Jamaica just celebrated Fifty Two years of Independence. There are two Bank Holidays to commemorate Emancipation and Independence. Schools already out for the Summer, so school kids had a whate of a time enjoying the season and the holidays.
A lot of effort was placed on getting the National Stadium prepared for the Grand Gala Parade. Both Television Stations carried the event Live and although money not running as we would all want, we all nevertheless enjoyed the celebrations in our own different ways.
I tried to enjoy myself flipping from FLOW channel 110 to channel 112 and vice-verse and comparing presentations by TvJ and CVM. I had to notice that our Prime Minister, true to her words, was Working, Working, Working from early in the morning at Kings House right through to late evening at the Grand Gala.
I at first wondered why was it that Andrew Holness, Leader of the Opposition, had to use a Proxy for the morning Session at Kings House. It later dawned on me that it was an effective if not a Smart move to have assigned the job to one of his Senators. The message was easier delivered to the populace without the usual rhetoric of not wanting to hear Andrew Holness or the JLP tell Jamaica his/their version of the bitter truth. So perhaps people would remember the message.
The message certainly made me wonder about the 20% Jamaicans that were already citizens of Jamaica at Independence some 52 years ago.It also made me wonder about other foreign nationals privileged to witness Jamaica's fifty second independence ceremony - if they were able to remember their own country's first day of independence; whether they were able to reflect on their country's socioeconomic achievements. What grade would they give their leaders in delivering the mandate of Day 1 to their 80% youth members half a Century later.
It made me very sad that outwardly all appears to be well, but inwardly the suffering, the challenges and the pain are raw to the bone. Having worked so hard in this country for 36 years and paid my dues, I have nothing to show for it - at least in the way my parents would have wished for several years ago. Claudette Crooks of Money Masters Ltd. shows us daily (Monday to Thursday - 5.30 p.m.) on Nation Wide News Network Radio how to be financially prudent and how to prepare for retirement. And every evening at 5.30 p.m. I answered her by saying that I bought a commercial property as investment property that would be my retirement income one day. Now, what good is it if one has a commercial property in excess of US $300,000 if one can neither sell nor rent it? Business in Jamaica is so stagnated that old entrepreneurs can't access financing to turn around their businesses and young entrepreneurs haven't the wherewithal or the 'backative' to finance Real Estate purchase or lease to get their fledgling business going. If one has a similar property in London, New York or Dusseldorf, one could confidently say that one has a retirement income at age 60 instead of having to compare oneself with that Financial Services Commission (FSC) advertisement where the poor guy has "no Pension" because ''Business Marsh Up ". Yet the same FSC 'allowed' the likes of David Smith of Olint get away with duping several Jamaicans and Jamaican Businesses including Financial Institutions of their hard earned dollars.Nothing to date has happened to get a redress of Jamaica's version of American Greed.
The writer has shyed away from writing for several years under the guise of experiencing 'burn-out'. Well this writer has decided to come out of the woods especially when one has nothing else to lose but one's life - after one's back has gotten tired of being against the proverbial wall.
This is just an introduction to the topic of : Going Round In Circles or Getting Nowhere Getting Old in Jamaica. The writer intends to post under this topic certain experience with the Jamaica Public Service, National Water Commission, LIME, DigiCel, Flow, NIS and NHT to name but a few. The writer invites readers who have factual information and who want to write about it to contact us.
If you would like posts of this type sent to your email address (you can unsubscribe at any time) then please send your most reliable email address to Ms.Galma@Yahoo.com
Sunday, August 10, 2014
Sunday, October 28, 2012
Sunday, December 27, 2009
Shaggy and Friends ..2010 Benefit Concert
Recording artiste, Shaggy has united Jamaica in bringing together discerning artistes from home and abroad to partake in a benefit concert for the Bustamante Hospital for Children. It was a resounding success when staged at the Jamaica House grounds in January 2009. Shaggy has returned to repeat the effort, which is
slated to be even more successful on January 2, 2010, despite the looming tax increase cloud and the IMF
conditionalities to be levied on Jamaicans as the new year dawns. This is Jamaica - No Problem!
The who's who of Jamaica companies, mostly from the entertainment and telecomm industries minus Lime and Claro sponsored the promotion for the Shaggy & Friends 2010 Benefit Concert. Not surprisingly, the manufacturing sector was not represented at all aside from Jamaica Broilers, who obviously benefitted from the so-called 'gift' to Jamaica promotion of ‘cheaper chicken for a week during Christmas’. Combing as many outlets as possible throughout the week only revealed that chicken meat was more expensive than the weeks prior to the promotion, and Roasters were in short supply.
