A Think-Tank for Jamaica: Improving Political Decision Making through Research, Analysis and Consensus Building.
Basil Waine Kong, Ph.D., JD
Nothing is more powerful than an idea whose time has arrived. Chile climbed from 3rd world status to a booming economy with good ideas and purposeful implementation. Their leaders decided to rid the country of graft and corruption, educate their people, feed their citizens and increase exports by expanding agriculture. These initiatives transformed a country in a brief ten years.
It is becoming increasingly clear that Jamaica needs an institute where the full time occupation of really bright and committed people is to focus on generating ideas and guiding the changes needed to empower our people to unleash their energy, creativity, innovative and competitive spirit in their quest for financial security, health and happiness. The value of an institute to address a wide array of public policy issues at both national and local levels cannot be overestimated. Let us act quickly before we cross the Rubicon and lose hope. Without vision, our people perish.
Almost all important political and social change started with an idea. The ideas often originated with people who spent a great deal of their lives thinking and focusing on solutions to problems that plague the rest of us. Across the political or ideological spectrum, it would be difficult in the modern age to point to any major public policy initiative that did not originate from a think tank of some sort. Well researched, analyzed and developed ideas are important first steps to addressing the social, economic and legal issues facing our country. Objective non-partisan analysis and effective solutions are desperately needed and are essential for nation building.
As the incubator of innovative ideas, the proposed Jamaican Think-Tank (JTT) would work with decision makers in both the public and private sectors to find solutions to our difficult, sensitive, and important problems. In the United States, Health Care Reform, welfare reform, School Vouchers, Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, the War on Poverty Program and The Great Society initiatives all evolved out of think tanks.
Jamaicans have excelled in every field of human endeavor. Unfortunately, the United States, Europe and Canada are, on the most part, the beneficiary of our talents and contributions because of the migration of talented individuals from our island. These scholars are anxious to participate in the development of Jamaica in some meaningful way but are never asked. There is currently no forum to garner their input and make use of their formidable insights and intellectual acumen, the incubators of which may have been cultures far from the shores of Jamaica.
The Internet has made communication cheap, easy and immediate. It is now possible to bring a diverse group of scholars together to interact and brainstorm (at will) regardless of where they may live in the world. Because we are goal oriented, we can also contract with scholars to research specific topics and encourage solutions to well-defined problems and judge their righteousness based on their success in addressing Jamaica’s challenges.
Just like a butterfly flapping its wings can be the start of a hurricane, an idea can grow into an action and a movement once the tipping point is reached. An original idea may occur to someone while reading, praying, sitting in a barbershop,conversing over a game of dominoes or having a drink with friends. It could be subsequently presented in an article or book, brought up in discussions with more friends and colleagues in a speech at a conference or even a simple letter to the editor published in a local newspaper. As more and more people begin to talk about the idea, it will be helped along by people who may benefit financially in its adoption and the audience expands. Eventually political leaders climb on board and make it happen often claiming the credit.
The objectives of our Think-Tank:
1. supply experts to testify on various laws under consideration;
2. write articles for the op-ed pages of newspapers, and appear as TV commentators;
3. advise political aspirants and elected leaders;
4. lead orientation seminars to train incoming members of parliament;
5. create viable alternatives to programs that are not meeting expected objectives;
6. Study, suggest solutions and help to implement streamlined and workable government bureaucratic procedures;
7. Conduct impact studies for proposed programs;
8. Investigate unmet needs in the country and propose programs that could address these needs;
9. Investigate how some government policies are causing road blocks and stifling innovation and find the private sector solutions to better address and reform them;
10. Encourage research and provide a forum for scholarly interaction;
11. Derive income from consulting or research work related to our mandate (Ideas can be marketed like products);
12. Build expertise and institutional memory that could be brought to bear in later years when our political leaders are ready to address them;
13. Convene monthly issue related as well as an annual high level conferences;
14. Travel to distant shores to learn how other countries address these challenges.
This proposed non-government organization (NGO) will be home to our greatest and most creative Jamaican intellectuals and provide them with a forum to offer advice as well as prepare and publish position papers outlining clear options, and solutions that will be both effective and enduring if implemented.
Some of the formidable challenges needing thoughtful attention from the JTT include:
1, Overcoming Poverty.
2. Reducing Crime and Violence.
3. Eliminating Illiteracy by educating the all Jamaicans regardless of their ability to pay for school fees.
4. Developing skill training programs.
5. Promoting business and overcoming unemployment.
6. Promoting higher education regardless of the ability of a student to pay.
6. Improving the health of our people.
7. Using the law to meet the needs of our people.
8. Maximizing the use of renewable and alternative energy.
9. Providing adequate housing.
10. Protecting and improving our environment (air, water, oceans, rivers, etc.).
11. Developing the talents of our people---making it possible for them to become all they can be.
If we play or cards right, I foresee an explosion of intellectual activity and the generation of ideas that will transform and guide Jamaica to prosperity for all its citizens. One does not have to be a politician or actively engaged in the political process to change the direction of our country. This could be the beginning of a revolution that will set the stage for Jamaica to become the paradise it was always meant to be.
Do you know how this institute could be funded? Tell me what you think!
_______________________
JAMAICAN IRONIES
Stanley Redwood
Jamaica has the most churches per population with some of the highest levels of immorality, criminality and corruption. We have one of the highest debt to GDP ratio with one of the highest densities of the displays of affluence (cell phones, SUVs, mansions, etc.), with 50 plus million dollars mansions on streets gutted with potholes and with no running water. We are so renowned for our hospitality to tourists, yet so brutally violent to our own people. We are among the happiest peoples of the world, yet we are so frustrated, disappointed, angry and irritable. We are surrounded by such natural and feminine beauty, yet we are so coarse on the inside and require so much cosmetics, wigs and bleaching. We have such talents and potentials yet are so underdeveloped; and we have so much ambition juxtaposed with so much underachievement and mediocrity.
