Electoral Campaign - Conventional or Campaign 2.0 ? #Mauritius

The dissolution of the assembly having been announced already, the parliamentary elections are close. The date, however, has not yet been disclosed. Being a fine strategist, the prime minister probably will take his time to disclose the date. 

But why? 

Simply because first he wanted to see if people are happy with his alliance with the ex-leader of the opposition and if the same people would be joining their ranks in number. It did NOT happen. To date, on a scale of probability, it seems around half of the population is still undecided on which side to support. 

Second, due to the high number of candidates since both parties can have 60 candidates, a lot of talking needs to be done to avoid any frustrations and to give "guarantees" to some !. So it seems.

Who are the contenders to the parliamentary seats ?

The lists of candidates and parties have not yet been publicly declared but here are some who seem to be going for the elections:

• FSM
• JEUNE PATRIOTE MAURICIEN
• LALIT
• MAM
• MMSD
• MSM - PMSD - ML
• PARTI JUSTICE SOCIALE - UNION POPULAIRE
• PARTI MALIN
• PTR - MMM
• REZISTANCE EK ALTERNATIVE
• THE LIBERALS

This time, the political campaign seems to be quite lively with the emerging parties mushrooming these days. 

Some of those are known to be active only during the political campaign while some others are lead by some individuals who are known to be like tomatoes jumping in all sauces for some fame.

A political campaign if we boil it down to the essentials is NOT about banners / flags / alliances / personal attacks / distribution of money / re-surfacing of roads.

If we boil it down to the essentials, what are the elements we need in order to take the decision on which party we need to cast our votes?

We need creative ideas on how the political party will better our day to day life

We need to know what they will do for us, as a nation, during their mandate

We need to see who of those people we can trust

We need to see who of those people we think can administrate our ministries or provide for a true opposition in order and who will maintain its grounds and not join sides with the government

We need to know whether the parties we wish to vote are not asking votes only to take the power

Are the people requesting our votes reliable enough to represent our voice at the national parliament?

So many questions we need to answer ourselves to know if in our constituency we have people who are credible to be voted.

If we do NOT have anyone credible enough, what can we do ?

NOT VOTE ? No - This is the worst we could ever do. 

What we need to do, is to be a candidate ourselves. Even, if it is only to show the way forward and to help others to emerge. 

We are in 2014, we can no more tolerate people putting banners / tagging walls / gluing paper on our walls / putting plastic banners everywhere, etc.. We need in 2014 a modern campaign.

The people have shown their disinterest in conventional campaign by not attending the meetings of the ptr-mmm and msm-pmsd-ml.

I will end with the following lines:

It is during times like those, that we see patriots take a stand, that we feel the wind of change blowing, that we hold our breathes for a miracle. The miracle is US. Let us make it happen. - Ashfaq - 2014

Support the Revolution 2.0 Campaign - Share and Like !

Animu - Anime Creators in Mauritius

The many anime lovers out there will be damn glad to stumble on this article. We came across some anime creators who happen to also make small artefacts of their creators. They were under a tent near the 1st of May meeting today at Beau Bassin. Here are a few shots of their stand and what we bought. 

If you like what they do, check them out at: 

http://animu2010.yolasite.com/ 

  Here are some snapshots:

Share with your anime lovers friends :)

1st May in Mauritius

Unlike the past years where thousands would attend the usual labor day meetings of political parties to obtain some bryani, money, or to show their love for their respective political parties, this year the biggest political parties decided not to make any political meetings due mainly to the fact that they are still not sure with whom they want to make an alliance with. 

Unlike the previous years, we wanted to check out the Mouvment 1er Mai which made its political meeting near the police station at Beau Bassin. The Mouvman premier mai allows political observers to share their views on the current issues in Mauritius and to take the mic on the platform.

It was mostly the type of gathering where you can bring your family and walk around, .. well that's what we did and it was very pleasant. 

Anyways, here are some pictures:

Not many people are actually into going to meetings on the 1st of May .. Maybe all parties and movements should cancel those. Just Wondering !!! 

Crab Soup Recipe from Mauritius by my wife

During those uncertain days the country is going through, the best we can do while waiting for those "de pere en fils" generations to pass away is to enjoy what we have left of our time on this piece of rock. So, here we go on this "rainy/sunny/rainy" evening. My little wife just happened to get an amazing idea: To make a Crab soup ! Though surrounded by the ocean, many Mauritians do not know how to make such a nice soup. Lucky for us, she will explain it all and it's damn easy. 

