After all the economic and social problems we had in 2008, I believe that:
- 2009 will be tough as a lot of big countries are in recession and Mauritius will inevitably suffer. The tourism industry and Air Mauritius for instance will have to adapt… or perish. Remember that major banks and factories in the USA, Europe and Japan are closing every day…
- 2009 will bring a major shift in the way we relate to money and indulge in consumerism. Many of us, including a lot of young people, forget that working is first and foremost about saving money to have a good standard of living when retirement age comes. Working is not about using a major portion of one’s salary to buy the latest electronic gadget however tempting that may be… In 2009, people will have to be more prudent with their money and invest wisely. Remember to get all your needs first before considering some of your wants.
- 2009 will be the year of Barack Obama and I hope this will have an influence on politics in our country. Politics in Mauritius is outdated. Old politicians have lost their ideals and have no vision. Many of the young ones (but not all) are just younger versions of the old ones… It is time for someone to come with a long term plan with feasible solutions to real problems we face in this country such as our inadequate education system, corruption, no equal opportunities, poverty, promotion not based on meritocracy, communalism, violence and, something I have realised lately, a lack of Mauritius entrepreneurs in high-tech and value-added industries compared to other countries.
People in Mauritius, as unfortunate victims of our education system, generally tend to think on a small scale. People here generally are not very confident in their own abilities and qualities. People here often are reluctant to innovate because of ki lot la pou dire. People still have this mentalité colonialiste here where we’ll do everything to prevent a fellow Mauritian doing things while, at the same time, revering any Tom and Jack however stupid he may be provided (i) he comes from abroad and (ii) he is white.
This has to change.
We have to start to think big. It’s time to understand that we are intelligent and can change things. It’s time for each of us to have an opinion and not be afraid to voice it… however strange it may be. Could you have imagined something stranger than someone with the middle name of Hussein becoming President of the USA? No? Me neither. But this is what is happening this month. So don’t hesitate to have strange ideas. History shows that people with strange ideas change the world. We need people with strange ideas to change Mauritius.
Happy New Year 2009 to you all. And don’t forget: Think Big!
carrotmadman6 says
YES, WE CAN!
Emmerdeur says
I won’t make any comments but what you’ve said is damn heavy thoughts!! Indeed, one of my first resolutions is to start thinking big.
BlueBerry says
Talking of colonial mentality, one can have no better good glimpse of how far this goes than with the hundreds of thousands of tourists pouring in from Europe and some other somewhat ‘white’ countries each year.
Whenever they bring their bucket loads of AIDS, hundreds of new strains of influenza (no, flu viruses don’t reside or mutate so easily in the Mauritian wild and it’s not local seasonal weather changes which promote their proliferation), dengue fever, skin disease or whatever, noone raises the alarm. Why? Because they’re white. Remember the SARS drama anyone? Just imagine if SARS were present in Europe… just think about it. Same reaction?
avinash says
Ahem. We are not really on the same wavelength concerning tourists. Personally, I think that a large part of our economy and our workforce depend directly on the presence of tourists…
What I mentioned in my post is that tendency of us to neglect local talent and pay loads and loads of money for foreigners with more or less the same qualifications and experience as Mauritians (and naturally revering them as demi-gods because of some inferiority complex). Of course, for some specific jobs, we need foreign expertise as we don’t have it here. Anyway, that’s just one part of what I wrote.
The essence of the post is that we, Mauritians, are as intelligent as foreigners and we have to get rid of our inferiority complex, be confident in ourselves and think big in order to go through all this social and financial turmoil…
Remember, Kennedy said: “Ask not what your country can do for you. Ask what you can do for your country.”
