I am now convinced that we, Mauritians, are by nature a pessimistic, gloomy, morose nation eager to see our sojourn on this island through the darkest possible lenses. We must be a nation that is forever seeing life in sad, depressing tones, best epitomized by expressions you hear from time to time such as ?Tout fiche le camp?, ?Narien pas bon?, ?Un pays foutu?, and so on, as you travel the breadth and length of this island and meet its multi-cultured people. To justify such pessimism, some people cite the insignificance of our island, the fact that Bérenger will succeed Jugnauth, the rising unemployment and the EPZA demise, the recent corporate scandals, the recent wave of crime and violence, and so on. Some claim that our textile industry is a thing of the past and that our sugar and tourism industries will follow suit. Others that our nation?s morale is being depleted because our leadership is weak and inefficient. It goes on and on.

Is this obsession with the negative justified? Why this constant harping about what is wrong and the disdain for what is good on this island? Am I being unduly optimistic, childishly naïve, mathematically dumb and contemptuously patriotic when I say to you that I am proud, very proud, to be a Mauritian citizen? I hope that I am not being an idiot when I say to you that I feel a warm glow in my heart when, like you, I witness

• As prestigious a newspaper as the ?Times of London?, stating: ?This small island nation has shown great entrepreneurial drive in growing from a sugar-based economy to develop tourism and textiles and now financial services. It has achieved the same economic level as Greece or Portugal and seen economic inequalities diminish rapidly as it has done so.?

• As authoritative an institution like the United Nations ranking us 62nd on its composite index measuring average achievement in three basic dimensions of human development: a long and healthy life, knowledge and a decent standard of living, we end up way ahead of our important neighbours like South Africa and India.

• Our two highest political leaders working on a smooth road to power-sharing ? instead of engaging into the usual acrimonious and destructive conflict that generally permeates this type of change process.

• How energetically and rapidly our private sector and its JEC representatives have gone about devising powerful strategies to save our textile industry and more importantly, obtaining the cooperation and support of Government in the process.

• How efficiently as potentially omnipotent and awe-inspiring an institution like ICAC is brought down to earth sharply when it has to admit to ?making mistakes? in its case against Philippe A. Forget.

• How corrective action does get taken. We have an abhorrent murder in Albion and within a few days, our State Law Office gets going on legislation designed to control our vacant plots of land. We have a catastrophic accident rate on our roads and within a few months, wide-ranging and long-lasting ?point-system? legislation is being introduced to control our unruly drivers.

• Am I being completely naïve, misguided or ignorant when I assert that this country has a lot going for it and that it is sheer folly to see but dark clouds instead of its bright sunshine and blue seas, both metaphorically and physically? Are we becoming like the Japanese where only 36 per cent believe that ?my country will be a better country ten years from now? ? by far the grimmest prognosis in the whole of Asia?

My grandfather was Loïs Lagesse, of the Centre Loïs Lagesse fame. I was 13 when he said to me: ?We need to be so strong that nothing can disturb our peace of mind. We need to talk health, happiness, and prosperity to every person we meet ? arriver à accentuer le positif. Think only of the best, work only for the best, and expect only the best. Forget the problems you are having at school (I wasn?t the most diligent student), learn from them and focus on the future. Be as enthusiastic about the success of others as you are about your own.? I wrote these words in my diary.

Prof Eric Charoux Feedback: [email protected]