If you studied the social sciences, you may remember Maslow’s hierarchy of human needs. These range from food, water, sleep and shelter to having a job, family, friends and an iPhone GS3. Oh, there is sex, of course. Everyone’s favourite. Going beyond these fundamentals, Mauritians have developed their own priority list of things that make us truly happy. Analysis of the recession revealed what makes rich Europeans happy. Gucci handbags. A 70-metre yacht cruising in the Med. A third home in the French Alps. More equity and property. Lower taxes. Thank goodness, Mauritius is not a plutonomy - our economy is not driven by the spending of the rich. Instead, it is characterised by the stupidity of the poor who believe what politicians say. Ask anyone in government how we are doing in the crisis and they will smile reassuringly and quote national statistics that no one understands. Perhaps we should take our cue from the Himalayan Kingdom of Bhutan which has replaced the incomprehensible concept of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) with the GNHI – Gross National Happiness Index.

How would Mauritius fare on such an indicator? Not sure. Hard to be overjoyed by our electricity bills, overcrowded buses, pompous offi cials, malfunctioning healthcare system, mediocre schools, the urban gloom of our towns. Try Curepipe on a wet August evening. We keep smiling during the four pm gridlock, during the five pm gridlock, during the 6 pm gridlock. More life-threatening are those happy citizens who zigzag between our cars with impunity.

Since no one stops them, they clearly have higher social status, greater political clout, and more pressing business than our own. As for our politicians, they inhabit a planet of their own, more Martian than Mauritian, more intent on attacking each other than the pressing national problems of the day. We are even left indifferent when people in high office choose private plunder over public good.

So if all this upsets us or leaves us indifferent, what are the few things that make us really happy? A home of our own, for a start. In Mauritius, house ownership is amongst the highest in the world, at a staggering 80 per cent. This phenomenon resonates with our deeply Asian roots that make land, and what we build on it, a primary source of financial and family stability. There is much satisfaction in nailing down that tin roof, or laying a concrete slab, or splashing that wall with purple or orange paint. Preferably both. The price of cement is as critical as the price of rice or flour. Most people build by instalments, their progress up the social ladder marked by a wall, then a plastered wall, then a painted wall, then a second wall, and so on.

Meanwhile, the middle classes retreat behind gated communities - walls that shut out chaos and crime, and keep in sanitation and security. The best land of course we have saved to give away to foreigners so they can watch the sun set beyond the eighteenth hole.

Admittedly, Mauritius is not the architectural capital of the world, but hey, we’re happy with our Lego boxes. The South African colonizing our coast are even happier. But happiness is more than bricks and mortar. To fi nd out about the softer side of our happiness index, stay tuned for the next instalment. Till then, stay happy!

Rodney PHILLIPS
(l’express Weekly)