Entries Tagged 'Family stories' ↓

Watching the interview of AMY Chua in the Berkeley series ‘conversations with history’ was a delight for me. The over one hour listening absorbed me intensely and provided some insights which I could relate to in my working career.

First let me set the scene. What Amy Chua ‘Day of empire: How hyper powers rise to global dominance and why they fall’ has to do with the business of Rogers aviation of the 80’s and 90’s? To me, Amy Chua is dealing with dominating your sphere with hyper powers.

Here are some reviews on her book to have a brief view of Amy Chua’s thesis.

This analysis of world-dominant powers …

… from ancient Persia to the modern United States yields an intriguing set of common traits and progressions. Chua’s bestselling World on Fire: How Exporting Free Market Democracy Breeds Ethnic … more » Hatred and Global Instability (2002) led the pack in sizing up the backlash against global free-marketers. Now she examines hegemony and the handful of entities worthy of the title “hyperpower,” which extends to the earliest civilizations: Persia, at its peak under Darius, the Macedonia of Alexander the Great and, of course, imperial Rome. There are also some surprises: Ghenghis Khan’s 13th-century Mongolian domain, for instance, eventually extended from Vienna to the Sea of Japan, far exceeding any before or since in contiguous territory. And the Mongols did it without original technology or literacy, absorbing both from cultures that came under their dominion. Likewise, the Dutch Republic of the late 17th century, a midget among Europe’s giants, became so dominant in world commerce that it eventually exported a king, William of Orange, to England. The commonality among these empires, says Chua, was tolerance. They were diverse societies, harbouring—and exploiting—a wide range of ethnicities and unrestricted religions. The enduring model is Rome, which handed its adversaries a bloody defeat and proffered full citizenship the next day. The author notes that even China in its day of empire, the eighth-century Tang Dynasty, was a far more open society than it would be 1,000 years later. Tolerance alone won’t create a hyper power, though, says the author; the United States needed the collapse of the Soviet Union to achieve its status. Chua concludes that hyper powers ultimately tend to come “unglued” as a result of resistance to their own diversity. She cautions that the global rise of anti-Americanism today, which stems from attempts to export democracy in the service of self-interest, could be a negative sign. The author gives short shrift to forces introduced by petro-politics or the nuclear threat, but still an illuminating exploration of what makes a superpower.

Put positively, such hyper powers practice tolerance. As far as it goes, this is hardly an original observation, and while Chua attempts to offer solid examples from history of how tolerance helps build empires and how intolerance leads to their downfall, she is ultimately unsuccessful.

Translating back to my then work situation in business: Rogers Aviation was a super power in the field of commercial aviation in Mauritius in the 70’s through to the 90’s. Rogers aviation occupied 80 percent of the passenger ticket sales and over 99 percent of the air cargo sales in 1970. In a sense within its sphere I extrapolate, that Rogers was a super power. Just like any super powers of history, at a stage the super power must ask himself; “ how do I maintain my dominance forever?” I must admit that in the case of passenger sales I had no say in the formulation of the strategy. When I came on the scene in early 80’s, Rogers had lost on the passenger side its supremacy as a Super Power, the market share dropped to approximately 65 percent but on the other hand on the air cargo front it was different with a market share of over 90 percent.

With the strategic planning department of Rogers in the 80’s the team at air cargo took time to study the issue and devise strategies for Rogers to maintain a role of super power and continue to reap extra monetary benefits from this position. I was one of the proponents that pushed the thesis that our super position as super power is doomed not to last and that we had to look at enlarging our sphere by looking to conquering other areas. So there was a distinct, two legs strategy: on the local scene maintaining supremacy by joint ventures association and on the overseas scene conquer the regional areas. A smaller share of a bigger cake is better that defending our share of a small cake.

On the local front knowingly, we planned to reduce your dominance as the apparent super power by diluting our market share. One of the thoughts of that time was: the thousand of freight forwarders in the world will surely come in the Mauritius market to have their share. Will we fight them or make it easy to penetrate the market whilst retaining a fair share of the conquered market? Having experienced the fate of the passenger market we opted to control the market by making easy for our opponents to enter whilst taking a large chunk of their profits in the supply of other services. We were strategically tolerant would have been a Chua definition.