Ketwaroo D. Yaasir says
YAY AVOCADO
THERE IS A PERFECTLY GOOD EXPLANATION AS TO WHY i SAID THAT AND WHY i AM CURRENTLY TYPING IN CAPS. eXCEPT i’M NOT TELLING YOU. TRUST ME. IT’S PERFECTLY LEGIT.
aBOUT TOURISTS, THEY AREN’T THAT BAD REALLY. jUST A BIT RED FROM THE SUN. iT’S RATHER HARD TO FEEL ALL THAT IMPRESSED..
bUT IT IS TRUE THAT PEOPLE ABROAD COME FROM PLACES THAT HAVE GENERALLY MORE OPPORTUNITIES THAN US. THEY ARE NICE ENOUGH PEOPLE (SOME OF THEM AT LEAST). TROUBLE IS THE LOCALS GET OVERLY IMPRESSED BY THAT.
i’M PROBABLY READING TOO MUCH BETWEEN THE LINES BUT YOUR NEW JOB ISN’T GETTING THE CONSIDERATION IT DESERVES, AMIRITE?
AND… “Ask not what your country can do for you. Ask what you can do for your country.â€
i’VE BEEN (NOT SO)NERVOUSLY HAVING AN IDEA FOR A WHILE.. BUT AS ALL IDEAS, IT DOES REQUIRE SOME HONING. GENERALLY BY THE ADDITION OF OTHER IDEAS..
SO, HOW MUCH WOULD YOU BE PREPARED TO DO FOR YOUR COUNTRY? WELL.. NOT COUNTRY AS SUCH. LET’S SAY TO RIGHT WHAT YOU THINK IS WRONG?
avinash says
Hi Yaasir,
Happy New Year 2009. Are you getting married or something this year? :-)
You’re wrong :-)
Knowing me personally, you have surely realised that I am very confident (overconfident?) in my own abilities. When I was writing this post, I was thinking of those countless fellow Mauritians who are very capable but who impose upon themselves many restrictions and limits. I’m sure that if this was not the case (and, remember, I wrote that this is a consequence of our education system), then Mauritius would have been in a much better situation. In one word, let’s get rid of our blinders… and let’s start Thinking Big!
Concerning your two last paragraphs, what are you thinking of?
Shah says
Oh, you wrote about this too. Nice. Kinda my response to this post – http://shah.developer4ever.com/2009/01/02/2009-mauritius-sinks/
“So don’t hesitate to have strange ideas. History shows that people with strange ideas change the world. We need people with strange ideas to change Mauritius.”
Talking to walls much, are you? :P Seriously, do you really believe that people esp. teenagers can do that considering the pathetic issues related to their inculcation to life and academia?
avinash says
Our education system is bad. But don’t worry, intelligent people manage to go through :-)
The way politics is done in Mauritius is outdated and this is why, I think, a lot of young people are not too interested in it. But this will have to change because most of the existing politicians are 60+ and don’t have a lot of mileage left…
simplecotton68 says
Dear Mr Meetoo, excellent blog: but i would like to add something: you say that ‘working is more about saving for retirement’, but doesn’t that go against the idea of Thinking Big? I totally agree that some people, especially the young generation, tend to waste their money on gadgets and such paraphernalia, but my point is: in the spirit of entrepreneurship, people should aim more at saving so as to invest back into their business and to a lesser degree on themselves (like in education, realestate) and in their children’s future. I think this is where the problem lies many of my fellow countrymen, they just tend to work, amass money in bank accounts and instead of putting the capital back in circulation, it just lies dormant in bank. These days, with the dropping of bank interest, people should consider more of investing, or planning to start their own businesses and not just sit back and complain ‘ayo sa pays la dans pince, ayo si mo ti travaille a l’entranger mo ti pou gagne 10 fois plis l’argent’. People should actually go out and work. And Hard Work Pays. And Think Big.
avinash says
You are right.
Work is, fortunately, not only about “saving for retirement.” Work is also about doing what you like most for some years and creating wealth. (Paul Graham explains the difference between wealth and money in this essay.)
It’s true that we tend to be conservative here in Mauritius. Once more, this is maybe a consequence of our education system where we are not taught how to take risks. Keeping all the money you get in a bank is stupid of course. Still, I would advise everyone to have a decent life insurance cover. Shit happens.
Shah says
“in the spirit of entrepreneurship, people should aim more at saving so as to invest back into their business and to a lesser degree on themselves (like in education, realestate) and in their children’s future.”
It’s cannot be a must (you used “should.”) One should not use money in any way unless one has done a risk assessment. Say you want to invest back into your business expecting to gain more but may lose everything depending on the occurrence of certain events.
