Occupation Permits - Things have now changed, watch out!

ps: I'll soon be listing stuff for sale in the classifieds section!!!

Stormtrooper wrote:

Hi,


Now.. ask yourself THIS question...

What chance do some of you have?

Beware!

Guess not much!! Will be a real shame to see you go!! You should probably apply to be a citizen, you may have more chance of getting that with all the relations!!

But, my god, really!! I just about complete the year here this month, n have a year more to go.... i wud love to renew, but if they r being this strict, then it is of worry to all of us!!

I hope you do get your OP n can continue your venture here ( I dont want to mention your real name mr.trooper, lest it got ya into to more trouble den u need).

does it look like a blanket ban on all OPs or more so for people with European-SAcan passport?? Are the Indians and Chinese faring any better??
Are they looking for a tit for tat with regards the UK and some EU countries that are sending back MAuritians and/or denying them continuation of work permits...??

P.S: All the best pal, our thoughts r with u!!

Hi everybody

Does anyone has an idea whats the latest limits of salary figure to obtain an OP in mru.

in 2009-until early 2010 it was Rs 30000 then it was raised to whooping Rs 75000 amount.

later i have been hearing from different sources thats its gonna be reduced to something like Rs 42500-4Rs45000

any updates?

Cheers
Vish

Vishal, the minimum salary for an occupation permit is now 45,000 rs, it's been voted by the end of last year.

Stormtrooper, I am really sorry about this. Just to let you know, several (expat) friends reported me the same issue ... (they have to leave)

Is there too many foreigners in Mauritius ? Will this be revised soon ?

and ... What's next ?

Wow so now i can have OP ))

but i am just thinking about  your questions Julien , does everyone think that there are too many expats in Mauritius , lets say  even if there are they are for good for the island inspite being  good fpr any individual so its work both ways isn’t it ?

What other expats and local people think about it, and if govt. think that there are many expats is is the same case for any country

I am just wondering that does anyone know that how many Mauritian works abroad.
For your information that I heard from someone that there are around 30000 Mauritian working in Ireland alone, forget about the rest of the world.

So what I am saying is its true for any country many people go for work to other countries and many people come to work in their country as well. But I don know what limitations these facts and figures should be implemented.

More comments are welcome.
Cheers

vish

The Mauritian Govt has to tackle Brain Drain by building more Universities and Making UoM an Institution respected worldwide. They need to tackle the issue of Tuitions and then they will start going in the right way.

The reason there are so many Expats, esp in Finance, IT and Architecture-Civil Engineering is because there are not enough locals filling these posts. this is because, A) not even qualified locals available, B) Qualified ones have gone abroad.

If the Govt can setup a scheme to attract-encourage Mauritians abroad to come back,then we will see an actual change here.

By refusing Ops/Permits on a large scale will not solve the problem, as the vacancies will remain and lead to a crisis in the economy. I have very rarely heard of a Mauritian graduate with decent skill set not having a job. So whom is the OPs from Expats affecting???!!!

I think they are misplacing their sectors. A lot of the unemployment that exists in the blue collared workers is due to availability of cheaper Asian Labor.
Even there, I dont see too much trouble considering the amount of infrastructure projects coming up.

Mauritius needs to embrace Expats and Foreign nationals who by working here are not only contributing to the growth story, but also playing a vital role in training the current generation. ( I aint just saying this because I am an Expat)

Singapore (or for that matter, New York, London, Tokyo etc etc) has not become a Major Financial centre by stopping foreigners coming in, but by inviting them . By making expats a part of their culture has lead to the above cities into becoming super Cosmopolitan hubs which integrate the best from around the world and achieve good, steady growth and build a reputation across the globe.

I hope things improve im Mauritius for a better, brighter and exciting future such that someday it is known as the singapore of the Indian ocean, and not just a country known for being beautiful, sugar producing and a route for investors into India and Africa.

-Musheer

Singapore statistics (source: Singapore governmenthttp://www.singstat.gov.sg/pubn/popn/c2 … trends.pdf)

Singapore’s total population was 5.08 million as at end-June 2010 (Table 1).