On the international scene, as we were not a super power, we had to use other strategies. We had to build our strength by working differently. In the hind sight, I have to admit that today, after listening to Amy Chua I came to realise that the strategies and mind set of our people on the international scene were not appropriate. More Guerrilla warfare strategy should have been utilised.

This strategy defined in 1980’s bored the fruits that we seeded up to 1997. Thereafter, the market situation changed and the new leaders at the helm of the company did not seem to have a clue of the strategic thinking needed to sustain the position of super power to collect the premium that the status gave you.

This phase of my working career will always be cherished. Thank you Rogers for these fabulous years.

English readers have asked me to translate my posting on Uncle Yook Lin.

Last night, on the 13^th June I had the very sad news of the demise of the 3^rd uncle of the family. Of the 18 children of grand Pa YIPTONG, patriarch of the family and founder of the Mauritian branch we had to deplore the departure of the 3^rd son.

From what I could gather, Yook Lin had a very interesting life story and career. At a very young age, he was endowed with the great gift of being a good negotiator and developped into an excellent business man.

In the eighties, I had on several occasions the opportunity to have heart to heart talks with him. These conversations lasted often till the dawn. I could make out that he was full of self esteem, intelligent, determined, thoughtful and reflective and had a forceful character. During those conversations, I place myself in the mode of the respectful Confucian nephew listening and learning from an experienced elder.

Uncle Yook Lin at a very young age, when he was under twenty, was given large responsibility in the business of the family. He was thus propelled in the world on business. In view of the prevailing circumstances of the time, in 1945, immediately after the 2^nd world war, opportunities were opened to reputable businesses to prosper. The authorities required the help of honest traders to be partners for the distribution of food according to a quota system that was implemented. At that time Pak Lin the elder son, did not have a good relationship with the patriarch. Pak Lin was set aside because his choice of fiancé was not in agreement with the parents YIPTONG. Khin lin the 2^nd son was sent off for studies in England. Thus Yook Lin,3^rd son, who had then succeeded in his London Chamber of Commerce Diploma, occupied the driving seat and managed the business under the leadership of the patriarch.

Yook Lin was a persuasive communicator. Patriarch YIPTONG formulated the strategies and required one of my own to be the mouth piece. It was a perfect fit. The business grew from strength to strength. YIPTONG was appointed by the control board to be a partner of the scheme. During the same period, the status of the business was changed from a private ownership it became one of the first Chinese private companies under the company law as a limited company. Yook Lin has since ever been proud of this achievement.

A forceful character he had. He was rightfully ever conscious of his rights and would not easily let others dare to thread on his toes. With much passion, he told me the story of his battle with the unions. A small trader he refused to his employees to join the union which later became PAP, the major political party of Singapore. His business suffered as the union obstructed the walk way in front of his store. He held tight until amendment to the law was passed.

Not totally in agreement with his parents, partially due to his determination to marry his chosen sweet heart and perhaps more to take charge of his life destiny, on the return of PAK Lin the eldest son from China, back in the business, he decided to seek opportunities in Hong Kong. He started by an employment with a Hakka the owner of Sincere Department store. Later the owner of Sincere Department store proposed him to be stationed in Singapore. After his wedding his marriage he left for Singapore, where he resided thereafter. With little funds in a foreign country, he only had his might and initiatives to succeed. He had 5 sons and integrated and espoused the Singaporean way of living.

In 1954, for the wedding of Khin Lin, the 2^nd son, in Indonesia, the patriarch visited him in Singapore. Relationships with the family improved. Father YIPTONG, later even dispatched Hoy Lin son no 5 to Singapore to help Yook. He stayed from 1956 to 1959.

I met for the first time in 1969 a very enterprising, smooth talker uncle well introduced in business. He had a department store on North Bridge road in the main business center and operated a trading import and export company mainly trading with Indonesia.

