– says visit here can bring ‘good’
Deputy Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Human Services & Social Security Pastor Patrick Findlay feels Chris Brown should be forgiven and that his coming here could serve as a good, but government continues to face criticisms of its open support for the convicted domestic violence offender’s visit to Guyana.
“I believe in forgiveness. I believe in a second chance and I think some good can come out of his presence here,” Findlay told Stabroek News in a recent interview.
“I think we can get him to bring a message that will help people rather thanjust coming to sing his stuff. For me it [Brown coming to Guyana] can turn out to be good,” he added.
While Minister of Human Services & Social Security Jennifer Webster had promised to speak to this newspaper on the issue when the reporter turned up for the interview she was in a meeting and Findlay instead addressed this and other issues.
“I know that it is a very tenuous situation but I am a man of God I believe that there is something called forgiveness. I believe that we all err, we all make mistakes and I believe that we learn from our mistakes,” the pastor told this newspaper.
But Help & Shelter on Friday joined the voices of those oppose to Brown’s visit in a letter to this newspaper.
“As an organisation that works against domestic violence, we join those who are against the Chris Brown concert,” the organisation said in the letter.
However, it was noted that it is almost certain that the concert will go ahead and will be a huge success.
It was pointed out that Brown’s fans in Guyana seem more interested in the good time they’ll have at his concert while the promoter and organiser are interested in the money they’ll make out of him and the government in the boost to tourism and hence the economy that having him here will bring than whether he’s genuinely reformed.
“Those who have spoken out against his coming have been lambasted as mean, dishonest and hypocritical, but they don’t have the power to put the abusers among us behind bars and in rehab programmes and their agenda is not dictated by self-interest but the interest of the tens of thousands of past, present and future victims and survivors of abuse and a genuine concern at the message that welcoming a convicted abuser – reformed or not – sends to them,” the letter said.
“It is also more than likely that he will be here for such a short time that we won’t be any the wiser after he’s left than we are now as to whether he’s likely to abuse again. The only real test of this is time, and in our view, not enough has yet passed,” it added.
The letter writers suggested that those who will be boycotting the concert may choose to donate the cost of the ticket they will not be purchasing to an NGO of their choice that supports women, men and children affected by domestic violence and so make a tangible contribution to the work being done to address the problem.
‘Bad sign’
Pastor Findlay acknowledged that in the eyes of a lot of people in society Brown’s visit is seen as a “bad sign.”
But he said there was an article that revealed that the singer has been through domestic violence classes and that he is now in a different place in terms of where he was then.
From the information given on his attack on singer and then girlfriend Rihana the pastor said it was indeed “very graphic and ugly and if you follow that story it will definitely turn you off.
“I believe that the worst of us can change and for me his message can be one of ‘look I have been there, I have done that, these are the consequences of my choice then…’.”
He said he would “love” for Brown will include a few lines during his performance that say “my people…domestic violence is not a good way. Let us not go that way, I have learnt my lesson.
“For me, that is worth millions. I am sure we can get him to say these sort of things to the crowds that are there – ‘listen guys I know that my reputation has been tarnished I know I made a fool of myself…and I want to say to you today that this is not an option we should not go there’,” an optimistic Pastor Findlay said.
After the government signalled its support for Brown’s December 26 ‘Unforgettable 2’ concert, women rights groups and individuals condemned the government for the move, charging that the administration was not serious about addressing the rising incidents of domestic violence in Guyana.
On Monday during the hosting Parliament APNU’s Carl Greenidge asked acting Minister of Tourism Irfaan Ali about the government’s support for the concert.
Greenidge asked Ali to provide the House with a report specifically on the extent of the government’s financial involvement and other involvement in the concert. “I am asking this question in the context of financial stringencies which suggest that we are not in a position to fund critical matters such as pensions, but we seem able to find money for other things,” he noted.
In response, Ali said Greenidge erroneously pre-supposed that there were financial implications of government’s support.
“As Minister of Tourism, I am tasked with ensuring the highest level of traffic to Guyana. So, that the hotels and tourism industry in this country can benefit and that our people can have a expanded tourist product and it is my belief that we ought to work aggressively on finding different formulas and this government stands committed towards working in partnership with the private sector, towards building our various sectors with the full involvement of the private sector and any initiative that seek to expand and improve the tourism product of Guyana. This Minister of Tourism and the Ministry of Tourism will support such an initiative,” he said.
