THE CAPITAL and Credit Financial Group on Saturday honoured 35 persons and awarded scholarships worth $1.5 million at a special ceremony held at the Jamaica Pegasus Hotel, New Kingston.
The scholarships were awarded to recipients from the Press Association of Jamaica (PAJ), the Jamaica Cricket Associa-tion, the Jamaica Cultural Development Commission through the National Festival Queen Competition, Mico Teachers' College, National Youth in Agriculture, Jamaica Paraplegic Association, Vision Development Foundation, St. Andrew Settlement, Hope United Church, Wolmer's Boys' School, Kingston College, Northern Caribbean Univer-sity and Montego Bay Community College.
THE HABIT OF NEGATIVISM
Guest speaker Edwin Jones, professor of public adminis-tration at the University of the West Indies (UWI), hailed the awardees and urged them to "maximise on the scholarships and make your sponsors proud." He also urged the scholars not be a part of "the coarsening of manners that we see in Jamaica, and to avoid all the impulses that lead to a coarsening of society."
Professor Jones further implored them not to get into "the habit of negativism, of being negative about everything, about self, about development possibilities of the country, and about your leaders in every sphere of life."
He said "The demands and requirements of these scholarships really come down to a single word, professionalism."
The Professor pointed out that the building blocks of true professionalism were commitment and focus, hard work, good time management and teamwork. And "whether it's cricket, psychology, or child study, you have to read sensibly... organise purposefully... and think critically," he advised the scholarship awardees.