“nce more, this is maybe a consequence of our education system where we are not taught how to take risks.”
And not how to assess risks.
Ashesh says
Happy New Year 2009 to you and your family Sir!
excuse my ignorance, but what is : “mentalité colonialiste”. I’ve heard this term from the “lake sat scandal” in the parliament – beranger v/s sithanen. And then during the Alliance Sociale press meeting, Dr. David said – bizin areter sa mentalité colonialiste la!
“To know one’s ignorance is the best part of knowledge” – Lao Tse
Thank you and Happy New Year again! Cheers :D
Ketwaroo D. Yaasir says
about the idea, that’s the thing really. thinking big.
It goes along the lines of.. how about taking the place over?
I mean why not? and not necessarily something with a bang like a coup d’etat (but again, why not?). Go though the current system. maybe.
The way politics is done in Mauritius is outdated and this is why, I think, a lot of young people are not too interested in it.
something like that.. though not quite. it’s not a new idea. not an original idea either. but the recent buzz over Obama and co. made me think the climate might be right to look over it again. The current system is not critical. it’s not bad for some things. It’s merely very annoying at times. and once you realise the endless repetition of it, it becomes really really stupid. I think we don’t even need a government as such. Just something to keep us coordinated. Something that lasts and not that absolutely needs to change ever 4-5 years
related, there’s a passage from The Restaurant at the End of the Universe which I quite like and which goes like this
Computer scientists have always been trained to rule the universe, don’t you think? we probably all have ideas, so why not put them together?
Myself, I don’t care just enough to be really good at it. And I believe we’re not the kind to take or give favours. too honest perhaps..
I can’t explain it all in a single comment. what I need actually.. is like minded individuals to start with. and unlike minded ones later for debate. I have some ideas as to what to do. others will have other ideas. And the trouble is I don’t know a lot of people and I don’t know where to start. I have no “connecions” in a way. You have been talking about a mauritian Obama, although I don’t think we need a single inspirational leader. Do you know of others that might be interedted if forming a.. think tank of some kind?
we’re not politicians. as far as I can figure out, we fix things. so we’d probably do a much better job. Either by forming a party (although I don’t like that term and the implications) or by marching in and tking over. Or something completely different, why not?
(Paul Graham explains the difference between wealth and money in this essay.)
very much so. that too is not a new idea. all new ideas are as old as the world probably.
Money is a fiction. A fiction that many seem to adhere to, so it’s a fiction that appears to works. But it fails from time to time (as it did recently) and leaves a lot of those who believe in it gaping like fish on the sand.
One of the things I’d like to happen is to make people realise that they can been much less dependant of money. if not at all. most of our cultivable land is still used for growing sugar cane for crying our loud, I mean how stupid can you get? or how stubborn?
I’ve shared my ideas on what to do with some others and I’ve already been accused of wanting an utopia. which is basically destroying the current way of doing things with something else. and since we’re aiming to improve things it’ll be better despite all the complaining people.
Now I’m obviously not saying everything and leaving this on a mostly public space so that random others might see it. although I really don’t know how to get things started. Any ideas?
Are you getting married or something this year?
what..? No.. not this year anyway.. probably not. Although.. is it that obvious? quite a few people have been making similar remarks even though I’ve barely said or done anything out of the usual.. even the caps and the avocado bit here.. not that unusual when you think about it.
and just to check, did anyone mention something about being sick and wanting to be fed pepperoni?
avinash says
For me, mentalité colonialiste is when we, Mauritians, believe that we are less intelligent than people from Europe, say. Maybe I should have used complexe colonialiste instead.
avinash says
Concerning Yaasir’s idea of:
This is what any new Mauritian Obama will have to do. In the meantime, forming a kind of think tank is not a bad idea at all. I believe the think tank should be online. We could use the Facebook group I created two months ago, I want a Mauritian Barack Obama! instead of having to set up something separate… at least for the time being.
The other day, I stumbled upon the Wikipedia entry on libertarianism and there are a few interesting ideas in it… especially the Nolan chart. This might be an interesting starting point for our discussions.
Avinash Gunessee says
Hello.
