Entries from February 2009 ↓

Welcome President Hu

Hu jin tao is on a state visit. Why is Mauritius on the list of 5 nations , Saudi Arabia, Senegal, Mali, Tanzania? This is his second trip to Africa since the 2006 Beijing Summit of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation.

The two day visit is going to disrupt our usual routine and mark the visit of one of the most influential person of the world. School children and civil servants will be on leave and the main roads closed to traffic. Is it too much fuss for the event?

We have been told that this is the security norm for a state visit. Mauritius does not want something dramatical to President Hu to happen during his visit and we want him to be impressed by Mauritius as a hospitable and friendly nation. Let us be realistic, who has more to gain out of this visit?

Being a China born person, I personally feel a sense of connection to China. I see the progress of China in world affairs as  justified not  because of my back ground but more importantly because China has the largest population of the world.

Let us enjoy his visit and hope that the ties between our two nations get even stronger.

Reflexion Dominicale

Mc 1,40-45.
Un lépreux vient trouver Jésus ; il tombe à ses genoux et le supplie : « Si
tu le veux, tu peux me purifier. »
Pris de pitié devant cet homme, Jésus étendit la main, le toucha et lui dit
: « Je le veux, sois purifié. »
A l’instant même, sa lèpre le quitta et il fut purifié.
Aussitôt Jésus le renvoya avec cet avertissement sévère :
« Attention, ne dis rien à personne, mais va te montrer au prêtre. Et
donne pour ta purification ce que Moïse prescrit dans la Loi : ta guérison
sera pour les gens un témoignage. »
Une fois parti, cet homme se mit à proclamer et à répandre la nouvelle, de
sorte qu’il n’était plus possible à Jésus d’entrer ouvertement dans une
ville. Il était obligé d’éviter les lieux habités, mais de partout on
venait à lui.
===================================================================

J’observe de plus près la demande du lépreux. Aurai-je formulé une demande de guérison dans ce sens à mon Dieu? Le lépreux demande t il une guérison, ou sollicite t il d’être purifier ? Bien sur j’aurai tombé à genoux pour supplier, étant dans la détresse. « Si tu le veux, tu peux me purifier », sous entend le respect de la volonté de Dieu et la foi dans sa capacité. Le lépreux dans sa supplication met toute sa confiance dans son Seigneur Maître qui saura faire ce qui est bon pour lui.

Je vois ainsi, dans la demande du lépreux, une foi en la capacité de Dieu non seulement de guérir et de lui rendre pur, mais également une convergence entre son désir et la volonté de Dieu.

Je te reconnais Père, pourvoyeur de tout, que ton nom soit sanctifier, que la volonté du Père soit faite avant tout. Est-ce cela sous entend également que si mon désir ne concorde pas avec ta volonté, j’accepterai également car Dieu d’amour sait mieux ce qui est bon pour moi ?

Être en accord avec la volonté de Dieu. Comment le savoir ? Il m’a dit qu’il sera avec moi jusqu’à la fin des temps ; j’y crois mais pas assez. Il est toujours la mais moi :pas toujours.

Je te demande ce matin, augmenter en moi, la conscience de ta présence et de ton amour. Que je me purifie de mes manquements afin je puisse être en permanence avec toi et être en communion avec toi. Si tu le veux, je souhaiterai que Tu vies en moi et que chacun de mes gestes et actions soient purs en conformité de ta volonté.

Bumper 2008 for the Oil companies

The petroleum industry has established record levels of profitability in 2008.

This is the case of Shell

Royal Dutch Shell’s fourth quarter 2008 earnings, on a current cost of supplies (CCS) basis, were $4.8 billion compared to $6.7 billion a year ago. Basic CCS earnings per share decreased by 27% versus the same quarter a year ago.

  • Full year 2008 CCS earnings were $31.4 billion compared to $27.6 billion for the full year 2007. Basic CCS earnings per share for the full year 2008 increased by 16% when compared to 2007.
  • Cash flow from operating activities for the fourth quarter 2008 was $10.3 billion. Net capital investment for the quarter was $6.8 billion. Total cash returned to shareholders, in the form of dividends and share repurchases, was $2.7 billion.
  • A fourth quarter 2008 dividend has been announced of $0.40 per share, an increase of 11% over the US dollar dividend for the same period in 2007.
  • The first quarter 2009 dividend is expected to be declared at $0.42 per share, an increase of 5% compared to the first quarter 2008 US dollar dividend.

