Guyana has a catching disease

Sep 30, 2020 Letters

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DEAR EDITOR,

Nostalgia romanticizes the exhausted present with the passionate past, composing a promise for a future built on a dream, permutated by hope. With the breath of fresh air, the welcoming eccentricity of exuberance temporarily dominates the doom and gloom of the daily boredom, entrenched with the miseries of previous malfeasance by the popular miscreants. The man with a touch of class for his fine taste in music, blends vintage with the vicissitudes of a memory lane. Trust the knowledge and experience from an expert to remind the young what the old had glamorously indulged in for a meaningful past time. Making use of a few for so much, was the innovation of a society that suffered the limitation of luxury but enjoyed the richness of contentment. Sandbach Parker’s building was a hallmark of prominence and did house the glamour and attraction of Matt’s Record Bar and also KLM/SLM/ALM and Massey Ferguson. The gorgeous looking Matt did accommodate the enthusiastic school boys and their flair for music. To visit her store, especially on a Saturday morning, just to listen to the stereo phonic sound of Fausto Papetti’s “Samba Pa Ti,” was an exceptional treat and a glowing satisfaction to digest the finesse of the sweet flowing melody of a sax from the maestro himself. At the behest of a request for “Feelings,” Matt would obligingly smile and unhesitatingly play that record without the hint of annoyance but rather, with the pleasing smile of appreciation. She knew who simply came for the listening pleasure from those who were the buying customers. She knew some bought only when on sale and she knew some bought without even having a record-player! In the month of December, the coziness of fairy-lights and decorations, personalizes the intimacy of Christmas and its flamboyancy, to enrich the season’s festivities. The wide variety of Christmas carols collection and the non-stop pulsating rhythm and soul of that velvet voice, Nat King Cole and gentle Jim, would fuse the ambience of the imagination of snow and cold. Thank you Matt Baptiste for bringing love and affection into Guyanese lives and for sharing your music, time and personality with Guyana. Do enjoy the rest of your retirement and yes, in your store, all six races did enjoyed a Guyanese unity through your musical forum. Indeed, there was nothing comical when Shakespeare wrote, “If music be the food of love, play on,” rather, it did fine-tuned a song without words.
Getting back to the business of the day, one wonders who mentored whom! Did Trump tutored Granger as one president to another, or, conversely, it is the adverse? Election rigging is not only a serious business but also a fraud and those guilty of such an act can be criminally charged. The Guyanese court is the scene of such a drama. Mingo and Lowenfield are experiencing nightmares and Lawrence is having the agita, closely following them is a host of accomplices who wished they were not party to such an inglorious feat! The sanctity of the ballot boxes must be respected. Gone are the days when Burnham and Granger’s soldiers used to hijack the ballot boxes from Indo Guyanese communities. Gone are the days of destroying ballot boxes and replacing them with padded votes of the PNC’s choice. Many paid with their lives in the defense of the ballot boxes. But, it is time for such a bitter lesson to be taught to those who perpetually want to play with fire and expect to remain unscathed. When you walk in mud, don’t believe that you will not get dirty. Guyana needs to move on and play the game of fairness in order to be free. Guyanese cannot remain complicit and thwart democracy. The line of demarcation must be drawn to distinguish right from wrong and this madness must come to a full stop, now. This country and its people have suffered immensely since December 2018 (NCM) until August 2nd 2020 (election result declaration), under the rule of PNC/R’s dictatorship. The end result was stagnation, starvation, unemployment and poverty. Would Guyanese want to return to those horrible days of depression and suppression? The choice is yours. The PPP/C government is now saddled with the task of harnessing the run-away horse and bringing it back to the stable. US Secretary of State, Mike Pompeo did promise help with changing our election process.
The United States of America is experiencing some rough weather, literally also. The amount of daily demonstrations are on the rise for the state of the economy, racial issues, inequality and a number of other social factors, including COVID-19. With the passing of the honorable Ruth Ginsburg, the selection of her replacement is creating another wave of distress and fervor. President Trump’s choice of Amy Coney Barrett is not being digested, especially by the Democrats and is viewed as a power grab in the Supreme Court. To add to the uproar, is the bombshell of Trump’s Taxes. The revelation that he paid only some $750 in taxes only for the past years is cause for disenchantment and furor for the ordinary citizen who pays more than that amount per year. Trump proudly brags and boasts about taking advantage of all the Tax concessions. For years he has fought against declaring the amount of taxes he has paid. Many prominent personalities in Guyana are still to declare their assets as legally requested by statute. Is this a lost and forgotten case? The other hot topic is Trump’s non-commitment to a peaceful transfer of power should he lose the next election due in November of this year and when questioned, he said that, “we’ll have to see what happens,” and, the country should “get rid of the ballots.” Many law makers are distancing themselves from him and Stanford law professor, Nate Persily, observed that, “We’re sort of walking in unprecedented constitutional territory.” Speaker of the House, Nancy Pelosi, had to remind him that he is not in North Korea, Saudi Arabia nor Russia where dictatorship rules but, he is in America where democracy exists. During the RNC acceptance speech, Trump declared, “The only way they can take this election away from us is if this is a rigged election.” Fear seems to be the key and, who needs Granger’s expertise, Trump or Biden? Guyana has a catching disease. Is America allergic to Guyana?
Respectfully,
Jai Lall

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