The lineup for Shaggy's benefit concert included Boysz II Men, Joe, Shaggy, Toots Hibbert, Beenie Man, Machel Montano, Queen Ifrica, Busy Signal, Cham, Sanchez, Ce'cile, Alaine, Tanya Stephens, Mario Winans, T.O.K., Mykal Rose and Ding Dong... tickets starting at $5,000 for Silver, $10,000 for Gold, $20,000 for Platinum and a new segment of $30,000 for Diamond! Wow!
The tag line is 1 Ticket = 1 Life, I Dare You!
My question to the promoters is which of the above tickets = one life? Is it the $5,000 ticket, which then means that those paying $30,000 are helping six lives while filling their guts with the goodies supplied by the likes of Red Stripe, Coca Cola, Wray & Nephew, etc.? While provisions are made for donations to be made via DigiCel Line (text 444-2452) or at www.shaggyfoundation.org, me thinks that the whole charade of starting the ticketing at such a high level as $5,000 per person is nothing short of bourgeoisie behaviour in Jamaica Society. Tell me, how many government workers, even top level civil servants, who have burst their asses all year to keep the engine of the economy turning, can afford to fork out $10,000 for 2 tickets to watch a concert, which I am sure they would all have loved to be a part of? Repeat the same question for members of the manufacturing fraternity or even the small business trade for that matter - Jamaica house and the grounds of Jamaica house belong to all Jamaicans - not to a few elitists and wannabes.
I know I will get a lot of dissension for daring to ‘criticize’ if you want to call it that, but I feel good speaking out about it, because somebody in earnest must start this conversation. My suggestion to Shaggy & Friends is to create a 'copper' or 'brass' category available for 2011, where you charge $2,000 for a ticket. I will not dare you, I will bet that you collect far more donations from far more participants, who would not only have come to help the Bustamante Hospital for Children, but also come to start the new year with good company, good hope and good will. In the long run, is far better for Jamaica for a family unit of 5 for example, to purchase 5 x $2,000 tickets, or for friends to sponsor each other for a quality night out, than to struggle to find same amount of ‘profile' money, while our children are left at home to watch cable TV.
slated to be even more successful on January 2, 2010, despite the looming tax increase cloud and the IMF
conditionalities to be levied on Jamaicans as the new year dawns. This is Jamaica - No Problem!
The who's who of Jamaica companies, mostly from the entertainment and telecomm industries minus Lime and Claro sponsored the promotion for the Shaggy & Friends 2010 Benefit Concert. Not surprisingly, the manufacturing sector was not represented at all aside from Jamaica Broilers, who obviously benefitted from the so-called 'gift' to Jamaica promotion of ‘cheaper chicken for a week during Christmas’. Combing as many outlets as possible throughout the week only revealed that chicken meat was more expensive than the weeks prior to the promotion, and Roasters were in short supply.
The lineup for Shaggy's benefit concert included Boysz II Men, Joe, Shaggy, Toots Hibbert, Beenie Man, Machel Montano, Queen Ifrica, Busy Signal, Cham, Sanchez, Ce'cile, Alaine, Tanya Stephens, Mario Winans, T.O.K., Mykal Rose and Ding Dong... tickets starting at $5,000 for Silver, $10,000 for Gold, $20,000 for Platinum and a new segment of $30,000 for Diamond! Wow!
The tag line is 1 Ticket = 1 Life, I Dare You!
My question to the promoters is which of the above tickets = one life? Is it the $5,000 ticket, which then means that those paying $30,000 are helping six lives while filling their guts with the goodies supplied by the likes of Red Stripe, Coca Cola, Wray & Nephew, etc.? While provisions are made for donations to be made via DigiCel Line (text 444-2452) or at www.shaggyfoundation.org, me thinks that the whole charade of starting the ticketing at such a high level as $5,000 per person is nothing short of bourgeoisie behaviour in Jamaica Society. Tell me, how many government workers, even top level civil servants, who have burst their asses all year to keep the engine of the economy turning, can afford to fork out $10,000 for 2 tickets to watch a concert, which I am sure they would all have loved to be a part of? Repeat the same question for members of the manufacturing fraternity or even the small business trade for that matter - Jamaica house and the grounds of Jamaica house belong to all Jamaicans - not to a few elitists and wannabes.
I know I will get a lot of dissension for daring to ‘criticize’ if you want to call it that, but I feel good speaking out about it, because somebody in earnest must start this conversation. My suggestion to Shaggy & Friends is to create a 'copper' or 'brass' category available for 2011, where you charge $2,000 for a ticket. I will not dare you, I will bet that you collect far more donations from far more participants, who would not only have come to help the Bustamante Hospital for Children, but also come to start the new year with good company, good hope and good will. In the long run, is far better for Jamaica for a family unit of 5 for example, to purchase 5 x $2,000 tickets, or for friends to sponsor each other for a quality night out, than to struggle to find same amount of ‘profile' money, while our children are left at home to watch cable TV.
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)