Noulakaz

The blog of Avinash, Christina, Anya and Kyan Meetoo.

Politics

Ideas to make Mauritius better!

By 13 Comments

20090305-ideas-to-make-mauritius-better

How can we make our country, Mauritius, better? Politicians come and go and sometimes don’t know what to do to because of, ahem, a lack of bright people with interesting ideas in their immediate vicinity…

 

I have set up a Google Moderator website called Ideas to make Mauritius better! where anyone can propose and vote for ideas that can really enhance our life in the Republic of Mauritius (and this includes Rodrigues and the other islands.) To begin with, I’ve proposed 22 ideas and some of them are somewhat, ahem, controversial. Then, instead of having politicians who indulge in the contemplation of their respective navels all day long, maybe a few of them will stumble upon this website and say:

Aha! Those ideas are really excellent. Let me implement some of them. Maybe the country will benefit. And maybe people will be more inclined to vote for me during the next elections. This really looks like a win-win situation.

Who wants to participate? Your idea(s) might change our future!

Orange or yellow on mauve?

By 8 Comments

20090301-orange-mauve-yellow

I was in La Laura / Malenga / Rivière Baptiste today for the by-election. Most people I talked to believed that the orange candidate (with its obvious red glow) will win tomorrow.

What I observed first-hand though was that the organisation of the orange partisans was top-notch. And I have to say that they were very enthusiastic. And efficient.

It was a very interesting (social) experience for me.

Pollution of the Mind

By 9 Comments

20090210-out-of-car-window

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-à-papa who pollute our national political scene.