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Ex-UOM student, I live my passion for programming as a senior associate software engineer. Online for more than 5 years now, yashvinblogs.com has a growing number of visitors and a very encouraging participation rate. This success and the passion for blogging drove this blog among the most popular ones of the island.
 
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Yashvin

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	Drive to my photoblog for shots from my mobile phone & my Nikon D5000, purchased directly from eBay.

• http://ashfaqblog.blogspot.com ashfaq

  @yashvin – Nice picture you got there , you went to montagne signaux finally ??

• http://www.sachin-db.net Sachin

  You pointed out the most sensible aspect of things: security. This might be one of the most difficult things for politicians to understand: you can go out for capitalism but you are forgetting social welfare once more. It might explain why practically no European town is open 24/7.

• http://blebon.blogspot.com Bruno

  “most of the restos are closed at 9am. If you need food after 9am, goto Caudan Waterfront.”

  is it am or pm???

  2nd i dont think CCTV will discorage thugs, they will wear masks.

  3rd 24/7 is just a slogan … of course there wont be any animation at midnight

• http://www.yashvinawootar.com Yashvin

  @ashfaq : In fact, the pictures have been taken by my colleague.

  I used to go to Montagne Signaux twice-thrice a week for some jogging, but I recently replaced that 1hr walk by gym. As for taking pics there, never done it at night, yet.

  @Sachin : Having a social life is becoming more and more difficult. Even for me, some months back, I had practically no finishing time at work. But I guess with a shift system, there can be a solution to this issue. Police officers, Fire fighters and hospitals are working 24/24. Why not other sectors? (with careful planning of course!)

• Bernardo

  Most working people (well … at least those really working and not taking 2 hours off their 8 or so hours going to bazaar or shopping in Port-Louis) will like the 24/7 concept.

  I never understood why shops and restaurants close @ 17:00. This is just the time at which the people having money to spend knock off work. It seems like some businesses in Mauritius doesn’t want to make money.

  Shift systems work delightfully well in other countries. It was high time to implement this in Mauritius.

  Now you’re right to say that longer business hours should automatically mean: CCTV and frequent police patrols.

  I still remember how nice it was to have most shops open till “late” in Europe and “Very-late” in middle east

  B.

• http://sozzz.net Sun

  I am for 24/7.. simply because i hate to wake up early.. and i noticed my efficiency increases during the night(its so calm).. and i can stay awake and concentrated till very late. that maybe selfish. but working on shift-hours would be a dream for me. XD

  i hope that this project is succesfull. not only in restaurents, but also in other IT-related businesses. Call-centers are already doing it i think. The real ‘city’ that should run 24/24 is Ebene. maybe thats for the 24/7 2.0

• krishnen

  Without an efficient and reliable transport system, this project is doomed for failure.

• Mike

  This should be an interesting exercise to see how this fits into the local society. We can foresee quite a few problems and I think that not that many shops are willing to go ahead with this. The most obvious problem is one of security for working personnel and property. In the long term you would have to review working conditions, recuperation days and salaries. I also believe that not much thought has been put in to just how costly this would be for commerce. There are increased expenses in electricity for one and it does not go in line with the power saving policy. Will commerce attract enough customers to be able to break even on the extra costs, quite honestly, I think not.

• michaelko999

  bizin commence kit par non? si li marcher zika minuit. lot coup avant met li 2-3 hr. apres pli ava gueter.

• http://blebon.blogspot.com Bruno

  “Anyone looking for food can tell you, most of the restos are closed at 9am. If you need food after 9am, goto Caudan Waterfront.”

  did you mean pm???

  “The installation of the CCTV cameras and the presence of more police officers will be of great help to discourage thieves.”

  I dont think so … they’ll just wear masks, which they can put on in zones where you dont have cameras and still use stolen cars …

  But I’d love too to see the capital city animated till 9 pm … it’s so spooky at 5, like you said :S

• http://www.yashvinawootar.com Yashvin

  @Bernardo : 2hrs lunch… no comments.

