Managing Editor of the Gleaner Company Ltd., Jenni Campbell, makes a presentation to Dudley McFarlane, winner of the prestigious Silver Pen award for the month of November. The silver pen and a copy of the winning letter were presented yesterday at the newspaper company's North Street, central Kingston offices. - Norman Grindley/Deputy Chief Photographer

Dudley McFarlane, winner of November's Silver Pen award, first wrote to The Gleaner in 1986 when he was a student living in Jeffrey Town, St. Mary.

Published November 10, Mr. McFarlane's winning letter entitled 'When will 'zero tolerance' on crime become a reality?', expressed his frustra-tions at what he believes is Government's failure to curb social disorder.

It was, he said, the behaviour of popular deejay Bounty Killer at the 'Saddle to the East' stage show in St. Thomas several months before that motivated him to write.

"I was angry. Just generally the people in society like myself who think these people have too much ratings and have an influence on people who have impressionable minds. He was on the stage disrespecting the police - a general level of disrespect and that got to me," McFarlane said.

But, as he explained, such disorder remains a wider problem that affects everyday life.

General lawlessness

"You just want to feel you go about and do the normal, natural things as an ordinary and natural citizen without people asking money from you to pass. Even driving on the road, you find that people stop in the middle of the road and you want to go around them but you have to wait, but you don't want to get involved in a violent confrontation, it's general lawlessness," he said.

Mr. McFarlane said his wife welcomed the Silver Pen award.

Said he: "... When I told her, she was really ecstatic and said 'All this time you have been writing, you should get a letter of the month one day'!"