They flocked the Arena, expecting Andrew Holness
to call the election.
The cameras filmed what looked like 300k
people swarming the National Arena.
Bruce Golding was on stage resigning again.
Unlike his first resignation in Tivoli in
which the Constituents booed, not aware
he was making his goodbyes, everyone knew
this was the last time they'd have to see
their Party President.
Golding must have rhinoceros skin.
It was clear, both at Tivoli and the JLP
Conference that Holness needed the dramatic
stepping on the back of his predecessor to
prove he was in control, and get the
psychological message across.
The humiliation of Golding is complete.
He may now leave the stage.
Holness is not used to attention.
But he loves it.
He loves being on the platform, the
Leader, with his minions at his feet.
He is having an Obama moment.
His speech bounced many topics, as the
crowd waited for him to call elections.
Of course he wasn't going to set the date.
Had there not been the excitement of elections
half or more of the Labourites would not
have been in attendance.
By making it seem that the day would be
announced, sending buses, dropping money
the crowd was swelled.
The next meeting Holness calls will be
as well attended since that will be
where the date is set.
The electorate, which is split 50/50 between
the JLP and PNP will see the huge turnout
and assume Holness is the favourite.
And Jamaicans like to back winners.
When Golding started his 'reign' harping
on 'Corruption' and digging up old and
questionable actions done by various PNP
members; one knew that he would be presiding
over one of the most remarkably corrupt
governments.
As any magician one misdirects the focus
of the audience so that we all look at
the left hand while the right hand perform
the trick.
Golding appointed people on the standard
of Dorothy Lightbourne, a puppet who would
do what he asked, and take the fall if his
machinations were uncovered.
How much Holness knew before he took the oath
of office will be uncovered in time.
His getting rid of Vaz and now Henry seem to
suggest he might not have been as much in
the loop as he thought.
We know, for a fact, that MP Hibbert took
bribes. Some of us know that MP Henry is
so filthy that not even a bath in Dettol
will clean him.
The bridge at Harbour View, built by JDIF
is a minor example of corruption.
Firstly, it was begun just before Hurricane
season. That all work was destroyed and
had to be redone added to the cost.
The cost Jamaica will have to pay over the
next decades.
That there was no tender will prove that
bribes were paid. Just as Gabay was able
to get all contracts because they paid Hibbert
the particular Chinese company was accepted
because it paid Henry.
Holness, getting his first taste of power
might very well hand every single one of
Golding's lackeys our to dry; (some in GP)
so as to gain the vote.
If he does get the mandate, if he does
realise how much money can be stolen,
he too will become as fat as Henry.
Jamaican Patois is NOT a language.
It is what linguists called a Pidgin.
Like 'Ebonics' it is a haphazard
invention by those who were never
taught English; such as slaves.
Pidgins are made up of mispronounced
or misused words from the dominant
tongue along with replacement words
when one does not know the correct term.
Often there are bits of other languages
mixed into the soup of a pidgin so that
it is not of one piece.
In Jamaica there are a few words from
the Akan dialect; yaaba, fenky-fenky,
bumba, etc. As well as the 'me/wo/oona
which corresponds to I/you/us in English.
Patois was considered the 'slave tongue'
up until 1980.
English was enforced in schools and in
business and those who could not speak it
were looked down upon.
Marcus Garvey, Jamaica's first National
Hero never went beyond primary school, but
spoke and wrote absolutely first class
English.
For Jamaicans to speak standard English
would, as the experiment of the 1970s
proved, allow even the poorest to
attend High School and qualify for
University; and as education was free
the child of Kingston 13 would gain the
space that had been reserved for the
child who lived far above Crossroads.
The upper class, in the 1970s was
devastated when the helper's child
was accepted at the University of the
West Indies, and their child was not.
This is because selection was based on
achievement, not on money.
This had to change.
In 1978 there was a great push to
have Patois accepted as the Natif Langwij.
The poor bought into it.
The rich did not.
