The Editor, Sir:
It is really unfortunate that we have adhered to the colonial system of giving out questionable honours, left, right and centre, every year as if it's a mill we are forced to run at full tilt. We must realise by now that this honour mill will serve to dilute or discount the value of the honours. Surely, there should be less people of merit to bestow these titles on in succeeding years. God forbid that this may reach the stage where someone by sheer superior performance and merit is offered a title and refuses it because he makes a distinction between his merit and the other many who get the same title by sheer incidence of incumbency.
But this honour system is nothing short of demanding respect by conferring a title and not really commanding respect; and we were always taught in school that respect should not be demanded but always commanded. In other words it should be earned.
When will we realise that certain cultural practices can and have impeded our progress? We need to replace the above flawed honour system with a truly meritocratic culture where people are given genuine recognition based on exceptional performance and contributions in their particular fields. Just occupying a position cannot be a qualification for an honorific title and if one can get it without working for it, why work for it?
If we are serious about moving our country forward, let us re-examine many of these practices which we traditionally hold sacrosanct, strip away their halo effects and lend rationality to our actions.
I am, etc.,
L. A .BERT RAMSAY
bert@cwjamaica.com.