Perhaps one of his trying moments in his life was to have overnight lost, a substantial part of his assets, saved through hard work. A fire at North Bridge road destroyed his store, residence and business office. As a trader most of his assets and net worth was in his stock. The insurance company would not compensate his losses. He had hoped to get some help from the family; he admitted that the response was far under his expectations. With courage and determination he continued to fend for the needs of his family.

His second large disappointment was perhaps the battle he had to wage for the compulsory acquisition by the Government of Singapore on his property. He was offered a pittance and he took the government to court. Having lost his case, he told me, they were unjust in their dealings but equitable to all. All the owners were treated in the same manner for the sake of the nation.

Most fortunately Yook Lin succeeded. To finish off his career, he maximised on his knowledge converting himself as a premium tourist guide targeting the rich of the French market. He invested successfully in stocks and properties and was able to contribute to the well being of his family.

Dear uncle, I was really very pleased to have spent some joyful moment with you last December, when you were full of happiness with all your loved ones around you to welcome the greater family’s delegation from Mauritius and South Africa. The spirit and joy oozing from that wonderful lunch will forever be engraved in my memory. Adieu Yook Souk.

Hier soir le 13 juin, nous avons eu la triste nouvelle du décès du 3eme Oncle de la famille. Des 18 enfants de mon grand père YIPTONG, patriarche de la famille et fondateur de la branche Mauricienne ce fut le départ du 3eme fils. De ce que j’ai pu glaner, Yook Lin a également eu une histoire et carrière de vie intéressante. Très jeune, il avait un don de négociateur et était un fin homme d’affaires.
Au cours des quelques longues séances de conversations avec lui surtout dans les années 80, ou j’avais eu l’occasion de discuter avec lui, j’avais décelé chez lui des caractéristiques d’un homme rempli d’estime de soi, intelligent, très déterminé, réfléchi et de caractère. Il a connu dans sa vie pas mal de difficultés, mais son esprit combatif l’aide toujours d’avancer. Au cours de ces conversations que j’avais eu avec lui, je me plaçais en bon neveu confucéen, – par rapport au rang hiérarchique- d’être à son écoute pour en tirer un maximum de son expérience.
Tonton Yook dès son jeune âge eut l’occasion d’être propulsé dans le monde des affaires. Vu les circonstances qui prévalait, dans les années 1945, juste après la seconde guerre, les commerçants de réputation reconnues, dont La famille YIPTONG, avaient des opportunités de prospérer notamment quand le gouvernent de l’époque avait besoin des commerçants sérieux et honnêtes pour être partie de la distribution des vivres par les quotas mise en place.
Pak Lin le fils ainé par rapport à son choix de fiancée était un peu mise à l’écart, Khin Lin, le second fils était hors du pays pour les études. Ainsi le confident, la gérance sous le patriarche, du commerce revenait à Yook Lin qui d’autant plus venait d’obtenir un diplôme de commerce London Chamber of Commerce.
Yook avait l’âme un excellent homme de communication- un beau parleur. Il avait bien sa place. Père YIPTONG, avait des idées et formulait ses stratégies, mais avait grand besoin d’un des ses siens pour être le porte parole. Ainsi, pendant cette période YIPTONG devint un commerçant nommé par le control board. Durant la même période le statut du commerce fut amendé pour devenir la première compagnie chinoise sous le company act en limited company. Une fierté que Yook Lin a toujours gardé.
Yook Lin avait une personnalité forte. Il est très conscient de ses droits il me se laisse jamais les autres s’en emparer. Avec passion, il m’a raconté l’anecdote de sa bataille avec les syndicalistes dans son commerce à Singapour. En tant que petit commerçant, il avait refusé à ses employées le droit de syndiquer. Il s’est battu avec PAP le syndicat qui devint après le parti politique primaire du pays. Son commerce souffrit car des piquets étaient installés devant chez lui. Il tint ferme jus qu’au jour la loi fut amendée.
Quelque peu en désaccord avec son Père, il décide de partir de l’ile Maurice pour Hong Kong. Il partit pour prendre sa destinée en main. Il prit de l’emploi chez Sincere Department store , un Hakka. Peu de temps après, le propriétaire Hakka décida de l’envoyer à Singapour. Après son mariage, ils partirent pour s’y installer.
Une vie en dents de scie, bien des hauts et des bas mais progressivement il se met à son compte pour se faire une place au soleil. Avec peu de fonds propres dans un pays étranger, il n’avait que son initiative et sa débrouillardise pour réussir. Il eut 5 fils. Ils fut tous très intégrés dans la société Singapourienne.
Dans le années 50, après la visite du Patriarche YIPTONG à Singapour pour le mariage de Khin Lin, fils no 2 en Indonésie, les relations avec le Patriarche s’est détendues. Hoy Lin fils no 5 fut envoyé pour travailler à Singapour. Il retourna quelques années après.
A ma première visite chez lui en 1969, j’avais rencontré un tonton très volubile avec beaucoup de contacts surtout bien installés dans le milieu d’affaires. Il possédait un département store dans la route marchande de Singapour, North Bridge road, et fonctionnait surtout comme un courtier en affaires surtout avec des connections indonésiennes.
Peut- être, un des moments les plus éprouvants de sa vie était de retrouver d’une grande partie de son patrimoine amassé au fils des années partir en fumée à la suite d’une incendie à son quartier général et de ses magasins. Comme il était négociant, tout ses avoirs étaient dans son stock de marchandises. Du jour au lendemain plus rien des marchandises, plus de maison et plus de commerce. Comble de malheur, l’assurance refusa de lui rembourser ses pertes. Il s’attendait pour une fois un geste réconfortant de sa famille. Ce qu’il reçu était, de son avis était timide et immatériel. Avec beaucoup de courage et détermination, il continue à lutter pour subvenir aux besoins de sa famille. Le deuxième coup de massue fut l’acquisition obligatoire de son fond de commerce par le gouvernement pour une bouchée de pain. Il ne céda pas et eut recours aux tribunaux. Ayant perdu son cas, Injuste est le gouvernement Singapourien me disait il et y ajoutait, mais équitable car tous ont été traité de la même façon.
Heureusement Yook Lin s’en est bien tiré. Vers la fin de sa carrière, il continua à gagner sa vie en plaçant intelligemment ses avoirs sur la bourse et dans l’immobilier et à travailler à la pige comme guide de tourisme spécialisé pour le marché Français.
Tonton, j’étais vraiment heureux à la fin de l’année dernière de t’avoir revu surtout au moment ou tu étais heureux d’avoir réuni avec toi toute ta famille et la grande délégation venue te voir. Le souvenir de ce déjeuner familial et l’ambiance de la grande famille qui y régnait restera toujours dans ma mémoire. Adieu Yook Sook.

