Normally, celebrities and presidents are printed on banknotes. But how can a Chinese man be printed on Mauritius's banknotes?
Examples are Queen Elizabeth II on British currency and Japanese bacteriologist Hideyo Noguchi on 1000 yen notes. But one exception is Moilin Jean Ah-Chuen, a Chinese Hakka, who appears on the 25 rupee-banknote in Mauritius.
Photo via Internet
Many people believe that it is the richest country in Africa. Indeed, it used to be a British colony. In the late 19th century during the Qing dynasty, many Chinese went abroad in search of a better livelihood. One of those was Moilin Jean Ah-Chuen’s dad, identified as Jean Wei Xun from Guangdong. He went to Mauritius and opened a grocery store.
Photo via Internet
At that time Mauritius was famous for production of sugar cane. Most locals were underprivileged farmers. Only Jean Wei Xun came up with the “put-it-on-account” concept. Based on trust, his business grew rapidly.
Photo via ABC Group
As his son Moilin Jean Ah-Chuen took over, the grocery store opened in 1931 continued to grow, and became a major retail chain in the country.
During the second World War, Mauritius suffered from a desperate shortage of commodities. As a retail magnate, Jean assisted the government in distributing goods while importing foreign goods to help solve the crisis.
During the war, he called for donations from Overseas Chinese to support China which was under attack. He also established a homeland security team.
After WWII, he became the first Chinese councilor in the country, and in late 60s, he headed the Ministry of Finance as the country declared independence from Britain. Mauritius is a member of the Commonwealth, and Jean received a knighthood from Queen Elizabeth in 1972.
Photo via ABC Group
During the 1970s recession, the country’s economy plummeted by at least 40 percent, particularly in the sugar cane industry. Jean then approached Hong Kong businessmen to invest in Mauritius, especially in the textile industry and chemical industry.
In the 1980s, he twice went back to China for investments. He passed away in 1991.
In 1998, Mauritius decided to use his portrait on its 25 rupee-banknote. He is the only foreigner to be featured on banknotes anywhere in the world. In 2011, on the centenary of his birthday, the country launched a commemorative stamp collection in his honor. Until now, keeping one minister position for Chinese becomes the country’s usual practice.
Established in 1931, Jean’s ABC Group remains a leading business conglomerate in Mauritius. It is one of the top 100 enterprises in the Indian Ocean.
LONDON (AP) — Britain and Mauritius are finalizing a deal to transfer sovereignty over the Chagos Islands, a disputed U.K. territory that is home to a major U.S. military base, the U.K. government said Tuesday.
The government signaled that President Donald Trump’s administration, which was consulted on the deal, has given its approval and no further action is needed from the U.S.
“We are working with the Mauritian government to finalize and sign the treaty,” said Tom Wells, a spokesman for Prime Minister Keir Starmer. “Once signed it will be laid before both houses of Parliament for scrutiny and for ratification.”
Britain and Mauritius have been negotiating a deal for the U.K. to hand over the Indian Ocean archipelago, which is home to a strategically important naval and bomber base on the largest of the islands, Diego Garcia. The U.K. would then lease back the base for at least 99 years.
But the deal has faced criticism from the opposition Conservative Party and from some allies of Trump. Last year the now-Secretary of State Marco Rubio said it posed “a serious threat” to U.S. national security.
Trump indicated during a visit to Washington by Starmer in February that he would support the deal, saying: “I have a feeling it’s going to work out very well.”
Britain split the islands away from Mauritius, a former British colony, in 1965, three years before Mauritius gained independence, and called the Chagos archipelago the British Indian Ocean Territory.
In the 1960s and 1970s Britain evicted up to 2,000 people from the islands so the U.S. military could build the Diego Garcia base.
Mauritius has long contested Britain’s claim to the archipelago and in recent years the United Nations and its top court have urged Britain to return the Chagos to Mauritius.
Britain agreed to do so in a draft deal in October, but that has been delayed by a change of government in Mauritius and reported quarrels over how much the U.K. should pay for the lease of the Diego Garcia air base.
The Chagos islanders, many of whom relocated to Britain, say they were not consulted over the agreement. Under the draft deal, a resettlement fund would be created to help displaced islanders move back to the islands, apart from Diego Garcia. Details of any such measures remain unclear.
Two Chagossian women are seeking to take the U.K. government to court over the issue. Bernadette Dugasse and Bertrice Pompe, both British citizens, fear it will become even harder to go back to live where they were born once Mauritius takes control of the islands.
FILE - This image released by the U.S. Navy shows an aerial view of Diego Garcia in the Chagos Island group. (U.S. Navy via AP, File)
