My Recipe for Happiness

Basil Waine Kong

Although "I need no warrant for being, and no work or sanction upon my being" (Ayn Rand, Anthem, 1946), I will leave the answer as to whether my life’s work has been worthwhile and even whether I am a man of substance but I am the only one who can judge whether I am happy. I now make that claim. “I have lifted the bowl of life and drank from it with gusto.”(Mark Twain)I am married to an incredible woman. Our four children are phenomenally successful and we have six of the most beautiful grand children ever conceived. I am a happy man. According to my friend, Dr. Malcolm Taylor, the recipe is as simple as: “If you have God, family and friends, you may stumble, but you will never hit the ground.”

At 68 years old, I am retired with great health and my golf game is better than ever. As the objective of my symphony was never to get to the end, I am now focused on the rest of the journey in which I constantly feast on the vast storehouses of joy like a Negril sunset. I have the peace of mind about our financial well being and we have loving and generous children who all assured us that they will tend to our needs--if needed. After a lifetime of adventure, satisfaction from the work I have done, I am now able to accept the differences that I used to find objectionable and I am much more willing to expose myself to rejection. I sleep well and no longer have an alarm clock. But as the cock crows, I wake up. My ambition is no longer to conquer the world. So after a cup of Blue Mountain Coffee, I am ready to get on with doing what a man’s got to do such as write, do what I can for those less fortunate, and more often than not, meeting with friends to play a round of golf.

I used to live in fear that someone may judge me wanting and now care far less what others think about me. My daily prayer is:

“God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change; courage to change the things I can; and wisdom to know the difference. Living one day at a time; Enjoying one moment at a time; Accepting hardships as the pathway to peace; Taking, as He did, this sinful world as it is, not as I would have it; Trusting that He will make all things right if I surrender to His Will; That I may be reasonably happy in this life and supremely happy with Him, forever in the next. Amen.” (Reinhold Niebuhr )

I forgive transgressions immediately. I learned to do this driving in Jamaica. Just smile and let them pass you. I no longer obsess about the other wrongs that others may heap on me. I am less self centered and much more willing to accept my shortcomings. Yes, I am a show off and over-competitive. If I obsess about anything anymore, it is to get rid of the clutter. I now believe that I didn’t need all the things we have accumulated over these many years. I am less attached to material things and more attracted to interesting experiences and my important relationships, particularly with our grand children. I try to treat everyone with kindness and freely offer compassion to others as well as myself. It comes much easier as I grow more patient with age. Unfortunately, I also have a need to impart the knowledge I have accumulated. My penchant for doing so is not always appreciated. I have come to realize that my children and others do not want quick and easy solutions to their challenges and must eventually discover these truths for themselves. I am at peace with that as well. The greatest truth I have learned over these many years is that for every truth one discovers, the opposite is also true. Neither I or anyone else have all the answers.

The world offers so much. There are many exciting possibilities and so little time to enjoy them. When I was young, time passed very slowly and I was anxious to grow up. Getting older is like a roll of toilet paper, it accelerates as one gets closer to the end. The years pass quickly. Is it Christmas again? Didn’t I have a birthday a few months ago? I now feel like I must fill ever minute with 60 seconds of bliss. The brevity of life and the certainty of death is a fact we must all contemplate.

I don’t want to just get by. I made a commitment long ago to be happy. I know a gentleman who was born in Jamaica and retired in the United States whose goal is just to live another day. His retired life is eating, watching television, playing caluki with friends once a week and sleeping till noon each day. I asked him why he doesn’t return to Jamaica and let the sun again shine on his face and he can only think of negatives. I asked him (half jokingly), if this is how you spend his time, what are you doing here? Then I ask him to forgive me as I have no right to dictate to anyone else how they should live their lives.

When I was twelve, I walked on cloud nine when a pretty girl smiled in my direction. It may have been directed at the boy behind me but I took it very personally. The first time another girl tickled my palm middle leading to my first kiss, it was a divine and is yet indelibly imprinted in my brain but not as sweet as a rum raisin ice cream cone, “bust me jawbone”, pepper mint sticks, corn pone and bullas. These provided memorable delights of my youth.

The source of great truths are found in the Bible.

“When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I put childish ways behind me.” (First Corinthians 13:11)

“For everything there is a season; a time for every matter under heaven: A time to be born, and a time to die; A time to plant, and a time to pluck up what is planted; A time to kill, and a time to heal; A time to break down, and a time to build up; A time to weep, and a time to laugh; A time to mourn, and a time to dance; A time to throw away stones, and a time to gather stones together; A time to embrace, And a time to refrain from embracing; A time to seek, and a time to lose; A time to keep, and a time to throw away; A time to tear, and a time to sew; A time to keep silence, and a time to speak; A time to love, and a time to hate,; A time for war, and a time for peace.” (Ecclesiastes 3:1-8)

God has ordained seasons and cycles in our lives. I believe I have planted, fertilized, kept the weeds away and watered. I saved, exercised daily, nourished my mind, body and soul so I could arrive at this point in my life when I can enjoy the fruits of my striving. At every other stage of my life or having reached a goal I found another goal was waiting. A prisoner who stares through steel bars often believe that his only problems are the bars that keeps him caged. When he is released, he multiplies his problems by a factor of 100. You may not know this about me, but I was locked up in prison once. Under the direction of Randall Robinson, a group of us were demonstrating in front of the South African Embassy in Washington DC during apartheid and was arrested (as expected) and sent by paddy wagon to the pookie, booked and locked up for four hours. It felt good to stand up for something.

In my own life, I have been guilty of many arrival fallacies. “If only I could break that track record…graduate from college… get a job… have my own car… get married… complete my Ph.D. dissertation… graduate from law school… pass the BAR… make more money… own a BMW… have successful children… have pretty grandchildren… retire without worry… break 80 in golf, etc., etc., etc.” Each time I arrived at a hard fought for goal and celebrated, I automatically went on to yet another. There is always another hill to climb and another river to cross.

I have never been unemployed, depressed, had a broken bone, a serious illness or an addiction (except to my wife). I have never been overweight. I am able to eat or drink whatever I wanted because I have always been active. I did divorce and suffered through that trauma with my teenage children but found that sometimes you must die a painful death to reach heaven. It took a long time to get over the complications and hurt feelings. What became readily evident was that one can only be as happy as their unhappiest child. Being a parent means that you must wear your emotions on your sleeve. My children are my pride and joy but from time to time, they have also been the source of my greatest agony.

According to the Buddha: “Thousands of candles can be lighted from a single candle, and the life of the candle will not be shortened. Happiness never decreases by being shared.” I make a conscientious effort to invest in the happiness of others believing that most of our happiness arises from these supportive relationships.

First and foremost, my enlightened self interest tells me that a happy wife increases my chances of a happy life. “If mamma aint happy, aint nobody happy.” If you want happy children, make sure their mother is happy. While we have survived difficult times and challenging adversities, we are now more committed than ever. I love her more today than yesterday but not as much as I will tomorrow. Whether my motivation is sex, conversation or just snuggling, we go to bed at the same time. According to Proverbs 26:20: “Where there is no wood, the fire goes out.” The most delightful of pleasures is pleasing my wife.

While I used to be more dogmatic about having my way, it is so simple these days to just say: “Yes darling!” Richard Carlson says: “Don’t sweat the small stuff and everything is small stuff” A hundred years from now, nothing I do will matter and no one will even know I even existed. I cannot think of anything that is now worth arguing over. As a result of my unwillingness to be at loggerhead with her, she is constantly thinking about how she can enhance my happiness. When our children visit, we treat them like we would if President Obama and Michelle were here. We never serve our family the broken cookies and often put out the best china and silver even when they protest that we should be more informal. When it comes to the special people in your life, use your best stuff---now! I marvel that some families save the best for company and show the worse to their own families.

