Entries Tagged 'Mauritius' ↓

Do you know who is Yan Kwok?

I propose that all Mauritians bloggers and all those who has some interest in the internet and related technology should know of Yan KWOK. I only met him a couple of times in 1997. Hats off to him for what he has done when he was still a student in Cape Town. If I am not mistaken all of you who are using the .mu are contributing to Yan KWOK’s  wealth.

Through linkedin, I managed to trace him up.

The question I am asking myself is: Does Mauritius need persons of his competence and experience? Why have the authorities of Mauritius acted in such a manner to keep  Yan KWOK away from Mauritius?

Yes indeed, we need brains and drive for our country to prosper. So Mauritius needs the competency and experience of people the like of Yan.

I am of opinion that the authorities have been unfair to Yan. He was foresighted enough during his university days to see potential in making some money out of the then upcoming ICANN whilst all the government authorities ,I presume were completely out of the picture.Should Yan be penalized for his business acumen  and initiative?

I move that the authorities in spite of the ego and arrogance that they hold would do well to recognize Yan’s deeds and publicly welcome him to put his knowledge to the service of the nation. Perhaps, then. the action could be set as an example for our bright stars evolving in the world to come home to set up shop.

Article paru sur le journal il y a quelques jours.

Le même message évoqué par J Michel Billaut. Il nous faut se battre pour que les tarifs permettent le développement.L’ avenir de Maurice est en jeu.

Je suis d’opinion que les tarifs de l’inter connectivité ne sont pas d’ordre économique mais de l’ordre politique et de vision de l’avenir du pays. Comment faire pour bouger la politique ? Avez-vous une idée ? Une lettre ouverte aux autorités ?

Today,with such a lousy weather,post Cyclone Gamede, sticky,warm and humid, I have spent most of my day browsing on Thorium Reactors.

For those of you interested in “greener” source of energy,this might be one of the solution. I believe, India is well advanced in the search and deployment in this field. May we in the future, could look towards “mother India” for some help!As a matter of fact India is working very hard to find renewable source of energy to cater for its explosive demographic expansion. India is the 3rd world largest producer of energy from wind powered generators and very advanced in solar power generation too…

By the way,does anybody got any idea of the progress being made in the experimental wind turbine installed at Grand Bassin? We are great at launching project, also great at not following through and concluding the project. Is it a typical Mauritian trait?
I shall be discussing with my brother on this matter as soon as he lands in Mauritius this week. He had been involved with building one of the Candu(Canadian atomic energy) Nuclear power generator in Korea a few years ago and should be better informed than me.

Are you for or against Nuclear reactors in Mauritius?

“Where the east meets the west” is perhaps an overused slogan. Mauritius lives it in its reality.The metissage has given us a new breed of people and a somewhat strange and confusing culture.

Are we Mauritians real Chinese or real Indians or real French, Europeans or Africans? Through the years and living in an environment off the mother base, we have evolved into a new hybrid. We have become Mauritians.

Would a Singaporean be a Chinese on asking any one in Singapore? He would bluntly reply , I guess I am a Singaporean. Same for a Thai!
This confirms my thesis the metissage has produced a new hybrid. Let us be proud of our Mauritian upbringing. I used to qualify myself to people who inquired about me, during my extensive traveling days, as someone who would : firstly speak English with a French residual accent and speak French using English idioms yet be proud of the fusion;secondly look Asian from my features yet almost westernized in my education; thirdly lives on a continent which is neither Europe nor Asia. The person who I would be talking to would be in confusion.

You will recall that the color green comes from the mixing of the yellow and blue colors.

A proud “Green” happy fusion Mauritian, I am and pray that we all were.

I recommend you to read Sanderson Beck from where I regular source for a wealth of knowledge at no cost.

