I reject Freddie Kissoon’s theory of longevity in office

Jan 10, 2017 Letters

Dear Editor,
Let me say from the start that I am not related to K. Juman Yassin. It is somewhat strange that he is the subject of this letter and my name is Yassin. I do not know Mr. Yassin. I do not live in Guyana; making the occasional visit. I suppose like most Guyanese wherever we are, I read the online Guyanese newspapers. I am particularly interested in the writings of Freddie Kissoon, though I do not agree with several of his arguments. But I guess that is the way it is with controversial people like Freddie Kissoon.
About sports in Guyana, I know the game of cricket only. I am in no position to argue with anyone about good and bad sports administration in Guyana. I have no knowledge of Mr. Yassin’s performance as the major sports administrator in Guyana – the head of Guyana Olympic Association. I write in reference to two publications in your newspaper. The first is a letter with the heading, “Freddie Kissoon owes K. Juman Yassin an apology.” In that letter, the writer, Harri Narine Singh (I know a Narine Singh but I don’t know if he is the writer) takes Freddie to task for his position that Yassin should have resigned long ago because long stay in office is not good for competence.
Mr. Singh quite rightly takes issue with Freddie with the question that such a theory cannot hold because Yassin has performed admirably and he has done so because his long years served him well especially with getting experience. I am in support of Mr. Singh here. Freddie Kissoon then did a column in reply to Mr. Singh, titled, “My theory is both contextual and philosophical.” He sticks to his position that people should not stay long in office. Freddie’s theory is neither contextual nor philosophical. It is simply wrong. It cannot be defended. Even with a brilliant mind like Freddie’s such a theory is unworkable and I do not think learned minds will support it. My letter here is to say that I reject Freddie Kissoon’s theory of longevity in office that he is so bent in putting forward.
I will offer one source of evidence to reject Freddie Kissoon’s theory and that is Freddie Kissoon himself. He has been a columnist for over thirty years. I read where he said he is getting on in age and is over sixty years. If he is over sixty years and has been a columnist for thirty years then that is a vast amount of experience. It is that experience that has made him into one of the finest minds in Guyana. Guyana has not produced a columnist that has been writing for thirty years. There isn’t a columnist or commentator that does a daily offering. In the US we have people like Rachel Maddox every night except weekends
How does he manage that? The answer is through experience accumulated over long years. It is those thirty years that provided him with the unique ability to infuse his columns with philosophy making people like me understand the thinking of great philosophers. Freddie Kissoon educates the nation of Guyana. I dare say if Kaieteur News should part company with him, I am willing to bet that Guyana Times of all people will make an offer. The owner of the Guyana Times is an astute businessman. Take Freddie, let him do his thing, and as we know much of it will be against the PPP, but people will buy the newspaper to read Freddie Kissoon. Here in New York, a columnist like Freddie would have vast marketability
I end by saying if longevity in office has made Freddie KIssoon a national hero as Mr. Harri Narine Singh observed, why can’t Freddie let the same circumstances do for K. Juman Yassin what they have done for him. This position of him is strange. I am not an intellectual but I have never heard anyone say that longevity in office is a bad thing. Freddie where are you going with this? Is it directed personally at K. Juman Yassin? You ought to know better
Adbul Kadir Yassin
New York

1 thoughts on “I reject Freddie Kissoon’s theory of longevity in office”

Burch01 January 10, 2017 at 5:35 am

”I end by saying if longevity in office has made Freddie KIssoon a
national hero as Mr. Harri Narine Singh observed, why can’t Freddie let
the same circumstances do for K. Juman Yassin what they have done for
him”……….Unfortunately ,Juman has not been producing……simple! Either he shapes up and change his strategy or ship out……totally ineffective.