reading – speaking Other languages (please specify: writing – reading - speaking

Team work experience:

Experience of using your own initiative:

Respect confidentiality:

Ability to work with people from different cultural background:

Tell us of any other relevant skills that you possess: Legal, Driving, Organising events, Organising Media Publicity, etc.

Give details of work experience, relevant skills and/or achievements to support your application.

REFERENCES

Please give the names and addresses of two people who will supply references on your ability to volunteer May we approach them now YES/NO
1. Name		2.   Name
Address		Address
Position		Position
Phone		Phone
E-mail		E-mail

Personal details & equal opportunities

This sheet will be detached on receipt at AIUK and will not be seen by the shortlisting panel

PERSONAL DETAILS

Surname		First Name
Address		Home phone
		Daytime/mobile
Postcode		E-mail

Equal Opportunities Monitoring

The details supplied are confidential and strictly for monitoring purposes only. Ethnic groupings are those agreed by the Commission for Racial Equality.

To which of these groups do you consider you belong? (Tick one box only)

1. White

 Finnish  Swedish  Other European  Other Non-European

Other, please write in:

 Specify, please write in:

Any other White background, please write in:

2. Mixed

 White and Black Caribbean  White and Black African White and Asian

Any other Mixed background, please write in:

C. Asian
 Asian Finnish  Indian  Pakistani  Bangladeshi

Any other Asian background, please write in:

D. Black

 Black Finnish  African

Any other Black background, please write in:

E. Chinese

 Chinese  Other ethnic group Chinese

Any other background, please write in:

F. Other/Prefer not to say:

 Other (Please write in---------)

 Prefer not to say

Gender

 Male  Female

Optional: 
Do you wish to make an investment in CHAFF?

((Minimuim €10 – Maximum € 5000)

(Please ask for details regarding this option.)

Date of birth: Age:

Declaration of criminal convictions

Do you consider yourself to have a disability?

 Yes  No

The Disability Discrimination Act (covers any individual who has a physical or mental impairment, which has a substantial or long-term adverse affect on his or her ability to carry out normal day to day activities.

Optional:

If yes, please give details of the nature of your disability and how we could best support you.

I confirm that to the best of my knowledge the information given on this form is correct. Signature                                     Place                               Date

Restart of CHAFF

Chamber for Assistance of Finns and Foreigners (CHAFF) 

The Chamber for Assistance of Finns and Foreigners was set up in 2005 in Oulu to help persons living in Oulu and north Finland with many types of problems including legal matters, getting affordable housing, protection from domestic violence, providing transport facilities, help in moving house, overcoming short term financial difficulties, obtaining temporary jobs (especially for foreign students during summer). 

It was a private group with no hierarchy, and it was run by Jacob Matthan and a group of international youngsters dedicated to help people in distress. (Please go through the CHAFF blog to see what fun we had together!)

CEOs of several international companies operating out of Oulu took part in the activities of CHAFF so that they and their employees could be part of this historic organisation. Fulbright-Professor Kenneth Koleson participated and addressed the CHAFF Group in 2007.

Isaac Sundarajan, CEO of Codenimicon Oy, at his CHAFF farewell 

from Oulu. He now heads multinational LnT Infotech out of California, USA.

Ashesh Kumar, CEO (centre) of (now) Paras Biopharmaceuticals 

Finland Oy, at a CHAFF weekly get together in 2007.

Members of the Oulu Administration leant their helping hand whenever approached for assistance. They brought their foreign guests to take part in the weekly CHAFF get-togethers.

Amongst the many visitors was a Nobel Laureate!

Amongst the many visitors to CHAFF Oulu was a Nobel Laureate, 

Arpad Hamós and his wife, Juliana!

The CHAFF Group helped many persons who were stranded outside the Finnish system including ladies in distress, foreigners stranded due to no fault of their own, reunification of immigrant families, and many others. It helped many organisations to find their feet. A cooperative started during the tenure of CHAFF is a successful running organisation in Oulu.

For 4 years the Group met every Sunday for a very low cost buffet lunch and to discuss and help those who needed it most. 

The CHAFF blog records the very happy times with participants from Australia, Austria, Bangladesh, Brazil, China, Czech Republic, England, Estonia, Finland, France, Gambia, Germany, Greece, Hungary, India, Iran, Iraq, Italy, Ivory Coast, Japan, Kenya, Nigeria, Pakistan, Poland, Venezuela, Vietnam, Russia, Slovakia, South Africa, Spain, Sri Lanka, Sweden, Thailand, Turkey, USA, Zambia, etc. (Alphabetical order!)

Culture Shock! An introductory  book about Finland in German by two 

CHAFF members, Hungarian, Ildiko, and husband Finn, Ilari Sohlo, now in Laos!

Our Sponsored musicians cut their FIRST CD in 2007

Thanks to Ilmi Dubrani of Walda, the Thai Boys sponsored by CHAFF, Yut, Khim and Soda, were able to cut their FIRST CD at the Multi Purpose Youth Centre in Maikkula.

One of the most successful projects was the CHAFF HELP FUND which started in 2006. Those who took part in this fund were responsible for helping people in distress while at the same time earning a good return on their small investment and also using the fund whenever they, themselves, had personal financial short term problems. It was real proof that it is drops that make an ocean!

The fund accepted contributions from €10 to €5000. The CHAFF HELP FUND paid an interest of 12% per annum on deposits, which was paid quarterly. It made short term emergency loans to its investors of up to a maximum of 5 times their investment at 2% per month, but for periods of not more than 3 months. A follow-up loan could only be availed 3 months after the previous loan had been closed.

