Mauritius Medine Sugar Estate - Hon. P.M. Dr. Navin Ramgoolam

Open letter of appreciation to our most Honorable Prime Minister, Dr. Navinchandra Ramgoolam for his intervention at the 100 year anniversary celebration of the Medine Sugar Estate Company Limited.

Who and what really made the difference on that occasion should be a commendable frame of reference for all Mauritians!

My brother, Fernand Leclezio and I learnt from the media that Médine S.E. Company Limited celebrated its 100th anniversary on September 9, 2011.

All Mauritians know that September 9 is above all the anniversary of Father Jacques Desiré Laval – ‘The apostle of the poor’.

Only immediate family and close friends know that September 9 is also the anniversary of Alexis Desiré Fernand Leclézio. Obviously, Desiré was one of our father’s chosen names at baptism to honor the ‘Apostle of the poor’.

Although our father played a leading role in improving the lot of the poor through the development of Médine and F.U.E.L., he would never have been so presumptuous to think that the present day management of Médine picked September 9 to celebrate the 100th anniversary of Medine in his honor.

That must have been a mere coincidence.

But our father must be rejoicing, and so are we, to note that our Honorable Prime Minister remembered him on his birthday and took time to cite him during his intervention at the 100th anniversary celebration of an enterprise our father did so very much for.

That was no coincidence! And, that is who and what made the difference.

We believe that a higher spirit binds extraordinary leaders together in their universal quest for the common good of all.

Thus Father Jacques Desiré Laval was driven by his strong desire to secure and ensure the common good of all Mauritians starting from the very bottom of the ladder, working with and through all those that were deliberately excluded.

Sir Seewoosagur was relentless in his search for a solution that would guarantee the common good of all. Among his countless other achievements, free education for all was part of that solution. Through education, the father of our nation led all Mauritians across the great divide away from the deserts of exclusion.

Who would ever know today that, as a culmination of all his centralizations and realizations, our father researched long and hard what would be the best acronym to tie West to East – Medine to F.U.E.L into one? To the ordinary folks, WEAL stood for: West East Association Limited. But to our father, WEAL had to be the symbol of who he was and what he stood for. After many a sleepless night and much research, he finally settled for the acronym WEAL. Eureka! Our father had found that, in old English, WEAL means ‘The common good’. Indeed a modern day check through the free on line dictionary (not available to our father in his days) confirms the meaning of WEAL as follows: “1. Prosperity; happiness: in weal and woe.2. The welfare of the community; the general good: the public weal.

Today, every Mauritian should rejoice to see with what integrity and to what courageous extent Navin will go to, in order to ensure the common good of all Mauritians, regardless of status, color or creed.

In his strenuous and perseverant efforts for the common good, Navin does not only want to tie West to East but also North to South. Through the democratization of the economy, Navin is continuously striving to create an all encompassing society where every Mauritian will have an equal opportunity.

Navin’s vision of the ‘Mauritius Incorporated’ of tomorrow will by far transcend the limits of an antiquated colonial, jealously and selfishly guarded ‘Mauritius Company Limited’ of yesterday designed to limit the benefits of our fast expanding economy to the company of a very few.

However, for Navin's vision to become reality, it is imperative that all Mauritians learn from one another. In his book, ‘N’ayez pas peur’, John Paul II pounds on the fact that more aspects of our daily lives unite us rather than divide us. Thus, John Paul II exhorts us to embrace and adopt, as our own, the very best that each diverse component of the society we live in has best to offer.

We are lucky to live in a society where, at least some members of certain communities take to heart the dreams of their extraordinary leaders. But it is only when true and thourough Mauritianism permeates through the daily actions of every Mauritian that we will have a just and equal opportunity society that will be an example to the globalized world.

We all have lessons to learn from the profound words of our leader during his intervention at the 100 year anniversary of Medine S.E. Company Limited. Unfortunately, while some appear to be far better and more genuine students than others, some members of certain communities choose to remain imprisoned within the confines of their narrow spirit, their ‘privileges’ of old and their self serving interests.

As an example, on August 15th, the only two Mauritians to wish my wife and I a happy feast day were two non Catholics, namely Mr. J. Monebhurrun of the companies Division in Rodrigues and Dr. Vickas Gopee of Rose Belle hospital.

In turn, on the occasion of the feast of Ganesh Chaturthi on September 2, our brother Fernand Leclezio Jr. followed the outstanding example of Navin, the leader of all Mauritians. In keeping with Navin’s dream and our father’s lessons, Fernand innocently called, among others, one of our cousins to wish him a happy feast day. In a show of extremely poor judgment and regrettable narrow mindedness, so remote from any Mauritianism ideology urged by our leader, our cousin lambasted poor Fernand for daring to wish him a happy feast day concerning a God he will never choose to know!!!

By exemplary contrast, on the occasion of the 100th anniversary of Medine a week later, in his intervention, Navin endeavored once again to set a wonderful example for all Mauritians to adopt and follow, in order to achieve an all inclusive equal opportunity society. Navin chose to reach out to all Mauritians when he quoted our father : « s’il y a de la gloire, il y en aura pour tout le monde mais s’il y a un désastre je veux être le seul à en souffrir ». « Quelle belle leçon à ceux qui aspirent à devenir de vrais leaders », a souligné le chef de l’État.

