French title, English content and hopefully some comments in Creole. That’s part of what I like as a Mauritian 🙂
While reading the “Micro-trottoir” section of a newspaper yesterday, I came across someone who said that there is no future for her in the island. Consequently, she is moving to Reunion Island and plans to bring her family members near her.
Today, I would like to know what you think about making your future in Mauritius. Is the situation really that bad?
As for me, I can say that I love living here for many reasons, among ; a balanced social/work life, family and friends, quiet and peaceful atmosphere (as compared to other countries), no natural disasters, no wars .
However, I admit that working abroad might be a very good and quick way to earn money. Also, some category of workers are highly demanded and well paid. But what about the persons who find that Mauritius not made for them?
Did Mark Twain err when he meant something like : “God created Mauritius first, and then made a copy which he called Heaven.”
Is the grass really greener on the other side? What do you think? How do you see your future in the island? Thanks for your responses.
Yashvinblogs 
“Mauritius is paradise, except for the Internet.”
– Me. 😛
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Je peux confirmer l’herbe n’est pas plus verte ailleurs:) That person who said such a thing on Mauritius does not know anything about the world.
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Quality of life is much better elsewhere. Living abroad for 10 years, I can definitely empathize with those who claim that ‘pena l’avenir a Maurice.’
On the other hand, island life is slow-paced. Some like it and others don’t. To each his own, I guess.
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As a retired expat I always loved the country. I miss certain facilities that Europe provides, like a good public transport system, high-speed internet, an efficient administration, good running medical and health system. For employees here there is also a need to obtain improved work related regulations as well as the implementation of health and safety regulations. While working conditions maybe better in some European countries the Mauritian employee should not forget that the mentality on work productivity is different over there. There is a lot more stress and pressure as well as long hours. High costs of living, expensive property in cities, high rents etc. Add to that a rotten climate and you do not have the same satisfaction in life as you would here. There is a lot to take into consideration before contemplating working abroad.
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Travailler a l’etranger est certainement plus lucratif mais cela comprends tout plein de sacrifice.
bouger ailleurs ou immigrer est un risque – pour certains ca tourne biens alors que pour d’autre, c’est la cata
l’ile maurice est en plein expansion certes mais nul ne peux predire comment le futur va etre : l’ile Maurice est tres petite et se developpe trop vite (resulting in an unsustainable country and economy)
moi je penses personellement qu’immigrer est une bonne idée et biensure ca comprends les avantages ainsi que les desavantages
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Personally, I really love being in Mauritius… In terms of the pace of life, we are in our home… In a place that we can say it’s ours…. The climate is great, the environment is great (apart ene deux banne lezots factors ki affecter par certaines personnes irresponsable) I just love living here… I love to work here even if the salary is very low as compared to other countries. Even if i go abroad to work, it will be only for some time, eventually i will return back to my home sweet home ^^
The only problem here is the facilities and services offered here is not up to the standard… We do not really get the value for money… We can buy many things at a cheaper price elsewhere but not in Mauritius.
But it’s not because of the island… Maybe the trend here is like that, everything is expensive… to live here is quite expensive. But still the peacefulness that we get at the place where we belong to… won’t be found elsewhere… 🙂
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I believe being rich is nice, but the social life here in Mtius isnt worth sacrificing for some extra budget…
@Yashvin: i just noticed, “Your IP address is recorded and can be used to trace you for legal actions.” doesnt work in Mtius lol
@carrotmadman6: its getting better 😛 I used to use dial-up to connect to the internet, now we have myT… un monde de difference xD
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Ena dire ki l’herbe pli vert dan lezot pays. L’herbe fausse ek syntethique sa! 😛
Moi, mo dire Maurice ene deux banne pli bon pays dan le monde. Kan to pe marser dan bazar Port Louis ou la gare, to pa senti toi etranger. Kan to pe gette banne dimoune dan la rue, dans to senti kouma dire to banne frere ek famille sa. Pa dan tou pays ki arrive sa!