I read this blog and I absolutely agree with whatever you have said in this blog.
I loved the aprt about “mentalité colonialiste”, I totally agree. Let me explain why. I myself have always been thinking that we, Mauritians, believe that we are less intelligent than people from rich and western countries.
Until I myself went for holidays in Ireland. I stayed there for 3 months and I rented a room with an irish couple.
Staying with and meeting “white” people really changed my may of thinking and suddenly, I think the other way round.
We Mauritians are very “debrouillard” compared to them and we are intelligent in the way we live and think. Of course people who have never been out of the country never realise this until they meet people from these cultures.
The difference lies in the fact that we mauritians don’t earn astronomical monay as european people do. But believe me, Mauritians know how to live better, in a more efficient way than them. (there are loads to write about it)
So to cut short my comment, I will say “realise your potential and do not be afraid to do what your heart tells you to do”.
Cheer.
Ketwaroo D. Yaasir says
yes. in a country where politics often involves ‘stealing’ the idea of a rival while claiming it was had already been ‘stolen’ from self, it would make most of us cringe at the idea of discussing new ideas that might trump all others where it could be so easily accessible.. then again.. It cannot be anything else than open.
but there’s an odd feeling that it’s.. not ‘safe’… Although that could just be me being paranoid.
avinash says
We’ll see…
selven says
Exactly why the IT sector sucks now =)
Since you’ve been talking about youngsters should take risks and get into businesses =) i have now moved to greener pastures .. with a fool proof plan =) my empire is growing [sans blague].
siii moi avec 1 piti apell roushdat we do that very often, we plot how to take over stuffs.. and it works quite well.. l’avenir et dans illegalitE =) woohooo
still chanting his name i see… =) he’s not done anything yet.. wait, let his mandate complete then conclude… don’t put so much pressure on the dude… with all that expectations you have from him, you’d probably make him uneasy and will make him fail!..LOL
in the mean time am planning on taking over the country =)
2009 seems to start okie for conquering
selven says
and i forgot… mentalitE dimoune won’t change, morons will stay morons, and they’ll always win, coz they spread like virus and cares for each other and think like morons.
bizin move on and leave em at it.
Ketwaroo D. Yaasir says
yesss. One mentalitE dimoune that is not changing is that of saying that mentalitE dimoune won’t change. Indeed, those morons will stay morons. but that too, in my opinion at least, can change.
All things can be change. The easy solution suggested to everything these days is to pack up and leave for elsewhere. I would like to do that too actually. somewhere with a cooler climate. where food is good but cheap along with everything else. maybe a house in a wide field with tall grass which would go dry and yellow in the autumn so the wifey and I can roll around in it. I’d have at least half a dozen cats roaming about in that field and a bit of snow in the winter would be nice too.
But we can make this place better too. It doesn’t take a genius to see that. Then again, maybe it does. Still, I am convinced it can be done. But it needs that you all please get off your asses and start helping each other out.
avinash says
Very well said.
As you all know, at that time last year we were persuaded we were leaving Mauritius and something funny happened: we fell in love with our little country again… There are a lot of positive things that can be done here provided we can forget about all those negative thoughts that keep poisoning our lives: communalism, jealousy, laziness and our sense of inferiority.
I agree with Yaasir. Let’s move. Let’s be positive. Let’s help each other out.
Ketwaroo D. Yaasir says
I wouldn’t quite put it in those terms. I haven’t fallen in love with mauritius. It is still for me a piece of land like any other.
but it does annoy me how things are being done here. Blame it on some kind of compulsion to fix inefficiencies but living here could be much much nicer that it is right now. Especially without the endless bickering at the top. And how many of those below just lap up that crap like it’s mana from the heavens.
I’m not a politician. I would much rather the place run itself on its own rather than having random idiots messing things up…
All for the sake of a simpler life…
selven says
its not about moving asses, let’s be realisitic… the way the world runs, you may start a change, but it would be like a lottery if it really works, if it doesn’t work as plan, you’ll have everyone looking at you and blaming you =).
The best way to live life is to live selfishly and to aim at enjoying sadistic pleasures at seeing others who makes the wrong choices suffer.