In a constant show of most unselfish motivation, it is very obvious that Navin has fully mastered that lesson.

Navin has often revealed how he is humbly fully aware that he could not have mastered that lesson alone. Navin knows that in his relentless quest for a just and equitable Mauritian society, he is inspired by a higher spirit that binds together and unites all those who strive for the common good. That is the Godly spirit of Love and commitment passed down to some of us by our fathers.

I believe that it is that same Godly spirit that can influence each and every one of us in our daily responses, even to the seemingly most ordinary events of our daily lives.

Thus, when the present day president of Medine called my brother Fernand, not to invite him to the 100 year anniversary celebration, but rather to ask him for a photo of our father to possibly publish it in some anniversary book, Fernand was inspired to refer our cousin to the Mauritius Times, saying that, to his knowledge, the Mauritius Times had the best photo of our father.

That was no coincidence. I proudly repeat what I have written in the past. Sir Satcam Boolell, himself a great leader, once referred to Sir Seewoosagur, to Bickramsingh Ramlallah and to our father as the people who had marked him indelibly as being great leaders.

The spirit of those great leaders is passed on down the line to the next generation. Fernand instinctively referred the Medine president to The Mauritius Times. Not having seen a copy of the commemorative book, we do not know if the president of Medine ever sought or obtained our father’s picture from the Mauritius Times.

But it was ever so more meaningful, and obviously very much through that all combining spirit of extraordinary leaders, that the daughter of Bickramsingh Ramlallah, Sadhna Ramlallah, proved to be the only one within family or friend circle, to take the time to advise us that ‘Le Mauricien’ had carried an article on the 100 year anniversary celebration of Medine and that our Prime Minister had cited our father during his intervention!

Furthermore watching the news on MBC TV on September 10, 2011, Fernand and I were comforted to hear the present day president of Medine recognize that Medine is today one of the biggest land owners in Mauritius. It may have been fitting for him to also disclose who was the visionary who accomplished the feat of consistently and laboriously expanding the Medine factory area square foot by square foot?

Dear Navin, as you well know, by judiciously and repeatedly climbing over every mountain in order to invest in more and more real estate, years ago, our father set the course for the common good of all the population of Mauritius and particularly so for those living within the Medine and F.U.E.L. factory areas.

By comparison, as if any were possible, who is today consistently divesting Medine of much of the prized land acquired years ago? Is such a policy truly for the common good of all or mostly for the benefit of a restricted number of Medine shareholders?

But, then, we understand that while some prefer to forget important historical facts, lest they be reminded of their own mediocrity, true leaders choose to publicly remember details and to cite great leaders in order to help all aspire to great leadership.

Dear Navin, Fernand and I are moved to tears as we thank you for choosing to publicly remember our father and his guiding spirit on his birthday.

Now, that our father has left so much behind to be fondly remembered by, I thank you for always remembering to include Fernand in all the major celebrations of the Labour Party and for inviting him to share the podium with your winning team on countless occasions.

Your tender loving care towards all Mauritians, including the marginalized, for whatever reason – That is what makes the difference. That is what sets you apart as an extraordinary leader. That is what empowers you to make a worthwhile difference in the life of so many in small or big ways!

Your astounding memory, reaching in the remote past history of our land and all its great leaders, regardless of their specific community is what also allows you to see on the other side of the mountains.

As you said before, we all arrived in Mauritius on different ships. But it will be only when we all, willingly, board the ‘Mauritius Incorporated’ ship, for the common good of all that we will have a true blue chip. A blue chip with an infinite amount of human principal and good will to be traded and further recognized worldwide as a new standard of values. A blue chip that can only be led by your staunch principles of unselfish exchange of ideas, power and finance for the common good of all.

It is only when every sailor on the ‘Mauritius Incorporated’ regardless of rank, acts, under your leadership, as an apostle of the poor and marginalized, that every Mauritian will be rich not only materially but above all spiritually. Then and only then will every Mauritian, by his own actions, deserve to become a full fledge shareholder of ‘Mauritius Incorporated’ so as to fully participate in the country’s overall success.

May ‘Mauritius Incorporated’ become known down history lane as the brain child of your creative genius. It is very obvious that your own organized thinking process is always on the watch for any minute detail that can and will make a worthy difference in the life of every Mauritian. Indeed, some affirm that, awake or asleep, your mind ticks away like a fine watch to mark each precious minute of your supernatural perseverance and drive that is solely devoted to the improvement of the lot of each and every Mauritian.

Dear Navin, may all limiting barriers to the realization of your dream be torn down urgently through the upcoming budget. It will undoubtedly set new horizons for the sun to rise warmly on all Mauritians.

In an effort to tear down unnecessary road blocks and overcome distracting forces, who would have the courage and vision today, within the ranks of private industry, to contribute meaningfully to the rebirth of the ‘Advance Newspaper’ for the overall advancement of every aspect of Mauritian society through factual, patriotic and truthful reporting?

May numerous future generations of Mauritians remember you well over a hundred years from now for your countless achievements for the common good of our nation.

As the one and only worthy leader of our country, of our industry, of our economy and of our plural society, thank you for always making such a powerful difference at each significant opportunity!

Most respectfully,

Louis Leclezio.