All play and no work...

THE EDITOR, Sir:

Mr. Winston Douglas' letter, published in Saturday's issue, points to a fundamental weakness in the Jamaican society. Unfortunately, Jamaicans continue to give vastly more encouragement to song and dance and games of chance than to study, sweat and toil.

It is not only the people at the Lottery Company who believe that recreation should be high on the agenda of a nation plagued by unemployment, lack of education, low productivity and high dependence on the fruits of other people's labour. Even among those who have succeeded by hard work in industry, commerce, the media etc., there are influential elements failing to put fun and games in their rightful place behind and after education and productive labour.

Lee Kwan Yew, in his book, "From Third World to First", remarked on this Jamaican preoccupation with song and dance, and our tendency to associate hard work with slavery. No doubt he would regard our failure to follow Singapore's example of discipline and conscious effort as the main cause of our present state of chaos, crime and cultural disintegration.

I am etc.,

KEN JONES

22 Allerdyce Drive

Kingston 8

Via Go-Jamaica

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