| | Can I ruin your New Year ? | | | | Modifier la taille du texte: | A | | | A | | |
|
| | Par:- Deepa Bhookun
On 31/12/2010 |
I know it’s the end of the year and that we’re supposed to be nice(r) to one another and what not but I really cannot help myself. So please allow me to be mean for the last time this year. I promise that’ll be it. Honest.
In any event my New Year’s resolution is to be nicer to people so I will have no choice but to be true to my word. Oh no, don’t you go thinking that those are just empty words; I’ve decided that as I have come of age, New Year’s resolutions will no longer be made to be broken. As from now on, they will be kept and so I’m going to be less mean and (try) to extend my compassion from animals to humans.
Ok now that I have convinced you can we get to the point?
Did you hear what Bérenger said at his end of year party (to which I was cordially not invited)? That the “opposition had done a tremendous job this year”! As you might have gathered, my first reaction was “what opposition?” But then the clever girl I am put two and two together and I fi gured he was talking about his own party.
A tremendous job?! How does he fi gure that one out, according to you? Very easy. The leader of the Opposition asked 21 PNQs and 755 PQs were asked.
That’s it. That’s how Mr Bérenger figures he’s done a great job.
This year has easily been one of the worse in terms of the curtailment of fundamental liberties, it’s been a horrific one for people who have lost their jobs, and it’s been even more dreadful for those like Rehana Ameer who have been penalized senselessly for daring to oppose a dictatorial regime at the MBC.
This year has shown how powerless and irrelevant a mediation commission can be in the face of the intransigence of a political nominee. This year has seen the country being literally stormed by arrogant foreigners who are creating their own little ghettos, this year has seen a dramatic increase in the cost of living and this year has shown the disdain with which government treats the loss of the purchasing power of the little people when they threw peanuts at them disguised as wages compensation.
Shall I go on? I could- I’m only quoting from memory here but if I had to go through the events that took place this year,
I’m sure I’d ruin your New Year’s Eve celebrations.
Yeah, right; whom am I kidding? Nothing is going to ruin your New Year’s Eve celebrations because if there’s something else that this year has taught us is how far removed and indifferent you are to your countrymen and countrywomen’s plight.
I told you I was going to be mean. And I won’t apologize for it; hopefully you’ll find a place in your heart next year for those less fortunate than you. Hopefully you’ll fi nd it in you next year to speak out against every kind of abuse.
You have yourself a good new year anyhow.
| |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| Emiliano Z | | |
Okay QP, thanks for the tip. I’ll don the Armani, hookup the red tie and strut around the corridors with PP, and, when I qualify, I’ll be able to tell a boodoot from a baguette. Speaking of PP, how they hanging old son? Glad someone with your political nous is onboard to keep us strictly to the straight and narrow. Hmm, I’ve overcooked it. Now I can’t disagree with you even I wanted to. PP, you’re on song when you say that Paul is history. And I hasten to add, an indelible part of this country’s history too. See, whether friend or foe, most appreciate that while Ti-Xavier, Ti-Navin, and Junior were gifted their station, Paul had to bleed for his. Of course as an insider, you more than most, would know that. And you’d also be aware that the business of opposition is sometimes described as a daily crucifixion, which more often than not ends up in tears. Trust me, it’s far easier to criticize behind a screen than having to front up year after long year to cop the flak. At least, old Paul stuck it out. It’s a given that in the fullness of time, there will be a leadership spill. But will a more polished, less outspoken opposition leader be better for the country? Different eyes see the same thing differently. Though he or she may err or fire up from time to time, passion in a politician is a sure sign that they still believe in something. It’s when they get too slick and too comfortable in the chair that the word sold-out comes to my mind. Admittedly there is some overacting, and mock rage is put on for the gallery, but all in all, invectives in the bull pit tell me that they are still quibbling over who gets what, where and how much. It suggests that no deal has been cut YET. That democracy though battered and bruised still breathes. At least, that’s what I prefer to believe. Anyway, for now, perfect politicians or perfect justice in an imperfect world maybe be a bridge too far.
| | | PLOUM PLOUM- L'INCONTOURNABLE | | | I speak as someone who has been ( too long for some ) in the corridors of Power, and I can assure you i you have been lately, you could not have failed to observe that your GURU is a pitiful and pathetic image of his peak . In our August assembly, I am yet to see anything " intellectual " coming from him at least during the last assembly, except o course trading invectives such as Lake sat ou Rode ene Mari pour la Belle Nita! The Guy is HISTORY. His SELL BY DATE IS LONG GONE. Let him step down in favour a younger Live wire and do it now so that the new leader can establish himself before the next general elections. | | | QueenPious | | | @ChitChat: UK parliament and Mauritian parliament...Is that the comparison you are trying to make here Chitchat? If so, you should stick to your utopian belief that all izz well with the Britishers Modus Operandi! Jokes! Pa vine compare pomme ek zoranz.