Our home is a storehouse of happy memories. My wife is absolutely the best person I have known to keep happy memories vivid. Every Christmas, we summarize the highlights of the past year for family and friends. We have twenty of these Christmas letters that have become our family history. For important birthdays, she creates a book of photographs with appropriate notes for our children and grand children. For all the trips we have taken together, we have a detailed diary of each day’s adventure. I cannot wait to get old and wallow in these memories. We have a treasure house of happy memories. We are particularly keen on preserving these memories when the grand children visit without their parents for extended time over the summer. And my wife’s crowning achievement is that she creates a personal calendar with family photographs that she shares with all our family with all birth dates, anniversaries and important family anniversaries printed in the calendar. We are always thirsty for more news and developments about our children and grand children (Hint, hint).

Last summer, we invited my mother, a favorite aunt, our four children and their five children (The youngest had not yet arrived) to spend a week in Montego Bay. As they are scattered throughout the United States, we realized that the grand children did not know their uncles and aunts. It was a marvelous week showing them where I lived and went to school and grew up. They also all learned to swim, play dominoes and to love Jamaican food. I even made a maypole. As much as I advertised how wonderful my childhood was, none of them would consider living in Woodlands. On the other hand, they would consider living in a fancy Villa in Montego Bay with helpers and a swimming pool. They also enjoyed Duns River Falls, the Beaches and water parks.
According to Gretchen Rubin: “Happiness has four stages. To eke out the most happiness from an experience, we must anticipate it, savor it as it unfolds, express happiness, and recall a happy memory.”

My grandmother told me that good deeds are seeds that when planted will always bear fruits to be enjoyed later. The giver is always more blessed than the receiver. We really should thank those we help for the opportunity to earn a blessing. “One is not always happy when one is good; but one is always good when one is happy.” (Oscar Wilde)

My mother is now 89 years old. While her physical body is failing her mind is sharp. While I have been diagnosed with CRS (Cannot Remember S—t), the best assurance that I will not have old-timer’s disease is to have parents who do not. Her favorite retort to my telephone calls to inquire about how she is feeling: “I am still above the ground and taking nourishment” and still remind me that "Mother knows best" and will remind me of the time when I didn't follow her advice and lived to regret it. She continues to challenge me with intellectual conversations and more than anything else, she has a wonderful sense of humor. She taught me that I could only be happy if I lived a life of service to others. When we do things for others, we please God and inspire ourselves. “If you have something to do, do it as if all depended on you but praying as if all depended on God.”

I find that my generosity often cost me nothing but connecting people. I asked my golfing friends in the United States to donate golf clubs and shoes to the caddies at Caymanas Golf Club and they did. I brought representative from Food for the Poor to see the deplorable living conditions of some of the people in St. Elizabeth and they built and donated over 100 houses out of this initiative. I was having breakfast with some friends at the Pegasus Hotel one morning a year ago and saw fifty people wearing lab coats, I went over and introduced myself and found out they were medical missionaries from Florida who annually visit Jamaica, I suggested that they consider bringing their services to St. Elizabeth. One year later, their team came and treated 1,000 under served people and distributed 500 free eye glasses. I get a great deal of satisfaction from seeking out opportunities and seeing them inure to the benefit of the village that raised me when I was a child.

Everything goes better with happiness. When I am in a happy frame of mind, my performance is at a peak, the quality of my golf improves and I feel strong and healthy. The people I encounter are beautiful and engaging. Whatever I eat or drink is delicious. The music I am listening to goes to my soul. The sunshine on my face is warm and radiant. The cool breeze is delightful against my skin. The songs of the birds are everywhere and the bloom of the flowers are rich and colorful. God is in his heaven and all is right with the world. Occasionally, when I am in a bad mood and feel bored, frustrated, worried and tired, I become withdrawn, irritable, critical of others, overwhelmed and nothing please me.

The story of the woodsman has always had important meaning for me. The Woodman was hired to fall trees. On his first day, he was able to tumble six of them. Working even harder, the second day, he was only able to fall five and on the third day, only four. He was tired, puzzled, embarrassed and frustrated as he explained the situation to his wife who listened and responded: "Darling, have you stopped to sharpen the axe?" Golf has always provided this respit for me to keep my axe sharp.

Do bad, feel bad. Feel bad, do bad. Do good, feel good. Feel good, do good. Comfort the sick and dying to find health and well being in ourselves. I focus less on my own worries and more on relieving the suffering of others. You cannot hurt other people without hurting yourself. Criminals are very unhappy people.

According to Eric Burn, we need at least a dozen “strokes” per day. Strokes are positive encounters. The smile from someone bidding you good morning or good night, someone expressing gratitude for a good deed you have done, receiving a hug, a complement, someone offering you a cool drink, demonstrating respect or biging you up are all examples of strokes. Unfortunately, you cannot obtain more than twenty percent of these strokes from the same person. So, we have a responsibility to make ourselves lovable to a wider audience so these transactions can be genuine. False and fake complements don’t count. The rituals of a birthday cake and the singing of the birthday song and important as we take turns being the center of attention for each other.

I am on a mission because having a sense of purpose is important. I try to put passion and energy into everything I do. I have always brought intensity, diligence and enthusiasm to every task. Sometimes I have had to practice a poem, speech or song repeatedly so I could perform with gusto. It takes a lot of practice to make things look natural. The older I get, the longer it takes to commit these things to memory and it does not linger after the performance. I was amused when a character on “Saturday Night Live” said he could teach anyone four years of Spanish in one easy lesson. According to him, the only thing we can recall after studying Spanish for four years are: “¿Cómo está usted? ¿Cómo estás? Bien gracias, ¿y usted? ¿Cómo te llamas?” He promised that he could teach us those phrases in one session.

Most people wake up, have breakfast, go to work, put in 8 hours, get home, watch TV and go to bed. People with passion, WAKE UP, HAVE BREAKFAST, GO TO WORK, PUT IN 8 HOURS, GET HOME, WATCH TV AND GO TO BED. While we may be doing the same activities, one set of people are bored with the routine while others are happy and exhilarated because of the energy and passion we pour into it.

Making progress is the definition of happiness. What does a patient want to hear from the doctor? “You are getting better Ms. Jones”. What does an employee want to hear from an employer: “You are making good progress Mr. Jones.” Happiness is all about making incremental progress. If you spoil your child and provide an expensive automobile and access to all the luxuries of life, your child will be doomed to unhappiness as he or she will have nothing to look forward to with joy and will be unhappy as they cannot keep up with the lifestyle to which they are accustomed. A millionaire losing a thousand dollars in unhappy. An employee receiving a $100 raise on a $10,000 salary is happy. “Best is good but better is best.” (Lisa Greenwald) Don’t indulge every whim even if you can afford it. Leave room for improvement---forgo something. All human beings love to make progress and interestingly, we are happier making progress up the summit than after reaching the top of the mountain. I told my youngest son that the highest prestige he will ever enjoy was being a medical student. Now that he has graduated, he is just another doctor.

There is no more happiness than a recovered patient, a deaf mute who has discovered his hearing and his voice, no more joy than sight to the blind. There is magic to the words, whether it is a sudden catharsis or actual vision: “I can see! I can see!! I can see!!!” Without having gone blind, what if you woke up each morning and scream: “I can see! I can see!! I can see!!!”

