My existence in the virtual world

Do you know Etienne Chomé?

Shortly before he left Mauritius in 2005 Etienne who has spent a number of years in Mauritius left a legacy. His 5 year’s stay in our island culminated in the publishing of his book “Apprendre a mieux gerer nos conflits” and the training of a team of volunteers to carry on his very laudable mission: teaching How to improve communications and conflict resolution skills.

Throughout his sojourn with us, Etienne conducted a large number of seminars and conferences on Conflict resolutions and communication skills. He had time to put to test his knowledge of the subject and perfected the delivery of the material to suit the local public. I attended some years ago, the lectures he gave and experienced his effective & artful skills in presenting, teaching and delivering complex intellectual materials simply. He was a knowledgeable, intelligent, generous and humble person. He could after the first session remember by first name each one of the 80 participants from memory.

Etienne’s works is largely inspired from world renown authors namely: Marshal ROSENBERG, Jacques SALOME, Thomas GORDON, Roger FISHER & William URY.

Etienne will be back in Mauritius for a short visit next week and will be taking stock of the impact of his deeds.

I would recommend that you enroll to one of the lectures given by Etienne’s team or purchase a copy of his book which has been printed & published in Mauritius.

He has very recently started a new website: www.commincaactions.org

Hier soir à notre télévision nationale, était annoncé la sortie prochaine d’un rapport sur la Pisciculture. Rapport commandité par la Societé Idée sur le potentiel et développement des produits de la mer.

Et voila que ce matin, apres les informations, sur la chaine MBC 1, je savourais avec grand plaisir une émission de « Savoir plus Sciences » de FR 2 du mois de Mai2006, qui traite du même sujet.

Question posée et répondue :

Surpêche : pourrons-nous continuer à manger du poisson ?
Techniques de pêches de plus en plus sophistiquées, forte demande des consommateurs, les stocks de poissons de mer semblent aujourd’hui diminuer de plus en plus. Les scientifiques multiplient les campagnes pour évaluer l’état des réserves, et dans les ports, les pêcheurs tentent de développer des pratiques pour limiter les prises. Malgré cela, certaines espèces sont en danger. Pourrons-nous continuer à manger du poisson et lesquels ?

Pisciculture : le poisson d’élevage pourra-t-il remplacer les poissons sauvages ? Pour pallier le manque de poissons sauvages, on se tourne aujourd’hui de plus en plus vers la pisciculture. Mais, ces poissons d’élevage ont-ils les mêmes qualités que les poissons de mer ? Peut-on élever toutes les espèces de poissons ? Vincent Chastelain est allé enquêter du côté des bassins du Sud de la France.

La Réponse : En Europe le poisson d’élevage représente aujourd’hui 25% du marché grande surface et passera en peu de temps à 50%. La CEE diminuerait le quota de la pêche au fur et à mesure que la pisciculture arrivera à fournir la demande.

Maurice est déjà bien positionnée avec La Ferme Marine de Mahébourg et autres initiatives de pisciculture en marche. Préservons notre avance en produisant de la qualité. Faisons de notre zone océanographique un havre de développement durable, écologique, modèle du monde.

China Today

By my origin, as you may know, coming from a Chinese origin family, of parents born in Maurituis, I have the privilege of being a Mauritius citizen born in China.CBC (China born Chinese) as opposed to my MBC parents! A proud Mauritian, I am. To live on our Island and be exposed to the diversity of cultures at close range, I bet, is not usual. Then to be conscious of it and to take benefit of the unique situation would be wise and clever. This presents an advantage over most men of the world. We, Mauritian should be more aware of our unique heritage laid down for us and be avid to reap the fruit of these assets.I trust you enjoyed my recent blog taking you to India and the Elephanta caves for the feast of Lord Ganesh.

I have a foible for China. The obvious case may be because of my family back ground but the stronger case element is “what China presents in population size and what China will command in the future as an Economic power house”. To that matter, every single soul in the world has a stake to watch out China.

I read through a paper presented by Prof. LI Hongtu at a ENS conference in Lyons in 2004 which is still relevant & pertinent.

Reading similar documents nurtures my quest for understanding, learning and expanding my perspectives. I pray that they do the same to you. Bonne Lecture.( our frenchie touch yet another gift bestowed upon us) Enjoy…

« Que Ta volonté soit faite » je le dis tous les jours depuis que je suis enfant. Plus une fois, je me suis posé la question : Comment connaître la volonté de Dieu ?