Moi mo fiere ki mone nais Maurice ek mo Mauricien! 😀
A tous seki pe rode ale lezot place, aller! Ene dimoune ki pa kapav etre honnete envers so propre pays, ki lou pou kapav faire ailleurs? 🙂
Vive Maurice! 😀
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I am only 21 & I have gone to a couple of countries as student, as a voluntary citizen of the world, as a worker and as a mere traveler. I loved each country more than Mauritius. Maybe the style of living suit me better out there :)! Also many Mauritians claim to be open minded, but a big percentage of the population still share a very traditional & close views of life.
Moreover the biggest thing that really annoys me over here is le fameux – veille zafer dimune ek aussi – ki dimune pu dir!!
Wear a short skirt or go out at night or have many boys as friend, you are tagged as a girl with no moral values.
Also, in mauritius people focus only on academic achievements. Si 1 zenfant fail cpe cuma dire c la fin du monde pu so parent.
See USA, France, UK, Japan etc if you are talented in basket ball, music, singing, ballet, football you can have a decent life and make money out of your talent. mais c pas le cas a maurice. Talent is not recognised. Si to ressi detect l talent dans kikaine- pas kav fer rien pou li.
I have a thousand reasons why i dont like to stay over here! i named a few above! well those are my opinions.
Jai un dent contre ce pays!
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Ena ban mauricien zot pense faire ek fini zot lavi ici mem akoz ici ena tou : fami, lacaz, camarad, travay, zenfant etc.
Mais life doesnt limit itself to 2040 km2!There are more things to discover in this world.
i dont consider myself to be a mauritian. i consider myself to be a citizen of the world. i belong to the world and my only religion is humanity. I hope mo kav al lezot pays ek vivre dans sa ban pays la pu aprane la culture ek zot mode de vie.
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Inn ler pu mo ale mo si. Mo pa satisfe servis mo gagne ek mo kas kan mo res moris. Ek sa a la longue.. Li fristran.
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“However, I admit that working abroad might be a very good and quick way to earn money.”
This is a myth, probably based on seeing retired ex-pats coming back to Mauritius with pension lumpsum obtained after years of working hard in a foreign country. Although there is no quick [legal] way of making money, I believe it may be easier to do so in Mauritius where there are still opportunities (as long as you know the right people).
Two friends of mine are returning to England after trying to live in Mauritius for the past two years. Their reasons? Red-tape and the apparent social inequality.
As for me, although I am very tempted to go back to Mauritius, a few things are holding me back: the reasons stated already by my friends, giving up on quality public healthcare, knowing that “backing” will always trump competence, and a lack of faith in the statu-quo ever changing.
Eddy.
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I think you will find that a lot of people think/ talk about leaving their home town/country wherever they are, not just Mauritius. I have lived in one city ever since I moved to the UK and can’t wait to move on even if it’s not bad at all here, same with a lot of people I know who have been here all their life.
Kan to a l’etranger to manque moris, b li dpan kuman to balance les avantage ek desavantage. Si mo ti penser mo kav faire en bon lavie dan moris asterla dan mon domaine mo pu returner.
I agree completely with your points on social and family life, that’s the largest lack. But the increasing corruption (personal view based on the what I had to go through with banks, police, passport, identity card, birth certificate problems I had there a couple of years ago), dependency on tourism as the major industry (maybe if the internet connection was better I would agree on the cyber island :)), poor facilities and priorities put me off.
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bon i made tne move to USA…certe moris cest ene de meilleur pays dans le monde ki mo pas pu deny et c’est vrai….mais saken ena so pnt of view ki nou bisin respecter et saken ena so facon penser ki nou pas kapave jouer avec…
living nearly 1yr out of of mru has made me learn many things guys…in mru due to tha fact that we got our parents to shadow us we don’t see the real trutt…but living smewhere alone upon your own is definitely a very challeging experience…ena saki p dir ki bane saki kit pays la aller la zote pas fidele r moris…c sa bane dimoune ki p kose sa kozer la pena fiel dans F pu releve sa defi la…
kan to vine dehors to fonde ene famille li ene feeling different…moris li tipti…ena trop boukou zafer ki si to pna backing politik to pas reussi…lor la cout de la vie p pli monter de plis en plis…saki malerer la li pu rester em malerer…saki riche li pu vine plis riche…saki p rode trasser soi li pu fini par endetter ou li pu kapave dekoller….mais mru so stability li pu la pu enkor inpe letan…mais dans le future nou pas koner….nou pas kapave pense juzte pu zordi..demain si mru bankrupt nou ressource kieter???????carokanne??linge???touriste???outsourcing???apres???
bondieu protege nou pays…nou racine c la…nou kiltir c la…nou lombri c la….mais eski nou l’avenir c la????????????????????????
good topic to debate yash….thanks
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Very interesting points, both for and against Mauritius.