+$3|v3n
Eddy Young says
There is change and CHANGE.
Change brought the current state of affairs. Everyone seems to forget that a few years ago, Mauritius was a much safer place. I used to ride a bike all over the country and at very unusual times without any fear of being attacked. Nowadays, I already fear for my wife’s safety when she travels to Mauritius.
[1] For some good ol’ times anecdotes, see below.
Yes, we need CHANGE. Even if it is cliche, I will say reiterate it: change starts with oneself and at home.
I will be in Mauritius for the first two weeks of February, but I don’t have high hopes to be surprised by a big positive change. I am dreading the inadequacies of the system, not being returned the courtesy of a “please” and “thank you”, and the gratuitous swearing in the presence of women and children — by women and children, in some cases.
To Avinash Gunnessee:
“Until I myself went for holidays in Ireland. I stayed there for 3 months and I rented a room with an irish couple.”
Three months in a room rented from an Irish couple is not a typical setting, so you may have had a flawed image of how “white” people live. Most britons that I have met have been very hard-working. A simple example of that fact: entire sections of big department stores like Debenhams are managed by teenagers working part-time. When was the last time you saw a school-goer in Mauritius working for his pocket money?
[1] – I must say that I have probably seen the best of mauritians while riding my bike between 1996 and 2001. A few cases:
Blown tyre on my way from a friend’s place in Pailles at around eight in the evening. Tyre goes completely flat at GRNW, and my closest friend lives in Cassis. I push the motorbike uphill to Cite Valleejee (and I’m talking about a heavy-ish Honda H100S) and knock on a stranger’s door, asking him to keep it for the night. I then walk to my friend’s place for some help. Next day, I pick up my bike, and the keeper refuses my thank-you gift.
Blown tyre near Casernes Centrales while it’s pouring. Again, I knock on a stranger’s door and ask the lady to safeguard my motorbike for some time. The next day, I knock at the door with a few packs of biscuits to thank her.
Blown tyre in — wait for it — Souillac, and I live in Baie-du-Tombeau. I call for a friend to pick me up. In the meantime, it’s getting late, and I wait under a tree without being troubled by anyone.
On Pere-Laval pilgrimage, I walked from Baie-du-Tombeau with my then-girlfriend and the family’s maid, and we were the only three on the road.
These times are long gone, and it will take a lot to bring back that level of safety. Sad, I know.
Eddy.
avinash says
Thanks for sharing those memories with us Eddy.
It’s true that Mauritius is less safe now and people are reluctant to go out. Of course, things are not (yet) out of control but I fear for the future. The main culprit, according to me, was that person who allowed casinos and betting companies to open their outlets in the middle of towns.
Sometimes, when traveling at night, and especially on Fridays and Saturdays, I don’t even recognise Quatre-Bornes with its hundreds of parked cars and prostitutes everywhere. Same for Rose-Hill.
Something must be done or else the future is bleak. The authorities must think big.
Eddy Young says
@selven – You are mostly right about the best way to live life, but I would just add that it needs to be done within the bounds of law and morality. Laws are clearly defined, but the culture soup of mauritian society is bubbling constantly making it hard to come up with a widely accepted set of norms.
Someone very close to me likes to joke that what mauritians really need is a good dose of porn to release their frustration. I concur. Back in the days, we were sneaking Playboy in classes instead of playing truants and getting drunk in the streets.
Eddy.
Ketwaroo D. Yaasir says
about change,
http://technosailor.com/2008/12/29/words-that-must-die-in-2009/
Ketwaroo D. Yaasir says
its not about moving asses, let’s be realisitic… the way the world runs, you may start a change, but it would be like a lottery if it really works, if it doesn’t work as plan, you’ll have everyone looking at you and blaming you =).
aw. I didn’t see that bit before.
One of the ultimate objectives of the change I propose is very selfish. If everyone is pretty much happy with the things are, they’ll leave me to be happy the way I want to be. Trying to solve the problem at its very roots rather than endlessly fixing the symptoms. I’m still a cruel, merciless, evil bastard (if provoked) even if I’m proposing that everybody be “nice” for a change. and plans change. all the time. I’m pretty good at taking into account new factors as it happens..