Entertainment and leisure are unavoidable elements of human development. Unfortunately, their value is either underestimated or altered by misleading conceptions.

Hence leisure which is defined as ?time for relaxation and hobbies? is often associated with frivolities such as compulsive window-shopping. Sometimes unhealthy activities like drinking and gambling are linked to entertainment.

While those may be enjoyable, it does not necessarily mean that they fully comply with the aim of play in the famous formula of Einstein which states: ?If A equals success, then the formula is: A=X+Y+Z, X is work, Y is play and Z is keep your mouth shut?.

Wasteful use of ?time off from work? (leisure) especially in an hazardous way can only but jeopardise the equation even if it could be categorised as «play». When the value of Y is underestimated, people either severely curtail time earmarked for it or in extreme cases even do not consider earmarking that time at all! The value of A is then compromised proportionally.

People fail to realise that, yet, ?the most recent Surgeon General?s Report, the first one released since the report on smoking over 30 years ago, identified lack of leisure-time physical activity as a serious health threat in the United States?.

It?s only a change in mentality that is needed to show the real value of leisure and entertainment to our young generation. We must teach them by example that we do not need alcohol to relax and that we, as adults, do take time off from work even if this time off might represent a short-term loss of productivity.

We must show them that we respect the need for them to fully take advantage of recess time at school as much as we cherish the need for healthy recreation in our life. It is, for instance, unconceivable that in some cases students? time allocated for recreation at school is used to either catch up with academic work or improve them. In other cases, students are sometimes deprived from recess time as a punitive measure, which is absolutely wrong in my humble opinion.

Competition is so ferocious that students sacrifice time that should have been allocated for nurturing friendship, talking to parents, learning to cook a meal, practising sports and reading to take numerous private tuition sometimes during the whole week. Was Einstein a fool when he added «play» to one of the elements of the equation of success?

A change in mentality will call for a need for more adequate entertainment and leisure infrastructure. I grew up on a sugar estate and cannot help paying my respect to some aspects of the administrative mentality there. The employers knew work was as important as play and did not neglect the education aspect either.

Hence, on that factory that has today closed down, free school buses were provided to employees? children and the facilities of club houses where entertainment activities were regularly organized were extended to workers.

Will there not be a lack of entertainment facilities when all sugar factories have close down? Do all other employers nurture the importance of leisure and entertaiment to such extent that they develop a corresponding corporate culture with the relevant infrastructure?

Lack of healthy entertainment contributes to violence and crime while the latter do not favour development of leisure either just like in a vicious circle. When Pauline Etienne writes in an article entitled «will power» the issue of l?express of 31/11/07 that ?No Mauritian will dare walk in one of the streets of our main towns as soon as the sun sets? it should ring the bell of change in our ears.

We should endeavour to improve the law and order situation so that we can at the least benefit from a healthy evening walk on our streets while doing our best to promote appropriate leisure facilities so that people are more friendly instead of behaving violently.

Let?s hope that Father Christmas hears our request for more healthy leisure and entertainment facilities needed to counterbalance the harsh realities of today?s commercial and educational exigencies!