THE EDITOR, Sir:I REFER to the article written by your columnist "Valhalla" in last Sunday's Gleaner, 26th May, 2002, headlined "Speech writer needed for Michael Lee-Chin".
I must begin by declaring interest as a friend and admirer of Michael. However, I am extremely disappointed and surprised that someone should write as Valhalla did and completely lose direction in what they are writing about.
Michael Lee Chin is not an entertainer or a professional speaker on the lecture circuit. To compare him with Elvis Presley as Valhalla does at the end of his article illustrates how far off course Valhalla is.
I think that we are extremely fortunate to have had him speak three or four times in Jamaica over a period of three or four months. Each time he was speaking to a different audience, from the opening of the UTech Business Centre to the Business Observer awards ceremony.
He was giving a simple message to his audience, that, in his life, by following some basic principles and working extremely hard to achieve his goals, he has made a financial success of his life, and other people can do likewise.
His story can be repeated many times and it will never be redundant. We need to learn from his story and try to make him a role model. No one is doing him a favour, we could not afford to pay him to speak at these functions. I only hope that he will not be discouraged by Valhalla's ungracious and misguided article.
I think I speak for many other Jamaicans when I say that I appreciate the time and effort he is taking to bring a positive message to Jamaicans and to "put his money where his mouth is".
If we can all benefit from his message, no matter how many times he repeats it, we will be that much better off than we are now.
Speaking personally, I wish I could follow his example and put his message into practice in my own life. If I only succeeded in a very small way I would be many times better off than I am now, and I am sure the same applies to many other Jamaicans.
I am, etc.,
PETER BOVELL
3 Hope Road
Kingston 10
