Blog Mauritius
Blog: He ate them all!
Friends and foe say so. The occasion was too good to be missed. Like the eagle on the cliff, for quite some time he has surveyed the political landscape to what an observer said “pour mari netoye zot”. With his eagle eyes, he saw his opponents and the opposition like fish, rabbit and lamb. They had no chance. For more than three hours, in his closing address on the budget 2014, he ate them all.
30 Nov 2013, Le Matinal
Blog: Budget 2014 - Addressing Real Issues
Who would have imagined that one day, during a budget speech, live on TV, a Minister of Finance would take on the banks? This year, the government has decided that there will be a cap on the interest and penalties being charged on arrears of loans as from next year. Till now, the practice has been for banks to charge interest over interest and excessive penalties on those arrears. For a long time, borrowers and consumers have been demanding that there should be a cap on interest and penalties being charged by banks. Everybody feels that the banks make an …
16 Nov 2013, Le Matinal
Blog: Bad habits make tourists tempting targets
On November 2, a Chinese citizen was murdered and robbed in Port Louis, the capital of Mauritius. On November 4, the local Chinese embassy issued a safety notice to Chinese citizens, saying that there had been quite a number of robbery cases targeting Chinese tourists recently, and that tourists, companies and all Chinese citizens in Mauritius should be on high alert and pay attention to both their property and personal safety.
12 Nov 2013, Le Matinal
Blog: Ignorant Pig and Épave Politique
The revelations of Jean-Mée Desvaux on the 2001 Illovo deal under the MMM/MSM government, subject of course to an objective analysis and evaluation, have exposed the propensity of the two leaders of the Remake to insult and demean those they adored yesterday.
08 Nov 2013, Le Matinal
Blog: Budget - Unreasonable Expectations?
At budget time, every year, I do not understand why people have unreasonable expectations. Year in year out, people expect that the Minister of Finance will find solutions not only to the problems which the country faces but also to their own personal problems. Naturally, such miracle never happens.
08 Nov 2013, Le Matinal
Blog: Are we a divided nation?
Last Sunday, on the occasion of launching of Diwali celebrations at Hindu House, the Prime Minister referred to a report written by Sir Robert Scott, Governor of Mauritius in the fifties. Navin Ramgoolam revealed that the report spoke of the division of Mauritian society horizontally and vertically. Sir Robert Scott concluded that Mauritians were so divided that Mauritius could never be a nation.
02 Nov 2013, Le Matinal
Blog: Police Force - The gray spots
The investigation in what we may call the Rama Valayden affair beckons us all to reflect on what may be seen as a practice that may currently be elevated to a policy by the police force. It is known that Rama Valayden is a very outspoken person and recently, as he has pointed out himself, he has expressed severe criticisms against the police for their handling of the investigation of the Michaela Harte murder.
02 Nov 2013, Le Matinal
Blog: Better Times Ahead?
No. Good times are still not fully back yet. But there are good indicators that better times are ahead. I am not saying this because I am an eternal optimist. I always see the bright side of life. Not because government has implemented 80% of the measures announced in the 2013 budget, not on account on the payment of Rs 8 billion PRB salary increase and Rs 1.3 billion salary compensation as from next year. Not in the hope of another more than 200 measures for the next budget to be presented on November 8.
26 Oct 2013, Le Matinal
Blog: What have we done with the poor?
Do the poor in Mauritius expect that society as a whole should be at their service, that too much effort is an ineffectual endeavour, that every rich person owes his wealth to the invisible sacrifice of the poor, simply by being poor and belonging to a category that deserves the attention of an entire economic system.
26 Oct 2013, Le Matinal
Blog: Setting the Record Right
Much has been written since Sik Yuen the current Chief Justice in his own wisdom and deliberate judgment decided to recommend to the President to appoint Judge Paul Lam Sham Leen and Judge Saheeda Peeroo as acting Chief Justice and Senior Puisne Judge respectively.
26 Oct 2013, Le Matinal
Blog: Food and Me
The wise doctor, thinking I was a university educated person, casually flung an advice at me: “Eat boiled rice and steamed potatoes”. This sent me to an introspective understanding of the shock the doctor created unwittingly in me.