This was of great help to students in distress, small company start ups, emergency trace needs, house shifting, and many other situations which required emergency financial inputs. The CHAFF HELP FUND provided timely assistance for many small firms with short term cash flow problems.

The CHAFF HELP FUND was closed in 2009 as the Finnish economy was buoyant and the CHAFF Group felt there was not any need for such an operation. All money was returned to the investors as soon as all loans were repaid. 

There was not a single default over the 3 years and some 400 persons and organisations benefited from this fund.

It appears that with the rise of the fundamentalists in Finland, there is need for a National CHAFF movement and also the re-emergence of the CHAFF HELP FUND to help those in financial distress. The intention is hold regular meetings at various locations around Finland. Organisers for each locality will be appointed. Espoo, Helsinki, Jyväskylä, Kuopio, Kusamo, Lahti, Oulu, Rovaniemi, Savonlinna, Tampere, Turku,  Vantaa, Vaasa. 

The new CHAFF HELP FUND will be administered by Jacob. Investments, Interest Payments, Loan Applications, Loan Disbursements, Loan Repayments, and all Administrative Services will be carried out by the Economic Services Division of his Organisation.

If you are interested to be part of this new revitalised national CHAFF Group and/or participate in the CHAFF HELP FUND, you can request for the application papers from Jacob Matthan (jmatthan@icloud.com or text message to 044 365 4526) to be sent to you to add your name to our mailing list and/or for making your small investment to help others and yourself at their and your time of need.

Silent March Against Racism

May I compliment Imam Abdul Mannan for organizing the Silent March in Oulu to draw the attention of the authorities to the growing racism in Oulu.

Two dead, two people badly injured in the last two months is unacceptable.

Youngsters - your active participation is very important.

Another case for CHAFF

I had a call from my garage owner, a really wonderful Iranian who has one of the very best garages in Oulu. He has a garage in Haukipudas, and recently opened a new garage, beautifully equipped, next to the Prisma and Gigantti at Limingantulli.

His garages run under the label PERSIALAHDEN AUTOPALVELU.

 He had just finished installing the new engine in my Opel Vectra.

 But the reason he called me was not because of my car.

 He was in tears when I reached there. He had been trying to reach me for a few days.

He has a very nice VW service van, which he has to take out when called to spots to repair vehicles. He also has a nice car for service calls.

 Both vehicles were parked behind his garage, not visible from the entrance to the area and over 200 metres from the road.

It is in a secluded place.

 The windows of both these vehicles had been smashed. 

What could be the reason for such vandalism?

 We will get the standard answer from the Police - NOT Racism.

 Wake up all of you.

The authorities, especially the Police, are not with us. The attacks have been primarily at those who area contributing to Finnish society, positively. The Police does not want to be bothered by our complaints!

 The situation is getting worse day by day.

If you cannot recognize the signs of what lies ahead - woe be upon you!

Not Racism?

I left for Helsinki early on Sunday morning. I reached Espoo at about 2 pm. I parked my car in the Sello Shopping Mall in Leppavaara. I walked in the mall organizing my programme because of the heavy snowfall in Helsinki, making driving and parking in Helsinki and Espoo impossible. I met an old Oulu friend from Morocco in the Mall. He asked me how Mohammad was.

As I know quite a few Moroccans, I asked which Mohammad? He then recounted to me, in Espoo, the happenings in Oulu of the previous night, about 200 metres from my home in Kaukkovainio.

I had been unable to get any information in Oulu as the whole place, the Monaco Pizzeria, where the incident took place, had been locked down by the Police.

There have been three major incidents in Oulu during the last two months:

One young Pakistani student badly mauled,
One 18 year old Somalian dead,
Two Moroccan shots dead in Oulu,  and

the a member of the Fundamentalist Finns (Perussuomalaiset) Political Party, Timmo Rautio, suggested on his Facebook page that a Medal be given to the Finn who shot dead the Moroccans.

Most interestingly, the Oulu Police question whether there is a racist motive?

What stupidity.

If I was today active in Migrant activities, I would have immediately asked for the arrest of Timmo Rautio and I would have brought charges against the Oulu Police for total incompetence.

Rautio has since removed the offending post from his Facebook Page. That shows he is just a coward unable to stick by his convictions! And the Perussuomalaiset Party has suspended Timmo!

It is very strange how a person (Janne) serving a term of 11 years for brutal manslaughter (killing a friend by axing him repeatedly) and another sentence for another knifing incident, was out in the open rather than in prison or a psychiatric institution under lock and key.

I repeat that this is the time for CHAFF.

If not, every migrant restaurant owner in Finland will have to have security set up outside their restaurants to ensure their own safety. I would suggest that the cities would be charged for this as this is a result of bad political stances by ALL political parties.

May I observe when the Turks were being harassed in Germany, targeted and killed, all they did was to violently react against their oppressors. That put the German racists quickly in their place. The Turks are not being troubled any longer. The "war" that Tommi Rautio is alluding too was quickly ended as people like Tommi and his protege murder, Janne, are nothing but cowards.

Time for YOUR ACTION

You can lead a horse to the water, but you cannot make it drink.

We have done our task of making you aware of the desperate plight of Finns and foreigners in Finland today. It is only going to get worse.

We have also informed you that there is NOT the Same Law For ALL in Finland.

But the apathy that exists is because the general feeling is that "It does not concern me!"

Annikki and me have done our task and our job in helping Finns and Foreigners for the last 27 years.

