Golden Jubilee Celebration 50th Independence Day of Mauritius
and Mauritian Achiever’s Award (UK) 2018
The 50th Independence Day of Mauritius was held
jointly with the Mauritian Achiever’s Award (UK) ceremony at the Radisson
Edwardian Hotel, Heathrow, London, on Saturday 17 March 2018.
Kresh
Ramanah, Sunil Mungur, Sashi Sohodeb, Miss England Stephanie Hill
The organisers Gyanchand Sunil Mungur FCCA, Chairman
of SPELmedia UK, also Chairman of the Mauritius Hindu Association (UK), and Dr
Lock (Sashi) Sohodeb, recipient of several international awards for music and
literature, spared no detail to make this occasion a complete success in spite
of the glaring absence of the Mauritius High Commission for London or his
deputy.
It was an extremely well-organised, sumptuous and
lavish evening with distinguished awardees and guests, with excellent food and
refreshments. The occasion was animated by Tony Patti, professional DJ on Lyca
Radio. The event sponsored by Gynch Shaw Maurice & CO, was also a charity event supporting Eastern
Welfare Association for the Disabled and SOS Children’s Village Mauritius, was
well attended by distinguished
personalities, such as Miss England Stephanie Hill, Mr England Jack Eyers,
actor Nitin Ganatra who plays the part of Masood Ahmed in the ever so popular
soap opera EastEnders.
Sunil Mungur and Sashi Sohodeb are the architects of
excellent community work. Their love and affection for such work and their
devotion, not only in bringing the UK Mauritian community together but also in
obtaining recognition for Mauritians and Mauritius, are commendable. Sunil’s
opening speech was all about the Golden Jubilee celebration of Mauritius (since
12 March 1968), an event which every Mauritian in the UK, and at home is
extremely proud of. Sunil emphasised: « The work is done to help keep the
Mauritian multi-cultural community in the UK together. The aim behind Mauritian
Achiever’s Awards (UK) is not only to award outstanding personalities within
the Mauritian community for their positive contributions to the British society
and Mauritius in the fields of Arts, Culture, Entertainment, Social work, and
Business, but also to take the concept of Nation Building forward.»
Hence, it follows that in a post-independence
nation-building exercise, this Mauritian diversity regarding ethnicity,
culture, religion, language, emanating from Europe, Africa, the Indian
sub-continent and other parts of Asia, is officially recognised in what is
often referred to as a « rainbow nation », which is Mauritius. Mauritius can
also serve as an example of respect to one another and harmony to the world.
Dr Sashi Sohodeb added: « We are proud of what the Mauritian
communities have achieved in Britain. The Mauritian Achiever’s Awards ceremony
is just an excuse to say a big thank to all those shining stars. »
Some of the awardees are:
Professional
Category
Bushan
Deepchand of Lambeth Solicitors for supporting the
Mauritian community with his legal skill.
Jean
M. Maigrot, investment leader at Newsmith Capital
Partners LLP, and advisor to the Government of Mauritius.
Kresh
Ramanah, an NMC Registered Lecturer Practitioner
with 40 years’ experience in Health & Social Care and with several other
awards to his name.
Rajen
Tyeloo for his outstanding services in
hairdressing and creating employments.
Michael
Naik of Michael Naik & Co for serving the
community with his property management skill.
Health
& Care Services
Michel
Law Hing Choy, owner of Broome Park Nursing Home
in Surrey Hills.
Mr
Dev Anand and Mrs Amitah Tirbhowan of Sunrise Care
Homes Limited.
Kevin
Gunputh of Bournemouth.
Mr.
& Mrs Ruben Pavaday of Beechwood House for caring
for sufferers of Alzheimer, Parkinson's disease, etc.
Deven
Ramkhelawon for his outstanding achievement in
setting up the first Clozapine clinic in the country.
Social
& Cultural
Mr
Coosialsingh Gopaul, an active member of Ram
Mandir in Southall.
Parama
Sivom Sunassee of Goodmayes Sri Sivashakti Temple
Mr
Cader Hossenally, CSK, for his dedication to children
in need and for taking several projects relating to the Anglo Mauritian
Disability Link.
Guruduth
Seegoolam for his contribution to social cohesion
in health care and as a Chairman of Mauritian Hindu Cultural Association in
Middx.
Kreshna
Essoo of the Mauritian Marathi association for
his dedication to charity and providing his residence as a place of worship for
hundreds of people.
Artist
entertainment
Pritee
Hurnam, for her singing talent and a participant
on Britain, Got Talent show.
Charles
Maurice, resident DJ for MTV's live show "Base
Lounge", whose talents have taken him to several countries from Germany to
Morocco.
Asvin
Sookha, DJ for his diverse mix of sounds to
bring the Mauritian community together.
Miss
Priya Hema Bhawaneedin for her artistic talent
and charity work.
Ivan
Antalika for his Sega repertoires.
Vikram
Sewraj, DJ Eagle, for his outstanding mix of
sound.
DJ
Suryadev (Max) Dussoye for supporting the
Mauritian community with his music.
Jacques
Roussel for promoting Mauritian music across the
world.
Pratima
Bhinda and Sarasse Veda Nellan for promoting
Indian/Mauritian music in the UK.
Media
& General
Peter
Chellen, for pioneering the London-based
Mauritius News first published in November 1983.
Tariq
Rawat, for promoting Mauritian news through
newspaper ‘Mauritiusnow.’
M
Rafic Soormally who arrived in the UK in 1972,
pursued his studies in Business Studies, Accounts, Marketing & Market
Research, Economics, Finance and Law. He worked for the London Underground Ltd
in Accounts and for Currimjee Limited (1990-1998) in Mauritius as Operations
Analyst & Accountant. His immense contribution as a freelance writer in the
UK-based Mauritian Abroad magazine as well as in numerous newspapers in
Mauritius for over 18 years was recognised and thanked for at the event.
Mr
D. Mukoond, Rocky, for his contributions
in social and entertainment activities.
Anwar
Kureembokus Director of Travelserve ltd (UK) and
Travelserve (MRU) for his immense contributions in transportation and
accommodation services to Airlines and corporate industries.
Raj
Gunputh and his wife, Asha, for their social and
economic contributions as hotelier; estate management and health and care
services in Britain and Mauritius.
Karan
Persand, ex-Conservative Councillor for Epsom for
his contribution to the British/Mauritian at large.
Special
Award
Posthumous award - Late Mr Navinlall Ramrutton who was
the winner of « 2014 Best New Business in the North East Essex »
Mala
Dosieah was awarded a Life Time Achievement Award
for her dedication as a foster carer for the past 15 years.
Air
Mauritius (London) was given a special
award for their outstanding services to the British and Mauritian community in
Britain.
The evening was highlighted with several other
prestigious International awards. Sunil Mungur and Dr Lock (Sashi) Sohodeb were
both awarded ‘International Personality Award’ by Bihariconnect UK/India whose
Chairman, Dr Udeshwar Kumar Singh, along with his team had specially flown in
from India for the occasion. Sunil Mungur was gobsmacked with another surprise
presentation of his biography written by Dr Sohodeb entitled: « The biography
of a dedicated of Sunil Mungur - Life of a dedicated philanthropist. »
Dr Sohodeb was also taken by surprise when a memento
was presented to him for his challenging work leading to PhD.
While it was a night to remember, to many, it was
just surreal.
M Rafic Soormally
Dr Lock (Sashi) Sohodeb
London