Voici un texte de Bruno Feillet qui mérite lecture et réflexion.

Chacun ici, moi compris, nous avons quelque part dans notre cœur le secret désir de connaître avec certitude cette volonté et la connaissant, nous la mettrions en œuvre sans nous poser de question. Nous aimerions tant être à la place du serviteur du centurion à qui il dit « fait ceci » et qui le fait. Au fond, ce serait assez sécurisant mais aussi plutôt déresponsabilisant. Avons-nous été créé pour être aveugles dans notre obéissance, robotisés dans notre agir, ou encore pour être des marionnettes dans les mains de Dieu ?
Nous allons le voir, la volonté de Dieu à notre sujet n’est pas coulée dans le bronze de l’éternité. Il y a une vraie différence entre le désir et la volonté de Dieu sur nous ou encore les appels que Dieu nous lance et ce que nous appelons ici bas une vocation. Ne nous méprenons pas, Dieu veut de toute éternité que nous soyons en communion avec lui et entre nous ; il veut que nous fassions le bien et évitions le mal. C’est sûr et il ne faut pas douter de cela. Cependant, plus nous descendons dans le quotidien de la vie, comme le dirait saint Thomas d’Aquin, moins les choses sont évidentes car les situations sont complexes pour ne pas dire compliquées.

Commençons par imaginer la thèse où Dieu aurait tout écrit, tout décidé pour chacun de nous et tâchons d’en tirer logiquement les conséquences. Revenons à notre ami Rodrigue qui hier hésitait entre épouser Cunégonde ou épouser Artémise. Si Dieu voulait qu’il épouse Cunégonde, en épousant Artémise, a-t-il raté définitivement sa vie ? En fait, on pourrait aussi imaginer que Dieu voulait que Rodrigue devienne prêtre du diocèse de Cambrai. Mais voilà qu’il épouse Artémise ? Rodrigue a-t-il raté sa vie et compromis son salut ? Vous savez bien que la réponse est non et nous allons voir pourquoi. Et si la réponse est non pour des situations aussi importantes que les engagements à vie, la réponse sera encore plus ferme pour les petites décisions de notre quotidien.

J’entends déjà une objection parmi les familiers de l’Écriture que vous êtes. Celles et ceux qui ont lu et médité le Ps 138-139 qui porte sur l’omniscience de Dieu connaissent le verset 16 : « sur ton livre, ils sont tous inscrits les jours qui ont été fixés, et chacun d’eux y figurent ». Ce n’est pas parce que Dieu sait tout ce qui va advenir que c’est lui qui organise les événements. Il sait tout parce qu’il est Dieu et qu’il sait comment nous allons réagir à ses appels, mais parce qu’il est l’amour même, il ne fait pas les choses à notre place. En fait, il veut agir avec nous et pas sans nous.
Autrement dit, Dieu ne reprend pas d’une main ce qu’il a donné de l’autre. En nous créant libres pour être des partenaires, des collaborateurs de sa création, des hommes et des femmes debout, il ne peut dans le même temps nous manipuler à longueur de temps ou nous enfermer dans un programme préétabli. Si Dieu nous a donné la sagesse et l’autonomie, c’est pour que nous nous en servions pour faire le bien et éviter le mal en nous appuyant sur sa grâce. Grâce de Dieu dont je rappelle qu’elle éclaire notre intelligence et incline notre volonté à faire le bien.

Pour aller jusqu’au bout de ma pensée, lorsque nous demandons à Dieu « que ta volonté soit faite » nous lui demandons très exactement de nous aider à faire le bien, à vivre de l’Évangile, à être des témoins de son amour dans toutes les situations que nous traversons. Cela suppose que nous ouvrions notre conscience à son Évangile et à son Esprit-saint.
Les Pères du Concile Vatican II n’ont pas eu peur d’écrire au N° 16 de Gaudium et spes l’expression suivante : « Au fond de sa conscience, l’homme découvre la présence d’une loi qu’il ne s’est pas donnée lui-même, mais à laquelle il est tenu d’obéir. Cette voix, qui ne cesse de le presser d’aimer et d’accomplir le bien et d’éviter le mal au moment opportun résonne dans l’intimité de son cœur : « Fais ceci, évite cela » ; Car c’est une loi inscrite par Dieu au cœur de l’homme ; sa dignité est de lui obéir, et c’est elle qui le jugera. ». Voyez-vous, lorsque les Pères nous invitent à écouter notre conscience, ils ne nous disent pas de nous éloigner de Dieu mais bien de nous en rapprocher. Faire la volonté de Dieu, c’est construire avec lui, sous l’éclairage de notre conscience droite, le chemin de vie qui sera en harmonie avec notre conscience.
Relisons la troisième demande du Notre Père. Jésus ne nous dit de prier en disant « que ta volonté soit accomplie », mais « faite ». C’est-à-dire, qu’il faut la construire avec lui. Et c’est la grandeur de l’homme que de pouvoir faire cela.

