Hi Wasseem,

great to know that there’s a Mauritian PHP ressource over at 7 PHP. I will be adding you to the link love list. Coming back to your comment, I understand that the Mauritian educational culture is one where you do a lot of passive learning. One where you have to gulp down large chunks of information, preferably before the others to be better than them.

This blog, the Web Design Bureau of Mauritius, is nearly 2 years old and has received great support from the Mauritian blogging community as it has been running against all odds all this time. One peculiarity of this is being one blog that goes against the system stating loud that web design education in Mauritius has to be improved and personal investment from web designers is really important. It has caused quite some upheaval and I’ve even received threats by some people. This is our education framework.

Sharing and stating the truth does not form part of this framework. Doing better than the other is what is taught and if you can do it by demeaning that contender that’s better. Well, I just don’t agree with that.

Keep it up with your blog and thanks for commenting.

Cheers.

.-= Web Design Mauritius recently wrote: Round up of the best posts of April 2010 on the Bureau. =-.

You just caught my attention on Twitter and I finally bumped on this article.
I agree with your point of view as well, concerning the Mauritian Ego. I recently had another glaring example. I give you the example:

Some 1months back, I just launched my blog and just like you, I like to share and entangle myself with like-minded people to promote knowledge about X. So, I share this launch with friends and colleagues at work and on facebook. I have approached them in a very humble way while the fb one is just updates and sharing my link. The purpose and idea was that in return they do share their opinion and blogs/or whatever platform they are on so that we could network online.

At work, I was surprised that only 1 or 2 actually said “ah pa mal, seryer. [full stop]“. But till now none actually made a comment or suggestion, except 1,2 good friends outside work. Most of them simply ignored it with Ego. On fb I have like 125 friends that I personally know, none of them responded, not even a single word.

Mauritian are so selfish and self-centered that at times that I just don’t care to network with them. Some colleagues are even so selfish that when we start sharing and talking about a topic, e.g PHP and web 2.0, some are even afraid to say yes I do PHP and could contribute as well. No they just listen from distance (passive, silent learning and awareness of what he/she is doing/knowing). On the other hand, behind our back, they do very much proclaim themselves to be Expert in this and that blatantly.
What the heck is this kind of attitude? I’m sick seeing all that.

@Girish Mungra:
I completely agree with the “choice of a more easy-to-interact platform” idea. May be a forum or the Ning style is a good one.

@Yashvin:
Another true aspect of how things are in Mauritius; the observation “Once it is time to leave the office, they forget everything and only think about their work the next morning” is 101% correct!

I think Mauritians, specially those tied up with IT, whether developers or designers, have to change attitude and get into the habit of sharing, contributing and moving as a group, not just for self-gain.

Else, there do exist a small handful of people who are very much co-operative, like to make constructive steps. But unfortunately, these guys are like 5 out of 25.

Closing out, I was very much pleased to know all 3 mauritians in here with a good sense of sharing and constructive thoughts. Meet you guys around the network.

Best regards,
K_Wasseem
(7php.com)

True enough, I haven’t worked in a Mauritian company with the 9 to 5 work mentality where you don’t think about your job after work hours, at least, last time I did that was 15 years ago. So, if I get your point, very few people do the job out of passion and for the beauty of the code… ?

Being plugged into the blogosphere is one thing but if you need to keep up with what is going on over the web including trends. I discussed it once in an article web designers =  web consumers. The G-day seems to be a great thing. I mean you get the top notch seminars in the field but many go thinking they might get a diploma for attending  (§weird story heard over the G-day) but my point is that we should stop the “spoon feeding” culture that’s been prevailing in Mauritius since long.

Mind you, there’s nothing against G-day here but in terms of web design, there’s no set rules so it is better to experiment than to just learn and copy.

By networking I was thinking of the use of social media and upcoming trends of building networks of blogs and sites all gravitating around web design. It really started this year with Artover. Others are clearly cold on the track.

Your comment is also nourishing the thoughts I have been having on the editorial line of the Bureau. I published some tutorials before. Maybe I should publish some more even if they are not those posts that are really read.  The Ning solution might also be a good direction to take.

Am not in Web Design but I agree with your views on the Mauritian Ego.  We’r first at criticizing, thats so true. You just have to tune to any radio station here you’ll understand what am talking about.

However there’s a suggestion I would like to make w.r.t the purpose of WDBM. I refer to the paragraph  ’I thought that by launching the Web Design Bureau of Mauritius, I would be able to…’.

The platform you are using here i.e a blog, does not align with the list of features you stated above. The main purpose of a blog being to publish your contents and interact with your readers through comments is successfully achieved here – if you stick to that. However this website does not engage designers to take the step forward and seek for help. Nor does it provide a structure to ‘exchange passionate findings’.

Forming a community is one thing. Having a community of active participants where everybody gains in terms of knowledge and competence is another. I refer to your colophon this time where you say that WDBM ‘is the hub for Mauritian web designers interested in getting their design skills to the next level.’

Visitors here can only turn into consumers of your contents and can only satisfy those looking for some passive learning. What you need is a structure of participation where you encourage designers in Mauritius interact, network  and share their knowledge.

I don’t think the web design community in Mauritius is a failure. It deserves a second chance. Experts like yourself coupled with a proper platform will sure make wonders. My advice is you set up a Ning platform and achieve your endeavor of creating a ‘a real community of Mauritian web designers’.