2011, l`année de tous les défis

Transcription

Rs 12 milliards pour changer les vieux
conduits d’eau
Voulez-vous être élu “Meilleur journaliste
de l’océan Indien” ?
Gros investissement cette année dans le réseau de
distribution d’eau. La Central Water Authority (CWA)
compte changer 2 000 kilomètres de tuyaux au coût de
Rs 12 milliards, affirme un haut officiel de cet...
Vous êtes journaliste ou vous en connaissez un dans
votre entourage ? Alors ceci vous concerne. La Commission de lócéan Indien (COI) chargée de la mise en
œuvre du Projet d’Appui à l’Initiative Régionale...
How small people make a big difference
Today, as I was relaxing at the beach, I couldn’t help but
eavesdrop on a conversation four school kids were having
on the beach blanket next to me. Their conversation was
about making a positive difference in the world. And it
went something like this…
"I believe in equality
for everyone, except
reporters and
JANUARY 2011
FR
ISSUE 17 | 24PAGES
E
E
photographers."
2011, l’année de tous les défis
- Mahatma Gandhi
EDITORIAL :
University graduates
in Mauritius: Too few?
Too many?
PAGE 03 //
Over the past five years, the number
of youngsters with tertiary credentials
has increased extensively in Mauritius. At the same time, employers fret
that they are not getting the skilled
workers they need to compete and
contend in a global economy. Employers feel that skills availabilities
are a major impediment to business,
as much as, if not more than, meeting
onerous regulations.
CONTRECOUP : Le sensationnalisme, tactique évocatrice?
“
PAGE 04 //
Ce mot de cinq syllabes qu’est le sensationnalisme réveille nos émotions qui sont refoulées en nous. En effet, le
sensationnalisme est une manœuvre de marketing adopté par les médias. Susciter l’intérêt des lecteurs et des
téléspectateurs pour se tailler une part du marché en est le principal objectif. Ainsi, certains acteurs du monde
médiatique se croient tout permis ; ils n’hésitent pas à jouer avec les émotions du public en publiant des articles
à titre évocateur ou illustrés par des photos choquantes. Ayant recours au sensationnalisme est bien plus qu’un
simple geste de marketing, c’est le pouvoir de manipuler les données et les émotions du lecteur à la fois.
NSIGHT
MEDIA GROUP
“ INSIGHT NEWSPAPER ”
8, D’Artois Street
Port Louis, Mauritius
Website : www.uominsight.com
Email : [email protected]
................................................................................
DIRECTEUR / RÉDACTEUR-EN-CHEF
Krishna Athal
FACEBOOK : A major influence on today’s society
SECRÉTARIAT
Hemanta Diksha Neerbun
ACTUALITÉ GÉNÉRALE
Aldo Amic
PAGE 16 //
Over the past years we’ve seen a major increase in the number of new Facebook users. Indeed this online social
ensnare is an addiction that has caused people to cross the line from social networking to social dysfunction.
SOCIETÉ / CULTURE
Ryan Krishna Appadoo
SANTÉ / ENVIRONNEMENT
Manish Rughoo
SPORTS
Yudish Kutwaroo
REVIEW :
CINÉMA / SCI-TECH
Nilesh Changia
Floods in Queensland Australia
FASHION
Meilane Carla Ah
DIRECTEUR ARTISTIQUE
Yaj Gungaram
PHOTOGRAPHIE
Avish Ramgolam
CARICATURE
Kate Ah Tsang Shee
PROMOTION / PUBLICITÉ
Rampersad Neerunjun
Tel : 211 7771
IMPRIMEUR
" Le Defi Plus Ltée "
SCI & TECH :
Les larmes des femmes affaibliraient le
désir sexuel chez l'homme
DEBATE :
Single Sex Mariage - This house believes
that gay mariage should be legal
-----------------------------------------------------------------------Les points de vue des collaborateurs ne peuvent, en
aucune manière, être considérés comme une prise de
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ISSUE 17 // JANUARY 2011
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INSIGHT // 02
EDITORIAL //
Krishna ATHAL
Editor-in-Chief
[email protected]
University graduates in Mauritius: Too few? Too many?
Over the past five years, the number of youngsters with tertiary credentials has increased extensively in Mauritius. At
the same time, employers fret that they are not getting the skilled workers they need to compete and contend in a global
economy. Employers feel that skills availabilities are a major impediment to business, as much as, if not more than, meeting onerous regulations.
munications and technical skills
such as computer familiarity. This
would argue that increased investment should focus on quality
rather than just quantity.
Such employer frustrations
must puzzle the many university
graduates having trouble getting
jobs. And some who get jobs
are the first to lose them during
economic downturns; recently
experienced by two of my close
friends. Whether it is desirable
or not, nobody can deny the fact
that today unemployment rates
among tertiary graduates are skyscraping.
An unemployed, newly-minted
BA, friend of 24-year old groused
in a recent discussion: “I expected
to find a job easily since I have a
degree in Computer Science &
Engineering from University
of Mauritius. But, after going to
multiple interviews, I found out
that firms are hesitant to hire me
because despite my degree, they
have to train me to meet their
work requirements. It is easier
for these firms to hire a graduate
with a couple of years of experience instead.”
What’s going on?
Getting this puzzle sorted out
may not only determine whether
low-income countries (LICs) can
become middle-income countries
(MICs) and MICs, high-income
countries (HICs); they may also
affect social stability as young
people’s expectations are at an alltime high. It is thus not surprising
that developed countries’ governments are considering investing a
great deal of their national wealth
on expanding and improving their
tertiary education systems.
I would like to know what you
readers think about this puzzle:
lots of graduates, not enough
skilled workers, high rates of
graduate unemployment, frustration all around despite high rates
of economic growth. Let me advance just two hypotheses (conveniently labelled as “H” to give our
discussion a veneer of academic
decorum and respectability) to get
the discussion going:
H1: The high unemployment
rate of graduates is due, not to
their oversupply, but to the fact
that too much of tertiary education in Mauritius is of low quality and has irrelevant curricula.
Young people are learning the
wrong things. For example, employers are seeking ‘softer skills’
such as team-building and com-
The key here may be the quality of education, quality not just of
tertiary education, but of the entire formal education system. Education system has not been able to
keep pace with the fast changing
world. Despite advances in technology, communication, transportation, globalized and competitive economic environment, our
school and university curriculum
and pedagogy remain largely the
same as a decade ago. Teachers
pass down facts and students try
to memorize them for tests. Such
a system is difficult to cultivate the
‘soft skills’ demanded by today's
economy.
H2: High unemployment may
be due to the unrealistic expectations of graduates that they are
entitled to ‘white collar’ jobs in offices and that ensure lifetime security. In contrast, in the United
States, the average college graduate will have had 7 jobs in the first
two years after graduation, and
many of them in areas that are
unrelated to their field of study or
in what are seemingly menial jobs
but which teach invaluable life
skills. Societies need to prepare
the expectations of young people
about labour market realities and
about the need to get good basic
experience early in their careers.
Let’s be optimistic…
We must first assume the education is the lever through which
we acquire skills and knowledge
to become better human beings
and contributing members to society. A desire for lifelong learning should be part of our human
development DNA. Universities,
polytechnics and other educational institutions therefore play
a critical role in structuring the
learning process. Rather than asking the question of whether we
are churning too many graduates
for too few jobs or not enough
graduates for too many jobs, we
must first ask ourselves what
higher education means for us. To
me, personally, education means
the enlightenment of minds which
goes beyond numbers and trying
to balance demand-and-supply
of whether too many or too few
graduates are being churned
out for the job market. The answer from my perspective will
therefore be that “There's never
enough graduates who are qualified enough.”
Educational institutions all
over the world are offering graduate level programs to give people
the opportunities to acquire the
necessary skills not just to work
but to socialise and to think more
critically. These institutions have
adopted curricula and pedagogies
that reflect the unique culture and
contexts in which they have been
situated – whether they have been
affected by resource, economic,
political factors. We know there
are centres of excellence that we
aspire to become – the Harvard,
MIT, IIT, Stanford and Cambridge
but let us not overly emphasise
these and thus lose focus that we
are standing on the shoulders of
local giants who have gone on before us. Being a Mauritian, I think
we have under-played our capabilities and thus limit ourselves in
terms of what we have achieved
and can potentially achieve.
My Suggestion
I’ll like to suggest a simple solution if we need to strike a balance
between the demand and supply of
graduates for the job market (as I
mentioned earlier, the question of
striking a balance for demand and
supply may be onerous because
tertiary education is supposed to
be given and not bounded by economics). So if we need to have a
solution at all, I’ll like to suggest
the creation of a marketplace for
employers, training institutes and
jobseekers to meet together and
interact on employment-related
matters. Such a platform should
be kept robust and expansive to
engage as many organisations and
individuals as possible (much like
our local marketplace) so that everyone is kept abreast about the
latest in the labour market.
In August 2010 when I participated in the Olympic Game in
Singapore, I discovered an organisation called the Employment and
Employability Institute (www.e2i.
com.sg) where the pulse of the job
market beats. Indeed, a centralised
platform as such will help us have
a better idea what the situation is
like real-time in national context,
rather than grasping at straws trying to establish what is lacking
and drawing comparisons across
the globe which may be helpful in
certain contexts but not in others.
Perhaps then, we could sharpen
our definition about the problem
we are trying to tackle.
THOUGHT OF
THE MONTH
“It is the same when Siddhartha has an aim, a goal.
Siddhartha does nothing; he
waits, he thinks, he fasts, but
he goes through the affairs
of the world like the stone
through water, without doing
anything, without bestirring
himself; he is drawn and lets
himself fall.”
Hermann Hesse, 1877 – 1962
Hermann is a Swiss novelist, poet, winner of the Nobel
Prize for Literature in 1946,
from his book Siddhartha,
1922, based on Gautama Buddha's early life.
INSIGHT // 03
CONTRECOUP //
Le sensationnalisme, tactique évocatrice?
Ce mot de cinq syllabes qu’est le sensationnalisme réveille nos émotions qui sont refoulées en nous. En effet, le sensationnalisme est une manœuvre de marketing adopté par les médias. Susciter l’intérêt des lecteurs et des téléspectateurs pour se
tailler une part du marché en est le principal objectif. Ainsi, certains acteurs du monde médiatique se croient tout permis
; ils n’hésitent pas à jouer avec les émotions du public en publiant des articles à titre évocateur ou illustrés par des photos
choquantes. Ayant recours au sensationnalisme est bien plus qu’un simple geste de marketing, c’est le pouvoir de manipuler
les données et les émotions du lecteur à la fois.
Hemanta Diksha NEERBUN
Les attentats terroristes du 11
Septembre, les bâtiments maculés de sang de Mumbai lors
des attaques du 26 Novembre,
l’hécatombe suivant la pandémie
de la grippe A H1N1… La liste en
est longue. Ces évènements n’ont
laissé personne insensible sur le
plan mondial, y compris le monde
médiatique. En effet, lorsque le
climat mondial se retrouve chamboulé par de tels évènements, les
journalistes entrent dans le jeu.
Trouver le bon scoop et ainsi attirer plus d’individus - même si
cela implique choquer l’audience
– en est le maitre-mot.
Le devoir du journaliste
Même les tirages mauriciens
font usage du sensationnalisme.
Le meurtre de la styliste Vanessa
Lagesse ou les aventures de PiouPiou ont longuement tenu le pays
en haleine. Mais pourquoi ? Tout
simplement parce que certains
journaux se permettent d’exagérer
les faits. L’exagération des faits en
une grave tactique car elle constitue une entrave aux principes
fondamentaux du journalisme.
Jouer avec l’émotion des lecteurs
ou manipuler l’information n’est
guère une pratique décente. Si
certains journalistes avancent la
notion de la liberté de la presse
et utilisent le sensationnalisme,
un tel raisonnement est inadmissible car le journaliste a pour devoir moral d’informer le public,
de transmettre des informations
exactes et conformes aux réalités
des évènements.
La nature humaine
Le sensationnalisme est
certes utilisé par les journalistes
mais en se basant sur la théorie
économique de l’offre et de la demande, on se rend compte que
cette manœuvre continuera à être
employer aussi longtemps que les
lecteurs continuent à se raffoler
de telles nouvelles. S’enquérir
des malheurs d’autrui a toujours
été la préoccupation de quelques
individus, la conversation du moment. Qui ne souvient pas de cette
scène d’accident où les badauds
s’attroupent pour contempler les
dégâts alors qu’ils hésitent à informer les services d’urgence?
La psychologie humaine est difficile à déchiffrer ; malgré que la
civilisation humaine ait évoluée,
au fonds de l’être humain sont re-
foulées des émotions très primitives de l’homme des cavernes.
Pour une poignée de personnes,
lire les articles sur les malheurs
s’abattant sur autrui est une façon d’exprimer sa sympathie et
aussi son soulagement de ne pas
être à la place des victimes. Pour
une infime minorité, lire de tels
articles représente une manière
de satisfaire cet être maléfique
qui est en eux car ils éprouvent
un malin sadisme à se moquer de
telles tragédies.
L’impact du sensationnalisme
Le sensationnalisme constitue
à créer une forte impression
psychologique sur les lecteurs.
Il peut être qualifié de tactique
réussie mais cela ne peut être fait
au détriment de la précision de
l’information. Exagérer ou même
difformer les faits ne peut être
pardonné. Au lieu de diffuser
la même information plusieurs
fois, explorer de nouvelles pistes
est recommendé. Par exemple,
lorsqu’un article est consacré à un
crime abominable, au lieu de publier des photos macabres, aborder
les différentes peines associées au
crime est recommendé.
Aussi, cet aspect de sadisme
que fait preuve certains lecteurs
est appelé à disparaitre car au fond
de l’histoire, c’est les familles des
victimes et des coupables qui se
retrouvent harcelés par les journalistes, toujours à la recherche
de cette perle rare qui suscitera
l’intérêt des lecteurs.
ÉVÉNEMENTS
2011, l’année de tous les défis
2010 a à peine passer le seuil que nous nous projetons déjà dans les événements clefs qui devront généralement tenir le haut
du pavé en 2011. Zoom donc sur quelques défis importants pour l’année en cours à Maurice et aussi sur le plan international.
Aldo AMIC
Sur le sol mauricien, la rentrée
parlementaire sera bien évidemment très attendue. Hormis
cette rentrée, il est à noter que le
procès qu’à intenté l’état contre
l’Angleterre devrait aussi retenir
l’attention. Tous veulent voir ce
que Maurice pourra faire dans une
instance internationale face au
géant anglais. Le Harbour Bridge
ou encore le projet métro léger
INSIGHT // 04
devront sortir sous terre; ce sera
donc avec insistance et attention
que nous attendrons la venue, tant
attendue justement de ces idées.
Le gouvernement et surtout
les officiers chargés de la sécurité
routière devront tenter le tout afin
de conscientiser la population sur
les accidents de la route et autres
crimes sanglants. Pour rappel,
2010, sur le plan routier, sécurité
et crime, a vraiment su ce démarqué négativement de plusieurs
autres pays en atteignant des sommets concernant les personnes
pas décédées de morts naturels.
Il est certain que les « speed controllers » ne suffiront pas à faire
baisser le nombre de morts.
Au delà des frontières mauriciennes, il est à dire que 2011 a
été proclamée l’année internatio-
nale de la chimie et des forêts par
l’assemblée générale des Nations
Unies. Sinon, sur le plan culturel
soulignons que la capitale de
l’Estonie, Tallin et la ville finlandaise de Turku seront les Capitales européennes de la culture,
et en Argentine, Buenos Aires a
été décrété Capitale mondiale du
livre par l’UNESCO.
Sur le plan sportif, des événe-
ments majeurs tels que la Coupe
du Monde de Rugby en NouvelleZélande et la Coupe du Monde de
Handball en Suède seront les principales attractions.
Espérons seulement que ces
événements, à défaut de parler
de défis, soient relevés avec tact.
ACTUALITÉ EN BREF //
Violence contre les enfants:
5283 cas référés à la CDU
Rien qu’entre janvier et octobre de l’année écouler,
ce chiffre a été enregistré à la Child Development Unit
(CDU). Sois un nombre supérieur à la totalité de ceux
notés en 2009. Toutefois, des mesures ont été annoncées
par le Ministre du Développement de l’Enfant pour que
ce chiffre régresse à l’avenir. L’Ombudsperson Person for
Children, Shirin Aumeeruddy Cziffra, a voulu sensibiliser
la population en ce début d’année. Dans le message de
fin d’année, un appel urgent à surtout été fait à la population de ne pas rester indifférent face à ce phénomène
sociale…2010 a surtout été marqué par divers cas de violence a l’égard des enfants et les citoyens innocents, allant
même jusqu’à ôter la vie à certains. L’Ombudsperson for
Children estime que chacun peut apporter une contribution pour faire reculer cette violence et aider les victimes.
Pour sa part, le ministère de tutelle, annonce l’ouverture
d’un deuxième shelter dans le nord de l’île pour accueillir plus d’enfants dans le besoin. Tout comme l’école des
parents, le programme de contrôle de naissance se poursuivra. l’adoption, la réintégration et l’accompagnement
des jeunes seront entra autres les dossiers importants
pour 2011.
Rs 12 milliards pour changer
les vieux conduits d’eau
Gros investissement cette année dans le réseau de
distribution d’eau. La Central Water Authority (CWA)
compte changer 2 000 kilomètres de tuyaux au coût de
Rs 12 milliards, affirme un haut officiel de cet organisme.
