Wednesday, April 20, 2011

Welcome to Paradise Island

Ladies and gentlemen, we have just landed in Mauritius.  We hope that you've enjoyed your flight.  Local time is 3.30pm, temperature is 28 degrees celsius with 80% humidity.  We look forward to welcoming you aboard Air Mauritius again.

Hurray, you've made it, you've landed on the small island in the middle of nowhere (technically in the middle of the Indian Ocean).  And you look forward to enjoying the sunshine, beaches and clear blue water.  To seeing those smiling welcoming faces of the Mauritian people.  To savouring your stay in this multicultural country where all races live in harmony.  Aaah Mark Twain was right, this IS paradise.

Then why are so many things wrong on paradise island?

Take any newspaper, you'll see headlines screaming about rape, murder, theft, fatal car accidents. 

Listen to the news, you'll hear about child abuse, medical negligence and crimes committed in broad daylight.

Take a walk outside, and you'll probably be victim of street harrassment.  Especially if you're a member of a minority group just like me.

About the street harrassment: have been a victim of it since my teenage years.  If I'm walking alone, and there's a group of people (esp boys), I just know they'll make inappropriate comments or insults.  Many girls are victims of street harrassment, but this is even worse for chinese girls.

Chinese people represent less than 3% of the population here, and probably the most street-harrassed community in this country.  And in a country with mostly dark-skinned people, it's not easy to go unnoticed.

I don't really know how to react to those insulting comments about my ethnicity.  Mostly I just ignore them and walk by quickly.  If they are in cars and driving away, I may insult them back.  Hatred generates hatred.  The hatred and rage I feel inside at these times is beyond words.  These waste-of-space losers should be the ones in wheelchairs or bedridden.  Maybe that will change their perception of the world and make them less full of themselves.

I don't like to wish ill to other people, but if they cannot tolerate me, then why should I have kind feelings for them?

3 comments:

  1. Hello.

    I find that you are a bit harsh about Mauritians. I can't understand why you say that you are harassed just because of your ethnicity. That probably depends in which region you are living but personally, I don't have any problems or differences with you people.

    Anyways, I present myself : Yashvin, blogger too. I will be following your blog now, so keep writing :-)

    Cheers.

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  2. Hi, thanks for reading my blog. I didn't mean to be harsh to the Mauritian population in general. In fact when I was at school or uni, my very best friends were always non-chinese. The people I'm talking about are those rude people who make inappropriate comments about my ethinicity. Like saying NI HAO when I pass by, I find that very rude. These people are usually youngsters or uneducated people. Anyway I was just writing about my own personal bad experiences when walking on the streets. I know other people who experience this also and it's a sad fact...

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  3. Keep these fools aside :-)
    So, you have been living in Mauritius for how long?

    ReplyDelete