These paradoxes underscore the need for us to get to the heart of some of our fundamental and ideological issues and challenges. We have tended to come to our problems from the back end with remedies, rather than from the front end with prevention and mitigation which ought to include:
1. A spirit of patriotism,
2. Moral and social education,
3. Population growth control, (birth control),
4. Personal and collective pride, self-esteem/worth,
5. Personal and national fiscal prudence and restrictions,
6. Medium and long term planning, and
7. Human development, (with economic education and entrepreneurial training),
I am happy to see the Fourth (Regulatory) Branch of Government getting some currency, from the the Contractor General and ACP Justine Felice. Jamaica is in dire need of it. There should be a clear plan of action going forward. This could be a most abiding contribution to Jamaica's development if we can get our leaders to own and hone the related ideas.
Thursday, April 1, 2010
Saturday, March 20, 2010
How Did Jamaica become so Lawless and Violent?
Is our Romantic Island Dead and Gone?
My Appeal to the Gunmen of Jamaica.
Basil Waine Kong
Somewhere people feel safe, go out to restaurants and clubs at night with no concern about their safety, but not here in Jamaica. We are afraid. We now live in continual fear of kidnapping and violence. We are forced to bear the unbearable. No issue is more compelling here than the wanton murders committed five times each day---every day. There can be little hope for our country and little joy if these killings continue. In some communities, only the dead smile, glad to be at rest. A business woman is shot in her yard, the son of our Caddie Master is shot four times while he is sitting on his veranda with his family. A police officer is run over while trying to stop a vehicle. Criminals repeatedly breaking into schools to steal computers. What a guaan? Our government seems to have no clue. We are overwhelmed and paralyzed with fear. Perpetrators literally get away with murder in Jamaica as less than a third of homicides are solved. While there were over 1600 murders there where less than 100 convictions for homicides in 2009.
In 2009, New York City (12 million people) had less than 500 homicides compared to Jamaica (2.5 million) with more than 1,600 murders.
I appeal to you, whether you are a politician who place personal ambitions above the welfare of the country, a Don who terrorize some of our communities, a policeman who practice extra-judicial killings and otherwise abuse your power, a thief with a gun, a member of a gang or just an angry, disrespected or frustrated man or woman, let us send death on a holiday and cultivate forgiveness and harmony. It could become contagious.
If you have been wronged, the atrocity of your reprisal will create a lifetime burden on your soul. A tooth for a tooth and an eye for an eye will only make us a country of toothless and eyeless people. In the name of God and your tormented countrymen, we beg, beseech and command you: Value human life and stop these murders. Whosoever destroys a single human life is as guilty as if he destroyed the entire world. The victims have children, grand children, mothers, fathers, other family and friends. The impact on their lives is always tragic and endless. Their belly bottom bun. Enough of their blood and tears. Come my friends, it’s not too late; let’s go back to the old Jamaica when everyone reached out to each other and felt safe. Let us rile against this crime. Someone has to stand up and shout "Enough already. We have had enough murders. Children Should Know Their Grand Parents.”
What kind of life are you bequeathing for yourself and your children? Time wounds all criminals. Are you aware that the life expectancy in Jamaica is the shortest for gunmen? You should not be surprised. If you live by the sword, you will die by the sword. While we work on promoting a more just society, give peace a chance. We implore you to stop being the problem and become part of the solution for this great country and the great God we serve.
We have survived slavery, economic meltdowns, earthquakes, train wrecks, hurricanes, floods, droughts, famines and epidemics, but the most tormenting is the tragedy of these senseless murders---cutting short the life of loved ones and all their potential future offspring.
We are a good people with loving arms to hold you, appreciate and nurture you. Give the gift of "peace and love” to each other. We have but one country and one destiny. The murder of any Jamaican diminishes me. Ask not for whom the bell tolls, it tolls for all of us.
Why do you boast of evil, you mighty man?
You love evil rather than good.
You who are a disgrace in the eyes of God
and grow strong by destroying others
Surely God will bring you down to everlasting ruin
(Psalm 52)
__________________
#8 Doug Richards 2010-04-06 07:03
We need to put fear of the police and jails back into the hearts and minds of criminals, or pretty soon you will have a beautiful country that no one wants to visit or live.
#7 Moi 2010-04-04 05:46
It is sad, glad I left years ago, returning for visits has to be short as I am not comfortable living like a prisoner to protect myself from the criminals, which should be the other way round.
This article will never reach those who should read it as most of them do not read, but are used in the game of corruption by those who can read.
#6 Humble Lion 2010-04-03 12:00
Jamaica oh Jamaica, what a wonderful land. The false reality of the new world is what messed up this great country. Jamaica lost a lot of their culture because they want to be too much like America. One person said only prayers can help…while that is the belief of many people, people have been praying for years and nothing have change. What we need to do is to know ourselves and know the power that we have. We need to step outside the box..
#5 Garth Nelson 2010-04-02 15:17
While I concur with every sentiment that has been expressed, I must confess that I still feel the nostalgia when I am home. That is why I emphasize so deeply with Dr. Kong because I have been away for 36 years, and my once lovely island is dying like a sick child in my arms.
Years of badly eroded leadership have damaged if not totally eradicated all the post-Independence successes we once enjoyed. Prayer is indeed our best answer at this time; God help us.
#4 Doreen Jones 2010-04-02 08:47
I am impatient for change because I am proud to be a Jamaican. Maybe the solution is education where people would be taught to read and write, to love themselves and each other and to create rather that destroy. Then and only then will there be the possibility of change where citizens will want to build because they believe they have a stake in society and in the country.
