Philosophy of life towards work

I recently watched a interesting tv documentary. It's about how we value work in our life. And it differs from culture to culture and of course from individual to individual. Generally speaking, it's interesting to note that in some western cultures, people choose to work hard in order to be able to better enjoy their leisure time, holidays or retirement. That's why they will generally fight for early retirement, for 35 hrs/work per week, for longer vacation leaves etc...Whereas in some asian cultures , people choose to rest/take a break in order to be in good condition to work efficiently. That's why they will either choose late retirement (after 65 years old) or start another 'career' or business after their official retirement.

The documentary even show an asian centenary woman (103 years old) who is still working in the same shop as cashier. And she has been working there for more than 80 years...

What about Mauritius ? What's our philosophy of life towards work ? Sure it depends on the individual. But do mauritians have common behaviours, attitudes etc towards work... ?

Alain Fok

A simple request to the future president of the USA

Today is presidential election day in USA. An important event which will also be followed world wide due to USA political, military and economical influence over the world.

Whatever the choice of the american population, I sincerly hope that the future president of the USA will, through his decisions and actions during his presidential mandate, be an open-minded person with great universal principles and values.

A man who will make good use of his power of decision and influence to contribute positively for the protection of our global natural environment (fauna and flora) and for the preservation of our global harmony and social justice.

Alain Fok

(a global citizen)

Modern jungle societies

During war times, some ethnical groups of the civil population are often the first to be victims of mass genocides for political reasons.

Very poor young women or girls are often being 'trapped' by unscrupulous and immoral 'saviors' for money or pleasure.

Animals like dogs, old horses, baby seals etc... are sometimes been killed in a barbarian way by 'supposed to be' civilised people for money or pleasure.

Uneducated or easily influenced people are often the victims of scams.

And the list of all kinds of modern injustice cases which occur almost everywhere in the world is unfortunately very long...

People and animals who are weak and powerless are the ones who suffer the most in modern jungle societies.

So can we try to combat injustice ? How can we proceed ?

Alain Fok

A results oriented society

If you don't show results, you are almost ignored by others even if you are doing your best...
You simply don't exist or worst, you might even be rejected...

Play high profile rather low profile.

Whether you like it or not, these are the expectations of our today's society if you want to be considered as someone who is successful, if you want to be recognised, to be popular etc...

And the quest for results is a phenomenon which appears in every field (sports, music, politics, business/work, education, etc...) and this phenomenon can sometimes be amplified/encouraged by the press and the public opinion.

Can we resist ? Can we swim counter current ? The choice is yours...

Unfortunately, this quest for results can sometimes become an 'obsession' for some people. And this 'obsession', coupled by pressure from family, friends, boss, biz partners, society..., can push them to adopt illegal, unethical or obscure practices/methods in order to achieve their goals.

Alain FOk

Earn, Spend, Save and Invest

At a time where the cost of living is becoming higher and higher in most societies perhaps mainly due to the increase in fuel and food prices worldwide, most families who belong to the lower and average income group are struggling daily in trying to maintain a decent standard of living.

While rich people are becoming richer, average and poor people are becoming poorer. Why is the gap between rich and poor people increasing ? Well, I'm sure there are many answers for that.

But one of the main reasons I believe is because most of us lack proper financial education. For example would you agree that it is not how much money we earn every month which counts but how much we really spend and most importantly how much we can save and invest...

Alain Fok

Image, Perceptions and Reality

We live in a society governed by physical appearance, perceptions, image, success, failures, power, etc... What we really are is not always what other people think about us.

Some people are good at projecting a very positive image of themselves but which does not necessarily reflect what they are in reality while others fail to project a proper image of themselves because their talks, behaviour and actions are perhaps not in harmony with their values and thoughts.

The question is what kind of image would you like to project in the society you live in ?

Do you want people to perceive you as what you really are with all your qualities and your weakness ? Or do you want to project another image of yourself : an image which either values your strengths and masks your weakness or an image which highlights your limits but undervalues your qualities ?

I think it depends on your values, your self-esteem, your life ambitions etc...

The choice is yours...

Alain Fok

Why buy simple when you can buy sophisticated...

Two years ago, I wanted to change my old mobile phone and I thus bought one of the latest and
most sophisticated mobile phones models available on the market for a little fortune. But up to now, I never or rarely used most of the functions available.

Yesterday, I bought a 'backup' mobile phone. And this time, I chose a model with the most basic functionalities. A phone which allows me to make a call, to receive a call, to exchange sms and to keep a phone list. That's all I needed and it cost me peanuts...

What I wanted to say through that example is that when we shop, we sometimes tend to buy the most sophisticated mobile phone, computers, softwares, cars, houses etc...which come with hundreds of functions/facilities and we often pay big money for that.

But do we often use or have we ever used most of the functions/facilities provided for the price we paid for ? Or it's just that we want to 'show off', we want to project the image of someone who is 'successful' in life, of someone who follows the latest trends...

Alain Fok

'Big Brother' again ?

There is a well known Internet company which currently provides a feature to enable Internet get a satellite view of any city/region in the world. If you magnify to a certain scale, you can even have a top view of your building or house.

Well, today I learned that this same company is planning to install video cameras in some places to even enable Internet users watch pedestrian movements in well known streets.