Royal Dutch Shell Chief Executive Jeroen van der Veer commented: “We delivered satisfactory performance in the fourth quarter of 2008, given the pressure on demand for oil and gas due to a weaker global economy. Our strategy remains to pay competitive and progressive dividends, and to make significant investments in the company for future profitability. Industry conditions remain challenging, and we are continuing the focus on capital and cost discipline in Shell.”

Exxon Mobil will be announcing their 2008 performance early in March.

ExxonMobil’s 2009 Analyst Meeting will take place on Thursday, March 5, 2009, with a live audio webcast beginning at 9 a.m. EST, 8 a.m. CST. The webcast will last for approximately 3 hours. ExxonMobil’s presenters will be led by Chairman and CEO, Rex Tillerson.

BP released their last quarter and final 2008 results a week ago.

For the full year, replacement cost profit was $25,593 million compared with $18,370 million a year ago, up 39%.

Total in France like other oil companies has also had a bumper year 2008.

A 14 % increase in adjusted net operating income from business segments for the year 2008 compared to 2007 was annonced earlier in Feburary.

We all recall that in 2008, we experienced the rise of the barrel of crude rising to 138 dollars. For sure there were plenty of speculations; the spectre of 200 dollars per barrel of crude soon was waived.

In a higher price situation, I postulate that the oil companies make higher margin, thus higher profit; yet when the price of the crude oil lowers to more reasonable level, the price for the consumers are readjusted with a delayed lag time but not in the same proportion as the drop of the oil.

Is it a situation of high price oil companies make increased margins, lower price they still make increased margin? This reminded me of a similar situation in my working life, where the head office of the company was charging a management fees of 20 % based on turnover with a guaranteed minimum amount irrespective of turnover. Win situation we all win; lost situation you loose and they do not loose.

Karl Marx’s Quote

A friend who like me, has retired from work, sent me this quote:

Owners of capital will stimulate working class to buy more and more of expensive goods, houses and technology, pushing them to take more and more expensive credits, until their debt becomes unbearable. The unpaid debt will lead to bankruptcy of banks which will have to be nationalized and State will have to take the road which will eventually lead to communism.
Karl Marx, Das Kapital, 1867

Is that what happened in the United States of America recently?

The banks are near bankruptcy now and the governments have to bail them out to save a financial crash. The nationalization has not happened yet and is not likely to happen although the governments are dishing out cash with strings attached and need of reporting.

Today, I saw the public admission of guilt of the President of the City Bank group regarding the lavish expenses which the company were supporting whilst on the other hand begging the Government for help. He has since cancelled the order of the executive jet and the executives are now travelling with commercial aircraft.

I do hope that the incentive package of Obama gets through and more importantly the world economy would be back in better state.

B 747

Four decades of a flying giant

The very first time I flew in a B747 was sometime in 1970. Air India for whom I was working for invited me to sample this enormous aircraft compared to the B707, that regularly serviced the Bombay –Mauritius run.

I flew from Bombay to Delhi on the inaugural flight.

The original Boeing 747 was so big that airports had to be adapted to accommodate it. Hangars were enlarged to fit the tail-fin, while tow-trucks and stairs on the taxiway had to be changed. The turbofan engines were more powerful and quieter than jet engines. There were 16 wheels – twice the normal – to spread the weight.

Passengers in economy class had a greater sense of space because there were twin aisles and higher storage cabins. Travellers in first class had access to a cocktail bar up a spiral staircase. Pilots (two plus a flight engineer) had to be retrained in new simulators because the cockpit was so high off the ground.

Four decades ago, Boeing’s prototype 747 took to the skies over Washington State for a flight lasting some 75 minutes.

The aircraft, named City of Everett after the location of the factory where it was manufactured, handled well. And so was born the aircraft which has become an icon of the aviation industry and helped bring cheap airline travel to millions of people.

What then made the 747 unique was that it was the first “wide body” aircraft – it had more than one aisle. Today this is the norm for most long haul (and some short haul) aircraft. But at the time it was a big step towards reducing any sense of travelling in a narrow tube, and inducing a sense more equivalent to flying in a large room with high ceilings.

Also new was the upper deck, accessed by a spiral staircase. When the aircraft entered service this was initially a rather exclusive bar for first class passengers – today it is more typically used as an additional business or economy class seating area.

Air Mauritius for a number of years flew the SP versions of the B747 which were on lease from South African Airways which had autonomy of 14 hours of flying. One of the key factors for the sucess of Mauritius as a preferred sunshine holiday for Europeans was the non stop service offered as early as the  70’s by Air Mauritius on a SP B747.