This morning I had for breakfast, thin slices of specially cured ham for the Dordogne region on my toast. I was wonder for my taste buds specially the fat part of the ham which is the main carrier of the flavour. I would sense the explosion of the flavour of the acorns that fed the pig wondering in the wild of the Dordogne fields under the walnut forests. Magnificently cured for some 6 months or wrapped over in a layer of lard and flour to keep the red dark flesh moist and juicy with the right tint of salt.

My first encounter with ‘Jambon cru’ was way back in 1968, when I was visiting Reunion Island in the days of Air India life. As the representative of Air India, I was required to entertain my customers. At the then famous gastronomic restaurant of Hotel Le Labourdonnais in St Denis de la Reunion, on the advice of the chef who was himself from the Basque country, I was initiated to the taste of Bayonne Ham.

Never before had I ever tasted raw cured Ham. In my younger days, ‘jambon bouilli’ was a feast which was reserved for the festive season. My Mum would prepare her version of ham from air cooled salted dried leg of pork imported from Australia. After soaking the ham in water for a couple of days, the leg on the bone was boiled for hours with a concoction of herbs, namely citronella, dark beer. Thereafter the ham was oven baked. The whole ham was studded with clover seeds before being served. The taste of home prepared ham has nothing akin to the ham we get from the supermarket today.

