Happy morning wonderful people,
Trust me, it's been a long time since I last found the inspiration to sit down and write something concrete, stirring and life changing! :3
But now that I have finally reorganized and redecorated my room after 2 weeks of holidays and that my desk is stripped off of stacks of school textbooks and past exam papers, I feel like I have a cozier atmosphere once again to write and express myself! ^^
So here I am, my laptop plugged in, sticker notes on my wall board screaming my To-Do lists and, of course, water and stationary on either side!
Now, I know it's an awkward way of starting a blog post of a seriousness as you would see below but well, I feel really content right now.
______*Getting back to some Concrete Writing, finally!*______
Well, today after probably some 5 months or 7, I have been to the beach with my maternal family: my grandma, grandad, cousins and aunts! Of course, due to exam periods we hadn't met up so much and we struck a fair deal by celebrating my Mom's birthday at Mt Choisy.
And my-my, I was not so pleasantly surprised!
As some of you may know, for the past a year and a half perhaps Mt Choisy had been transformed into a no vehicles on the beach zone with parking provided flanked on the road side just like Belle Mare.
But here we were, stupidly, months later with families coming down for a picnic with their big vans inside, blaring blasting music from their engines amidst the trees newly planted for preventing soil erosion.
What is more are the ice cream vendors who race through those very trees, stripping them of some leaves in the process, inside the no vehicle zone to compete for potential clients!
Oh and motorcycles have even made their way in. This has been happening since a month now says, one witness. And this phenomenon definitely promises to grow in number, after all "if others are doing it, so why can't I?"
So basically, we'll revert back to square one:
1. Significant damage to our sand/ sand erosion
2. Danger of little trotting kids
3. Dust whirling up into people's food
4. Irresponsible Parking
What are we doing to curb these situations yet again? Oh yes, you guessed it right: Inaction in law enforcement.
At times, I wonder if we really shouldn't opt for the 'two mandates' maximum option for political parties, that way at least, any new government that comes does not puke on the previous government's rather good work! Don't we recall such investments that were not even maintained for efficient public use? What has Mahebourg waterfront become today? And La Cuvette Beach? Ill-maintenance splattered everywhere. So, should I sit and wait for another such thing to happen? I'm sorry, I don't either want to be part of the Mauritian Silent Mass.
But then, on rethinking again and trying to channel my immense disappointment correctly, I realize that probably the fault lies in our own Mauritian Psyche.
Aren't we all somewhere down the line manner-less pigs? Oh no- please, I'm not pointing at any specific gender/social/ethnic group that we commonly identify with. In the 18 years I have lived I have seen people riding BMWs throwing plastic bags out of their car, I have seen Oh-So-Cultured elders leaving their peanut shells in the bus and I have even seen everyday bus users are not understanding the meaning of a well-aligned queue.
Oh and please, we don't even usually have a ''Thank you'' or “Good Morning” for people who serve us in the snacks/restaurants, buses, or any kind of service providers. Never a “Have a nice day”. I know many do it, but it's sad that it is not a natural extension of our culture!
The people providing us services even unless they’ve been asked to do so by their Company Brands wouldn’t budge to smile even perhaps. Don’t we know how when we enter a random retail shop, browsing through the clothing there is that one salesperson who don’t welcome you properly, no smile on their face, and sometimes even become grumpy when you ask questions?
If I were to attempt looking for the 89% literate Mauritian population, believe me, I would go insanely confused!
Or probably I would not be startled. That's the way things have always been.
There is a Mass Indiscipline in Public Places in Mauritius. It may be happening elsewhere, like in India, but it's on this island I that I live and it's this island I care about.
I am an everyday traveler and I get and frustrated on seeing the indiscipline of people: driving on the wrong side on the not-so-busy dual lane roads, not obeying traffic lights at places where traffic personnel are not deputed, parking vehicle on cramped single lane city roads, stopping vehicles abruptly in the middle of the road to run errands, motorcycles taking driving on the left side of the road probably sweeping people alighting from buses at the bus stop in the process. These are some common sights on any Mauritian road.
Although our roads are the classic examples of indiscipline in our public lives, but they are not the only avenues where we hysterically display our ignorance. We step out in markets, randomly throw wrappers and packaging anywhere, without any bother, on the walking paths or roads. Well, we may attribute this tendency of tossing any garbage anywhere without a care, to the absence of street bins in adequate numbers, but I have seen many places where the dust bin itself is empty but all the area around its periphery is filled with garbage, probably owing to our habit of not throwing the garbage directly in the dustbins, but to shoot the garbage into bin from a distance as a mass display of our supreme basketball skills, but we are poor sportspeople so instead of basketing the garbage into the bin, we end up in doing collateral damage around the bin.
And then, we blame our politicians for how corrupt they are. When we ourselves are so undisciplined, so selfish (ignoring civil property to suit personal comfort, needs a term worse than selfish), then how can we expect them to be ideal? I think we deserve the corruption in bureaucracy and politics we are facing today. Our politicians are as selfish and undisciplined as we are. We then even blame our youth for brain-drain, I think there is nothing wrong in escaping this mass indiscipline if one has better options abroad.
As far as I am concerned, we may not have an issue- yet- with the image of our country in terms of adequate discipline but frankly speaking, the major difference between Singapore (the CITY so many political leaders seem to idolize and model our island on) and Mauritius is the discipline the Singaporeans show in their public life.
As far as posting this large message is concerned, I would only say one thing, that I wanted a larger audience.
All I want from fellow readers is to kindly read my frustrations and give comments on whatever they feel regarding all this.
