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The demise of the Leguan brothers

Oct 25, 2010 Letters

Dear Editor,
Kaieteur News online edition (Saturday October 23rd) reporting the deaths of brothers Ronald Singh, 23 and Davendra Singh, 18, on the island of Leguan sent waves of shock and grief among Guyanese settled here in Queens, New York. (Thanks to Kaieteur News for reporting this event that occurred only hours before the online edition was released at 6:00 a.m.)
Hundreds of family members and friends gathered for an all-night-Saturday wake at the boys’ grandparents home located in the residential neighbourhood of Wakefield, Queens.
Bhajan-singing groups sang songs of praise and grief on three floors of grandfather Nackool Singh’s house. Many of the mourners with roots in Leguan village say the shock of the boys’ deaths constrained them to show up for the wake.
Jules Ferdinand, born and raised in Leguan, read the news in the online papers and drove down from Westchester County (upstate New York) to share several grieving hours with the Singh family on Saturday night.
Last July I visited for two days with Walter and Gaitree Singh, parents of the deceased boys.
Ronald drove us around on the island, took us everywhere we wanted to go. He is an excellent driver. He operates the family’s tractor on the farm on all kinds of road conditions.
And, most important of all, he is not a heavy drinker; on more than one occasion I observed him refusing to drink more than one beer.
The tragic deaths of these brothers are difficult to comprehend. Several Leguan residents recall the tragic death of the boys’ grand-uncle Lakhan Singh who met a similar fate in the 1960’s when a tractor overturned and killed him instantly at almost the exact location on Long Road.
Ronald Singh was an accomplished furniture maker, and when he was not helping his father on the farm, he was busy designing and making furniture in his well-tooled workshop.
His work-ethic and resourcefulness are a great loss to his family and the nation.
Walter and Gaitree Singh have established a comfortable life style on the island.
Their ranch-style house with all the amenities of urban living – running water, electricity, land-line phone and TV – together with lush and verdant green acres of farm land – fills me with thoughts and ideas of relocating and/or retiring in Leguan. Why retire to Florida when you can have the same life in Leguan?
My condolences to the grieving Nackool Singh’s family.
Shanni Persaud

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