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When story come to bump
BARBARA GLOUDON
Friday, April 18, 2008
OUR ANCESTORS had many colourful sayings to punctuate the passage of their lives. "Story come to bump" reminds us that there is an inevitable bump along the line of life. Sooner or later, you will have to deal with it. The Cash Plus story has come to bump - the knot, the block, the place where the truth has to be faced.
I take no delight in anyone's suffering. I have two friends who are among the walking wounded today. Both are hard-working women who put in long hours to earn enough to build up some savings. I regard them as bright, as anybody else. The question arises, however, if they are so bright why couldn't they have been sharper in their decision-making? Why hand over money (each half a million), which they had worked hard for, to a scheme which required more careful thought?
What was so special about the scheme, that it could provide returns of such generous proportions? Both my friends admit that it did sound a bit too good to be true, but as one said, life is chance and you take the chance. Besides, others were reaping from it. Both are single mothers, with high hopes for their children, but in the words of a famous political slogan, "It takes cash to care." So my friends took their hard-earned money and handed it over in the hope that the alchemist would turn dross into gold.
The stories of rich reward were all over town, especially from the early depositors. Those who jumped into the water later could not be faulted for thinking they could make it to the other side, much enriched. Unfortunately, the pool was drying up even as they were swimming. Today, not even the river of tears being shed can float anyone.
I am sorry for my friends, but heartened by their philosophical acceptance of their situation. They're not prepared to hang down their head and bawl. They're back at work as usual, determined to achieve their goals - the pay down on the house, the planning for their children's education. They know it will be hard, but they're not prepared to give up.
Not everyone is taking the "cash-crash" with such resilience. I think of the pensioners who handed over the nest egg saved for a decent funeral when the time comes and to pay for the medication needed today. Will they live long enough to get a refund? What is their future?
Stories abound also of the young hopefuls who "went for broke" and got just that - broke. The recklessness of some in this group is hard to reconcile. How, you ask yourself, could someone take out a bank loan (at today's interest rates) to get money for investing in a scheme which was, literally, too good to be true? What happens now? Mortgages to be serviced... Loans to be re-paid... Mounting expenses to be met. It couldn't be easy.
Mental health challenges are bound to come, especially as not everyone is prepared to take the loss and move on. I've heard reports of ministers of religion having to step up on counselling for their distressed "flock" who are learning the hard way that Faith does not insulate the faithful from the slings and arrows of outrageous misfortunes.
FROM WHAT I'VE HEARD, many young people are among the disappointed and distressed. It is not surprising. Daring comes with growth. Today's daring is encouraged and reinforced by technology which opens the door to many temptations, especially quick wealth. An example of the many choices in seeking wealth is foreign exchange trading. A parent tells me it has become an obsession with his son who, happily, is doing well at it. However, his dad says it is all to the good when you are winning. It is when the losses come that the mood changes and that is the paternal concern. How much can the young man lose? When he does, is he prepared for the consequences?
Nobody likes to lose, and worse yet, accept personal responsibility. In the case of the Cash Plus story - there are many angry people walking round town and country, looking for someone to blame. There are enough targets to go around. Chief targets of anger are the government, especially the past administration which is now being pilloried for not putting a stop to the scheme before it got to this stage.
Then, there are the commercial banks, which stand condemned for being hostile to the scheme and (it is claimed) did everything to contribute to its downfall.
Strangely, some refuse to blame the operators of the scheme who, they are convinced, had come "to help poor people". Very few people are prepared to take personal responsibility.
The question of how investors will be able to recoup their losses is the real concern. Since the police took action against principals in the Cash Plus organisation, there have been calls for them to be freed and allowed to go and get the money and pay back those who are owed. The feeling expressed on the street is that this is the real way to go, and the sooner the better. "People want back dem money." Would that it were so easy, the experts say. There's quite a way to go before this story ends. There's no magic wand to bring a happy-ever-after ending. Ah well!
FOOD CRISIS: So, we have had to admit it at last. The food crisis is here. Some (myself among them), will ask what took us so long to admit that we are in trouble. The issue of swift-rising global food prices, has been the preoccupation of our Caribbean neighbours for some time. I was beginning to wonder when we would really come to grips with it.