One different point of view is to work abroad and invest your $, € and GBP in Mauritius (big companies here via the stock market), or buy land etc. Cause, note that Mauritian is developing, fast (not like China or India) but it’s growing. If we had invested our earned money in developed countries a hundred years ago, we’d have been very rich.
Ideally, I’d work a few years in Australia/New Zeeland, while investing my money in Mauritian land and stocks. Then come back and RETIRE by 40! I’d have enough cash flow to pay for all missing facilities here while making the most of all the good things that make Mauritius worthwhile…
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Damn no paypal no future 😦
Lol
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There are under-developped sectors of Mauritius like the IT ( really under-developped in my opinion though being a cyberisland ) sector or in sectors like … i think they call it microbiology or something like that ……. So i think that people living abroad are better off with a wider choice of jobs
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Interesting comments here.
I am in Germany right now. Total world of difference. Vehicles do not pollute as Mauritian vehicles do. Donc, l’air bcp plis propre ki dans maurice.
Check:
etc..
faire ene lepok mo pne vine maurice la…eski situation ine changer ??
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zot p koz cash.. mo dakor moi…mai selment nou maniere vive maurice different.. pense ene zafer..3/4 dimoun vive kot zot ban parents ziska zot marier..et majorite dimoun pas louer ene flat …. ene tas memerest ekot parentsapres mariage.. et perso si mo ti maurice 20k par mois ti pou suffisant pou vive
apres zot p dire stle la vie maurice.. maurice mo ti p amiser moi.. mo ti ena tout liberte mo envi . kave li depane lor education et style de vie dimoun la kot li en fait. ene tas dimoun kumadir kan ine kit maurice lecourse ine larguer.. nepli ena mama papa derier zot etc..zamai mone senti moi prisonier maurice moi.. sel raison mokave reste outside c si mo gange ene bon job et still .. la aussi mo pas sur ki plus tard mo pas pou retourner
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@luvnish:
myt!!!! lol
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I love my paradise but not what i am seeing and experiencing nowadays around me. And i know that i’ll be talking in the names of many numerous other friends as well.
I am a proud citizen of Mauritius but what’s hapening to our society??? How can people be so rude, there’s no ‘courtoisie’. We say education makes the difference, mo pas trouve sa moi…
Whenever am travelling by bus, I always give my place to children, old people or pregnant woman or mothers with their child and luggages… rarely i would see someone else do so!
Nowadays am pregnant and i can say that people are rude, limite malelevé… at the supermarket, Jumbo Phoenix, there’s a ‘caisse réservé aux handicapées et aux femmes enceintes. Just take a glance when you go there you’ll see how many of the people there are handicapped and how many are pregnant ladies with a beard. I have been nearly ran down a couple of times by full caddies because i was heading to pay for my articles… I stood almost everyday in the bus with the controlleur nagging me to pay, some understood and others didn’t.
At the bank… i stood in a row for 25 mins before they made me wait for 40 mins for a cheque…
And my biggest deception, some people around me, at work… that’s another mess…
Aller mo pas considère moi couma ene victim, mais ena dimoune ki dans ban situation pire ki moi… mais COT NU PE ALLER!!!
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I will never leave Mauritius for another country, even if we don’t earn that much here, this is not a reason for me to leave it. Our island is too good compared to some countries.