“Happy people are more altruistic, more productive, more helpful, more likable, more creative, more resilient, more interested in others, friendlier, and healthier. Happy people make better friends, colleagues, and citizens. I wanted to be one of those people. I knew it was certainly easier to do good when I was happy. I was more patient, more forgiving, more energetic, more lighthearted, and more generous. Working on my happiness wouldn’t just make me happier, it would boost the happiness of the people around me.” (Gretchen Rubin)

"There comes a time in your life, when you walk away from all
the drama and people who create it. You surround yourself with
people who make you laugh. Forget the bad, and focus on the
good. Love the people who treat you right, pray for the ones
who don't. Life is too short to be anything but happy. Falling
down is a part of life, getting back up is living."(unknown)

It also helps that I live in the third happiest place on earth. I have contemplated why, among the poverty, the limited opportunities, crime and violence, why Jamaicans are happy. I believe it is our sense of gratitude. We are happy and grateful that no matter what comes, we survive. And yet we rise! But at 68 years old, like Robert Frost: "I have promises to keep and miles to go before I sleep." And I will be happy doing it as I persist, in my own way, to making this world a better place. My life is a testimony that “...His favor is for a lifetime...”(Psalm 30:5)

Dudus as God

Keeping Silent About Evil
Basil Waine Kong

I read a quote in a Jamaican newspaper from a lady who said, "Dudus is next to God. Jesus died for our sins and we are willing to die for Dudus." * She demanded that the authorities leave him alone.

For thousands of years, the Japanese people believed that their emperor was God. After the Allies occupied Japan and the Emperor was made to declare on the radio that he was not God and was just an ordinary man with no Godlike powers, thousands of Japanese citizens, the true believers, committed suicide, not being able to accept that the god that they worshipped and prayed to was just another human being, nothing more or less.

I also thought of Plato's Allegory of the Cave. Imagine, writes Plato, a tribe of people who spend their entire lives in a cave. Their only exposure to the outside world was the shadows that were projected on the sides of the cave through the cracks on the opposite walls. During an earthquake or some other earthy disturbance, a member of the tribe escaped and was confused and dazzled by the fantasy to which he was exposed. As he was marveling at the sights and sounds, him buck him toe on a rockstone and it hurt. He walked into a tree that he thought was just a fantasy and hit him head. He fell into a river and almost drowned and gradually came to realize that he had things backwards. This was the reality and he and his people were living a lie and only shadows of the truth.

Having found truth, he immediately went back to his people and with great excitement, courage and conviction proceeded to enlighten and plead with them to accept his truth and they all said: G’wey fool. You know not of what you speak. Everyone knows that the shadows are the true reality. They even killed him for his blasphemy.

I grew up in Woodlands, St. Elizabeth, with the certain knowledge that:
1. The Bible was written by God and every word must be taken literally;
2. If you were caught in the rain you would catch cold;
3. Night air was dangerous so children had to be called in when it got dark;
4. Crop failure, hurricanes, earthquakes, sickness and death were acts of a vengeful God;
5. Anything foreign was better than anything produced in Jamaica;
6. “Nutten black no good”;
7. If it is written it is true. Arguments would immediately cease once someone produced a “writing”, particularly a Gleaner article. "Why would they write it if it wasn't true?"

As I discovered that science nicely explained away many of our traditional beliefs, on my first trip back to Jamaica after leaving Woodlands and armed with a substantial education, I liberally shared the knowledge I had acquired. My grandmother just smiled as I tried to address these myths. She said I was still too young to know anything while the rest of my people more aggressively ran me: G’wey!

The residents of Tivoli Gardens are living in Plato’s cave. They know no other reality but the see no evil approach to life. Dudus, the President, the Godfather, dispenser of the proceeds of crime, merely ask that the recipients of his largest reciprocate with loyalty and obedience. "He is a hero who keeps order and more importantly protects us from abusive police. He can stand up to anyone."

Parasites prey on those around them. How does a criminal strongman do this? He provides quick fixes to people's problems. What could be wrong with that? Yet as time progresses, the easy way becomes easier and easier until it seems you have no other choice, until you want no other choice. It is at that moment, when you have an established need of such a person, that the price is exacted. While for those who can support themselves, the greatest treasure is freedom; for those who are starving and desperate, freedom may not be much of a price to pay for their daily bread and daily fix for school fees, uniforms, lunch money, court costs, food, etc.

Mr. Coke is a Jamaican strong man who used drugs and other vices that prey on poor Jamaicans looking for quick fixes. Poor Jamaicans turn to the Mr. Cokes of the world because the government fails to provide the framework of education and economic resources to help them out of their dependent relationships.

Unfortunately, a vacuum of power will result with the removal of Dudus. Dudus is a white star quickly collapsing into black hole that, if we are not careful, will swallow massive amounts of Jamaican civil society. On the other hand, we may be in the midst of a cleansing that may benefit our society going forward. But what is to become of the many citizens of TG who have grown used to dependency and are now destitute?

What I know is for freedom to ring, the rule of law rather than the rule of the jungle must prevail. Crime is, by its definition, a breach of the rules and laws of a governing body. The people of Tivoli Gardens willingly sacrificed their freedom for security. They willingly huddle in the shadow of a tyrant, fearing his removal, because they do not know the value of the sun shining on their faces here in the land of sun and water.

I cry for my beloved country because our people are so badly neglected and mis-educated that they are willing to drink the “kool-aid” of fast money and quick fixes that the criminal element offers. My plea is: please don’t drink the kool-aid! The most predictable road to independence, long term happiness and prosperity is integrity and hard work.

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*"Dudus" is the purported drug Lord who, like his father, controlled a section of Jamaica called Tivoli Gardens who the United States want to put into a orange jumpsuit . The people who live there are provided with amenities, compliments of the one they call "The President". He was the most powerful man in Jamaica before the showdown with government forces in May, 2010. He was indicted and wanted by the American authorities for charges relating murders committed by the Shower Posse for which he is the purported head as well as the illegal sale of drugs and guns.

Is the Sun Raising or Setting on Jamaica?

Mawnin!
Basil Waine Kong

I am in a Jamaican state of mind. As I position myself to get the best view of each lovely sunrise with a hunk of corn pone and a cup of Blue Mountain coffee in hand and each sunset with a rum punch or a Red Stripe, my teeming brain, crawling with thought, often wonder whether the future of this romantic place we call Jamaica is represented by the coming up or going down of the sun. Is this the real deal or a fool's paradise? Are our best years behind us or in front of us? Were our best years under colonial rule or maybe the early days of independence when we were celebrating and feeling free from colonial domination? While we continue to squander many opportunities and have badly mismanaged our resources, I am going to believe with as much optimism I can muster that we are represented by a rising sun. While it is not shining very bright at the moment, I believe in my heart of hearts that it will be morning again in Jamaica. Challenges come to make us, not break us.

We are a wealthy but badly managed country. Our abundant variety of flowers, vegetables and fruit trees leads me to believe that God has blessed us in a very special way. Our wealth include rich and abundant soil, lots of rivers and fresh water, talented and hard working people, a pleasant climate, sunshine and rain embraced by the Caribbean sea. Most of all, we have brand Jamaica---we set the pace. In addition to our sprinters, our hairstyle, music and entertainers, we have the best coffee in the world, the best beaches, the best rum, the best beer,the best cotton (Sea Island), the best herbs and spices and the best honey (logwood). We are a land of unlimited possibilities. Japan has no natural resources except the drive and talent of their people and they are the second largest economy in the world. Nevertheless, our progress as a society canno only be measured by big houses, fancy cars, super highways, big buildings and money in the bank but rather the welfare of ALL our people.