Looks fantastic, isn't it ? Techically speaking, I would say yes. But what about privacy protection ? If you are walking with your boyfriend or girlfriend in Oxford street London for example, would you like millions of Internet users watch your step by step movements LIVE without your permission ?

Alain Fok

Freedom fighters recognition

Le Morne mountain, a symbolic area in Mauritius which has just been selected by the UNESCO to become one of the World Heritage sites.

What a recognition for those people who were treated as 'slaves', during the dark days of slavery and who, according to the mauritian history, chose to die for their freedom.

They climbed that steep mountain with much difficulty and had enough 'guts' to jump from the peak.

These people strongly believe that a man is born to be free and they chose to die as a free man.

Centuries after, can we affirm in 2008 that 'slavery' has completely disappeared in our modern societies ?

Are people nowadays 'free' to think, to speak, to write and to act, whatever the society he/she belongs to ?

Alain Fok

How much do you love your country Mauritius ?

Today I would like to share again one of the additional comments that I wrote following my first article about mauritianism (Proud to be a mauritian/Fier d'etre mauricien, article on March 2008), just in case some people have not yet read it. Your comments are most welcome.

Alain Fok

<<

Marc Twain said that god created Mauritius before creating paradise. Well, if we consider paradise as a place where everything is perfect (the people, the environment, etc…), then Mauritius is not a paradise and will probably never become a paradise.

But don’t you agree that we have the chance to live in a multi-cultural, multi-religious and stable democratic society where every Mauritian of different origins and background is trying to live in harmony and respect among each other, since our independence in 1968 ?

Let us try to imagine in what situation we would have been in 2008 if our country was still governed by colonial powers… Would it have been better or worse ? Of course we might sometimes tend to prejudge people who are different from us (see my article dated 28 March 2008 on Prejudge) because this is human nature. And we could have the perception that communalism is expanding in our society (maybe encouraged sometimes by some politicians and cultural associations with vested interests) and that our current electoral system might encourage that increase in communalism, favoritism and division in our society especially during electoral campaigns.

But I believe that the Mauritian citizen is an intelligent person, especially those who got the opportunity to get a convenient education (not necessarily academic), and he/she will not accept to be easily ‘manipulated’ by people who have the power in our society to change things for better or worse.

Many Mauritian citizens, especially the young generations, might have lost confidence in the country’s ability to face the new challenges of globalization and either do not want to return back in their homeland after their studies overseas or simply want to emigrate abroad with the hope that grass will be greener elsewhere. They might also believe that our society is becoming more and more violent, that there are much more social injustice, that their purchasing power is declining year after year etc…. They might have lost confidence in the government bodies, in the political system, in the judiciary system, in the educational system etc…

I understand them and they should not be blamed for that because every citizen has his/her own aspirations, ambitions… in life. In my opinion, mauricianism is a state of mind.

Can we accept the fact that we are blessed to be born in such a wonderful island and many foreigners envy us for that.

Can we accept the fact that grass is not always greener elsewhere.

Can we accept the fact that imported products/services are not always of better quality than local ones.

Can we accept the fact that a better knowledge of the culture, the religion, the lifestyle, the way of thinking of people different from us is an enrichment and will definitely help in consolidating our social harmony and improve our quest in building a real Mauritian nation.

And as a responsible mauritian citizen, we should perhaps start thinking how we could contribute to make our country a better place to live for our current and future generations and not always complain and wait for our decision makers to improve things…

Alain Fok

>>

Do you like 'Shortcuts' ?

Imagine yourself waiting for some time in a long queue :-

to pay your telephone/electicity/water bills
in supermarkets
at the bus station
to drive in the capital at peak time
to get a permit

etc...

or competing with others :-

to obtain a business contract
to be promoted to a higher position
to get elected
etc...

How would you feel if somebody who come after you in the waiting list
managed to 'get served' before you or obtain something that you strongly believe you deserve it most ?

Is the person smarter than you ?

This is the true reality that we have to face in our daily life. We are living in a modern jungle
and some people think that because of their position and status, of their power, of their contacts etc..., they deserve to always be among the first to be served and at any cost.

Patience is a quality that even the richest or the most powerful man cannot buy.

I believe that people who choose non ethical 'shortcuts' at any cost to become successful in any aspect of his/her life (education, business, job, relationship, wealth etc...) might
be 'admired' but will certainly not gain 'respect' from the society.


Alain Fok

Wrong belief, false perceptions end in gossips...

A famous newspaper published a front page article about some acts of violence in a specific area of a well known city between two groups of people. According to that article, the cause of these fights between 'gangs' was due to drug dealings because that area was famous for that.

Some days later, a rectification was made (but this time not in the front page) concerning the cause of these fights. It was in fact not related at all to a drug affair and the area is not even a drug dealer's place. However the author of that article did not even appologise for publishing this 'wrong source of information'.

Can you imagine how people who live in that area felt when learning that they lived in a place where drug dealings are common ?

Today, I will not focus on whether this kind of press reporting was ethical or not. But I will concentrate on 'us', the 'consumers' of information.

When we watch tv, listen to radio, read newspapers or magazines, surf on Internet etc..., maybe we shall always try to keep an open mind on news or piece of information which raised our attention.

Perhaps things we learned (positive or negative) are not always true and we need to verify our belief.

Because wrong belief, false perceptions etc.. tend to end in gossips...

Alain Fok