“Si on ne répare pas les tuyaux alors le pourcentage de
fuites continuera à augmenter.” Face à la sécheresse qui
continue à menacer le pays, la Central Water Authority (CWA) s’est trouvée dans l’obligation d’exploiter huit
nouvelles zones de puisement d’eau. Les réservoirs étant
en situation critique, avec un pourcentage de remplissage de 39, 4, les autorités réclament la vigilance quant
à l’utilisation d’eau.
Le vice-Premier ministre
chinois en visite à Maurice
Le vice-Premier ministre chinois, Hui Liangyu, est en
visite officielle à l’île Maurice du 7 au 19 janvier 2011. En
effet, Hui Liangyu est à la tête d’une délégation composée
de 26 membres de la République populaire de Chine.
Le vice-Premier ministre chinois a rendu une visite
de courtoisie au président de la République, Sir Anerood
Jugnauth à la State House et au Premier ministre, Navin
Ramgoolam, dans le nouveau bâtiment du Trésor le 7
janvier.
Le même jour, une séance de travail était prévue avec
le vice-Premier ministre, ministre des Finances et du
Développement économique, Pravind Jugnauth, et le
ministre des Affaires étrangères, líntégration régionale
et du Commerce international, Arvin Boolell, au Sands
Resort and Spa à Flic en Flac.
Elle était suivie par la signature dún accord sur une
subvention financière dún montant de Rs 160 millions
et d’un prêt sans intérêt de Rs 80 millions pour une série
de projets validés par les deux gouvernements. Le lendemain, Hui Liangyu et sa délégation ont visité Medine
Sugar Estate et le jardin botanique Sir Seewoosagur Ramgoolam à Pamplemousses.
Priorité 2011 - Bodha:
Mise sur la diversification
des marchés
« Maintenir une bonne croissance de l’industrie et
re-équilibrer nos marchés » Tels sont les priorités pour
Nando Bodha, le ministre du Tourisme, pour 2011. « Il faut
bien sur consolider le marché Européen. Mais 2011 sera
l’année de la diversification des marchés. D’abord sur le
marché russe avec le début des vols de Transe en janvier.
Nous travaillons aussi pour un vol direct vers la Chine à
partir de mi-2011. Nous voulons exploiter le marché niche
de l’Inde pour le golf, le mariage et le tourisme conférence
», a-t-il fait ressortir. Il faut maintenir la qualité des produits même si la compétition est difficile avec la crise qui
persiste en Europe. Le ministère mise sur les îles comme
des atouts tels que l’Ile-aux-Cerfs, l’Ilot Gabriel ou l’Ilot
Bénitiers. Il y a aussi la formation pour l’embauche sur
les croisières. Après un premier batch de 400 personnes
en 2010, il y a un objectif d’atteindre 1 000 personnes
pour 2011. Le gouvernement veut amener une dimension
culturelle au tourisme avec l’organisation d’un spectacle
de qualité internationale. Il y aussi le projet de parcours
culturelles à Port-Louis et le duty-free Shopping Project.
Priorité 2011- Dookhun :
Personnes handicapés, les
retraités et la délinquance
juvénile
Maurice aura le devoir de s’aligner sur les conventions
internationales afin de promouvoir les droits des personnes autrement capables. La ministre Leela Devi-Dookhun Luchoomun rappelle que nous devons soumettre un
rapport en 2012 au Nations Unies sur les progrès accompli
dans ce domaine. C’est pourquoi un comité national a été
institué pour mesurer les progrès accompli. L’intégration
des handicapés dans la société se fera par l’éducation,
la formation et l’emploi. Le gouvernement innovera en
ayant une classe entièrement dédiée aux enfants ayant
des handicaps à l’école de Montagne-Ory. Des infrastructures seront aménager pour faciliter l’accessibilité des
personnes autrement capables dans les établissement
scolaires. Mme Dookhun annonce aussi la création d’une
banque de données et l’installation d’un serveur pour
recenser les personnes vivant avec un handicap. Les lois
seront promulguées pour que ces derniers trouvent des
emplois dans des secteurs diversifiés sur le plan artistique, touristique et culturel. «En ce qu’il s’agit des personne âgées, le ministère veut être à la hauteur de leurs
aspiration. Nous avons aujourd’hui 148, 000 personnes
qui ont plus de 60 ans. Ce chiffres atteindra 300 000 en
2030. Beaucoup sont encore actifs et veulent avoir un
productive living », explique la ministre de la Sécurité
Sociale. Dans la foulée, elle annonce la révision des activités pour les retraités dans les trois nouveaux centres. Ils
seront sensibilisés à la technologie information et à des
domaines comme la culture d’hydroponique. « La carers
strategy sera développée » avec le recrutement en février
d’un batch de 50 personnes pour s’occuper des personnes
alités. Finalement au niveau de la délinquance juvénile, la
ministre Dookhun-Luchoomun annonce la révision de la
gestion des Rehabilitation Youth Centre et des Probation
Hostel. Un Complaints Bureau sera institué.
Rama Sithanen à la Banque
Africaine de Développement
Rama Sithanen occupe le poste de directeur des stratégies au sein de la Banque Africaine de Développement, depuis le 5 janvier. Il a prit l’avion le 3 janvier
en direction de Tunis. L’ancien ministre des Finances
occupe ses fonctions à la Banque Africaine de Développement, à Tunis. Il est épaulé de toute une équipe
et se charge de l’élaboration de stratégie visant à alléger le poids de la pauvreté dans les pays africains.
Rama Sithanen se dit heureux de pouvoir apporter sa
contribution au développement des pays africains. Il
ajoute également qu’il a eu trois propositions au courant de l’année 2009 mais qu’il a choisi de travailler
pour l’Afrique, étant lui-même Africain. Sithanen est
un adepte d’une politique économique ultralibérale.
Prime Minister’s New Year
message
Mauritius can once again become the star and key
of the Indian Ocean, the Prime Minister, Navin Ramgoolam, said in his message to the Nation broadcast
on January 1, 2011. As part of Africa together with the
exceptional relations which Mauritius has with two
emerging economic giants, China and India, the stage
is set for the country to become an important player
in this part of the world.
The Prime Minister expressed his satisfaction that
the international community cheered Mauritius for its
democracy, good governance and the spirit of maturity
displayed by the population during the general elections 2010. With regard to the international economic
crisis, Dr Ramgoolam called for more vigilance on the
part of the population so that the country can overcome
the challenges lying ahead.
In his message, the Prime Minister said that the main
priority for 2011 is not only to save existing jobs but also
to create new ones. Government will encourage women
entrepreneurship to foster for greater autonomy for the
womenfolk. Education as the engine of social stability
and progress in the country is another priority of the
government, he said, adding that his aim is to open
access to university education to a larger number of
young people. On this score, he made mention of the
creation of the Ministry of Tertiary Education, Science,
Research and Technology.
The message also highlights the other priorities of
the government, namely investments in the health sector; actions to ease up road traffic congestion; modernisation of the airport; protection of the ecosystem and
biodiversity; the second phase of the project Maurice
Ile Durable; law and order and use of modern technology to combat crimes and drug trafficking and the
eradication of fraud and corruption.
Dr Ramgoolam stated that the government is guided
by the philosophy of blending economic efficiency with
social justice and recalled that the Ministry of Social Integration and Economic Empowerment has been set up
to give a new boost to the fight against social exclusion.
With regard to the issue of Chagos Archipelago,
the Prime Minister expressed his satisfaction that the
whole population is mobilized behind the Mauritian
flag in its initiative to challenge the legality of the Marine Protected Area.
“We should be proud of ourselves and I am confident
that that justice will prevail”, Dr Ramgoolam said in
conclusion.
Bonne et Heureuse Année 2011
Insight, le mensuel bilingue pour les jeunes, a l’immense plaisir de vous souhaiter une bonne et heureuse année 2011. Que celle-ci vous apporte le plein
de santé, de bonheur et de grande réussite à chaque instant de votre vie.
Vous êtes toujours plus nombreux à venir nous lire et à rejoindre la grande communauté qu'est la nôtre. Insight vous remercie pour votre crédit et fidélité.
INSIGHT // 05
REVIEW //
Insight of MPCB
The Mauritius Post and Cooperative Bank Ltd (MPCB) originates from a merger between the Post Office Savings Bank
(POSB) and New Cooperative Bank Ltd (NCBL) in 2003. MPCB has been a profit-making organization since day one and
continuously increased its business and profits year after year.
MPCB had, as at 31 December 2010, 13 branches with 14
onsite ATMs and 3 offsite ATMs around the island, with a
dedicated team of more than 200 employees. The opening
of another branch in Riviere du Rempart is scheduled for
early 2011, whilst other branch openings are in the pipeline. On top of being a full-fledged commercial bank with
a wide range of banking services, MPCB also provides basic
banking services in most Post Offices during banking days,
which constitutes an additional means of effecting banking
transactions in areas where MPCB does not have a branch.
It is an undoubted fact that MPCB has inherited from the
large number of Bank Accounts which were being operated
by the erstwhile Post Office Savings Bank. As such, one of
the objectives of MPCB has been to capitalise on the existing database of customers, in order to enhance the sale of
its products and services, and offer those customers a high
level of customer service, in line with the service being
provided to new customers.
The major products and services of MPCB include the
following:
•
MPCB Home Loan – for financing purchase of Land
and/or building
(agricultural,
residential or commercial) or construction or extension or renovation of residential buildings, MPCB
offers up to 100% financing, subject to usual terms
and conditions.
•
The Personal Loan Scheme or MPCB Easy for Personal Loans up to 20 times’ salary to confirmed and
employed salary earners of established companies
of Private/Government or Parastatal Sectors, against
salary pledge and any other tangible security-Maximum loan amount of Rs 600,000/- repayable over
a period of 7 years.
•
MPCB Study Access financing of Tertiary Education with moratorium on capital during study period and repayment of capital and interest amount
over a period of up to ten years; financing may also
cover study costs, accommodation and daily living
expenses.
•
MPCB Drive - for purchase of new/second hand vehicles, repayable over 4 to 6 years.
•
MPCB Winsurance for all insurance needs including Life Insurance Policies, Personal Pensions Plans,
Motor Vehicle Insurance, Child Education Plans and
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Building Insurance Policies.
The Special Savings Culture Scheme (MPCB SCS
Account)- All newborns are eligible to Government
grants equivalent to a total of Rs800/- in the form of
vouchers representing a Savings Account of Rs200/at the time of birth, and Rs.200/- at each vaccination
(total of 4 vouchers of Rs200/- each) and these accounts are opened only with MPCB.
The Junior Scheme (MPCB Smart Account) which
has been especially designed for kids and teenagers
to build up their future, MPCB has arrangements
with a number of partners who offer discounts to
Smart Accountholders. Gifts are also provided to
Smart Accountholders on the occasion of their birthdays provided that their accounts are maintained
with a minimum balance of Rs1,000/- and are well
operated. On top of gift vouchers available under the
Smart Account Scheme, accountholders are also eligible to Membership Cards, Junior Kwik-Cash Cards,
given to children above 12 years old with limit of
Rs200/- or Rs500/- per day for ATM Cash transactions/purchases/refill of mobile phones.
The international Debit Card (MPCB Kwik-Cash)
- is available to all customers free of charge, making
the 24-hour banking concept a reality.
MPCB FUN D FONE – With a simple mouse or
finger click, you may now fund any mobile phone
through MPCB E-Banking and MPCB SMS Banking
over and above this facility on our ATMs or you can
make use of your Kwik-Cash and Maestro card to
recharge your mobile phones via MPCB ATMs, free
of charge.
MPCBusinessfly - Personalised relationship banking
and also trade finance facilities, Foreign Currency
financing, Treasury Services, Working Capital financing, Motor Vehicle Equipment Loans, to name only
a few.
MPCB SME Scheme – For new and existing businesses, MPCB has tailor-made services including
working capital finance and term loans, finance up to
75% of project cost to a maximum of Rs2.0M.
MPCB Remittance Services and International
Banking Solutions – MPCB caters for all the international money transfers by telegraphic transfer,
demand draft, MoneyGram Services, as well as Im-
•
•
port and Export financing in Mauritian rupees and
Foreign Currencies.
MPCB Direct Debit and Standing Orders – We
take care of your bills and payments are processed
efficiently. Let MPCB take care of these hassles on
your behalf and enjoy peace of mind.
MPCB Credit Card – Once more, MPCB offers you
Peace of Mind by introducing its amazing MPCB
Standard Card Credit Card and MPCB Gold Card
Credit Card. With these cards, you may enjoy an
exclusive world of comprehensive privileges and a
wide range of benefits designed to give you complete
security, along with insurance cover.
MPCB gives a lot of importance to its retail business
customers but also to its corporate customers. MPCB EBanking services are also privileged, offering a safe, secure
and reliable service to the bank’s esteemed customers, both
personal and corporate, in line with the Bank’s governing
motto – Peace of Mind. In fact, MPCB is the first bank in
the region to have introduced the Mobitoken concept, which
ensures optimum secure e-banking service to customers.
Again, in line with the bank’s concern to be better accessible
to its clients, MPCB opened its 13th branch at Rose Hill in
December 2010.
The Bank continues to move forward in an innovative
manner by endeavouring to service its customers with the
widest possible range of banking and allied products. It
hence aspires to become a major player in the financial
services sector, delighting its customers by offering quality
service, thus bringing them peace of mind.
Floods in Queensland Australia
Kaminee MOORUT
Faculty of Agriculture, UoM
Queensland in Australia comprising 1852,642 kilometre square
has faced such a disastrous event
in its history. This area has been
affected by the floods since the
past few days and about 4,000
people have been obliged to leave
their houses. Food drops and
drug supplies are being made to
the population as the airport and
nearly all the roads have been
flooded.
The impact on agriculture is
huge: much damage to the corn,
wheat, sorghum and cotton crop
has been reported. The activities
of Australia's two biggest processing companies – Swift Australia
and the Teys Meat Group – have
been halted as their abattoirs
have been flooded. Hence, food
shortage would result leading to
INSIGHT // 06
an increase in food prices on the
market. Australia will then have to
import from other countries such
as Uruguay, South America for its
own consumption. The mining
sector has also suffered as the coal
exports have been stopped due to
the floods and are still lying in the
Queensland’s major ports.
Fortunately, the farmers have
the financial support of the government and in this context, the
Prime Minister Julia Gillard has
announced clean up and recovery grants worth to $15,000. Loan
facilities of up to $ 150,000 with
interest rate subsidies are made
available to them Moreover, it
is expected that $6 billion of the
nation's GDP would be used in
cleaning purposes, rebuilding the
infrastructure, replacing trading
stock, purchase of fodder and in repairing the damaged equipments
and property access. According
to General Mick Slater, recovery
would take some months or even
a few years depending upon the
regions that have been affected. As
soon as the rains have receded, the
people are back to work to ensure
that the economic sectors could
operate as soon as possible.
ACTUALITÉ GENERALE //
Anti-blanchiment d’argent à l'avant-plan d'un
séminaire de quatre jours
Un séminaire de formation de quatre jours ayant pour thème "le renforcement de lutte contre le
blanchiment dárgent et la lutte contre le financement du terrorisme de la coopération nationale",
a débuté le lundi 24 janvier à l´hôtel Le Labourdonnais à Port-Louis, en la présence du Procureur
général, Yatin Varma.
Une cinquantaine de participants de différentes institutions
impliquées dans la lutte contre le
blanchiment dárgent à savoir, la
Banque de Maurice, lÍndependent
Commission Against Corruption
(ICAC), la Financial Intelligence
Unit, la Commission des services
financiers (Financial Services Commission), le Solicitor General´s Office, le Directeur des poursuites publiques, le Département des douanes,
lÁutorité de régulation des jeux
(Gaming Regulatory Authority) ainsi que la police, participent à ce
séminaire.
Ce séminaire, une initiative du
Fonds monétaire international
(FMI), en collaboration avec le Gouvernement de Maurice, est destiné
à aider les institutions nationales
sur la façon dont la coopération
est nécessaire pour lutter contre le
blanchiment dárgent dans le but
de promouvoir un secteur financier
sain et faire en sorte que le système
du secteur bancaire nést pas utilisé
pour le blanchiment dárgent.
Dans son allocution dóuverture,
le procureur général, Y. Varma, a
déclaré que le séminaire est venu à
un moment opportun, étant donné
que le blanchiment dárgent est
devenu un phénomène mondial et
considéré comme une menace non
seulement pour le secteur financier,
mais à la société dans son ensemble.
Il a également insisté sur la nécessité
dávoir à la fois la coopération nationale et internationale afin dátténuer
le niveau de blanchiment dárgent.
Il est à noter que Maurice a
adopté plusieurs législations en ce
qui concerne la prévention de la
corruption, la fraude, la criminalité
financière, le blanchiment dárgent
et les activités terroristes afin de se
conformer aux recommandations
de la Financial Action Task Force
(FATF) 40+9. Parmi eux se trouvent
la mise en place de lÚnité de ren-
seignement financier et lÍCAC.
Maurice est aussi parmi les premiers pays dÁfrique à avoir subi
l´évaluation du Financial Sector
Assessment Programme (FSAP) et
jusqu´à présent, deux FSAP ont été
adoptés.
