The Year 2005 is soon to come to an end. We will probably need a bit of good fortune and a lot of courage to start 2006. I in no way intend to twist the knife in the wound but simply to see what we can all do next year to try and make this island a better place to live in.

2005 was marked by a change of government. The only wish we could make at that level is that it has the courage to take appropriate decisions ? even if the latter could appear unpopular ? to face the tough year ahead. Our economy is jeopardised by external factors, which severely threaten the survival of our sugar and textile industries. Mauritius will not be economically viable if the authorities are not ready to think «out of the box». This demands courage because such thinking involves a change of mentality in the whole population.

And we know that in Mauritius, such a shift ? if it happens ? will take time and perseverance. So, instead of wishing you a bright financial or economic future for 2006, let me wish you ? wish us all! ? a gain in terms of tolerance. Only tolerance added to a willingness to accept thinking differently will help us to survive.

If we look at what happened in 2005 (and maybe a few years before), we realise that we don?t have much reason to be proud of our ?achievements?. Our unwelcoming attitude to expatriates, who are supposed to be here to help us acquire more knowledge and more specific know-how, is one example of that.

The unfortunate experiences of Philip Cash or Bert Cunningham may not only lead them to leave the country but such events could also discourage other experts from coming to give a helping hand to Mauritius. If that is what some people want, then I suppose there is an even more urgent need for a change of attitude than I initially thought. These people should in no way be seen as potential threats to locals. They should rather be considered as ways of acquiring more experience and improving one?s own position in the near future. We have a tendency to believe that the unknown is bad and dangerous?

This attitude can also be felt in our behaviour towards people infected with HIV-Aids. The year 2005 was sadly marked with an increase in HIV-positive persons. Authorities and non-governmental organisations (NGOs) have waged a long and forceful campaign to raise awareness among the population about the disease. The goal was not only to make all people feel concerned and protect themselves but also to educate them so that their attitude towards the HIV-positive could change.

Most people were shocked when they heard that some prisoners were threatening to infect other prisoners and prison officers. This attitude is highly reprehensible but the president of Pils explains, ?If the HIV positive inmates had not been separated from the others, they would not have attempted such blackmail. Prison officers are not trained properly. When we know how the virus can be transmitted and how the affected person should be treated, we know what is dangerous and what is not.?

It is because people do not know much about the disease that they are so intolerant. And this intolerant attitude causes the infected people to adopt a desperate way of behaving.

If people infected with the disease in general had had appropriate support and had felt accepted by society, then they may have reacted differently. This is why information is so important: it is essential to know what we are talking about before taking any action or making any comment. The decision of the Catholic Bishop Mgr Maurice Piat to focus his Xmas message on the worrying propagation of the disease in our society was a very appropriate one in the present context. Tolerance should definitely be our leitmotiv from now on...