Garth RattrayI AM still reeling from the highly publicised Digicel one-year anniversary/million-dollar give-away which was marred beyond redemption. Not only did people shamefully block the winning telephone number from receiving the prize-winning call but the expletives uttered by the eventual winner was broadcast live compliments of the electronic media and Digicel's digital-clarity service.
I was watching TVJ and they apologised repeatedly and profusely for inadvertently airing 'an expletive' during the broadcast, but in fact it was a double whopper and not just a single expletive. Given our widespread societal indiscipline and disorder, moral decay and lack of accountability at all levels, I guess we should have foreseen the possibility of this sort of deplorable behaviour.
I am not a prude, but my ears rang loudly when they were assailed by that nauseating expletive phrase. I looked at my wife to see if I was having auditory hallucinations but her raised eyebrows and wide-eyed look of surprise bore graphic testimony to what had just transpired. My brother telephoned me and the urgency in his voice reminded me of the day that Hurricane Gilbert blew across our land. Perhaps the millionaire's expletives were his way of emoting/venting; still the inexcusable utterance represented a total lack of respect for everything and everybody. It demonstrated a disregard for law, order and propriety. It spurned decency and discipline. The host, Mr. Francois St. Juste looked visibly embarrassed, but the revellers came out as rehearsed with strained smiles and party toys anyway.
I'm told that the bad-word merchant millionaire eventually apologised but he should have considered the ramifications of his actions before unloading his septic sentence upon the entire country. Maybe he's grown accustomed to unaccountability throughout society. Everyone knows that numerous commissions of inquiry are formed but then quietly fade away into obscurity without ever coming to a sensible verdict. For instance, the Montego Bay Street People inquiry found no one responsible for the removal and 'relocation' of vagrants. I cannot recall one single expensive, time-consuming investigation coming to an accurate conclusion or indicting anyone important in any of our high-profile cases.
Are we to expect proper decorum from our citizenry when we see Parliamentarians literally crossing the floor and squabbling at close range? Are we to expect restraint from the common man when it appears as if some government practices are cavalier and reckless? We are setting a bad example. What do we really expect when people see billions of their hard-earned dollars vanish amid the smoke and mirrors of denials, excuses and accusations? At least magicians make objects re-appear but we will all have to dig deep and 'tighten our purse strings' even more.
Generations to come will pay dearly for the transgressions and inefficiencies of today. Vilifying Minister Blythe is not the total answer to the PRIDE debacle; he was only a part of a system that has been functioning with extreme fiscal latitude for decades. Mr. Seaga's speculation that some of the missing PRIDE money might have been sequestered into a million-dollar slush fund for the financing of the upcoming general elections may not be idle chatter. It had been strongly rumoured for years that both major parties use the Housing Ministry to surreptitiously siphon off moneys to aid in financing general elections.
Our society sends mixed messages to the citizens of Jamaica. For instance, although we all know that motorbike riders without helmets are about three times more likely to die in a major accident than motorcar drivers, the fine for not wearing helmets is half that of the fine for not wearing seat-belts. The seat-belt law is rigorously enforced yet nine out of 10 motorbike riders do not wear helmets and are not prosecuted. Bicyclists rarely use night-lights; they too are not prosecuted. It is common knowledge that it's often easier to 'pay extra' for several governmental services than it is to go through the time-consuming, cumbersome and prohibitive red tape. Stories of corruption abound but the red tape remains and the sting operations needed to arrest these practices are never executed. The mob attack on the police station in Spaldings represents a lack of respect for and trust in our legal system. The incident prompted the chairman of the Police Federation, Inspector Neville Knight, to dub the act of vigilantism "jungle justice."
DEPLORABLE BEHAVIOUR
Why shouldn't the "winner" defile our family-rooms with filthy language when no one seems to know right from wrong anymore? We are subjected to deplorable behaviour on the streets and now it is in our own living rooms. Selfish individuals still brazenly flaunt the Night Noise Law and keep all-night street dances. These sessions are frequented by little children who witness lurid behaviour and are exposed to the most foul and vile language imaginable. Disc jockeys blare 'songs' that are in reality an unending cacophony of aggressive grunts, shouts, screams and vulgarity, yet no one is held responsible. Where is the order? Where is the discipline? Many radio and television ads promote crass, unrefined behaviour. The dishonest chicanery employed in blocking the winning call and that expletive phrase heard all over Jamaica by young and old alike heralded a new level of disrespect and chaos. After nearly 40 years of Independence is this what we have come to?
We are a nation under siege and on the fringe of moral decay. The vortex of indiscipline threatens to annihilate our social order and value systems. We are about to be caught in its vice-like grip. Already it tugs at the fabric of society and is unravelling it one thread at a time. Our government needs to tighten discipline on the streets, in our institutions and within its own organisation. It must not allow the current situation to deteriorate to a new low. The million-dollar winner is a product of the new Jamaican society. This is a wake-up call. When we tolerate the attitude of 'anything goes,' then everything goes-- straight down the sewers.
Dr Garth A. Rattray is a medical doctor with a family practice.
