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You, go girl...
Posted: Sunday, January 27, 2002
By Donna Yawching
THIS week, I feel as if I should share my paltry paycheque with about 30 strangers. That's how many people answered my call for a new political party two Sundays ago; and their responses constitute the backbone of today's column. Not just as a boost to my own inflated ego, but because it seems to me that these diverse voices speak for a nation; and their words are instructive, to say the least.
I invited responses out of sheer curiosity: I was prepared for anything from zero replies to an avalanche. This is T&T, after all: land of the unpredictable. The bad news for my would-be supporters is that 27 votes (three of the replies were negative) are not quite enough to guarantee a landslide victory! So it's unlikely that I'll hit the hustings anytime soon.
On the other hand, it is heartening to note that there are many "ordinary" people out there who are seriously concerned with the state of T&T's politics, and who would actively support a viable option. As one writer said: "There is probably much more support out there for a new party than you would think-what is lacking is leadership, or credible leadership." Maybe when my 27 supporters grow to 2,700, I'll pick up the challenge!
Vox populi: Many responses were simple: "You go, girl; I'm with you"; "Great idea"; "You have my support"; "Please add my name to your list"; "Form the party and I'm in your corner". One woman wrote: "You have been reading my mind." Another reader declared: "Your article could have been written by me." If nothing else, these letters told me I'd touched a chord.
Several writers, interestingly, were young educated Trinidadians living abroad, and despairing of the current state of the nation. To them, my dream of a new party, untainted by ethnic partisanship and with zero-tolerance for corruption, was an almost messianic call. W.T., from New Jersey, said: "Just give the word, and I will be on the next plane home."
One young woman studying at a foreign university wrote, "I have always been ashamed of the behaviour of our politicians. Now I only have disgust for the racial tension that these parties have bred in my once peaceful country." "Instead of finding a job at home," she continued, "I would rather work as a volunteer to promote world peace-rather than return to Trinidad." My column, she concluded, "kind of gives me hope".
To me, those letters were the most poignant, for they showed so clearly what we are losing by our continued stupidity. The best, the brightest, the most concerned, are leaving and they don't want to come back. To them, Trinidad represents a quagmire where, as one young analyst put it in a lengthy discourse, the "perennial players" show no signs of "stepping onto the global stage vis-à-vis technological development, maritime issues, modern policing, air and water pollution, women's issues, capital punishment, prison and education reform, human rights" and a host of other issues. "Both the leaders and the electorate," he concludes "are products of myopia". How very true.
And what about the ones who do come back? MD describes himself as "an ordinary Indian who will support anyone who convinces me that they are in it for the future of the people and country". He wrote: "I returned to Trinidad in 1998 proud of what the UNC was doing and I was hopeful that at long last we would be moving forward. It is now three years I am back and I hate Panday and his crooks with a passion." He is equally unimpressed by the new Manning regime. How long will it be, I wonder, before he packs his bags once again?
Apart from support and patriotic angst, many of the responses offered thoughtful commentary. I enjoyed some interesting exchanges on topics such as the separation of Church and State; and the invaluable wisdom of older people. (Let me clarify, by the way, that of course seniors would be welcome to join my party; but decisions would be made by those who will ultimately have to live with them.)
Then, of course, came my attackers. The first was anonymous: I wrote back politely answering his questions and pointing out his cowardice. Another, from a certain Eerard Samwah (yes, full name; I see no reason to protect my enemies) took the discourse to predictable lows, in very large type-face to compensate for his very small brain: "How is the racist, anti-Indian Yawching today ?" In a second e-mail addressed to the "PNM Express", Mr Samwah shrieked: "Anand Ramlogan is right! Repeat; Anand Ramlogan is right. Everything he said is true!" If this is the best the UNC can do, they are in more trouble than I thought.
An outraged letter also came from the daughter of Dr Fuad Khan, who was offended by my blanket dismissal of politicians, and declared her father to be "a very unique, honest, loving individual" who gave money and food to vagrants. I replied commending her spirited defence of her dad, but pointing out that a man is known by the company he keeps; and keeping company with the UNC automatically made him suspect.
Dr Khan, it seems, was less than pleased by this response; he wrote back promptly: "I do hope that you are as perfect as you expect others to be...Could you place your head on a block for your own honesty?" He hoped I'd someday find the "Nirvana" I sought. I thanked him for his kind wish, and replied that I was as honest as I needed to be, given that I wasn't running for public office. He didn't much like that answer either.
If I ever find Nirvana, it probably won't be here. Another of my supporters, one JH, explains why: "It is pure torture to see Trinidad forever being ruled by all these dummies and crooks. What a sad state of affairs they have created for us." No kidding.
Sorry I didn't have the space to quote everyone who wrote; maybe another time.
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