Later I learned to taste Prosciutto di Parma with a slice of melon during my trips to Italy. More recently the pata negra of spain provided me another source of pleasure. Last but not least have you ever tried a shark fin’s meal cooked in Hunan’s ham?

I am thrilled on reading today’s gospel on the transfiguration.

Why?

I recall the story of my Mum who told me that my uncle Ignace AhLim some 62 years ago received a letter from her, from China where she was sent after her marriage with my Dad to prepare the return of the family to Mexian.

Mum informed him that she gave birth to a son on the Sunday of the transfiguration. Ignace sent back his congratulations and added to her, that this son will transform her life and will cause the improvement of her relations with her in laws. The in laws vision of her will be transfigured.

In the Chinese culture, the first son of the eldest son has a very special ranking: he is charged with the responsibility of the clan & family. Indeed looking back to my mum’s life, she did transform and influence the Yiptong family with her kindness and  living her path in  faith of Jesus.

No wonder that today’s reading yields in me an emotional charge. I have used this anecdote of my life to make it the motto of my life. I live to be the transformer of the lives of others who are on my path- this is my calling.

I bless and am thankful the Lord who gave me this auspicious birth date and gave me the appropriate calling.

From the sermon of my parish priest on the reading, I shall remember:

On our journey through lent to Easter , the liturgy takes us from last week from the desert where Jesus was to tell us that as a human, just like Jesus, we shall be tempted, today the reading places us to the summits of mountains- a call to look up for heights to reach the spirit of God. We are called to the transform our manly nature to reach our union with our Creator.

Jesus His beloved son has come and we are called to listen to him. He has risen from the dead, so shall we should we listen and follow His path?

Was I being fair to my entourage? What is being fair to someone?

Treating your customer fairly? Do I  need to discriminate? How?

The following article has the advantage of questioning ourselves on the subject:

The Myth of Treating People Fairly and Equally

By Jeff Mowatt

I’ll just come right-out and say it. I believe that treating customers fairly and equally is a mistake. It’s unprofitable. It belittles customers and employees. And it’s unethical. There, I’ve said it.

Certainly, we should treat people fairly – but not equally. I’m not advocating some Orwellian decree that ‘some animals are more equal than others’. This has nothing to do with a customer’s value as a person. It has to do with bending so-called ‘rules’ to give exceptional customers the kind of unique service they deserve.

In my many years working as a consultant and trainer with dozens of companies and bureaucracies, it’s unfortunate that I continue to encounter employees who buy-in to the myth of the virtue of treating all customers equally. If this is the case in your organization, consider this scenario…

Imagine that as part of your daily routine, you stop into your local convenience store to buy a coffee and newspaper. The store employees know you by sight. One day you find yourself needing to change a $100 bill. You stop in, pick up a couple of items and pay for them with the hundred. The store has a policy that they don’t accept hundreds, so the cashier simply refuses you. You are fully aware that they make more than that much change every 15 minutes. You also know that when added-up, you’ve given them hundreds if not thousands of dollars worth of business over the years. Yet they refuse to grant you this slight favor. How’s your customer loyalty now?

Refusing your $100 bill would have been an incredibly bad decision on the part of the cashier as well as the management who created the ‘rule’ that permits no exceptions for the store’s best customers. The problem is that by definition a ‘rule’ treats everyone equally – whether it’s fair or not.

What If We Treated Our Children This Way?

Imagine the consequences of a parent treating their six-year-old and seventeen-year-old equally. That would mean telling the younger child, “Make sure you are home from grade one by midnight!” Most people appreciate that it makes sense to treat children fairly. It would, however, be a mistake to treat them all equally, and apply the same rules regardless of their ages. That’s more than just a mistake; we might even call it immoral.

We Already Discriminate in the Workplace

There’s a certain irony to taking this approach to the workplace. The same individuals who assume that all customers should be treated equally, often have no objection whatsoever to the organization offering preferential parking and restroom facilities to customers with disabilities. Yet, that’s a blatant example of treating customers fairly but not equally. I don’t know of anyone who objects to organizations giving better parking spots to the disabled. Yet, every day we hear employees using inane statements like, “If I did that for you, I’d have to do it for everyone.”