Le pays est également en phase
de finalisation d’un projet de loi de
recouvrement des avoirs (Asset Recovery Bill) considéré comme un
outil pour lutter contre les blanchisseurs dárgent en saisissant leurs
biens mal acquis.
Barack Obama compose avec les républicains
dans son discours sur l'état de l'Union
Le président états-unien, Barack Obama, a poursuivi mardi 25 janvier son prudent virage au centre
de l'échiquier politique américain en reprenant certaines mesures soutenues par les républicains
lors du traditionnel discours sur l'état de l'Union.
Depuis les élections de mi-mandat du 2 novembre, le chef de l'Etat
doit composer avec une Chambre
des représentants contrôlée par les
républicains et une fine marge de
manœuvre au Sénat. Réduction du
taux de l'impôt sur les sociétés, simplification du système fiscal, fin des
"earmarks" : M. Obama a apporté
son soutien à plusieurs propositions qui ont depuis longtemps les
faveurs des républicains.
Le président démocrate, qui
souhaite réduire le déficit en relançant la croissance, a convenu de la
nécessité de réduire les dépenses
et a proposé un gel sur cinq ans
des dépenses fédérales, sans aller
jusqu'aux coupes budgétaires massives réclamées par les républicains.
"Simplifiez le système"
Barack Obama a ainsi demandé au Congrès de faire preuve
d'imagination budgétaire en réduisant l'impôt sur les sociétés et en
dégageant des marges pour financer
l'innovation sans abandonner les
efforts de réduction du déficit. La
question du chômage n'a elle été
évoquée qu'en termes généraux et
M. Obama n'a annoncé aucune nouvelle mesure concrète à court terme
pour soutenir l'emploi.
"Ce soir, je demande aux
démocrates et aux républicains de
simplifier le système. Supprimez
les niches fiscales. Uniformisez
les règles et utilisez les économies
pour abaisser le taux de l'impôt sur
les sociétés pour la première fois
en vingt-cinq ans, sans augmenter
notre déficit", a déclaré le président.
Le taux maximal de l'impôt sur les
entreprises est actuellement de 35 %
aux Etats-Unis, mais de nombreuses
niches permettent aux firmes, surtout les plus grandes, de réduire leur
imposition.
M. Obama s'en est pris en particulier aux "milliards de dollars
de cadeaux" fiscaux accordés aux
groupes pétroliers, qu'il a demandé
aux élus d'abroger purement et simplement. Les économies ainsi réalisées devraient permettre selon lui
de financer l'innovation technique,
en particulier dans le domaine de ce
qu'il appelle les "sources d'énergie
propres": énergies éolienne, solaire,
nucléaire, combustion propre du
charbon, et gaz naturel.
"Quand le président dit 'investissement', il veut dire hausse des
impôts"
"Les républicains ont la responsabilité de travailler avec nous
pour créer de l'emploi plutôt que
de perdre du temps dans de vaines
politiques politiciennes", a prévenu
le chef de la majorité démocrate
au Sénat, Harry Reid, à l'issue du
discours de M.Obama. S'il répond
en partie à leurs demandes, le gel
des dépenses proposé par Barack
Obama ne suffira pas à impressionner les républicains, qui ont promis
une réduction des dépenses de 100
milliards de dollars sur un an.
"J'apprécie le fait qu'il veuille
faire quelque chose concernant les
dépenses. Cependant, le gel des
dépenses gouvernementales sur
cinq ans au regard de la hausse de
ces deux dernières années n'est pas
suffisant", a réagi le chef des républicains au Sénat, Mitch McConnell.
Même scepticisme face aux investissements dans les domaines de la
recherche et de l'éducation, soutenus par M. Obama mais synonymes
à leurs yeux de dépenses. "Quand
le président dit 'investissement', il
veut dire hausse des impôts", a noté
le sénateur républicain Jim DeMint.
Pete Sessions, qui a dirigé le comité de campagne républicain pour
les élections à la chambre, note un
changement de ton, mais relève
qu'"on ne sait toujours pas s'il va
offrir le changement politique que
les électeurs ont demandé le jour
de l'élection". Appelés à faire davantage preuve de courtoisie, certains membres du Congrès, une fois
n'est pas coutume, ont siégé côte
à côte, toutes tendances politiques
confondues, en signe de soutien à
la représentante Gabrielle Giffords,
blessée lors d'une fusillade en Arizona.
Les membres du gouvernement
et les élus des deux bords arboraient
un ruban noir et blanc – noir pour
le deuil, blanc pour l'espoir – au revers de leur veste en hommage aux
victimes de la tuerie du 8 janvier.
"Nous prions pour la santé de notre
collègue et amie Gabby Giffords",
a dit le président Obama en désignant une chaise laissée inoccupée
au milieu de la chambre entre deux
élus de l'Arizona, un républicain et
un démocrate.
Marginaliser le mouvement Tea
Party
"Ce qui ressortira de ce moment
sera, non pas de voir si nous pouvons nous asseoir ensemble mais si
nous pourrons travailler ensemble
demain", a dit le président américain. Entamé après les élections
de novembre, le recentrage opéré
par Brack Obama lui a permis entre autres de conclure un accord
fiscal avec les républicains, de
supprimer la loi "Don't ask, don't
tell", qui interdisait aux militaires de
se dire ouvertement homosexuels,
et d'obtenir la ratification du traité
avec la Russie sur la réduction des
armes nucléaires (Start) avant la
prise de contrôle du Congrès par
les républicains, début janvier.
Ces victoires, et son vibrant
discours après la fusillade en Arizona, lui ont permis de redorer
sa cote de popularité. "Il n'est pas
juste en train de se déplacer vers
le centre. En se déplaçant vers la
droite, il pourrait marginaliser le
mouvement Tea Party", note Paul
Sraric, président du département
de sciences politiques à l'université
Youngstown State (Ohio).
Le président de la chambre de
commerce américain, Thomas
Donohue, a estimé pour sa part que
la politique ne devrait pas entrer en
compte. "La chambre américaine
travaillera avec quiconque partagera
ses objectifs et peu nous importe
qui en récoltera les fruits", a-t-il dit.
Voulez-vous être élu
“Meilleur journaliste
de l’océan Indien” ?
Vous êtes journaliste ou vous
en connaissez un dans votre
entourage ? Alors ceci vous
concerne.
La Commission de lócéan
Indien (COI) chargée de la mise
en œuvre du Projet d’Appui à
l’Initiative Régionale de prévention du VIH/SIDA lance un
concours régional destiné aux
journalistes de la télé, radio et
presse écrite de ses quatre pays
membres notamment Les Comores, Madagascar, Maurice et
Les Seychelles.
Règles du concours
- Tous les articles / reportages devront être publiés au plus
tard le 30 juin 2011 par un organe
de presse des quatre pays membres mentionnés plus haut ;
- Les articles / reportages
concerneront la problématique
du VIH / SIDA ;
- Les articles / reportages
devront être en langue française
ou sous-titré en français ou accompagné d’une traduction en
français pour la presse écrite.
Par contre, les reportages radios
ne peuvent être traduits ;
- Les reportages télé seront
d’une durée de deux minutes
et les articles de presse ne devront pas dépasser la demi-page
de journal.
Les prix
Deux prix seront décernés
pour chaque type de presse
(télé, radio et presse écrite).
Les gagnants de chaque catégorie remporteront un voyage
tous frais payés aux Seychelles
pour les 8ème jeux des Iles
de l’océan Indien ainsi qu’un
trophée.
Le deuxième prix consiste en
un lot de matériel pédagogique
journalistique ainsi qu’un
trophée.
Le rôle de la COI
La COI se définit comme une
organisation de coopération régionale créée en 1984 qui est
appelée à répondre à ces difficultés en défendant les intérêts
et le développement durable de
ses membres. Elle instruit des
projets de coopération favorisant l´échange de connaissance
et une mobilisation des efforts
vers des buts communs.
Ses activités sont essentiellement orientées vers :
- La défense des intérêts insulaires de ses pays membres
dans les enceintes internationales et auprès des organisations
díntégration régionale ;
- La préservation et la valorisation de lénvironnement et
des ressources naturelles ;
- La dimension régionale du
développement humain.
Insight souhaite bonne
chance à tous les participants.
INSIGHT // 07
PARTAGE //
Ce qui vous attend dans le monde du travail
Magdala MULLEGADOO
L’Université de Maurice accueille chaque année de plus en
plus d’étudiants qui s’attendent à
recevoir une formation qui leur
ouvrira plus tard les portes du
monde du travail. Avec une demande accrue de professionnels,
l’institution de Réduit essaie de
former chaque année des milliers
d’étudiants qui se retrouvent
après trois ou quatre ans sur le
marché du travail. Tout cela pour
vous expliquer que, que vous
soyez en première ou dernière
année, il n’existe pas de barrière
entre le monde professionnel
et celui de l’éducation tertiaire,
en fait ce n’est qu’une même et
unique chose.
De ce fait il est recommandé
aux étudiants de se préparer à
affronter le monde du travail où
tout est loin d’être rose. La première phase après les cours c’est
bien sûr de se proposer comme un
employé potentiel et par expérience personnelle il est préférable
d’envoyer sa candidature vers
des sociétés qui vous intéressent
bien avant la fin des cours. Commencer avant la fin des examens
est déjà une très bonne chose car
si au niveau universitaire il y a de
la compétition, cette compétition
est plus féroce dans le monde du
travail. Ensuite vient l’étape la plus
difficile, celle des entrevues professionnelles. Faut-il tout accepter ? Faut-il se présenter comme
l’employé parfait? Plusieurs questions se posent à ce niveau parce
qu’en effet tout se qu’on désire
c’est obtenir un emploi. Mais peu
importe dans une entrevue il faut
toujours savoir s’imposer et être
franc au maximum. Evidemment
on ne dit jamais ses défauts, mais
peu importe les faiblesses il faut
toujours qu’elles deviennent une
force.
L’étape entrevue est la plus
longue, dépendant de ce que
vous cherchez en terme de salaire,
de travail et de responsabilité,
mais un conseil si vous n’avez
pas d’expérience et ici je parle
d’expérience professionnelle d’un
minimum d’un an ne soyez pas
trop exigeant.
Si l’étape entrevue se passe bien
vous vous retrouverez employé et
là la phase finale c’est l’adaptation.
Bien sûr tout est nouveau et croyez
moi le travail demande beaucoup
plus que les études. Bref la phase
finale est déterminante, elle peut
être concluante. Il n’y a pas besoin
de bouger, vous vous adaptez ou
alors vous n’arrivez pas à vous
adaptez. Evidemment il faudra
tout recommencer de la phase
un qui est très fatiguant mais en
même temps mieux vaut recommencer que rester dans un travail
qui ne vous plait pas.
Finalement travailler c’est tellement stimulant. Je ne vous cache
pas la dure vérité, travailler c’est
stressant et très fatiguant mais il
n’y a rien qui vous épanouira plus.
L’essentiel surtout c’est de faire
quelque chose que vous aimez,
rien ne sera plus agréable pour
vous que d’aller travailler alors.
En tout cas bon courage à tout
le monde, moi cela fait déjà 6 mois
que je travaille et rien n’est plus
agréable même si la vie comme
étudiante de l’université de Maurice me manque énormément,
donc faites le maximum pour
vos études mais amusez vous de
temps en temps aussi. Bon courage pour le dernier semestre.
AVIS DE RECHERCHE
Sens de l’appartenance
Nous lançons actuellement un avis de recherche. Attention, il ne s’agit ni d’une personne portée manquante, ni d’un animal perdu, mais d’un sens : celui de l’appartenance ! Délaissé, mal utilisé, étouffé, le sens de l’appartenance est en voie de
disparition.
Yuri CURUMTHAULLY
Fausse identification
Dans le cadre universitaire et
culturel où nous vivons, nous
nous identifions souvent à des
titres : président, représentant
d’une quelconque organisation,
meneur de bande, ainsi de suite.
Bref, que des titres, responsabilités et contraintes divers. Chers
étudiants, prenons-nous le temps
de voir de près à qui nous nous
identifions ? A la base, comme on
le dit si souvent, nous sommes
tous sur le même pied d’égalité.
Dès que nous décollons pour des
sphères supérieures, nous perdons malgré nous notre identité.
Mais où allons-nous ?
À qui la faute?
Redescendre sur terre dégonfle
et cela fait mal. On est si bien sur
son petit nuage. On s’est fabriqué
une image afin de paraître sur les
premières pages. Quel dommage !
Regardons les gens autour de nous
! « Eh ! Ils l’ont fait » s’exclament
avec enthousiasme des admirateurs. Fait quoi ? Tout bonnement
des idiots d’eux-mêmes !
Qu’est ce qui détermine le succès ? Notre stupide société ! Sa
plus grande préoccupation c’est
de se rendre elle-même malade.
Le plus tôt nous le réalisons, le
mieux nous serons.
Enfin appartenir…
A quoi servent tous ces titres
éphémères que la société nous
confère ? Tout simplement pour
nous faire prendre conscience du
rôle important que nous sommes
appelés à jouer ; à nous mettre
dans la peau du personnage que
nous jouons, afin de prendre le
pouvoir et gouverner. Certes, aucun homme n’a reçu de la nature
le droit de commander les autres.
Des événements se produisent
dans notre vie, mais nous ne sommes pas ces événements. Les nuages ne sont pas le ciel et nous ne
sommes pas ce qui nous arrive.
language has contributed to that.
When children grow up speaking French at home, they are less
likely to ask their parents where
the expression “La Boutique
Chinois” comes from. Dialects
like Creole are in themselves an
intangible, largely informal, cultural education for the members
of a society. Obviously, the whole
issue surrounding Mauritianism
goes deeper than just that, but I
firmly believe one of the causes
is the undervalued importance of
Creole.
I really hope we give Creole its
true value! Who knows, maybe
one day I’ll meet with the same
bank official for a job interview –
IN CREOLE!
Où est-il passé le sens de
l’appartenance ?
Creole… Our Identity!
Amit BHOONAH
Some weeks ago, I went to the
Job Fair at Ebène with two other
friends. It was pretty interesting,
and one “incident” in particular
still lingers in my mind:
The three of us decided to
stop by the stall of one bank and
ask a few questions. So I stepped
forward and spoke to the representative, in Creole. Much to my
bemusement, he gave me an “O!
How inappropriate!” look and
replied in English. I promptly replied back in English, thinking he
was not Mauritian. But then he
said “Don’t worry I understand”.
Why can’t two Mauritians
speak Creole between the two of
them? Step inside a shop and the
INSIGHT // 08
owner will greet you in French
or English. Call Customer service and the representative will
do the same. Dial a restaurant to
order food or book a reservation
and you’ll get “Bonjour, restaurant
X, comment puis-je vous servir?”
Whenever there is “important
business” to attend to, we seem to
treat the usage of Creole language
with a sense of inferiority.
But really, what is so insulting about Creole? It is our language, and in its expressions
we find glimpses of our history
as well as bits and pieces of our
culture. Would the expression
“Lin maroon” (referring to person who ran away from duty) be
without the marooned slaves of
Le Morne? Ever seen someone
buying “Numéro 1 ek gajack” for
a traditional family gathering over
liquor, snacks and chit-chat? Truth
is, Creole is much more than a
means of communication; it is
the linguistic fossil of our history
and the poetry of our culture. Our
renunciation of Creole, though
partial, is a renunciation of who
we are.
Unfortunately, who we are is
ambiguous in itself. Many complain about the absence of real
Mauritianism, and they are not
wrong. Most people do not feel
Mauritian at heart, and I think the
status of Creole as a second class
CELEBRATIONS //
HISTORY
India celebrated Republic Day on 26 January
To mark the importance of the
occasion, every year a grand parade is held in the capital, New
Delhi, from the Raisina Hill near
the Rashtrapati Bhavan (President's Palace), along the Rajpath,
past India Gate. Prior to its commencement, the Prime Minister
lays a floral wreath at the Amar
Jawan Jyoti, a memorial to unknown soldiers at the India Gate
at one end of Rajpath, which is
followed by two minutes silence
in the memory of unknown soldiers. Thereafter he reaches the
main dais at Rajpath to join other
dignitaries, subsequently the
President arrives along with the
chief guest of the occasion. First
he unfurls the National flag, as
the National Anthem is played,
and a 21-gun salute is given. Next,
important awards like the Ashok
Chakra and Kirti Chakra are given
away by the President, before the
regiments of Armed Forces start
their march past.
The different regiments of the
Indian Army, Navy, and Air Force
march past in all their finery and
official decorations. The President
of India who is the Commanderin-Chief of the Indian Armed
Forces, takes the salute. Floats exhibiting the cultures of the various
states and regions of India are in
the grand parade, which is broadcast nationwide on television and
radio. Also part of the parade are
children who win the National
Bravery Award for the year. The
parade also includes other vibrant
displays and floats and traditionally ends with a flypast by Indian
Air Force jets.
Celebrations are also held in
state capitals, where the Governor
of the state unfurls the national
flag. If the Governor of the state is
unwell, or is unavailable for some
reason, the Chief Minister of the
state assumes the honour of unfurling the National Flag of India.
Today, the Republic Day is celebrated with much enthusiasm all
over the country and especially
in the capital, New Delhi where
the celebrations start with the
Presidential address to the nation. The beginning of the occa-
sion is always a solemn reminder
of the sacrifice of the martyrs who
died for the country in the freedom movement and the succeeding wars for the defence of sovereignty of their country. Then,
the President comes forward to
award the medals of bravery to the
people from the armed forces for
their exceptional courage in the
field and also the civilians, who
have distinguished themselves by
their different acts of valour in different situations.