@Emiliano Z- What I quoted was not from hearsay, dear blogger. It remains fact! And since I highly doubt that you have ever walked those corridors, you therefore are not ina position to boil it down as hearsay.Thank you for the feedback. And Deepa always catches my attention simply because I have no idea what she babbles on about! I enjoy the comments more than her articles ;-) | | | faizal | | | if the opposition party is supposed to settle all the matters,so what should be the role of the govt.dear DB | | | Emiliano Z | | |
Don’t stop now QP, you’re on a roll. Tell us what you really think! Can’t make heads or tails of what you’re trying to say, but I‘m sure you know what you mean. Never mind. After sniffing one line too many, I too, used to agglutinate obscure concepts from antiquated literature to show how learned I was. But after much derision, I now revisit on a more sober morrow what I write today. That way, though I still cringe at yesterday’s word salad, I get to press the delete button without being thought of a blockhead. It’s a good trick for young players. Here’s another: If you must reproach someone quoting from memory, it’s generally not a good idea to cite hearsay on hearsay as fact in the very next paragraph. It’s simply not cricket. What you could’ve said in support of the one you do not support, is that though PRB only asked 21 questions, it’s not inconceivable that he might have had an input in all the rest. Not that PNQ’s make any difference anyway, for one could simply say that they’ll take the matter on notice then give you the runaround and never get back to you. It’s an illusion. Apathy lets it slide as it does the trashing of our liberties, on the premise that that which happens to somebody else will not happen to us. It’s not Opera Supererogationis – it’s a fact of life. What do you reckon QP, does Deepa’s self-deprecating, up-front style generate much interest among readers. Has it got your attention? It’s got mine.
| | | chitchat | | | Hello Queen Pious, what a load of cobblers to a tiptop, well written article easily grasped by
anyone and the writer did not use the pen as a SWORD. I've already expressed my opinion about the leader of the MMM, if you feel he excels in opposition, one would assume you've never watched a
televised UK PM Question Time. Mr Ramgoolam is having a field day at PM Question Time due to the inadequate leader of the opposition, whose party could carry on as such .
| | | QueenPious | | | I must admit that I am completely flummoxed by this (...) piece of work. The writer is fairly popular for her "dithyrambic" musings (...), but this surely takes the cake. One cannot go impugning the Opposition’s integrity without the proper knowledge and sound evidence! The writer clearly leaves the crucial point dangling while she "divagates" about the Opposition’s performance! PRB will never cease to amaze the nation with his political "funambulism" and such a poorly- written paragraph will only bring the merest chuckle to his lips! MMM is possibly the most renowned opposition party of our still- immature democracy. I am not pro- PRB, but since some are quoting ‘from memory’ here, I allow myself to quote that this is the same PRB one would find roaming the corridors of Parliament buildings until wee hours of the morning, files tucked neatly under his arms. Ask anyone who has worked with him and the response will be unanimous- PRB runs the Opposition like a ruthless fox. He never misses a beat and nothing slips past him. In my books, he is an Opposition doer as opposed to a Governmental puppet. Some would even venture and add that he is best suited in opposition because of his razor- sharp responses and acute memory. Take a look around you- the role of the Opposition in other nascent democracies is substantially poorer than that of our island. The ability of the Opposition party to challenge ruling regimes is integral to representative democracy. So far, I have noted that PRB does not hesitate to cry foul when needed, to ventilate issues that some think are best kept under wraps- sometimes almost coming close to supererogation and vexing one too many! I feel the need to stop now. This chef d’oeuvre by the writer has simply reinforced my belief that some simply take the sacred privilege of the pen to the brink of " ridicule". Marking down the much- needed foreign investments as ‘invaders’ will only repel them. I wonder if this is simply a case of the fox and the unreachable grapes being sour..? Fret not, I shall ensure you obtain your end- of- year invites in future. I am certain your Lilliputian school of thoughts will amaze one and all. I praise your effort to be more compassionate towards humans than animals (...), but the truth is that you could not organize a piss- up in a brewery, let alone spoil anyone’s New Year, if you stick to writing such drivel. | | | chitchat | | | Welcome to blogging madam, what a praiseworthy article! Mr Berenger has done his stint as leader
of the MMM, he has passed his shelf life and sell-by date. En passant, you cannot ruin my New Year
my undelivered seasonal greetings mail have already done so and my buddies of facebook have warned