Over the past two years, I have been despairing about our increasing problems: Unemployment is at an all time high. Our health care system is in shambles. Eighty five percent of our children are born out of wedlock. Our imports are up and our exports are down. More and more of our annual budget is committed to servicing our formidable national debt. We have Garrison Dons and Gunmen who are out of control. Our prisons are full. We have politicians, public servants and policemen taking bribes to compromise the public trust. Deaths from automobile accidents are outrageous. If our high rate of accidents and homicides are not enough, criminals have now taken to kidnapping our children. A third of our citizens cannot read. Our children have half day school so half of our children with half of them not able to pass their CXE and suffer from lack of parental guidance as most of their mothers are in other countries taking care of other people’s Pinckney. The list of these negatives continue to expand with each passing day.

I remind myself that the way of truth and love has always prevailed when societies are plagued with criminals and a bad economy. God is just. He will not sleep forever. Criminals may seem invincible, but in the end, goodness always triumphs and evil fails. The future is our permanent address so time is on our side. History teaches us that time is on the side of law abiding citizens who just need to recognize that we are blessed with brilliant opportunities disguised as insoluble problems.

Let us stop this conspiracy of silence and form a coalition of the law abiding so we can persistently fight crime on our streets and communities. Each of us has a choice to make. Every member of our society has the power to act in the interest of good. When someone is not afraid to die, they immediately become powerful. No one can make you do anything without your consent. Each of us must commit to a future when evil will not feel at home in our country. One man or woman with a cause, courage and God becomes a majority.

Since we all know that power concedes nothing without a struggle, sometimes it requires that we put everything on the line and fight for our personal integrity, dignity, self esteem as well as a cause in which we are invested. Let’s start by saving the children.

If there is no struggle, there is no progress. You cannot have crops without ploughing up the ground and you cannot bake a cake without breaking some eggs. We should never surrender to the menace of evil in our society. Let’s have no truce with criminals. They are the people who are invested in preserving poverty and promoting the rule of the jungle rather than the rule of law. Is that what you want for your children? If they continue to do their worse, let’s double our efforts to do our best. There is nothing wrong with Jamaica that what is right with Jamaica cannot fix. Let us be excellent to each other. More than cleverness, we need kindness and courage.

If you are kind to your neighbours you will feel good, if you are cruel, cover up the evil deeds of others and don’t do the right thing you feel ashamed and haunted. If you live by Christian principles you will be blessed, not only because God will bless you but because other people want to associate and do business with people who are honest, sincere about their promises and helpful in their moments of need. Whatever you do, you will be successful because others will wish you well and offer help to another good and faithful servant.

On the other hand, people will shun and show disdain for those who are evil. Why would anyone want to associate with someone who lies, become violent and hurt other people? They realize that regardless of the very temporary availability of money that a criminal lifestyle sometimes offer, it is only a matter of time before a criminal will turn against those who associate with him or her. Most of the murders in Jamaica were friends of the perpetrator. Criminals have the lowest life expectancy in every society. If you live by the sword, you will surely die by the sword. So, stop hugging up gunmen, defending and hiding the criminals in your community.

There is a revolution coming. It will not require violence and violence will not stop it. I am a Jamaican. Hear me roar. The virtuous people in our communities can be a powerful army if they are pushed to the wall. We are now up against the wall. The good people of this country will rise up and act when they recognize that our society is currently organized to oppress, murder, rob, and degrade them—with our hopes not realized and our promises not fulfilled. Is your ambition to work your way up from nothing to extreme poverty? Some politicians and leaders of our country believe that enough is done for the people at the bottom rung of society if you are allowed to live at all.

The time has come. Every country has the government they deserve and the community we want. Equal opportunity, fairness and justice are ideals for which we should be prepared to die. If you refuse to accept evil, you will get what you want. There are a lot more good people than bad people. Have a positive impact on the world. Don’t end up having just visited and walked the earth. Help to make Jamaica free for honest people to enjoy. “Emancipate yourself from mental slavery. None but ourselves can free our minds” (Bob Marley) This is our Island in the sun that deserves your salvation.

In spite of the few criminals, I believe that Jamaicans are really good at heart who just wants to show love and kindness to others. You cannot believe the kindness I have received at the hands of perfect strangers in Jamaica. This is no time to keep the facts from our people to keep them complacent.

My motivation is to spur action from an aroused public. What we are famous for doing is understand and participate meaningfully in all the other countries of the world. Wherever I travel, I find Jamaicans doing incredible things for their adopted countries. What we do worse is understand and invest in our own country. Every little bit you do will helps little bit.

Use your time on this earth. Resolve to be reduced to ashes rather than to be dust under anyone’s feet. Go out in a blaze if you must rather than compromise your dignity. Earn the respect of your fellow man by becoming men and women of action. A man must live with purpose, not just to compromise with the devil. Use your time wisely and be a force against evil. Our only hope is for the rich and poor to come together for the good of the country. My fear is that it will be too late when the rich finally reach out to the poor, they may find that the poor has turned to hate. I hope we aspire to a better Jamaica and not bitter Jamaicans.

Responses:

I am the author of "A Struggle to Walk with Dignity"-The TRUE story of a Jamaican-born Canadian. I am very inspired by the words of Dr. Kong's writings, and I am proud to be a part of your web family. As a thinker and writer myself, it is as if Dr. Kong's thoughts on Jamaica are connected through my brain. I could not have said it any better, and clearer than Dr. Kong. He shows me the brilliance of the Jamaican mind and the possibility of great accomplishments that Jamaicans are capable of. The future of Jamaica is in the hands of it's people, as we all wish that Jamaica after Colonialism could have been another Singapore. Gerald A.

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Dorothy Purge 2010-05-20 07:11
Interesting article, Dr. Kong. Thanks for sharing and up-lifting one's spirit.

The rising and setting sun, can in many ways, speak positively within our lives and that of our country. May you continue to share your inspiration.

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Desmond Green 2010-05-19 13:09
Thank you Dr Kong for a truly inspiring and challenging post. It hits the spot with truths that can heal the sick and raise even the dead. Thanks again. Eye will talk with you soon.
Desmond
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T. Williams 2010-05-20 18:00. UNTIL WE GET OUR UNIVERSITY GRADUATES TO THINK BEYOND BEING TALK -SHOW HOSTS AND STATE CRITICS,AND UNTIL THEY ARE ABLE TO PUT THEIR KNOWLEDGE TO WORK TO SHAPE POLICY WHICH CAN GUIDE GOVERNMENT, WE WILL FOREVER SEE OUR SELVES IN THESE SITUATIONS. They continue to sell Jamaica CHEAPLY BECAUSE THEY ARE NOT SOLUTION DRIVEN,KNOWLEDGE THEY HAVE BUT THEY CAN'T DEMONSTRATE IT, SO THEY SEEK FOR ANSWERS FROM THOSE WHO ARE NOT AS EDUCATED AS THEY ARE. Please do some research in Israel and you will see how backward our most educated are, we need to OWN, THE LAND OF OUR BIRTH AND SHARE OUR SKILLS TO THE WELFARE OF THOSE WHO ARE NOT AS PRIVILEGED AS WE ARE, THEN WE WILL SEE THE SOCIETY TRANSFORMED INTO ONE THAT OTHERS WILL ENVY. Thanks for being a concerned human being, and not one who sits in the bashing gallery as talk show host.

Sermon From My Mount (High Horse) Part 3

The Challenge of Making Each Hour Count
Basil Waine Kong

Every hour is different from all other hours in which you are endowed with an extra-ordinary opportunity to do heroic deeds. If we recognize that providence rewards the bold, this is not the second, minute or hour to be timid and invisible. Each of us have the power to change things for good or evil. Every little bid you do helps or hurt a little. We must decide whether our life is to be about quick fixes, the avoidance of pain, a pursuit of pleasure and material gain or in the service of mankind.