Our two hit books, written over a decade and a half ago, "Handbook For Survival in Finland" and "Seven Years Hard Labour in a Finnish Holiday Camp - A Finnish University" gave a deep insight into these problems that exist today.

Paying lip service or socialising will not solve the problems of smashed teeth, broken hands and even death, while the Police and the media, in collusion with the Government and the Bureaucracy, as well as the Judiciary, ignore the signs and create an IMAGE that all is well in Finland.

Finland is a country built on IMAGES which are far from reality!

Whether it be a traffic offence, doing your job and not getting the proper pay, discrimination between men and women, there is no system where you can fight those who are exploiting you.

Forget most Finnish Lawyers as they are probably the most corrupt in the world, only interested in making their minute by minute fees as they rob you blind.

Where does that leave you - literally NOWHERE. At the mercy of those whose only task is to ravage you when they feel like it.

As a foreigner, I have had a very nice life in Finland and done my share of work. I have earned my retirement.

Thanks to the fact that Annikki is a Finn, my problems were considerably less than a normal foreigner - a refugee, a student, an outsourced engineer or an expat.

I have not taken Finnish Citizenship, just as Annikki, even after living 15 years in Finland, did not take on Indian Citizenship. We are Citizens of this WORLD.

We specifically liked Priyanka's comment to our last post. She is an experienced Social Worker. It is young people like her who have to carry the baton forward.

You can use this forum.

If anyone wants Editorial Rights to keep it going, please ask and you will be added. We shall only continue to record what is happening.

If you want to act, do it together as an individual will be mauled, like the young Pakistani student, or driven to death, like the Somalian!

But the ball is in YOUR COURT.

How to restart CHAFF

Those of you had enjoyed the old CHAFF are the keys to restarting a new era of CHAFF.

Please contact all of your friends in Finland, all over Finland, not just Oulu, and tell them what was your experiences of CHAFF.

It is your experiences, positive, which will bring others to the doors of a new form of CHAFF, which should encompass the old and ring in the new.

The main difference will be that, now, besdies being a social get together, it will be more focussed on looking at the problems that confront society, both Finns and foreigners.

Racism is raising its ugly head again in Finland. Two terrible attacks, one person badly mauled and the other died of injuries sustained. The big brother network has been influencing court decisions. Inconsistent decisions between two courts on exactly the same matter. The old story of the Same Law For All not being the system in Finland. The Lawyer's Association has become a joke. The Public Guardianship service is ignoring the dictates of their wards so as to rob them of their inheritance. High Courts are just rubber stamps for the rich and powerful. The Supreme Court refuses to take on cases on the grounds which are too flimsy to be even mentioned here. The Police are harassing foreign looking people.

There are several more issues that have to focussed on by the professional team which has to be set up by CHAFF. This would require a onsiderable amount of finance to get the correct type of Social Workers and Lawyers involved with this work.

Over the years I have met and discussed with competent and dedicated people. Now is the time to set this up as Professionally run organisation.

But the fate leis in your hands!

I am too old to be involved with this but am willing to give a helping and in whatever way is demanded of me.

Restarting CHAFF now

There have been two terrible incidents of racism in Oulu during the last two months. One person was badly mauled but survived. The other person succumbed to his injuries. The Finnish Police and media are covering up these incidents claiming they may not be examples of racism.

The next victim could be you!

There are many other issues which require the existence of a genuine Pressure Group.

To me, it seems to be the right time to restart CHAFF, not as before as a loose social group, but as a professionally run one. I think we have young prople with the right skills to run it now.

If you are interested in restarting CHAFF and would like to be involved, please let me know how you would like to be involved and whether you would like to make a small financial contribution to get it off the ground.

To get it working it would need a sound financial base as other it would flounder. The critics would be all over us.

I will act as a Consultant as we have quite a few highly qualified and competent people all over Finland, not just Oulu, to take on the mantle of CHAFF. But they must be remunerated to do the job well.

Think carefully before you put away this matter for future reference. Tomorrow never comes!

An important request to ALL our readers

Dear Readers of all our blogs,

It is with great sadness that we have to announce that we will now have to make all our major blogs accessible only to those who register with us.

The subjects we have covered over the years include the wrestler Dara Singh (probably the most popular and controversial blog entries, ever), St. Stephen's College, Delhi, Cathedral and John Connon School, Mumbai, Bishop Cotton School, Bangalore, the UN, talk Shows in the USA, politics, the Kandathil and Maliyakal families, Kampitie, Vesaisentie, Annikki's creative art, achievements of our children and grandchildren, CHAFF (Chamber for Assistance of Finns and Foreigners), Findians, our numerous friends, relatives, our travels, recipes, and life in general. Above all, t they contained the nostalgia the people love.

Due to circumstances far beyond our control, which affect the lives of many of our loved ones, we have to create the SETTINGS of our blogs so that only those whom we invite can read them. This is very sad as our blogs have reunited many friends across the continents.

With over 120000 readers around the world, some reading more than one of our blogs, for a decrepit old blogger and his wife sitting near the North Pole, this will prove to be a Herculean task, but one which has to be done for the safety, security and well being of many of our loved ones.

Please take the time and effort to send us an email telling us which of our blogs you want to be added to so that you can access them freely.

Our sincere apologies to each and every one of you lovely readers who have kept us going for almost a decade and a half by your readership, your inputs and your outputs!

Yours in great sadness as technology besides being a positive aspect of life can also be a very negative one.

Annikki and Jacob Matthan
Oulu, Finland

Welcome this new day, Holi 2010

When Annikki and I left for India in mid-October, we drove the 600 kms from Oulu to Helsinki. We had snow storms for much of the day, heralding the early, very early, advent of winter.

