18 March 2016

Anil Gujadhur: Trusting our Institutions

The British bequeathed to us a strong sense of discipline. It began at school. It was then taken to the workplace. Rules were strict. Any wilful violation of rules was firmly dealt with. So, people did not have a lot of incentives to misbehave.

Most of those who held high office cultivated and carried with them a sterling character for which they were renowned in society. They would not be swayed by private pursuits to indulge in the dereliction of duties. In some cases, we were strengthened in this approach by our own parallel cultural norms.

Excerpts:
The leakage of information about the Minister of Finance’s loan transaction with the State Bank of Mauritius (SBM) through the press last week was a pointer to the extent to which even some among those who are explicitly enjoined by the laws of the country to observe confidentiality about customers’ transactions – let alone their instinctive sense of duty -- actually betray a lack of moral principles and basic professionalism…
I do not care about the politics behind all this. However, I might suggest that the State Bank should cease and desist from finding itself exposed for not having lived up to the normal expectation of trust placed in it by its clients. The public, especially outsiders, should not generalize this incident and get the false impression that their information is not protected by law in our financial system. It is…
Mauritius Times

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