The challenge for business owners and managers is providing the kind of training and authority that front-line employees need, so that they will make more appropriate on-the-spot decisions for customers.

The Truth About Word-Of-Mouth

“What happens when customers talk to each other?” That’s one of the most common concerns I hear from employees in my training sessions where we address this subject. They are afraid that if they accommodate one customer’s special request, then that customer will talk to other customers, and the employee will be pressured to do the same for everyone, which, of course, they can’t do. In other words, they’re going to have a lot of unhappy people out there if they accommodate special requests. This is the kind of convoluted logic that stems from the underlying belief in treating everyone equally (not necessarily fairly). Another way of putting it is: I’m afraid that if I provide an extra service for one customer (because we made an error or the customer does a lot of business with us), then I’m going to disappoint other customers whose circumstances don’t warrant the extra service. So to avoid disappointing some people, we’ll just make a rule that no one gets special treatment. That way, we’ll just disappoint everyone, including customers whose unique situation deserves extra service.

Customers understand the concept of fairness. If I’ve never been to a particular convenience store and suddenly walk in just to change a hundred-dollar bill, I’m not likely to get outraged when the employee explains that they don’t have enough change on hand so they can’t help me. If, on the other hand, I’m doing business there every day, I’m more likely to be upset if my store won’t make change for me when I know they make that much change every fifteen minutes. If they do make an exception for me because I’m a good customer, I’m not going to rush out, phone all my friends, and tell them, “Hey, my convenience store made change for me, and they don’t usually accept hundreds!” Customers rarely go out of their way to talk about good service. The occasion when customers share information about a business is when the service is bad. Bottom line: employees needn’t worry about possible negative ramifications of taking extra care of good customers. What they should be far more concerned about is the negative impact of treating all customers the same.

Four decades of a flying giant

The very first time I flew in a B747 was sometime in 1970. Air India for whom I was working for invited me to sample this enormous aircraft compared to the B707, that regularly serviced the Bombay –Mauritius run.

I flew from Bombay to Delhi on the inaugural flight.

The original Boeing 747 was so big that airports had to be adapted to accommodate it. Hangars were enlarged to fit the tail-fin, while tow-trucks and stairs on the taxiway had to be changed. The turbofan engines were more powerful and quieter than jet engines. There were 16 wheels – twice the normal – to spread the weight.

Passengers in economy class had a greater sense of space because there were twin aisles and higher storage cabins. Travellers in first class had access to a cocktail bar up a spiral staircase. Pilots (two plus a flight engineer) had to be retrained in new simulators because the cockpit was so high off the ground.

Four decades ago, Boeing’s prototype 747 took to the skies over Washington State for a flight lasting some 75 minutes.

The aircraft, named City of Everett after the location of the factory where it was manufactured, handled well. And so was born the aircraft which has become an icon of the aviation industry and helped bring cheap airline travel to millions of people.

What then made the 747 unique was that it was the first “wide body” aircraft – it had more than one aisle. Today this is the norm for most long haul (and some short haul) aircraft. But at the time it was a big step towards reducing any sense of travelling in a narrow tube, and inducing a sense more equivalent to flying in a large room with high ceilings.

Also new was the upper deck, accessed by a spiral staircase. When the aircraft entered service this was initially a rather exclusive bar for first class passengers – today it is more typically used as an additional business or economy class seating area.

Air Mauritius for a number of years flew the SP versions of the B747 which were on lease from South African Airways which had autonomy of 14 hours of flying. One of the key factors for the sucess of Mauritius as a preferred sunshine holiday for Europeans was the non stop service offered as early as the  70’s by Air Mauritius on a SP B747.

Je savoure encore en ce moment ‘le commencement d’un monde ‘ de Jean Claude Guillebaud.