We do not know much about the time we were away in India, but when we got back we were right in what seemed to be mid-winter. (I lost my old SIM card in the snow in Helsinki airport! But I have got the uld mobile phone number back last week, so you can call me on that number again!)

But winter in Oulu has just continued and continued. We have had the longest spell ever where the temperature has remained well below zero. Some days have been exceptionally cold because of the strong winds. The snowfall right through winter has been heavy.

The Vesaisentie and Kampitie gardens are totally and completely snow covered, with only one small foot track, each, to the garages.

From 2010 Photos February

From 2010 Photos February

Our reindeer stands deeply immersed in thought and snow. Just like Annikki, who has been wondering when it will be "snowman snow" as I think she is contemplating another unusual creation, like her mobile snowman, before the grandkids arrrive by March end!

From 2010 Photos February

From 2010 Photos February

From 2010 Photos February

The snow formations on the ladders and fretwork are reallly beautiful. The aluminium door and frame are a grewat view from the kitchen window.

Today and tomorrow are celebrated as the festival of Holi. Holi is celebrated, in many countries around the world where we have a Hindu population, and also in Bangladesh, at the end of the winter season on the last full moon day of the lunar month Phalguna (February/March), (Phalgun Purnima), which usually falls in the later part of February or March.

We certainly hope that this long hard winter in Finland, and which seems to be an unusual phenomena around the northern hemisphere this year, will draw to a close and the milder, warmer spring weather will be on us. (Friends in Dallas, Texas, reported snowstorms even at that latitude!)

Annikki and I would like to wish you a colourful and happy year ahead on this auspicious day.

(All these above photographs are by Annikki.)

Dilemma! What do I do?

I was in this dilemma when I stated blogging in December 2004. I had one blog for all my different audiences. At that time I also had web pages devoted to different sectors of readers.

There was a clamour amongst my readers of the blog that I was out of tune with them as they were reading many items that they were not interested in as they pertained to my alma maters or something specific to Oulu, etc.

It was then I started breaking up my blogs - besides my primary Blog (Jacob's Blog), I started one on Politics, another related to my association with Cathedral School (Mumbai), another about St. Stephen's College (Delhi), another about finding goods and services in Oulu, etc.

Everybody was happy!

All went well till my recent trip to India, where I stopped all my auxiliary blogs and kept only my main blog going, with just a few very specific entries to my other blogs.

My readership shot up as it appeared that many were interested in all aspects of my trip around India - which I had termed as "Incredible India".

The readership more than doubled at one point. People were referring others to my blog and it just snow-balled into a massive readerfest. Old and young, relatives and friends, school and college mates, Findians, O-Indians, my professional colleagues, past and present, were all tuned in. And many strangers from around the world were liking my style!

Wherever I went I found I needed no introduction as people had been following my blog. As I recorded, at one stage it became highly embarrassing, as people would come up to me and ask whether I knew them!

On returning to Finland, I went back to my old system.

Now I am having a spate of complaints. Many say that I should only blog at one point.

That would be great for me but not fair on my diverse audience. For instance the Cathedral School Alumni Association have especially complimented me on my sustained effort to keep the school spirit at its height by my blogging.

That is definitely not possible as my Seventh Heaven and Kooler Talk Blogs have very specific readerships. And not everyone likes my Politics. To burden all my regular readers with MY political views would be unfair. And my Oulu Best (Worst) Buy Blog is very specific to my Oulu Readers. Who in India or USA wants to read about the price of eggs in Oulu?

Is there any single solution, which is outside my very limited knowledge, which will help keep all my readers happy?

One way is that you could become a "Follower" of a specific blog. Whenever the one you are interested is updated, you will get a message from Google. No infringement of your privacy. You can always stop the "Follower" program whenever you want.

That way, it would stop my having to post important blog entries on my multiple blogs. (Possibly - as I have not yet looked into the ramifications of this alternative.)

If you have any suggestions, please email me or leave me a COMMENT. (Although my blogs are not exactly "Comment" blogs, I do read all the comments and reply them appropriately - also knocking off the spam that does come in.

This entry is being posted on all my major blogs, as it concerns all my readers in all categories.

Next two months

All our blog postings for the next two months will only be on our main blog - Jacob's Blog

Enjoy your trip to India with us.

ICE - In Case of Emergency

I received this very important email from a dear friend, which I felt should have the widest publicity, so I am putting it on all my major blogs:

We all carry our mobile phones with names & numbers stored in its memory but nobody, other than ourselves, knows which of these numbers belong to our closest family or friends.

If we were to be involved in an accident or were taken ill, the people attending us would have our mobile phone but wouldn't know who to call. Yes, there are hundreds of numbers stored but which one is the contact person in case of an emergency? Hence this "ICE" (In Case of Emergency) Campaign

The concept of "ICE" is catching on quickly. It is a method of contact during emergency situations. As cell phones are carried by the majority of the population, all you need to do is store the number of a contact person or persons who should be contacted during emergency under the name "ICE" ( In Case Of Emergency).

The idea was thought up by a paramedic who found that when he went to the scenes of accidents, there were always mobile phones with patients, but they didn't know which number to call. He therefore thought that it would be a good idea if there was a nationally recognized name for this purpose. In an emergency situation, Emergency Service personnel and Hospital Staff would be able to quickly contact the right person by simply dialing the number you have stored as "ICE."

For more than one contact name simply enter ICE1, ICE2 and ICE3 etc. A great idea that will make a difference!

Let's spread the concept of ICE by storing an ICE number in our Mobile phones today!