Paintings


Could you guess on what material was the painting drawn?

You are right, it is a living material. I found the beard almost real?

This was one of the paintings presented at a paintings competition at Keys west in Florida USA.

xxx

Watch out for the next one.

Do you like this babe?

Worm Compost

Excessive use of chemicals and pesticide is certainly having adverse effects on nature. Of late I have been reading on vermin-composting and organic farming. I inquired with ‘AREU’ Agricultural research extension unit, to check if it was possible to compost with worms in Mauritius. I was told that AREU they are experimenting on this composting method and are having difficulties in finding enough worms to operate a composting system.

I am stunned to hear that in Mauritius the population of earth worms has gone so low. As a kid I recall that the back yard of my kindergarten school was infested with worms particularly area where the soil was moist.

Methods for Collecting Your Finished Worm Compost

After you have been feeding your worms for three to six months, you may notice the bedding has been eaten, and you can begin harvesting the brown, crumbly worm compost. Harvesting the compost and adding fresh bedding at least twice a year is necessary to keep your worms healthy.

Method 1:

Move the contents of your worm bin to one side, place fresh bedding in the empty space and bury your food wastes there for a month or so. Harvest the other side after the worms have migrated to the new food and bedding.

Method 2:

Remove one-third to one-half of the contents of your bin, worms and all, and add the worm compost to your garden soil. Add fresh bedding and food to your bin.

Method 3:

Spread a sheet of plastic out under a bright light or in the sun. Dump the contents of the worm box into a number of piles on the sheet. The worms will crawl away from the light into the center of each pile and you can brush away the worm compost on the outside by hand. Soon you will have wriggling piles of worms surrounded by donut-shaped piles of worm compost.

Using Your Worm Compost

Worm compost is more concentrated than most other composts because worms are excellent at digesting food wastes and breaking them down into simple plant nutrients. Use it sparingly for best results.

Mulching and Amending Soil

To mulch with worm compost, apply a one-inch layer to the soil around plants. Be sure the worm compost is not piled against plant stems. To amend soil, worm compost can be spread one-half to two inches thick over garden soil and mixed in before planting, or mixed into the bottom of seeding trenches or transplanting holes. You can also mulch your worm compost into:

  1. Houseplants: Sprinkle worm compost around the base of plants to fertilize. Each time you water, plant nutrients will seep into the soil.
  2. Potting Mixes: For healthy seedlings, mix one part worm compost with three parts potting mix or three parts sand and soil combined. Peat moss, pearlite and worm castings are also good ingredients to add.

Warning Signs

Some symptoms that your worm composting is not going as well as it could are:

  • If your worms are dying
  • If your bin smells rotten and/or attracts flies

Worms Dying

If your worms are dying there could be several causes:

  1. It may be that they are not getting enough food, which means you should bury more food into the bedding.
  2. They may be too dry, in which case you should moisten the box until it is slightly damp.
  3. They may be too wet, in which case you should add bedding.
  4. The worms may be too hot, in which case you should put the bin in the shade.
  5. The bedding is eaten, and it is time to add fresh bedding.

Bin Smells

If your bin smells rotten and/or attracts flies, there may be three causes:

  1. First, it may be that there is not enough air circulation. In this case, add dry bedding under and over the worms, and do not feed them for two weeks.
  2. Second, there may be non-compostables present such as meat, pet feces or greasy food. These should be removed.
  3. Third, there may be exposed food in the bin. In this case, secure the lid, cover food scraps with bedding, and cover worms and bedding with a sheet of plastic.

http://earth911.com/blog/2007/04/02/composting-with-worms/

Reflexion Dominicale

Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint Mark 1,29-39.

On leaving the synagogue he entered the house of Simon and Andrew with James and John.
Simon’s mother-in-law lay sick with a fever. They immediately told him about her.
He approached, grasped her hand, and helped her up. Then the fever left her and she waited on them.
When it was evening, after sunset, they brought to him all who were ill or possessed by demons.
The whole town was gathered at the door.
He cured many who were sick with various diseases, and he drove out many demons, not permitting them to speak because they knew him.
Rising very early before dawn, he left and went off to a deserted place, where he prayed.
Simon and those who were with him pursued him
and on finding him said, “Everyone is looking for you.”
He told them, “Let us go on to the nearby villages that I may preach there also. For this purpose have I come.”
So he went into their synagogues, preaching and driving out demons throughout the whole of Galilee.