me to expect more of the same. All good wishes for a very successful New Year to all at L'express. | | | Emiliano Z | | | Brutally frank and refreshingly honest, self-evident stuff. Good job. | | | Abdool | | | Deepa you have unfortunately shadowed your reactions towards Mr Berenger's silly self satisfactory argument by over sarcassism which may lead to some of your readers thinking that you are "anti Beranger".....Anyway you are very right - in fact why blame the electorate for choosing Ramgoolam again when we really do not have alernatives - had it been for the second party to win we would have again heard the old song of "l'armoire vide" and "skellette" and would have lost another 5 years in re starting all the things they have left in at the end of their mandate in 2005, at least Ramgoolam have had to spare us of these silly excuses.....As has been rightly stated by DM France: "Old leader like Bérenger the opposition will not do anything we need a Big Change " - BUT WHO IS THAT SAVIOUR???? May God help us...Anyway HAPPY NEW YEAR 2011 to all of you Thank L'express. | | | Garcia | | | "en anglais que je deteste" Sisen tu dois alors etre un de ses 68ards-caviar. Ne pas lire l'anglais c'est ne pas comprendre le monde ou c'est le voir a travers les lunettes de BHL. Je vous plains.....en plus vous passez a cote des ecrits les plus pertinentes a l'express cad Rainer et Prayag. | | | rehana ameer | | | Hi Deepa, thanks for ur ongoing support. Keep going with your good work. Lets hope things change for the best in this country. Happy New Year to you and your team. | | | PLOUM PLOUM- ANNUS HORRIBILIS | | | No Dearest Deepa, you could not possibly ruin my New year despite your effortless attempts with faked or broken resolutions and packaged with a dose of caustic diary style.. But good try! Paradise Island may well be a candidate for the much revered title of “Annus Horribilis”, but there are at least half a dozen countries that could simply walked away with the much coveted prize leaving the rest of us gobsmacked!
But then again, who need titles when we are a class of our own, a nation of contradictions Par excellence and above all, a nation where we have made a compulsory habit of celebrating good old fashioned failures. There is no success like failures. And in Paradise Island, these come “ par grape”. How dare, you ask what “opposition”? Of Course, they are doing a tremendous job, so are the Government. This must surely be the case because we are paying them handsomely to trade invectives in our August assembly. The Opposition, when they are not engaging in their favourite pastimes which is “Walkouts”, they have been conspicuous by their absence and lethargic playground-style bickering and spats. But all things considered, don’t rush into writing the political obituary of this gem du Patrimoine nationale, who many LOVE to HATE !! [] I am being cautious here as I am not sure if we are dealing with a “ Laker Sat or a Sat avec 7 Lavies!!]. After all, he has come so near yet so far, with a little help in a failed and disastrous AQWA for “ 2 dimounes qui ti mari amoureux” donc les fiancailles etaient belle et bien annoncee depuis belle lurette!. Never say Never in Politics. Oh, how I wish this could be true for yet another of our national pastime- Le LOTO ! Surely, Deepa, we now have the LOTO, la Lotterie Verte, Saturday’s Bookmaker Bonazas, Maison des Jeux dans tout coin du Village, oh, yes I was about to forget yet another our favourite pastime, BEAT your WIFE up, preferably KNIFE her after she refuses to engage in yet again another favourite national pastime, SODOMY !! Plenty to rejoice, Deepa, et bonne continuations ehh.... until the next Annus Horribilis!!! Bonne annee. The Indefatigable PLOUM PLOUM
| | | Gandhi Club | | | To apologists of mediocrity like MBC TV and JOE, I say go to hell! | | | MBCTV | | | Well why not,Deepa at her most simplistic!At least she's got people like DM FRANCE,Bashir to support her argument and thoughts in the above article!. Deepa feigns not to be able to distinguish the tree from the forest! Has Deepa ever taken time to analyze the type of questions that herself and her fellow journalists asked our politicians at the latter’s ‘points de presse’,press conferences? The only time somebody outside of Parliament can question an MP! Thought provoking? Enthusiastic?
To vent her frustration and having a go at ‘foreigners’ in a generalized way is at best ridiculous, given that herself is a descendant of immigrants!Not to mention the economic argument! Deepa could be more precise here,May be there’s a language barrier ,that prevents a better interaction between locals and new settlers? Or even anathema,(read ignorance) to the English language,like Sisen’s ‘’Ceci dit j'adore tes articles meme si la plupart du temps c'est en anglais que je deteste soit dit en passant, mais je me fais un devoir de te lire’’.To eat ‘une croquette de dholl’’ is highly recommended at this stage!
The fact is that the electorate had a chance in May 2010 to change course and failed to do so.Others may say ,thank God, continuity has prevailed. no change has taken place! More of the same is OK!