To mark the importance of this
occasion, every year a grand parade is held in the capital, from the
Rajghat, along the Vijaypath. The
different regiments of the army,
the Navy and the Air force march
past in all their finery and official
decorations even the horses of
the cavalry are attractively caparisoned to suit the occasion. The
crème of N. C. C. cadets, selected
from all over the country consider
it an honour to participate in this
event, as do the school children
from various schools in the capital. They spend many days preparing for the event and no expense
is spared to see that every detail is
taken care of, from their practice
for the drills, the essential props
and their uniforms.
The parade is followed by a
pageant of spectacular displays
from the different states of the
country. These moving exhibits depict scenes of activities of
people in those states and the
music and songs of that particular state accompany each display.
Each display brings out the diversity and richness of the culture of
India and the whole show lends
a festive air to the occasion. The
parade and the ensuing pageantry
is telecast by the National Television and is watched by millions
of viewers in every corner of the
country.
The patriotic fervor of the people on this day brings the whole
country together even in her essential diversity. Every part of the
country is represented in occasion, which makes the Republic
Day the most popular of all the
national holidays of India.
History
The Republic Day of India commemorates the date on which the
Constitution of India came into
force replacing the Government
of India Act 1935 as the governing
document of India on 26 January
1950.
The 26th of January was chosen to honour the memory of the
declaration of independence of
1930. It is one of the three national holidays in India, and while the
main parade, Republic Day Parade
takes place at the Rajpath, in the
national capital New Delhi, where
the President views the parade,
state capitals also have their state
celebrations.
Although India obtained its
independence on 15 August 1947,
it did not yet have a permanent
constitution; instead, its laws
were based on the modified colonial Government of India Act
1935, and the country was a Dominion, with George VI as head
of state and Earl Mountbatten as
Governor General. On 28 August
1947, the Drafting Committee was
appointed to draft a permanent
constitution, with Bhimrao Ramji
Ambedkar as chairman. While India's Independence Day celebrates
its freedom from British Rule, the
Republic Day celebrates the coming into force of its constitution.
A draft constitution was prepared by the committee and
submitted to the Assembly on 4
November 1947. The Assembly
met, in sessions open to public,
for 166 days, spread over a period
of 2 years, 11 months and 18 days
before adopting the Constitution. After many deliberations
and some modifications, the 308
members of the Assembly signed
two hand-written copies of the
document (one each in Hindi
and English) on 24 January 1950.
Two days later, the Constitution
of India became the law of all the
Indian lands. The Constitution of
India was passed on 26 November
1949, 10.18 AM IST, but it came into
effect completely only on 26th January, 1950. Following elections on
21 January 1950, Rajendra Prasad
was elected as the president of
India. The Indian National Congress and other parties had been
celebrating 26 January as a symbol
of Independence, even before India actually became independent.
Thus, applying the constitution on
26 January, to mark and respect 26
January and the freedom struggle
and the freedom fighters.
The amending mechanism was
lauded even at the time of introduction by Ambedkar in the following words: "We can therefore
safely say that the Indian federation will not suffer from the faults
of rigidity or legalism. Its distinguished feature is that it is a flexible federation.
"The three mechanisms of the system derived by the Assembly,
contrary to the predictions, have made the
constitution flexible at
the same time protected
the rights of the states.
They have worked better
than the amending process in any other country
where Federalism and
the British Parliamentary system jointly formed
the basis of the constitution".
emergence of Indian Republic is
relevant in this context. He said,
‘Of all the experiments in government, which have been attempted
since the beginning of time, I believe that the Indian venture into
parliamentary government is the
most exciting. A vast subcontinent is attempting to apply to its
tens and thousands of millions
a system of free democracy... It
is a brave thing to try to do so.
The Indian venture is not a pale
imitation of our practice at home,
but a magnified and multiplied
reproduction on a scale we have
never dreamt of. If it succeeds, its
influence on Asia is incalculable
for good. Whatever the outcome
we must honour those who attempt it.
Even more meaningful was the
opinion expressed by an American Constitutional authority,
Granville Austin, who wrote that
what the Indian Constituent Assembly began was "perhaps the
greatest political venture since
that originated in Philadelphia in
1787."
Austin has also described the
Indian Constitution as 'first and
foremost a social document.' ...
"The majority of India's constitutional provisions are either directly arrived at furthering the
aim of social revolution or attempt
to foster this revolution by establishing conditions necessary for
its achievement."
What Sir Anthony Eden, the
Prime Minister of the United
Kingdom (April 1955 to January 1957), said at the time of the
Chinese Spring Festival
Ashton Shee-Lan IP CHAN IN
The Chinese Spring festival is
usually celebrated by the Mauritian Chinese of the island every
year in January or February. The
date depends of the Chinese calendar. This year it will be celebrated on 3rd February. The dominant colour during this festival is
the red which is the symbol of
happiness.
This occasion is considered
to be the Chinese New Year. As
such, the customs says that it is
not good to use knives or scissors
on this day. Many go the pagoda
to pray. For this festival, the family gathers by way of outings and
most commonly now by camping
or staying at a hotel for around 3
days.
There are also traditional Chinese cakes – ‘gâteaux la cire’, ‘cravatte’, ‘zoreil’ as we call in Mauritian language) being shared
amongst friends especially of
other cultures. Children normally
receive a red envelop containing
money. Firecrackers are set off according to the customs to drive
away the evil spirits. Chinese
dancers will perform the Lion
Dance a few days later where the
Spring Festivals ends.
INSIGHT // 09
ENTERTAINMENT //
YES
48 %
POLL OF THE MONTH
NO
52 %
Have you ever been troubled by electronic fraud?
Participate in poll on www.infomaurice.mu
t
GAMES
U
CROSSWORD
HOROSCOPE OF THE MONTH
ARIES (Mar. 21- April 20)
LIBRA (Sept. 24 -Oct. 23)
You will do extremely well if you get
involved in competitive activities this
month. False information from someone
trying to start problems is likely.
Your luckiest events will occur on a Sunday.
Large organizations may try to talk you out
of your hard-earned cash. You can take advantage of opportunities if you are quick to
make a move. The information that you gain can
be used in every aspect of your life.
Your luckiest events will occur on a Friday.
TAURUS (Apr. 21- may 21)
You have made an accurate assessment of
the situation and have come up with ideas
that will save money. You'll regret every
word for some time to come. Don't let children
or elders put demands on your time.
Your luckiest events will occur on a Thursday.
SCORPIO (Oct. 24 - Nov. 22)
Raise your self esteem and your confidence if you want to get back into the
mainstream again.
SAGITTARIUS(Oct.24-Nov. 22)
GEMINI (May 22-June 21)
Take a look at the possibilities of starting
a small part time business with friends.
Communication will be the source of your
knowledge and you must be sure to spend time
with those who have more experience.
Your luckiest events will occur on a Friday.
CANCER (June 22-July 22)
Mingle with those who have similar interests, and you should be able to start
something. Compromise if you wish to
have any fun at all.
Your luckiest events will occur on a Saturday.
Across: 1- UK Vehicle. 4- Vivien. 10- WWI Commander.
11- Concerning. 12- Aquatic pachyderm. 13- List individually.
15- Finished. 17- Sty inhabitants. 19- Proverb. 22- Verdi Opera.
25- Panacea. 27- Of the nose. 29- Jordan’s port. 30- Windflower.
31-Baffle. 32- Skill, boat.
Down:
2- Wildflower. 3- Former Burmese capital. 5- Dodge. 6- Lambent.
7- Wood-turning machine. 8- Eleison. 9- Mount. 14- Jazz style.
16- Bovine cut of meat. 18- Merit, permission. 20- Asunder (anag).
21- Fight, a bit. 23- Greek Epic. 24- Foreigner. 26- Tocsin. 28- Eat.
SUDOKU
LEO (July 23-Aug 22)
Inharmonious situations at home may be
extremely upsetting for you this month. Be
careful that you don't overextend yourself.
Join a choir or a drama club.
VIRGO (Aug. 23 -Sept. 23)
Abrupt changes in your home may send
you for a loop. Career changes may not be
your choice right now, but in the long run
they will be to your advantage.
Be sure to get involved with those who
can introduce you to unusual forms of
entertainment. This will not be the best day to
initiate change.
Your luckiest events will occur on a Tuesday.
CAPRICORN (Dec22.-Jan. 20)
You will find that social activities will be
enjoyable and will promote new connections. You need to spend some time getting to
know this person all over again.
Your luckiest events will occur on a Monday.
AQUARIUS (Jan. 21 -Feb. 19)
Don't give out any personal information
that you don't want spread around. Spend
time with youngsters this month. Think twice
before you pursue an unrealistic endeavor.
Your luckiest events will occur on a Monday.
PISCES (Feb. 20-Mar. 20)
Minor health problems may flare up if you
haven't been taking care of yourself or have
been burning the candle at both ends. Assist a relative or good friend by setting of a budget
for them. You should be able to get involved in an
interesting proposition this month.
Emtel MiFi – Sharing your Internet connection at home or on the go!
Emtel MiFi is your new wireless Internet connection!
The MiFi dongle works with any WiFi enabled device
and can connect up to 5 users who are using 5 WiFi
devices simultaneously, like laptop, smartphone, PSP,
tablet etc. To use the device you just need to turn on the
Wi-Fi dongle, connect to the Emtel network and select
the WiFi function.
Raj is a university student and this year, he would like
to get a good Internet connection at his place so that
the whole family can benefit from it simultaneously. He
knows he will be using a lot of Internet for his studies
and at the same time he does not want to prevent his
little brother from surfing or his parents from working
when they need to.
With the new Emtel MiFi, Raj’s whole family can browse
the Internet at the same time. Raj plugs the MiFi dongle
into his laptop and connects to the Emtel network. The
WiFi is immediately enabled and everyone can connect from his own device.
Raj is glad to find out that he can also use the MiFi even during week-ends when the whole family goes to stay at
their beach bungalow. They can all still connect to the Internet and are not interrupted in their urgent work.
Different packages are available to suit their needs, both Prepaid and Postpaid.
For more details on the MiFi and on the packages, log on www.emtel.com
INSIGHT // 10
FOCUS //
Lessons from Less
When I was 16, I wanted more. When I was 24, I wanted even more than that. So, I worked harder,
earned more, spent more, to have more, only to owe more. I was exhausted at the end of the day
and tired when I woke up most mornings. I ate on the fly, fell behind, ran late and could never catch
up. Sound familiar?
When we are faced with
a crisis or struggle we often
despair.
But it’s in this struggle that
the best opportunities emerge.
If we’re keeping our eyes open.
L. B
I thought everything I was doing was for a better life. I thought
what I was doing was normal and
right. I had become so used to
bills in the mailbox, and feeling
rundown, that I didn’t know anything was wrong. So, how did I go
from wanting more, more, more to
craving less? I would love to tell
you that I woke up one morning a
changed person, but that’s not the
way it went down. Even though I
had begun to make small changes,
I needed a wake up call … and it
had to be really loud.
How to find
opportunity
up meat was one of the best ways I
could really “do something” about
my new diagnosis. I stopped eating meat to achieve better health.
A crisis is an opportunity
to change grow learn reflect
and become better. It’s where
we discover who we are and
how we can find a new way
we couldn’t have imagined
before the crisis presented
itself. It allows us to practice
patience and acceptance and
find renewed hope – which is
the most beautiful thing.
When I started my vegetarian
journey, I started reading. I read
about raising animals for meat.
I read about factory farming. I
learned about the impact of our
actions on our bodies, animals and
the earth. By really opening my
eyes and heart to how meat was
put on my plate, I lost my appetite
for it. I was motivated by health
and changed with compassion.
On July, 7th 2006 I was diagnosed with relapsing remitting
Multiple Sclerosis. That was my
wake up call, and to say it was loud
is an understatement. The diagnosis was nothing short of traumatic.
I didn’t have enough information
to take action. I only knew enough
to be really scared. I had so many
questions. Could I still ski with my
family? Would I be able to help my
daughter with homework? Would
I even be walking in a year?
I fell in love with yoga. Practicing Yoga gives me strength,
flexibility, focus, peace of mind
and freedom from fear. I want
to keep my body strong, and my
mind calm and focused so I can
effectively fight this disease and
take care of my family. While I am
in search of less, I want to be more
sensitive and loving, more adaptive and more resilient. Yoga gives
me that, too.
No one had the answers to
those overwhelming questions,
so I had to focus on what was
most important: my health and my
family. Nothing else mattered. If I
had moved forward with these big
questions and fearful thinking, my
daughter and husband would have
been so worried. I realized that if
I started thinking differently, so
would they. My questions went
from, “What is this disease going
to do to my body and mind?” to
“How am I going to reverse MS?”
I got rid of my stuff. While I
always felt compelled to put something on an empty surface, I have
come to love an empty space. It
takes living without it to realize
how clutter affects your life and
takes away from your freedom and
creativity. I am reminded of that
every time I walk into my kitchen
and instead of seeing a cluttered
counter, I see sunlight streaming
in from the kitchen window. I am
still letting go of my stuff and feel
lighter everyday.
The answer to my question
was change. Small shifts and big
change were necessary to become the best possible version
of myself. When I started making
changes in my life, I didn’t know
that they would lead to minimalism, but they did. In fact, while
the changes I made were fighting
MS, they were also redefining my
whole life. The changes I made
are not all essential in the life of
a minimalist, but they are all essential to my minimalist lifestyle.
I decided to live without debt.
You may not think that your bank
account can affect your health,
but considering money can cause
great stress, and stress can make
you sick, it only makes sense that
poor money management equals
poor health. My husband and I
made the decision to be debt free,
and paid off our last debt this summer except for our house. What
will we do with our money now
that we don’t have any monthly
payments? Whatever we want.
What I did to change my life?
I became a vegetarian. Research shows that MS patients,
and people dealing with other
autoimmune conditions that eat
fewer saturated fats and “inflammatory foods” maintain better
health. (I would challenge that this
goes for most everyone.) Giving
I hung up the phone. I do not
use my phone when I’m driving
anymore. I don’t text at red lights
or make calls on the back roads.
I can remember too many times
where I would arrive at a destination and not remember how I got
there because I was so involved
in a phone call. Admitting that I
When I’ve lost my job it was
an opportunity for reinvention
and to strike out on my own.
When I’ve lost a family
member to the unrelenting
grip of death it was an opportunity to reflect on that loved
one’s wonderful life and for
our family to come together
in a way never possible before.
When I failed at work I
learned to improve and grow
better.
When I injured myself I
learned patience and new
ways to be healthy.
When my children throw
tantrums they are teaching
me more patience and the
power of raw emotions and
the wonder of childhood and
what happens when you lose
perspective.
had essentially been risking my
life and the lives of other drivers
wasn’t easy, but it was necessary
to make the change and the commitment to be phone free in the
car.
Another benefit is that now,
when I pick my daughter up from
school, she has my full attention.
She doesn’t have to compete with
business or other phone fueled
distractions. I am there for her.
I redefined better. As I mentioned before, all of my bad habits came from wanting something
better, something more. In the
changes I’ve made, I have redefined what better means to me and
my family. The health and happiness of my marriage and family
comes before everything else. My
husband and I have decided that
“more” isn’t the answer for us.
Now at 41, forever changed,
and virtually symptom free, I am
becoming me. I know I haven’t
figured it all out but am content.
I don’t make as much as I used
to. I didn’t take a big vacation this
year or make any big purchases,
but there is no doubt that I am
happier. Less speaks to me. Less
lets me love more deeply and less
lets me really be me.
My wake up calls have become
more subtle, but because I have
the time and space to pay attention, I hear them loud and clear.
When I first started to practice
doing less and being more, I discovered Insight newspaper. It
was another wake up call, but it
sounded like a whisper, “You can
do this. You can change.” It is not
a coincidence that L.B’s story of
change changed me. I was ready
to listen, ready to change.
The biggest lesson I’ve learned
is that less is enough. Of course,
I am still learning, still changing
and still a work in progress, but
now it is my turn to inspire change
with my story.
When my wife and I had arguments it was an opportunity
to learn more about each other
and grow closer and become
better at finding common
ground.
When I moved and missed
my family terribly it was an opportunity to learn introspection and self-sufficiency and
grow closer to family here in
Mauritius.
When I daily face the terror of the void staring at me
face to face it is my chance to
push back and assert my will
and imprint my soul upon this
malleable world.
And that, my friends, is
beauty. It is the finding of renewed hope and growth when
all else seems bleak and lost.
In the struggle is the possible if we dare to look.
INSIGHT // 11
BOLLYWOOD //
Bobby Deol: “It was tough to find a
script for three of us”
After featuring together in
"Apne", the three Deols – Dharmendra, Sunny and Bobby – took
three years to return together
on the silver screen. The reason,
Bobby says, is the lack of a good
comedy script.
The father and sons are now
seen together in "Yamla Pagla
Deewana", which has been released on Jan 14.
"Apne was a film people were
really touched by. They said it really made them cry; so my dad decided that the next time we come
together we'll do a comedy. But
it's not easy to find a good comedy
script. It took us one and a half
years to work on a good script.
That's why it took us time to return together," said Bobby.
