Dear Editor,
I have decided to write this letter because of the large number of bloggers who thought Sodom and Gomorrah had descended upon Guyana with the vulgar behaviours, and high nudity seen at the recent Cricket Carnival. I am also commenting because the religious folks who used to be the guardians of our morality, would be silent, as usual.
Many revellers’ outfits were more appropriate for an “X-rated” show not “General Audiences” where children are looking on and being socialized to think that’s cool and okay. That’s bad socialization and modelling, that’s not OK. We were also deluged with photos of two female Government Ministers proudly and gleefully taking pictures with the scantily clad women who were gyrating, “grinding,” and shamelessly displaying their private areas. No wonder videos were released of some of our school children “grinding” on each other in a school. If this is the kind of thing our President had in mind when he said he wants Guyana to be the entertainment hub of Caricom, we need to rethink that. But our President is a good Muslim man and would not have had this kind of display in mind.
With morals, decency going out the window, boundaries being crossed, sexual deviance being advocated, where are we heading as a society? Mr. Granger had warned we must be careful what we copy. Be copycats of good things such as cleanliness, orderliness, moral behaviours, honesty, decency, integrity, etc. If we are copying Carnival ideas from Trinidad and Brazil, that seems to be a bad thing. Who paid for this?
For our Guyanese sisters who want to have some fun and recreation, you have to set some minimum standards for yourself, your image. Don’t provide cheap, X-rated entertainment. Those released photos are permanent records of your behaviours. The Government cannot control how people will behave, but it must set some minimum standards for bands and groups participating, especially if public funds are used. Is there such a thing as wholesome fun anymore? Do we always have to resort to extreme vulgarity to have “fun.” Luckily, the other nine regions of Guyana were spared of having to personally witness this vulgarity. Decent fun, yes. Vulgarity and nudity, no!
Sincerely,
Dr. Jerry Jailall