The need to “fit in” is swallowing us up. If we do not remain true to ourselves and our fore fathers and fore mothers we will drive ourselves into oblivion in our BMWs. Our people need learning, conviction, exaltation and justice yet we remain consumed with the pursuit of superficial material things. We may claim to be a success, but in the eyes of the heroes and sheroes, we are rightly regarded as failures. Our community is in spiritual distress suffering from a disease of loss of character and commitment and most of us are paralyzed with fear. One can be a villain even though very cultured, learned and surrounded by luxuries. There are many among us whose entire existence is been taken up with the trappings of modern life. We have forgotten the value of our human relationships.

The Earth, our home, is a magnificent creation and generous gift from God to whom we owe eternal gratitude.The glory of the creator is manifested in the spectacles that is all around us in Jamaica---the cool breeze, our bountiful harvests, our spectacular mountains, the blue caribbean, the spectacular rainbows and sunsets after a storm. But the greatest of all of God’s creation are human beings! We are the very embodiment of His perfection.

We are interdependent with and partners with God. God need us as much as we need Him. When we walk through storms, we never walk alone. We are not solitary in our toils or forsaken in our efforts. The smallest and weakest of us is a microcosm of the greatest one. A reciprocal relationship binds all of us with our creator.

When I study the Bible, God speaks to me. When I pray, I speak to God. Knowledge of the Bible is only a necessary first step to living the Bible and walking as a Christian. You cannot study philosophy through praying and cannot study prayer through philosophizing. Prayer fulfills a sacred function. When you pray, you talk to God, when we experience a flash of insight, a catharsis, and understanding, God is talking to you. When God is betrayed and abandoned, we experience agony.

Holiness is not man’s achievement, it is a gift from God that cannot be achieved without engaging others. It is not something that can be attained through merit. We become holy not by who we are but by His grace and by how we treat our fellow travelers on the planet. Don’t turn your backs on the world’s most precious treasures. The light we shine to maintain our existence is the light that will transform the world and enrich others as well as ourselves. It is more than ever our duty to recover the relevance of our traditions to be engaged with each other.

Never doubt our wonderful capacity for generosity and forgiveness. We can teach the world a great deal about forgiving and moving forward. The assumption that all Jamaica can offer is mere survival and getting by is an affront to our dignity and not recognizing the magnificent contributions our people have made in every field of endeavor.

We should all stand for and represent a striving to achieve a high purpose. Our sense for meaning grows not by spectacular acts but how we treat the twenty four hours we are given each day.

On one of my visits to Africa, several of us were taken to see Mt. Kilimanjaro. When the guide pointed in the direction of this great mountain, none of us could see it. The guide pointed out that we were not looking high enough and directed us to look above the clouds. There is was in all its snow covered splendor made popular by Ernest Hemingway. Jamaicans are special. We are not regular, average or limited. We are great people whose only fault is that we do not aim high enough. We are guilty of low aim because we devalue ourselves and over value foreign. The ceiling of our aspirations is too low: a job, a house, car, flat screen TV and life insurance. We are capable of so much more. We have world changing ideals and power. We are only limited by our minds. What the mind can conceive and what we believe, we can achieve.

Our community’s need for thought, understanding, and intellectual expansion is profound and urgent. If it is not satisfied, we will be bankrupt, squandering a great legacy and opportunity.

I slept and dreamt that life was joy.
I woke and saw that life was duty.
I acted and behold, duty was joy !!

Aspire to inspire, before you expire.
(Amy Grant)

The Heart Institute of the Caribbean Foundation

Dear Friends and Colleagues:

On behalf of the Board of Directors of the Heart Institute of the Caribbean Foundation (HICF), a heartfelt Thank you for your commitment to help reduce the ravages of cardiovascular diseases in Jamaica. I am reminded of Margaret Mead’s often repeated words: “Never underestimate that a small group of committed individuals can change the world. It is the only thing that ever has.”

For the past five years, the entire Caribbean has benefited from a state of the art Cardiac Centre (Heart Institute of the Caribbean) that is saving hearts and saving lives. As an accomplished scholar and successful healthcare entrepreneur, Dr. Ernest Madu served on the faculty of Cardiovascular Medicine at Vanderbilt University Medical School, one of the world’s most prestigious University Hospitals. He experienced first hand the effectiveness of modern treatment options for cardiovascular disease in improving the quality of life and the life expectancy of those who had access to these sophisticated interventions.

Over the years, Dr. Madu has taken time to study the health care system in Jamaica and other developing countries around the world. He concluded that even though much was being done cardiac care was a far cry from what was routinely available to patients in the United States. An environment that encouraged wealthy Jamaicans to seek premium healthcare in the USA and other European destinations is neither acceptable nor sustainable and is detrimental to our national economic and infrastructural development. In addition, this untenable approach denies appropriate care to most Jamaicans who are customarily denied these life saving options because they have no access to overseas institutions.

As the number of citizens needing this high quality cardiac care dramatically increased, the drain on the economy posed a major problem as more and more local dollars were being spent overseas to purchase these services. Interestingly, many of our wealthy citizens that depended on US and other overseas locations for their cardiac care have died suddenly at home from cardiac disease because of the absence of a well equipped local facility to respond to emergency situations. The time lapse to transport patients out of the country have had fatal consequences.

Convinced that Jamaicans and the developing world should have access to optimal levels of cardiovascular care locally, Dr. Madu mobilized private funds, encouraged participation from a small group of local physicians and leveraged relationships and resources to fund a multi-million dollar state of the art cardiovascular centre.
HIC has been active in the recruitment of the best trained and experienced cardiologists and technical staff to provide first rate care to Jamaicans and the wider Caribbean. This dream was realized in April, 2005 with the opening of the Heart Institute of the Caribbean in Kingston.

Because of this vision, Jamaica now has its first state of the art cardiovascular diagnostic, treatment and prevention centre. The centre has become the model for cardiovascular care for low resource countries and is the only such facility in the English speaking Caribbean. This accomplishment has become recognized and applauded worldwide by leading thinkers, institutions and organizations such as TED where Dr. Madu was invited in 2007 as a guest speaker to discuss the HIC model as well as Veer Stichting, in the Netherlands and the USA-Africa Private Investment Forum in Washington DC where Dr. Madu was the keynote speaker in October and November 2008 respectively. Most recently Dr. Madu was a featured lecturer to the top 50 executives at the General Electric Corporation in their Healthymagination Series.
He has recently been invited to share his expertise on the Indian subcontinent as the keynote speaker at the twelfth annual techno - management symposium, TECHNICHE 2010.

I consider it a privilege to work with these esteemed professionals to advance the cause of improving the quality of life for our people. I believe we are doing a tremendous amount of good.

The Foundation is a creation formed from need. We envision a sister organization that would support infrastructural and program development at the Heart Institute of the Caribbean; facilitate open access to cardiovascular care for patients in the Caribbean; subsidize or fund the cost of care for indigent patients who are in need of cardiovascular care; support and finance a wide scale cardiac resuscitation program in the Caribbean, including Open access to Automatic External Defibrillators (AEDs) in public facilities and training individuals in their use and finally promote cardiovascular health and wellness in the region.

Our dream is that every school teacher, religious leader and every ordinary citizen in Jamaica will be recruited to preach the gospel of preventive health and wellness to combat this scourge on our nations’ health. In addition, we are trying to forge public- private partnerships with the Ministry of Health and other Non Governmental Organizations to provide cardiovascular services to all the public hospitals.

