Lallmatie.com Blog

Mauritius adopts CO2 Emissions Green Tax, Nissan NV200, New Micra K13, Mitsubishi Colt

bhoot — Wed, 10 Aug 2011 08:20:05 +0000

It’s good to see the award winning NV 200 (the new Nissan Vanette) reaching our shores for about Rs 600,000. Now the Peugeot Bipper/Partner has a contender. Although the Bipper is more affordable and comes in more economical diesel engine, hardcore Japanese fans.

Good to see as well is the new Micra with a 1.2 L 3-cylinder new engine that’s going to be able to compete with peers for fuel economy. Coupled with a 7-year 100,000 km warranty, ABC Motors knows its business. I guess many Mauritians won’t see the a-bit-dull looks and lower quality (according to foreign journalists).

The Mitsubishi Colt is finally here, abeit the older model. I hope they advertise that it has SIX (6) seats as opposed to 5 for all other hatchbacks in its category (Vitz, Fit, Demio, 207, Fiesta).

Finally the introduction of the green tax soon will be a good thing. It’ll be a system similar to France with bonus and mallus applied depending on your car’s CO2 (carbon dioxide) emission. To be honest, I think the bonus is way too little. It should have been 3x more. Even the Prius manages only about Rs 70,000 rebate on tax – which is peanuts for a Rs 1M plus car… But the penalty for polluting engines is quite high… say at least Rs 200,000 for a Porsche. And what about the 50% off every tax for hybrids and electric vehicles? Do they still hold?

The big problem comes also from the fact that pickup trucks are not affected by this penalty. Now that there is a new Minister of Finance, let’s hope even more rationality with an updated taxation plan. The current table (from MotorMag) is as follows:

	Bonus			Malus
CO2 Emission g/km	0 to 90	91 to 157	158	159 to 225	191 to 225	226 to 290	>290
Value in Rs per g	-3000	-1000	0	+2000	+3000	+4000	+5000
Max bonus/malus Rs	85g will give -15,000 -67,000	-67,000	-	+64,000	+64,000 +105,000	+64,000 +105,000 +260,000

I think that the bonus should be as follows to encourage green vehicles:
0 to 90g = -10,000 (there aren’t any cars below 90 g)
91 to 110 = -5,000
110 to 138 = -3,000
139 to 157 = -1,000

Configuring Emtel HSDPA on HTC / Android

bhoot — Fri, 01 Apr 2011 08:43:18 +0000

After trying to get the config sent via Emtel’s website, I decided to Google a bit before calling or visiting Emtel. HTC wasn’t their list.

I found the simplest solution on yasir03′s blog, I just created a new connection and put the apn to web. And here’s my first mobile post…

Is There a Mauritian Stock Cycle?

bhoot — Sat, 29 Jan 2011 16:05:02 +0000

Last year the market was low in February/March, and many stocks peaked in November/December. Let’s see if that happens again this year! I’ve sold some with profit late last year: ENL Commercial, CMPL, Fincorp, BMH… Too bad NRL didn’t pick up…

Scheme Encouraging Small Sugarcane Planters is a Waste!

bhoot — Sat, 29 Jan 2011 16:02:08 +0000

In a time where the big sugar estates are divesting from sugar production, how come the government is helping small sugarcane to save money for the next harvest? So contrary! Especially when we import so many vegetables from abroad, these same planters should be helped so that they switch to vegetables and fruit production. That would help in constructing our food security and Maurice Ile Durable… But at least, they’re helping people in need you’d say…

Bad Decision – Allowing less credits to promote from SC to HSC

bhoot — Sat, 29 Jan 2011 15:58:03 +0000

Among all the good decisions taken by the government these days, there comes one that goes backwards. Today the Minister of Education announced that only 3 credits will be required to promote SC students to take HSC, compared to 4 credits. This is bad, because these students who did not get enough credits are wasting their time, THEY ARE NOT GOOD AT ACADEMICS – They are definitely good at doing something else. Vocational courses is the way for them. Allow more entries to courses by the MITD and similar bodies, so that they can receive some tertiary education straight away. This would also be inline with the Tertiary education minister’s vision.

