<B>By Deepa BHOOKHUN</B>

You know the Propaganda Show that is screened everyday on MBC 1 between 19.30 and 20.10? Well, I watched it on Monday night thinking I deserved some entertainment but instead I ended up nearly having a fit.

The MBC decided to demonstrate that there was no shortage of powdered milk on the market. So a camera followed a team from the ministry of Commerce as they proceeded to pay a surprise visit to a supermarket. And there, surprise, surprise? the shelves were loaded with powdered milk! So far, so good. But then it so happens that, although there were enough boxes of powdered milk to sustain 200 families of four for the next couple of weeks, they weren?t necessarily of the brand that some people like.

A woman who calls herself a consumer protection officer - I won?t name her but she?ll know who she is - said, looking straight at the camera, ?There is enough milk. They may not be of the brand that you usually use but you will have to get used to those new brands.?

That?s when I started getting heart palpitations. Will have to get used to? This is what a consumer protection officer tells consumers who are unhappy because they cannot find the brands they are used to consuming? Where does Mrs Protection Officer think she?s living? In a totalitarian state where the ministry of Commerce tells citizens what they should and shouldn?t use? And that?s how the government is planning to open up the country to foreigners?

Who in their right mind would leave their country to settle on a remote island where every time they go shopping, finding what they want is like playing a game of poker? In case the people who like to pay lip service to the "opening up of the country to foreigners" don?t know it, security of supply of any goods is a joke in this country. I?ll give you an example. Last week, I went to a supermarket to renew my stock of fat-free cream cheese. Nowhere to be found. So I went to enquire. The only answer I got was "out of stock." (I wasn?t that surprised by the way, it happens every three months or so and then it?s back on the shelves six months later. Great, isn?t it?)

OK! So I didn?t die when I didn?t get my cream cheese - same as I don?t die every time I can?t find the facial cleanser or eyeliner or shampoo I use - but that makes me a frustrated customer. In any other decent country, I would have gone to another store.

In Mauritius? They?re all out of stock. This was just one example. I could give you a dozen more.

So before we start inviting people to our country, we should make sure we can offer them a country that works. Or else we could add a disclaimer in small print on the brochure, ?If you don?t get used to the brands that we give you, your frustration is your own business.?

And maybe that consumer protection officer could advise on the matter. Before being reskilled, that is.