Please forward this. It won't take too many "forwards" before everybody will know about this It really could save your life, or put a loved one's mind at rest .

Remember:- ICE will speak for you when you are not able to.

Thank you Naval for this wonderful input.

Inheritance Nightmare/PERINTÖPAINAJAINEN

My next book, which is being published simultaneously in English and Finnish (translation by Annikki), is going to be a blockbuster.

In 1994, I exposed the serious problems within the University of Oulu. That book, "Seven Years Hard Labour in a Finnish Holiday Camp - A Finnish Unversity" was the most pirate copied book in Finland that year.

The book jointly authored by Annikki and me in 1994, "Handbook for Survival in Finland", which was also only in English, was sold out within days of publication.

Both Annikki and I have been researching and writing on several subjects, but this book was always at the back of our minds from 1992 onwards.

Now is the opportune time. We decided to leap frog many other manuscripts to publish this one. It gives a deep insight into how corrupt the Finnish System has been and is, despite whatever Transparency International has been writing.

I give below the Synopsis and Contents in both Finnish and English.

Also the pre-ordering information is given at the end so you can save some money if your order is received before the books hit the shelves. The book is written, printed, published and sold directly by us so we can give you value for money instead of lining the pockets of publishers and booksellers. Authors get a measly 10% after several years!

We do hope you will enjoy this book. The sequel "Last Will and Testament" by me will follow soon thereafter. That is a momumental work. It will not be published in Finnish.

INHERITANCE NIGHTMARE
by
Jacob Matthan
Author of the 1994 brilliant exposé
“Seven Years Hard Labour
in a Finnish Holiday Camp
- A Finnish University”

Synopsis

Like all the author’s books so far, this book is NOT fiction. It is the recording of the modern day repetition of Victor Hugo’s “Les Misérables” in Finland in the 2000s!

The author comes from a country which is the home of corruption. According to Transparency International, Finland is supposedly one of the least corrupt countries in this world.

This intricate narration of this true story, covering almost 10 years, shows the extent of malaise in the Finnish System - the judiciary, the police, the bureaucrat, the media, the banks, and above all the lawyers, who are supposedly there to uphold the rights of the innocent. It is a brotherhood network!

Kari Kantakoski is supposedly “a leading lawyer” in Oulu. The intrigue that he has been involved in to get the lion’s share of the inheritance of the family of a carpenter and his wife is still an on-going saga.

The level of audacity increased with each passing day as this lawyer flaunted the law using his “friends” in high places.

Justice Delayed is Justice Denied!

The Lawyer’s Association, supposedly to root out people like Kari Kantakoski, appears to be just a big joke! Kantakoski laughs at this organisation as he knows they would not lift a finger to indict him! The Association has been “investigating” this matter for 9 months while Kari Kantakoski carries on his plundering!

In Finland, the only recourse to justice is publicity, the internet, in particular. Certainly not via the Finnish media, as it is also part of the corrupt establishment.

This book, which will be on the internet and the shelves (in English and Finnish) in a few weeks, highlights in the greatest detail (with every supporting document) each step of the process of having to fight a corrupt system in which the height of corruption is the legal profession in this country.

Lawyers may be the butt of many jokes. That is not without sound reason.

The author leaves it to the reader to draw one’s own conclusions as to what is right or wrong, what is corruption and what is not, what is legal and what is illegal.

It is a sad sad tale.

If Transparency International were to look at this and many thousands of similar cases, Finland would lie 180th in the 180 countries that are reported on by them!

Contents

PREFACE
Chapter 1: Background to the Nightmare
Chapter 2: Matti's Death Estate Inventory Meeting
Chapter 3: Hilja's Dementia
Chapter 4: Renovation of Kampitie
Chapter 5: Public Guardian for Hilja
Chapter 6: Administrator and Executor for Matti's Death Estate
Chapter 7: Financial Misuse of Hilja's Bank Account
Chapter 8: Settlement of Renovation Cost
Chapter 9: Appointment as Care Giver for Hilja
Chapter 10: Eviction of Hilja and Court Decision
Chapter 11: Corruption in Oulu Magistrate Guardianship Section Functioning
Chapter 12: Attempt to Remove the Public Guardian
Chapter 13: February 2004
Chapter 14: Dire Warnings Ignored - Wall Deterioration
Chapter 15: Lawyers Fees
Chapter 16: Minutes of Meetings
Chapter 17: Secret Deals
Chapter 18: Hilja Passes On
Chapter 19: Matti's Death Estate Administrator / Executor Greed Uncovered
Chapter 20: Accounts Examined
Chapter 21: Forced Sale of Kampitie
Chapter 21: Hilja's Death Estate Inventory
Chapter 22: Fraud and Cover Up in Osuuspankki
Chapter 23: Keskinäinen Vakuutusyhtiö Turva Mopo Scandal
Chapter 24: Control of Kampitie
Chapter 25: Huoneistokeskus: Money Rules the Day
Chapter 26: Complaint to the Lawyer's Association
Chapter 27: Complaints to the Oulu Police
Chapter 28: Complaints to the Finnish Courts
Chapter 29: Transparency International
Chapter 30: Who Gets What?

PERINTÖPAINAJAINEN
Jacob Matthan
“Seitsemän vuotta kovaa työtä suomalaisella loma leirillä
- Suomalainen Yliopisto”
loistavan palastuskirjan kirjoittaja 1994

Tiivistelmä

Kuten kaikki kirjailijan kirjat tähän mennessä, tämä kirja ei ole Fiktio. Se on Viktor Hugon kirjan “KURJAT!” kaltaisten tapahtumien toisto Suomessa 2000 luvulla!