J’ai lu et relu les chapitres sur ‘un rendez vous pour l’islam’. Une perception et projection de l’Islam très intéressantes. Je dirais que l’opinion de l’auteur est optimiste par rapport à ma projection. Que suis-je pour avoir une opinion avisé sur le sujet ? Par contre en opposition de la conférence que j’ai assisté l’année dernière et le livre que j’ai parcourue d’Alexandre Del Valle, je conclu que Jean Claude Guillebaud a plus d’espoir sur le monde musulman que les autres et il pense que les poussées extrémistes s’estomperont. Chapeau à Jean Claude Guillebaud, qui s’est bien documenté.

J’aurai tellement aimé que le rêve de Tariq Ramadan dans  « Islam, la face à face des civilisations, quel projet pour quelle modernité. » se réalise. Même la sincérité de Tariq Ramadan avec ses grands discours pacificateurs est en doute ! Alexandre nous met en garde ! Tariq serait un cheval de Troie ? Qui croire ?

Islam en somme est ébullition. Allons-nous subir la victoire des extrémistes sur les modérés ? La masse des islamistes économiquement faibles vont-ils être menés par les radicaux ou le tempérés ? L’islam modèle turque ou indonésien ou encore Iranien ou Iraquien ?

Enfin seul l’avenir nous dira. A quand la laïcité dans les pays de l’Islam ?

J’ai eu le grand plaisir de passer la soirée d’hier à la Mi Voie en très bonne compagnie. Aken nous a rejoint à la fin du dîner pour le dessert et le café. La soirée était agréable tant par rapport au cadre de la région ouest de l’ile, dans une température idéale accompagnée une petite brise juste assez pour nous repousser les moustiques et faire rejaillir les senteurs, si suaves des plantes du jardin donnant sur la terrasse ou nous étions installés, sous la voûte céleste sans nuages timidement illuminée d’un croissant de lune que tant par la convivialité des amis présents.

Étant encore dans le cadre de la Fête du printemps, notre conversation fit un moment sur l’année du bœuf qu’aussi bien que sur la question politique. J’etais content d’écouter Aken sur la question. Voici selon ses propres mots, ses délires :

L’année du Rat arrive à échéance et le buffle qui va suivre aura besoin de beaucoup plus de courage que d’habitude. Si le Rat est signe d’intelligence et d’opportunisme, il n’est pas besoin de démontrer la capacité de travail du buffle, ainsi que son sens du devoir si son maître l’a bien traité et orienté. Contrairement au monde occidental, le Rat n’est pas vu comme un fléau qui ramène des épidémies. Sous contrôle « naturel et cosmique », il est signe d’abondance de grains au grenier, grâce d’ailleurs au gros travail effectué avec la collaboration du buffle. Selon une certaine légende, si le Rat est arrivé le premier, c’est tout simplement parce qu’il ne s’est pas fatigué lors de la convocation des animaux pour déterminer le cycle du calendrier lunaire et ce, dans l’ordre cosmique de la nature. Il aurait tout simplement monté sur le dos du Buffle pendant tout le parcours et ainsi arrivé pépère et fringant après que le Buffle eût assidûment fait tout le travail. Mais bon, ce ne sont que des légendes.

Quoique ? Retenons deux éléments seulement pour les ramener au contexte politique local de Maurice : l’intelligence et l’assiduité. Qui des leaders actuels peut réunir ces éléments pour motiver le pays entier à se retrousser les manches ? Oui, le pays entier, nous, puisque la tâche qui nous attend (quel que soit notre signe dans le calendrier lunaire) sera particulièrement dure dans les années à venir suite au tsunami financier que le monde a subi ces derniers temps ?

Restons en aux deux principaux leaders. Peut-on raisonnablement affirmer que l’actuel PM n’a pas fait preuve d’intelligence alors qu’il a la réputation d’être un « artiste » dans les calculs stratégiques pour gagner et garder son électorat, par exemple ? Que son équipe de proches conseillers ne sont que des paresseux et profiteurs (même s’il y en a certainement) ? Peut-on par la même occasion nier le fait que le vrai leader de l’opposition n’est pas « un Buffle » au travail ? Que ses collaborateurs ne sont que des « yesman » face à un rouleau compresseur en matière de courage au travail, d’idées et d’initiatives ? Maurice continue à être parmi les exemples cités dans les milieux internationaux. Honnêtement, c’est aussi grâce à tout ce beau monde qui y a apporté, chacun en son temps, sa contribution.

