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A lesson from Chinese-Jamaicans
Thursday, November 18, 2010
So Trinidad and Tobago Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar has apologised. But I was not in favour of a boycott of goods from Trinidad whether she apologised or not. After more than 150 years of having Chinese being a part of Jamaica's population, we should have learnt something from them. How many insults have the Chinese put up with in their grocery shops over the years from some Jamaicans? Did they give up? No, they continued their trade until they grew in wealth.
As Jamaica expands the use of windmill and solar energy, we will be less dependent on Trinidad. This is why Trinidad's former prime minister Patrick Manning wanted Trinidad to smelt Jamaica's bauxite into aluminum as Michael Manley suggested in 1974. As our Chinese-Jamaicans have done, it suits all of us to put up with whatever insults until that day.
The West Indies Federation collapsed nearly 50 years ago. It was a very delicate thing to begin with and would have worked, had it not been for two things. First, the federal prime minister of the West Indies, a politician from Barbados named Grantley Adams, made a statement about retroactive taxation. Second, Jamaica Labour Party leader Alexander Bustamante who was originally in favour of the federation, turned against it because he could not become the federal prime minister.
And because Bustamante did not run for federal office, neither did Norman Manley. He feared that when he was off in the federal capital, Port of Spain, Bustamante would "out-organise" him in Jamaica. The People's National Party-affiliated West Indies Federal Labour Party won throughout the region, but the JLP-affiliated Democratic Labour Party won in Jamaica. Bustamante led an anti-federation campaign that eventually led to Premier Norman Manley, calling a referendum on September 19,1961.
In the days leading up to the referendum, the JLP ran their campaign like a general election. Although the referendum was about federation, issues such as the cost of living were discussed. Other issues raised in the referendum campaign, although totally irrelevant to federation, were the National Stadium, the new ministry of education building and the development of Negril. They were all referred to as a waste of money. So did the majority of Jamaican voters understand the issue when they voted to secede from the federation? I don't think so.
Jamaica's secession from the federation caused Eric Williams to give the famous dictum, "One from ten leaves nought". Trinidad also seceded from the federation which formally came to an end on April 30, 1962. The West Indies would have gained political independence as a federation in 1963. But Jamaicans voted to secede from the federation and we gained our political independence on August 6, 1962.
Part of the problem was that Jamaicans were always complaining - with some justification - that the other island territories would always gang up on Jamaica. Once a Jamaican made a proposal, the others simply opposed, just because the proposal was made by a Jamaican. My late father Keith C Burke told me that when he represented Jamaica at international law conferences, as soon as a Jamaican delegate started speaking, the delegates from Eastern Caribbean countries automatically opposed.
As soon as Jamaica seceded from the federation, the other territories then ganged up on Trinidad so they pulled out also. Then came the collapse of the federation. After the process of political independence started, the new Caribbean nations established the Caribbean Free Trade Area (Carifta) which evolved into the Caribbean Community (Caricom).
In December 1973 when the international oil crisis began, Jamaica had to turn more to Trinidad for oil. The oil crisis played havoc with Caribbean economies, as indeed it did with economies in countries dependent on imported energy throughout the world. In 1976 Jamaica borrowed money from Trinidad and also from Barbados. This was very embarrassing to many upper-class Jamaicans. As the late Eric Williams of Trinidad said then: "We have oil and oil doesn't spoil."
And from that time to the present, Jamaicans have put up with much disrespect because of our predicament. But there is a much broader picture which the Chinese would understand. If we boycott Trinidad's goods, they will have less taxes collected in that country if their merchants have not earned enough to pay taxes. And less taxes collected in Trinidad could mean that their government might not be able to pay their dues to the University of the West Indies.
Often Trinidad is the only UWI shareholder with the money to pay its dues on time. And without that, UWI could collapse before windmills and solar energy save sufficient foreign exchange to put Jamaica's economy in a buoyant state to at least finance Jamaica's UWI Mona Campus.