#3 Sheron Pearson 2010-03-31 10:52
I hope your heartfelt plea will not fall on deaf ears.
#2 Esteban Agosto Reid 2010-03-27 09:38
Could it be, that we have passed the Rubicon and there is no point of return? I sincerely hope not. But,indeed, one wonders.
#1 Doreen Jones 2010-03-23 15:21
It saddens me that I cannot go back to my beautiful island and that I am forced to live in an alien environment where I am despised. It saddens me that our women and children are not protected and are abused by those who are meant to protect.
It saddens me that those who purport to run my beloved island do neither love nor does anything for the people but fill their pockets with the bounty of those who believe because they lack color they are superior. It saddens me that there is no hope for my island.
I am afraid to return, I am afraid for my island and for my brothers and sisters. I need more faith.
My Appeal to the Gunmen of Jamaica.
Basil Waine Kong
Somewhere people feel safe, go out to restaurants and clubs at night with no concern about their safety, but not here in Jamaica. We are afraid. We now live in continual fear of kidnapping and violence. We are forced to bear the unbearable. No issue is more compelling here than the wanton murders committed five times each day---every day. There can be little hope for our country and little joy if these killings continue. In some communities, only the dead smile, glad to be at rest. A business woman is shot in her yard, the son of our Caddie Master is shot four times while he is sitting on his veranda with his family. A police officer is run over while trying to stop a vehicle. Criminals repeatedly breaking into schools to steal computers. What a guaan? Our government seems to have no clue. We are overwhelmed and paralyzed with fear. Perpetrators literally get away with murder in Jamaica as less than a third of homicides are solved. While there were over 1600 murders there where less than 100 convictions for homicides in 2009.
In 2009, New York City (12 million people) had less than 500 homicides compared to Jamaica (2.5 million) with more than 1,600 murders.
I appeal to you, whether you are a politician who place personal ambitions above the welfare of the country, a Don who terrorize some of our communities, a policeman who practice extra-judicial killings and otherwise abuse your power, a thief with a gun, a member of a gang or just an angry, disrespected or frustrated man or woman, let us send death on a holiday and cultivate forgiveness and harmony. It could become contagious.
If you have been wronged, the atrocity of your reprisal will create a lifetime burden on your soul. A tooth for a tooth and an eye for an eye will only make us a country of toothless and eyeless people. In the name of God and your tormented countrymen, we beg, beseech and command you: Value human life and stop these murders. Whosoever destroys a single human life is as guilty as if he destroyed the entire world. The victims have children, grand children, mothers, fathers, other family and friends. The impact on their lives is always tragic and endless. Their belly bottom bun. Enough of their blood and tears. Come my friends, it’s not too late; let’s go back to the old Jamaica when everyone reached out to each other and felt safe. Let us rile against this crime. Someone has to stand up and shout "Enough already. We have had enough murders. Children Should Know Their Grand Parents.”
What kind of life are you bequeathing for yourself and your children? Time wounds all criminals. Are you aware that the life expectancy in Jamaica is the shortest for gunmen? You should not be surprised. If you live by the sword, you will die by the sword. While we work on promoting a more just society, give peace a chance. We implore you to stop being the problem and become part of the solution for this great country and the great God we serve.
We have survived slavery, economic meltdowns, earthquakes, train wrecks, hurricanes, floods, droughts, famines and epidemics, but the most tormenting is the tragedy of these senseless murders---cutting short the life of loved ones and all their potential future offspring.
We are a good people with loving arms to hold you, appreciate and nurture you. Give the gift of "peace and love” to each other. We have but one country and one destiny. The murder of any Jamaican diminishes me. Ask not for whom the bell tolls, it tolls for all of us.
Why do you boast of evil, you mighty man?
You love evil rather than good.
You who are a disgrace in the eyes of God
and grow strong by destroying others
Surely God will bring you down to everlasting ruin
(Psalm 52)
__________________
#8 Doug Richards 2010-04-06 07:03
We need to put fear of the police and jails back into the hearts and minds of criminals, or pretty soon you will have a beautiful country that no one wants to visit or live.
#7 Moi 2010-04-04 05:46
It is sad, glad I left years ago, returning for visits has to be short as I am not comfortable living like a prisoner to protect myself from the criminals, which should be the other way round.
This article will never reach those who should read it as most of them do not read, but are used in the game of corruption by those who can read.
#6 Humble Lion 2010-04-03 12:00
Jamaica oh Jamaica, what a wonderful land. The false reality of the new world is what messed up this great country. Jamaica lost a lot of their culture because they want to be too much like America. One person said only prayers can help…while that is the belief of many people, people have been praying for years and nothing have change. What we need to do is to know ourselves and know the power that we have. We need to step outside the box..
#5 Garth Nelson 2010-04-02 15:17
While I concur with every sentiment that has been expressed, I must confess that I still feel the nostalgia when I am home. That is why I emphasize so deeply with Dr. Kong because I have been away for 36 years, and my once lovely island is dying like a sick child in my arms.
Years of badly eroded leadership have damaged if not totally eradicated all the post-Independence successes we once enjoyed. Prayer is indeed our best answer at this time; God help us.
#4 Doreen Jones 2010-04-02 08:47
I am impatient for change because I am proud to be a Jamaican. Maybe the solution is education where people would be taught to read and write, to love themselves and each other and to create rather that destroy. Then and only then will there be the possibility of change where citizens will want to build because they believe they have a stake in society and in the country.
#3 Sheron Pearson 2010-03-31 10:52
I hope your heartfelt plea will not fall on deaf ears.