Comment maintenir ce cap et même faire mieux qu’avant, sans démagogie et durablement ? Il y en a des tas du côté des deux tendances politiques et de même si on élargit à d’autres tendances qui peuvent y contribuer. Ainsi, pour le travail qu’il y a à faire afin que Maurice devienne l’exemple de développement durable, il y a nécessairement besoin d’un certain consensus (voir mon article paru dans l’Express du 22 octobre dernier à ce propos.) Il y a aussi nécessité d’arriver au même consensus pour continuer à développer le pays tout court.

Certains ont déjà exprimé directement ou indirectement le vœu que ce pays soit dirigé de la manière suivante : Navin comme PM et le moustachu comme vice-PM. Ne serait-ce pas l’idéal des meilleurs scénarios que l’on pourrait espérer ? Ils vont sûrement y aller chacun de leur côté avec leur propre parti et partisans respectifs pour exciter les masses et gagner le maximum de voix. C’est tout à fait possible qu’après le comptage des voix, la démagogie fasse place à l’intelligence et à l’assiduité au travail. Dans le contexte actuel, cette idée pourrait paraître saugrenue, impensable et limité à un nombre restreint de personnes. L’élite intellectuelle, notamment. Si c’est bien le cas, cette élite devra aussi se retrousser les manches et faire son devoir de citoyen pour pousser à ce que l’intelligence et le courage au travail prennent le dessus sur la démagogie politique. Les « hurleurs » politiques vont crier : « impossible, nous n’avons pas la même vision idéologique, pas les mêmes ambitions …… pour sauver le pays, pour le bien de la nation toute entière et, par la même occasion, pour le « bonheur du peuple ». D’autres vont chercher à savoir qui est plus Rat ou Buffle dans le profil de ces deux leaders. L’heure n’est plus à ces réflexions de bas étage. D’ailleurs, ce calendrier lunaire a le mérite de permettre à chacun d’entre nous de s’y retrouver en bonne harmonie dans cette grande tradition millénaire de l’ordre cosmique des choses. C’est ce qui a permis à un peuple travailleur qui tient compte de cette tradition de réaliser certaines grandiosités que l’humanité entière reconnaît.

L’intelligence et le travail au pouvoir : souhaitons le. Avec de la bonne foi, « yes, we can » puisque c’est d’actualité. N’attendons pas la prochaine année du Rat (12 années, il se passera assurément beaucoup de choses) et souhaitons donc pleinement Kung Xi Fa Zhai à l’intelligence et à l’assiduité des mauriciens, « morisyin, malin sa ».

Aken WONG

What would you say to some entity which has been faithfully serving to you for 86 years?

Since 1924 grandfather YIPTONG gave up his activity of manufacturer of cigarettes to join in to be a distributor of British American Tobacco ( BAT). All through the years up to the present the family business is still the distributor of BAT cigarettes.

At the early start, YIPTONG distributorship was more about being a wholesales depot in the main city of Port Louis where retailers came to obtain their suppliers. Later in the early sixties with the transformation of retailing in Mauritius, BAT selected a restricted number of distributors who were assigned geographical regions to promote market and supervise the sales of their products.

Unlike many other products, cigarettes are sensitive products and cannot be handled like most other commodities. The distributors had to ensure that the storing of the stocks at the point of sales where optimum to guarantee of their conservation to freshness and contamination from damp and strong smells. The shell life of the locally produced cigarettes was limited to weeks. The role of the distributor was to ensure that stale products were tendered to the consumers and that a proper stock rotation was maintained. Systems were put in place to control the stock of each retailer and to run a just in time rotation. Credit was extended to the retailers to maximise sales.

It was a great opportunity for the family to acquire the knowledge and practice of retail distributorship. As cigarettes sales involved heavy financing and exchange of large amount of cash, the distributors also learnt the task of handling large amount of money. Most distributors, enriched with this BAT distribution experience ventured into distribution of other products.

All in all the association with BAT has been a win-win to both BAT and the distributors.