Ingredients for 2 persons: 

• 2 medium sized crabs 2-3 spoons of oil (We used a Stoneline cooking pot 20cm diameter which usually do not require oil - We added it only for taste. So it depends on the cooking pot you are using) 
• 1 onion cut in cubes 
• 2 spoons of Ginger and Garlic paste 
• 3/4 Tomato paste (We bought a box of 200ml - Sungold) 
• 3 tsp salt (add to taste) 
• 3 branches of Thym 
• 1 whole chilli (Gros Piment or you can use Pima Sek) - Add to taste 

Cooking Procedure: 

1. Break the crabs and clean them or buy broken ones. 

2. Let them defrost in water while waiting to be cooked. 

3. Put oil in the cooking pot and let it boil 

4. Add onions, then ginger and garlic paste. 

5. Let it fry for some time until the onions turn golden color. 

6. Add the whole chili and mix them altogether. (Split the chili in the middle without cutting it) 

7. Add the tomato paste, thym and Salt 

8. Add water and let it boil. (Add enough water depending on your crabs to have them immersed when you will put them afterwards and allow a little space as adding the crabs will make the water level rise in the pot) 9. Add the crabs. 

10. Let it boil for 30 minutes over a gentle heat until the soup thickens. 

11. Serve hot with bread ! Bon Appetit !

Some snapshots of the recipe: 

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If you have any recipes you want to share with us, drop us a msg on our page at the link below!
https://www.facebook.com/mauritianblogger

The Mauritian Dream

A lot has been said about so many faults in the Mauritian system. How the politicians are pushing forward their sons and nephews and nieces to take over the political power. Bagging contracts from the government worth millions, and so on. This has become such a current thing in today Mauritius that Mauritians tend to take it as normal. The french expression explains it all,"un secret de polichinelle".

What about the Mauritian Dream ?

Few decades ago and some thousand miles away was born the expression, "The American Dream". We often hear about those words to describe the great american nation. In the definition of the American Dream by James Truslow Adams in 1931, "life should be better and richer and fuller for everyone, with opportunity for each according to ability or achievement" regardless of social class or circumstances of birth. This is utterly far from being the case in Mauritius. Take a lot at the names of those who have been in power the last four decades and see how the "circumstances of birth" play a great role in Mauritius.

Achievement ?

While a lot of Mauritians do their best and climb the ladders to success. What is their percentage compared to those who use "contacts" to get to the top of ladder in a tenth of that time ?.

The Mauritian Dream

At the expense of using the rhetoric of Martin Luther King Jr., The Mauritian dream is not far from the aspirations of the Americans back then.

I have a dream for Mauritius, instead of criticizing and not proposing anything like all those politician rats do day-in day-out, here are some proposals. But again that's my Mauritian Dream, here we go:

1. Freedom of opinion, faith and information.
2. All youngsters should be given a land on bail at the age of 18 where they can build a house. 
3. Adoption of renewable energy as the only source of energy.
4. 6 months of civil service for all youngsters who finish high school whether in police/fire services / other bodies.
5. Retirement at the age of 60 years old.
6. Intra-urban transport system in all cities and Train or LRT from East to West and North to South of the Island.
7. A maximum of 2 mandates totaling 10 years for the post of Prime Minister. A maximum of 3 mandates totaling 15 years for the post Minister. (Whether consecutive mandates or not)
8. School buses for each school providing to and from school to nearest bus-stop to the child's residence.
9. All government application form systems online.
10. Ministers should use public transport or own vehicle except on official events.
11. Threshold to put forward a Tax  above normal percentage on high income individuals.
12. Year round promotion of 25% discount in all hotels around the island for Mauritians.
13. 50% discount for all nautical leisure activities as well as nature trails.
14. A permanent committee to spot and remove all ethnic and cultural symbols from our official documents, money, etc.
15. MBCTV using as official language the creole and if needed then translate to English and French only.

The list can become very long indeed, .. What is YOUR Mauritian dream ?

Related post:
Chronicles of a Mauritian dream! Because we deserve it !

E.T in Mauritian Sky ! Halo is back !

E.T seems to be loving Mauritius island. Here it comes back today hovering all over the island and being sighted also in Reunion island today.
The popular Reunion island website LINFO.RE writes the following about the Halo:

Ce phénomène optique peut se produire plusieurs fois par an et peut durer de quelques secondes à plusieurs heures. Le 11 octobre dernier, un halo solaire a été observé dans le sud de l’île et plus précisément, dans le ciel de Cilaos. Lorsque le ciel est dégagé, les habitants peuvent admirer ce magnifique spectacle. Se formant à 10 000 mètres d’altitude, il existe plusieurs types de halos, plus ou moins éloignés du soleil.

