Hi all,
Yes I can disclose I took part in an awards called "National ICT
Excellence Awards" in 2011. I can also disclose that, approx 12 months
later, I wrote to the Ministry of ICT (specifically to the minister
himself) telling him I now use the award as a Doorstop (to keep my door
open.. it's handy because it's just the right weight). To this I
received a phone call, to which I then answered that I'm thinking of
putting my award for sale on Ebay "just to see how much it's worth" (if
you get the sarcasm and what i'm trying to say.... then good!!!).
The fact of the matter is I entered the awards for two reasons:
a) I live in Mauritius and, in a land where you are judged purely on
"letters after your name", I found that I couldn't get any government
meetings at all. I had already built an e-commerce platform (with some
unique features) but just couldn't get the word out to government.
Hence, after around my 20th rejection for a request for a meeting, I
happened to stumble across an announcement saying that these awards
would take place. So, my reasoning was this... "If I could win just
something at these awards, at best 3rd prize if i'm lucky, at least I
can have 'something' under my belt which would then get me a 15 minute
meeting with the Minister of Business (at the time Seetaram).
However, I was still not comfortable taking part on this island. I
already knew how rampant corruption is in Mauritius and how
un-meritocratic the country is (hence why I have not worked a single
minute in the IT sector in Mauritius for any company or mauritian
contract. This remains true up until today), so I rang up the MICT and
asked WHAT was the purpose of these awards. I was told, by some guy
there, that "we are holding these awards to find IT talent who maybe are
unknown to us, but living in Mauritius". I then found out that the
judges were going to be mostly non-government people (academics some of
them) and thus, It was at THIS point I decided to take part.
After some time an incident occurred (basically two ministries and two
parastatals got together to form a group and proceeded to 'attempt' to
copy, in every aspect, my project in 2012) that I then said "pran to
zaffaire (award) aller". I had no need for it at that point.
b) It was xmas.. and I heard they were going to serve unlimited whisky,
vodka, beer etc.
c) I'm taking part again at some point.. because I have two empty spaces
in my cabinet (the award is back in the cabinet now) and I want to fill
those two spaces. Whether I can or not doesn't matter.. i'll still be in
for the whisky.
Anyway, personally, I don't find a need to "look good in Mauritius".
Mauritius is the mauritian people.. the public... and I have no need to
look good for the mauritian people. This is being a 'gran noir'. The
only reason I agree to interviews (mags etc... the latest one published
2 days ago in Business Mag... 13 interviews have been published so far I
can disclose) is not to look good vis-a-vis the public, but to get the
message to the whole nation, specifically government to "do not
underestimate the power of e-commerce.. when $1 Trillion retail
e-commerce sales is expect by 2018 in AFRICA ALONE".
I am trying to get the message out that business in Mauritius need not
be isolated and restricted just to the island.. but we can sell to the
whole wide world (as we demonstrated by selling nearly 11,000 individual
retail parcels, purely via e-commerce, from Mauritius to European
customers). It was a test from my behalf to show an entire country that,
even the tiniest of business can trade with the entire world.
And this is the only reason why you'll find I "go public" sometimes.
As for looking for a job or contract in return for silence etc. Well...
i've never been employed by private or public sector, I do not have any
contracts with government either. However, I do have a National & Global
Retail E-Commerce Platform (singlehandedly built) which was
conceptualised, built and went live starting from 2007.. and I want the
entire nation to use it, to sell directly to consumers around the world.
My aim is to lift those who are never given an economic chance in
mauritius... chances I NEVER was given in my younger life, simply
because i was not the correct caste, didn't have the right surname,
didn't know the right people, and REFUSED to bring myself down in front
of anyone to get anywhere.
I hope this disclosure clears the air :)
Dhiruj
On 23/05/2015 21:01, S Moonesamy wrote:
> Hello,
> At 07:48 23-05-2015, Dhiruj Rambaran wrote:
>> In the above I'm just stating a reality as witnessed by myself
>> and some others I know. The govt has nothing to do with me and one
>> can say anything at any time. In any case, it will depend on what the
>> issue is.. what is our objective but, more importantly, what kind of
>> results do we expect from the encounter (I am assuming one's goal is
>> to expect results?)
>
> I'll use the last workshop which I attended as an example. One of the
> speakers stated that user groups are participating in the
> discussions. I'll leave Mr Sookun to comment for the Linux User Group
> Meta as he was representing that user group. In my opinion, that is
> incorrect as the Mauritius Internet Users has not been approached to
> participate in the discussions. I commented so that the Mauritius
> Internet Users is not included in a report saying that we agreed to
> what was discussed.
>
> The objective of participating in an event or committee is to attain a
> result or a decision which moves us closer to a result. The reality
> which you witnessed is similar to some cases I came across. After an
> encounter I send an email to this mailing list so that everyone knows
> what is happening. I am also asking everyone for their opinion or
> advice on what to do next.
>
>> It is not the "views" that's the issue, because they are
>> genuine views, but rather the presentation of these views in order to
>> get these points across and, hopefully, have something
>
> I prefer not to do things in hope that something will be done. I
> prefer to take the facts, ignore the gossip, and do an analysis. I
> then present them outside this mailing list in a way to attain a
> result. It is well-known in Mauritius that a person promoting
> himself/herself can be offered an appointment or a juicy contract in
> exchange for his/her silence. I guess that is why Shelly would like
> to know more about your opinions on the various topics being
> discussed. Let's say that you did not disclose that you are a member
> of, for example, the ICT Advisory Council and you do not have time to
> participate in discussions when the ICT Advisory Council is
> mentioned. That could create a perception that you are lobbying in
> favour of government.
>
>> done about it. And in regards to a representative trying to look
>> good (for personal reasons) in front of this group of incompetents
>> known as "the Mauritian government", well... if i spoke for myself,
>> any government, ruling a tiny island (sometimes totally absent in
>> some maps!), is barely a yardstick to measure one's dreams,
>> aspirations and capabilities against. Some of us may want to look
>> good in front of the Mauritian government.. others may want to look
>> good in a global magazine like "Time". It may happen, one day, that I
>> may sacrifice my soul for the whole world... but certainly not for a
>> dead Volcano jutting above sea level in the Indian Ocean.
>
> A lot of people aspire to look good in Mauritius or outside
> Mauritius. There is an interview of Mr Rambaran at
> http://www.defimedia.info/defi-quotidien/dq-economie/item/4228-rencontre--dhiruj-rambaran-%E2%80%93-un-programmeur-au-service-de-sa-majest%C3%A9-britannique.html
> There is an interview of Mr Sookun at
> http://www.lexpress.mu/video/246943/govmu-ish-sookun-choque-nouvelle-gaffe
> There is an interview of Mr Velvindron at
> http://www.lexpress.mu/article/246972/mauriciens-qui-brillent-en-informatique
> Is it a problem to look good in Mauritius because of that?
>
> Regards,
> S. Moonesamy
>
Received on Sat May 23 2015 - 18:14:43 PST