Dear Editor,
I learned from Demerara Waves in the mailbox (no newspaper reading still) that AFC Chairman, Mr. Hughes, has resigned. Signature statement? Protest action? Conscience on display? I say all of these and then some more. Now there is precedent for concerned citizens.
This is the hallmark of independent thinking, and an independent spirit. His prior perch as an insider afforded more opportunity and insight than the regular man-in-the-street into the intrigues and machinations of government. What was seen and heard is not liked. I have hinted in a nuanced manner (sometimes too nuanced) that the government should take note. Maybe, it will take note now.
But is it?
More than a few commentators have warned that the very worst thing that the no longer new administration can do and be is to emulate the previous one. Not in words! Not in posture! Not in deed! Not in style! Not in appearance! And certainly not in tricks! Singly or cumulatively, that is tantamount to the kiss of death. It is not worth the preservation of concentrated power, the presence of prized personnel, the perpetuation of old ways and standards; even when serious wrongdoing is absent. Do something. Do something meaningful. May I suggest some dilutive action….?
Regardless, the question persists: is the government of today listening?
It has pretended not to hear; or it is listening with one ear, on occasion, and only if the issue pleases. It is not as contemptuous and in-your-face as the previous people, but it is no less effective for lack of movement, and lack of interest in what the people say, think, believe, and desire. However sliced and diced, what I am observing is a continuation of the same behaviours. At the core, the difference is only in the degree, and it is early days yet.
Now almost every government supporter I have heard from has one commandment that is sacred to him or her: Do not be like your predecessor. Do not dare to even think about it. Or in that rawest of Guyanese diction: ‘Dis time nah lang time.’
Citizens are too sharp, too sensitive, and too suspicious. It is the fallout from the ugliness and trauma of long, lost decades. They are too disgusted, and still angry.
Like Roberto, the cry is: ‘No mas!
No mas!’
Now who is really actually listening over there and up there? Who cares about the interests of the people to carve out a higher standard, a different way? A new and truly better way? I submit that it is accurate to state that only the supremely disciplined and confident possesses the inherent virtues, the iron temperament, and the uninhibited purity of vision to desire the unknown and the untried and then go forward to greet that destiny. Is any of this present today? Time will inform if there is some semblance of any of this surfacing in the future. But that is ahead.
Now Mr. Hughes has acted by taking the bit between the teeth. There is one last question to table: Is he the only thinking man, the only bold one in this society. As I go, I remember that truth is violated not only by falsehood, but by silence, too.
Yours faithfully,
GHK Lall