There were 3.77 million Singapore residents, comprising 3.23 million Singapore citizens and 0.54 million permanent residents, and 1.31 million non-resident foreigners.

Thank you Musheer and Julien for your commiserations. I do have (A LOT) more to write on this issue but, right now, i'm at the 'battle station' fighting this.
I am expecting an official letter by Tuesday or Wednesday. This has now turned into a game of Chess (Echeq). The government may have put me in 'check', but it is not 'checkmate'.
Over the next two weeks i will 'play' some 'jokers' in this Mauritian card game. Having spent 20 years of my life in Mauritius I do have a few 'Get Out Of Jail Free' cards... but this is on a personal level and may not apply to most of you.
Once i've sorted out this problem, please be aware I will have serious conversations with some ministers regarding intelligent points made by Musheer... that many countries have advanced because of expats.

To put it bluntly, the stupid ones remain in Mauritius and the clever Mauritians get paid better money abroad, so they go. This logically means we'll forever have the stupid ones remaining. This will not help Mauritius. Expats, on the other hand, are attracted to Mauritius because of Sun, Sand, Beach etc etc. Amongst these expats naturally some are very intelligent too.

So, logic tells me, we must do all we can to keep (at least) the intelligent and productive expats here.

No point praying for intelligent mauritians to return.. i can state FOR A FACT that intelligent mauritians, in London, earn NOT LESS THAN Rs 500,000 per month working for companies in London.. WHAT INTELLIGENT MAURITIAN WOULD WANT TO RETURN TO MAURITIUS for Rs 35,000????.... UNLESS HE DOESN'T CARE ABOUT MONEY BUT LOVES NATURE, THE SUN, THE SEA, CATS.. DOGS.. SUGAR-CANE and has permanently said 'BYE' to the European Rat-Race (probably not more than 2 like this exist in Mauritius).

If i wanted money I'd work for, oh let's say.... Citigroup in Canary Wharf, British Airways HQ in Harmondsworth, or Microsoft in Reading (actually Microsoft pays crap.. like NASA does... they rely on giving you the prestige of working for them!).

Some of us like riding bikes but, unfortunately when these 'left-behind-in-Mauritius-because-they-cant-get-a-decent-job-anywhere-else-and-they-had-to-rely-on-relatives-to-get-their-current-job' civil servants have to deal with the likes of me, who just walk into UK jobs based on our experiences, their 'aversion levels' hit the roof. Hell breaks loose.

I have no problems returning to UK.

I came to Mauritius UNIQUELY for the sea and the sand... not to drive Mercedes Benzs' or Black BMWs'  to impress insecure locals... (is there a need to impress islanders? Come on..when we want to impress.. think Central London.. not Central Vacoas...) but to eat Dholl Puris.. go fishing, drink RUM and BEER and get pissed outta my head... lying on my back... thinking to myself 'SHIT... there ARE a lot of STARS up THERE!!!!!'

The way forward?

a) SACK THE WHOLE CIVIL SERVICE
b) Re-Assign their jobs , test their IQ levels, and make sure they score above 130 before even thinking of sitting behind a desk.

JUST THE ABOVE ALONE will, at the very least, give us a fighting chance of catching up with some DRAGONS of ASIA.

Will keep you all posted!
For now
Stormtrooper

ps: I forgot to mention.. on top of my father, mother, son and daughter born in Mauritius...my brother and sister are Mauritian too!

Hi Stormtrooper,

Sorry to hear about your difficulties.  It's one of the biggest risks of working in a foreign country as no matter what, you are always a "guest" of the country and can be told to leave at any time regardless as you are unfortunately experiencing yourself now.

I've been here nearly three years on an investor permit and there has always been a fear in the back of my mind of what if after building up a successful and profitable business the permit doesn't get renewed even with far exceeding the requirements to supposedly maintain it. 