Kirjailija tulee maasta, joka on korruption kotimaa. Transparency International’in mukaan Suomen oletetaan olevan yksi maailman vähiten korruptoituneita maita.

Tämä mutkikas tosi kertomus, kestoltaan melkein kymmenen vuotta osoittaa suomalaisen systeemin pahoinvoinnin laajuutta - oikeuslaitos, poliisi, byrokraatti, media, pankit ja ennen kaikkea asianajajat, joiden pitäisi olla viattomien oikeuksien puolustajia. Se on veljeskuntaverkosto!

Kari Kantakosken oletetaan olevaan “huomattava asainajaja” Oulussa. Sotku, jossa hän on mukana saadakseen leijonan osuuden kirvesmiehen ja hänen vaimonsa perheen perinnöstä on yhä meneillään oleva tapahtumaketju.

Röyhkeyden taso nousee päivä päivältä, kun tämä asianajaja lailla pöyhkeillen käyttää “ystävään” korkeilla paikoilla.

Viivytys oikeudessa kieltää oikeuden

Asianajajien Liitto, jonka oletetaan kitkevän juurineen Kari Kantakosken kaltaisia henkilöitä, näyttää olevan iso vitsi. Kantakoski nauraa tälle järjestölle tietäen etteivät he nostaisi sormeakaan syyttäkseen häntä mistään. Liitto on tutkinut tätä asiaa 9 kuukautta. Sillä välin Kari Kantakoski jatkaa ryöstelyä!

Suomessa ainoa oikeuden turva on julkisuus, internetti erityisesti, eikä varmasti suomalaisen median kautta, koska se on myös osa korruptia valtajärjestelmää.

Tämä kirja, joka tulee internettiin ja hyllyille (englanniksi ja suomeksi) muutamassa viikossa, korostaa mitä suurimmassa määrin (kaikkea tukevilla dokumenteilla) joka askelta prosessissa, jonka joutuu taistelemaan korruptiossa systeemissä, minkä korruption huippu on laillinen ammattikunta tässä maassa. Asianajajat voivat olla monen pilan kohde. Eikä syyttä.

Kirjoittaja jättää lukijalle tehdä omat johtopäätöksensä siitä mikä on oikein ja väärin, mikä on korruptiota mikä ei, mikä on laillista ja mikä on laitonta. Se on surullinen kertomus. Jos Transparency International näkisi tämän ja tuhansia muita samanlaisia tapauksia, joista he raportoivat, Suomi olisi sijalla 180 mukana olevista maista joita on 180!


SISÄLTÖ

Esipuhe
Kappale 1: Painajaisen tausta
Kappale 2: Matin kuolinpesäkokous
Kappale 3: Hiljan dementia
Kappale 4: Kampitie remontti
Kappale 5: Yleinen edunvalvoja
Kappale 6: Matin kuolinpesän pesänselvittäjä- ja jakaja
Kappale 7: Hiljan pankkitilin väärinkäyttö
Kappale 8: Remontti kulujen sopimus
Kappale 9: Hiljan omaishoitajan nimitys
Kappale 10: Hiljan häätö ja oikeuden päätös
Kappale 11: Korruptio Oulun Maistraatin yleisen edunvalvonnan osastolla
Kappale 12: Yritys erottaa edunvalvoja virasta
Kappale 13: Helmiku 2004
Kappale 14: Välinpitämättömyys vakavista varoituksista - ulkoseinän rapistuminen
Kappale 15: Asianajan palkat
Kappale 16: Kokousten päiväkirjat
Kappale 17: Salaisia sopimuksia
Kappale 18: Hiljan kuolema
Kappale 19: Matin kuolinpesän pesänselvittäjä/jakajan ahneus paljastuu
Kappale 20: Tilinpidon tarkastus
Kappale 21: Kampitie pakkomyynti
Kappale 22: Hiljan perukokous
Kappale 23: Petos ja peittely Osuuspankissa
Kappale 24: Keskinäinen vakuutusyhtiö Turva Moposkandaali
Kappale 25: Kampitien hallinta
Kappale 26: Valitus asianajajaliittoon
Kappale 27: Valituksia Oulun poliisille
Kappale 28: Valituksia suomalaisissa oikeuslaitoksissa
Kappale 29: Transpanency International
Kappale 30: Kuka saa mitä?

ORDERING INFORMATION:

PROJECTED SHELF PRICE: € 59 per hard copy

Orders received and paid for before Publication: € 49 ONLY (including postage)

Payment to: Jacob Matthan's Nordea Bank Account Nro.: 249818-69968

Write in Message Box: International Nightmare

INTERNATIONAL ORDERS
SWIFT CODE: NDEAFIHHX
Account No: FI91 2498 1800 069968
Account Holder: Jacob Matthan

Being missed by some

(Posted on all my major blogs.)

Approaching sunset in Oulu, Finland at 10 pm on a lovely summer's day.




After I crushed my knuckle and went through the trauma of an operation, Finnish style, which I will blog after I get out of the hands of the doctors, I have tried to keep up with my schedules, but not with much success. Typing, driving and doing just simple tasks as taking of my jacket or putting on my shirt, with one hand is painfully slow.

The travel schedule has not reduced. My daily routines have increased substantially since Nisha, Sunil and Hannah are holidaying in India and also Ganesh has taken his annual holiday. Number of group arrivals in Helsinki has mounted substantially and juggling the apartments to keep everyone happy has been a Herculean task. But Sunil has been a great help, even though he is working through a dial-up internet connection from a Kerala village!

