DAN PARADI TRILENG

Most Mauritians believe that they are either bilingual (having full mastery of TWO languages) or polyglots (having full mastery of several languages); most of them believe that Mauritian Creole (MC/Morisien) is not a language but is a patois or a dialect; most believe that Mauritius is a fully literate country and most citizens have the “ability to read, write and use numeracy, to handle information, to express ideas and opinions, to make decisions and solve problems, as family members, workers, citizens and lifelong learners” (definition of literacy by the government of Scotland). Myth or reality?

Most Mauritians believe that only NEOLIBERAL CAPITALISM can guarantee growth and general happiness and this means ‘less government’ and full licence to the invisible hand that governs economic activities. Myth or reality?

We were all very happy in our comfort zone until a ‘kaser nisa’ (spoilsport) barged in to kick us in the pants. Yes, COVID-19 did just that.

LANGUAGE BARRIER
‘Confinement and curfew oblige’, IT pundits were quick to suggest IT solutions: internet banking, online shopping, internet administration, distance learning etc. They are not wrong but there is a ‘small snag’. All these solutions rest on functional literacy and according to my theoretical and practical work, less than 30% of the population master the fundamentals of functional literacy. Most Mauritians are semilingual and semiliterate. State of the art technology, however efficacious, can be handled properly by only a few who jealously guard their power and privileges.

With the lockdown of schools, it has been suggested that distance learning using T.V and internet apps (Zoom, Skype etc.) could replace face to face instruction. Pa fasil! Most teachers have not been trained to use this technology and proper logistics support leaves much to be desired. Worst of all, because Mauritians don’t like to acknowledge reality and prefer to think that what IS NOT in fact IS, a serious pedagogical problem crops up. In some classrooms, if French is used as a support language (stepney) in the teaching of most subjects, including science, in most classrooms, it is Mauritian Creole (MC) which functions as support language when communication collapses as the official medium of instruction, English, cannot deliver. In face to face teaching, the support language is used informally and all attempts to ban it have failed. Teachers explain concepts, ideas and difficulties in the children’s mother tongue (MC is the mother tongue of 90% of the population) and then the English version is dictated to be used for examination purposes. Have the pundits of distance learning thought about that? How efficacious will their teaching be?

THE ECONOMY
The economic pundits, most being faithful and loyal followers of neoliberal capitalism, characterised by free market trade, deregulation of financial markets, privatization, individualisation, and the shift away from state welfare provision, believe in reducing state power and increasing private sector dominance. Again, the great ‘KASER NISA’ came to rub the pundits’ noses in their own … you know what I mean!

The state has now become the saviour. Public money is used to save the private sector. And most politicians in government and opposition think it is a normal thing.

A minority think that we must rethink the future in economic, political and cultural terms. Nation building, food security, gender equality, green sustainable development, universal functional literacy, inter alia, must now be the order of the day.

Has COVID-19 taught us anything else? Since the beginning of the pandemic, Mauritian politicians, local audio-media, professionals in the front line – medical, law-enforcement and NGO personnel – have understood that, to inform and educate people about the disease, the despised national language and mother tongue of 90% of the population, Mauritian Creole (MC/Morisien) is a vital tool. Will the door be now open to move to a genuine and vibrant language policy which will power our efforts to build a rainbow nation, to attain full functional literacy, to ensure global and sustainable development in all fields and to launch and sustain a national ecolo-economic movement? Will religious leaders understand that religious education can succeed only if faith learns to use devotees’ mother tongue? We can only hope!

15.04.20

HISTORY AND MINDSET

How old is Mauritius, not in geological terms (10,000,000 years) but in terms of human settlement? Less than 400 years if we include the brief Dutch settlement (1638-1710). In that short period of time, the Creole Island of Mauritius has gone through all the great events of human history from slavery to neoliberal capitalism via a form of semi-feudalism and two world wars. What can the impact of this rapid succession of historical events be on the people’s mindset? Would it make people more open-minded, more predisposed to changes or rather less ready and less prepared to accept changes? Moreover, the country and its people have undergone 3 types of colonisation (Dutch, French and British) in this rather short time? What can the impact be? Now, if we add to all this, the peopling of the Creole Island with different waves of immigrants from different parts of the world, namely, France, Great Britain, Mozambique, Madagascar, India and China, what would the outcome be? A biological and cultural melting pot or rather a chequered mess of clannish and tribal loyalties? A rainbow nation or a rather a complex network of ‘noubanns’ and ‘bannlas’? ‘Enn sel lepep, enn sel nasion’ or ‘Bef dan disab, sakenn get so lizié’.

A thorough and honest study of the sixties and seventies can help us see some light through the fog. In 1967, when we had to decide who would run the country, social-democrats or pro-apartheid forces powered by big-white money, the country was divided into 2 clans: the pro-Hindus and the anti-Hindus. Half a century later, not much has changed.

CENTRIPETAL VERSUS CENTRIFUGAL FORCES

There is a constant conflict between a marginal centripetal force which aims at developing a national, supra-ethnic identity and dominant centrifugal forces, powered by ethnic loyalties which are dead against supra-ethnic values. When we have to face natural calamities, we do see some positive reflexes triggered by solidarity and sharing. But when the situation is back to ‘more-or-less normal’, we go back to ‘business as usual’ and take Metro Express to ‘Bef dan disab, sakenn get so lizié’?

Neoliberal capitalism, based on cupidity and selfishness pushed to its upper limit, is presented by its proponents as TINA (there is no alternative), the only system which offers solutions to all problems. Since its inception and first use by the dictator Pinochet with the support of the USA, this system supported by far-right leaders has given power and wealth to the very rich and has plunged the planet into chaos.

But now Covid-19 shows that neoliberal capitalism is a giant with Achilles heel. Trump boasted that the USA would not be affected by it. We now know that the first world power is the most vulnerable. Bolsonaro of Brazil insists in denying that there is a problem although hundreds have died so far and Modi thinks that a lit diya will force the disease to quit India.

Neoliberal capitalism which believes that state power is incompatible with growth, seeks state bailing out each time there is trouble. The present crisis has seen increased state power using taxpayers’ money to rescue the economy run by a handful of giant corporations.

Positive humane attitudes have also emerged. Intraethnic solidarity has been overshadowed by supra-ethnic generosity. Will this new phenomenon grow even when Covid-19 is something of the past? It is to be hoped that we will not relapse into ‘Bef dan disab, sakenn get so lizié’.

5.4.20