#2 Esteban Agosto Reid 2010-03-27 09:38
Could it be, that we have passed the Rubicon and there is no point of return? I sincerely hope not. But,indeed, one wonders.
#1 Doreen Jones 2010-03-23 15:21
It saddens me that I cannot go back to my beautiful island and that I am forced to live in an alien environment where I am despised. It saddens me that our women and children are not protected and are abused by those who are meant to protect.
It saddens me that those who purport to run my beloved island do neither love nor does anything for the people but fill their pockets with the bounty of those who believe because they lack color they are superior. It saddens me that there is no hope for my island.
I am afraid to return, I am afraid for my island and for my brothers and sisters. I need more faith.
Sunday, March 14, 2010
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
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
Wednesday, February 17, 2010
Observations on our Culture
How we speak
Basil Waine Kong
Some of the interesting observations I have made about how we speak is that:
1. Any part of the body below the pelvic region is your "foot" and any part of your limbs below the shoulders is your "hand".
2. We love to repeat words for emphasis. "Rock stone", "cry eye water", "mad crazy", "reverse back", "rain shower", "lamb meat" and my favorite, "I am all by myself, alone.".
3. We do not have very in our language. So, we just repeat the word as many times to emphasize how serious we are. I can be sick or I can be sick, sick, sick, sick.
4. If someone in Jamaica ask you for a "drive", we are not asking to drive your car just to get a ride.
5. While Americans emphasize results, Jamaicans reward effort. Instead of "get dressed", we say "put on your clothes". In the United States, we wash coffee beans before we put them out to dry. In Jamaica, "we swim them." Farmers are planters. A rest stop is a "lay by" and a speed bump is a "sleeping policeman". A bright student is "bulby" as in a bright light bulb. If you want the driver to go faster, you would say "speed up" and Jamaicans say "mash (the gas pedal) e flat" putting the emphasis on the action rather than the desired outcome. You do not hang out clothes to dry, you put them out to sun. "Just be quiet" says Americans or "Resist the temptation to say something you will regret later." We say: "Don't let them pull yu tounge."
6. It is no big deal for the son from a wealthy family to succeed but we celebrate Horatio Alger stories of a phoenix rising from the ashes. We value remarkable effort regardless of the outcome. You can succed by failing in Jamaica if you try hard.
7 A Jamaican will not say "I don't know" or "I cannot do something". He or she will at least tell you something else that he knows. "I cannot tell you how to get to Woodlands but if you wanted to go to New Market..."
And we will try to do anything as nothing defeats failure like a try.
Basil Waine Kong
Some of the interesting observations I have made about how we speak is that:
1. Any part of the body below the pelvic region is your "foot" and any part of your limbs below the shoulders is your "hand".
2. We love to repeat words for emphasis. "Rock stone", "cry eye water", "mad crazy", "reverse back", "rain shower", "lamb meat" and my favorite, "I am all by myself, alone.".
3. We do not have very in our language. So, we just repeat the word as many times to emphasize how serious we are. I can be sick or I can be sick, sick, sick, sick.
4. If someone in Jamaica ask you for a "drive", we are not asking to drive your car just to get a ride.
5. While Americans emphasize results, Jamaicans reward effort. Instead of "get dressed", we say "put on your clothes". In the United States, we wash coffee beans before we put them out to dry. In Jamaica, "we swim them." Farmers are planters. A rest stop is a "lay by" and a speed bump is a "sleeping policeman". A bright student is "bulby" as in a bright light bulb. If you want the driver to go faster, you would say "speed up" and Jamaicans say "mash (the gas pedal) e flat" putting the emphasis on the action rather than the desired outcome. You do not hang out clothes to dry, you put them out to sun. "Just be quiet" says Americans or "Resist the temptation to say something you will regret later." We say: "Don't let them pull yu tounge."
6. It is no big deal for the son from a wealthy family to succeed but we celebrate Horatio Alger stories of a phoenix rising from the ashes. We value remarkable effort regardless of the outcome. You can succed by failing in Jamaica if you try hard.
7 A Jamaican will not say "I don't know" or "I cannot do something". He or she will at least tell you something else that he knows. "I cannot tell you how to get to Woodlands but if you wanted to go to New Market..."
And we will try to do anything as nothing defeats failure like a try.
Tuesday, February 16, 2010
Creating Value out of Dead Real Estate in Jamaica
This Land is Your Land: Creating Value out of Dead Real Estate
Basil Waine Kong, J.D.
The past fifty years in Jamaica have been characterized by glaring inequality, an active underground economy, high inflation, a weak currency, reduced incomes, high food and energy costs, inordinate influence of Dons and gangs along with flagrant disregard for law and order. Foreign investors are few and our professionals and entrepreneurs are leaving our country with their disposable wealth, knowledge and skills to seek their fortunes elsewhere. We cannot continue to ignore this turmoil.
Every society has people who live in the mainstream, who contribute to and hold a stake in the community; and others who, by choice or circumstance, live on the margins. The "margins" of Jamaica have reached such proportions that they threaten to become the new mainstream. The rivers have swelled their banks and the single most important factor in holding back the tide is rigorous enforcement of the rights to private property.
I asked someone who live in one of our extra legal communities how much his family of seven pays for rent and he said they did not pay rent. I then asked who owned the house they lived in and he said he didn't know but they have been living there for over twelve years. So, how do you get power, water and sewage? "We just work it out."
It may seem like the cruelest of "proposals" to pin our hopes for social progress on private property, when any serious attempt to enforce private property in Jamaica would, in the short term, make outlaws out of nearly half of the population. But we do people who live on the margins no favors in allowing them to occupy land to which they will never have a claim.