Synopsis
The Father Son duo of Dharam
Singh and Gajodhar Singh (Dharmendra and Bobby Deol) are the
biggest conmen in Banaras. Their
happy go lucky existence involves
drinking and pulling off hilarious
cons on unsuspecting people.
The only hitch in their perfect albeit notorious life arrives in the
form of Paramveer Singh Dhillon
(Sunny Deol). A brawny and honest NRI from Vancover, Paramveer
lands up in Banaras claiming to be
Gajodhar's elder brother separated at childhood. The duo willingly
accepts Paramveer into their fold
only to exploit his muscle power
to serve their con games.
Meanwhile Gajodhar falls in
love with Saheba (Kulraj Randhawa), a beautiful girl from Punjab.
As their romance reaches its peak,
her brothers arrive and forcibly
take her away. Paramveer saves the
day with a crazy plan to win the
girl back for Gajodhar which leads
them to the rustic heartlands of
Punjab.
What follows is a rollercoaster
ride showcasing the Great Indian
Joint Family, Eccentric Relatives,
Marriage Mayhem, and a classic
case of Mistaken Identities!
"Duniyawaalon! Iss kahani mein
Comedy hai! Action hai! Romance
hai! Drama hai! Melodrama hai!
Emotions hai! .... Aur Maa Kasam!
Bahut sara Confusion hai!!"
Munni offends morality, taken to court!
The Allahabad High Court today sought a response from the
Centre on a PIL demanding an immediate ban on Bollywood item
numbers 'Munni badnam hui...'
and 'Sheila ki jawani...' on the
grounds that they were against
decency and morality.
While passing the order, the
Lucknow bench of the court
comprising Justices Pradeep Kant
and Rituraj Awasthi directed the
central government counsel to
seek response from the Centre
and fixed January 10 as the next
date of hearing. On December 23,
a woman had filed a PIL in court
seeking an immediate ban on the
two songs, alleging that they were
against decency and morality.
The petitioner had requested
the court to order a halt on the
release of Hindi film Tees Maar
Khan until the song 'Sheila Ki
Jawaani' was removed from the
film. In her PIL, petitioner Nutan
Thakur, through counsel Ashok
Pandey, had sought to stop the
INSIGHT // 12
Salman Khan not only
rocked the box office with
his blockbuster “Dabangg”
but also triumphed at the 17th
Annual Star Screen Awards by
bagging the best actor trophy
for the action-comedy. Vidya
Balan walked away with best
actress award for her bold and
critically appreciated performance in Vishal Bhardwaj’s
“Ishqiya”.
Overall, “Dabangg” bagged
six awards, including best music (Sajid-Wajid), best new talent in music (Mamta Sharma),
most promising newcomer
(Sonakshi Sinha), best choreography (Farah Khan), and
best action (Master Vijayan)
and emerged as the most
awarded film of the evening.
However, the surprise element was the tie between
“Ishqiya”, “Band Baaja Baraat”
and small budget film “Udaan”
– all three received four awards
each.
Aamir to wear
Karan Johar’s
designs at Imran’s wedding
public exhibition of these songs,
claiming they have a "bad" impact
on society.
Priyanka, Katrina patch-up? No way!
If you thought Priyanka Chopra and Katrina Kaif hugged at
Salman's Being Human event
to start a new friendship, think
again! The actors didn't even say
a formal hello to each other at a
recent event.
Piggy Chops and Kat came face
to face at an awards function, but
behaved as strangers. They didn't
even say hi to each other, forget
about a warm hug.
An eyewitness told Mumbai
Mirror, “Priyanka and Katrina
were next to each other for quite
some time backstage. Their eyes
met, but they did not give each
other even a faint smile. They be-
Salman, Vidya
win top honours
at Star Screen
Awards
haved like total strangers. There
was ample opportunity for both
the ladies to at least acknowledge
each other’s presence but even
that did not happen. Everyone
around them noted this.”
To refresh surfers' memory,
Priyanka and Katrina are at loggerheads since the latter replaced
former in Dostana sequel, and Priyanka in turn replaced Katrina in
Anurag Basu's Silence (now titled
Barfi).
Even at IPL awards, the actors
kept their distance. So we wonder,
why they had to give jadu ki jhappi
to each other at Salman's event?
Keep guessing.
It is a known fact that filmmaker Karan Johar is interested in costume designing and
the latest to take his services
is Aamir Khan. The star will be
wearing a KJo-designed outfit
for his nephew Imran Khan’s
wedding with Avantika Malik.
“Karan has designed clothes
for Aamir and his son Junaid.
He has designed a traditional
as well as a formal suit for
the wedding functions,” said
a source. Not just Aamir, the
filmmaker has also been acting
as a mentor to the bride-to-be,
Avantika Malik.
Karan has helped Avantika
plan the entire wedding from
clothes, jewellery, make-up
to card designs. However, for
the mehandi celebrations Saturday, Imran and Avantika will
be wearing designer Varun
Bahl and Manish Malhotra’s
clothes.
HOLLYWOOD //
Lady Gaga branded 'a childish diva'
Lady Gaga was branded 'a
childish diva' by Vogue editorin-chief Anna Wintour, according to the singer's biographer.
The British-born journalist
met GaGa back in May when
she performed at Anna''s Metropolitan Museum Costume
Institute Gala.
"She (Lady GaGa) sort of
had a meltdown before she
went on and as it was described to me, Anna was really none too pleased with her.
Anna wasn''t impressed. She
thought she was just behaving
like a childish diva and not the
professional who was about to
perform for her peers; these incredibly famous designers and
celebrities," the Sun quoted
Maureen Callahan, author of
much-anticipated biography
''Poker Face: The Rise and Rise
of Lady Gaga'', as saying.
"She sequestered herself in
the back room for a good hour.
She was late to perform and I
also heard that she had been
demanding things. She went
to Anna at the last minute and
was saying,'' I''d like it to be
this way.
"And Anna just said no.
I don''t think she''s used to
hearing that very often. When
you''re dealing with two egos
like that, it gets interesting,"
she added.
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INSIGHT // 13
PSYCHOLOGY //
Aha! Understanding the mind games men play
Have you ever wondered ...
How could he disappear after he was so totally into me? Why hasn’t he texted? Why does he pull away every time we get
close? Was it just about the sex? How could he not be interested in me? Why doesn’t he make a move? Will he ever commit?
What the bleep is going on in this relationship? Is it him or is it me?
D KIRSCHNER
Psychologist
Understanding ‘deadly dating patterns’
Understanding guys’ Deadly Dating Patterns is crucial not only to your success in
creating the love you want, but also to your
own self-esteem and happiness. When you
learn to clearly see who you are dealing
with and understand his patterns:
•
You can free yourself from secondguessing about what you did wrong
whenever a relationship falls apart.
•
You will be able to let go of thoughts
like, “I should have told him how
much I enjoyed the comedy club he
picked out and that I would love to
go again! That’s why he’s not calling.”
Or, “My thighs are so big and I wore
that clingy dress. That’s what turned
him off!” Or, “He broke it off because
I am too (old, needy, successful, have
kids, fat ... fill in the blank).”
•
You can more easily say and understand that, “It is not just about me.
It’s about him and his issues.”
•
You can then view relationships in a
more balanced way, examining more
objectively who did what to whom.
Ah, men. Mystifying men.
And we’re supposed to be the mysterious
ones! Truth is, men are at least as hard to
figure out as women. Their behavior can be
confusing, frustrating and maddening. They
tease us with clever poems, daily texts and
calls, only to turn around in the blink of an
eye and completely disappear or disappoint
us. Who hasn’t fallen for that grand opening
game, where they lure us with intoxicating conversations, exciting fun-filled dates,
a single perfect rose, delicious kisses and
more?
Date him or dump him?
In order to have emotional freedom in
dating it is important to be like an anthropologist in the world of men — to study
them and understand their unique qualities
and attributes. You need to suspend judgment about what a man ought to be like. We
expect a lot based on fairy tales, romantic
movies and the media: the all-perfect prince
is supposed to come along and sweep us
away to the magic kingdom of love. But
real life is not a fairy tale or a movie. There
are no perfect guys. So how do you know
whether to date him or dump him?
Fortunately, I’ve logged many therapy
hours listening to men as they’ve opened
up and explored their deepest needs and
fears. The good news is that they, like us,
usually really do want true love, and down
deep they realize that they’d be happier,
more content and more sexually satisfied if
they had a good relationship. The bad news
is they are also scared, and they push real
intimacy or commitment away. Men fear
being overwhelmed and taken over in an allconsuming relationship void of any video
games, sporting events or nights out with
the guys. Believe it or not, they also fear
rejection and abandonment. And all these
fears play out in a variety of ways. Men
play out unconscious and conscious games
which create a maddening push-pull with
your heart. That’s why dating and relationships can be so confusing and frustrating.
The severity of men’s dating and commitment issues varies from person to person. So here are eight key questions to ask
about the guy and the relationship:
• What does he say about the possibility of real love, women in general, and his
past relationships? Read between the lines.
• What do you notice about his thinking about being involved in a long-term relationship or marriage?
• How does he describe other couples?
• If his friend is getting married, is
he cynical? Does he describe his married
buddies as trapped in some way?
• Does he say it would take a good
three to four years to know if a person is
ready to be with someone?
• Does he say love never lasts?
• Did his parents stay married and if
so, how does he describe their relationship?
If divorced, did they remarry successfully?
• Does he have any role models who
have shown him what a good marriage is
like?
Five deadly dating patterns
Now that you’ve answered these eight
questions, let’s dig into the specific relationship patterns your guy may be caught
in. Here are five of the 16 patterns, their degrees of difficulty (10 is the most challenging) and my recommendations for handling
each. The first two, “the savior” and “the
coward” patterns, are easier to overcome,
while the last three, “the super romantic
flame-out,” “the grass-is-greener” and “the
slacker” types, are in the most challenging
group.
1. The savior
He is a super-duper caretaker, a Mr. Fix-It
who tries to be romantic too. Your happiness is his happiness. And he doesn’t have
much happiness of his own. Underneath it
all he is insecure and feels not good enough
— so he seems clingy and smothering.
Degree of difficulty: 4
If you are firm and he realizes he has to
find his own happiness and stand up for
himself or lose you, he will step up. Over
time he could evolve into a great partner!
2. The coward
He is afraid of honest straight talk and
very afraid of conflict. If differences come
up he pulls away and prefers to communicate by e-mail or texts.
Many men have some degree of this pattern. You can break through by using positive talk, where you present your concerns
in a loving, warm and clear way. Once you
develop a way to navigate conflict, “the coward” can grow into a wonderful Mr. Right.
3. The super romantic flame-out
He is totally on your wavelength and
crazy about you from the very first e-mail
or glance at your photo. Chances are he is
a serial monogamist who has brief periods
of being in mad, passionate love with you,
then the next, and the next one, following
the path of chemistry, wherever it may lead.
Take it slow and easy to make him prove
himself. If he doesn’t, be ready to bail.
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INSIGHT // 14
4. The grass-is-greener type
He has a hard time making up his mind,
like he is never sure that the job he has is really the best one for him. Online dating has
made this pattern very common. Because
there is such a smorgasbord of women, men
with this inclination are constantly looking
to see whether they can do better.
If he is very true to type, he will be mortally terrified of “settling” — as in, settling
down with you. It is usually best to move
on before he does.
5. The slacker
He has grand dreams and plans that have
been just over the horizon for years. He may
be cute and engaging as he passionately describes all that he is going to do. But this is
the guy who consistently shoots himself in
the foot so that he misses the finish line. He
didn’t finish anything — not his degree, his
new Web site, his new book, project or the
very deal that will get him ahead.
Unless he has started to seriously engage
in therapy or coaching, you will not be able
to rescue this guy. No, not even you.
Who are the keepers?
Any of these types may be intertwined
with one or more of the other 11 self-sabotaging patterns in “Love in 90 Days.” Men
can vary a great deal in just how stuck they
are.
The most important question to ask is,
“Is he willing to grow? That is, work his way
out of his own self-sabotaging pattern?” If
a guy is a good person who is attractive to
you, working on his issues and crazy about
you, he is a keeper. Once again, no man is
perfect. Of course, neither are you. So ask
yourself: How much does this man want to
have love, that is, love with you in his life?
What is he willing to do or change to have
that special, lasting experience?
As you consider the answers to these
questions you will have many ‘Aha’ experiences. Armed with this knowledge you
can quickly get away from guys who are
DUDs (Definitely Unworkable Dudes) or relationships that are truly dead-end or even
destructive. You can see clearly when it is
time to stay and work on the relationship
or when it’s time to cut your losses and go.
And then you will be free to choose the
ones you want, the ones who give you love
that is just right for you.
PRODUCTIVE LIVING //
75 ways to stay unhappy forever
Dale Carnegie once said, “It isn’t what you have, or who you are, or where
you are, or what you are doing that makes you happy or unhappy. It’s
what you think about.”
Rehaan. E
I don’t think anyone could say it any better than
that. I’ve watched so many friends search tirelessly
for happiness by shifting from one course to another
at uni, changing jobs, moving to new cities, pursuing intimate relationships, and tweaking all sorts of
other external factors in their lives. And guess what?
They’re still unhappy … because they spend all of
their time and money adding positive externals to
their lives when their internals are still in the negatives.
So, with that in mind, here are 75 ways to stay unhappy forever. Of course, I would highly recommend
you read each bullet point and then move swiftly in
the opposite direction.
1. Dwell on things that happened in the past.
2. Obsess yourself with all the things that might
happen in the future.
3. Complain about problems instead of taking the
necessary steps to resolve them.
4. Fear change and resist it.
5. Work hard, do your best and then condemn yourself for not achieving perfection.
6. Belittle yourself.
7. Hang out with other people who belittle you.
8. Try to control everything and then worry about
the things you can’t control.
9. Lie to yourself and those around you.
10. Keep doing the same thing over and over again.
11. Be lazy and follow the path of least resistance.
12. Hold onto anger. Never forgive anyone.
13. Always be right. Never let anyone else be more
right than you.
14. Compare yourself unfavorably to those who you
feel are more successful.
15. Let small issues snowball into big problems.
16. Never learn anything new.
17. Never take responsibility for your own actions.
18. Blame everyone around you.
19. Don’t ask for directions and don’t ask questions.
20. Don’t let anyone help you.
21. Quit when the going gets tough.
22. Be suspicious. Trust no one.
23. Get four hours of sleep every night and convince
yourself that it’s enough.
24. Never throw anything way. Even if you don’t use
it, hold onto it.
25. Say “yes” to everyone. Fill all your time with
commitments.
26. Try to be everyone’s friend.
27. Multitask, multitask and multitask! Do everything at once.
28. Never spend any time alone.
29. Don’t help others unless you have to. Do only the
things that benefit you directly.
30. Hang out with people who complain about everything.
31. Focus on what you don’t want to happen.
32. Fear the things you don’t fully understand.
33. Always seek external validation before you consider yourself good enough.
34. Take everything and everyone in life seriously.
35. Spend your life working in a career field you
aren’t passionate about.
36. Focus on the problems.
37. Think about all the things you don’t have.
38. Read or watch lots of depressing news from
broadcast media.
39. Set lofty goals for yourself and never do anything
to achieve them.
40. Never exercise.
41. Only eat junk food and fried food.
42. Never check-up on your health.
43. Setup your lifestyle so it revolves around money.
How small people make
a big difference
Today, as I was relaxing at the beach, I couldn’t help but
eavesdrop on a conversation four school kids were having
on the beach blanket next to me. Their conversation was
about making a positive difference in the world. And it
went something like this…
M. A
44. Spend more than you earn and rack up lots of
financial debt.
45. Don’t say what you mean. Don’t mean what you
say.
46. Frown.
47. Never tell anyone how you feel or what you’re
thinking.
48. Make sure everything you do impresses someone else.
49. Always put your own needs on the back burner.
50. Get involved in other people problems and make
them your own.
51. Make others feel bad about themselves.
52. Watch TV for several hours every day.
53. Gamble often.
54. Stay in the same place. Don’t travel.
55. Don’t play, just work.
56. Let your hobbies go.
57. Let your close relationships go.
58. Never finish what you start.
59. Take everything personally.
60. Do lots of drugs. Drink lots of alcohol.
61. Never say, “I’m sorry.” Never say, “I love you.”
62. Don’t work hard at anything.
63. Always wait until the last minute.
64. Believe that, no matter what, you are entitled
to things.
65. Let others make decisions for you.
66. Remember the insults. Forget the compliments.
67. Let it all bottle up inside.
68. Rely on others for everything.
69. Fail to plan.
70. Don’t dream.
71. Don’t think about the future at all.
72. Always disregard other people’s opinions and
suggestions.
73. Make promises you can’t keep.
74. Don’t decide on anything, ever.
75. Just keep going and going and going. And never
ever stop.
And now that you know what not to do, let me tell
you a secret about happiness. Nobody is happy all of
the time. It’s perfectly normal to experience considerable fluctuations in your level of happiness from
day to day, month to month, and even year to year.
In fact, according to a recent scientific study, overall levels of happiness decline from one’s teens until
one’s 40s and then pick up again until they peak in
one’s early 70s. So the chances are that your happiest days are yet to come. Hopefully that gives you
something to smile about.
Repression
“It’s impossible to make a
difference unless you’re a huge
corporation or someone with
lots of money and power,” one
of them said.