————————————————————————————

This Sunday has been not usual as other Sundays, as I decided to attend the weekly mass on Saturday to be freed to attend another service at the Presbyterian Church St. Columbus in Phoenix.

Philip the president of Toastmasters had informed me that he would be speaking in church there and later I was informed by Wairu and there will be a special service to pray for Nina, a founder member of Toastmasters, who will be undergoing surgery to remove a brain tumour in India. I was also marvellous to pray together with all the friends in a different church. I was really pleased to have attended the different service.

Today’ reading was commented by Philip who started off using his fondness of movies watching by asking: “if each evangelist was a movie producer, what sort of movie would they have produced to tell the story of Jesus?” Luke would have produced a narrative movie. May be Matthew would have produced a much researched and as near as possible factual movie. Whilst John would have yield a movie from the angle of his own thoughts and in sights on the facts, the last evangelist Mark being a succinct and direct he would have produce a short action movie giving the essence of the story.

What lessons today’s reading can we draw? When you read through the first lines, we observe the compassion that Jesus had for the large crowd from the whole town that gathered in the house. Jesus was busy, attending to the demand of one and all and servicing their wants. Very much like us, who are busy attending to all what we are requested to do?

Then the next morning, Jesus left to a solitary deserted place to pray. Is he not indicating to us the need to pray? Do not all of us need to recollect our spirit and enter in a dialogue with God and have some heart to heart communications with our Lord?

Jesus must have had been praying for a while as the disciplines were looking for him. The crowd wanted him for more healing. Mark does not detail the prayer conversation that Jesus had. By observing Jesus’ action, we could deduct that after conferring with His father, he had received other instructions that to keep healing the persons who were after him.

Philip used a very appropriate story which demonstrates the pushing or others on oneself which might divert oneself from one’s mission. The ‘thermostat story,’ which I shall have the pleasure to write thereon separately. Jesus was refocused on his main purpose: to preach elsewhere. He had to move on.

I also enjoyed the wonderful story of Philip explaining the possible meandering route taken to the main purpose of Jesus. As much as we need to achieve our mission, we may travel through somewhat devious routes to experiment the joy and happiness of the journey to our ultimate goal.

To conclude Philip saw in today’s reading the compassion, servicing, praying and purpose of Jesus.

Lord give me the compassion and the spirit of service that I need to look after my brethren, through the practice of heart to heart dialogue, prayers with You Lord bless me in finding my purpose in my life and lastly with Your eternal love grant me to be accompanied throughout my earthy journey by You and other persons You decide to place on my path.

Thank you Lord for the wonderful time I had with the congregation I met this morning and I implore you with the congregation to bless Nina and to heal her. You got the whole world in your hand; you got our sister Nina in your hand.

Power of Persuasion

All of us definitely are required to perfect our communications skills.  I continuously need to sharpen all my skills, of all the skills, the one of  persuasion would yield instantaneous and the largest pay back. I was lucky to have known this fact early in my life career and later joining the Toastmasters club was delightful.

Perfecting Your Powers of Persuasion

The Persuasion Process
Simply stated, persuasion is the ability to sway others toward a different perspective. It takes careful preparation and the ability to frame/reframe, offer concessions, communicate one’s position through evidence/logic, and to correctly match the other party’s emotional state.

The starting point is credibility. It is your expertise, your relationship, your reputation in the organization, and your ability to be proactive when dealing with others. Trust is the foundation of persuasion and is manifest in certain behaviors: honest communication, body language that displays interest, listening and questioning, and so on.

The content of one’s message and the way the content is delivered is also important. The content needs to focus on the goal that is common to both parties and on the need to reach that goal mutually. This makes the message attractive to the other party
and generates reciprocity on the other side. In other words, if your message is constructed correctly, the responding message from the other party will be something you can build on.

As with any message, yours must be supported with evidence and rationale. This may take the form of an analogy, statistics, or even a reference to a value the other party has. For example, when you are trying to persuade an employee to change performance behaviors, you may discover that he or she values working alone (the reason for the lack of proper performance behavior). Wanting to work alone is validated by reframing it as having a strong personal work ethic. This, in turn, establishes a discussion that takes this issue and reframes it as a value that would benefit others in the organization. This may persuade the employee not to work alone as often so that others can see his or her strong work ethic.

Finally, a skilled negotiator is quick to assess the emotional state of the other party and to respond to that state. This requires on the part of the negotiator a high self-esteem level and emotional balance when handling conflict. Having self-esteem allows the
negotiator to display passion for reaching agreement, while the emotional balance makes certain that the passion is not over- or underwhelming.