Put it simply, the system is already making failures at CPE level… Someone who is not good at studies can be good at other things e.g. you can get these people into construction indusry, arts, tourism industry and more… Why force the course of action or delay them by getting them into HSC, when they should be seeking tertiary or on-the-job education. The Second Chance scheme is a helper in this but contrary to the decision of allowing only 3 credits to take HSC…

http://lallmatie.com/blog/2010/03/24/the-ideal-education-system-for-mauritius-primary-middle-schsc-high-school/

End of Second Hand Sales Division for Toyota Mauritius

bhoot — Thu, 20 Jan 2011 15:45:09 +0000

While local competitors are increasing their second-hand vehicle sales, it’s not surprising that the local dealer of Toyota (ex Beechand) is closing its Toyota Sure, used car division. Why it’s not surprising, it’s because of their bad service, excessive prices, and incorrect models sold…

The number of Toyota Vitz sold in Mauritius is a lot, you just have to check around. So is the latest Corolla NZE 140 aka Axio. A lot of taxi drivers have now gained the knowledge that Axio is the new Japanese Corolla. While the model sold by Toyota Mauritius is the Malaysian built Altis E150 – which only recently got 6-speed and a dual-vvti engine…

That said, it’s not Toyota that is at fault, it’s their Mauritian dealership. They do not sell appropriate models, are not customer-focused, and have bad marketing campaigns! If only, I could take the reins of that company… or open a competing Toyota dealership… I could bring Daihatsu to Mauritius (and I thought about Lexus years ago!)

I still remember asking a salesperson from there about the price for the E140 Axio and the answer was that they have the E120 Corolla (so old…)…

I would still recommend Toyota Corolla Axio, Vitz, Auris, Rush, Mark X and Daihatsu Move, Copen and Sirion (Passo) – both new and second hand. People who can’t buy the new Prius 3 would buy second hand Prius 2.

A New Year Begins – More Mahabharat Lessons?

bhoot — Wed, 05 Jan 2011 16:27:06 +0000

I feel bad not having blogged the past weeks. Missed the commenting of the big gambling episodes of Mahabharat. The points are simple:

When you’re on a losing streak, STOP!
Even better, do not gamble for valuable things!
When your elders are doing something bad (and you’re realising), you should stop them! Or it can end into losing everything. If any one of the brothers had stopped Yudhisthir from putting at stake his kingdom…
A woman saved the day in that episode, despite being mistreated! How many women are still mistreated these days, yet they take care of their parents, children and themselves…

With this year, I plan to launch a few online products… Like someone said, anyone can get ideas, but to make them become a business requires execution, planning and perseverance!

Busy month + End of Tulsi on MBC + Budget 2011

bhoot — Sun, 21 Nov 2010 20:10:34 +0000

I feel bad not having blogged for weeks, and missed Ba’s funeral on Facebook. Here we are finally, the end of Kyunki Saas Bhi Kabhi Bahu Thi, aka. Tulsi over here… Happy to see 112y+ Ba and 64y Tulsi finally disappeared. I hope nobody remembers them… They should remember the villains: Ansh, Trupti etc…

I’ll have to write a full blog on the goods and bads of the budget 2011… The grave thing is that the government is spending nearly 20B (90B vs 70B) over it’s revenues, in times that businesses and themselves have shouted crisis! There are some good measures for the middle class, and for taxing the upper classes more but… the actual minister is no expert in the matter, and simply cannot match the former finance minister!

Mahabharat – On Bravery & Cowardice – War as a last resort

bhoot — Mon, 01 Nov 2010 16:02:40 +0000

One episode last month mentioned war as a last resort by Krishna. Considering other alternatives to war is bravery. Wisdom in moving away from war can be seen as cowardice by others, but these ignorants should be ignored. Thus, Krishna calls to leave the vulnerable Mathura for a new kingdom, Dwarika, with higher defence city.

Dwarika is described as being surrounded by sea, thus making attacks hard, by that day’s technology. This reminds of me Atlantis… I have read articles that say that Atlantis was perhaps Dwarika…

Threats by cowards vs warning by the brave should also be weighed.

Mahabharat 01 Nov 10 – The Draupadi Sharing Misconception

bhoot — Mon, 01 Nov 2010 15:12:04 +0000

Arjun and Bhim told their mother that Draupadi was alms, which is why their mother ordered to share. But as soon as she realised that she’s a person: everyone was agreeable that women should be respected. However Yudhisthir says mother’s order is more important than moral? logic? Krishna explains to her that she should not unknowingly impose to her sons.

Unlike what many people think, it’s not the mother’s order that is the reason of sharing, but rather the boon that Draupadi herself asked for from Shiv: as 5 husbands. She was warned by Shiv as well. In the same scene, Yudhisthir confirms that women should be respected and Arjun/Bhim insulted womenking by lying that Draupadi is alms… I can only be annoyed how people have distorted this event, wrongly giving the impression that she was treated as a commodity…