Alain St.Ange: “My Journey, an autobiography”, a new book by Seychelles former Minister for Tourism

What inspired you to write this autobiography?

My love for history is why I have attempted to place on record not only my life, but also the family tree from which I descended as well as that of my wife Ginette St.Ange nee Michel. This work is inspired by the desire to continue to document and preserve the rich history of our families for future generations. It is said that most of us will be forgotten within four generations; hopefully this book can help our descendants understand where we came from and not forget those that came before us. I wrote my autobiography now as time waits for no one, and I am at the best stage of my life to reflect and dedicate the time required. I am proud of my story and felt it may well inspire others. This knowledge kept me working and kept me digging through family historical records. Today, I realise more than ever before, the pains and tribulations of past generations. From as far back as those who were slaves, where even the name was adapted to the one who freed them, to today only seven generations later, to participate in the Nation’s Presidential Elections. The saying that ‘not all storms come to disrupt your life, some come to clear your path’ can be seen as true and real in the case of the St.Ange family. The many challenges I faced will be seen in this autobiography as well as the realisation that I needed to be more concerned with my character than my reputation.

How did you decide which parts of your life to include or leave out?

This is a difficult question. I wanted to recount my own, as well as that of various members of my family’s involvement in the development of Seychelles through the different eras that the country went through. The research undertaken for my autobiography enable me to discover myself, as well as my family’s achievements, ensuring that the St.Ange family generations to come will better understand their proud legacy. This is why covering my birth as a La Digue baby and growing up on an agricultural estate with hard working parents and grandparents needed to be included in detail. I also included my schooling years at Seychelles College with a lot of the national events and happenings that was changing Seychelles, the building of the Cabanes Des Anges Hotel by my father Karl St.Ange right at the start of tourism in Seychelles which he opened just after the Choppy Family had opened La Digue’s first hotel and what the TRNUC said about this property’s acquisition by the State. I also included my further training as well as my work in tourism and finished with my involvement in politics and my bid for the position of Secretary General for the United Nations World Tourism Organisation (UNWTO) and the court case that followed and my life in self exile after being terminated from office as the Assistant to the Director of Tourism by President Albert Rene.

What was the most challenging part of writing the book?

“I did my autobiography my way” was what I said and repeated often. Making the book interesting and using many photos, as each photo speaks a thousand words, kept me focused on my work in the planning of my autobiography. Cramming my life from birth to the present day in 868 pages was never going to be easy. I was guided by the famous words by John Lennon “You may say I am a
dreamer, but I’m not the only one. I hope some day you’ll join us, and the world will live as one”, words that I re-echoed at the opening of the first edition of the ‘Carnaval International de Victoria’ in 2011 and even today, these words continue to guide me. I have lived a full life with no what-ifs and have remained true to myself throughout. What more can one ask from the life that I wanted to recount and place on record for future generations.

How did writing the book change your perspective on your life?

Writing my autobiography is placing your life in a document. I learnt to admire those from my past generation coming all the way from Mozambique and Mauritius as slaves and through hard work after being freed to becoming the founding fathers of our family. I took note and appreciated all the work by grandparents and parents and their sacrifices to be able to pay for the school fees to get me into Seychelles College. I realised that my note written to my two daughters on the night of election day 2020 touched on the destructive climate politics brings to family life and how important it was to venture into this arena if real change was what was needed for Seychelles. When re-reading the final text of the book I realised how much I had done and when I signed off the draft for printing, I said to myself that documenting one’s life for history was important.

Is there a particular chapter or story in the book that holds special significance for you?

My period in self exile with a young wife and a very young baby girl will remain the most trying period of my life. Writing about that period of my life reminded me of these trying years. Another chapter that touched me a lot was writing the pages about my bid for the election to be Secretary General of the United Nations World Tourism Organisation (UNWTO) when Seychelles opted to throw its support for Zimbabwe and pulling the rug under its own candidature. Here I will always remember the words by a fellow delegate seated close to me at the General Assembly when he said ‘The Gods must have gone crazy” after hearing that Seychelles had withdrawn my candidature. These are but two of the many sections and the hundreds of pages that relive my life.

What do you hope readers will take away from your story?

I am hoping that everyone will realise that nothing is easy. Everyone will see through the pages that my time in both tourism and politics were a success because I did it with passion and with dedication. Success in tourism was recognised when “The Travel & Competiveness Report” 2013 had for the first time ranked Seychelles Number 1 in African Travel & Number 38 in the World. Seychelles had never been rated in the hit-parade of World Tourism. That recognition was again seen in their 2015 report and followed the OCR (Oxford Cambridge and RSA Examinations) Operations using Seychelles tourism as a subject on their AS GCE Applied Travel and Tourism Exam Paper. As for success in politics it was the recognition by the Wavel Ramkalawan as Party
Leader of the SNP when he wrote to me saying: “I thank you for your hard work in the constituency of Bel Air. The effort and the hours you put in ensure that Bel Air is now considered SNP. In the past I have said to you that if the party were to offer and award for the most hard working candidate, I would have given that to you without any hesitation. Today the feeling is still the same”.

Did writing the autobiography bring you any sense of closure or healing?

Yes of course yes. The termination from my position as Assistant to the Director of Tourism way back in 1983 was to change my life, and it was through writing about it that a degree of closure was achieved. Leaving Seychelles and going into self-exile brings hatred which I needed to cope with and live with it. Today it is historical notes only. The withdrawal of my candidature for the post of Secretary General of the United Nations World Tourism Organisation (UNWTO), the highest tourism office for a tourism minister, but two days before the election after I had criss-crossed the world seeking the votes of Member States was also some thing that I managed to put behind me when writing about it and documenting the saga alongside the judgement delivered by the Supreme Court and the Court of Appeal in the same section. They are all part of the trials and tribulations of one’s life.

Looking back, is there anything you would change about the life you’ve lived?

No nothing. I have lived a full life with no what-ifs and have remained true to myself throughout. What more can one ask from the life?

Did you discover anything surprising about yourself while writing?

I knew that I had the tenacity to see through what I thought was needed to be done and this is seen clearly as I place my life on paper in the 868 pages of my autobiography.

What advice would you give to someone considering writing their own life story?

Documenting what you did is important. If you know that you have done something for the good of the country and for its people than it is important to document it.

The article Alain St.Ange: “My Journey, an autobiography”, a new book by Seychelles former Minister for Tourism first appeared in TravelDailyNews International.