Of unobtrusive security and women who wear the pants (Letter from Helsinki)

HELSINKI - In a world where terror threats have seen nations outdoing one another to strengthen their law-enforcing authorities, the Finnish capital comes as a breath of fresh air: So unobtrusive are the security personnel that you won’t be able to find them even if you look hard.

No gun-toting policemen on the streets, no uniformed personnel at traffic junctions, no cars with sirens blaring racing down the streets.

“Don’t be fooled. They are there, but they blend so beautifully into the background that at times, even we find it difficult to spot them,” said a woman who identified herself only as Taina when this visiting IANS correspondent struck up a conversation at the bus station outside the airport.

“But you can be sure they will quickly emerge if there is an incident,” she added for good measure.

The one place where the law enforcers are very visible is the security check at the international airport, but here too, they will methodically frisk you if the beep goes off when you pass through the door frame metal detector - and then apologise profusely for doing so.

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Wherever one looks in Finland’s service industry, chances are there will be more women than men. This is not surprising in a country where the president and the prime minister are women and where women account for some 90 of the country’s 200 parliamentarians.

In 1920, a mere 10 percent of married women worked. Their number has risen to 80 percent in the new century.

Among mothers with one child or two, more than 80 percent work outside the home. This includes mothers with children below school age.

Among women in the 20-30 year age group, 70 percent are in the work force, largely because the younger ones are still studying. Among women in the 30-55 year bracket, more than 80 percent earn a living outside the home.

Little wonder then that Finnish women don’t just wear pants as a style statement - they actually rule the roost.

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Humans versus reindeer

Finland, a country that is a shade larger than France, has a population of just five million. One million of them live in Helsinki and the remaining are scattered in the southern parts along the Baltic and Lapland in the north, large swathes of which are, however, devoid of humans.

Against this, reindeer number some 300,000, a figure mandated by the government to prevent overpopulation. This, in fact, is a far cry from the 1960s, when Finland was home to some 450,000 of the majestic animals, the preferred choice of Santa Claus for pulling his sledge at Christmas time.

Today, reindeer herding in Finland consists of two fixed annual events: calf marking, which takes place in traditional marking sites in the mountainous high fells between June and August, and herd separation, which always takes place in November or December.

(Vishnu Makhijani can be contacted at vishnu.makhijani@ians.in)