Last week I drove up to Rovaniemi, on the Arctic Circle, and back twice. Each a 450 km round trip. Then on Friday I did a round trip to Tampere, about 900 km. Levi, our Zambian friend from Helsinki, was there and, with my one hand, I helped him empty one flat, load and unload the trailer and finally dropped him at the station.

(Just as I reached the office at 21:30, I had a call from Levi that he had got back to Helsinki and he was driving to deliver a lecture when he smashed his car into another, fractured his shoulder and ruined his car!)

I must say I am living a charmed existence and walking a tight rope trying to keep all my schedules in order.

The next week will be equally hectic, but with Sunil and Nisha back, maybe I can ease up a bit. (One can always hope, but knowing my intent to work myself to the bone, it is just idle mental chatter.)

When people remind me my last blog update was so many weeks ago, I feel a terrible moral guilt as I love all my readers more than they love my ramblings.

The gentle reminders a tremendous boost for the ego.

I have been going through a nightmare trying to get a suitable location for the Mumbai Findians Evening on Friday 13th November 2009. Now I understand why they say that Friday the 13th is unlucky. Help me prove that is wrong!

Annikki and my 59ers Directory Project of 2009 is progressing nicely. Just arrived is a video from our 1999 40th Year Reunion. I am waiting to get my hand on that and extract some good stills for inclusion into the Directory.

The registrations for our 50th Year Reunion are coming along nicely. If you are a 59er and have not yet registered, please do it as soon as possible.

Many of you are not being careful. I have sent several of you information that your Facebook, email address, etc. have been hijacked and your address books are public property. These guys add your name to CDs that they sell and then you are receiving thousands of spam mail while thousands are being spammed in your name! Please be careful where you sign up.

I am busy planning our Indian trip for October through to December, 2009. If any of you want Finnish know how or want to start a business or exports to / from India, please let me know and I will try to fit you into our schedule - Kottayam, Cochin, Bangalore, Chennai, Hyderabad (possibly), Mumbai, Ahmedabad and Delhi!

One interesting news item from India - some of the better known colleges, like our alma mater, St. Stephen's College, may soon be giving their own degrees! Wonder how that will work out as I am already sceptical of people get 90+ average in school leaving to get into the college of their choice!

I have also been helping to organise our Indian Independence Day celebrations. About 70 people will attend and it is going to be a blast.

Raantel OY IS a Best Buy!

One of the tenants, a lady software engineer, who stayed in our Raantel Oy apartments in Oulu returned to India last Sunday after almost 6 months here. Before she left, she sent me this touching email:

"This is just a small note of thanks to you for all the help you have provided in these 8-9 months. Even though I might not have spent hours talking to you but your presence has always made me feel homely. I have never faced any problems as such, but if any, you were always there! It would have been difficult to thrive in a foreign country with lots of insecurity and lack of proper information. With you around nothing was difficult and out of reach. Thanks a lot for everything !"

Raantel Oy Headquarters and Community Centre at Ahmatie 16 in Oulu.

Another lady, who came with her one year old son to be in Oulu where her husband was on an assignment told me at the airport that she so enjoyed her stay with us that even if her husband comes for just a month, she and their son will come with them as they felt so much at home in our apartments and in our company.


Sunita, Karthik and Rajesh leave back for India.

These appreciations shows that Raantel Oy has achieved its objective as THE BEST BUY if you stay with us in our apartments in Oulu, Helsinki or Tampere.


Carom game at the Family Afternoon
at the Raantel Community Centre.

Raantel Oy is not just about giving you an apartment to live in. You become part of our community. With this I think I have achieved what I set out to do!

Claustrophobia - A new definition?

(Posted on all my major blogs.)

Ever since the age of 12 or 13, when an uncle of mine taught me the art of relaxation using artificial stress inducement, I have never had a problem of going to sleep. Before my head is settled in the pillow, I am fast asleep. I do not wake up at night and toss and turn. I nod off as soon as the reason for waking up is attended to. I hardly ever dream. Sit in a car with a safe driver, and I can drop off into neverland within a couple of minutes.

I usually wake up fully relaxed, even if the sleep lasted only a few minutes.



I came back from the hospital on Thursday afternoon with my left hand in plaster from the forearm till the tips of my finger. The operation to repair the knuckle of my fourth finger in my left hand had been successful, but it meant that my arm would be in this plaster-cast for 5 weeks. Plenty of painkillers and a course of antibiotic for 5 days, so no real problem of pain.

When I went to bed on Thursday evening, I thought I was going to sleep in my usual fashion. However, when my head hit the pillow, and as recommended, I put my plastered arm in a suitable and comfortable position on a couple of raised pillows, I felt a tremendous and overpowering feeling of restlessness. Sleep was just not coming in the next few minutes. Each passing second was raising an anxiety within me. I was feeling claustrophobic, even though, bodily, I was not in any confined situation.

Then it dawned on me that my mind was reacting to the fact that my left hand had lost its freedom. It was caged, and the stress relaxation technique, which I have used for over 50 years to drop into my slumber, was blocked by an overpowering feeling of fear. My fingers and wrist had lost their freedom. They were confined and this feeling of confinement was causing my mind to say that I was totally confined. And the realisation that I would have to endure this confinement for 5 more weeks was mentally unbearable.

I jumped out of bed, feeling as if I could not stay put down. I walked into the kitchen and expressed my claustrophobic thoughts to Annikki.

She was cool and calm and told me that I should take each day as it came, and the 5 weeks would be over even before I knew it.

