My comment on the President’s New Year address
DEAR EDITOR,
It was a night when all the signs favored a listening Guyanese nation; I say that even though I didn’t share in the prestigious moment. Guyanese received a message from their president, where he was part meteorologist, economist, religious analyst, cheerleader, part-time Chinese philosopher, and historian. And as I read His Excellency, President Dr. New Year’s message. Mohamed Irfaan Ali, I congratulate him for being on track and singing the right tunes. Everything is smoothly aligned: From the goat entrails to the waiting white sacrificial fowls to the red lavender – the stars and spirits speak well.
His Excellency struck some good notes, some better than some, not bad. I pick a few: COVID-19 Phase II (who can argue with that, and don’t forget the cash audit, especially, now that the PE has found a base); work to improve a divided country (more than necessary, actually mandatory and non-negotiable); he should insist that everyone should benefit from progress (wishful thinking sir! And I consider filing a copyright infringement suit on repeatedly using ‘all Guyanese’). If his speech has to be compared to a musical equivalent, then I nominate Franz Schubert’s Symphony No. 8 in B Minor. It’s not called Schubert’s Unfinished Symphony for the sake of larvae. And as the main Austrian protagonist, our own Guyanese head of state has ways to take on some of the scores he cited in his text.
Now it is time for me to be respectfully honest and unquestionably realistic with President Ali. By this time next year, the president will confirm he arrived at one of two places. The first is that he has or is on course to deliver decisively on most accounts set out in his speech. Remember this one: the strength of the drink is the liquor, and the strength of the liquor is the blender. His Excellency can only achieve by good (no absolute) fulfillment of His promises. If not, then he will confirm the second position in the minds of most, including some of his supporters: that he is a disappointment, not the real McCoy, but pretends a leader going fast for the outward embrace of darkness. Or as I prefer to put in a kinder fashion: he has a solid speech writer in the stable; however, speech writing only goes in this hateful, hateful society. Remember also: this is by no means to be interpreted as judgment at this early hour; all I do is just set the territory. I’ll give him this one: race relations in Guyana are a long-distance proposition. And yet, if I find that the president has made a sincere start by initiating the first hard step (s), which he himself quoted from Lao Tzu, then I would do more than approve; We will support as well. But only if the authentic is in the works.
I remind the president and his people that I gave President Ali the benefit of the doubt last year, although I recognize that what he introduced from August 2020 was more unfulfilled tin scripts in sparkling spots. In my book, it has become a hedge. Examine his speeches carefully, where the words are largely in place and soothing, then reconcile them with tradition and it has failed. Because of his only five-month presidential role, which I agree is far too short, His Excellency is due to try again the prestigious award, which I keep hammering on: deliver! Deliveries! Distribution. Thus, Guyana presents him with a new slate and the vast opportunities embodied in this second opportunity of reparation. Hopefully he does, not so much for his record; but for the sake of every Guyanese who cannot absorb another conspiracy against their interests or other disappointment putting their future at a disadvantage. That is, I caution President Ali humbly: it is best to let those things known in advance not be touched, because they will compete with the visions of his own people, including financiers.
Correctly,
Lall GHK