The HICFoundation is registered as a 501(c) (3) not-for-profit organization in the United States as well as approved by the Registry of Companies in Jamaica as an NGO. I hope you will join us to support the continued work of the HIC Foundation. Please contribute generously so we can continue to do this great work. Your tax deductible donation can save a life. Please help.

Sincerly,

B Waine Kong, Ph.D., JD
President
Heart Institute of the Caribbean Foundation
3151 Rilman Road
Atlanta, GA 30327
678/325-9255

23 Balmoral Avenue
Kingston 10
Jamaica
876/291-1506

Ode to Woodlands District, Jamaica

Here where the sun shines
And cool breeze whines
Through mango trees and weeping willows
Sweet dreams on soft feather pillows
Friends big up each other with "respect", "mawnin" and "irie"
Memories to fill a lifetime diary

Stains on my shirt from star apple and jack fruit
Custard apple, carrot juice and beer from ginger root
Jankonoo, duppy stories and nine night wakes
Breadfruit, bammy and black wedding cakes
Baptism before the cricket match at New Pon
Herbie Arnold playing the guitar with the rhumba band, ya mon!

Here is my boyhood home
Unhampered space and gullies to roam
Gifted me pride and an ounce of courage
A taste for run punch, sorrel and cornmeal porridge
Curry goat, escovitched fish, rice and peas, ackee and cod
Woodlands District, Jamaica, gave me my God!

B. Waine Kong

Educating the Powerless in Jamaica

The Dismal State of our Public Education
B. Waine Kong

What is the difference between a housekeeper and a doctor? In many instances in Jamaica, its one generation. Against all odds, through mentoring, education, perseverance, taking advantage of opportunities abroad and focused individual effort, some rise up from poverty and achieve greatness. But no one succeeds under only his or her own steam. Whenever I hear someone say they achieved through hard work, I always ask: "Whose hard work?" It really does take a village to nurture a contributing member of society. Education is the vehicle in which the privileged transfer privilege and the lack of education is also the vehicle in which we transmit poverty, powerlessness and frustration from one generation to the next. This I believe: "Enlightenment through learning is the only way to improve our condition."

For the aficionados of cricket, do you know the intent of a “Test Match”? I am told by knowledgeable sources that it was a test of loyalty to the crown. Operatives were strategically placed in the crowd to identify people who applauded the English team and criticized the Jamaican team. In other words, only those who identified with the oppressor were chosen to be educated and offered leadership opportunities. So, our government and educational institutions became overwhelmed with those who celebrated the ways of the British and devalued anything Jamaican as butto (Bantu). It didn’t matter how smart, skillful, eloquent and charismatic you were, if you did not speak the Queen’s English or didn’t know how to use your knife and fork you would be excluded. So, these things are highly valued in Jamaica. Does it really matter how food gets into your mouth? I am certain that many British oriented Jamaicans would say yes. But in oriental cultures, people use chopsticks and many advanced civilizations use their hands. Does it make them less civilized?

In my reading of Sidney Poitier's book "Life Beyond Measure", I had a good laugh when he wrote that before he was rich and famous, he fell in love with a Jamaican beauty and went to a family dinner to ask her father's permission to marry. Her father vetoed the marriage because Mr. Poitier did not have table manners and could not use his knife and folk correctly. Years later when Mr. Poitier had married someone else and had in fact become rich and famous while the Jamaican beauty faltered in her relationships, the father had an occasion to meet Mr. Poitier and confessed that it would have been different if he had known the humble Sidney Poitier was going to turn out to be the great Sidney Poitier.

The elitist approach to education we inherited was designed to guarantee that Britannia ruled. We are now independent but Britannia continues to rule. Traditional Jamaican high schools are undeniably one of the great educational experiences in the world but only for the few who are chosen. At the same time, we relegate the majority of Jamaican children powerless and untutored. Can anyone believe that our children only go to school for a half a day? Because we lack classroom space, we must accommodate split shifts. In Japan, children go to school for eight hours per day, six days per week and in addition, are required to do an enormous amount of homework. The final insult is to convince the poor in Jamaica that their condition is a result of their own weak-mindedness, lack of character and ambition.

A massive overhaul is needed. What we have is indoctrination masked as education. Presently, our society is populated at the bottom of the economic and social ladder by darker-skinned people. In a true self fulfilling prophecy, we do not provide relevant educational opportunities because we believe it would be a waste of resources, we then pull the rabbit out of the hat and declare that their impoverished circumstance is their fault, not recognizing that we placed the rabbit in the hat in the first place by not investing in them.

The poor are made to feel inferior, unable to learn and treated like outsiders because they have committed the crime of being poor. To say that the poor are treated like criminals is an understatement. We have made everything the poor are forced to do against the law and made them outlaws. The criminalization and our animus toward indigents must change. While we may not be able to find jobs, provide educational opportunities and housing for everyone, I would be content if our police and government bureaucrats show some respect to poor people as they do for the rich and on a long term basis, reconstitute our educational menu.

Anatole France said sarcastically: "The majestic equality of the law, which forbids the rich as well as the poor to sleep under Bridges, to beg in the streets, and to steal bread." There is no greater inequality that the equal treatment of unequals.

While we should build on our strength and exalt what is currently exemplary, we must also include more of our children under the umbrella. No child should be left behind. The children of Jamaica should never feel that they are incapable, helpless and unable to change their circumstances. But this is what I encounter.

Our present state of affairs is that we spend lavishly on the education of a few who then abandon us. Less than 20% of the doctors, nurses and pharmacists remain in Jamaica after we train them but we do not invest resources on the ones who stay. The brain drain from Jamaica to the United States, England and Canada is astounding. What about the needs of our own society? Will we have to end up importing the doctors, nurses and pharmacists we need from India?

Our schools can be agents of positive change if the curriculum is relevant to people’s lives. Our government should stop thinking that our people are burdens and mouths to feed rather than talented and gifted people who will advance our cause if they are offered an education. You cannot begin to imagine the inventions, productivity and solutions for our problems that will follow if the masses of Jamaican children felt empowered, valued, self confident and safe! We have a long way to go to remedy the historical neglect for this segment of society.

It is Jamaica’s shame that up to a third of our citizens are illiterate and must buy their driver’s license. It is a disgrace that with the outstanding gene pool we have that so few pass critical exams or can even write a decipherable sentence. How will we compete on the world stage? The solution is in the resolve of our society, strategic planning and the appropriation of adequate resources. Let’s make academic success the rule rather than the exception. If you think educating our people is expensive, try ignorance.

"Lord, make us instruments of Your peace!
Where there is hatred, let us sow love.
Where there is injury, pardon.
Where there is doubt, faith.
Where there is despair, hope.
Where there is darkness, light.
Where there is sadness, joy."
---St. Francis of Assisi

bwaine@bellsouth.net

Typical Weekend - Part 1

I am often asked what life is really like in Jamaica as a returning resident. Let me relive the last week-end with you.

Friday, March 13, 2009

My wife picks me up from work (HICFoundation, where I am the President) at noon today to transport me to play in a golf tournament that will benefit the “Heart Foundation of Jamaica”. Due to the drought, the course is not in good shape because unlike Caymanas, where I am a member, Constant Springs does not have a sprinkler system. Notwithstanding the greens, the men in my foursome are good golfers and good company. I actually played well but hit one ball out of bounds and lost one in the woods that took me out of the winning circle.

