A letter to the observer editor by a friend of mine

This is a letter to the editor from a parree of mine so mi just a forward it still...

Our Land of Contrast

Saturday, August 28, 2004

Dear Editor,

Please allow me the space in your paper to point out the ugly and unfortunate contrast which Jamaica has become. It revealed itself Wednesday while the nation's giddiness over the history-making success of golden girl Veronica Campbell was still very fresh.
I was watching CVM-TV's coverage of the Olympics where, minutes after Veronica and team-mate Aleen Bailey had completed their victory lap hoisting the Jamaican flag, host Rohan Daley spoke with Veronica's mother, Pamela Bailey. An understandably elated Ms Bailey expressed her pride and jubilation at her daughter's achievement and gave us some insight into the kind of person that Veronica is. Then the host asked her about the mood in her community and how they were receiving the triumphant news concerning one of their own. It was then that Ms Bailey's tone hinted, if even for a few brief seconds, some disgust.
She informed Rohan that she lived in Spanish Town but she was actually at the home of Olympian Neville Myton in Clarendon to watch her daughter run, as an Observer article also revealed. Ms Bailey's next few sentences could be summed up as saying something to the effect that she really didn't have much to do with Spanish Town and its people these days so she couldn't really act as a spokesperson for them.
The manner in which she had separated herself from her troubled town and townspeople brought wry smiles from the CVM panellists and myself. We cannot be faulted for inferring that Ms Bailey's wish to distance herself from Spanish Town has something to do with the violence, mayhem and tension that has brought it so much negative attention recently.
Rohan Daley had said repeatedly after the golden moment, "It feels good to be Jamaican right now".No one could have said it any better. It is only a shame that, given the current state of affairs in the country, Jamaicans couldn't even get completely lost in the euphoria of such a glorious moment.

Thura Soe-Htwe
Rose Hall,
Montego Bay
thura@cornell.edu

The original can be found at this link: http://www.jamaicaobserver.com/letters/html/20040828T020000-0500_65302_OBS_OUR_LAND_OF_CONTRAST.asp