The most important vehicle for social mobility is home ownership. For most of us it is the most important asset we will ever own. It is our address, our identity. It is literally the bedrock beneath our feet. We gain equity in it. We borrow against it to educate our children, address critical health issues for our loved ones and to start a business. With any luck, we bequeath it to our children and grand children.
The single most important source of funds for new business start up for various enterprises in developed countries is real estate (one's home). In spite of their obvious poverty, if we adopted a concerted approach to establish good title (legally enforceable property rights) for property occupied by the poor, we may find that we already have the assets to rescue the country and put us on a path to prosperity. At present, real estate taxes are collected on only a small portion of our land.
The energies and aspirations of the poor are waiting to be released. As much as 50% of our people are "coutching" in extralegal situations. While the value of any given plot may not have high value, cumulatively, the value is substantial. The moment is ripe for action. Let us unleash the potential of these dead assets. There is a great deal of value in our land.
The first step is to update our records and to fix ownership to every parcel of land in a formally organized computerized system certifying each owner. By accomplishing this awesome task:
1. Property owners would be vested along with the owner's right to contract for water, telephone, sewage and electrical services as well as enhancing the value of our land holdings by increasing the net of potential numbers of buyers if and when they decide to alienate (give away or sell) their land holdings.
2. Debts could be more easily collected.
3. Law enforcement would be facilitated.
4. Taxes could be collected.
5. A more accurate census could be taken that would enhance voter
registration and extend voting rights to landless or homeless citizens.
6. Delivery of mail, summons and service would be possible.
7. Property owners would be motivated to form Homeowners Associations
to enhance the value of their properties and protect value.
8. Pride of ownership would be extended to more citizens.
9. The need for bribing government officials and Dons would be greatly
reduced.
Albert Einstein taught us that there is enough energy in a brick to make an atomic bomb that could destroy a city if we only had the skills to harness and release its energy. Likewise, there is substantial potential in these shacks and dead assets if we can draw out the value and convert them to real value. Dunns River may be a beautiful river but it also generates electricity that powers manufacturing and production.
Land reform can be the platform on which the entire economy can be based. As a primarily agrarian society, it could be a tremendous boost to the economy if it then leads to increased production as the price of food is increasing rapidly not only in Jamaica but in the world.
Over the past fifty years, there has been a steady increase of citizens moving from country to Kingston and Montego Bay. This was graphically depicted in the movie: "The Harder They Come". When they arrive, legal and social barriers prevent them from acquiring legal housing, acquire training and education, obtain employment or start a business. They are more likely to work as day labourers or in the underground economy where they become easy victims of exploitation.
At tremendous cost to individuals as well as our country, our legal system is not only stacked against the poor, it is hostile. Rather than promoting the ambitions of its citizens, the poor are treated like criminals and our government purposely imposes rules and obstacles that serve to thwart their ability to make a living. We seem bent on finding a problem for every solution.
Establishing a legal business in Jamaica is a formidable business. Obtaining the right forms, filling them out, standing in lines, paying the fees and obtain the necessary certifications to operate is a long frustrating process requiring an investment of six months of red tape even if you are a sophisticated businessman. The cost is at least a year's pay for an average worker. Most people opt out of the system and operate their business illegally. In Jamaica, a citizen cannot open a bank account without a utility bill in the person's name.
As much as our people try to do the right thing, the rigidity and cumbersomeness of our laws breaks our citizens more than they break the law. They do clandestine work and apply creative ingenious survival strategies because, without a support system or a little hand-holding, these recent arrivals to the city are hopelessly reduced to living as outlaws---outside the legal system. Residents in these communities can register an automobile, buy their driver's license, buy groceries, get their automobiles repaired, visit barbershops and beauty salons, use taxis, purchase baked goods, obtain the services of a dentist who may have never graduated from Dental School and pays no taxes. But there is a huge cost to bribe officers of the law and local "big men" for protection and the opportunity to operate their various enterprises. Paying taxes would actually cost less and would certainly be less intimidating. Working in the underground economy, they have tremendous competition with each other but they also have to fight the government. If the system is in conflict with the way our people live, we should not be surprised that frustration, discontent, corruption, disrespect for the law, poverty and violence is the predictable outcome. It takes cunning ginalds to outwit the system just to survive.
Government allocations are never for development, training, housing or education for extralegal communities. Whatever is budgeted by the government always take the form of control---police actions, clamping down and catching criminals.
Properties change hands regularly as people get jobs and move. These transactions are not registered; do not involve lawyers or the tax office. These sales (social contracts) are either cash sales or gifts with no transfer of recorded title. Even expensive properties are bought and sold accompanied by some public gathering where the announcement is made so that "everyone" knows whose property it is. The dogs know who their owners are and the limits of their property.
The downside is that these valuable assets are commercially and financially invisible because the people occupying the property has no indicia of ownership to take to the bank for a loan to start a business or purchase an automobile.
In addition to setting up an efficient court system to establish title, my proposal is to establish macroeconomic reform in Jamaica. Let us marshal the resources at our disposal to:
1. Correct this legal failure and create a unified system that is more conducive to a productive and dynamic market economy.
2. Properly survey, map, record all the land in our country and keep our records current and accurate.
3. Research the "chain of title" to include the rights of adverse possessors (squatters rights).
4. Establish a formal property system that integrates the reality of land ownership with the legal records that give good title to people who are rightful owners.
5. Establish the property rights of extra legals.
6. Assume that if land taxes have not been paid for seven years, the property has been abandoned. (Much of our land has been abandoned by people who migrate and no longer have an interest in the property they left behind or the owners may have died and their children have no ownership interest and have taken no steps to establish ownership or to alienate the property).