Mauritians have been taking pictures and posting on the various social media websites during the mid-day about this quite unusual sighting. 

Here are the pictures taken for the blog:

All pictures are copyrighted.. Please send us a message or blog comment if you intend to use our picture for any purpose whatsoever. 

Keep Sharing.. Let's go VIRAL !  

Breaking News: Nitin Chinien announces PM Ramgoolam's car to be blocked !

The singer and former animator of the Mauritius Broadcasting Corporation [MBC] Nitin Chinien, announces on a video post on youtube that a crowd will block and stop the Prime Minister of Mauritius, Navinchandra Ramgoolam's car. He continued further in inviting the chairman of the MBC, Dan callikhan to put a police record.

 

The ex-animator of the M.B.C says that he has not been paid his salaries and 3 months' notice before being sacked and wants to get paid after 2 years of unemployment. He further states that the police cannot lay hands on him and that he is well protected by the ''ti-dimoune''. 

This new episode could also somehow be some kind of drama viral video the singer and former former animator could be doing. We have no idea if what he is saying is about a real cause to get his unpaid salaries or if this is some sci-fi movie he is making using youtube.

We, however, advice user discretion!,  and wish to point out that the blog has nothing to do with the author of this video, know nothing on the motives of the person who uploaded the video on youtube.com , has no information regarding the allegations in the video and that we are publishing this solely as for entertainment purposes. 

Though, we usually promote activism and freedom of information, this post is solely meant for sharing a dramatic entertainment video with no prejudice to any third parties. 

ZTE H108N router replaced from Orange

After 6 years using the Sagem Livebox given on the My.T package by Mauritius Telecom, got a quite pleasant surprise today. The My.T technicians came around and tried solving the synchronization problem but it appeared that the Livebox was dead :( I must say that it was a really great device. 

The Sagem Livebox never had any issues during the past 6 years! I hope I won't have any issues with this one either!.

So, Here it is, my New ZTE H108N, much smaller and a lot more of LEDs flashing everywhere !

Speed Test:
And now we tried a Speed Test to test the connection :)

Nitin Chinien V/S MBC/PTR/MASA - ABUS

Nitin Chinien appeared in a video yesterday on Youtube where he states that he is a whistle blower (since when actually! no offense intended) a.k.a lom danzerer (this sounds a bit theatrical)! that mbc shouldn't have messed with and that the police should have taken care of his file and very unfortunate that his file took fire ! And he intends to seek indemnity/compensation/whatever. And he gives all the others 14 days in order to compensate him and he was apparently 2 years without any jobs.

   

The most obvious questions anyone would like to ask here are the following:

• Will his fight stop once he is paid his indemnity of some rs2millions and his unpaid salaries amounting to rs800k ?
• Will his fight stop if he is given back his job at the MBC tv ?
• Is his fight only for himself or will he take the place and duty that was destined to him and become one the remembered ones like his father? 

All those questions can only be answered by himself and we cannot but wait and see what he is up to ! ... This video, however, is going to go viral on the mauritian social sphere and the consequences are difficult to forecast ! 

Deadly Violent Flash Rains Puts Port Louis on its knees!

Shock and awe, Exactly 4 years later. The writings were on the wall.. 30 March 2009 and now 30 March 2013. This is not an action or sci-fi movie!. Everyone who lived this day in the Port Louis city center today can witness that today was a really shocking one. Vehicles of all sizes floating on water which had inundated the Jardin de la compagnie, Water all over the motorway at the waterfront. The city was paralyzed and the island was on its knees!.

UPDATED 11:27 PM 31/03/2013 : 11 DEATHS

The death toll continues to increase.. The death toll right: 8 victims !. Victims of what ?

• Victims of the branches and dirt accumulated in the rivers that came down in fury and blocked at the bridges at the canal du pouce !. The river flooded the area and that's where it all begun!
• Victims of the authorities, why so much garbage in the rivers ?. What are the cleaning services doing ? Are there no quality assurance ?
• Victims of the nature ? I wonder ! 300mm of rain at Ste Rose in Reunion and NO DEATH. HALF that amount in Port Louis and already 8 deaths and counting !

