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Sunday, August 20, 2006
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<P class=StoryText align=justify>Dear Editor,
Allow me the privilege, please, to congratulate the Jamaican team currently in Beijing, China, for the World Junior Championship; all the coaches involved in the training of these splendid talents to this point - Stephen Francis of the University of Technology, Jermaine Shand, Maurice Wilson, along with Deon Hemmings-McCatty, assistant manager/media liaison with the team - as well as the Jamaica Observer in the very wonderful coverage that it has been providing.<P class=StoryText align=justify>Even if we do not equal or surpass the nine medals acquired in Grosseto, Italy, in 2004, these coaches still deserve to be commended.<P class=StoryText align=justify>These athletes - Yohan Blake, Carrie Russell, Sherene Pinnock, Sonita Sutherland, Kaliese Spencer - my daughter and gold medallist, Keiron Stewart, along with the rest of the team, have performed formidably under the circumstances.<P class=StoryText align=justify>The point cannot be overemphasised that our Jamaican athletes, in many respects, operate under very stringent financial and technological constraints at home. These Jamaicans of talent are the seeds of a country, whether we care to admit it or not, that is rife with poverty, a progressively weakening education system, although still commendable, and an atrocious disequilibrium in access to the divisions and distribution of our scarce resources.<P class=StoryText align=justify>The questions are, "Why are things the way they are in Jamaica land we love? Do they have to, by necessity, be this way?"<P class=StoryText align=justify>In the Sunday Observer of May 7, 2006, in a Letter to the Editor, I had written words to the effect: "Jamaica must be one of the most talked about, known and recognised small, third world nation on the planet. This nation of 4,411 square miles has been the origin of some of the world's most educated, talented and daring individuals.<P class=StoryText align=justify>In sports, we have gotten the attention of the so-called powerful nations because of the number of records that Jamaican athletes have broken over time. This is despite all the distractions of poverty and of economic stagnation, crime and corruption in our midst. In the area of education, Jamaicans have also done extremely well."<P class=StoryText align=justify>I think, as we celebrate our athletes' performances, we should bear the above facts in mind and take it seriously. We should also seek answers to the questions posed above.<P class=StoryText align=justify>In acknowledging the very distinguished successes and achievements that Jamaica sporadically enjoy, I cannot help but posit that the challenge is not so much a lack of resources by the masses, or the need for more loans and foreign experts telling our leaders what to do and how to do it at exorbitant costs to the taxpayers. It is the necessity for a group of political and private leadership who has the conviction and skills to inspire and motivate the people to believe in themselves and in hard work and to produce more and consume less, especially in the areas of expensive foreign products that gobble up most of our scarce foreign exchange.<P class=StoryText align=justify>We need to inculcate immediately, a new direction. A direction of wholesale, massive production. A direction of utilising what we produce and much less proclivity to this "foreign bling bling mentally".
I wish every Jamaican, could, like myself, at one time or the other, live to experience what life is generally like for a new immigrant in a foreign country and in particular, North America.<P class=StoryText align=justify>Believe me, it is different from the fancy movie portrayals that parade and pervade the cinemas and the attractive rent-a-cars we are so inclined to rent during our credit card-laden vacations.
Come Jamaic
Sunday, August 20, 2006
</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>
<P class=StoryText align=justify>Dear Editor,
Allow me the privilege, please, to congratulate the Jamaican team currently in Beijing, China, for the World Junior Championship; all the coaches involved in the training of these splendid talents to this point - Stephen Francis of the University of Technology, Jermaine Shand, Maurice Wilson, along with Deon Hemmings-McCatty, assistant manager/media liaison with the team - as well as the Jamaica Observer in the very wonderful coverage that it has been providing.<P class=StoryText align=justify>Even if we do not equal or surpass the nine medals acquired in Grosseto, Italy, in 2004, these coaches still deserve to be commended.<P class=StoryText align=justify>These athletes - Yohan Blake, Carrie Russell, Sherene Pinnock, Sonita Sutherland, Kaliese Spencer - my daughter and gold medallist, Keiron Stewart, along with the rest of the team, have performed formidably under the circumstances.<P class=StoryText align=justify>The point cannot be overemphasised that our Jamaican athletes, in many respects, operate under very stringent financial and technological constraints at home. These Jamaicans of talent are the seeds of a country, whether we care to admit it or not, that is rife with poverty, a progressively weakening education system, although still commendable, and an atrocious disequilibrium in access to the divisions and distribution of our scarce resources.<P class=StoryText align=justify>The questions are, "Why are things the way they are in Jamaica land we love? Do they have to, by necessity, be this way?"<P class=StoryText align=justify>In the Sunday Observer of May 7, 2006, in a Letter to the Editor, I had written words to the effect: "Jamaica must be one of the most talked about, known and recognised small, third world nation on the planet. This nation of 4,411 square miles has been the origin of some of the world's most educated, talented and daring individuals.<P class=StoryText align=justify>In sports, we have gotten the attention of the so-called powerful nations because of the number of records that Jamaican athletes have broken over time. This is despite all the distractions of poverty and of economic stagnation, crime and corruption in our midst. In the area of education, Jamaicans have also done extremely well."<P class=StoryText align=justify>I think, as we celebrate our athletes' performances, we should bear the above facts in mind and take it seriously. We should also seek answers to the questions posed above.<P class=StoryText align=justify>In acknowledging the very distinguished successes and achievements that Jamaica sporadically enjoy, I cannot help but posit that the challenge is not so much a lack of resources by the masses, or the need for more loans and foreign experts telling our leaders what to do and how to do it at exorbitant costs to the taxpayers. It is the necessity for a group of political and private leadership who has the conviction and skills to inspire and motivate the people to believe in themselves and in hard work and to produce more and consume less, especially in the areas of expensive foreign products that gobble up most of our scarce foreign exchange.<P class=StoryText align=justify>We need to inculcate immediately, a new direction. A direction of wholesale, massive production. A direction of utilising what we produce and much less proclivity to this "foreign bling bling mentally".
I wish every Jamaican, could, like myself, at one time or the other, live to experience what life is generally like for a new immigrant in a foreign country and in particular, North America.<P class=StoryText align=justify>Believe me, it is different from the fancy movie portrayals that parade and pervade the cinemas and the attractive rent-a-cars we are so inclined to rent during our credit card-laden vacations.
Come Jamaic