7. Since our government has a history of making straight roads crooked, we need to establish a Ministry of Advocacy or a None Government Organization whose responsibility it is to:
a. Review our systems and streamline our bureaucracy to
accommodate the needs of our citizens to become legal taxpaying
entrepreneurs. (It is never enough to pass equitable laws without the will
to implement them efficiently and painlessly in the social reality of our
country. Laws and governments should serve the people).
b. Make a strong effort to communicate the advantages of becoming legal. They could, for example, openly operate and advertise their goods and services to a wider customer base.
c. A place to turn for those who are frustrated that they cannot negotiate the process of becoming legal.
d. Make these valuable assets commercially and financially visible.
Public animosity toward judges, attorney and public officials as agents of the rich could be greatly reduced. When most people obey and support the law, it is easy to enforce it against the few who break the law. But if most people break the law, it is impossible to enforce them and everyone can do what they want to do with impunity. Property ownership is the single most important ingredient for instilling respect for the law. According to Lyndon Johnson, Past President of the United States, "We can only have a law abiding society if everyone has a stake in it." Countries with wide distribution of land ownership are stable, prosperous, discourage unruly behavior, and respect for the rights of others increase.
By integrating current extra legals into our legal system, we will release the aspirations and energies of poor people by giving them a stake in the country that they will want to protect. It is time for custom and social contracts to be integrated and come under the umbrella of the formal law. This is a win, win, win for all concerned. As Jamaicans travel and learn how other societies are organized for prosperity, their frustration and bitterness will grow. On the other hand, this plan will liberate the poor and prepare them to be citizens qualified to participate in the development of the country.
Basil Waine Kong, J.D.
The past fifty years in Jamaica have been characterized by glaring inequality, an active underground economy, high inflation, a weak currency, reduced incomes, high food and energy costs, inordinate influence of Dons and gangs along with flagrant disregard for law and order. Foreign investors are few and our professionals and entrepreneurs are leaving our country with their disposable wealth, knowledge and skills to seek their fortunes elsewhere. We cannot continue to ignore this turmoil.
Every society has people who live in the mainstream, who contribute to and hold a stake in the community; and others who, by choice or circumstance, live on the margins. The "margins" of Jamaica have reached such proportions that they threaten to become the new mainstream. The rivers have swelled their banks and the single most important factor in holding back the tide is rigorous enforcement of the rights to private property.
I asked someone who live in one of our extra legal communities how much his family of seven pays for rent and he said they did not pay rent. I then asked who owned the house they lived in and he said he didn't know but they have been living there for over twelve years. So, how do you get power, water and sewage? "We just work it out."
It may seem like the cruelest of "proposals" to pin our hopes for social progress on private property, when any serious attempt to enforce private property in Jamaica would, in the short term, make outlaws out of nearly half of the population. But we do people who live on the margins no favors in allowing them to occupy land to which they will never have a claim.
The most important vehicle for social mobility is home ownership. For most of us it is the most important asset we will ever own. It is our address, our identity. It is literally the bedrock beneath our feet. We gain equity in it. We borrow against it to educate our children, address critical health issues for our loved ones and to start a business. With any luck, we bequeath it to our children and grand children.
The single most important source of funds for new business start up for various enterprises in developed countries is real estate (one's home). In spite of their obvious poverty, if we adopted a concerted approach to establish good title (legally enforceable property rights) for property occupied by the poor, we may find that we already have the assets to rescue the country and put us on a path to prosperity. At present, real estate taxes are collected on only a small portion of our land.
The energies and aspirations of the poor are waiting to be released. As much as 50% of our people are "coutching" in extralegal situations. While the value of any given plot may not have high value, cumulatively, the value is substantial. The moment is ripe for action. Let us unleash the potential of these dead assets. There is a great deal of value in our land.
The first step is to update our records and to fix ownership to every parcel of land in a formally organized computerized system certifying each owner. By accomplishing this awesome task:
1. Property owners would be vested along with the owner's right to contract for water, telephone, sewage and electrical services as well as enhancing the value of our land holdings by increasing the net of potential numbers of buyers if and when they decide to alienate (give away or sell) their land holdings.
2. Debts could be more easily collected.
3. Law enforcement would be facilitated.
4. Taxes could be collected.
5. A more accurate census could be taken that would enhance voter
registration and extend voting rights to landless or homeless citizens.
6. Delivery of mail, summons and service would be possible.
7. Property owners would be motivated to form Homeowners Associations
to enhance the value of their properties and protect value.
8. Pride of ownership would be extended to more citizens.
9. The need for bribing government officials and Dons would be greatly
reduced.
Albert Einstein taught us that there is enough energy in a brick to make an atomic bomb that could destroy a city if we only had the skills to harness and release its energy. Likewise, there is substantial potential in these shacks and dead assets if we can draw out the value and convert them to real value. Dunns River may be a beautiful river but it also generates electricity that powers manufacturing and production.
Land reform can be the platform on which the entire economy can be based. As a primarily agrarian society, it could be a tremendous boost to the economy if it then leads to increased production as the price of food is increasing rapidly not only in Jamaica but in the world.
Over the past fifty years, there has been a steady increase of citizens moving from country to Kingston and Montego Bay. This was graphically depicted in the movie: "The Harder They Come". When they arrive, legal and social barriers prevent them from acquiring legal housing, acquire training and education, obtain employment or start a business. They are more likely to work as day labourers or in the underground economy where they become easy victims of exploitation.
At tremendous cost to individuals as well as our country, our legal system is not only stacked against the poor, it is hostile. Rather than promoting the ambitions of its citizens, the poor are treated like criminals and our government purposely imposes rules and obstacles that serve to thwart their ability to make a living. We seem bent on finding a problem for every solution.