I've known of a number of expats that have sold their businesses and moved back "home" or on to another country because of that risk.  I've seen or heard about expats being forced out in other countries because they were too "successful" and drew attention of unethical people.  These unscrupulous people would pay someone in the government to not renew the expat's permit so that they could come in with a low bid for their business as the expat was basically being forced to sell as they had to leave the country. 

I don't think it is the case in Mauritius, at least I really hope not, but who knows.....

I personally think that there have been a number of expats that have taken advantage of the relaxed and open door policy of Mauritius for the last few years and in an effort to fix some of the problems the government created in the first place, they are making it hard for everyone regardless of the circumstances. 

Good luck in getting your situation sorted.  At least you have some "jokers" to play in your deck.  I hope it works out for you.

Hi Guys

Does anyone have the official stance on this?  Stormtrooper, did you have your own business or were you employed by a company? Surely it must also depend on which industry you work in? This could have far-reaching effects on many expats looking to settle here medium to long-term, especially if they are employed by either local or global companies?  I get the feeling the government is 'culling' the easier targets at the moment, the self-employed.  Any comments on that?

Stormtrooper... the blog you're referring to is mine!

I'm glad (it's a bit weird to say) that the contents there were precise!  If you have questions or want to discuss, please drop me a line, I'll be glad to see how I can assist free of charge of course!


Nadeem

Hi, I would still like to know if this pertains to self employed or company employed people?

Interesting thread.

All in all...Stormtrooper, if your parents are Mauritian why don't you have a Mauritian passport? We do know that the PM is a bit on an old kid (am not pointing fingers at our elders here!) but he takes decision based on impulse!

As for the stupid part, ooops I think that hit a spot(am still here). Most students don't want to return because they have a better standard of living abroad (that depends on people as well) and due to family pressures. (as soon as you come back, they're looking for a bride/bridegroom for you!!)

As regards the university of Mauritius, the only dept that has international recognition is the Agriculture one. For the rest, you need to have (very)good lecturers and maybe they should start by not lowering the entry requirements (as they did for SC and HSC - papers have become way too easy!)and also offer more courses.

Kids at school should learn to think by themselves by doing more activities that help to develop the individual as a whole, not just spoon feeding and tuitions. It doesn't help to have a Phd from Cambridge if you don't have a good elocution, can't write a letter (I've witnessed this!!) and can't be efficient at your job or business.

I don't think that not renewing someone's OP is going to help. It's good to have expats here, as Mauritians become expat when they go abroad too, because the exchange (in all fields) can only be beneficial to the locals as well as the expats.

Stormtrooper, there will always be hurdles on the way; if you can't blow 'em off with a dynamite, take a bypass. But don't give up without a fight!!

I will PM you later for more details!

All the best.Keep us updated.

Hi All,
@Julien - It's interesting that you've also been hearing stories similar to mine. I guess I get some satisfaction knowing it's not just 'me' getting all of this. In regards to 'too many foreigners in Mauritius', I cannot answer this. I'm a programmer so I only understand 'logic'. When it comes to the 'illogical' I'm a 'fish out of water'.

As for the question 'will this be revised soon?', I have no answer. I do not know the Prime Minister so I have no clue to his mindset. I have been a lifelong supporter of his government, as well as my whole family, but I do not know him personally. I believe the problem is with the Civil Service. It may be that the prime minister gave the order not to let foreigners in but, like Alisa_Ram said above, he can be a bit of a hot-head and didn't mean it literally. It is the job of the Civil Service to point out to him where 'exceptional cases' exist whereby it's stupid to kick a particular person out! I refuse to believe he would kick someone out who should not be kicked out. He is an intelligent man (a qualified Medical Doctor and a Lawyer).. and intelligent men, whoever they are, do not do stupid things.
If I was to offer a personal opinion, I would say there is another ‘attitude’ flying around. Mauritius, as a tax haven, has been doing extremely well over the past few years now (India-Mauritius). It could all come down to something as simple as ‘Mauritius has money now, why do we need foreigners?’