Any kinds of debates or discussions are welcome, and so are any kinds of comments (positive or negative) on my observations of current Mauritius.
Stirring responses were the only aim I had in writing this write-up.
Thank You, for reading this.
P.S. I started the new Label “Because We Care” to write about such issues on a weekly basis. As the Mahabharata teaches us, the quiet spectator is a partner in a crime, so let’s raise our voices!
Until Next Time,
Much Love,
Iam Aehr
And my-my, I was not so pleasantly surprised!
As some of you may know, for the past a year and a half perhaps Mt Choisy had been transformed into a no vehicles on the beach zone with parking provided flanked on the road side just like Belle Mare.
But here we were, stupidly, months later with families coming down for a picnic with their big vans inside, blaring blasting music from their engines amidst the trees newly planted for preventing soil erosion.
What is more are the ice cream vendors who race through those very trees, stripping them of some leaves in the process, inside the no vehicle zone to compete for potential clients!
Oh and motorcycles have even made their way in. This has been happening since a month now says, one witness. And this phenomenon definitely promises to grow in number, after all "if others are doing it, so why can't I?"
So basically, we'll revert back to square one:
1. Significant damage to our sand/ sand erosion
2. Danger of little trotting kids
3. Dust whirling up into people's food
4. Irresponsible Parking
What are we doing to curb these situations yet again? Oh yes, you guessed it right: Inaction in law enforcement.
At times, I wonder if we really shouldn't opt for the 'two mandates' maximum option for political parties, that way at least, any new government that comes does not puke on the previous government's rather good work! Don't we recall such investments that were not even maintained for efficient public use? What has Mahebourg waterfront become today? And La Cuvette Beach? Ill-maintenance splattered everywhere. So, should I sit and wait for another such thing to happen? I'm sorry, I don't either want to be part of the Mauritian Silent Mass.
But then, on rethinking again and trying to channel my immense disappointment correctly, I realize that probably the fault lies in our own Mauritian Psyche.
Aren't we all somewhere down the line manner-less pigs? Oh no- please, I'm not pointing at any specific gender/social/ethnic group that we commonly identify with. In the 18 years I have lived I have seen people riding BMWs throwing plastic bags out of their car, I have seen Oh-So-Cultured elders leaving their peanut shells in the bus and I have even seen everyday bus users are not understanding the meaning of a well-aligned queue.
Oh and please, we don't even usually have a ''Thank you'' or “Good Morning” for people who serve us in the snacks/restaurants, buses, or any kind of service providers. Never a “Have a nice day”. I know many do it, but it's sad that it is not a natural extension of our culture!
The people providing us services even unless they’ve been asked to do so by their Company Brands wouldn’t budge to smile even perhaps. Don’t we know how when we enter a random retail shop, browsing through the clothing there is that one salesperson who don’t welcome you properly, no smile on their face, and sometimes even become grumpy when you ask questions?
If I were to attempt looking for the 89% literate Mauritian population, believe me, I would go insanely confused!
Or probably I would not be startled. That's the way things have always been.
There is a Mass Indiscipline in Public Places in Mauritius. It may be happening elsewhere, like in India, but it's on this island I that I live and it's this island I care about.
I am an everyday traveler and I get and frustrated on seeing the indiscipline of people: driving on the wrong side on the not-so-busy dual lane roads, not obeying traffic lights at places where traffic personnel are not deputed, parking vehicle on cramped single lane city roads, stopping vehicles abruptly in the middle of the road to run errands, motorcycles taking driving on the left side of the road probably sweeping people alighting from buses at the bus stop in the process. These are some common sights on any Mauritian road.
Although our roads are the classic examples of indiscipline in our public lives, but they are not the only avenues where we hysterically display our ignorance. We step out in markets, randomly throw wrappers and packaging anywhere, without any bother, on the walking paths or roads. Well, we may attribute this tendency of tossing any garbage anywhere without a care, to the absence of street bins in adequate numbers, but I have seen many places where the dust bin itself is empty but all the area around its periphery is filled with garbage, probably owing to our habit of not throwing the garbage directly in the dustbins, but to shoot the garbage into bin from a distance as a mass display of our supreme basketball skills, but we are poor sportspeople so instead of basketing the garbage into the bin, we end up in doing collateral damage around the bin.
And then, we blame our politicians for how corrupt they are. When we ourselves are so undisciplined, so selfish (ignoring civil property to suit personal comfort, needs a term worse than selfish), then how can we expect them to be ideal? I think we deserve the corruption in bureaucracy and politics we are facing today. Our politicians are as selfish and undisciplined as we are. We then even blame our youth for brain-drain, I think there is nothing wrong in escaping this mass indiscipline if one has better options abroad.
As far as I am concerned, we may not have an issue- yet- with the image of our country in terms of adequate discipline but frankly speaking, the major difference between Singapore (the CITY so many political leaders seem to idolize and model our island on) and Mauritius is the discipline the Singaporeans show in their public life.
As far as posting this large message is concerned, I would only say one thing, that I wanted a larger audience.
All I want from fellow readers is to kindly read my frustrations and give comments on whatever they feel regarding all this.
Any kinds of debates or discussions are welcome, and so are any kinds of comments (positive or negative) on my observations of current Mauritius.
Stirring responses were the only aim I had in writing this write-up.
Thank You, for reading this.
P.S. I started the new Label “Because We Care” to write about such issues on a weekly basis. As the Mahabharata teaches us, the quiet spectator is a partner in a crime, so let’s raise our voices!
Until Next Time,
Much Love,
Iam Aehr