The other day, I got an email from one of my ex-students, Shailen Sobhee, kindly asking me to spend some time writing a blog entry on pollution in Mauritius. Shailen is especially concerned about pollution done by buses and he has posted this video and that one on YouTube to illustrate the problem.
I agree with Shailen. Everyday, I can see buses with incorrectly tuned engines giving out lot of black smoke… and this is especially true when the bus is old. It seems to me (and I can of course be wrong) that fitness certificates are being issued by the the National Transport Authority even though these old buses are not in conformity with health and safety standards… (This is supposed to be sarcastic.)
What pisses me off more than an old bus throwing out fumes is when parents allow their kids to throw things from the car window.
Mauritius is a beautiful country… sometimes. But, in general, Mauritius is not very clean. You can find cigarettes, plastic bags, cans of beer, mobile phone cards, etc. mostly on every street and pavement. And, most of the time, people don’t really realise they are polluting when they throw out something on the street… because their parents did not tell them that this is pollution.
And this brings us to my rant for today: the pollution of our minds.
Paul Graham, one of my gurus, writes in one of his latest essays, After Credentials:
History suggests that, all other things being equal, a society prospers in proportion to its ability to prevent parents from influencing their children’s success directly. It’s a fine thing for parents to help their children indirectly—for example, by helping them to become smarter or more disciplined, which then makes them more successful. The problem comes when parents use direct methods: when they are able to use their own wealth or power as a substitute for their children’s qualities.
See that? Instead of having smarter or disciplined kids, some parents, for lack of a better word, buy a position for their kids lacking natural qualities. I can even say that this is the fundamental characteristic of what we call the establishment here in Mauritius. And this easily explains all the problems we’re having: those who decide lack natural qualities.
And, mind you, I am not only talking of those fils-Ã -papa who pollute our national political scene.
One of the problem is lack of education. If the parents failed at instructing such basic things (over-pampering them instead), then it’s up to the school to make the children conscious about protecting our environment. Simply on a topic in the Science book won’t do – they need to participate in school activities…
& I’d also like to point out that there are too few bins in Mauritius – which makes it more likely for people to throw anything anywhere…
PS. I’m still trying to decide on what topic to blog about on that subject… (or plainly just being lazy…) :P
same opinion as carrot on this, lack of bins.
as for the pollution of mind, well there was once a minister who i won’t mention the name who was openly accepting questions in a seminar and who was talking about education and how everyone can achieve something, i asked the dude, “well sir, your speech was nice and interesting, but as you can see, the probability that someone who doesn’t have wealthy parents succeeding in life, even with his education, is really low in Mauritius compared to those who have parents and families well placed, you for example have kids, would your kids have achieved the same place they are today had you not been the Minister of….? what’s your opinion about that?”
Well the dude sounded a lil embarassed, then he said, “well that’s an interesting question, we just can’t do anything about this, everyone is selfish deep inside, so am I, so will you….”
bof, he was just like that rest and i suppose most people will just not bother about anything other than their own pretty lil surrounding rather than caring about whatever happens to the world =).
concluding words, all this is just beautiful words for the ears, but in a practical world, we will never reach such perfection, unless the child himself is ethical enough to know how to say f*ck off to his parents form time to time.
+$3|v3n
I thought that all intelligent kids did that regularly?!?
As Avinash said, if a kid has a minimum self respect he or she would want to achieve something in life without the help of his parents. So, if these rich kids do use the favours done to them through their parents’ “old boys” network then you can’t expect much of ethics in their day to day work or life.
Unfortunately :p you would be call a fool to refuse such opportunities in life… Most of the people i know [at univ or outside] will probably laugh at you were you to say something as that…
Bof, some even find stealing intellectual property of others to make money and achieve a lot…. so i guess, its really hard to live in the world if you believe in ethics. There are some who claims, “b li normal sa, moi meme mo ti pou fer sa”. [beurrk, mo gagne degoutE]. But if you are truely realistic, the environment here and mostly everywhere, makes such kinds of thing really … rewarding. So, people consider using a bit of mom’s and dad’s contact as … nothing bad :(
Infact you said intelligent people wouldn’t use their parent’s connection, they will argue that’s what is call intelligent.. since they are using “all resource” that they have.
+$3|v3n
I am not sure I understand what you wrote entirely.
What I am saying is that intelligent kids know that their parents are not always right and can tell them NO from time to time. See, intelligent people tend to be rebellious and this comes from when they were kids.
I have a feeling that intelligent people (the real ones) despise using connections. It’s not about ethics. It’s more about being indebted towards someone afterward. I feel that intelligent people don’t like being constrained.
@Selvel, comment #2:
I think you Should mention the name of the Minister.
—
I have two questions for the readers of this blog.
1) Do you think that the authorities would take constructive and immediate measures to cut pollution if a CNT bus expelled a thick black fume on the Chinese President’s car?
(I am frustrated the roads will be clear for the duration of his stay.)
2) Do you think Mauritians will enjoy better roads if the Chinese-President’s-escorted-BMW’s wheel got stuck in a hole on the road (probably dug and left unfilled by CWA or Telecom) and eventually got punctured?
I think that we should have a special course at UOM to show some idiots how to use a dustbin. It’s a shame to find out that students specially university students throwing trash everywhere even if there is a dustbin near them. They just won’t use it. WTF.
The base of Mauritian society is hypocrisy and selfishness.