@Bunkoma - Thank you for your concern. It is interesting you should mention tactics used to get hold of someones' business. I have thought of this too and, who knows?
I believe foreigners (screened ones of course, those with interesting projects etc) IS of enormous benefit to Mauritius. We DO learn a lot from foreigners and for this there is no doubt. Not only that but they help stimulate the local economy in many ways. In return this 'foreigner' should feel safe and secure.

What's holding Mauritius back is not money, or means or even ideas. It's 'attitude' plain and simple, and attitude stems from inner frustration, fear of the 'unknown' and insecurity. Hong Kong, China, India all embrace the 'unknown' with the full confidence knowing they can learn from foreigners and hence they must be welcomed and encouraged to base themselves in Mauritius.
In China when I employed some people, their faces lit up every time you 'taught them' something they did not know. They're so eager it's incredible. It was at that point I knew China/India would 'take over the world' (it will not be Brazil or Russia)... of this I have no doubt whatsoever. 16 years ago Shenzhen was a fishing village.

Today we’re at the point where Africa will be the next continent to ‘push forward’. NOW is the time for Mauritius to really ‘beef itself up’ in terms of infrastructure, both logical and physical.

@Hanlie – Personally I have no clue how this is going. Local and Global company? Working or Self-Employed? I do not know who this is affecting. What I can say though is nothing is ‘set in stone’ and, as Bunkoma said above, always bear this in mind… don’t put all your eggs in one basket…. Etc.
You are ABSOLUTELY right when you say this has far-reaching and DEEP implications for expats looking to invest medium to long term. Of course it has an impact on decision-making. To put it lightly had I known this could happen, I would have diverted to another country (another prime candidate) instead. At the last moment I chose Mauritius because, well.. ALL my family, friends and relatives are here!

I was an investor in my business (ie: not work permit). To answer your specific question I'm in the business of Global e-commerce and my company has been credited as the first company to engage in 'Global Retail e-commerce sales on a large scale'. L'Express newspaper featured an article about our company in 2007. We are also the largest e-commerce parcel exporter, according to the Post Office, in Mauritius. For 1.5 years now we were also the first company in Mauritius allowed to print our own postage stamps from a PC. We still are today. And we are not just 'websites' but have written a complete central back office system (over 120,000 lines of programming code) capable of handling hundreds of thousands of products, sent to any number of countries, functioning in any number of languages, in any currency, with e-fulfillment from any number of 'warehouse points', situated anywhere in the world. Our systems are highly automated using minimal staff. I believe the system we've built is the most advanced ever built in Mauritius and, not only this, but we hold many 'world innovative features' in our systems (over a dozen)... all written from Mauritius.
In addition to the above, I am now only months away from introducing a new National e-commerce platform (for all mauritians, irrespective of size of capital, literacy levels etc), International e-commerce (for all Mauritian SMEs) and e-Fulfillment services (for all Foreign Retail companies) to the world.
We are ready to catalyse a push helping  Mauritius to become a TRUE Cyberisland (as opposed to just a giant ‘call-centre’ or ‘forms processing unit’) and the leader of e-commerce in Africa. In other words, we don't build websites but Total National and International Solutions for ALL to use, with the ability to 'connect' with government systems and other institutions for monitoring purposes. Thus we are the builders of an ‘eBusiness ecosystem’ for any government of a small country, looking to enable, catalyse and drive e-commerce, from within its own economy, and then globally through a set of ‘step-by-step strategies’. Our systems will be at the disposal of a 92,000 SMEs in Mauritius, foreign retail businesses, expat businesses (South Africa, India and China using Mauritius as a 'Rapid European Delivery Hub').  The bad news is some think it cannot be done. The good news is we’ve already written the code.
Hence, in light of all the above, I do not believe we should be kicked out of the country. Using standard man-hour calculations, the cost of our systems run into millions of US dollars and, as such, it represents an ‘investment’ one way or the other.
Admittedly the Government (the Ministers) is NOT AWARE of these developments, but only the two or three civil servants, with my application in their hands and happily sticking stupid crosses on them. Our PM should have stuck someone there with a bit common sense in the 'Permit approval process'. This is my ONLY complaint. If certain undesirables should be kicked out, then I'm all for it but this NEEDS to be done with THOUGHT and ATTENTION.