The writings were on the wall already in 2009 ! and nothing has been done up to now ! check out the link below for what happened in 2009 ! exactly the same except that this time we have deaths ! a lot of deaths !
http://ashfaqblog.blogspot.com/2009/03/flash-rains-in-port-louis.html

Keep Tuned !

Fire Breaks out in Central Port Louis on Royal road, chinatown, in hardware store.

The Port Louis City center woke up today to the sirens of the Fire trucks. Shock and awe could be read on the faces of the hundreds of persons gathered all around the place to witness this fire. The building sheltered a hardware store, a cold storage and a shop at the back. For Chinatown festivals, some persons are also used to selling Chinese cakes in front of the building. The fire trucks arrived, but soon were empty!. No water to extinguish the fire!. 

The Firemen were just standing around and watching the fire, as most persons, after having secured the zone. One woman who was around since the morning said,"Since 07h30 the firemen are around and nothing is being done to put off the fire!"

One man, seemingly angry, added,"What is the use of the CCTV cameras, if they cannot even see that a fire broke out, how will they see criminals?".

A quite skeptical man later while talking to his friend concluded,"This building is probably not insured. As most buildings taking fire around, you will see in a few months, this will be replaced by a several floors building".

The problem being faced by owners these days is that many of those shops have been renting the space since many years back and without contract. Legally, they cannot be forced to move out. One of the easiest way, would be to put fire to the place. The tenants would be forced to move out then. Or, at least, the owners will be able to build a several floors building and get a maximum of rents out of the space.  

   

Free Alain Bertrand! Free Mauritius

Alain Bertrand, an activist for the association Azir Moris, has been arrested for trying to deploy a banner with "NO TO COAL" written on it. This action was supposed to raise awareness of the population with regards to the project of the construction of a coal powered plant in Albion. This project is regarded as a threat to the environment by many ecologists locally and abroad. 

Already 3 days that Alain Bertrand is being detained in police custody and the police opposed his appeal to obtain a caution. He will be remanded to police cell until the 20th of March until the next court hearing.

At this stage, we cannot remain insensible to the plight of this man who only wanted to raise awareness about the protection of the environment which is important for everyone living on the island as we are all on the same ship. 

We understand the concerns of the authority that the Mauritian flag should not be disrespected and as patriots we feel that the Mauritian flag has been used with a lot of disrespect while been held under an helicopter for the Independence day or when a parachutist had it attached in his back, it is not to be used like a mantle. 

We strongly feel that it is adding insult to injury that is remanding him to police cell while criminals and others are given caution and liberty on parole as the man has shown that his type of protest is a pacific one and had absolutely no intentions of hurting people or disrupting public order. 

I, therefore, urge the population and the concerned authorities to liberate this fighter for the nature on humanitarian grounds as his intentions were only to safeguard the nature for ourselves and our children. I urge my dear readers to lobby for the release of Alain Bertrand. If, like us, you feel that he deserves to be a Free Man and that we need a Free Mauritius where pacific protests can take place, copy the picture below and share it on your facebook and with your friends.

Cyclone Dumile Class 2 !! UPDATED

First post of 2013 and the weather is already giving us a glimpse of how this year will be. In a word, it will be "cyclonic". Let's not drift away from the main topic for the moment. The cyclonic winds and rains have already hit Mauritius since yesterday (01.01.13) and it has been raining for the past 28 hours already. This is not a bad thing at all for our water reserves.

UPDATE 16h00 02/01/2013

A CYCLONE WARNING CLASS 2 IS IN FORCE IN MAURITIUS.
The cyclone is intensifying and coming closer to the Island. A cyclone warning Class 2 is now in force in Mauritius.

