| T O P I C R E V I E W |
| Karl |
Posted - Jan 01 2004 : 07:32:36 AM
New Year with hope and great expectations...
Thursday, January 01, 2004, 4:36:54 AM
...one in which our responsibilities and roles as SUPPORTERS must shine through.
Our special area of concentration is, ofcourse, the development of Jamaica's Football Industry. The Observer may wish to emphasis its role as a watchdog, but, the RBSC would give along with a watchdog role equal prominence to all the other areas in which support must be given.
The RBSC shall increase its support to various affliated entities and deepen assistance. The RBSC shall form new relationships. There will be greater involvement within our Jamaican communities, both within the island and outside of the island.
With the united efforts of all of us, supporters of Jamaica's Football, it SHALL only be FORWARD!
'As we pledge ourselves to this service, we wish all our readers and the entire Jamaica good wishes and prosperity in 2004 and declare to build on a commitment that we have sought to undertake over the past *years.' - - Jamaica Observer, January 1, 2004.
*Kindly note change on the Observer's wording -
'decade to years'...as remaining true to the RBSC's 1999 birth.
-----------
The following Editorial from - Jamaica Observer speaks for us.
A renewed commitment
Thursday, January 01, 2004
Cast us as sentimental.
But we believe in new beginnings. Even if they are only symbolic.
So, today, we start 2004 with this sense of renewal. With hope. With a belief that a new year brings opportunities.
Or put another way, there is this sense, as a new year begins, that we have transcended all constraints of the immediate past and we are in full, or at least better, control of the future.
Which, of course, is not to say that the problems of yesterday have simply gone away or have vanished. For they have not.
But this sense of an ability to triumph is perhaps as much the result of the focus of the past week or so on Christmas, as it is about the start and end of a 24 - hour period that transferred us from one year to the next.
Which, really, brings us back to the point we made in these columns in the Christmas/Boxing Day edition of this newspaper: that is, of the transformational qualities of the story of the birth of Jesus Christ. For with birth, death and resurrection comes renewal - the essence of the Christmas story.
We, perhaps, have not had time to wear the ethereal goodness implied in Christmas story before entering the new year. Which probably accounts for the derring-do of the New Year.
But such feelings, even if they sometimes, often even, over-state reality, are of import. They help to give us purpose and often inspire achievements beyond rational explanation.
In our own case, we are unashamed of such feelings and any sense of purpose that they inspire, especially if it helps to lift this newspaper to a quality of service beyond the expectations of its readers and the wider Jamaica.
But even at that there are some things which we are completely rational about and to which we pledge ourselves in a binding compact with the community in which we operate and which we are pledged to serve. These are truth, honesty, fair play, accuracy and our role as watchdog over the rights and freedoms that form the fundamental guarantees of democracy: free speech and the right to hold and exchange ideas.
Indeed, this newspaper is absolutely clear that its own existence cannot be in isolation of the enjoyment of these rights by the wider society. For it is upon these rights that we superimpose the technology with which we reach mass audiences and create the basis for a compact between ourselves and our host communities.
Technology gives us reach and a capacity to lift the decibel of protest when those we hold to be responsible dispense a quality of governance that is below what is the right of the community to expect.
For our role as watchdog we receive the community accommodation. It is a role we perform with honour, pride and commitment. Indeed, a new year provides us with an opportunity to recommit ourselves to the task, keenly aware that each day it is our responsibility to prove ourselves worthy of the community's trust.
As we pledge ourselves to this service, we wish all our readers and the entire Jamaica good wishes and prosperity in 2004 and declare to build on a commitment that we have sought to undertake over the past decade.
|
|
|