@ Nadeem – Really?.. lol. I just read the blog with great interest and thought it was an important writing seeing I was suffering the same thing. Now Julien is saying he’s hearing the same too. Well folks you know what they say… ‘where there is smoke…..there is….’ .
Lastly Thank you most kindly for your ‘services’. I will bear this in mind in case needed.
@Alisa_Ram – I know for a fact you’re not stupid….lol. To call everyone stupid is also to refer to my son, daughter, mum, dad, all my teachers at school, etc. What I really mean to say is that we cannot have this situation where people are getting jobs based on who they know, and not ‘what they know’. If we had some sort of ‘common sense’ testing system then, at least whenever anyone applied for a gov job, they’d ALL (even those ‘relatives’) have to be approved by taking the test first. This way we’re guaranteed (more or less) people who ‘think’ and ‘reason’ at the very least. Re: Applying for Passport. I’m too old. This should have been done years ago, and my dad kept on at me to get it done… I just never thought I’d do any IT projects in Mauritius! However, having said all this, I will put in an application in the next few days. I believe I do have a strong personal case for Mauritian Nationality ... ‘mo pu servi dynamite meme couma to pe dire...lol’.

vishalchandna wrote:

Hi everybody

Does anyone has an idea whats the latest limits of salary figure to obtain an OP in mru.

in 2009-until early 2010 it was Rs 30000 then it was raised to whooping Rs 75000 amount.

later i have been hearing from different sources thats its gonna be reduced to something like Rs 42500-4Rs45000

any updates?

Cheers
Vish

hi vishal , the limit is revised to 45,000 MUR now

Stormtrooper et al,

You are from a Commonwealth country (just like the many South Africans in Mauritius who are now going through the same predicament as you)....It seems there is an "unofficial" policy, NOT to renew the OP's of people from Commonwealth countries, since they will become eligeble to apply for Premanent Residence in Mauritius after 5 years here. (as per Commonwealth Treaty).

If they refuse the renewal of your OP, try using the Treaty and apply for perminant residence since you have been here longer than 5 years....See if invoking this legal contarct will help.

People who bought into these expensive IRS complexes, received a contractual promise of Perminent Residence permits, yet many of them after 5 or 6 years are still waiting for the honoring of such contracts.......Maybe its time that they take collective action to enforce the contract....one on one they are easy meat for the government

Hmm,

Sounds not good

Hi Sagoodboy - Do you have a reference for the "Commonwealth Treaty"?  We have been told there is no official policy passed through parliment on permanent residency.  I believe you can apply to the Prime Ministers office after 5 years but no guarantees and don't know about the "Commonwealth Treaty" having any impact.

Anyway can you reference it please?

Try the Ministry of Foreign affairs; they should be able to guide you on the matter.

I'm reading all your messages, I guess I must be a lucky one here, had no problem at all to get my resident permit.. It tooks less then 1 week to get it..
The best thing to do is to buy an IRS project (that is what I have done) clearly then you do not have any trouble or any waiting...

Hope you all find a way to stay here, its a great place to stay and live! :-)

Am not sure all foreigners can afford an IRS villa!

It seems the PMO's office is picking ppl off one by one....isnt it time that all get organised and collectively demand answers and reconsideration.     Nothing about this is in the media and no debate...it seems too easy for the Government to refuse permits with out any reasons given

We got our 3 year permit in 2007 and our renewal for another 3 years in 2010; I do wonder what will happen in 2010.

.... and very true, IRS schemes are not within the average persons budget.

sagoodboy10 wrote:

It seems the PMO's office is picking ppl off one by one....isnt it time that all get organised and collectively demand answers and reconsideration.     Nothing about this is in the media and no debate...it seems too easy for the Government to refuse permits with out any reasons given

Maybe it's time to put an article in the paper about this!Especially the one the PM loves so much

Hi all, i have some updates.