Branding on the tongue has been used in
England from the earliest days.
No matter how good someone looked, as soon
as he or she spoke one could 'class' them.
Slaves had been punished for speaking
English so that one could know by voice
the status of the speaker.
Although one might have scoffed and assumed
Jamaicans were far too intelligent to fall
for this apartheid, reality proves the truth.
Jamaicans have bought into Patois as they
did with Cash Plus and Olint, proving they
really are that stupid.
Today, it is very easy to segregate.
The uptown child can speak perfect English.
The uptown child will pass the English exams
and will gain places at the best institutions.
The downtown child can not speak English.
He or she speak the version of Patois in
their district.
The downtown child will fail the English exam
and will not gain a place save at the very
worst institutions.
Never again will the employer suffer the
embarrassment of her helper's son attending
UWI, while hers is discarded.
One would think, watching the descent of
the English pass rate from 23% at the last
G.C.E. exam to it's current 13% at the local
CXC level that the public would be up in arms
demanding their child be taught English.
No.
Patois continues to be enshrined.
Hence, the brilliant young man who can not
speak a grammatical English sentence will
be passed over for the average intellect
who can.
The ex-pat from a low level college will
gain the job that should go, and would go to
a local, if he or she could speak English.
Often, thinking they sound 'cute' or 'clever'
an educated or semi-educated person who can
communicate in English drops into Patois when
pushing forward a point of negligible value.
One will find it, for example, on Facebook
where a response is written in gibberish which
is supposed to be patois.
Some people may try to decipher, most can't be
bothered.
With Haiti so close to Jamaica, and the
clear evidence of the dangers of speaking
an 'unknown' tongue, one would have thought
that the lesson would have been learned.
The non-French speaking Haitian is condemned
to poverty.
If the upper class has its way
this will hold true in Jamaica.
Andrew Holness has the same nose as Bruce
Golding.
This is not all they have in common.
Both start their Prime Ministerial Journey
pretending to be decent urbane gentlemen
who had proper home training.
I would think if you bought an Acer Computer
and it proved to be a pile of crap, that you
wouldn't buy this year's version.
Yet, the same Veranda sitters who were lauding
Bruce Golding up until the minute of his resignation
have, just like those in 1984 changed
their mouths in mid chant.
"Bruce Golding is the best Prime Minister we
ever had, Andrew Holness is the best Prime
Minister...."
The fact is, the policies of the JLP have
exacerbated every possible disaster that
could have been averted.
To claim that it was the Ponzi schemes
which gave the PNP buoyancy is insane as
many people lost a great deal of money.
It wasn't the Cash Plus or the Olint, it
was that prices were lower and more people
had jobs.
That is the nutshell.
What happened with the JLP was the coagulation
of money in certain pockets.
Jamaica has always had its corruption.
As the years from Independence increase so does
the level of corruption.
If everyone gets a bit of it, fine, they carry
it to the supermarket. If only a small minority
gets it, they carry it to the Benz dealer.
The JLP hasn't a clue how to get the economy
moving. It knows how to fill its pockets.
The recent snafu with Scrap Metal is just the
very tip of the ice berg.
The government 'closes' the trade so small people
are squeezed out, big people continue.
Dan Walker, surprise, surprise, is now running on
the JLP slate.
He's been pretty good over the years in playing
indignant and wrongly accused; especially when
he's guilty.
There was no way that Scrap Metal could have
legally been exported if there was a ban.
No way without Walker granting a license.
This isn't a guy getting free light bulbs and
whatever went on with them; this is a guy giving
contracts to friends while barring non-friends
from engaging in a trade that the Government
demanded stop.
So Tufton runs up his mouth, Walker ignores him
and who's bad?
This kind of mouth saying one thing
to hid the obverse actions is standard.
This was Bruce's signature.
It is also Holness.
Let's face it, Holness, like Golding has
a contempt for the 'little people'. He
is in power to make money and create debts.
Greg Christie might be a victim.