  @Sun : “The real ‘city’ that should run 24/24 is Ebene.”
  Sorry but personally, I consider Ebene as an industrial zone.

  @krishnen : Rightly said! I missed that point, thanks!

  @Mike : You brought your points forward, thats nice!
  Shops and other commercial activities will only be in this project, if they succeed in covering their costs of operations, which is much more than their actual daily costs. Additional costs can be Taxis, meal allowances, lights… Anyway, you said it all!

  @michaelko999 : Yeah, everything has a starting point, just like the “Summer time” *cough* *cough*
  And I guess a few months later, the govt will say “We will not go forward with this project, for now“…
  Guess why? Elections coming…

  @Bruno : haha, its 9pm, thats for reading my text so carefully! Corrected it, thanks!

  “They’ll just wear masks”

  Not all of them have brains

  Just to quote, I remember this one :
  “A thief jumped from the exit door of a moving bus (and died), after the passengers started to beat him because he stole a mobile.”

• http://yudzisland.blogspot.com/ Yudz

  one thing which is bizarre is 24/7 ends at midnite!

• Bernardo

  @Bruno : That’s good if thieves wear masks… they’ll be easier to spot and beat before they attempt anything

• sebastien

  I’ve worked 2 days on a shift system working at night and its crap, never again.
  @SUN call centres do run on shifts as a matter of fact its hard to find one BPO firm that is not. but i dont think that i met any person that is willing to spend his whole career working night shifts.

  for the 2 days i did night shifts my life was miserable. got home at minuit went straight to bed and when wake up its time to go to work again. not much time for relax. pas ene lavi sa!!

  i think 24/7 will only make people’s life more miserable, not yours of course but the guys working… dont think they will get a pay raise because they work at night. As usual dimun ki ena cash pou ale resto, cinema, shopping, lezot malere res lacaz ou bien pe travail. Do you really think that managers, les cadres superieures, and other people with middle management will accept to work at night (night shifts and not overtime as in staying late in the office)…not sure…

  Plus: is there any reason that we have a biological clock that makes us sleep at night… i mean sleep disorder is a medical issue to be considered for those doing thoses night shifts.

  But i dont think the concept is viable, security and transport issues have to be solved first. 24/7 maintenant c’est comme mettre la charrue avant les boeufs.

  I think 24/7 its a bit of an exageration, but its true that it would be nice to have places open till say 11hr parla for resto and maybe a bit earlier for shops.

  Another thought, just because Europe or the middle east does it, does it mean its better and we should copy……

• http://neodil.blogspot.com Dilraj

  I hope this time buses will run upto 01h00 from Saturday night to Sunday morning on at least all main routes so that people form other places are able to go and return to and from the Capital City.

• http://roushdat.wordpress.com Roushdat

  While the concept of 24/7 is nice (not refering to only this day) but I think a smoother and more beneficial approach will be to extend office hours in Port Louis. Those who want to flame me, wait, let me complete !

  If say we come up with a shift system whereby there are 2 batches of workers; one start working at 8am and finishes at 3pm while the other half start at 9:30am and finishes at 4:30pm. The timing will be alternate so that a batch works earlier for 1 week and later the next.

  As a result, the traffic problem towards Port Louis will effectively be reduced and the working hours extended! As people get used to this and our system gets well-adapted, we can then consider further extension little by little till we achieve a real 24/7 if the need be.