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Thursday, November 18, 2010
So Trinidad and Tobago Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar has apologised. But I was not in favour of a boycott of goods from Trinidad whether she apologised or not. After more than 150 years of having Chinese being a part of Jamaica's population, we should have learnt something from them. How many insults have the Chinese put up with in their grocery shops over the years from some Jamaicans? Did they give up? No, they continued their trade until they grew in wealth.
As Jamaica expands the use of windmill and solar energy, we will be less dependent on Trinidad. This is why Trinidad's former prime minister Patrick Manning wanted Trinidad to smelt Jamaica's bauxite into aluminum as Michael Manley suggested in 1974. As our Chinese-Jamaicans have done, it suits all of us to put up with whatever insults until that day.
The West Indies Federation collapsed nearly 50 years ago. It was a very delicate thing to begin with and would have worked, had it not been for two things. First, the federal prime minister of the West Indies, a politician from Barbados named Grantley Adams, made a statement about retroactive taxation. Second, Jamaica Labour Party leader Alexander Bustamante who was originally in favour of the federation, turned against it because he could not become the federal prime minister.
And because Bustamante did not run for federal office, neither did Norman Manley. He feared that when he was off in the federal capital, Port of Spain, Bustamante would "out-organise" him in Jamaica. The People's National Party-affiliated West Indies Federal Labour Party won throughout the region, but the JLP-affiliated Democratic Labour Party won in Jamaica. Bustamante led an anti-federation campaign that eventually led to Premier Norman Manley, calling a referendum on September 19,1961.
In the days leading up to the referendum, the JLP ran their campaign like a general election. Although the referendum was about federation, issues such as the cost of living were discussed. Other issues raised in the referendum campaign, although totally irrelevant to federation, were the National Stadium, the new ministry of education building and the development of Negril. They were all referred to as a waste of money. So did the majority of Jamaican voters understand the issue when they voted to secede from the federation? I don't think so.
Jamaica's secession from the federation caused Eric Williams to give the famous dictum, "One from ten leaves nought". Trinidad also seceded from the federation which formally came to an end on April 30, 1962. The West Indies would have gained political independence as a federation in 1963. But Jamaicans voted to secede from the federation and we gained our political independence on August 6, 1962.
Part of the problem was that Jamaicans were always complaining - with some justification - that the other island territories would always gang up on Jamaica. Once a Jamaican made a proposal, the others simply opposed, just because the proposal was made by a Jamaican. My late father Keith C Burke told me that when he represented Jamaica at international law conferences, as soon as a Jamaican delegate started speaking, the delegates from Eastern Caribbean countries automatically opposed.
As soon as Jamaica seceded from the federation, the other territories then ganged up on Trinidad so they pulled out also. Then came the collapse of the federation. After the process of political independence started, the new Caribbean nations established the Caribbean Free Trade Area (Carifta) which evolved into the Caribbean Community (Caricom).
In December 1973 when the international oil crisis began, Jamaica had to turn more to Trinidad for oil. The oil crisis played havoc with Caribbean economies, as indeed it did with economies in countries dependent on imported energy throughout the world. In 1976 Jamaica borrowed money from Trinidad and also from Barbados. This was very embarrassing to many upper-class Jamaicans. As the late Eric Williams of Trinidad said then: "We have oil and oil doesn't spoil."
And from that time to the present, Jamaicans have put up with much disrespect because of our predicament. But there is a much broader picture which the Chinese would understand. If we boycott Trinidad's goods, they will have less taxes collected in that country if their merchants have not earned enough to pay taxes. And less taxes collected in Trinidad could mean that their government might not be able to pay their dues to the University of the West Indies.
Often Trinidad is the only UWI shareholder with the money to pay its dues on time. And without that, UWI could collapse before windmills and solar energy save sufficient foreign exchange to put Jamaica's economy in a buoyant state to at least finance Jamaica's UWI Mona Campus.
source
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