Dear Editor,
I believe that people who say “Never say never” should never say never.
For instance: “There was never an investigation against me.” To that I say, not because something did not come to light it did not happen.
For example: traffic accident on the French side. Of late too many people are telling me that “the standard of the police is far below allyou days.” My responce to that would be, “What should one expect when one does not even need any kind of formal education to be elected member of Parliament?” So I can understand when one who postulates one’s-self to be elected member of Parliament is of the opinion that screening is not democratic.
Another point that I have been making for years which not one member of Parliament has been able to explain to me is “where in whatever form of government pertaining to Parliament is it stated which member(s) of Parliament are (is) the opposition?”
Another point. Does not every country (region) have its traditions? One of these traditions in the Caribbean islands is to greet each other according to the time of the day. For years Caribbean children have been punished for not greeting, especially their elders. If we are not taught that not all over the world the same traditions are kept, who is responsible for not enlightening those of us who will encounter people who are not familiar with this tradition, how to go about welcoming them?
What I was taught is that in the Caribbean, good morning, good afternoon, good evening and good night were a form of greeting. My father who was a seaman later taught us that those greetings for people of other countries would be understood as a wish. So you can expect “thank you” as an answer; or “good morning to you” also or possibly no answer.
So those of us who know better should promote “customer care” instead of doing what we usually do: expect people, especially the youth, to do what was not instilled in them.
I stand corrected, but is not the Immigration Department our first line of defense?
A question for those persons who have been in government, and in this case in education for years: If tourism is the pillar of our economy, why did we not continue with those languages that were taught in MULO?
Another question is: If an exam is kept today in the “Constitution and civics”, what percentage of the members of Parliament and the different government employees would pass that exam?
And for those of us who put ourselves in a position to be criticised, we should not feel offended when we are not readily forthcoming and are made out to be so.
I hold everyone who knows about government employees who are collecting (part of) a salary without showing up for work, accountable. It is good to know that the present Minister of Justice will resume work after being “on paid vacation for almost ten years” as he publicly stated.
I have stated this in the past and will repeat it. Not because it is not forbidden by law that makes it the right thing to do. Not because something did not come to light that means it did not happen.
Please check who all of those supermarket licences, which are operated by Chinese nationals and merely employ 2% of locals, belong to. The fuel clause fluctuation is chump change compare to the kind of money generated by those supermarkets which daily add at least one quarter (US $0.25) to the price of a different product. Please don’t touch our present Minister of Finance.
Russell A. Simmons