“Yeah man,” another replied.
“My mom keeps telling me to
move mountains – to speak up
and stand up for what I believe.
But what I say and do doesn’t
even get noticed. I just keep answering to ‘the man’ and then I
get slapped back in place by him
when I step out of line.”
“Repression…” another snickered.
I smiled because I knew exactly how they felt. When I was
their age, I was certain I was being repressed and couldn’t possibly make a difference in this
world. And I actually almost got
expelled from school once because I openly expressed how
repressed I felt in the middle of
the principals’ office.
I Have A Dream
Suddenly, one of the kids
noticed me eavesdropping and
smiling. He sat up, looked at me
and said, “What? Do you disagree?” Then as he waited for
a response, the other three kids
turned around too.
Rather than arguing with
them, I took an old receipt out
of my wallet, ripped it into four
pieces, and wrote a different
word on each piece. Then I
crumbled the pieces into little
paper balls and handed a different piece to each one of them.
“Look at the word on the
paper I just gave you and don’t
show it to anyone else.” The
kids looked at the single word
I had handed each of them and
appeared confused. “You have
two choices,” I told them. “If
your word inspired you to make
a difference in this world, then
hold onto it. If not, give it back
to me so I can recycle the paper.”
They all returned their words.
I scooted over, sat down on
the sand next to their beach
blanket and laid out the four
words that the students had returned to me so that the words
combined to form the simple
sentence, “I have a dream.”
“Dude, that’s Martin Luther
King Jr.,” one of the kids said.
“How did you know that?” I
asked.
“Everyone knows Martin Luther King Jr.” the kid snarled.
“He has his own national holiday, and we all had to memorize
his speech in school a few years
ago.”
“Why do you think your
teachers had you memorize his
speech?” I asked
“I don’t really care!” the kid
replied. His three friends shook
their heads in agreement. “What
does this have to do with us and
our situation?”
“Your teachers asked you to
memorize those words, just like
thousands of teachers around
the world have asked students to
memorize those words, because
they have inspired millions of
repressed people to dream of a
better world and take action to
make their dreams come true.
Do you see where I’m going with
this?”
“Man, I know exactly what
you’re trying to do and it’s not
going to work, alright?” the
fourth kid said, who hadn’t spoken a word until now. “We’re
not going to get all inspired and
emotional about something
some dude said thirty years ago.
Our world is different now. And
it’s more screwed up than any
us can even begin to imagine,
and there’s little you or I can do
about it. We’re too small, we’re
nobody.”
Together
I smiled again because I once
believed and used to say similar
things. Then after holding the
smile for a few seconds I said,
“On their own, ‘I’ or ‘have’ or ‘a’
or ‘dream’ are just words. Not
very compelling or inspiring.
But when you put them together in a certain order, they create
a phrase that has been powerful enough to move millions of
people to take action – action
that changed laws, perceptions,
and lives. You don’t need to be
inspired or emotional to agree
with this, do you?”
The four kids shrugged and
struggled to appear totally indifferent, but I could tell they were
listening intently. “And what’s
true for words is also true for
people,” I continued. “One person without help from anyone
else can’t do much to make a
sizable difference in this crazy
world – or to overcome all of
the various forms of repression
that exist today. But when people
get together and unite to form
something more powerful and
meaningful then themselves, the
possibilities are endless.
Together is how mountains
are moved. Together is how
small people make a big difference.
INSIGHT // 15
OPINION //
Facebook : A major influence on
today’s society
Over the past years we’ve seen a major increase in the number of new Facebook users. Indeed this online social ensnare is an addiction that has caused people to cross the line from
social networking to social dysfunction.
Krishna ATHAL
Editor in Chief
Research
•
Mental health threat – Brussels MEP
•
Act like a silly little girl – Social Times
The site is addictive because
it gives people “intermittent reinforcement” – in other words that
vague feeling of interest and hope
one gets when opening Facebook
that someone might have posted
something of interest, or liked
something you wrote, or the girl
you fancied at school has sent a
friend request, and you therefore
get to see pictures of her, hopefully a tired and impoverished single
mother of three who clearly made
a mistake in turning you down. Or
maybe that’s just me.
Hell! Grandpa’s in?
Those over the age of 50 have
also not been able to escape from
it. In part due to the fact that anyone could join, and in part due to
the fact that Facebook really is a
good way to reconnect with and
stay connected to friends, Facebook has become the dominant
social network of the times. But
does Facebook just make us all act
idiotically?
I’ve noticed that a lot of my
older family members and friends
have a tendency to morph their
behaviour once they get on Facebook. People who’re always rational and can tell me how to get a
hold of myself in the middle of a
panic attack are suddenly calling
and emailing me to ask for advice.
“My high school crush just contacted me on Facebook. What do
I do?” “What’s the likelihood of
this person being a fake, with an
impersonator behind their Facebook account?” “Is it narcissistic
to upload more than 10 profile
pictures?” LOL, as my semi-imaginary internet friends say.
What’s amusing to me isn’t the
fact that these questions are being asked, but the fact that they’re
being asked by the people I once
turned to for life lessons. Over 30
years removed from high school,
people still get a tiny tingly feeling when they see a friend request
from their school crush on Facebook.
These are the questions I as a
teenager and young adult barely
asked myself – I often just acted
out of a naive confidence that remained oblivious to the real world
ramifications of virtual relationships. But as I look at the drama
that can ensue because of a wayward Facebook wall post, an Honesty Box confession, an errantly
tagged photo or a misconstrued
SuperPoke, I realise that we’re all
subject to the same essential social norms regardless of our age.
Ultimate leveller
Because when it’s all said and
done, I’ve also seen a lot of deactivated accounts from my mature mavens. It’s the equivalent of
packing up and moving to a new
location, or taking a month-long
vacation. It seems silly to see people in their 40s and 50s go so far
as to deactivate their Facebook account because of something petty.
And what’s even more amusing to
me is when they ask me if I noticed their sudden absence from
Facebook. Now they’re not only
reacting to the drama, but stirring
it up by making a desperate plea
for exo-Facebook attention.
The come back
So what does that tell us? Facebook is generally doing a good job
at enabling people to network.
And in creating a subset of our
physical social structure designed
specifically for the web, we’ve
gained an interesting peek into the
frivolous mind of the tech-savvy
middle aged.
In the end, perhaps these growing experiences will help parents
better understand their children.
Or, as in some other cases, they
will help children better understand their parents. Whatever the
case may be, I think we as members of society, advertisers, marketers and Facebook executives
should take this as an opportunity
to learn from each other, recognising the fact that no matter how old
we are we’re still subject to the
same scrutiny and wonder when
it comes to social networking.
RELATIONSHIP
Respect and rebellion towards parents
Parents-children relationship has never been easy; especially when children are no more kids. I
dare not disagree. Oscar Wilde said that "Children begin by loving their parents; after a time they
judge them; rarely, if ever, do they forgive them."
Jhaneshi JUGESSUR
Finance with Law - UoM
If your parents get the back-seat
in your life, put yourselves in the
shoes of orphans. Parents bring
us into the world and take care
of us: remember that they could
have opted to spend their time
with world cruises or simply living for themselves. But they chose
to have us. I bet they did not know
why they got themselves into.
So, bond with your parents;
have at least one daily meal together in order to get time to talk; have
patience to explain things to them
and listen to their wise words. No,
I have not been appointed as the
official advocate of parents, but
have instead taken time to ponder on this issue. Parents are our
INSIGHT // 16
backbones, supportive at every
step of life even when we commit
mistakes. Disrespect and defiance
will get us nowhere. Tolerance will
ease their lives and ours as well.
Take time to live this relationship
fully and make it your supreme
strength.
I would not say that parents are
perfect in their roles, however. It
has often been seen that parents
have preconceived expectations
from children. Life of their offspring should be a mirror of theirs
in terms of principles and lifestyle.
How realistic is that?
The world changes daily, it is
impossible to live by perceptions
even older than we are. We, chil-
dren, are moulded as per the era
we grow up in. To make this relationship perfect, parents, also,
have some points to work on. They
need to advise instead of criticising which more than often leads
to rebellion.
It is more constructive to respect the choices of their children
rather than imposing on them. Allow children to fall in life but be
there to catch them. To get the
well-deserved respect from their
kids, parents should keep themselves abreast with latest fashion,
music, books, friendships, relationships and hence, speak the
same language as their kids.
As Anne Frank says by – “Par-
ents can only give good advice or
put them on the right paths, but
the final forming of a person's
character lies in their own hands.”
Columnist
Rashneel Kumar
MADHUR
University of South
Pacific (USP)
Fiji
Bula from Fiji
Hey, Happy New Year
friends. Wish you a prosperous and peaceful 2011!
Hope you all had a fantabulous (blend of fantastic and
fabulous) 2010. Finally we are
in 2011 and in Fiji the celebration to mark a new year goes
throughout the opening month
(January). Fijians are very fond
of playing with water and
we call January a “splashing
month.”
Now back to business... Last
month I wrote on “Youths of
Fiji” and hope you all enjoyed
reading about us. This month’s
column, as I mentioned last
time, is on the major problems
associated with the youths in
my country.
When I sat down to write
this column, I asked a friend
of mine on what she thought
would be her greatest problem as a youth. She swiftly
responded to my question
saying ‘temptation’. Seriously,
that’s what I was thinking of
basing my column on, even
before asking her because I
believe temptation is the root
of all evils in a youngster’s life.
Sometimes temptation can be
positive, but at large it is associated with something disagreeable and unpleasant.
Temptation means attraction or appeal towards
something. Then one may ask
temptation towards what? It’s
a pretty big term if you think
about it logically. Youth life
often circulates around social
groups of similar age and objectives. Now this makes the
so called temptation to breathe
in more easily.
We often want to follow
what our peers do and it’s always the bad things we go after. Either call this a freak of
human nature or just an unexplainable phenomenon, the enticement towards replicating
our peers ‘bad’ deeds becomes
so essential that we often forget about its consequences.
This is quite tempting and
hence a… temptation! Drugs,
alcohol, sex and you name it,
becomes the cornerstone in a
youth’s life.
Youth problems are everywhere but there is always a
solution on which those entangled can always rely. That’s
for you to find out next month.
Until then have a great month,
stay safe. I wish the Insight
family the very best in their
strive to bring harmony and
peace amongst the youths of
every nation.
Moce ...
SPORTS //
FOOTBALL
A Recap: 12 Milestones for 2010
We have just celebrated the New Year; in this first month
of 2011, let’s cast a reflective eye on 2010 and take stock of
a momentous 12 months.
The historic 2010 FIFA World Cup South Africa was surely the highlight of the year, with football’s most celebrated
tournament taking place in Africa for the first time. Yet, as
INSIGHT reveals in picking out its 12 highlights of last year,
2010 served up many other magical moments and notable
landmarks.
1.
2.
3.
4.
Egypt conquer Africa again, 31 January. A 1-0 victory over Ghana in the final gave the Pharaohs their
third consecutive CAF African Cup of Nations title.
In doing so they joined Iran, Mexico and Argentina as the only other national teams to have been
crowned continental champions three times in a
row. Only Argentina and Uruguay with 14 and Brazil
with eight have won more regional titles than the
Egyptians, who have seven to their name, more than
any other side in Africa.
Comoros open their new HQ , 4 March. The opening of the new headquarters of the Comoros Football
Association is a fine example of the support the Goal
Programme can give in helping member associations
around the world to develop the game. Comoros,
which joined FIFA in 2005 and has a population of
650,000 spread across its islands, were just one of
the recipients of the 84 Goal projects implemented in
2010, with a total of $33,600,000 having been invested
in them. Since the programme’s launch in 1999, no
fewer than 504 Goal projects have been rolled out,
with the overall budget totalling $210,600,000.
Inter Milan end Barcelona’s reign, 28 April. Coach
Jose Mourinho pulled the strings as I Nerazzurri
halted Barça’s regal progress in the UEFA Champions
League, knocking out the holders in an unforgettable
semi-final tie. The Portuguese strategist earned effusive praise for his side’s defensive masterclass before
orchestrating Inter’s defeat of Bayern Munich in the
final in Madrid. In collecting their third European
title and their first since 1965, the Italians also earned
a place at the FIFA Club World Cup UAE 2010, which
they would win in style.
The 2006 finalists go home early, 24 June. A 3-2
5.
6.
7.
8.
defeat at the hands of Slovakia consigned defending
champions Italy to an ignominious first-round exit
at South Africa 2010. Suffering the same fate two
days earlier were France, the side the Italians beat to
become world champions at Germany 2006. Having
collected nine wins between them four years earlier,
the two European giants failed to muster a single
victory in South Africa.
Spain win their first FIFA World Cup, 11 July. After arriving at South Africa 2010 as firm favourites,
Spain proceeded to lose their opening group game
to unfancied Switzerland, raising old fears as to their
ability to compete on the biggest stage of all. “The
important thing after losing that game was to stay
cool and stick to our beliefs,” Andres Iniesta, the
hero of the Final against the Netherlands, later commented. In winning their next six games en route to
their maiden world title, the richly gifted Spanish
set footballing standards for other teams to follow.
Mandela attends the Closing Ceremony, 11 July.
The presence of Nelson Mandela at the Closing Ceremony of South Africa 2010 set the seal on what was
an emotional and unforgettable FIFA World Cup, the
first to be held in Africa. Mandela’s cart ride across
the pitch in the company of his wife triggered tears
around the world, as a heartfelt tribute was paid to
one of the most important figures of recent world
history.
The semi-finals of the FIFA U-20 Women’s World
Cup, 29 July. Germany, Colombia, Nigeria and Korea
Republic created history when they lined up in the
semi-finals of the FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup, the
first time teams from four different confederations
had reached this stage. The Nigerians created another landmark when they became the first African
side to reach the final of a FIFA women’s tournament.
Kenya opens its Football for Hope Centre, 4
September. With the exception of its predecessors in South Africa, the Football for Hope Centre
in Mathare, Kenya, is the first such complex to be
opened in Africa. Further centres were later unveiled
in Namibia and Mali as part of 20 Centres for 2010,
the official campaign of the 2010 FIFA Club World
Cup South Africa. The chief objective of the initia-
9.
10.
11.
12.
tive is to promote public health, education and social
development through football.
Transfer Matching System comes into effect, 1
October. Following two years of trials, the Transfer
Matching System became mandatory. The system
is designed to centralise international transfers and
make them quicker, smoother and more transparent.
“The most important thing is that it increases the
transparency of individual transactions and helps
us to tackle issues such as the fight against money
laundering and the protection of minors in transfers,” said FIFA President Joseph S. Blatter on its
introduction.
Birthdays for two legends, 23 and 30 October.
Regarded by many as the two greatest players in
the history of the game, Pele and Diego Maradona
both celebrated landmark birthdays in October, O
Rei turning 70 and El Diez 50. Earlier in the year
the Argentinian legend took part in his fifth FIFA
World Cup, his first as a coach. As fate would have
it, Argentina’s opening game at South Africa 2010
came against Nigeria, the team that provided the
opposition in Maradona’s last appearance as a player
16 years earlier.
2018 and 2022 FIFA World Cup hosts named, 2
December. The eyes of the world were fixed on Zurich earlier this month, when the hosts of the 2018
and 2022 FIFA World Cup finals were announced. In
opening the two envelopes to reveal the names of
the respective winners, Russia and Qatar, the FIFA
President triggered scenes of jubilation and joy as
the victorious bid teams celebrated their success.
TP Mazembe stun the world, 14 December. Despite their surprise win over Mexico’s Pachuca in the
quarter-finals of the FIFA Club World Cup UAE 2010,
few people gave TP Mazembe of Congo DR much
hope of repeating the trick against Copa Libertadores
champions SC International. Defying all expectations, however, The Crows downed the Brazilians 2-0
to become the first African team to reach the final
of the competition. Not even defeat to Inter Milan
in the final could take the gloss off their groundbreaking performance.
FORMULE 1
L'Indien Narain Karthikeyan signe chez Hispania
L'Indien Narain Karthikeyan a
annoncé qu'il allait revenir en Formule 1, après six ans d'absence, au
volant d'une monoplace d'Hispania
pour disputer le Championnat du
monde 2011, une information confirmée par l'écurie espagnole.
« Je suis de retour en F1 en 2011.
J'ai signé un contrat pour conduire
pour Hispania, » écrit Karthikeyan,
33 ans, sur sa page Twitter. « J'ai
toujours dit que je n'étais pas fini
pour la F1. »
Hispania a confirmé avoir fait
signer un contrat d'un an au pilote
indien dont le pays va accueillir
un Grand Prix cette année, le 30
octobre dans les environs de New
Delhi.
« Nous sommes heureux d'avoir
engagé Karthikeyan pour disputer
le Championnat du monde 2011.
Je connais Narain déjà depuis
quelques temps et il bénéficie de
l'expérience acquise en compétition avec Jordan, et comme pilote d'essai avec Williams, » a commenté Colin Kolles, responsable
d'Hispania.
En 2005, Karthikeyan était devenu le premier Indien pilote de
Formule 1 au volant d'une Jordan.
Entre 2006 et 2007, il avait servi de
pilote d'essai pour Williams.
Hispania devait annoncer dans
la journée ses deux pilotes pour
la saison 2011. Elle n'a marqué aucun point pour sa première saison
de F1 où elle comptait dans ses
rangs un autre pilote indien, Karun Chandhok, qui faisait équipe
avec le Brésilien Bruno Senna,
le Japonais Sakon Yamamoto et
l'Autrichien Christian Klien.