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our island is good but our government is shit
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am happy here 🙂 as long as no one/nothing bothers me 😛 (Politics…religion..cast…VOH…le père Gregroire…equal opportunity BS…racism…Creole at schools..etc…)
By d way..Mark Twain really said this:
“Here the citizen does the talking about the country himself; the stranger is not asked to help. You get all sorts of information. From one citizen you gather the idea that Mauritius was made first, and then heaven; and that heaven was copied after Mauritius. Another one tells you that this is an exaggeration;”
Ah Mauritians!!! Always distorting facts 😛
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@ an 25: im really sry to hear that.. franchement je compatis. mais aussi mo penC probleme la cest pas maurice.. cest dimoun la so education. i mean jamais mone kner mo pane done priorite ene dimoun handicape ou enceinte ou meme ene vieux dimoun. mone sarier sac vieux dimoun dan rose hill moi.. faire dimoun traverse chemin.. et pas zis moi.. ene tas dimoun mo kner.. donc mo penser a la fin li dpane lor education dmoun. et pas penC ki dehors pas pareil… sa zafer park dan place handicaped la partout trouver sa.. mo pas p dire ki li bon ein.. li vrai ki bizin ene changement de mentalite… mais li vine lor parent la kmen li eduque so zenfant.
lol ene ti anecdote mone gange zourer ek ne aveugle last week kan mo ti p rane li service akoz line dire ki mo get into his way.. dreC ein
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Zordi, mo ti p queue up kot la banque MCB when a lady came and stood in front of me. As soon as the door opened, she pushed her way in. As I was inching slowly towards the entrance, there was this old man, with a walking cane, who no one would give way to! It was appalling. He looked so desperate. I let him step in before I did. (pat meself on the back! :D)
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the country is good 😀 .. its just filled with lots of idiots!
+selven
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I think Mauritius is wayyyy better than other countries…..lived in Mauritius only for a few years and it is sooo much better thann else where, Mauritius helps one to understand the family n friendship bonding more, in other countries most of the time people just don’t care out relationships in what ever form…but looking at the future of Mauritius being a small island i think it is doing quite well in the economic sector compared to many other countries…..and i do see an amazing future in Mauritius…..
❤ Maurice
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good topic yashvin..euh am currently in this dilemma myself! on the verge to finish my studies here in london.. n i’ve been contemplating on a few options of what to do next yr..
every1 i’ve been talking to in Mauritius was lyk ‘non pa retourner, pena lavenir moris’ ur exact words!!!
i’v been thinking about it a lot n honestly am a proud mauritian!bee nin london for past 3yrs now bt a m still homesick.. in those 3 yrs i’ve been back on holidays only once in jan-feb 2010..didnt want to come back n now i wudnt mind going back either..
bt am still confused coz i havnt received a positive response from any1 yet..
i like ur views about being there n the balance of social, family n professional lyf!!
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@Dvil: I would be quoting one of my french collegue, he’s here since 10 yrs : “Les tourists disent que les Mauriciens sont gentilles…ben ils n’ont pas tout vus”
Monday, waited more than 1hr at the bank counter… The cashiers were slow and i was aching all over…
There was one old lady in front and the cashier was ‘yelling’ at her because she was speaking very slowly…No response…
Monday afternoon, 5.20 pm in a crowded Ebène Way. Again nearly got ran down by loaded caddies, no sorrys… They just look at your face as if you owe them an apology…
I can say that at that time there were the crowd of working people from Ebène. You are right when you talk about education…. but it’s also a personal aspect. There are people who cares and others who thinks it’s none of their business… Our society is becoming a very proud and egoistic one. And when there’s one who stands out of the crowd, he shines… and that cannot be ignored.
Vendeur/ vendeuse/ serveurs… met a pure ‘tête à claque’ at Orchard in a lingerie Shop, harsh, without manners, i had the impression i was a beggar, who came robbing her shop and i nearly turned my heels to go out. She only changed her tone when i showed her how annoyed i was… and i wasn’t proud.
I was grumpy, tired when i entered Pizza H… I came out happy because the staff at pizza hut is so cool and professional. That’s a huge difference in service.
Again am not here to blame but to vent on a society who’s getting sicker by years…
Et mo bien daccord ar Selven
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@selven: i agree wid u
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Lakoz tou sa bann raisons-la (plus la corruption, passe-droits, favoritisme, copinage et passéisme à tous les niveaux des institutions et de la vie publique), dans mo korom 6 larmé-sek depi uni, 2 finn fini établi Canada. Lé-ress pé faire démarss pou aller within the next 5 years.