In reply to Christiane’s blog entitled “Our mixed Heritage”, I posted a comment along these following lines:

Mixed Heritage or Metissage is the term I like. As often in nature, cross- breeding enhances the subject, when it strengthens the positive and minimizes the negatives.I for one, looking back at my ancestry, can claim French creole, and Chinese blood, and am very proud of it. Apart from the genetic aspect, I am also proud of my cultural metissage: my mother born of the union of a china man, and a half mulatto, half Chinese. My mother was raised in an environment close to the Vadamotoo family, the “madras baptises” we could say. My mother, who lived in a poverty stricken family since  her early childhood,   managed to get a good education with the help of her neighbors, the then wealthy “Madras” family who considered her as a sister. My mother later married the son of a well- to- do Chinaman, after much persuasion and numerous objections & refusals from my father’s parents. Considered as a mixed marriage by my father’s parents, their union was not at all acceptable. There were not only racial differences; in the late 40’s there were concerns of social ranking, community peer pressures, economical consideration and reputation. If it were not for the perseverance and tenacity of my parents, my brothers & sisters and I would probably never found this world. In the final analysis, my parents had a very successful married life. My mother brought into my father’s family some other values and qualities which have enriched the more Chinese values of the latter. She had to learn the Chinese dialect to converse with her mother- in- law.  Almost nearing her death , my grandma sought forgiveness from my mother for her inappropriate opposition to the latter’s marriage and told everyone around her that she had a most kind, and considerate daughter- in- law. Success is always the result of drive, determination and efforts.

 

A few days have passed since. Thinking back, I said to myself  that we are blessed in Mauritius to benefit from the proximities of the different cultures and customs and to have first hand experiences of them. Stephen Covey, who I believe would be visiting Mauritius soon, taught me a lesson whilst talking of his habit 6: Synergize is valuing the differences. In fact the Covey leadership center had made a film on Mauritius to demonstrate the cultural differences which, when properly channeled could bring in growth and harmony beyond imagination: 1+1 = 3 or more. I thus conclude that the cultural “half blood” or shall I dare say “double blood” is better than each of the single elements that made up the metissage. Vive le metissage!

Ash Wednesday marks the first day of a privileged journey of forty days for Christians.

As you know, Jesus retreated into the wilderness and fasted for forty days to prepare for his ministry. It was for Him a time of contemplation, reflection, and preparation. By observing Lent, most Christians join Jesus on His retreat.

Lent consists of the forty days before Easter. Biblical societies relied very heavily on wood fires for heating and cooking, which meant that keeping ashes under control was a major housekeeping task. Then as now, if a person was preoccupied with something serious, they didn’t always tend to the housekeeping—it’s the least of their concerns. Imagine that there is a death in the family. A friend stopping by to pay their respects might gently say, “Did you know you have ashes on your face?”

So ashes became a sign of remorse, repentance, and mourning. Today someone might wear a black armband to signify that they are in mourning; back then people put ashes on their foreheads.

I attended church this morning and I can tell you that the church was packed full. It was great to see such reverence. The priest even said that Jesus must be happy to see such numbers of worshipers to follow his steps.

You can find biblical examples of this in 2 Samuel 13:19, Esther 4:1-3, Job 42:6, and Jeremiah 6:26. During Lent, ancient Christians mourned their sins and repented of them, so it was appropriate for them to show their sincerity by having ashes on their foreheads. The custom has persisted in the church as secular society has changed around us. It is most appropriate on Ash Wednesday, when we begin a period of sober reflection, self-examination, and spiritual redirection.

Traditionally, the ashes for the Ash Wednesday service come from burning the palm fronds from the previous year’s Palm Sunday celebration. If you burn the palm fronds yourself, don’t add any other ingredient—just burn the ashes plain. Add a little oil to the ashes so that they will stick to people’s foreheads. Of course, it is easier to purchase them from a religious supply house.

Some people only celebrate the happy times in Jesus’ life: Palm Sunday, Easter Sunday, and Christmas. But I think as true friends, we should also watch and pray with Him on HolyThursday, stand by Him at the cross on Good Friday, and retreat with Him into the wilderness during Lent.

