As announced at the University of Technology Mauritius’ (UTM) last convocation, UTM has the ambition to set up a Medical School. The project is being materialised by the signing up of an MoU with DYP Worldwide Ltd and it should start operating as from August of this year with postgraduate courses. The portfolio should include General medecine, Surgery, Pediatrics, Gynecology, Orthopedics, Radiology, Anesthesia, Psychiatry, Ophtalmology, Skin and VD. A campus is to be constructed at Rose Belle.

I do think that competition is a good thing and I do hope that it has for effect of lowering costs of medical education. Another fundamental aspect is the quality of graduates produced by the School. Questions have been raised in the past about the quality of other medical school graduates and this had for effect of lenthening the period of internship. Let us hope that the school produces doctors and specialists that people would trust their lives on.

I have always wondered in isolation why the rich are rich and why the poor are poor? Why do western countries live in abundance whereas the others lag behind?

Why is it that us of the developing world have to suffer the consequences of the financial crisis caused by excessive liberalism from western nations? The answer most probably is that it is they who have the money and we depend on them. We have our goods and services and the only people capable of buying the same are the westerners.

But how have we reached this state of things? I would be tempted to go for the theory that through colonialism westerners have exploited the riches of others and have as a result been able to put themselves in a position of dominance. They have successfully imposed their culture upon us.

But I guess the overriding factor is their curiosity and ability to innovate. It is this characteristic that have brought people to explore and go beyond known limits. Not only in the geographical sense of it but also intellectually.  Human kind has always sought to extend the boundaries of knowledge and it is the same knowledge that has enabled nations to have the tools and capability to dominate others.

The formal method of extending boundaries of knowledge is Research. It is my firm belief that richer countries have attained this position of dominance through research. Research is about creating knowledge but also inspiring ourselves of what others have found. Westerners through their curiosity have traveled and met civilisations who were willing to share their knowledge, ideas and inventions, for example the numeric system from the Middle East, zero from South Asia or the infamous gun power from Central Asia.

Through research they have found fundamental theory which when applied generates wonderful inventions from the safety pin to the iphone or less wonderful ones like sophisticated missiles or fighter jets. They are willing to market those inventions  and ideas to us.  In a legitimate quest of a better standard of living we willingly adopt those inventions and thus end up in a position of being dominated.

An example, why has Mauritius Telecom been forced to ally with France Telecom? Simply, I believe, MT do not have the necessary technological capacity to follow suit with recent  developments in the telecommunications sector or MT alone cannot afford to acquire the same. Such an alliance has enabled us today to enjoy ADSL, video on demand etc. We are indeed dependent on them.  It really ends up in a vicious cycle.

But we do have a way out and it is invariably through our own research. We would have been the master of our own destiny. All above ends up into one conclusion, we should invest more into the local research community. There is quite some potential around and should be encouraged. Give them the tools and means they can make wonders. Percentage funds allocated to Research & Development againts GDP is lower in developing countries. It again goes to the legitimate argument that richer countries have the money and thus can afford to invest in R&D, but this argument condemns us to remain in the vicious circle.

More and more bright minds are immigrating where their talent shall be put to good use. Why not give them the incentives to stay?