Au Père Souchon, Voici que s'approche l’heure du départ à la retraite d’un rassembleur du peuple Mauricien et pasteur d'une Eglise qu’il a voulue sans frontières, et ce, en son 86ème anniversaire. Il donne une coloration particulière à cette nation arc-en-ciel, où toutes les fois trouvent une place à l’autel de l’Immaculée Conception, pour révérer ce Dieu miséricordieux. Je crois que le Vatican permet la retraite à 65 ans, mais l’inlassable pèlerin que vous êtes a voulu prolonger au-delà de cet âge, son sacerdoce, appelant l'homme à sa dignité, à sa générosité, à sa grandeur pour qu’il œuvre pour [...]

Dear HC Matabane, You come from a continent that is the cradle of humanity, the custodian of a wealth of wisdom and culture that allows us to look upon modernity with different eyes. Your country is remembered as the place where humanity won victory over apartheid without bloodshed. South Africa is a respected member of the International community. When Nelson Mandela walked to freedom about 2 decades ago, that single act started a process of reconciliation and nation building. Your Freedom Day reminds us also the brutal assassination of one of the outstanding heroes of your struggle, Chris Hani, who died [...]

      SPEECH JACUES DUNIENVILLE. Excellency SA and Lady Jugnauth. I am delighted to welcome all of you to our dinner to-night. It is very heartening that there has been such an enthusiastic response to our invitations to honour a distinguished set of Mauritians. To start, I would like to say a special Hi to a Pakistani couple Adil and Zainab who have chosen to spend their honeymoon in our country. I would like to congratulate a lover of music, dance and books who enjoys collecting diplomas. Holder of an International Diploma in Compliance, a degree in Finance and Law, [...]

We have the privilege tonight to welcome the High Commissioner of India, H. E. Mr. Tanmaya Lal and Mrs. Sumita Lal. Excellency, welcome to Mauritius and thank you for spending this evening with us. Your presence among us is proof of the good relationship we have with your mission since years, a relationship which has a history, a present and a future. When talking of the land of the great grandfathers of 70% of the Mauritian population, one is baffled with ideas that one does not know where to start. Let us just say that India, home to 1.3 billion people, [...]

Alif would like to welcome H. E Mr. Abhay Thakur and Dr. Mrs. Surabhi Thakur to Mauritius. They come from a country whose National Flag speaks volumes on the philosophy of this country. The saffron colour denotes renunciation, the white represents light, the green shows India’s relation to the life giving soil, and the "Ashoka Chakra" denotes the wheel of the law of dharma. How significant! Excellency, you are now on the soil of Mauritius which is your largest trading partner, your single largest source of FDI and which is home to 11,000 Indians. Excellency, when many countries are struggling to [...]

M. Cédric de Speville assume la présidence de la CCI, une institution vieille de 160 ans. Il est un des plus jeunes présidents de la CCI. Il détient une maîtrise en économie de l'Université de Paris I Panthéon Sorbonne, un MSc in Accounting and Finance de la London School of Economics ainsi qu'un Master in Business Administration de la Columbia Business School (New York). Cedric est accompagne par son épouse, Vanessa et le couple a deux enfants, Paul et Marie. Nous avons tenu à vous accueillir, cher Cedric, devant ce parterre ou bat le cœur de l’Ile Maurice profonde et dans [...]

La voix de Patrick Ferrat ce jeudi matin au telephone etait pleine d’emotion. Elle m’apprenait le deces de Rene Noel. Nous savons qu'inéluctablement, un jour, l'existence se termine pour chacun d’entre nous. Mais pour moi, ce depart parait trop tot et me laisse confondu de chagrin. J’ai connu Rene dans les annees 60 lorsequ’il etait l’Administrateur de St. Antoine. Les Jeunes Fermiers qui etaient en premiere ligne dans la lutte contre la faim avaient approche Rene pour l’octroi de quelques arpents de terre agricole pour produire la pomme de terre en contre saison. Ce fonceur accepta de plein gre et se [...]

I recently attended an International meet where I heard African leaders wondering at and praising the Mauritian achievements. Rome was not built in one day, if it were, the bricks weren’t. In the pre-independence years, we thought we were moving; since we did not know where we were going, we felt satisfied: because every road would lead us there. Late Jose Poncini, paraphrasing Sam Walton of Wal Mart, confided to me once that capital for development isn’t scarce. Vision is. A man with sight but without vision is pathetic. Our insularity takes a heavy toll on us. We believe we are [...]

Ladies and Gentlemen, Welcome to the dinner in honour of Ambassador Sun of China and Ambassador Kato of Japan. We would like to thank SAJ, the Architect of modern Mauritius and lady Jugnauth for accepting to honour us. A special welcome to 1. Miss ILLAM AZALI, the daughter of the President of Comores 2. to Mr. Bruno Loyale who brought Sultan Kosen to Mauritius, the tallest man in the world and is now for another surprise show. 3. Drs. TENUSHKA and PANKAJ WADHWA who are consolidating our Health Sector with their new clinic in Flac in partnership with ALIF member Swaley [...]

Ladies and Gentlemen, Thank you for so generously accepting our invitation. First thing first: Let us give a round of applause to Sir Aneerood for defending our cause so brilliantly at Den Hagen. SAJ still has his verve of QC when he was practicing. I hope the judges are convinced as the majority of the world that Mauritius needs complete independence. I would like to acknowledge 3 guests of Alif Society from UK. a. Gabriel Sanchez, holder of triple degrees from Manchester and London and who has done extensive research on oral hygiene and neuro-degeneration and who has appreciably proved that [...]