11 Oct 2013, Le Matinal
Blog: Jeannotgate and Pravindgate
In Le Matinal dated 28 June 2013 the present guest author had predicted that Jeannot gate saga. While the traditional press and the opposition parties were having a field day on what they termed Varmagate following the alleged assault by the then Attorney General on the son of Mario Jeannot, the latter was calmly focusing on the monetary aspect of the case. In the light of his statements Reza Issack had to step down as a PPS and Maurice Allet from the Ports Authority. The biggest casualty was Yatin Varma himself who had to resign as Attorney General. This is …
11 Oct 2013, Le Matinal
Blog: Jeannotgate and Pravindgate
In Le Matinal dated 28 June 2013 the present guest author had predicted that Jeannot gate saga. While the traditional press and the opposition parties were having a field day on what they termed Varmagate following the alleged assault by the then Attorney General on the son of Mario Jeannot, the latter was calmly focusing on the monetary aspect of the case. In the light of his statements Reza Issack had to step down as a PPS and Maurice Allet from the Ports Authority. The biggest casualty was Yatin Varma himself who had to resign as Attorney General. This is …
11 Oct 2013, Le Matinal
Blog: Nurturing Entrepreneurship
I was a bit pleasantly surprised at an advertisement by the Mauritius Business Growth scheme at this juncture - practically on the eve of the presentation of the budget. It invites young people to take advantage of an old scheme whereby a small entrepreneur particularly a younger one can benefit a monthly allowance of Rs.20, 000 for a year. It is a payback scheme over a period of 5 years.
11 Oct 2013, Le Matinal
Blog: « Pseudo-historians » – Raj Meetarbhan’s lessons in Mauritian history
For the benefit of Raj Meetarbhan, Che Guevara was more comparable with a young Paul Bérenger in leather jacket rather than with an aging Sir Seewoosagur Ramgoolam wearing a suit and tie.
26 Sep 2013, Le Matinal
Blog: What is it to be grateful? Conversation with a friend
My friend believes that 'thank you' forms part of the artillery and arsenal of techniques we learn to be polite because we must recognize the service the other has rendered to us .Without a 'thank you' we shall be regarded as uncouth, rude and impolite. Such an attitude makes gratitude or even any other form of emotional expression of respect for relation as an alien need to keep friendship with the world going. It is a reaction which is mouthed so that the other may hear and feel satisfied that his gratuitous action has been received and recognized.
20 Sep 2013, Le Matinal
Blog: The Chettiar Case - Beyond a Tax Issue
In the case of Chettiar against The Mauritius Revenue Authority and The Assessment Review Committee, the Supreme Court had to determine whether the pension on retirement of the Vice President of the Republic of Mauritius is exempt from tax. In a judgment dated 9 September 2013 the Supreme Court, with Judges Bushan Domah and Rehana Mungly-Gulbul sitting, ruled that the pension was not taxable.
20 Sep 2013, Le Matinal
Blog: Pays Pe Koulé?
Is there an iota of truth in the slogan adopted by the MMM-MSM remake to bring down the government? Is it the right strategy? Do the leaders who have occupied the highest posts of the country, namely the office of Prime Minister and President of the Republic themselves believe that "pays pe koulé?" Or is it just a strategy to fool the people?
20 Sep 2013, Le Matinal
Blog: 26, unmarried, and childless
Both of my brothers recently had kids that more than likely complete their families. They’re both older than me, so it makes sense they’re at a different stage. They met and married their wives, they bought dogs and they had kids, all in a nice little sequence. I love watching them build their lives together. It’s a really good thing. When my last brother got married, I was in my early twenties. No one uttered anything about me getting married then. But now? I’m 26 years old, unmarried, and childless. The comments are starting...
13 Sep 2013, Le Matinal
Blog: Not so silent a revolution
A former mayor of Beau Bassin-Rose Hill and ex-minister is reported to have said that Camp Levieux, Roches Brunes used to be a very dangerous place where taxi drivers would not venture at night. People were afraid to go there unaccompanied. It was basically considered to be a place of outlaws. Camp Levieux as many places in the country was carved out of sugar estate lands and attached to Rose Hill. Still there is a place around that area known as ‘Planète des Singes’. This area forms part of constituency number 19, a stronghold of the MMM and particularly its …
06 Sep 2013, Le Matinal