Children playing in a busy street
When I was first motivated to put pen to paper, or perhaps that should be "finger to keyboard", I thought about playing it safe. I then remembered that my father and many other men of his generation that went to sea weren't playing it safe. If they did, they would have stayed home.
In the final analysis, I don't need to play it safe when it comes to speaking the truth and quite frankly I am getting tired of these children that are playing in a busy street.
I have always been curious as to the origin of the term "political silly season". After watching the recent back and forth over the One Man One Vote (OMOV) issue, especially the accusations regarding who really supported the measure and who did not, I now understand. While I support the principle of OMOV, I did not support it in the referendum last year as I believed then, as I still do now, that the good intentions of the organizers where hijacked by the purveyors of political expediency. Some of the very people that are now pushing for OMOV in the upcoming elections are the same people who opposed it in the past,simply because it allowed them to get elected and maintain power.
For decades I have listened to some of my fellow Caymanians complain that the people who have come to our islands to live and work have taken advantage of our hospitality and are the cause of the ills facing our country. However, those that complain have failed to argue their point in a logical way. While I agree that some of the people who have moved to Cayman have taken advantage of our hospitality, the truth is that those people are in the minority. Our history is filled with many many more people who came to our shores when we were "the islands that time forgot" who, with their descendants, have helped and continue to help build these islands that we call home today. Any attempt to downplay or deny this fact is disingenuous at best. If we are to progress as a country we must, as we are encouraged to in the Bible, "know the truth" so that we can be "set free" to be greater than we ever dreamed we could be.
The simple truth is that some of the people in the Merchant Class are also to blame for our country's ills. Rather than using their resources to develop local talent, they have searched the world over for anyone else but a Caymanian to manage and work in their establishment. Almost 20 years ago, while working as a night auditor to save funds for college, I was getting paid CI$6 per hour plus grats that ranged from $8 to $10 a hour depending on the season. Today, two decades later, I have seen that same position paying around CI$6.50 per hour with grats around CI$4 to $8 per hour. This decrease in the quantity of income and the quality of available paying jobs are the real issues and it is masked in the argument of whether to have a minimum wage or not. We Caymanians are smarter than you think when we are asleep and way smarter when we are wide awake.
The Cayman Islands is no different from any other country in the world. People who have money want and use their money to obtain power. In the past it was easy to get power as some of them could afford to buy the votes in a whole district. The problem is that these districts have grown so large in such a short time and the economic realities have caught up to some of them that they can only afford to buy a seat within the district. In 1988 there were less than 9,500 people registered to vote in the Cayman Islands, of which 1,430 were in my district of Bodden Town. Today, 25 years later, the number of registered electors is closer to 19,000 nationally, and the number in Bodden Town has increased to almost 4,600. During that time George Town has increased from less than 4,100 registered electors to almost 7,500. The price of buying a district just went up.
Faced with a situation that they cannot control, they have turned to OMOV, but alas, the issue of the OMOV has been resolved. The people have spoken and just above a third of the registered voters (37%) said they wanted it. Slice it and dice it all you want but it was still a minority of the voters. If Caymanians wanted it bad enough they would have come out and supported it. Then again, for some people, maybe they are just used to the minority running things.
I implore these special interest groups to leave this issue alone and focus on what really matters. If you are unsure where to start, please use your resources to develop plans to get our people working again. I realize that finding work for Caymanians may not be a priority as it is easy to just raise the prices on those of us that are working to offset the loss from those that are not working — but at a minimum, please tell me why a gallon of milk cost more than a gallon of gas.
Walk good (and stay off the busy streets).
Category: Viewpoint
Chris – from what you have written I believe you would serve Cayman better if you sat under a large mango tree on the side of the 'busy street' and counted the cars coming from Bodden town to George Town…
Chris I find it most amusing that you choose to attack the C4C on your debut into politics and you defend the UDP in the same breath. I also note that you are defending the UDP that hijacked the referendum and not the now FAB5. But Jon Jon and Mark were part of that original UDP Government. Are you not running against them ? You see you all think you have pulled the wool over our eyes. I imagine you will run a two person team in BT leaving Mark and Jon Jon to fight for the other two and your strategy will be to team up with them, patch things up between them and Mac and you all live happily ever after. Well think again buddy. You are not fooling the BT people twice. The UDP won the last election by default that will not happen again. If you were smart you would be taking Mark and Joke Joke on now before someone else finishes them off.
Chris why dont you tell the people the truth? You have been running all over Bodden Town telling the Jamaicans to get ready because you are coming to save them. I have heard your theory on how the Jamaican vote is soo strong in Bodden Town and how they will support your team because you are backed my Big Mac. Well let me share a secret with you! The Jamaicans (I am one of them) will not be fooled by the UDP again. We know we were used last time and your party forgot about us until now. How many of us are any better off since the UDP took power ? Its one thing to buy me a drink and run a joke or two at the bar but I can see past that and I see that only an exclusive few have prospered under the UDP. The poor Jamaicans who are doing domestic, gardening, construction etc are largely ignored, but those in the elitist Financial services industry are taken care of. The Jamaican people have endured more than we care to remember and I am sure that we will not be fooled twice. By the way I have noticed your accent switches between Jamaican and Caymanian depending on who you are speaking to. Do you really think that is fooling anyone? You are just what we do not want in Caymanian politics, you make the rest of us Jamaicans look ignorant.