In India, yogis often mark their forehead with ashes to remind themselves that they are made of carbon and will return to this state whilst their spirit will continue to survive. It is a lesson to practice detachment from earthly matters. The spiritual is more important than the physical.

May I wish all of you Christians a holy spiritual journey for the next 40 days?

Do you know why Google invested in Nanosolar?

What progress has since being achieved for this new technology?

Could we be daring enough to invite Nanosolar to roll out the technology and use the whole country as a Laboratory and a world show case of its products? Aren’t we blessed by the sun?
Imagine the solar house generating its own source of energy and even supplying the grid network with its surplus.A whole village could be developed along this same concept. There after a whole island could follow. Can you now dream of a clean energy efficient island country? Why not the Nanosolar Island?

Nanosolar’s vision:

At Nanosolar, we believe that energy should be clean, affordable, and abundant; and that the path to this is through innovation and technology.

In an age where carbon fuel scarcity is making peak-time electricity very valuable and where carbon fuels are driving global warming to unsafe levels, it is increasingly mandatory for electricity to be produced locally, clean, and in ways that reduce the peak-load burden on already overtaxed electricity grids.

At Nanosolar, we are working to make it possible to put A Solar Panel on Every Buildingâ„¢.

By setting the standard for solar technology with industry-leading cost efficiency and availability, we are planning to become the world’s largest solar energy technology company and thus contribute to creating a future based on inexhaustible, clean, affordable, and reliable energy.

Our revenue aspiration is to be the fastest company ever to go from $1 to $1 billion; and to sell $100 billion (in ’05 dollars) in PV panels by 2020.
For such a venture,we need our entrepreneurs to move and our politicians to buy in the dream and to set the proper regulatory frame for it to happen.

I invite you Mru Bloggers to start propagating this idea with your friends and the friends’ friends. Hopefully we would have created a loud enough “buzz” to get a spark. So the first step would be to Cut and paste this post to all your address book. The second step to arouse the mass media to this idea. The third step could be a write a petition letter to our Minister of Energy. Let us start off the NANOSolar Island!
What are your views?

The number of times I heard the word “Happiness or Happy” to wish our friends the Chinese Newyear moved me today. The same thing happens on most feasts isn’t it? Happy Newyear; Happy Divali; Happy Easter; Happy Sankranti or Merry Xmas

I had earlier written a blog on Happiness and had brought to contribution one of my favourite mystics:

Happiness is our natural state. Happiness is the natural state of little children, to whom the kingdom belongs until they have been polluted and contaminated by the stupidity of society and culture. To acquire happiness you don’t have to do anything, because happiness cannot be acquired.

You don’t have to add anything in order to be happy; you’ve got to drop something. Life is easy, life is delightful. It’s only hard on your illusions, your ambitions, your greed, and your cravings.

Today on reading Guy Kawasaki’s blog, I was again awakened to the question of “Happiness.” He quoted:

Andrian White, a University of Leicester Psychologist who wrote on Self Well Being ( SWB) Factor of nations wherein Mauritius would rank 73th on the World Map of Happiness. I would only wish that we climb the ladder of the ranking!

Whilst the interest in SWB within positive psychology is to be welcomed it is interesting to note that the commercial development of the subject is in the very countries where SWB is highest. This leaves positive psychology open to the accusation of selling self-help to the worried well. The current lack of positive psychological studies in countries where levels of SWB are low does nothing to assuage this concern. It is worth asking where are the positive psychological studies exploring the effects on SWB of providing healthcare and education to communities that have never before has access to such resources? An approach that explored these questions really could be called positive psychology.

EXTRACT FROM THE PAPER OF Andrian WHITE

I wonder: how is it possible that the inhabitants of Paradise Island have such a low SWB ranking? It is worth noting that Denmark is at the top of the heap whilst our neighbour Paradise Island Seychelles is ranked 20^th. Why?

My meager contribution to the positive psychology to increase in our country is to offer to you and your friend the location of a free e-book of 90 pages: How to Be Happy and Have Fun changing the world.