Sur le site de Bruno Feillet www.discernement.com ou je me suis régalé (intellectuellement). J’ai croqué avidement les pages de citation & sagesse. Je vous recommande une visite presto….pour le weekend.

We may today still be in awe with the works of Leonardo Da Vinci, 456 years after his death and we may still be inspired by him. Leonardo was himself in reverence with Filippo Brunelleschi who lived a century earlier. I was moved during the last week whilst watching a show on BBC giving an account of the genius of Leonardo in various fields.

In his serial of stories, Micheal J Gelb describes in his book, “Discover your Genius”, of the like of Plato, Columbus, Elizabeth I, Shakespeare, Jefferson, Darwin, Gandhi, Einstein, how Filippo continues to inspire & influence the world today.

Post the renaissance period, the great inventors or artists did not, in the western world signed their works. All deeds at the time were attributed to God. At Renaissance, the individual contribution was accepted. Now, we believe that He acts through humans.

We may learn to model Filippo Brunelleschi’s creative problem solving skills, his challenge of the limits of the impossible, and his persistence in getting his vision into reality. Above all, as he was a multi skilled person, modeling him would expand our perspective.

Some learning’s:

1. When I begin a project I start with a visualization of its successful completion.
2. I keep my priorities in perspective when I’m under stress.
3. I have faith in my own ideas.
4. I don’t let set back throw me off course.
5. Opposition strengthens my resolve.
6. I can improvise when necessary.
7. When I set a goal, I work with patience and dedication until it is successfully realized.
8. I want to expand my intellectual perspective.
9. I can think “out of the box” and then apply creative solutions to real life problems.
10. I understand and appreciate the influence of architecture in my view of the world.

I still have goose pimples when I flash back in my past trip to Florence in 2004.

In almost all work situations, there are some office politics. When there are humans involved there is politics. This happens even in families. The game of influencing, threatening, pressuring, convincing, and yielding or complying be it soft or hard are always present in human interactions. Some years ago, I had the chance of attending an enlightening lecture by a Belgian author, Jean Jacques Creve Coeur who wrote “Relations & jeux de pouvoir”.

I have traveled fairly well in this path in my work career. As a junior, I yielded more easily, sometimes I gave in unconsciously. At the start, I was often a door mat: I would not react either out of fear or timidity or out of not wanting to create waves. As I grew older and when I acquired more experience and responsibilities in the working environment, my level of awareness of “office politics” also increased. I have learned how to discern the office politics and how to be saved from situation before it gets out of hand.

In the nutshell, I learned when and how to play with the sharks without being eaten by them. I practiced the art of turning an unavoidable evil into a source of information for better understanding and better informed actions. Just like rumors, one needs to know which part of it is false (intoxication) and which part has a base of truth. Who are the guys spreading the rumors and for what purpose is the propaganda? Who are the initiators, designers and who are the unconscious carriers of the rumors?

I always thought that if I was made aware of the intricacies of “office politics” well ahead, I would have acted in some cases better. “Un homme avisé en vaut deux”. Can one attend a seminar on the subject?

As a matter of interest, at least those who might be swimming with some sharks now, I like to share with you a power point presentation on the theme. May the PowerPoint get you to think and be warned ahead?

Not long ago, there was on the 17 July 2006 a symposium for the Mauritian Diaspora: « Pa Bliye nou Rasinn ». I am presently viewing the DVD of the event which I could not attend. The DVD is on sale @ Capav Production Tel. 230 4672911.

The present government, through the measures expressed in the budget seems to encouraging our Diaspora to invest in our country. Indeed maintaining the bond of Mauritian worldwide is essential. Portals, websites and blogs are excellent vehicles to achieve the communications interchange.

I have to cite & congratulate Madeleine & Clancy Philippe for the good work to have created and for maintaining a portal for the Mauritius – Australia link. I would like to see more similar initiatives. Radio Moris is yet another commendable action.