INSIGHT // 17
HEALTH //
Dad, please stop smoking
I've tried to get him to quit but he won't listen to me…
JENNIFER. CHOI
(Jennifer thinks it's important to share her experience so she can convince others not to smoke).
I was born into a smoking
family. My dad, uncles and older
cousins smoke all the time. They
never listen to anyone’s pleas to
quit. I hate it when they smoke
right in front of my face or at my
house because I can’t stand the
smell. I’m scared that one day I
might get sick from inhaling the
wafts of thick smoke. Even though
I tell them about the risks to their
health, nothing has stopped their
addiction, even when my grandpa
died from smoking.
My dad started smoking at age
23. He smokes a pack every day
now. I didn’t think much about my
dad’s smoking or how bad it was
for his health until my grandpa
got sick when I was in standard
three. One of the most disappointing sights that I have seen of my
dad was at the reception after my
grandpa’s funeral. My dad and his
brothers went outside and started
to smoke. I couldn’t believe it. I
was so mad that I wanted to go
over to them and snap their cigarettes in half. It looked like they
didn’t care about their father’s
death and were disrespecting him.
My grandpa smoked for 40
years before he was diagnosed
with throat cancer at the age of
80. He moved in with us and my
parents cared for him for the next
seven years. The cancer made it
hard for him to swallow food and
he had to have a hole cut in his
throat to make it easier for him
to breathe. It was covered with
a cloth, but I imagined it to be a
deep black hole filled with blood.
My grandpa was unable to drink
or eat anything. He was given a
special type of milk through a tube
that was surgically cut into his
stomach. He also couldn’t walk or
shower by himself anymore. Because his cancer was weakening
his vocal chords, he had a raspy
voice and his breathing was loud.
It was as if he was slowly dying in
front of me.
I would listen to radio with him
while sitting next to his recliner,
help my mom wash and dry his
clothes, and pour the milk into the
tube. To me he wasn’t a sick old
patient. I adored him.
My sister and I tried to get
through to my dad
When I saw my grandpa suffering from cancer, I knew that
I couldn’t let this happen to my
dad. I wanted him to quit. My
older sister and I put together an
anti-smoking PowerPoint presentation. I hunted for information on
the web and my sister laid out everything on the computer.
One of the examples I used was
a story about a man who started
smoking at 13 and died 20 years
INSIGHT // 18
later. He left his grieving wife and
4-year-old son. Just days before he
died, he was seen smoking in his
hospital room with his family beside him. I saw the picture of the
dad lying on the bed. He looked
like a car crash victim. His shriveled body, sunken cheeks and
pointy shoulder blades gave me
chills and goose bumps. I didn’t
want to ever be in the position of
that little boy.
We also showed my dad a video
about a grandma smoking through
a hole in her throat. I shuddered
when I heard her deep, hoarse
voice uttering, “They say nicotine isn’t addictive … How can
they say that?” as she sucked the
cigarette with her eyes closed and
the smoke billowed out the hole.
These stories showed how harmful smoking can be.
I knew the gory examples and
pictures were powerful, but I also
wanted something more personal.
So my sister told me to end the
PowerPoint with a video of me
sharing my thoughts. I told myself that I was going to be harsh.
But when I started to record, I
could only say how I couldn’t afford to lose my dad to such a preventable action. Then, I started
to cry. I ended the video saying
that I loved him and wanted him
to stay healthy and to always be
there for me. After he watched the
presentation, he hugged me and
said, “I’ll try to stop for you.” But
he didn’t take the whole thing that
seriously because he walked right
out of the room and didn’t talk to
me about it.
Later that year, my grandpa’s
cancer got so serious that he was
transferred to a hospital. The day
I went to the hospital to visit my
grandpa was a nightmare. I walked
into his room with my parents. My
aunts and uncles were already
there. Everyone had blank expressions on their faces. My eyes shot
to the machine that monitored
his heart. Instead of going up and
down with each strong heartbeat,
the line was almost straight. My
grandpa was heaving and losing
strength with every passing minute. I didn’t expect to see him dying so fast. I had thought he would
survive, leave the hospital and get
better. It hit me hard. I backed out
of the room and paced in the hallway. In the car, I cried. Five days
later, he died.
The day after my grandpa died
was like a dream. I had never
thought about death in my family
and for it to happen felt unreal. I
began to think about the times I
took his condition so lightly and
how I didn’t help him enough at
home. All I could do was promise
myself that I wouldn’t let this hap-
pen to my dad.
I was shocked he didn’t stop
I expected my dad to quit after
what happened to his own dad,
but it was exactly the opposite.
He smoked more often. I thought
to myself, “How can he possibly
continue to smoke?” My dad uses
the weapon that killed my grandfather. Doesn’t he feel guilty or
troubled by the thought that he’ll
be following in my grandfather’s
footsteps if he doesn’t stop?
Every day I nagged my dad to
quit smoking, but he would always
respond, “Don’t worry! I promise
I will quit tomorrow. Let me just
have this last one,” but would never follow through. He says that he
has stress and needs something
to alleviate it. He’s a manager of
an air conditioning company and
works long hours under the sun
every day. He leaves at 8 in the
morning and comes back home
around 10 at night. After dinner,
he slips out the back door to steal
puffs of nicotine-infested smoke
until he feels relaxed. But this
shouldn’t be his excuse, because
there are plenty of other ways to
relieve stress. It’s as if he’s a hostage to those little cigarettes.
During health class in the summer before high school, I learned
more about the effects of smoking.
There was a lesson in my health
book about nicotine, which is the
chemical in tobacco that causes
addiction. It tells the brain you
can’t do anything unless you have
a cigarette. This reminded me of
the time when my dad told my
mom that he wanted to quit for his
health, but it was really hard. He
said that he went without a cigarette at work for just two hours
and started hyperventilating. He
began to feel dizzy and dropped
his tools. All he could focus on
was smoking a cigarette.
I found through statistics that
many people die from secondhand
smoke either from heart disease,
lung cancer, asthma attacks or
other infections. Women who live
with a smoker have a 91 percent
greater risk of heart disease and
twice the risk of dying from lung
cancer; 91 percent, that’s a lot. I
was paranoid that when I got older, I’d be one of those many people
because of my dad.
A few months later, I found
out that my 25-year-old cousin
had started smoking. Maybe he
thought it was OK because he
saw the other men in my family
do the same thing. I wanted to tell
my dad that he was setting a bad
example for the younger people
in my family. I was so angry that
I knew I had to try again to make
him quit.
After school one day, I typed
“nasty effects of smoking” into
Google and found images of people
with rotting teeth, deep wrinkles,
black circles under their eyes and
patches of no hair. I felt nauseous
when I saw a picture of a healthy
pink lung next to one all black and
shriveled up. It looked like a dead,
burnt rat that oozed with wet tar.
I wanted to get the point across to
my dad. So that night I showed my
dad the pictures. I heard a sound
that I wasn’t expecting. A laugh!
He was actually laughing. How
could he not take this seriously?
He said in Kreol, “That’s not going to happen to me. I bet some
of them are Photoshopped just to
create a more dramatic effect.” I
was pissed. I was clenching my
teeth so I wouldn’t talk back to
my dad. If he wasn’t going to take
it seriously, I wouldn’t either. I
wasn’t going to waste my energy
on someone who wasn’t willing to
change. I decided to give up.
After that, whenever I saw
him inhaling the chemicals and
cancer-causing toxins, I was upset because he made me smell the
smoke.
A few months later, I would
smell smoke for a few seconds
even though nobody was smoking anywhere near me. It was
weird, but I ignored it at first. But
when I kept on smelling it during
class, in the library and in the car,
I freaked out. It felt like the smoke
was following me everywhere. I
told my sister and to my surprise
she was going through it too! I was
shocked and scared. We went online and found out that we were
going through minor phantosmia,
which smells imaginary odors.
I can’t escape the smell
When my dad would come
back inside after smoking, the
smell lingered. I got used to turning on the air conditioning and
opening the windows to get rid
of the smell. I would run to my
room and slam my door and yell
at my dad to get out of the house.
I felt like a prisoner. My mom saw
me crying once because the smell
was so unbearable and lectured
my dad to quit once and for all.
She admitted to him that she was
sick and tired of the smell too.
My father still smokes. He
spends thousands of money a year
to have that temporary pleasure
and calmness. We’ve tried to get
him to see a therapist to quit, but
he keeps saying that he wants to
do it on his own. I don’t want to
give up on him. But at the same
time, I’m afraid that my next attempt is going to fail just like the
previous ones. One thing I’ve
learned after seeing people close
to me suffer is to never touch a
cigarette. The problem no longer rests in my hands, but in his.
Ultimately, my dad needs to give
smoking up for his own sake. I just
pray that he can be freed soon.
SCI & TECH //
Les larmes des femmes affaibliraient le
désir sexuel chez l'homme
Des scientifiques de l'Institut Weizmann ont démontré que des composants chimiques présents
dans les larmes féminines réduisaient l'excitation sexuelle.
Les larmes des femmes pourraient envoyer des signaux chimiques aux hommes décourageant leur excitation sexuelle,
affirme une étude réalisée par
des chercheurs israéliens. Selon
ce document, des scientifiques de
l'Institut Weizmann ont démontré
que des composants chimiques
présents dans les larmes féminines réduisaient l'excitation sexuelle chez les hommes lorsqu'ils
sentaient ces larmes.
L'étude menée notamment par
Shani Gelstein et Yaara Yeshurun
au laboratoire de neurobiologie
du professeur Noam Sobel de
l'Institut Weizmann à Rehovot en
Israël a d'abord fait pleurer des
femmes devant des films tristes.
Baisse de la testostérone
Dans un second temps, il a été
demandé à 24 hommes de 23 à 32
ans divisés en deux groupes de renifler à l'aveugle soit ces larmes
soit une solution saline, tout en
évaluant des visages de femmes
sur un ordinateur. Les groupes
ont ensuite été inversés. Il en est
ressorti qu'en sentant les larmes
féminines les hommes ne montraient pas davantage d'empathie
face aux visages de femmes qu'on
leur montrait. En revanche, ils y
voyaient moins de sex-appeal.
Guidé par la chimie
Des films suscitant l'émotion
ont aussi été montrés aux hommes, qui devaient qualifier l'état
de leur humeur, tandis que leurs
réactions physiologiques étaient
enregistrées (température, battements de cœur). Une fois encore,
la réaction des hommes ayant
senti des larmes de femmes n'était
pas plus émotionnelle, face aux
films, que la réaction des hommes
ayant senti une solution saline. En
revanche, les signes d'excitation
sexuelle étaient au minimum. Des
tests ont montré "une sérieuse
baisse dans le niveau de testostérone", une hormone liée au désir
sexuel, conclut l'étude. Au cours
d'une dernière expérience, la réaction cérébrale des hommes testés
a été scannée par un examen IRM
pour montrer que les régions associées à l'excitation sexuelle
montraient une nette réduction
d'activité chez ceux qui avaient
été en contact avec les larmes des
femmes.
"Cette étude soulève de nom-
breuses questions intéressantes.
Quels sont les composants chimiques impliqués ? Les larmes
des femmes sont-elles différentes
de celles des hommes ? Des en-
fants ?" a commenté le professeur
Noam Sobel. "Ce travail renforce
l'idée que les signaux chimiques
humains peuvent modifier le comportement des autres", ajoute-t-il.
Facebook aurait réalisé un bénéfice net
de 355 millions de dollars sur neuf mois
Le secret entoure jusqu'à présent les résultats financiers du réseau social, la société n'étant pas –
encore – tenue de les publier.
Facebook a affiché un bénéfice net de 355 millions de dollars
(273 millions d'euros) sur les neuf
premiers mois de 2010, selon des
documents communiqués par
la banque Goldman Sachs à ses
clients. Le prospectus d'une centaine de pages concernant une
opération de placement privé
dans Facebook a été remis jeudi
après-midi à des clients intéressés par un investissement en actions dans le réseau social, a indiqué une personne ayant reçu
une copie. Ce client de Goldman
précise avoir reçu une plaquette
distincte de six pages contenant
des informations financières sur
le réseau internet.
Selon ces documents, le chiffre
d'affaires de Facebook s'est établi
à 1,2 milliard de dollars sur la période janvier-septembre, générant
un bénéfice net de 355 millions de
dollars.
Accord de non-divulgation
L'analyste de Wedbush Securi-
ties Lou Kerner, qui détient des
actions Facebook, estime que
les données diffusées en termes
de chiffre d'affaires sont "conformes à nos attentes". Il se dit
en revanche "surpris" par la rentabilité annoncée et estime que
cela implique que les marges de
Facebook seront un jour supérieures à celles de Google. Goldman Sachs a récemment valorisé
Facebook 50 milliards de dollars
à l'occasion d'un investissement
de 450 millions dans le réseau social. Les données financières citées dans le prospectus de placement n'ont pas été avalisées par
des commissaires aux comptes et
donnent peu de détail sur la façon
dont Facebook réalise son chiffre
d'affaires, explique le client, qui
dit avoir signé un accord de nondivulgation.
Selon le document, il est probable que Facebook dépasse les 500
actionnaires cette année et que la
société se trouve obligée de diffuser des informations publiques
sur ses performances financières
à partir d'avril 2012, indique un
autre destinataire de la plaquette.
Selon le droit boursier américain,
les sociétés ayant plus de 499
actionnaires doivent publier un
certain nombre d'informations
financières.
Une introduction en Bourse en
2012 ?
Un e te l l e d iv u l ga t i o n
d'informations pourrait être le
prélude à une introduction en
Bourse en 2012, même si rien ne
dit que le réseau social choisira
de vendre des actions au public
simplement parce qu'il lui est
demandé d'ouvrir ses livres de
comptes. Les clients de Goldman
qui souhaiteront acheter des actions Facebook placeront leurs
fonds dans une nouvelle société
enregistrée au Delaware appelée
FBDC Investors LP, selon le client.
Goldman a prévu de lever au
moins 1,5 milliard de dollars auprès de ses clients fortunés pour
investir dans le réseau social.
Facebook, fondé dans une résidence universitaire à Harvard en
2004, revendique plus de 500 millions d'utilisateurs et constitue un
concurrent potentiel pour les moteurs de recherche comme Google
et Yahoo, notamment en ce qui
concerne la manne publicitaire.
2011, l'année des
Android ?
Les analystes prédisent
un avenir radieux au système d'exploitation pour
smartphones de Google.
Le marché des smartphones
est en ébullition. Après avoir été
dominé presque exclusivement
par les géants Apple (iPhone),
RIM (BlackBerry) et Nokia
(Symbian), il est désormais
secoué par Google (Android)
et, plus récemment, par Microsoft (Windows Phone). S'il est
trop tôt pour tirer des conclusions sur les Windows Phone,
lancés en octobre, le système
d'exploitation mobile de Google
a, pour sa part, réussi une percée
incontestable depuis son lancement, en 2009. Il pourrait jouer
un rôle prépondérant en 2011.
Gratuit pour les constructeurs, Android est incontournable dans les rayons. Il
équipe de nombreux terminaux,
fabriqués par Samsung, HTC ou
LG, et inonde le marché, du bas
de gamme aux téléphones les
plus onéreux. Chaque appareil
peut se connecter à l'Android
Market, magasin d'applications
de Google. Certaines tablettes
tactiles sont aussi équipées
d'Android et, bientôt, ce sera
au tour des téléviseurs. Tous
les appareils électroniques connectés intéressent Google, car,
en leur fournissant un système
d'exploitation, le géant américain espère drainer des utilisateurs vers ses sites et ses services. Et ainsi doper ses revenus
publicitaires, les seuls qui comptent pour boucler ses budgets.
500 millions de smartphones
vendus en 2011 ?
Selon le cabinet Nielsen, les
ventes de terminaux équipés
d'Android ont devancé celles de
l'iPhone sur la deuxième moitié
de 2010, malgré le lancement de
l'iPhone 4 en juin. "Quiconque
regarde cela attentivement serait fou de ne pas en déduire
qu'Android gagnera plus de
parts de marché qu'Apple avec
le temps", explique Andy Hargreaves, analyste chez Pacific
Crest Securities. "Ils ont plus
d'appareils, ils vont être chez
davantage d'opérateurs dans
une gamme de prix plus large",
explique-t-il encore.
Le marché des téléphones
dits intelligents grandit à vue
d'oeil. Alors qu'en 2009, 173
millions d'appareils avaient été
écoulés, ce chiffre est passé à
269 millions en 2010. Une véritable explosion pour ce marché,
qui pourrait atteindre un demimilliard d'unités vendues en
2011. Cela ferait du smartphone
le premier moyen d'accès à Internet pour la population mondiale.
On comprend mieux pourquoi Google préférerait que ce
soit grâce à son Android.
INSIGHT // 19
DEBATE //
Single-sex marriage
This house believes that gay marriage should be legal.
Opening statements
Defending the motion
Against the motion
Evan Wolfson
Maggie Gallagher
Founder and executive director,
Freedom to Marry
Founder, National Organisation
for Marriage
The denial of marriage is one of the harshest inequalities inflicted on lesbian and gay
families—discrimination enacted by our own government. It hurts families struggling
during tough economic times and punishes children by depriving their families of the
critical safety-net and meaning that marriage can bring.