Be Happy!

En ce jour de notre fête Nationale, Maha Shiva Ratree, je voudrai vous présenter, un extrait d’un récit de quelqu’un qui a vécu chez nous il y a quelques années.

Ce qui m’épate c’est la ferveur des dévots de Shiva et surtout le nombre grandissant des pèlerins. Que la fête soit un point de ralliement identitaire de la communauté hindoue ! Que la convergence vers un point commun le grand bassin soit signe d’unite!

Citation

Je me souviens aussi que la vedette incontesté et incontestable de ton marché est ton herboriste, celui là même qui dispense les herbes qui guérissent tout (ou donne la ” vigueur ” sans viagra) de génération en génération. Et puis, sans en avoir l’air, je n’arrive pas à oublier cette spiritualité ambiante de l’Inde mais quelque peu « dévoyée » que tu distilles comme de lourds parfums d’orchidées. Oh, ne te vexe pas ! Quand je dis que ta spiritualité est dévoyée, ce n’est pas une insulte, bien au contraire. Par « dévoyée », j’entends que cette spiritualité a recréé à sa mesure le savoir et l’érudition des bramanes qu’elle n’avait pas pu importé dans les maigres balluchons des coolies débarqués des pointes de l’Inde après l’abolition de l’esclavage ; qu’il s’agit d’une forme de spiritualité sans prêtres, et pratiquement sans livres qui a reconstruit ses structures et son clergé. Par exemple Le Gange et ses pèlerinages ont été remplacés par GRAND BASSIN, ton lac solitaire, niché à l’intérieur des collines, hors des itinéraires touristiques. Et c’est là que chaque année, pendant plusieurs jours les fidèles convergent dans un gigantesque balai qui envahi l’île du Nord au Sud.

Je me souviens que pour la fête de Maha Shiva Ratree, chaque village, chaque communauté tient à transporter à porteurs des ” cathédrales ” de bambous, des feuillages, des pierreries, des décorations, en l’honneur de Shiva. C’est bien normal puisque les habitants les auront patiemment construits pendant de longs mois, comme peuvent le faire en d’autres lieux les écoles de Samba.

Je me souviens de la concentration de ces ” monuments ” sur Grand Bassin…… cette marche forcée, de jour comme de nuit, enfants aux crochets des basques des parents, indifféremment à la gauche ou à la droite de l’autoroute. Pour comprendre la ferveur de ton peuple, il faut avoir assisté, à 6 heures du soir, quand la nuit commence à tomber, aux immenses cortèges quasi silencieux de pèlerins en dévotion qui montent en files lumineuses aux temples de Grand Bassin pour y honorer les signes de Shiva, lingam et yoni. Ces signes sont baignés d’offrandes de fleurs et de noix de cocos importées à grand frais d’Agalega et que les prêtres découpent d’un seul coup de coupe-coupe. Je me souviens qu’en début de soirée, au bord du lac, les fidèles jambes de pantalon troussés, les pieds dans l’eau y trempaient de milliers de petites lumières, des pastilles de méta qu’ils laissaient ensuite glisser sur le lac à bord de larges feuilles de manguiers, le tout accompagnée d’une lente constellation de prière.

Fin de citation

Jean Michel Billaut as announced came to Mauritius and delivered 3 full day seminars on the theme Future 2.0. He also gave a short presentation to the managers of the National Computer Board.

Jean Michel forecasts the slow death of our call center industries with the advent of Visio-technology coupled with the increased of the bandwidth of the internet due to be in place soon with the decision of the French Administrations to install ‘end to end’ fiber optics connections throughout the French territory.

I was so pleased to have held in my hand a proto-type version of iliad e-reader.
My partners of APM who contributed for Jean Michel’s trip to Mauritius, left the seminars happy to have learned so much about the future yet still hungry for more knowledge.

In the nutshell, without larger bandwidth,hi speed internet and without fiber optics connections the future of Mauritius would be gloomy.

Merci Jean Michel

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