• http://roushdat.wordpress.com Roushdat

  Another small thought crossed my mind: will thieves and drug dealers also be invited to participate in this event? (or are they already running their services 24/7 since long?…maybe there are things we should learn from them…)

• Aum

  i believe that many shops would b putting sales during those 3 nights.. and you might find it strange that many of those shops would bypass their Point Of Sales systems at night

• http://m3rvin.blogspot.com Mervin

  i’m sceptic about the 24/7 concept but there are so many issues that need to be sorted out first of all before implementing such a vast project..

  for eg. shops,quincallerie, enfin the whole city closes after 4..the same time most of offices in town closes too..so when will the guy working be able to shop? during lunch time of course.

  so now if those kind of shops started to open up after 5..like say around 7 till midnight, plenty of people will be able to do their shopping easily..office hours for working and non office hours for shopping eating etc..

  but 1 thing came across my mind..the owner of the shops etc..when will he be able to socialise with his family? during non office hours when everybody is working will be his free time..agree?

  in the end he won’t even open as he will lose time socialising because his business runs well during office hours and he won’t bother about non office hours. this is a point among many ..

  and in the end, what will be people be looking for in plouis this weekend? personally i’ll be looking for food and clothing..this means that im able to socialise during non office hours..because there is an event which permits me to do so..when there is no event i stay home..

  second..banks will be open till midnight..profit making business s*cking into its employees resources to make profit..

  if restaurant, shops, tabaj and other things remain closed and lets open only the offices (because thats what the hrdc wants) for work only..they want to make the city run the clock so that the others are encouraged to open up and in the end, it will conclude it people working @ night and shops being open @ nite..

  so its the same thing actually which is prevailing i think :p

  whats the use in the end?

• http://www.sachin-db.net Sachin

  Based on my experience here in France, there is no city that has shops open 24/7, at night you might find some grocery stores but they open at 8pm. Only bars and night clubs are open till 2 or 3 am while opening at 9am.

  To those speaking of the shifts, we call that “les trois huit” here. 8am to 4pm, 4pm to midnight and midnight to 8am. Even if we have that, there are no shops open during the night just because of that. Hypermarkets are open till 9pm and it is largely enough.

  Anyway, the concept is supposed to run only in Port Louis, so this might not have a serious impact on other regions.

• http://www.yashvinawootar.com Yashvin

  @Yudz : lol, perhaps you haven’t read the post entirely, but this is the funny point I mentioned at the end

  @Bernardo : yeah lol, didnt think of that earlier!

  @sebastien : I do not agree completely with you, but your points will of course depend on the person.
  Once you get used to the shift system, it will be your normal life. Working at night can indeed be much more nice for many of us (I do find it cool).

  @Dilraj : The transport system will of course needs a complete rework.

  @Roushdat : I think that you are perhaps making reference to some “Flexi working time”.
  I must admit it, at some instance, my team did came to work at around mid day, and we left office around 2am. Nice experience, no need to rush for the bus, AND no traffic jams!
  As for the drug dealers, perhaps we should ask them their secrets?

  @Aum : Indeed, The HRDC announced sales for that 24/7 trial weekend, but I haven’t came across the names of those shops yet!

  3 days remaining, and I think no precise time schedule for the events and list of shops have been published!

  @Mervin : You have not taken something very important in your comment : “Shift System”
  Without a shift system, it will be inhuman to implement the 24/7 concept, you mentioned the issues yourself.

• http://m3rvin.blogspot.com Mervin

  yeah you are right. shift system here is very important and is a must for the concept to work.

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• Vaiizard

  Why going for 24/7?
  Why not start by making it compulsory that all shop open on Thursdays afternoon. Can anyone explain to me why everywhere( i mean shops quincaillerie etc..) is close on Thursday afternoon? Why is it so? Mauritian aren’t allow to shop or roam in Mauritius in Thursday afternoon?

  i think it would work out better if the banks and the offices to remain open at 7pm. It would facilitate the life of many people. It would also reduce the traffic jam at peak hours because if someone got some transaction to do, the latter can leav home at 5pm and to to p.louis and get his job done.