We need the Diaspora as much as they need us. We all share the same root “meme rassinn” and have so much in common. To see that Mauritius is doing well is in itself a source of pride for the overseas Mauritian.

As is the case with all Diasporas, the bonds remain lasting for generations. Israel has always survived with the support of its overseas Jews. India recently has amended its law to give special consideration to its large Diaspora. China for that matter had always had a ministry of overseas Chinese to serve the vast number of overseas Chinese. Rightly, China experienced that by far the largest investment in China since its open policy, originated from overseas Chinese.

Could Mauritius, like India and China give a special status to the members of the Diaspora?

As most of you who live in Mauritius, you would have enjoyed a Holyday today: The Feast of the lord Ganesh, the god of wisdom. I flashed back to the days ,when I used to frequently visit Bombay and attended the feast at Elephanta caves,an island across The Gate of India in Colaba. The eve of the festival day now gave me the opportunity to sleep late so that I could enjoy the late morning wake up.The wake time was spent refreshing my old notes and browsing the web on the new developments thereon.

You will recall that at age 48, I decided to reequip myself with new competencies to further my active life. Indeed, one of the subjects I studied was NLP. You will find at least 2 links to NLP institutions which will explain to you what it is all about and how NLP could help you in your life. These life skills, to which I have been initiated to, worked wonders for me. I now realized how these skills transformed my outlook in life and how the acquired skills were of the greatest help to me during the rough time I traveled the recent years.

Would you like to be more in control of your behavior? Would you like to be more conscious of your moods and act more calmly in a way to achieve what you really want? Would you like to have better communications skills to understand others and be able to influence them? Would you like to be more creative and happier? What about learning to learn?

NLP incorporates a number of techniques and more importantly integrates the latest discoveries in the functioning of the Brain.

This morning when I lazily got out of my bed, I thought that I might have acquired more wisdom: Thanks to NLP

“Par respect pour le Christ, soyez soumis les uns aux autres ;

les femmes, à leur mari, comme au Seigneur Jésus ;

car, pour la femme, le mari est la tête, tout comme, pour l’Église, le Christ est la tête, lui qui est le Sauveur de son corps.”

Texte de l’Epitre Ephés. 5,21 que j’ai entendu a la messe d’hier.

Pour mon esprit qui vadrouille sans cesse, m’est venu a l’esprit une thèse que mon oncle, un créatif, avait sur le sujet.

Il disait :” si l’homme est la tête de la famille, comme médecin, en analogie du corps humain pour décrire les relation familiales, la femme devrait être le cou.

En effet, le cou est à la base de la tête. Le cou soutient la tête. Le cou donne la direction du regard à la tête et le fait girouetter.

Ainsi, sans le cou, la tête perd sa direction et son soutien. Le cou ne sert pas a grande chose sans la tête. Ils sont tous partis de l’ensemble du corps.”

Quelle belle leçon d’interdépendance !

From what I gathered, whilst on the one hand, we want the fish hub to be one of the pillars of our new economic development, our civil service, on the other, is lagging behind to providing the minimum requirements for the entry of our products to the targeted market: the European Market.

Not only do we have to produce the right product at the right price and at the right time, the exporter must ensure that the products are certified for the importing country. Has the authorities done there job properly? How do we stop irresponsible parties to mar our destiny?

This reminds me of an experience, which occurred many many years ago. After grueling rounds of interviews, this Youngman full of hope and high spirited, got a letter confirming to him that he had been selected out of some twenty candidates and was awarded a scholarship under the Commonwealth Scholarship scheme. He was asked to call in the Ministry of Education to pursue the formalities and to complete the Common Wealth applications.

There I was, aged 20, happily registering myself to a Canadian institution to study Heating & Refrigeration at a tertiary level at College in Canada. There were then 2 other awardees. The first was awarded a bursary to study music and the second fellow a similar scholarship in Aeronautics. I had even got the acceptance from the College which was in Laval Quebec.

Came September which was the moment to finalize the departure, the government officer, Mr. Telescourt told me that there was a problem. What turned out was: the Ministry through of an over sight did not file in the document in time for our applications to the Common Wealth secretariat to process the requests. After much exchanged of telexes (in those days) The Commonwealth secretariat conceded only the Aeronautics study as the funds were reallotted to countries that requested more scholarships and were on time.

This is the story of how an administrative mistake crushed all the hope and tomorrow of an enterprising budding yougman. Let us hope that the administrative shortcomings of the authorities will not in turn crush the tomorrow of our budding Fish hub.