ANIL BANYMANDHUB
I returned home after having spent a week in the Seychelles. As I reflect over a grand escapade of seven days I cannot help remembering, reminiscing the numerous Christmases we spent in Singapore as a young family. We were in Singapore a couple of years back. I was shell shocked. Locals were bitter, frustrated, poor. Prices were over the top. To be fair, I do not consider food court eating my idea of good eating! Gone were the days of Singapore Airlines and stopover deals. A suite on the eighteenth floor for under fifty Singapore dollars. On Orchard road too. The good old days which I am glad my kids experienced.
The Seychelles is a nature reserve. Clearly government cares and the result is mesmerizing. Both nations put us to shame ecologically. Mauritius is a far cry from paradise. We lack the sense of good manners, civility and pride in our soil.
Nevertheless, this note is a warning to our leaders.
Whilst in Singapore, I listened to elders still having to work rather than sell up and gently rest in Malaysia. After three decades, they were openly berating the failed first-generation Lee Kwan Yew dream. You see, a two-bedroom flat after two generations becomes problematic. Even more so when priced out of the market!
The Seychelles is fast heading downhill the Singapore way. Locals are not tourists or expats. They are being priced out of the market of simple living, in spite of a caring welfare program. Life is expensive in paradise.
Mauritius has haphazardly reached the here and now. Singapore and the Seychelles are socio political experiments. As communism, Nazism’s doom to fail is inevitable. A matter of time.
I fear history may remember my grim ripper prophecy even if Mauritius remains happily deluded.
After all, my rant is about you folks!
I am a proud Dad, no favours remain a lesson my next generation thankfully hears.
In time, as we reminisce Atal Bihari Vajpayee, we should never forget that history is about honestly helping the downtrodden. You may join my peace of mind.
Money will buy you out of your market, a truth sadly. Beware Mauritius!