I was in Port of Spain (Trinidad) over recent days and the buzz words "food crisis" were everywhere. It dominated newspaper reports and opinion columns. Farmers were on call-in shows venting their concerns. Shoppers were unhappy with the shortage of flour and rice in the supermarkets and corner stores. There was dissatisfaction over the fact that even when commodities were available, the prices were astronomical.
No one was happy either about the warning that electricity and water rates will be going up shortly, and as if that were not enough, there is talk of impending removal of subsidies on electricity and gasoline. Up the road as it were, Barbadians have been receiving due warning that they too are likely to find electricity and gas prices climbing, because consideration is being given for removal of gas and electricity subsidies.
Back home, Dr Omar Davies' warning in Parliament on Tuesday that the food crisis was upon us was followed on Wednesday by Agriculture Minister Christopher Tufton's admission that the crisis was indeed here. He offered a raft of measures to help ease the farmers' burden and increase productivity. He urged a return to backyard gardens and grow-your-own-food. He offered assistance with farming tools, stepped up extension services and loans. A team of Cuban agriculturists have already landed, having being invited to give advice.
By yesterday, people were saying it all sounded so familiar. Shades of Michael Manley and the challenge of the 70s. It seems that what goes round does in fact come round. Wha fe do? Crisis can be positive as well as negative, the Chinese say. So, let's go... one more time.
A WINNER: When Children First founder/director Claudette Richardson-Pious stepped up to the podium in the Trinidad Hilton in Port of Spain, last Saturday night, to receive her award in the Anthony N Sabga Caribbean Awards for Excellence 2008, she proceeded to mesmerise the gathering of Trinidad's glitterati with her elegant prose, in praise of those who believe in the Caribbean and its people.
Her message? All good things do not come from foreign. We in the Caribbean are worthy of praise and respect too. We are achievers too. People were spellbound as she spoke of the work of Children First, the Spanish Town-based project which helps children of broken lives put themselves back on track again, through education and loving care. Media coverage in ensuing days was plentiful and respectful. Jamaica had scored again!
- gloudonb@yahoo.com
BARBARA GLOUDON
Friday, April 18, 2008
OUR ANCESTORS had many colourful sayings to punctuate the passage of their lives. "Story come to bump" reminds us that there is an inevitable bump along the line of life. Sooner or later, you will have to deal with it. The Cash Plus story has come to bump - the knot, the block, the place where the truth has to be faced.
I take no delight in anyone's suffering. I have two friends who are among the walking wounded today. Both are hard-working women who put in long hours to earn enough to build up some savings. I regard them as bright, as anybody else. The question arises, however, if they are so bright why couldn't they have been sharper in their decision-making? Why hand over money (each half a million), which they had worked hard for, to a scheme which required more careful thought?
What was so special about the scheme, that it could provide returns of such generous proportions? Both my friends admit that it did sound a bit too good to be true, but as one said, life is chance and you take the chance. Besides, others were reaping from it. Both are single mothers, with high hopes for their children, but in the words of a famous political slogan, "It takes cash to care." So my friends took their hard-earned money and handed it over in the hope that the alchemist would turn dross into gold.
The stories of rich reward were all over town, especially from the early depositors. Those who jumped into the water later could not be faulted for thinking they could make it to the other side, much enriched. Unfortunately, the pool was drying up even as they were swimming. Today, not even the river of tears being shed can float anyone.
I am sorry for my friends, but heartened by their philosophical acceptance of their situation. They're not prepared to hang down their head and bawl. They're back at work as usual, determined to achieve their goals - the pay down on the house, the planning for their children's education. They know it will be hard, but they're not prepared to give up.
Not everyone is taking the "cash-crash" with such resilience. I think of the pensioners who handed over the nest egg saved for a decent funeral when the time comes and to pay for the medication needed today. Will they live long enough to get a refund? What is their future?
Stories abound also of the young hopefuls who "went for broke" and got just that - broke. The recklessness of some in this group is hard to reconcile. How, you ask yourself, could someone take out a bank loan (at today's interest rates) to get money for investing in a scheme which was, literally, too good to be true? What happens now? Mortgages to be serviced... Loans to be re-paid... Mounting expenses to be met. It couldn't be easy.
