In this current “information age” in which we live in Guyana, surrounded by four daily newspapers, round-the-clock online sources, a bundle of radio stations, social media, personal electronic mail, etc., it is astonishing how often we can be almost clueless about the sterling contributions citizens of Guy-ana are making, or have made, to the national fabric.
I first noticed the difference when I lived in North America, that the citizens in developed countries are regaled with a stream of information about their past achievers. It comes in several forms (statues; mementoes; place names; media features; even commercial products) so that young people grow up fortified by knowing of the examples of excellence that preceded them. It’s a notion that led to a song – Where Are Your Heroes, Caribbea – but every now and then something in the media reminds me.
Just this past week, there was a classic example of it in the Sunday Stabroek in a riveting column by Ralph Ramkarran, following the sudden passing of Miles Fitzpatrick. While I speak for myself, I suspect that most Guyanese are like me in that while I was aware of the esteem that many adults expressed about Miles from time to time, I truly had no idea, country boy that I am, of the span and the extent of the contributions that this Georgetown lawyer made to our society.