Gweh we do not need your help!
Seems to be the common thread through the comments is that the author is a prospective politician. I have no knowledge of this person, but can easily say from what was written in this Viewpoint, heaven help us if the person becomes an MLA! Just a thought, but I suppose it could have been intentionally "dumbed down" to the level of all (past & present) MLA's so that the author would appear to be a suitabe candidate.
Though I find Chris to be very intelligent he allowed a foreigner to suppress many Caymanians so I cannot compliment him for this viewpoint. However, I believe that if he has now decided to run and is successful that he uses his intelligence for the good of the Cayman Islands and especially his Caymanians who will support him.
Give it a rest mr udp boy. If this is what you will do in bt you can forget it. You should be transparent and declare because we all know you will.
Mr. Saunders I am glad you are now noticing the price of milk. Funny it took you 4 years to see just how expensive it is to live here. Well to give you a bit of history, the price of everything started to escalated when your UDP administration you 200 percent supported took over. First it was the 25 cents on gasoline then came CUC then the supermarkets then the banks and so on. So to be sitting from your ivory tower and only just noticing the price of milk says a great deal of how out of touch you are. So sad because you have children too and my question is when you and all the wanna be politicians s$@w this island over – what then? Have you noticed the road in west bay is gone? What are we teaching our kids? As long as you have money, money is the rule of the land and anything goes? Well Caymanians, we just sold our souls and the hopes of the next generations to come.
I read the other day in the papers of how the government was looking at gambling. A few years ago the churches would be up in arms against the word gambling. Anyone noticed not a word was or has been said from these organizations. I guess it was money well donated!
"The people have spoken and just above a third of the registered voters (37%) said they wanted it."
Yet you said:
"While I support the principle of OMOV, I did not support it in the referendum last year as I believed then, as I still do now, that the good intentions of the organizers where hijacked by the purveyors of political expediency."
So do want OMOV or not?
Chris – I know you well Bobo and I know that you will make a good MLA. You have the interest of Caymanians at heart and you will get my vote in BT. God bless my son.
OMOV was hijacked…by a power mad politician, who was afraid it would dilute his power base in West Bay
But now Bodden Town has more voters than West Bay – it is overdue that we adjust the voting system in Cayman, so that it is equal and fair.
Why does West Bay get more political representation than Bodden Town, which is more populated??
Kudos to you Chris for speaking about the white elephant in the room. About time some of us Caymanians speak the truth. We need to stop blaming all foreigners for our problems and start talking about our own people that suppress us. There are many Caymanians that I know that will tell you that some of their worst bosses have been Caymanians.
Look at the amount of scholarships that are given out by foreign firms? Many of the established Caymanian businesses were contented to keep only their kids educated and the rest of us as the serving class.
I disagree with you on the omov issue but can see your logic. Sooner or later we will have to revisit it as george town is getting too big.
The reason why a gallon of Milk cost more than a gallon of gas, is because the same government that you supported (UDP), raised the cost of living so high with all the new tax and fees. Cris, just be honest, you supported them last election and now your going to run in bodden town with them this election because Scotland and Seymour saw the light and left you all behind.
Finally, someone not blaming foreigners for the problems in these islands. Many of us that come here are not looking to take away anything from Caymanians but would love to help these islands continue to be a success. Thanks for recognizing that.
Thank goodness I am lactose intolerant. Milk is duty free. Gas is not. This is ridiculous.
OMOV referendum . Of those who cared about the issue enough to vote about two thirds of the voters voted in favor of it.
If those who did not want OMOV did not want "it bad enough they would have come out" and voted against it.
When is your declaration of candidacy coming? Because I know it's coming.
Here's the problem I have with one aspect of your viewpoint (in regards to the OMOV outcome) – of people actually voting, the majority wanted it. This isn't to necessarily say that it should have passed, but I think it's incorrect to look at people who were registered to vote and did not as saying "no." The only "no" votes I am aware of are those who went to vote "no," who were outnumbered by those who voted "yes."
From that standpoint, amongst voters who cared enough about the issue to vote, the majority went yes, a minority no, and the rest, another minority, was too apathetic to do anything. Those who did not vote should not really be counted, one way or another. Now, you can see their apathy as cause to say OMOV didn't pass, and of course given the standards set for this particular referedum that's what happened. But a non-vote is not a "no" vote. To claim, as some did, that non-voting was the same as "no" is political positioning to strengthen the "no" argument.
Frankly, it saddened me that not enough people cared to go out and vote for the way in which they would be represented in future elections. Voter apathy is just as dangerous to a strong, functioning democracy as political corruption and vote-buying. In fact, the latter often leads to the former, which becomes entrenched. OMOV, whether as intended by the initial movement, or as co-opted by politicians, is still a very important issue because one way or another it determines how we are represented by the government that serves us. On the day of the vote, there should have been enough actual voters who cared enough to voice their choice, "yes" or "no," not "I'm too lazy to bother." At least then we would have had an actual definitive conclusion to the matter.
Perfectly said, Mr. Saunders…
Another UDP clown I mean candidate pretending that his master did not manipulate the rules yet again. Just tell us when u declaring and what you really stand for on issues that matter