Guyana’s stupidity claims another victim

Jul 30, 2016 Features / Columnists, Freddie Kissoon

As I often hear people say, “Two wrongs do not make a right.” And indeed that is so. One of the incidents that will live with me always was a bicycle accident on Woolford Avenue. Dr. Perry Mars and I stopped at Stella Maris Primary School to pick up his son. We parked opposite the school, the kid came across the road to us and a teenager on a bicycle recklessly rode into Perry’s son, knocking him off his feet.
When approached, the teen cyclist was scared. Perry was angry. Then Perry said in a modest, quiet tone, “Look, young man you have to be more careful.” Should Perry have cuffed him in his face? The answer is no. You cannot commit a criminal offence because someone stupidly struck you or stole your clothes off the line or caused your motor-bike to fall. If retaliatory violence was an acceptable value in civilization, human kind would not be alive today.
A woman was turned away from a school because of her style of clothes, became enraged, got into her car, and recklessly struck down two small scouts. She was jailed for ten months. A driver cannot drive so dangerously on the roadways. If you are a strong believer, pray that this little chap recovers quickly. We must, for analytical purposes, separate the cause of the woman’s rage and her action. Her action cannot be justified.
I don’t think she will find much support among people for rejecting the length of the sentence. She could have killed those two boys. But this entire affair needs to be put in a holistic context.
The lady should not have been turned away by the school. We don’t know her circumstances. Did she have to transact an important type of business at the school which necessitated quick attendance because she was pressed for time? Did she have an urgent appointment at an embassy or hospital?
There is also the dimension of the school’s rudeness to the President of Guyana. It was all over the news, with the Chronicle carrying it on its front page that President Granger had come out against the backward and unreasonable dress code, especially how it is insulting to our women folk. Then all the daily newspapers published photographs of a picket exercise outside the High Court denouncing the asinine dress code that this country has enforced with a draconian hand under the PPP Government.
Imagine Guyana has a dress code that prevents women from entering public places with a sleeveless dress. But the President of all people (Bharrat Jagdeo) has faced accusations by his common law wife that he put her out of the marital bedroom one week after marriage, refused to make the marriage legal and consistently victimized her while they were living together.
And he remained untouched by moral and legal laws. Yet this very man was in charge of the entire public sector of the State which enforced a strict dress code for women.
I wonder if this world has a more stupid country than Guyana. Women cannot enter a public building with sleeveless dresses and tops but on Mash Day you see people gyrating in the most provocative ways that many would find unacceptable. Guyanese were revolted to see two of our Presidents, Jagdeo and Ramotar, backballing in public. The images always come up as they did recently on May 26 when President Granger was seen waltzing with his wife. Social media was in a frenzy to make the contrast with our back-balling Presidents when they were in power and the waltz of David Granger and his wife.
I once wrote once in this column and I will repeat it here. When I first wrote it, I stated I meant no insult and I am doing so again. I meant no insult to the Supernumerary Constables at the High Court when I first wrote. I stated a fact and I am repeating a fact. The Supernumerary Constables in public institutions that are empowered to enforce the dress code are not educated and experienced enough to judge what is in bad sartorial taste.
The High Court guards are instructed to reject persons who don clothes of loud colours. What is a loud colour? I have seen those guards evict people for wearing loud colours that few in this world would consider as loud. Denis Atwell of the AFC was removed because his T-shirt was of a harsh blue. It was not. Why are peach and yellow, harsh colours? The angry driver deserved to be punished. But for me if Guyana wasn’t such a stupid country the incident would never have happened.

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Guyana’s stupidity claims another victim

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