THE EDITOR Sir:
THIS IS as good a time as any for us to be introspective as a nation. Please permit me to share with your readers, one of the areas of our lives that we need to examine with a view to positive change. Our values, attitudes, mores and beliefs as a people, are often encapsulated in our proverbs and popular sayings. Unfortunately, these are not always positive. Let us take a look at one such saying.
"You can't catch Quaaku (Harry) you catch him shut." The horror of this saying came home forcefully to me when I heard a relative of someone who was injured by a young man say, "If we can't catch him we going to hurt somebady fi him."
I tried to convince this person that this is wrong. My efforts proved futile. This person just kept repeating, "A so it go! You can't catch Quaaku, you catch him shut!"
Doubtless many people have been hurt, and some have even lost their lives innocently because this popular saying has been ingrained in our society. What can we do about this? Can we begin to teach our people that Quaaku (Harry) alone should bear the consequences of his actions? Or better still, can we oil the wheels of justice so that we can confidently say that justice will prevail? We need to make sure that the values, attitudes and beliefs that we pass from generation to generation are worthy of emulation. Before we repeat a popular saying, let us think about the message we are sending. The negative sayings will become obsolete if we stop believing them and passing them on to others.
I am, etc.,
WINNIE ANDERSON-BROWN
winab@cwjamaica.com
Bagatelle District
Ashley P.A.
Clarendon
