Government ministers have inadvertently become a meme after a bizarre display of gardening enthusiasm in the pouring rain, leaving them in a state of acute embarrassment.

As part of the project to plant five million trees, the government organized a special event on November 30 in Villimalé, where 500 trees were planted.

Photos from the occasion quickly circulated on social media, capturing ministers and officials, umbrellas in hand, attempting to water the plants amid the downpour. Among those pictured were Minister of Sports, Fitness and Recreation Abdulla Rafiu, Minister of Health Abdulla Nazim, and Minister of Tourism and Environment Thoriq Ibrahim.

The public reaction was predictably scornful. Many described the ministers’ drenched gardening efforts as little more than a public spectacle, a laughable exercise in showmanship.

Critics went further, arguing that the incident revealed the astonishing level of cluelessness of senior government officials. Photos from the event began circulating alongside similar scenes from other countries, amplifying the sense of ridicule.

This is far from the first time the government has faced mockery for staged antics. In the past, officials have been widely trolled for flashy photo opportunities, including images of them laying foundation stones using an concrete pouring chute, during visits to various islands, a gesture that seemed designed more for optics than substance.

The program to plant five million trees itself is a genuinely ambitious initiative aimed at reviving endangered trees in the Maldives and sustaining the nation’s green ecosystem.

It was officially launched on 5 June 2024, coinciding with World Environment Day, yet even this well-intentioned project could not escape the spectacle of its own mismanaged publicity.