Establishing a legal business in Jamaica is a formidable business. Obtaining the right forms, filling them out, standing in lines, paying the fees and obtain the necessary certifications to operate is a long frustrating process requiring an investment of six months of red tape even if you are a sophisticated businessman. The cost is at least a year's pay for an average worker. Most people opt out of the system and operate their business illegally. In Jamaica, a citizen cannot open a bank account without a utility bill in the person's name.
As much as our people try to do the right thing, the rigidity and cumbersomeness of our laws breaks our citizens more than they break the law. They do clandestine work and apply creative ingenious survival strategies because, without a support system or a little hand-holding, these recent arrivals to the city are hopelessly reduced to living as outlaws---outside the legal system. Residents in these communities can register an automobile, buy their driver's license, buy groceries, get their automobiles repaired, visit barbershops and beauty salons, use taxis, purchase baked goods, obtain the services of a dentist who may have never graduated from Dental School and pays no taxes. But there is a huge cost to bribe officers of the law and local "big men" for protection and the opportunity to operate their various enterprises. Paying taxes would actually cost less and would certainly be less intimidating. Working in the underground economy, they have tremendous competition with each other but they also have to fight the government. If the system is in conflict with the way our people live, we should not be surprised that frustration, discontent, corruption, disrespect for the law, poverty and violence is the predictable outcome. It takes cunning ginalds to outwit the system just to survive.
Government allocations are never for development, training, housing or education for extralegal communities. Whatever is budgeted by the government always take the form of control---police actions, clamping down and catching criminals.
Properties change hands regularly as people get jobs and move. These transactions are not registered; do not involve lawyers or the tax office. These sales (social contracts) are either cash sales or gifts with no transfer of recorded title. Even expensive properties are bought and sold accompanied by some public gathering where the announcement is made so that "everyone" knows whose property it is. The dogs know who their owners are and the limits of their property.
The downside is that these valuable assets are commercially and financially invisible because the people occupying the property has no indicia of ownership to take to the bank for a loan to start a business or purchase an automobile.
In addition to setting up an efficient court system to establish title, my proposal is to establish macroeconomic reform in Jamaica. Let us marshal the resources at our disposal to:
1. Correct this legal failure and create a unified system that is more conducive to a productive and dynamic market economy.
2. Properly survey, map, record all the land in our country and keep our records current and accurate.
3. Research the "chain of title" to include the rights of adverse possessors (squatters rights).
4. Establish a formal property system that integrates the reality of land ownership with the legal records that give good title to people who are rightful owners.
5. Establish the property rights of extra legals.
6. Assume that if land taxes have not been paid for seven years, the property has been abandoned. (Much of our land has been abandoned by people who migrate and no longer have an interest in the property they left behind or the owners may have died and their children have no ownership interest and have taken no steps to establish ownership or to alienate the property).
7. Since our government has a history of making straight roads crooked, we need to establish a Ministry of Advocacy or a None Government Organization whose responsibility it is to:
a. Review our systems and streamline our bureaucracy to
accommodate the needs of our citizens to become legal taxpaying
entrepreneurs. (It is never enough to pass equitable laws without the will
to implement them efficiently and painlessly in the social reality of our
country. Laws and governments should serve the people).
b. Make a strong effort to communicate the advantages of becoming legal. They could, for example, openly operate and advertise their goods and services to a wider customer base.
c. A place to turn for those who are frustrated that they cannot negotiate the process of becoming legal.
d. Make these valuable assets commercially and financially visible.
Public animosity toward judges, attorney and public officials as agents of the rich could be greatly reduced. When most people obey and support the law, it is easy to enforce it against the few who break the law. But if most people break the law, it is impossible to enforce them and everyone can do what they want to do with impunity. Property ownership is the single most important ingredient for instilling respect for the law. According to Lyndon Johnson, Past President of the United States, "We can only have a law abiding society if everyone has a stake in it." Countries with wide distribution of land ownership are stable, prosperous, discourage unruly behavior, and respect for the rights of others increase.
By integrating current extra legals into our legal system, we will release the aspirations and energies of poor people by giving them a stake in the country that they will want to protect. It is time for custom and social contracts to be integrated and come under the umbrella of the formal law. This is a win, win, win for all concerned. As Jamaicans travel and learn how other societies are organized for prosperity, their frustration and bitterness will grow. On the other hand, this plan will liberate the poor and prepare them to be citizens qualified to participate in the development of the country.
Sunday, February 14, 2010
Dr. Rudolph Moise for Congress
With your support, Dr. Rudolph “Rudy” Moise will be the next U.S. Congressman from Florida’s 17th Congressional District. At breakfast this morning in Orlando, with Stephanie and I, we not only caught up on old times and what is going on with our families, he talked about his vision for America, the Caribbean and the world. The world will be a better place with Rudy in Congress. You can always count on him to do the right thing.
I first met Rudy twenty years ago when we lived in Miami and worked together on several initiatives. It was always a pleasure to be in his company. He is not only brilliant, he has a heart. He cares about people. He cares about the environment; and he cares deeply about the future of mankind. That is why he is running for congress.
Born in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, he moved to the United States at age 17. He earned his Undergraduate Degree at the University of Illinois and his Doctorate Degree in Osteopathy from the Chicago College of Osteopathic Medicine. He later earned a Master of Business Administration from the University of Miami, and a Juris Doctor from the University of Miami School of Law. He also holds a Flight Surgeon Degree from the US Air Force School of Aerospace Medicine and still serves as a Lieutenant Colonel in the US Air Force Reserve. How is that for credentials?
He wants to put his experience as a physician, attorney, military man, businessman, father and husband to work in Washington for us. Can I count on your support?
Please access his website: www.VoteMoise.com and contribute generously.
