Dear Editor,
Many years ago when I first came to St. Maarten, on election day I was placed to work at the polling station at a hotel in Cay Hill. In those days one police officer was stationed at every polling station because of, among other reasons, the amicable manner in which the voters behaved.
Coming from Aruba and Curaçao, what stood out was the camaraderie between the supporters of the DP, the SPM and the WIPM parties. Everybody, and I mean everybody, as we would say here, ate out the same plate. People with three different color T-shirts, caps and flags, all eating together. Voters wearing T-shirts of a different political party, meeting and hugging each other. Even hanging out for a while with each other after having voted. This was the trend on election day here in St. Maarten. Even after 2010 during all of those toppling of governments with all its ups and downs, the people remained civil.
Notwithstanding COVID and [Hurricane – Ed.] Irma and the other ups and downs, we had four years of stability. As usual, not everybody, including myself, agreed wholeheartedly with what was going on in government, but nothing to compare with what has become of St. Maarten during the last I would say nine to ten months. Suddenly everybody has become corrupt, thieves, dirty this and dirty that. People who formerly stood firm on their feet all of a sudden became followers.
Social media is used to degenerate no matter who. Holland is advocating same sex marriage, and who am I to determine how people should feel about each other. Of late we increasingly see that kind of behavior revealing itself.
There were elections in Holland before ours and the party led by Geert Wilders emerged the biggest party. One of the first things that was highlighted was his sexuality. Not in defense of anyone and definitely not in defense of the Prime Minister because, after 10-10-’10, anyone who succeeded in keeping a government functioning in St. Maarten for four consecutive years should be able to defend themselves in personal matters. I read a letter to you in the paper of January 16 which ended: “Sincere statesmanship involves accountability and self reflection.” Qualities that seem to be lacking in your recent statements.
I have also expressed myself sometimes tough, in my letters to you.
Also I agree with some of what is written in the letter “A woman of state?”, but the contents of the whole letter was as if the writer was spewing venom.
There are two things which irk me: When people write to the Editor about others and are not responsible enough to let their name be added to the letter; and when women denigrate and belittle each other. I do not approve of women smearing each other. And that is simply because they are women and should know what the result of smearing each other brings. It remains that the way the world looks at women is different than the world looks at men. Men do not get pregnant and are not the subject of ridicule of pregnancy out of wedlock; men do not have abortions; and I can continue with a lot of things that bring (probably not rightfully so) scorn to women.
With the formation of this government and knowing the political history of those involved, it confirms the saying “Politics makes for strange bedfellows.” So I would like to ask the people of St. Maarten: When you sit back and think, is it so that politics really hurt you that much that all of a sudden people who you do not know where they come from could turn you so much against your neighbour, who cared for your child when you could not afford a babysitter, or what about the neighbors who pass each other food over the wall? Who are we going to fight with or ridicule or expose their dirty linen when in six months there is still no minimum wage regulation or when we have to continue bleeding through our noses because the water and light situation is not regulated?
When I see all of this reaction, I have to think, “What’s in it for me?”
Russell A. Simmons