Mental health challenges are bound to come, especially as not everyone is prepared to take the loss and move on. I've heard reports of ministers of religion having to step up on counselling for their distressed "flock" who are learning the hard way that Faith does not insulate the faithful from the slings and arrows of outrageous misfortunes.
FROM WHAT I'VE HEARD, many young people are among the disappointed and distressed. It is not surprising. Daring comes with growth. Today's daring is encouraged and reinforced by technology which opens the door to many temptations, especially quick wealth. An example of the many choices in seeking wealth is foreign exchange trading. A parent tells me it has become an obsession with his son who, happily, is doing well at it. However, his dad says it is all to the good when you are winning. It is when the losses come that the mood changes and that is the paternal concern. How much can the young man lose? When he does, is he prepared for the consequences?
Nobody likes to lose, and worse yet, accept personal responsibility. In the case of the Cash Plus story - there are many angry people walking round town and country, looking for someone to blame. There are enough targets to go around. Chief targets of anger are the government, especially the past administration which is now being pilloried for not putting a stop to the scheme before it got to this stage.
Then, there are the commercial banks, which stand condemned for being hostile to the scheme and (it is claimed) did everything to contribute to its downfall.
Strangely, some refuse to blame the operators of the scheme who, they are convinced, had come "to help poor people". Very few people are prepared to take personal responsibility.
The question of how investors will be able to recoup their losses is the real concern. Since the police took action against principals in the Cash Plus organisation, there have been calls for them to be freed and allowed to go and get the money and pay back those who are owed. The feeling expressed on the street is that this is the real way to go, and the sooner the better. "People want back dem money." Would that it were so easy, the experts say. There's quite a way to go before this story ends. There's no magic wand to bring a happy-ever-after ending. Ah well!
FOOD CRISIS: So, we have had to admit it at last. The food crisis is here. Some (myself among them), will ask what took us so long to admit that we are in trouble. The issue of swift-rising global food prices, has been the preoccupation of our Caribbean neighbours for some time. I was beginning to wonder when we would really come to grips with it.
I was in Port of Spain (Trinidad) over recent days and the buzz words "food crisis" were everywhere. It dominated newspaper reports and opinion columns. Farmers were on call-in shows venting their concerns. Shoppers were unhappy with the shortage of flour and rice in the supermarkets and corner stores. There was dissatisfaction over the fact that even when commodities were available, the prices were astronomical.
No one was happy either about the warning that electricity and water rates will be going up shortly, and as if that were not enough, there is talk of impending removal of subsidies on electricity and gasoline. Up the road as it were, Barbadians have been receiving due warning that they too are likely to find electricity and gas prices climbing, because consideration is being given for removal of gas and electricity subsidies.
Back home, Dr Omar Davies' warning in Parliament on Tuesday that the food crisis was upon us was followed on Wednesday by Agriculture Minister Christopher Tufton's admission that the crisis was indeed here. He offered a raft of measures to help ease the farmers' burden and increase productivity. He urged a return to backyard gardens and grow-your-own-food. He offered assistance with farming tools, stepped up extension services and loans. A team of Cuban agriculturists have already landed, having being invited to give advice.
By yesterday, people were saying it all sounded so familiar. Shades of Michael Manley and the challenge of the 70s. It seems that what goes round does in fact come round. Wha fe do? Crisis can be positive as well as negative, the Chinese say. So, let's go... one more time.
A WINNER: When Children First founder/director Claudette Richardson-Pious stepped up to the podium in the Trinidad Hilton in Port of Spain, last Saturday night, to receive her award in the Anthony N Sabga Caribbean Awards for Excellence 2008, she proceeded to mesmerise the gathering of Trinidad's glitterati with her elegant prose, in praise of those who believe in the Caribbean and its people.
Her message? All good things do not come from foreign. We in the Caribbean are worthy of praise and respect too. We are achievers too. People were spellbound as she spoke of the work of Children First, the Spanish Town-based project which helps children of broken lives put themselves back on track again, through education and loving care. Media coverage in ensuing days was plentiful and respectful. Jamaica had scored again!
- gloudonb@yahoo.com
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