I originally made a posting on this thread because they were not renewing my occupation permit. Well.. after some checking (and false information, followed by real info, then false info, then real info again) it seems I am allowed to stay in Mauritius on a technicality which I will share here in case it helps someone out.

This is the rule....

Those born before 1973 or 74, or something like that, if both your parents were born in Mauritius then, even if you were born abroad, you DO have Mauritian Nationality from the start. However, once you are 21, this is taken away from you by the Mauritian Government. Hence, in my case (born in UK, both parents mauritian-born), I always was a Mauritian until i was 21.
Then it was taken with me without notice. Now... the situation is this. Apparently I am allowed to get it back again under the 'Resumption of Mauritian Citizenship' clause in the Act. This is a particular section of the citizenship Act. I have been personally told I have every chance in getting it 'resumed' upon which I will be Mauritian. This process takes 8 months but, the good news (for me anyway) is that I am allowed to stay here UNTIL i get my citizenship 'returned'. So that's my personal situation sorted out.

2) However, the purpose of this thread was not about me really, but about foreigners not getting their occupation permits renewed. In regards to this I am very sorry for anyone suffering from this situation as I have not forgotten i was in this too. I have not heard anything regarding 'how', or 'why' this situation is prevailing however, in my own personal opinion, I still believe Mauritius is getting too much money from other sources and all foreigners have suddenly become 3rd Grade citizens.

This is wrong and I don't even know how anyone can get together to protest about this since, if you think carefully about this, I believe any sort of 'internal disruption' would automatically make you 'persona non grata'. In other words it seems (or rather is!) foreigners have no rights at all.

I am very disappointed in a sense I REALLY DO believe foreigners bring a lot of skills, work ethics, methods and techniques to this country. Screw the money anyone makes.. I still believe Mauritius could benefit through learning how foreigners 'do things'.. how they 'think things through' etc. It is my opinion, and I speak without bias here.. that Mauritians have become arrogant to the point where they think they know everything about how the world works, and thus think they have nothing to learn from foreigners. I believe this to be true and I will continue saying this whether i end up being Mauritian or not.
Finally, If i do hear of anything on the political front, I will write more about this.
DR

ps: If any of you believe you should have your permit renewed because you have a unique business idea, business model, invention etc... then you could try appealing to the Mauritius Research Council who welcome such innovations and, maybe through this route, some of you may be able to plead for permit renewal. I don't know if this method would work.. just an idea.

This is really worrying and now I'm not sure what we should do.  As a young family attempting to move to Mauritius we'd have to seriously reconsider if this is promising to be a huge issue in future years.

So, can anyone clarify under what circumstances you WILL get your permit renewed?  Is it just about how much money you earn in your job or is there more to it than that?  I'm a little confused about it all.

Hi JayTee,

The way I see it is this. In the west we are used to things being in 'black & white'. We've been brought up this way. There is a rule book with a set of rules and so, it's pretty easy to navigate through life, as long as you do what the rules say. If your local chippie says '2 saveloys for the price of 1', we all know what this means.

There are other countries (and I will include Mauritius in this) where things are not quite 'black and white'. There is a lot of 'grey' and 'it-depends-on-my-mood'.

So, coming to your question 'under what circumstances will you get your permit renewed', I don't believe anyone could ever answer this. You may think there's a rule book (and there is!), but nobody will ever stick to them.

I'll give you another example. In the UK when you go to some kind of 'office', chances are if you went there to ask a specific question, you would get the same answer, more or less, from 4 different people you were to ask. In Mauritius you would get 4 completely different answers and, if you then proceeded to follow the 'completely wrong answer', everyone else in that office will tell you 'you should have known the answer yourself you dam fool... why are you asking us!!!