After golf, Stephanie joins me at the reception and we mingle with friends and enjoy the food and spirits. In addition to the group I played with, I am particularly happy to spend some time with my favorite cousin, Errol McKenexie (Executive Vice President at Sagicor)and his son Stephen. Errol is definitely a mover and in Jamaica. He was very instrumental in introducing me to Jamaican society on my return a year ago.

We meet another couple for dinner at 7:30 pm. The “Market Place” is a wonderful development where one can choose Chinese, Japanese, Italian, Spanish, Indian or French restaurants. We chose “Habibi Latino” and enjoy the paella, although the paella is not as tasty as the one our daughter Melanie makes! The conversation is lively mostly centered on whether the inequities based on skin color in Jamaica are due to racism, classism or both. The conversation got over heated when Stephanie took great exception when some said that her "helper" was content to be a housekeeper because "she" was a good boss. No amount of reasoning could convince this person that this attitude of one of both classism and racism. I went on to explain that Stephanie is very sensitive to this issue particulary because when we were visiting Mauritius two years ago and having dinner with four Indian cardiologists, I asked why there were no Black physicians in Mauritius even though Blacks made up twenty five percent of the population? One of the Indian cardiologists had the audacity to say that Black people neither had the ambition nor are thy willing to sacrifice to become doctors. My dear wife had to be restrained. She pointed out that there were over a dozen Black cardiologists (our group) at the conference who obviously did not meet that criterion and Mauritians needed to re-evaluate their presumptions.

After dinner, we went to the home of our dear friend Sonja Allen to celebrte her birthday. We bring her a bottle of Logwood honey (indigenous to Jamaica) and enjoyed dessert. The party was particularly entertaining because another friend, Loy Robinson played the piano and we sang old time favorites together. We even recited poems that we learned as children attending school in Jamaica in the “old days”. Sonja has the most amazing friends including my Aunt Madge, and it was non-stop laughter. Stephanie and I got home at 12:30 am and she remarked that she now understood why I was always comfortable lapsing into song and dance in a crowd. It’s the culture. We very happily yielded to sleep after a long and exciting day.

Letter to The Gleaner RE: Jamaica a Hurting Nation

Thanks for Dr. Karen Richards’ piece (Sunday, February 08, 2009) on “Jamaica Drowning in a Sea of its Own Violence,” diagnosing us with Borderline Personality Disorder (DPT) to explain why Jamaica has the highest murder rate in the world (64 per 100,000). Kingston is convulsing with disorder and collapsing under the weight of crime.
In the face of feeling vulnerable, the wealthy are willing to spend millions on security rather than contribute to social institutions that have the promise to uplift people and perhaps take away their motivation to commit crime. We need to recognize that no one, no matter how rich, can protect themselves from crime. We can turn our homes, cars and workplaces into garrisons and we will still be vulnerable.
If we must use psychological models, I prefer Sigmund Freud’s characterization to explain the personalities in Jamaica.
I often ask friends who they believe are the most powerful people in Jamaica. Are they gunmen? Dons? Politicians? Religious leaders? Rich people? Policemen or babies? If you define power as one’s ability to quickly get what they want, then the answer is a crying child. The distressed child, who is hungry, wants his diaper changed or wants comfort will cry until his needs are met. Nature programmed us to respond urgently to children’s crying.
A child is all "id". A child has no ability to delay gratification or consider anyone else’s needs: “I want what I want when I want it.” “If I itch, I want it scratched.” Some of us never grow out of this immaturity. “I will kill anybody who disrespects me.” These are the grudgeful and bad minded people who always want something for nothing and who want to prosper at someone else’s expense. This childish conduct can be quickly recognized on the roads from the drivers who put everyone at risk by inappropriately overtaking others because only their needs matter. The other day I witnessed an accident because one of the speeding buses decided it needed to drive on the wrong side of the road and incorrectly merge into traffic only to run into the car that had the right of way. Everyone at this point was inconvenienced; the passengers of the bus, the cars behind the accident and the driver whose car was smashed.
Ordinarily, as one matures, we learn a reality principle or the cause and effect rules of life which Freud calls the "ego". If I put my hand in a fire, it will burn. If I fall down, it will hurt. If I steal or otherwise break the law, the police will arrest and imprison me. A healthy fear of punishment takes hold. We learn to value the rights of others and respect boundaries. If I treat others special, they will be kind and helpful to me in my hour of need. If I work hard, develop meaningful skills, knowledge and attitudes, I can find employment or own a business so I can support myself and take care of my family. If there is no family structure or if the rules of society are not predictably enforced, some people will not believe they will be punished for crime and that they can get rich quick and always get their way by intimidating others---including their parents and the police. It troubles me greatly that less than a third of all homicides are cleared up even with the help of Scotland Yard. Killers now believe (and rightly so) that they can get away with murder. Do we really want the world to believe that our country is run by “outlaws”?

Finally, Freud believed that we also develop a super-ego. Our family, our community, our religious institutions and our culture impress ethics on us. If society is successful, we feel guilty when we don’t do “the right thing”. We don’t want to be disgraced. We are embarrassed if we violate a social code like going to a funeral wearing a bathing suit. Our conscience becomes our guide. If we have a conscience, we are motivated to be kind and generous to needy relatives, the sick and the elderly. If you don’t have a conscience, a criminal may even consider robbing the most vulnerable if they have something he or she wants.
Ideally, we need a balance. We need the "id" so we can have a good time. Dancing, partying, playing games, competing, playing tricks on others, telling jokes, laughing and that whoopee feeling all come from the "id". There is nothing wrong with fun, especially after the work is done and you have actually accomplished something. We also need to know what is real (ego strength), as well as being responsible parents to restrain the less irresponsible among us from over-indulgence and to guide and nurture the next generation. I don’t believe we ever want to be so guilt stricken that we need to beat up ourselves every time we enjoy ourselves. However, we should also learn that moderation and balance are the keys to a truly successful life.
Imagine a little jockey (our developed ego and super-ego) riding a big, powerful horse (our id). Even though the horse weighs ten times more than the jockey, the horse can be skillfully controlled by the jockey. If the horse is unbridled, however, the id cannot be controlled and we become undisciplined, unproductive and completely selfish.
As a society, if we truly want to stop homicides we can start with enforcing the rule of law for small infractions, which will lead to stopping the major ones. Jamaica needs solid and unwavering enforcement of the law, first by each individual doing the right thing and in those cases in which a segment of our society refuses to do the right thing; the police can rein them in. Specifically, we should put 1,000 traffic police on the road in unmarked cars with video cameras to record the outrageous infractions that occur every minute of every day as evidence to be presented in court so dangerous drivers will be prosecuted and punished. Treat these offenders like drunken drivers. Lock them up and confiscate their vehicles. The same ten percent that is causing havoc on our roads are also our undisciplined criminals. Get them off the road.
It is going to take the church, schools, families and all the institutions of society to train the jockey---to develop our ego and superego so that law and order can prevail. I am in a constant debate with my wife about whether God blesses honest, disciplined, hard working considerate people. I believe that good people also succeed because everyone wants to do business with them and crave their company. Who wants to be friends with or do business with people who lie, cheat and commit crimes? In the final analysis, good people will always prosper because no one ever secures happiness by committing crimes.

A wealthy Jamaican gentleman

A wealthy Jamaican gentleman collided with a telephone pole traveling 100 miles per hour but survived. The police found him on the side of the road lamenting and crying about the loss of his BMW. When the police arrived, they commiserated with him about the loss of his car but they pointed out that his left arm was completely severed. He looked where his arm used to be and screamed: "Where is my Rolex?"

