Dear Editor,
I am a retired Guyanese-Canadian living in Canada. I left Guyana, regrettably, with my wife and daughter in 1980 after having graduated as a Fitter Machinist from the Bookers Sugar Estates Apprentice Training Centre in Port Mourant, in 1974, and having worked at the Rose Hall Sugar Estate in Canje, Berbice, from 1974 to 1980.
I consider myself somewhat successful in Canada today and this is due in no small part, to my unwavering and disciplined Guyanese-inherited work ethic and culture, a legacy handed down from the canefields of Guyana by my father, a cane-cutter, and my mother, an avid domestic, gardener, vendor and one who bore ten children, as was typical in those good old days of many families in Berbice in particular, and i suppose the entire country in general. I am therefore very proud of my Guyanese culture and heritage and love to tell my four kids of all the fun times and outlandish childish games and stories that they loved to hear, while at the same time hoping and longing to return one day to serve.
Being of Indo-Guyanese heritage and a Muslim among Hindus and Christians, some of my best friends while growing up in Guyana were Afro-Guyanese: wonderful friends, to whom religion, race and politics did not inhibit, diminish or determine the extent of our respect and friendliness towards each other. Some of my best teachers were Africans that I remember with the utmost of respect to this day; teachers that I would respectfully like to meet today were they still alive.
The situation today politically in Guyana distresses many of us overseas as we are not inherently biased (as some may want to think) in favour of one party over the other, for it is obvious that no race, religion, culture or creed should matter, rather, the country and its future for all generations of peoples must be paramount and sacred. To win or lose an election is not the entire issue. It is not “winner takes all”. It takes both a leader (defence) and an opposition (offence) for a team (country) to succeed and move forward as one people in togetherness. One should vote neither on party affiliation nor on tribalism, but on sound policies, an unrelenting defence of the constitution and on credibility both internally and externally. Additionally, policies of inclusion and an unwavering respect for democracy, coupled with the Better Angels in each of us as proclaimed by the great US emancipator and 16th president, Abraham Lincoln, should drive each citizen, status notwithstanding, to embrace that which is just and benefits all. The winner has a duty to the people and constitution while the opposition has a similar duty to hold the winner accountable to the people and constitution, hence, the prevention of a dictatorship.
Regardless of who is finally determined to be the next leader, there are thousands of us, skilled and unskilled, academics and professionals, retirees and foreign nationals, who are awaiting a form of normalcy and consistency, security and selflessness, love and duty to country, to contribute and help to build a country of enormous potential, a sleeping giant in South America that was never given a chance to prove itself because of greed, disloyalty and incessant politically racial animosity among those in authority.
We hope that those entrusted to govern and those defeated, will look to their Faith and Better Angels so that their legacy will live in eternity for the greater good of all Guyanese and future generations, and be an example of decency among nations. It’s about time.
Yours faithfully,
Wadi Bacchus