DR

Question is, if I can get a job which pays 80k MUR per month, is it likely that the government will turn around at any point and deny me the right to stay - despite the fact it's there in black and white on their website?  I don't see how this is possible... but it's certainly a worry as I posted on my blog (MovingLives - linked from this site).

Am now wondering whether Mau is the best place to be targeting as a potential home. It's a pity because I've just returned and really liked it (and the people).

"is it likely that the government will turn around at any point and deny me the right to stay - despite the fact it's there in black and white on their website?"

It is perhaps not likely, but as far as I remember, there's a clause that comes along with any application that says something along the lines of "The Government of Mauritius reserves the right to reject your application without stating the reason".

One can only assume that this clause is there for the government to be able to reject an application or a renewal of a permit and hide the real reason behind the decision.

Why else would the (any) government need to have the ability to reject without reason? Perhaps others can fill in on this as I honestly don't remember the exact wording on the papers.

As for "turn around at any point and deny me the right to stay", you will sign a paper where you give the authorities full rights to cancel your permit if you do not meet the requested goals (meet your target income, avoid breaking the law etc).

Storm
I've read the first two msg of your thread and I believe you have considerable ground to appeal and is certain you will win.

You also made the point about stupid Mauritians remaining here and you are not wrong. After 12 years of giving my expertise to the British Government and succeeding, I find myself in a position where am too overqualified for the Mauritian job market. How do they want us Mauritians who have studied and work hard and are probably more talented than most locals to come back and help our country if there is no spirit of meritocracy. We live in a world more so an island where its who you know or whose ass you are prepare to lick to be able to progress!!

I am currently very angry with the system, its unprofessinalism and laziness!

I feel for you and wish you good luck. And if ever you need any help challenging the system, I am in!

Vijee

To be honest, don't waste your time getting upset with the government; they're not worth it. True that most Mauritians that have studied abroad are overqualified to work here (or should I say the govt here has an under qualified attitude!) to tap into this incredible pool of talents.

That being said, here it's the "who-I-know" attitude that works best. And things tend to move like a slow coach; whenever the "I'll do it when I feel like" is predominant.

Be zen and get on with your life!

Lol true but am a go getter which is probably why I've made it in the UK with only a £1000 in my pocket when I first landed and managed to do 3 degrees and worked in a high profile job!

Not all of us Mauritians are let dos. I am here to make a difference or else I'd never have come back coz I know if I put my mind to it I can succeed anywhere in the world.

But albeit its flaws I grew up on this island and I agree with your point on who you know attitude. Unfortunately I am not one of the lucky islanders whose been blessed with connections and even if I've been my contemporaries have been too selfish to help out.

This is the concept the system has created and this is creating a real social malaise because it is not recognising true potentials and am sure if it had we'd be in a better world market position. Foreigners are being called up to save the lack of expertise here, something which is certainly not missing among the local peers. Now yo are telling me to stay zen. I may not be in a position to do anything about it now but like I said am a fighter and I will surelydo something about it one day. Afterall its my bharat!

Alisa
In my haste I forgot to say. Thank you for the advice and for keeping me sane tc

Vijee

Trust me, we love the island; but at times, rather than talking, it would be better to buy a shotgun and play some Resident Evil here. Unfortunately, the "connection" not only works in the Govt but the private sector as well.

Maybe...just maybe, some day we could pull a revolution a la Marie Antoinette, less gory, but efficient. In the meantime, let's secretly plot how to make this petit coin de paradis
(little paradise) a better place to live. After all who can boast about working all day at the office and take a dip in the ocean afterwards...

Alisa
I 100% agree with your theory. We will get a chance to do some sea dipping soon so looking forward to meet you all xx

alisa_ram wrote:

Be zen and get on with your life!

Wise words, ones i live by and everyone on here should take note. If you want to move forwards in life, you have to look ahead, not backwards. :-)

Oh Vijee.... I don't know what to say. This forum is monitored by government and whatever i say in this 'free country' could very well impact my future in this country.