Basil Waine Kong
Saturday, February 13, 2010
Response to My Blog
Dear Dr. Kong:
I am sorry for Jamaicans who, unlike yourself cannot play a round of golf with friends or jump up from their seat at Sabina Park when we lick a six, or afford ackee and saltfish. For them, life in Jamaica is sheer hell, and they stand to lose their lives if they venture into the wrong neighbourhood, so many of the kids cannot attend school.
Their natural talent is to forage, some of them in the city dump for any delectables thrown out from the homes of the well-to-do, or learn to clean and load a gun by the time they are six. And because there is no proper sanitation, they feel they have no choice but to dispose of their body waste in plastic bags and throw them over the fence into the neighbor's yard or in the nearest gully. These are those in Jamaica's hell, dying to get a visa and escape…
Eliana
Dear Eliana: Thank you for your response. I readily confess that I am blessed. I was fortunate to grow up in an incredibly safe and nurturing environment in St. Elizabeth---a childhood full of adventure, friends, love, song, dance, poetry, fun and games. I was raised by an entire village who love me to this day because, in addition to being able to play golf and cheer for Jamaican, I have been able to bring new housing as well as support for our school and churches. This community of farmers instilled in me the capacity for self improvement which propelled me when my brother and I joined my mother in America.
I was fortunate enough to receive a wonderful education and went on to develop an interesting career helping to stem the tide of premature death from heart attacks and strokes. My education also provided financial security for myself, my supportive wife and the education of our children. In this moment of my life I am able to enjoy good health, a decent golf game and happy grandchildren. Given the social skills and work ethic I learned at my Granny’s knees, I adopted to my new environment in the United States effortlessly along with the “Aim high and smile” mantra that was posted behind the headmaster at Springfield School.
My motivation to return to Jamaica upon my retirement can be summed up in three distinct areas. First, my wife and I want to give something back now that we don’t have to be away from the island to survive or thrive. Second, we want to selfishly enjoy all the sweet fruits of Jamaica; and Thirdly, to serve as a “canary in the coalmine” for expats who may be contemplating coming back. A visa does not cure crime, poverty or hopelessness. Only people with vision can.
I am not blinded to our woes: Our economy is in shambles but we have been here before and will get through this; murder and mayhem are out of control; abuse of children is an everyday occurrence and they deserve mentors who can protect and motivate them. The failure of our educational system to eliminate illiteracy continues to fuel high unemployment. The life you painted is an accurate picture for too many. However, I don’t believe life is any better for people with a visa and no education. Educating everybody is one of the keys to uplift ourselves. We can either be part of the problem or part of the solution. I have returned to be part of the solution.
I regret very much that so many people respond to my return with: “Everybody is trying to leave and you coming back. Are you mad?” Jamaica is a jewel that has lost some of its luster. As I work to improve what I can, I will continue to enjoy my golf and shout with glee when we lick a six. I will continue to advocate for all of us to stop looking outside for our salvation and turn inward and develop what we have. Won’t you join me?
Basil Waine Kong
I am sorry for Jamaicans who, unlike yourself cannot play a round of golf with friends or jump up from their seat at Sabina Park when we lick a six, or afford ackee and saltfish. For them, life in Jamaica is sheer hell, and they stand to lose their lives if they venture into the wrong neighbourhood, so many of the kids cannot attend school.
Their natural talent is to forage, some of them in the city dump for any delectables thrown out from the homes of the well-to-do, or learn to clean and load a gun by the time they are six. And because there is no proper sanitation, they feel they have no choice but to dispose of their body waste in plastic bags and throw them over the fence into the neighbor's yard or in the nearest gully. These are those in Jamaica's hell, dying to get a visa and escape…
Eliana
Dear Eliana: Thank you for your response. I readily confess that I am blessed. I was fortunate to grow up in an incredibly safe and nurturing environment in St. Elizabeth---a childhood full of adventure, friends, love, song, dance, poetry, fun and games. I was raised by an entire village who love me to this day because, in addition to being able to play golf and cheer for Jamaican, I have been able to bring new housing as well as support for our school and churches. This community of farmers instilled in me the capacity for self improvement which propelled me when my brother and I joined my mother in America.
I was fortunate enough to receive a wonderful education and went on to develop an interesting career helping to stem the tide of premature death from heart attacks and strokes. My education also provided financial security for myself, my supportive wife and the education of our children. In this moment of my life I am able to enjoy good health, a decent golf game and happy grandchildren. Given the social skills and work ethic I learned at my Granny’s knees, I adopted to my new environment in the United States effortlessly along with the “Aim high and smile” mantra that was posted behind the headmaster at Springfield School.
My motivation to return to Jamaica upon my retirement can be summed up in three distinct areas. First, my wife and I want to give something back now that we don’t have to be away from the island to survive or thrive. Second, we want to selfishly enjoy all the sweet fruits of Jamaica; and Thirdly, to serve as a “canary in the coalmine” for expats who may be contemplating coming back. A visa does not cure crime, poverty or hopelessness. Only people with vision can.
I am not blinded to our woes: Our economy is in shambles but we have been here before and will get through this; murder and mayhem are out of control; abuse of children is an everyday occurrence and they deserve mentors who can protect and motivate them. The failure of our educational system to eliminate illiteracy continues to fuel high unemployment. The life you painted is an accurate picture for too many. However, I don’t believe life is any better for people with a visa and no education. Educating everybody is one of the keys to uplift ourselves. We can either be part of the problem or part of the solution. I have returned to be part of the solution.
I regret very much that so many people respond to my return with: “Everybody is trying to leave and you coming back. Are you mad?” Jamaica is a jewel that has lost some of its luster. As I work to improve what I can, I will continue to enjoy my golf and shout with glee when we lick a six. I will continue to advocate for all of us to stop looking outside for our salvation and turn inward and develop what we have. Won’t you join me?
Basil Waine Kong
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