Pourtant, zot tou dan-bien ici: bon travail, bon package, ena lakaz ek la-fami tou korek. Mais quand zot bizin (pou pas dire “oblizé”) pass par bann institutions / organisations formelles pou faire enn demarss abouti, c’est enn parcours du combattant. Combat perdu d’avance quand ou pena contact, ek contact-la pou abiz de so position zordi ek dans le futur oussi parski li’nn fini senti ou faibless ek li pa pou hesité “vann” ou si ou faire moindre kiksoz ki li pa’nn apprécier.
Parfois vo-mié ou vann ou lam ar diab-sa, sa kalité zot ferr-la…
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Personally, Nowadays life is becoming difficult. Whatever profession you think of going about, despite the fact that there are a large amount of people ahead the list, the fact remains that the better qualified will always get the job. we are living a century of the survival of the fittest, which means, if you are good you get the job, if you are not good , get lost. That’s how life is becoming , so basically, Not everyone has the chance academically. Many people are qualified but not qualified enough to meet the criteria of a job and the criteria of living of today. Life in Mauritius is beautiful and awesome, that’s because the mutual relationship between people you know and neighbors, but that might not be the case in other part of the world. Mauritius has a different culture, a culture based on a tradition, you have neighbors who share stuffs with you etc, it’s like a Beautiful society in other way. But most part of the world, People are not like we might be.
Consider something like if you go to a Mauritian house, the might ask you if you want something to eat or drink and you say no, despite you say no, the person will bring you something to eat or drink. that’s culture, but in other part of the world, if you say no, i don’t think they would bother. Here you are likely “trained” to live among a society where people actually in a way or another care, people are not arrogant etc, but this is not the fact everywhere.
Talking about Job opportunities here, you might actually agree with me that the salary is not the amount that you get anywhere else. What i mean is even if you have the best qualification and you get a job meeting the minimum requirement, you would not be over paid. What i love over here is the culture of family, I’m still a young adult but, your parents have time for you. Every morning, you get stuffs for breakfast etc, Compared to some countries you need to rely on fast food and pizza deliveries.
Also, Mauritius doesn’t have all type of jobs, If you go to university to learn something which hasn’t been implemented in Mauritius yet, then it’s your bad luck, the only solution you will have is to move abroad. The working condition in Mauritius is usually good i guess. I guess people have problems with only the payment we get in Mauritius, Else, i don’t see a reason for people not to love Mauritius.
Another reason that “Mauritius has no future” is the examination we are doing, considering CIE exams, I always say that this exams is not going to take you 100 % far in the world. If you don’t get the maximum 36 or 32 points, you can’t get a Medicine or civil engineering course in Mauritius. So why doesn’t the government change the education phase towards international baccalaureate(IB) or OCR or AQA? The CIE level is not perfect to help you to move towards other countries. If a student wants to get universities in America, he will need to go for Standard attitude test (SAT) exams, so why the hell are we doing Cambridge exams for since it will not bring us good in our future?. the exam level is getting low and low nowadays, you can see how much student getting an aggregate 6 at O level and how many getting 3 A* and 2 A’s at A -level. We need to consider newer ways to make the future of kids safer, else there will come a time when the job market will be over saturated and there will be no job for the generation to come as how it is becoming for now.
Finally, I would like to say Mauritius is a good experience, except the fact that you pay shipping expensive on eBay 😛
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Did i just comment on a 2010 post? 😛
i saw that on my twitter feed, i thought you just posted that today 😛
anyway –‘
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It is never late to express yourself 🙂
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seulment letemps ki pou dire ki bizin fer car kot ine arriver troisquart ban bon place kouma la plage ban i’ile autour ect mem ban espace vert p disparaitre pou beton ousa p vine private kot bizin payer ou mem p restrict pou ban etranger kouma dan ban IRS. Apres ena trop beaucoup ti lesprit ki pa le changer b sa c ene mari probleme nkor. Mais seulment si p realiser ki maurice en li mem li different ect nou bien better off comparer ect ban lezot pays ki pli dan bezzer b la mo still happy avec ceki mo ena..
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