While Mauritius remains in many ways a highly traditional society in which religious and family values still have a tremendous hold on most people, it is also very true to say that the day-to-day life-style of the inhabitants has changed enormously in recent years.

Mauritius has become a nation of dedicated consumers. Shopping centres, including large supermarkets or hypermarkets, together with clothes boutiques, fast-food bars and small shops of all kinds are being established in all sizeable towns on the island. The crowds in these places and the long queues at the checkouts, especially at the end of the month, speak for themselves. Shopping habits have thus changed dramatically and the local ?boutique?, once a focal point in Mauritian life, is evidently dwindling in importance. In addition, supermarkets provide a much wider and more sophisticated choice of products, often more expensive then traditional ones, and the influence of European models is clearly seen in the whole set up.

Shopping centres have brought in another new habit- the taste for fast food. Political activists have been known to complain that youngsters are more interested in going for a pizza or a ?Kentucky? than to political meetings- which used to be a prime form of entertainment just a few years ago. Fast food incidentally seems to be having its inevitable effect on people?s waistlines too ? the sight of a truly obese person is no longer rare.

Within the family circle ? and the modern family unit is much more likely to be nuclear than extended ? the old time-consuming methods of cooking are being abandoned in favour of simple or even ?ready-to-eat? meals, now widely available from the supermarket freezer. Domestic help is becoming expensive and working wives cannot be expected to spend hours in the kitchen after a hard day outside the home.

Buying on the hire-purchase system has become a common feature in Mauritius today. It concerns mainly furniture, electrical equipment for the kitchen and TV and Hifi type goods. This system may unfortunately lead to heavy financial burdens which end in disaster for less well-off families who find they cannot settle all their bills at the end of the month.

In terms of clothes and fashion too, things have changed. Ready-made clothes are now the norm and Mauritian girls no longer aspire to master the art of the sewing machine. Young people are much more up-to-date with fashion too, familiar as they are with the latest outfits of their favourite stars of the cinema or of popular music.

Modern techniques of communication, including the computer and especially the mobile telephone have caught on in a big way in Mauritius. They have changed especially the lives of young people, who seem to be in constant touch with each other through text messaging.

With all these lifestyle changes, Mauritius is in the process of becoming a thoroughly modern nation- in material terms, at least. It is important to note that these changes are very much based on buying power, and depend on a healthy economy and full employment in order to continue to flourish.