Investing in the Children

One of the most glaring observations I made upon my return to Jamaica is that we, as a nation, lack the commitment to advance the educational needs of our youth. A what a guawn? So many of our pickney appear to be lost to hope, prospect, and spirit that will lead them to a better future. Many of our youth in Kingston, where I live, receive only 4 hours per day of educational instruction which then leads to many idle and wasted hours which inevitably lead to underachievement, frustration, violence, and political upheaval. Ignoring the needs of our youth has now become the paramount political problem of our time as youth gangs take over our communities.

On the other hand, reaching out to our youth and investing in them, becomes the cornerstone for future generations to achieve unprecedented educational objectives, the ability to adequately provide for their future families, and actively participate in the uplifting of our nation. There are communities across Jamaica where parents and local leaders are investing in children and benefiting. It still takes a village to raise a child.

I am appalled that overall, so little resources are being invested in the youth of Jamaica. It is an extremely competitive world. While our children attend school for only four hours per day, the norm in Japan is eight hours per day, six days per week. The excuse in Jamaica is that there are not enough funds to build schools and hire teachers to provide an adequate elementary education. As a result, the pass rate for the CXC and GCE are extremely low. We cannot be proud of that.

If the current government will not do better, can I recommend that our churches at least provide an alternative school system where volunteers will tutor our children for an additional 4 hours per day so our children can learn to play a musical instrument, increase their religious knowledge, learn geography, develop their skills in art, dancing, music, voice, golf, tennis, badminton, football, running, swimming, cricket, chess, card games, to read better, to write, to spell, learn computer related skills and to get them off the street? Jamaica has a lot of retired people who would love to do something substantial with their time. An opportunity to teach a child would be a very rewarding endeavour. If you think education is expensive, you should try ignorance. What does it profit our country to have a workforce that is non-competitive in the world market?

Each day in the jungles of African, an antelope wakes up and know that if he is to survive another day, he must outrun the lion. The lion wakes up realizing that if he is to eat today, he must outrun the antelope. The world is a very competitive place; we must prepare our youth to prosper. We get used to the idea that our athletes are the best in the world. I would like to believe that we can also be the best in the world in all fields of human endeavour. We can be that good if we no linga.

Increased material output (productivity) means that our people will have access to both material goods, the culture we crave, with the luxury of time to create, invent, produce, and enrich our souls. Our gene-pool is probably the best in the world. With this dowry, the lynch pin for releasing that potential is the development of our youth. Their capacity should not be thwarted.

Jamaica

Anchored in a sea of beauty,
Where life is lived without much duty,
An island created for work and pleasure,
An island beautiful beyond all measure.

Brimming full with fruits and flowers,
Freshly nurtured by its showers,
Founded where the air is sweet,
The cool breeze counters the year round heat.

Rivers fresh and fish infested,
Sports are a passion and daily contested,
Blossoms sweet, that honey bees garner,
Gleaming beaches, there are no finer.

Culture as rich as one could treasure,
Enjoy these gifts at your own leisure,
To Eden only can it compare,
A perfect paradise throughout the year.

Poverty in Jamaica

I left Jamaica in 1959 at the tender age of 15 years old and after fifty years in the United States, I have returned for my remaining fifteen. I have been a hospital administrator, college professor, lawyer, psychologist and most notably, for the last 21 years, the CEO of the Association of Black Cardiologists living in Atlanta, Georgia.

The selfish part of me returned to Jamaica to enjoy the unparalleled quality of life that is only available on these shores: the pride I feel when our fellow citizens excel, great golf and caddies, old time religion, fabulous restaurants and food, music and dancing, our unique culture, wonderful hospitality, the ocean, sunshine and rain. The unselfish part of me wants to make a difference and leave the island better than I found it in 1943. My sense is, however, that we have gone backwards.

I am simply appalled at the lack of access to the means of productive assets---loss of hope and prospect leading to a loss of the spirit by the bulk of our people and wonder if there is a national imperative to cure poverty. I find it unacceptable that a privileged few continue to accumulate excess goods while masses of people are living in conditions of misery at the very lowest level of subsistence. The richest 1% owns more wealth than the poorest 90%. Something is terribly wrong when the elite of Jamaica are over-consumers while millions are destitute. This economic order adversely affects everyone. I have not met anyone who is not troubled by the decline in moral standards and our economic challenges. More provision must be made for the material security of all our citizens.

In the United States, I was a Lyndon Johnson democrat. I was drawn to the idea that widespread poverty is un-necessary. If a country is to prosper, every citizen must own something and have a stake in it. Johnson’s war on poverty made it possible for a large disenfranchised segment of the United States population to maintain their own homes, have access to jobs but most importantly to retain their own business through small business loans.

I am in no way proposing that we combat poverty by redistributing past wealth accumulations. Curing poverty can, however, be accomplished through expansion of future ownership and profit sharing opportunities with the less privileged. Technology is the most important opportunity for creating new wealth. Let us develop this potential and share it with the poor.

If we are responsible stewards who are faithful to the mission of enhancing and protecting the well being of all our citizens, we should be investing in all citizens not just some of our citizens. We should be about creating conditions under which we can all prosper. The Jamaica Government must do more to empower our people to develop and enjoy financial independence. Our current policies, presently conceived and executed, appear to achieve the opposite. Every Jamaican citizen is entitled to equal access to institutions, laws, and other “social goods” that will empower every motivated individual to acquire and share in the productive wealth of the country. People are born not only with mouths that need to be fed, but also with hands that can produce, and minds that can create and innovate.

What motivated Lyndon Johnson was realizing that if citizens cannot participate in the wealth of the country through legitimate channels, they will find a way to survive---one way or another. More importantly, wealth creation opportunities for everyone honour our humanity.

Why I Returned to Jamaica

I have been to a lot of places and done a lot of things but my heart yearned for all the charms Jamaica has in store for me. In the twilight of my years, I awake with anticipation to each rainfall on my zinc roof, each sunrise from my bedroom window and savor each sunset from the place that gave me life. This is the tapestry on which my life experiences are woven.

Since my return, each day I grow older, I feel younger, stronger and more invigorated. I enjoy new and exciting experiences and linger over my treasured memories. My heart will never grow old as long as I am able to worship God at Boulevard Baptist, wake up with my wife beside me, enjoy the love of family, play a round of golf with friends, jump from my seat when the opponent's ball is caught, seeing a crazy "out of control" driver being ticketed, eat fried fish and bammy on Wednesday, oxtail on Thursday, curry goat and rice on Friday, stew pea soup on Saturday and brown stew chicken with rice and peas on Sunday. In fact, give me rice and peas with every meal.

If it wasn't for ackee and salt fish, escovitch fish, yellow yam and boiled bananas with mackrel, I could have corn pone every morning. "Hell on top, hell on the bottom and Hallelujah in the middle." I delight in a swim in the clean blue Caribbean Sea, smell the sweet fragrance of our flowers and trees, play dominoes by the side of the road with a Red Stripe beside me and watch the natural talents of our people unfold. You mek me proud Usain! These experiences provide my profoundest inspiration on a daily basis and defines me as the Jamaican man I always wanted to be.

I speak to you with abundance of heart. With a nod to T.S. Elliott, After all my roaming, I have arrived where I started and am getting to know the place for the first time. But time and distance claimed no victory over my affection. Whenever I leave mi yard, wata come a mi eye.

Since my return, I have developed a deep well of love that is increasingly hard to conceal. My love for Jamaica lingered in my fifty years absent.

All the wealth of America could not fill my heart with the warmth and kindness of my people. The songs of my heart celebrate the cool breeze that wash over me. I have a wealth, the source of which is not silver and gold. It is born from a life well lived. I can sit down happy. Now that I am at home, my heart glows. I am at peace.