Dear Editor,
In a few days, we Guyanese will be observing the 55th anniversary of our country’s independence from the United Kingdom. Just as fifty-five years of age for a man or woman is considered to be still young, so must the age of nationhood. In relation to human and infrastructural development, Guyana as a country is better off in many respects since our gaining independence. But our small population, and huge space within our geographic boundaries has its advantages and disadvantages. Nevertheless, as a country we are blessed with an abundance of natural resources.
Disagreement has always been why with such an abundance of natural resources yet we have not made the ‘Great Leap Forward.’ To this day, the skeptics and cynics are of the view that our newly found wealth will be frittered away without the common man, woman and child receiving any material benefits.
The constant harping and bad-talking of our country irrespective of who governs can be heard at home and abroad. Suffice it to say, that as a nation, we did waste a considerable amount of years experimenting with ‘Cooperative Socialism.’ Small wonder why many point us to Malaysia and Singapore as ‘models we should have followed.’ Those of us who know about life in British Guiana can, in retrospect, recognize the remarkable transformations in every facet of our political, economic and cultural life over the past 55 years. This transformation did not come easily nor overnight. It came in the wake of the development deficit experienced by many developing countries soon after gaining independence. Compounding the development deficit was the model adopted by some leaders who chose to be mimic men of their erstwhile colonial masters. Notwithstanding the prevailing vicissitudes of social life, compounded by the political tug-o-wars as to who was best to administer the affairs of the country, the point is for fifty-five years, we Guyanese have managed to hold together as a multi-ethnic, multi-religious and multi-cultural society. A free and open press has contributed enormously to this holding together.
There is no civil war where one ethnic group is pitched against another fighting to be integrated in the wider society, save for the political skirmishes, disagreements and controversies that occur from time to time over developmental projects. The bottom-line is that all are committed to the capitalist market economy with all its vagaries including the social and economic inequalities inherent in the capitalist system. No one in Guyana has been asked to abandon nor to moderate their ethnicity or to adopt customs and mores that are alien to them. On the contrary, these practices are being encouraged. No one needs a baptismal certificate or name change to reflect a particular race or ethnicity to be employed as it was under colonialism. Considering the fact, that there were episodes in our political evolution that sought to undermine efforts at social cohesion, the living reality is that we did not end up as a failed, a partitioned nor in practice, as a ‘Cooperative Socialist State.’ The parliamentary democracy we continue to live by is based on the Westminster model. And our legal system as well as our system of local government have evolved over the years though the degree of their respective maturations remains debatable.
Culturally, the indigenous languages spoken by our Amerindian people have survived over the years. But regrettably, the tribal languages spoken by the slaves brought in chains to our shores from West Africa; Portuguese spoken by indentured laborers from Madeira and the Hindi dialect and Urdu spoken by indentured laborers from India have either disappeared or have elements assimilated in our own creolese. Mandarin spoken by the majority of our Chinese population remains constant. The doors of temples, mosques churches and other places of worship remain open to worshipers and believers. And the festivals of the various religions are marked by holidays and festive, celebratory gatherings in which all ethnicities participate. Regrettably, the bogeyman of race continues to be utilized by some who make every effort to determine how we should view each other. Fifty-five years after Independence Day one ethnic group’s identity continues to be constructed in relation to another ethnic group’s identity. This is a troublesome legacy left to us by our colonial past. Regrettably after 55 years of creating and building an education system that matches any other CARICOM country, we still have in our midst some who equate ethnicity with an intellectual deficiency.
This view fails to take into account the fact that we Guyanese possess the intellectual tools to describe, articulate and address the challenges and opportunities that face us as a country and as a people. At the same time, these opportunities and challenges are harbingers of difficult times that lie ahead. Any government that promises life on a bed of roses is out to fool the people. Those who promised the ‘good life’ turned out to be the baddest life for most Guyanese. We have had our fair share of broken promises and shared hostilities to each other over the years. Our differences in opinion, whether in politics or economics should not result in differences that imperil our fragile and malleable democracy, let’s put the nation first!
Sincerely,
Clement J. Rohee
