Dear Editor,
With his tongue in his cheek and his fingers and toes crossed and a broad smile on his face, Dave Martins has argued a case for reciprocity from the Chinese in turn for the gift of a television frequency to their government and the exemption for a Chinese contractor in Guyana having to employ Guyanese workers. What an excellent idea! (‘So it go’ Sunday Stabroek, Feb 17)
But who better to lead the charge than Dave himself, songster icon and raconteur of Guyanese culture. Dave can immediately invest in a recording studio in China and employ only Guyanese and Dave can re-launch his career by becoming, once again, a recording star of Guyanese calypso, but this time in China for the Chinese. They will eat him up along with Clinton Urling’s China soup.
And yes, of course, I will offer Dave a prime time programme slot on the television station he has urged me to set up in China and since it was his idea, I’ll give it to him absolutely free of charge.
But, there just may be one snag. It’s that the Chinese government just does not allow any foreigner to broadcast anything on radio or TV or, for that matter, publish anything in their media. There is also another snag. The Chinese have a law which requires that all foreign business in China must hire 95% Chinese.
So faced with a demand for reciprocity, I suspect that the Chinese, rather than have the likes of Martins, Woolford, Urling and Nascimento swanning around in China, they will just give up on Guyana. But who knows. Let’s go to PM Sam and see if he can arrange it.
Yours faithfully,
Kit Nascimento