Surely Deepa must be more ‘substance’ than ‘bland generalizations’! Even if Deepa was to play the Devil’s advocate!
All the same Happy New Year to Deepa, all her colleagues. as well as all contributors to and readers of lexpress.mu.For now at least Mauritius is not as bad as Haiti.Jamaica,Myanmar,Iraq etc
| | | moul | | | there is truth to your words. eventually the people will wake up. not because they feel anything for their pairs, but because their own comfort will have been affected.. | | | Deepak Bhookhun | | | She was in fact Malcane's grand daughter who used to reside in Curepipe | | | Shania | | | Hi readers,
I must say that appalled by the content of this article. May be am a bit too demanding from the journalists of our small nation. Where is the analysis in this article? How can someone doing a recap on a whole year be so biased and only see the glass half empty? Am very sorry to say that a high calibre publication like L'Express can even allow so poor level articles being published. Ms Bhookun, am not surprised at all if the opposition is not even inviting you to their functions. I don't see the objective behind what you wrote and there's nothing constructive in what you have written. Your only analysis limits to the number of PNQs and PQs the opposition has asked. How despicable!!! | | | sisen | | | bonjour,
je voudrais repondre a l'effet que Berenger se targue d'avoir été très performant pour ses pq et pnq mais qui ont choisi que Ramgoolam soit le premier ministre de Maurice et Berenger soit le leader de l'opposition? Que nous le voulions ou pas, c'est ainsi... et se lamenter ne changera rien.Si nous continuons a regarder dans un aquarium, quand saurons-nous qu'il existe quelque chose de plus grand qu'on appelle l'ocean?Nous méritons le gouvernement que nous avons et l'opposition qu'on a, Un point c'est tout.
Ceci dit j'adore tes articles meme si la plupart du temps c'est en anglais que je deteste soit dit en passant, mais je me fais un devoir de te lire pour tes allusions vitrioliques. Bonne année quand meme... | | | Mike | | | Indeed Deepa's comment about arrogant foreigners creating ghetto's is really mean. Deepa forgot to mention that the government facilitated the foreign entry to attract investment i.e. CASH which the country badly needs. Deepa also forgot to mention the huge EU cash grants (not loans) that the country has received. So why the foreigner bashing? Or are the scapegoat for the country's troubles? Mean or what!
I am EU tax payer who contributes to the development of Mauritius.
| | | joe lavanne | | | good on you , specialy the part foreigners are invading our island & creating there own little ghettos | | | Cannonball | | | Happy New Year Deepa, well we are aware that PRB got caught by the virus "bateur bis" .He is really enjoying being a carrier of this virus , as a host who has lost the energy of the 70's he has just turned out be a real batteur bis himself.Do not expect him to change. | | | Mr X | | | The concept of an opposition group is to give the illusion of choice. They're all the same I'm afraid and this is the case worldwide.
If you're a good liar, deceitful and manipulative then politics might just be the perfect job for you !
Happy new year anyway and long live us all : ) | | | JOE | | | Despite all the negative points brought up by Deepa I have still not come across any western countries where we can have an extra 13 month pay at the end of the year which in the current economic climate is a real father Christmas gift .I come to Mauritius on holiday almost every year and I can definitely see an improvent in the general standard of living across all the nation.However I am concious that as a human being we still want to see more improvement for the future. Not everything is just negative I am sure that there are so many positive aspects that Deepa can write about and provide an overall balance review for 2010.
Joe | | | JALEKA | | | Deepa , you are absolutely right. When I read yoiur artcles i recall the famous Malkan Bookan, one of the gretest teacher, preceptor,instructor and master who was never given the chance to even set up his Eau Coulée College, College Ile de France and so on. He must be in heaven by now. | | | Tibo | | | I'm very please of your comment Deepa. | | | wisdom | | | Now Miss Bhookun,you are really a spoilsport.I have been conditioning myself to forget the old year until I read your article.I will seek asylum if a repeat is on the cards next year. | | | Zinnette | | | This article does not make any sense to me.What are you trying to say or convey to the public | | | DM France | | | well say
their is no opposition in Mauritius, with an Old leader like Bérenger the opposition will not do anything we need a Big Change
I wishes a HAPPY NEW YEAR 2011 to all of you
Thank L'express
| | | Bashir | | | Dire tout haut ce que les autres pensent tout bas...Well said. | | | D.V | | | Thank you so much for these lines.... You're someone great and I like your open speaking mind.... Why dont you by next year have a special corner like a Deepa's View of the day... Keep it up .. Hopefully you will not ruin my celebrations as I am far from this country. All what i can say is this country is drowning slowly ... and some ppl are just watching it.. Hopefully your voice might create some awarenes... Cheers and Happy New Year to you D.B | |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|