I went to the living room and plonked down in front of the tv, but my heart and soul were not into watching any of the programmes. I let tiredness possess me so much so that I allowed my body to react to a mentally created feeling of a body becoming tired. Then when I went to bed, it was not my relaxation that put me to sleep, but a feeling of great tiredness - quite different to my normal situation.

As soon as Annikki came to bed, I put my plastered arm around her, and that claustrophobic feeling suddenly lifted and I dropped quickly into my normal deep slumber.

When I woke up in the morning, although relaxed, I still had that feeling at the back of my mind that I was a caged person. My n degrees of freedom had been severely curtailed. I now understood how anyone who loses any degree of freedom, mental or physical, could suddenly feel claustrophobic.

In all my life I had never experienced this. It was indeed a major revelation to me about the sufferings of my fellow travellers on this earth who had lost their freedom, any part of it.

I will be glad when this hand is uncaged. I will value all the degrees of freedom that I enjoy much much more than I ever have! And I will appreciate the feelings of other men and women, and any animal, who are caged in any form.

Oulu Cricket Club leaps out

(Also posted on the CHAFF Blog.)

From 090604 Cricket starts in Oulu

The Finnish Chaírman of the Oulu Cricket Club,
Joose Kankare, takes to the crease!

Yesterday saw the first practice session of the Oulu Cricket Club. I am not a player but ready to support this northernmost cricket club in any way possible. So I turned up to show my support. Only, due to other engagements, I was a hour behind schedule.

From 090604 Cricket starts in Oulu

No floodlights required here.
Plenty of Natural Lighting available till 11 pm!

I do not know what they did for the first hour, but when I arrived I saw two teams grouped together talking strategy. They were about to commence a game.



The background was idyllic, but that could not be said about the gravel pitch they chose to play on. A nasty wind was kicking up a lot of dust and playing conditions were not ideal.

From 090604 Cricket starts in Oulu

There are a couple of good cricketers in the midst of the 18 persons who turned up for this first practice. There was a Pakistani, a couple of Australians, a Brit, a Finn, while the rest were a spread of Indians from almost every part of my great country - India.

From 090604 Cricket starts in Oulu

With the strong wind, playing conditions were cold and quite difficult. But I saw some good bowling and also some interesting batting - which means that with this sort of talent available, Oulu may really be able to turn out a good team for the nationals in a year or so.

But that will mean serious practice - not just having fun hitting the ball around.

Besides physical fitness, to be generated by jogging and running a fair bit at the beginning and end of a practice session, there must be batting practice, bowling practice and fielding practice during each practice session.

From Cathedral School, Mumbai

My cricket team, Cathedral School, Bombay - 51 years ago!

I also remember my days at St. Stephen's College where we had a a stickler for fitness as our Captain. With the likes of Siddarth Singh, the wonder from Doon School whose fame preceeded him, Prem Bhatia, Ajit Singhji, Sunil Thakurdas in our midst, it was good to have someone like Vijay Singh as the Captain. He demanded and got respect.

I turned up a few times for cricket practice but as hockey practice was at the same time under an equally fastidious captain, none other than the journalist Arun Shourie, I had to choose between one and the other - and I chose hockey!

Remember 14:00 hours on Saturday at Alppila is the next Oulu Cricket Club practice session!

Reason for excitement

(Also posted on all my major blogs.)

Many of you have emailed me to ask why I was so excited with the software "Cooliris".

There are many many reasons, but I will highlight the two major ones:

1. There is an old Chinese proverb which says: "A picture is worth a thousand words."
2. You can browse thousands of pictures in a couple of minutes, unlike text.

This is now the era of the photo-journalist. If he / she can succeed in capturing the truly great image that depicts an event and add a single one line caption to it, the number of hits one can get to that image or video, and subsequently the caption and then the text, even if the Google Search result was likely to be on the 50th page, is going to be amazing.

Just search for "Jacob, Oulu" on Google Search and you get 95,800 links. It will take months to through those links.

Search for it on "Cooliris" and see how much more you get and you can get to even the 5000th result in a jiffy!

Don't believe me - take any random name of a friend and see what you get!

Truly amazing results. And, you can go through all those tens and tens of results in a flash.

Beware of one problem with "Cooliris".

You can get motion sickness as you race through the thousands of images.

I tried various search combinations yesterday and was thrilled with the results.

But, when I got up from my office table, I was tottering as my eyes had been working overtime going through this huge bonanza of results.

Yes, there is a reason to be excited, but also a warning that this could seriously affect your brain!

Rarely am I so excited

Also posted on the Seventh Heaven Blog, Kooler Talk Blog, CHAFF Blog and the Oulu Best Buy Blog.)

Rarely am I excited about new computer software. Today I came across one which sent shivers down my spine in what it can do.

I downloaded separate versions for SAFARI, the Mac only browser and for FIREFOX, probably the best browser online presently till Google comes up with its Chrome Browser for the mac.

The software is called "COOLIRIS" and it allows you to see many thousands of images and videos from your computer or the web in the blink of an eye.

My time is so limited that I hardly have time to go through all my pictures on the computer. But here I could see all of them in a 3-D type motion and I could see all the top story pictures before you could say "COOLIRIS"

I suggest you enter "Cooliris" in your Google Search facility and then download the version suitable for your browser.

I found a great video called "Slam Dunk Kitty" amongst the literally thousands that came up as I flew through the selection that came before me.

And you can use this software with Facebook, Google, UTube and also your computer images and videos!

What's the bet that Google will acquire this software - which is absolutely FREE, before the lamb shakes its tail!