As we celebrate our 50th anniversary as an independent nation, T&T can boast today of many achievements chalked up along the way. We have produced world-class citizens such as father-of-the-nation Dr Eric Williams, mathematician Dr Rudranath Capildeo, writer VS Naipaul, CLR James and others. In the cultural arena we gave the world its only musical instrument in the 21st century, the steel pan, and pianist Winifred Atwell.
Our beautiful women have also put us on the world map with Penny Commissiong, Giselle Laronde and Wendy Fitzwilliam snatching international titles. In the sporting arena there are Hasely Crawford, the first T&T national to win gold at the Olympics; mega cricketer Brian Lara and, only recently, Keshorn Walcott, who brought home the Olympic gold in the javelin throw.
This is just a very short list of our achievers and for a nation of approximately 1.2 million we must be justifiably proud of all those who, despite the odds, have done their part and given us a solid foundation to build on. We must also give thanks to our political leaders who, despite the cut and thrust of the politics, have left us a legacy of a democratic system that can be termed world class; we have changed governments with relative ease, unlike the situation among some of our Caribbean neighbours, and for this we have to be thankful to all of our leaders regardless of their political persuasion, past and present.
But while we have much to be thankful for we cannot overlook our collective negatives if we are to continue on a path of overall national development. One of them, I am sad to say, is the high level of indiscipline which permeates our society. As I have repeatedly said, I am prepared to argue this position anytime, anywhere. It is a cancer which must be exorcised before it totally destroys our society as we know it.
I know that nothing remains the same and that change is constant, but while that is a given, certain things like discipline-one of the nation's three watchwords-good manners and breeding ought not to be compromised. With indiscipline flows all our other problems, such as crime. Unfortunately this scourge starts in the home and I will never ever forget the cussing a mother gave her child, who could not have been more than six years old, because the infant committed some minor infraction.
I was visiting some friends when I heard their neighbour, this poor excuse for a mother, let loose a barrage of expletives to the child with a ferocity that would make the proverbial sailor blush. Children live what they learn, so what would you expect from that child in its latter years?
This indiscipline is manifested in so many ways that one wonders if we are truly an undisciplined people or is it that the authorities, by their failure to enforce the law, are allowing us to get away with it? When Howard Chin Lee was being installed as Minister of National Security with much fanfare at the Hilton Hotel, he boldly announced there would be zero tolerance for even the smallest of infractions, such as urinating in public.
I am sure we all have seen big hardback men-and strangely women-dropping their underwear and peeing in public places. There is a show called Cops on cable television in which police officers routinely lock up people who violate this law in the US, throwing them in the back of their cars and carting them off to jail. In T&T, when last have we heard of anyone being put into the slammer for this offence?
In fact some of the offenders see this as a big joke. Our motorists display a kind of indiscipline that is totally unbelievable, and they do this because they know they can get away with it. Parents and guardians send their children-especially girls-to school with all kinds of fancy hairstyles that you would swear they are on their way to some kind of weird fashion show. What are the teachers doing about that?
All schools have a uniform code but is it being enforced? Not in most of them. I can go on and on but we all know what I am referring to and if we are not careful we can indeed end up a failed state with no one but ourselves to blame.
