Tabaquite MP Dr Suruj Rambachan believes this nation is in dire need of a reformation that would see it move away from destructive competitiveness that destroys, to one that nurtures a spirit of co-operation and facilitates the sharing of ideas and knowledge.
In his Indian Arrival Day message to the nation yesterday, Rambachan said T&T was in "dire need of servants and not just leaders."He said the active exchange of ideas would engender a sense of giving and creating, rather than simply consuming state resources; and could lead to further development of the spirit of entrepreneurship encouraged by our ancestors.
Highlighting the contribution of the East-Indian population to this nation's development, Rambachan said they had to be remembered for the economic, social and spiritual foundations they laid down with courage and determination, so that the future they envisaged could become a reality.
"They sacrificed, they saved and they built but, above all, they educated their children out of poverty and into a life of boundless opportunities."
Referring to the "cow sheds" they used to educate their children during the 1950s, Rambachan described as remarkable, the nature and extent of the strides made by East Indians to ensure their children received a proper education.
He said their presence had helped to grow the economy and even save it from ruin as their personal achievement had also contributed to building the nation as a whole.
Although they had not managed to completely liberate themselves physically from hard work in the fields, Rambachan said East Indians liberated their minds by embracing new possibilities where so-called "uneducated and illiterate" parents gifted the nation in the form of doctors, lawyers, engineers, teachers, politicians and a wide range of professionals.
The former minister said after 171 years, the discussion must not be about arrival but about contribution and citizenship. He urged the East-Indian community not to be passive onlookers to what is happening in T&T.