For the majority of Americans, and most human cultures across time and space and
history, marriage is the union of husband and wife. These sexual unions deserve their
unique status, in law, culture and society, because they really are unique. They can make
new life and connect those children in love to their mother and father.
..................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................
The moderator's opening remarks
Roger McShane
Marriage has long been considered one of society's most
fundamental institutions. But the
nature of marriage is constantly
evolving and the pace of change
has increased in the past half century. In the West, we have seen
the empowerment of wives, the
acceptance of interracial marriage and a startling rise in divorce rates. Of more relevance
to this debate, a growing number
of countries have also allowed
gay couples to wed. When The
Economist came out in favour of
gay marriage in 1996, no country
gave homosexuals the full right of
marriage. When we reiterated our
argument eight years later, only
two countries—Belgium and the
Netherlands—had given full legal
status to same-sex unions. Today
ten countries fully recognise and
perform same-sex marriages.
For supporters, gay marriage is
the culmination of society's accepINSIGHT // 20
tance of the homosexual lifestyle.
Moreover, it is a matter of equal
rights. In America, for example,
the Government Accountability
Office has counted 1,138 statutory
provisions that take marital status into account when determining benefits, rights and privileges.
Proponents of gay marriage question why committed gay couples
are treated differently from their
heterosexual counterparts under
these laws.
Others, however, see gay marriage as frivolous and potentially
harmful to traditional marriage.
Society and the state are primarily
interested in marriage for the sake
of children, so what stake do they
have in a relationship that cannot
produce them? They argue that
the expansion, manipulation and
trivialisation of marriage undermine this core institution.
To flesh out these arguments,
and introduce new ones, we have
two passionate participants in
America's debate over gay marriage. Arguing for the motion is
Evan Wolfson, the founder and
executive director of Freedom to
Marry. Opposing him is Maggie
Gallagher, the founder of the National Organisation for Marriage.
Mr Wolfson opens up the proceedings by noting the prominent
Americans who have recently
come out in favour of gay marriage. Indeed, support for gay
marriage in America seems to increase every year, but most polls
still show greater opposition, and
most referendums in support of
gay marriage have failed. Mr Wolfson says that "there is no good
reason" to continue excluding
gay couples from marriage, but a
plurality (and perhaps majority)
of Americans obviously disagree.
Are the benefits of including homosexual couples in marriage so
compelling as to warrant ignoring
the will of the people? And how
does Mr Wolfson feel about civil
unions, which more Americans
are inclined to support?
On the other side of the debate,
Ms Gallagher argues that the "key
purpose of marriage in both law
and culture" is the creation and
raising of children. "If gay unions
are marriages, then this is no longer what marriage is about," she
says. But is this really the defining element of marriage? After all,
barren women are allowed to marry. In fact, as Jonathan Rauch has
pointed out, sterile heterosexual
unions in America far outnumber
homosexual ones. Do those relationships fall outside the marriage
model?
Gay adoption and artificial insemination also complicate Ms
Gallagher's argument. While the
presence of children would seem
to qualify gay couples for marriage on her grounds, she adds
that "children need a mom and
a dad". The same assertion was
made in defence of California's
Proposition 8, but lawyers were
unable to back up the claim in
court. There have been numerous studies on the effects of child
rearing by same-sex parents. Can
Ms Gallagher point to any that
support her position?
My questions aside, our two debaters have put forward thoughtful opening arguments. One thing
they both agree on is the importance of marriage, but I imagine
this will only intensify the debate.
So before I hand it over to them,
I want to encourage the audience
to comment and vote, and implore
everyone to maintain a civil tone.
Like a marriage, this debate will
benefit from mutual respect and
understanding.
DEBATE //
The proposer's opening remarks
Evan Wolfson
Founder and executive director,
Freedom to Marry
In our law and our society, marriage
touches every aspect of life, from birth to
death, with taxes in between.
Marriage matters. That is why so many
people are passionately engaged in this ongoing conversation about ending exclusion
from marriage and why, every day, we see
hearts and minds open and support grow.
Take, for example, Bill Clinton. In 1996, he
signed into law the so-called Defence of
Marriage Act (DOMA), which added discrimination in federal programmes such as
Social Security, immigration and taxation
to the exclusion of gay and lesbian couples
and their families from marriage.
Since then, Mr Clinton has been on a
personal journey from opposition to support of the freedom to marry. "Throughout
my life, I have opposed discrimination of
any kind. When the Defence of Marriage
Act was passed, gay couples could not
marry anywhere in the United States or the
world for that matter. Thirteen years later,
the fabric of our country has changed,"
he said in a statement in support of the
Respect for Marriage Act, which would
overturn DOMA. Mr Clinton explained
his change of heart: "I had all these gay
friends, I had all these gay couple friends,
and I was hung up about it. And I decided
I was wrong … I think it's a good thing not
a bad thing. And I just realised that, I was,
probably for, maybe just because of my age
and the way I've grown up, I was wrong
about that. I just had too many gay friends.
I saw their relationships. I just decided I
couldn't, I had an untenable position."
Mr Clinton has not been alone on this
journey. Prestigious gatherings such as the
US Conference of Mayors and the American Bar Association, as well as diverse
and sometimes surprising people such as
Laura Bush, Cindy McCain, Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger and even the likes of
Glenn Beck, have come forward and shared
their story of moving from opposition to
support for the freedom to marry. They all
recognise the universal power of the word
marriage—when you say "We're married",
everyone knows who you are in relation
to the person you are building your life
with—and have come to understand that
loving and committed gay couples share
the same mix of reasons for wanting the
freedom to marry.
Americans are seeing that there is no
good reason to continue excluding committed couples from marriage. In the
federal trial earlier this year, the anti-gay
forces behind California's Proposition 8
failed to come up with any evidence or
logic to justify marriage discrimination.
When the Prop 8 lead lawyer Charles
Cooper was asked by Chief Judge Vaughn
Walker, "What would be the harm of per-
mitting gay men and lesbians to marry?",
Cooper replied, "Your Honour, my answer
is: I don't know … I don't know", and, in
desperation, argued that they "don't have
to have evidence". The flimsiness of the
evidence and absence of logical reasons to
discriminate in marriage led Judge Walker
to rule that:
"Moral disapproval alone is an improper
basis on which to deny rights to gay men
and lesbians. The evidence shows conclusively that Proposition 8 enacts, without
reason, a private moral view that samesex couples are inferior to opposite-sex
couples … Because Proposition 8 disadvantages gays and lesbians without any
rational justification, Proposition 8 violates
the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment."
In fact, the denial of marriage is one
of the harshest inequalities inflicted on
lesbian and gay families—discrimination
enacted by our own government. It hurts
families struggling during tough economic
times and punishes children by depriving
their families of the critical safety-net and
meaning that marriage can bring.
Today, gay and lesbian couples can marry in 12 countries on four continents. While
gay and lesbian couples and their families
around the world embrace the meaning
marriage brings to their lives, we see every
day that their love and commitment hurts
no one. Religion is not harmed, as this is
about City Hall civil marriage licences, not
religious rites or celebrations that are up
to each faith to decide on its own. Kids
are not harmed; in fact, ending marriage
discrimination helps the children raised
by gay and lesbian parents, while taking
nothing away from anyone else. That is
why organisations such as the American
Academy of Pediatrics and, in fact, every
reputable national child-welfare and public health professional association in the
country have come out in support of the
freedom to marry. And communities are
not harmed; marriage helps build strong
families, and more strong families mean
a stronger community for us all. Ending
marriage discrimination helps families—
particularly in a challenging economy—
while hurting no one.
As President Barack Obama said when
he signalled that he, like Mr Clinton before
him, is changing his mind on his personal
journey to supporting the freedom to
marry: "Attitudes evolve, including mine."
The opposition's opening remarks
Maggie Gallagher
Founder, National Organisation
for Marriage
Here is a hard question for Evan Wolfson and other gay marriage advocates to
answer: why do so many people, and so
many judges, decline to recognise a right
to gay marriage? For the fact is that the majority of judges who have considered the
question in America over the past decade
have disagreed with Mr Wolfson's basic
argument: that the right to marry includes
the right to gay marriage. And not only in
America. Just last June the European Court
of Human Rights rejected the idea that gay
marriage is a human right.
Meanwhile, a majority of Americans
consistently reject gay marriage, even
in progressive states such as California
(2008) and Maine (2009). Most recently,
in 2010, the people of Iowa demonstrated
their rejection of the idea that the right
to marry includes same-sex marriage by
voting to oust three Iowa judges who were
up for re-election.
For those of us who respectfully disagree with Mr Wolfson and other gay
marriage advocates, the key question in
this debate is not "How do we feel about
gay people?" but "What is marriage?" and
"Why is the law involved in marriage?".
Only if we first answer these questions
can we address intelligently the question
of what justice, equality and the principle
of non-discrimination require. Here is the
truth that too few gay marriage advocates
can grapple with, even long enough to
make an argument: for millions of people,
gay marriage will not merely add a new
class of entrants into marriage. It will fundamentally change the meaning of marriage in the public square.
The law's definitions are unusually powerful. If the law says the word "cat" must
now mean "either cat or dog" because they
are similar in so many ways, then it will obviously become difficult for society to talk
about cats intelligently or effectively. The
disconnect between the law's definition
and society's definition will cause friction
that makes the transmission of ideas more
difficult, to say the least.
For the majority of Americans, and
most human cultures across, time and
space and history, marriage is the union
of husband and wife. These sexual unions
deserve their unique status, in law, culture and society, because they really are
unique: these are the unions we all depend
on. They can make new life and connect
those children in love to their mother and
father.
idea that this sexual power is both deeply
valuable and inherently dangerous. We
need a social institution, endowed with
public authority, that teaches young men
and women in the midst of erotic, emotional and psychological dramas that they
need to come together in love to raise the
children their bodies make together. If this
is a core purpose of marriage, then samesex unions are not marriages. If gay unions
are marriages, then this is no longer what
marriage is about.
Gay marriage asks us to surrender this
once widely acknowledge key purpose of
marriage in both law and culture and to
adopt a new view: marriage is the way we
recognise committed and loving adult relationships.
Under this view of marriage, few of the
core features of marriage in law or culture
are comprehensible: Why then is marriage a sexual union—must we have sex
to commit and care? Why do we bar close
relatives from marrying? Why only two?
Surely more than two people can love and
care for one another? We can love many
people in many ways; commitment comes
in different forms. To say a relationship is
not a marriage is not necessarily to denigrate it.
It is not discrimination to treat different
things differently. If there are people—and
there are—who do not fit the marriage
model well, we can and do develop innovative structures to meet their needs.
We need not redefine marriage to express
concern about our gay friends, neighbours
and fellow citizens.
To ardent activists like Mr Wolfson and
Andrew Sullivan that seems impossible.
To disagree with his view, as Mr Sullivan
told me a few weeks ago in a debate at
Georgetown University, is by definition
to dehumanise him. When the wife of a
prominent law professor told me that my
view of marriage and family was insulting
to her gay son, I said to her, "I don't want
to insult your son. Is it the way I'm saying
it? Can you help me say it better? Or is
it the idea itself—children need a mom
and a dad—that's the problem?" She said,
thoughtfully, passionately and sincerely,
"No, it's not the way you speak, it's the
idea itself that needs to be retired."
Finding common ground or courtesy
across a divide that great is going to be an
ongoing challenge. But I will say, a society
that attempts to repress as rude, uncivil or
bigoted an idea as important as "children
need a mom and a dad" is in trouble.
Marriage emerges time and again crossculturally because it addresses a core human problem: sex between men and women makes babies. Marriage incarnates the
INSIGHT // 21
SOCIETY //
SÈCHERESSE
Implorons le ciel qu’il nous pleuve dessus
Chose certaine, le ciel ne nous aura pas fait de cadeau depuis plusieurs mois maintenant. Les grosses pluies sont attendues
pour très bientôt mais toujours est-il que la population éprouve des difficultés croissantes pour son approvisionnement en
eau.
Aldo AMIC
La sècheresse affectant l’île
Maurice n’est assurément pas
de la même trempe des autres
calamités touchant les autres
parties du monde; et pourtant
cette condition de manque d’eau
n’a que trop durer aux yeux des
mauriciens. Voilà des mois durant
qu’il n’a pas plu. Nous avons certes
reçu quelques gouttes de pluies
ces derniers temps ici et là mais
rien de bien conséquent, rien de
suffisant pour un peuple de plus
d’un million d’habitants. Alors que
faire dans ce cas précis ?
Le gouvernement tente tant
bien que mal de rassurer tout un
chacun sur les caprices de la météo en précisant et en rappelant
qu’il ne faut pas gaspiller l’or bleu.
Malgré les bonnes volontés de
l’état, il n’en demeure pas moins
que les usagers de l’institution qui
nous procure quotidiennement de
l’eau, se permettent toujours de
laisser leur robinet ouvert pour
accomplir des tâches futiles telles
que le lavage fréquent de voitures
et de vitres entre autre. Le pire
c’est que ce sont les fêtes de fin
d’année qui ont contribuées à ce
résultat.
La masse mauricienne, fidèle à
son habitude, n’aura en aucun lieu
dérogé à la tradition du « grand
nettoyage de Noël » ! Il faudrait
peut-être aussi faire ressortir que
ceux faisant parti de cette institution, dont nous avons fait mention
plus haut n’aura pas dans toutes
les situations fait preuve d’une
utilisation minutieuse, judicieuse
et avant-gardiste de ses sources
d’eau.
Aura-t-il ainsi fallut être plongé
dans l’une des pires sécheresses
de notre existence pour que des
actions concrètes soient prises
(construction de réservoirs, détection de nouvelles sources souterraines…) ?
Et que se passerait-il si d’ici
quelques mois encore la pluie
n’avait encore pas fait son apparition ?
Sachons simplement, en tant
que gens instruits et soucieux
de notre avenir, s’avoir un emploi
sage de l’eau. Surtout implorons
le ciel qu’il se décide finalement
à nous faire don de ses gouttes,
sans quoi nous resterons sur notre
faim, ou de préférence, notre soif.
WRITE OR WRONG
“Mo enn morisien”
A heartfelt thanks to all those who mailed me on [email protected]. The response was so big that am planning to have my fan club on Facebook (even if I hate the latter). Many people expressed their anger, others were critical,
some were clinical and the rest (hardly any) appreciated my column and its content.
The Human
[email protected]
The angry people disliked my
neutral approach because they
believe humanity is a species, not
a religion. Islam, Christianity, Jewish, Bahai, Hinduism, Buddhism,
inter alia, exemplify religion according to them.
The critics and 'clinics' were
against the content. They think
my article is crap as it is not referring to any issue in particular.
Finally, the handful optimists
were glad to see something different and off the beaten track. They
appreciated the detachment from
sensationalism even if they agree
there is room for improvement.
However, they wrongly showed
concern about the positioning of
the article among the last pages of
the newspaper.
That's all about the feedback,
back to business now. As planned,
I will be exploring the word Mauritian (morisien) from my perspective. What are character traits
of a typical Mauritian? Is there
something common to all Mauritians? What are we Mauritians
INSIGHT // 22
made up of ?
Remember the slogan "Maurice
c'est un plaisir" and all the buzz
around it? The award-winning
tag line (First prize – BBC World
News/ Future Brand) surely warranted many brainstorming sessions, polishing and refining. It
definitely took hours of to finally
come up with a single line which
summarises the country. ''Malaysia, truly Asia" is another example.
Branding experts have, inter
alia, to look for positive core values that characterise the brand
and such an exercise is usually
costly. Unfortunately our tag line
was gunned down by nearly all
local media houses and subsequently a large majority of our
population did not seem to believe in the rebranding. That was
a major blow for the PR company
Acanchi as there was a mistrust
between the main internal stakeholders of the brand (Mauritians)
and the brand itself (Mauritius).
The whole story proves at least
one thing: despite Journalism
and PR being two branches of
the same tree (communication),
the Journalists reporting on the
rebranding were apparently less
PR-savvy.
All the above to say that Acanchi must have found the inherent
positive core values of Mauritians.
I will try to lift a corner of the veil,
à ma façon. That is, I’ll look for
the negative core values of Mauritians.
From the top of my 20 years of
observation, I can say that Mauritians are curious by nature and
they always want to know what is
happening around them. Our curiosity becomes so intense that we
often (or, always?) step over the
line. This practice is beautifully
known as ''vey zafaire dimune''
in Mauritius and it is undoubtedly present among all patriots.
Sit in the bus, the people want to
know the 5 W's of your presence.
Hold the hand of your spouse, the
people want to know why you are
holding his/her hand. Take out
your bread from your bag, they
want to know what's in there. Pull
the curtains over the windows,
they want to know what is happening behind.
Another common trait is our
spitting habit. Only a handful of
Mauritians know that spitting in
public is not allowed. And nearly all Mauritians spit out saliva
(including mucus and bacteria)
whenever and wherever they
can. Funny examples of where
Mauritians spit: in the bus, while
walking on the road, while driving, at the hospitals, in the sea and
swimming pools… I remember
careless people nearly spiting on
me while I was walking around in
Port Louis.
That s all for now. Next week
I’ll elaborate on the nasty habits of
Mauritians. Until then, don't spy
on your neighbours and give up
spiting in public
INSIGHT // 23

2011, l`année de tous les défis

Transcription

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