How to Be More Persuasive
Most people use only facts to persuade. This is unfortunate, because facts only justify a position if you tend to agree with that position. Persuasion is a complex art. It involves a careful blend of feelings, logic, WIIFTs (what’s in it for them), and values. Because people feel differently about different material needs and situations and because WIIFTs vary from person to person, persuasive techniques must be adapted to each person in each situation.

To successfully persuade someone, you must appeal to them on three levels:

1. Emotion (opens the mind)
The use of emotion in persuasion must be planned carefully. You need to be enthusiastic and confident about your plan, idea, or settlement (emotion really does open the mind). However, like garlic in stew, too much of an emotional appeal will fail as surely as no emotional appeal at all. You need to find ways to keep the other party emotionally involved in the discussion. You will notice a distinct lack of energy at the table if you or the other party is emotionally uninvolved.

2. Logic (justifies the recommendation)
Logic is the rational, factual, reasoned discourse about the merits of an idea or settlement. Logic is a core part of persuasion. Emotion opens the mind and logic justifies the position you are taking.

3. Values (seals the deal)
The final part of persuasion is the appeal to values. Values are beliefs that guide behavior. Each of us has values that are unique to us and values that we share in common. You should make your persuasive appeal within the context of the other party’s “dominant receptivity mode.”

“Dominant receptivity mode” refers to predominant values that the other party holds dear. Perhaps the person you are dealing with is a conservative traditionalist favoring the status quo. You would not persuade such a person to buy your product by pointing out that your item represents state-of-the-art technology used by entrepreneurs. Instead, you might position the product as one that will help him/her preserve assets that increase the efficiency of the workforce. You market your product or idea to match the other person’s dominant receptivity mode (i.e., value system).

How, then, do you use this persuasion model in everyday negotiations? You can use the model in this way:

  • Appeal to emotion—State a claim
    A claim is an opinion unsubstantiated by fact. The claim is generally the vehicle by which an emotional appeal is made. An effective claim stimulates the interest of the listener—it opens the listener’s mind. For example: “I could show you a way to increase your sales by 18 percent. Would you be interested?”
  • Appeal to logi—State facts to support the claim
    A fact is information that can be verified by independent sources or proven through empirical investigation. Facts must back up claims and be verifiable by independent sources. Facts are the logical part of persuasion. For example: “In a carefully designed and controlled study in two organizations similar to yours, those who took this course in negotiation settled on average 18% higher in their sales efforts than those who did not take the course.”
  • Appeal to values—Assign a meaning/WIIFT
    A meaning is the personal benefit that someone can make of the claim or fact.
    For example: “What all this means is that you’ll have increased profits in your
    division.” You can demonstrate a personal WIIFT meaning at this point, speaking to the issue in
    terms of the party’s dominant receptivity mode. For example: “John, with increased profits you will be in a position to negotiate increased commissions for you and your staff.”

Listening
In any negotiation, it’s important to remember to listen to the other party. This involves:

  • Responding to the person rather than to the concepts
  • Following the other party’s claim, facts, and meaning rather than trying to go to areas you think should be explored
  • Clarifying what the other party is saying
  • Acknowledging the feelings being expressed by the other party

Text printed from AMA web site to whom I am indebted.

P E T & The environment

Recycling of PET bottles

I saw on Euro news yesterday, that in Portugal, a new factory has been set up to produce quality blankets from used water bottles (PET). PET stands for polyethylene terephthalate.

The situation in Mauritius:

PET post consumer bottle recovery and recycling: The Mauritius Soft Drink Bottlers’ Association , regrouping the four big producers of soft drinks has contracted a private company (POLYPET RECYCLERS LTD) to sort and export PET bottle waste, in response to a producer responsibility regulation from the Ministry of Environment. Special dustbins in strategic spots have been placed and a collection rate of 30% of the 3000 MT of PET used on the island (or about 80 million bottles) has been reached. In addition the Association promotes community initiatives with NGOs to create an opportunity for locals to find some additional revenue obtained from the reselling of PET waste. Workers directly engaged by Polypet are more than 30 and indirect job creation is around 100 on the collection side.

For the time being the collected PET bottles are crushed for export. The quantity collected may not justify the setting up of a factory to recycle and convert the resins.

What tonnage could be collected in the region? How much can be collected in Reunion island, Comoros and Madagascar? Will the volume then justify the setting up of a plant to transform the resin? Has anyone studied the issue?