SECOND CYCLONE BULLETIN ISSUED AT 1600 HRS ON WEDNESDAY 02 JANUARY 2013.
SEVERE TROPICAL STORM DUMILE WAS CENTERED AT 1600 HRS NEAR LATITUDE 16.6 DEGREES SOUTH AND LONGITUDE 55.1 DEGREES EAST, THAT IS AT ABOUT 450 KM TO THE NORTH NORTH WEST OF MAURITIUS. DUMILE IS MOVING TOWARDS THE SOUTH SOUTH WEST AT AN ACCELERATED SPEED OF ABOUT 20 KMPH. ON THIS TRAJECTORY, DUMILE CONTINUES TO APPROACH MAURITIUS AND REMAINS A POTENTIAL THREAT. SINCE DUMILE IS EXPECTED TO ACCELERATE AND INTENSIFY FURTHER, A CYCLONE WARNING CLASS II IS IN FORCE IN MAURITIUS.
A SLIGHT CHANGE IN ITS TRAJECTORY TOWARDS THE SOUTH WILL BRING THE CENTRE CLOSER TO MAURITIUS AND THE PUBLIC IS THEREFORE ADVISED TO TAKE ALL PRECAUTIONS.
WEATHER WILL REMAIN OVERCAST WITH INTERMITTENT SHOWERS, HEAVY AND THUNDERY AT TIMES, MORE FREQUENT OVER THE CENTRAL PLATEAU.
WATER ACCUMULATION IN SOME PLACES ARE EXPECTED. THE PUBLIC IS
ADVISED NOT TO VENTURE NEAR RIVERS AND OTHER WATER COURSES.
WIND EASTERLY 40 KM/H WITH GUSTS OF THE ORDER OF 80 KMPH,
STRENGHTENING TONIGHT TO REACH ABOUT 110 KMPH TOMORROW MORNING.
SEA WILL REMAIN HIGH WITH SWELLS.
BEACHES WILL EXPERIENCE STORM SURGES. IT IS ADVISED NOT TO VENTURE IN THE OPEN SEAS AS WELL AS IN LAGOONS AND TO STAY AWAY FROM BEACHES.
NEXT BULLETIN WILL BE ISSUED AROUND 22H00 HOURS.
A CYCLONE WARNING CLASS II IS IN FORCE IN MAURITIUS.
A CYCLONE WARNING CLASS II IS IN FORCE IN MAURITIUS.

UPDATE

Courtesy of http://www.mtotec.com

A CYCLONE WARNING CLASS 1 IS IN FORCE IN MAURITIUS. As you can see on the above diagram the cyclone has changed its trajectory to a complete south direction and could as well go south south east which would bring its centre closer to Mauritius. 

Please check out below the latest cyclone bulletin from the Mauritius Meteorological Services:

WEATHER NEWS FOR MAURITIUS ISSUED AT 05H10 ON WEDNESDAY 02 JANUARY 2013. GENERAL SITUATION: (A) THE MODERATE TROPICAL STORM `DUMILE` HAS INTENSIFIED INTO A SEVERE TROPICAL STORM. AT 04H00 SEVERE TROPICAL STORM `DUMILE` WAS CENTRED IN LATITUDE 13.5 DEGREES SOUTH AND LONGITUDE 55.6 DEGREES EAST. IT IS MOVING IN A GENERAL SOUTH WESTERLY DIRECTION AT ABOUT 15 KM/H. (B) OUR REGION REMAINS UNDER THE INFLUENCE OF ACTIVE CLOUDS ASSOCIATED WITH AN INSTABILITY ZONE. FORECAST FOR NEXT 24 HOURS : CLOUDY TO OVERCAST WITH SHOWERS, MODERATE TO HEAVY AT TIMES. THERE IS ALSO RISKS OF ISOLATED THUNDERSTORMS. FOG PATCHES WILL ALSO BE PRESENT IN CERTAIN PLACES. WIND EASTERLY NORTH EASTERLY TURNING GRADUALLY TO NORTH EASTERLY 35 TO 40 KM/H WITH GUSTS OF THE ORDER OF 80 KM/H. SEA ROUGH BEYOND THE REEFS . VENTURES IN THE OPEN SEAS AS WELL AS IN LAGOONS ARE STRICTLY NOT ADVISED. THE MAXIMUM TEMPERATURE OVER THE CENTRAL PLATEAU WILL BE ABOUT 25 DEGREES CELSIUS AND THE MINIMUM ABOUT 20 DEGREES CELSIUS. ALONG THE COASTAL REGIONS, THE MAXIMUM WILL VARY BETWEEN 26 AND 28 DEGREES CELSIUS AND THE MINIMUM BETWEEN 22 AND 25 DEGREES CELSIUS. HIGH TIDES : 15H25 AND TOMORROW 04H25. LOW TIDES : 09H49 AND 21H51. SUNRISE : 05H34. SUNSET : 18H54. ATMOSPHERIC PRESSURE AT 04H00: 1009 HECTOPASCALS.

Courtesy of http://www.mtotec.com

I would like to point out that unless cyclonic warnings are enforced on the island, the refugee centers will not be opened. Then, where are those who do not have a roof over their heads, those who normally sleep in the gardens and streets of Port Louis go to hide against the cold and rain ?. 

I can only wish right now that something is being done to help them in those dire situations.

Keep Tuned, will get you updated if things get worse around here !