However I can't lie so I'm going to walk on this thin line the best i can. Miss Alisa Ram is right in that you may have to 'bear it' because, if you don't, YOU are going to go nuts... not anyone else. Bear this first in mind. I'm telling my partner this all the time. She goes bonkers (i mean really bonkers sometimes) every time some shitty bureaucrat says the most stupidest and illogical thing. Even today I was told 'but YOU should know all the immigration rules... we are here just to check your application.. WE ARE NOT HERE TO HELP YOU'. Yes.. that's right... you read correctly. These words were uttered by the Board of Investment.. no less!
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... okay... now that i've given you time to get over the shock of the last statement now.... back to what you were saying.
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It is a WELL-KNOWN and DOCUMENTED fact that the Mauritian Diaspora is viewed with contempt, dislike and even hate, in Mauritius. To this fact i have no doubt. There are some who are genuinely nice but these people are few. The more you retaliate the more your life will be pure and utter hell. This is a CLEAR message they'll send to you.. one way or the other. They will do everything and anything to break your spirit.

From what you've been writing about i can tell you're a strong lady. As a result I believe it's gonna take a steel rod to have any effect on you.

Nevertheless... it needn't go that far. Don't try to win a losing battle. It makes no sense at the end of the day. It's about 'attitude'. Learn to take it in your stride. Next time you're in a government office or something, visualise everyone there as 'five-year olds'. Be nice to them, tell them how clever they are, how well they've achieved on this butter-bean island.. flatter them until they're flatter than a chapati... flatter their new Toyota with christmas lights draped all around it.... or their 'RALLY CAR' which does 0-60 mph in 3 days.... flatter their yellow curtains and orange floor tiles... flatter their marks'n'spencers underwear... flatter them on how they know the cousin, of the brother, of the father, of the aunty, of the prime ministers adviser. Tell yourself, over and over again... 'what will be will be'. Try some way.. some mental trick... to keep your sanity. It WILL BE TOUGH, and i know it will just by reading what you're saying.

I identify TOTALLY with EVERY single line you wrote above. I understand it all. I believe many here will understand it too.
Potential will not be recognised here. End of story. 'Coming to contribute to help mauritius in some sort of way?' forget all of that... it won't work. Help yourself. This is what this country taught me... help yourself, benefit for yourself, make it all for yourself... love yourself. You'll even be respected for it, believe it or not! The more you cheat here, the more you're applauded.

And yes Alisa is absolutely right. 'Who you know' gets you everywhere.... 'what you know' gets you nowhere.

Number two, limit your friends. Everyone has some sort of agenda. I find the guys on this expat forum, for example, first-class dudes! Great guys and girls many of them and, those who i have not yet met, i'm sure they're great too!
If you are going to mix with 'locals'.... be quadruply careful. Don't ask why.. too long to explain. In one way or the other you'll suddenly discover they're ar*eholes disguised as humans. Of course, again, there are a few who are not (maybe 10%).

Turn yourself towards the sea, sun, beach etc. Talk to the sea, rather than a local. I got 6 cats and 2 dogs and i talk to all of them (cuckoo warning going off for some here!.. lol.. not that i care!).

So, final advice? Think 'dealing with 5 year-olds', 'flattery will get you everywhere', choose and limit friends carefully, flatter rally and 'xmas tree' cars... and Mauritius will be the paradise you want it to be.

Stormtrooper wrote:

It is a WELL-KNOWN and DOCUMENTED fact that the Mauritian Diaspora is viewed with contempt, dislike and even hate, in Mauritius.

This is not that different than the way other diasporas are viewed from within. If I were to go back to my country of origin and flaunt myself to my family and country men -- many of whom have no jobs, the ones that have jobs havent recieved a pay cheque in 6 months (i cant even begin to comprehend how they survive!), many who live with extended family and parents and grand parents in apartments -- and if i were to flaunt myself with my regualr paying job, house in the suburbs -- I would be viewed with contempt. Hencse why I send what I can but I don't advertize when I visit.

Just trying to shed some perspective. Sometimes it's harder in ones own country amongst your own country men than it is in foreign lands.