• http://www.yashvinawootar.com Yashvin

  @Vaiizard : I believe that the shops are closed in Thursdays because they are open on Sundays.
  Perhaps some kind of agreement with the staff. Also, this is not applicable everywhere. Some shops do not close as u said and I think that it depends on the region.
  As for the banks and offices, that’s what the HRDC is trying to do, but till midnight. Sure, 7pm is more bound to have success, but keeping financial and economical sectors running all the time is the aim of the 24/7.

  btw, thanks for ur visit

• http://ashfaqblog.blogspot.com ashfaq

  @vaiizard – i got the answers to your questions ..
  it is all related to the way mauritians have been going on the last decades..
  Mite be you do not know it .. Most businesses in Port Louis close at 5pm on thursday or even later.. 5h30 for some .. that special day is duly selected because banks close at 5pm on friday which is the latest closing time of the whole week .. also .. weekend the banks are closed..
  soo, businessmen from ALL regions of Mauritius come to port louis on Thursday to buy their articles.. which is why all regions of Mauritius.. shops close at mid-day.. mostly..
  Those wholesalers in Port louis after having bagged huge amounts of money thus have till 5pm to deposit their money at the bank. Then those regions of Mauritius closing mid-day .. mainly the 4 other cities .. on thursday.. they open saturday ALL day . thus port louis close at mid-day on saturdays ..
  I hope this answered your questions.

• Vaiizard

  @ashfaq – Am aware of this fact but its not still the same nowadays. Its like a tradition that the shops of the other 4 cities are still keeping and dont want to change it. In the past it used to be like how you stated. But nowadays am sure that you are aware that most if not all “retailers” import their own goods. Its just an old concept that needs to be changed and that’s the hardest thing to do. Its really very hard to change the habits and mentality of Mauritians. We can take the summer time for example.

• http://ashfaqblog.blogspot.com ashfaq

  @vaiizard- it is still the same.. if it were to change.. banks should remain open on saturdays .. thus businessman in port louis have no need to close their week counts on friday .. and no need for them to open late thursday either..
  My grandfather got a quincaillerie .. and it is now my dad and uncles who are doing the businessman .. that’s why i am telling you about it.. because the thursdays are still what make the week’s budget.. as far as quincaillerie stuffs are concerned.. wholesalers remain wholesalers..
  Mite be for computer stuffs.. clothes and bane “ti lartik” people import themselves.. but for quincailleries.. the royal road has still kept that tradition to now ..

• Anonymous

  I am not surprised that the concept has not had any success so far. The fundamental issues to facilitate 24/7 have not yet been dealt with i.e. security and commercial cost effectiveness.

• http://profiles.google.com/akashsky Akash Gura Goredo

   In itself the terminology is wrong: it should be called “all time, all day”.
  In any case, I have heard this kind of question being asked time and again: “Would you allow your wife / children to go out there shopping after dark?”
  It contains enough emotionally charged aspects that the HRDC is doomed to let that hollow concept fall by itself. Even in some regions of PLouis where kebabs, briani and other foodstuffs are prepared at street level (perfumed with all the diesel/fuel exhaust belching out from nearby traffic, without any restriction from health inspectors) after dusk, there is a closing time. Which is as soon as our bellies get filled.

• Tushal

  *Cough* The CCTV isn’t fully functional. And some of them just don’t work at all. *cough*

• http://profiles.google.com/akashsky Akash Gura Goredo

  Imagine this: a hooded pick-pocket bumps into you and minutes later you discover that your wallet is missing. Will the CCTV cameras – if they are operational – be of any help?
  You are right to put your finger on the only thing that keeps Mauritius backwards: no budget for maintenance.
  Hi-tech gadgets are a one-trick poney unless they are properly designed and manufactured (weather-proof for tropical climate, extreme duty since used by not-so-good-at-IT people, potential for communication with other systems / devices, etc), operated and maintained.
  Else, it’s only good for the inaugural photo.

  Just a digression: did you see that the police force is now “equipped” with the latest GWM Wingle 5 (please don’t laugh at the typo “funtionality”). And drool over what should be the true things for real, heavy-duty commitment to enforcement. Once they had Land Rovers, which kept rolling for 15+ years, then they shifted to Toyotas which are still in operation, then to Nissans in 1990′s (now nowhere to be seen), how long will the GWM’s last?

  When you pay with peanuts, expect to get monkeys…