On the edge of a precipice?

Business without ethics or integrity becomes a cesspool of corruption.  Business based on hard work, skill, thrift and principles of honesty and transparency can feed, clothe and educate a nation and bring peace to the planet.

This being said, why has kidnapping become such a thriving and seemingly lucrative business in our land?  Why have narcotics traders become so rich and notorious that, buoyed by the glamour of cable TV, they offer enticing lifestyle examples to our youth, who, in spite or because of our best efforts, morally seem adrift like a rudderless ship? The ignominious fall of corporate giants like Enron, World Com, Xerox abroad and the seemingly intractable financial plight of a growing number of Caribbean brand name companies, beg the question of whether corporate governance is factored into the equation of success by CEOs and Boards of Directors.  While the path of least resistance can often provide sweet pickings along the way, it usually leads to a precipice, — if not legally, then certainly ethically and so, is not sustainable.  But we tend to turn a blind eye to the slick cutting of corners, dancing on the edge of the letter of the law and disregarding its spirit once someone seems to be successful at getting away with it and improving their standard of living at the same time.  The price of such approval is very high however — to our children and to society.

How far is the leap from incomplete disclosure in a transaction, where the buyer is forced to beware, to the ends justify the means philosophy of selling narcotics or holding a child for ransom so that a rich parent will pay?  Since human values of truth, love, peace, right action and non-violence are not taught in primary or secondary school, how do we expect law or business students to be tutored along lines of positive human values culture?  Abdicating that responsibility solely to the parents at home is naive, because they need the support of teachers and exemplars in the society. Yet the failure to challenge questionable business practices — from the shopkeeper who might price gouge an innocent child, to a monopoly who will do the same thing to an unwitting nation — undermines the core of the society.  The only way to recapture the sense of self which heeds a national conscience is by digging deep into the cultural soul of the nation.

In a multi-cultural society like the Caribbean in general and Trinidad and Tobago in particular, it is the components which make the whole.  In the past three weeks in this country, significant communities of ethnic and religious groups celebrated Shouter Baptist Liberation Day, the Anniversary of Sri Ramachandra’s birth and the birthday of Lord Hanuman, Good Friday and Easter Sunday.  Christian, Hindu and Muslim holy days are celebrated across religious lines in Trinidad, signifying more than religious tolerance.  There is an inherent respect for the unity in diversity, leading to purity and divinity, in worshiping the Creator and in recognising that such unity breeds national wholesomeness worthy of God’s blessings. Business support for these and other holidays is evident by the advertising supplements which congratulate different ethnic and religious communities on the occasion of these sacred festivals.  This is the cultural evidence of the counterweight to rank opportunism, shady deals and corruption.  It needs to be more openly embraced by our leaders - in government, opposition and civil society.

The recent passing of African drumming Master and icon, Babatunde Olatunji did not seem to capture the attention of much of the local media.  Notwithstanding the fact that Olatunji put African music on the US hit parade in the 1960s; that artists from Bob Dylan to Carlos Santana were heavily influenced by his music, and that a whole generation of Black Consciousness activists were moulded by Olatunji’s Drums of Passion album, we have not seen fit to adequately assess his contribution. This is not a case of ethnocentricity, but simply acknowledging gratefully and respectfully the role of a great artist in helping to shape the cultural attitudes and appreciation of African music of an entire generation.  The same would be said of Sri Ravi Shankar, whose music also extends far beyond his nation and culture, crossing over to uplift the minds and consciousness of millions — Indians and non-Indians alike.

To purposefully digress, my first recollections of Olatunji’s music in the late sixties, my early teens, coincided with a global anti-Vietnam War campaign; much like the present day anti-Iraq War protests. In the United States, Olatunji’s music inspired Puerto Rican revolutionary youth in the Young Lords Movement, as it did their African American comrades, the Black Panther Party.  One fond recollection is a band I formed, Los Varones, which won a music competition with renditions of Olatunji’s “Shango”, Sly and the Family Stone’s “Everyday People” and chants of the mantra “Hari Krishna Hari Rama”.  Education was motivated by trying to understand and positively influence life and not simply trying to make as much money as possible by any means necessary. Olatunji’s son, Kwame and I were good friends at Harvard and it was Kwame who came to me the night before a small group of friends and I had organised a major benefit concert for the liberation movements of Southern Africa, “Amandla: A Festival of Unity” at Harvard Stadium, featuring Bob Marley and the Wailers, Patti Labelle, Eddie Palmieri and Olatunji and offered to video tape what has become the best footage of Bob Marley in existence. 

After Kwame drowned in a river in Ghana, I became good friends of his mother Amybelle, a very spiritual lady and her daughter Modupe, who spent time with our family here in Trinidad.  The greatest experience, even more fantastic than when Babatunde started jamming with Bob Marley playing “Exodus” at the Amandla concert, was when Baba Olatunji officiated at my sister Ramona’s Yoruba wedding.  It’s something I’ll never forget. What all this has to do with the topic is that culture and identity reinforced and promoted self-confidence needed to conduct business successfully and effectively.   Even after many years of campaigning within CAIC on the subject, it is interesting to note that Ernst and Young conducted a poll recently which indicated that 70 percent of the businesses in Trinidad and Tobago did not understand what the Free Trade Area of the Americas, carded for 2005, is or what impact it will likely have on our economy.  The cause for concern is not that our markets will be open to competition from larger economies in the hemisphere, such as the US, Canada, Mexico and Brazil.  It is that we will have negotiated a schedule for their access to our economies without having ensured significant access and competitiveness of products and services from our economies to their markets. The ability to negotiate genuine reciprocity without an inferiority complex or sense of handicap stems from a confidence derived from a positive identity, rooted in our national and regional culture.

Pan and kaiso, soca, tassa and chutney are more than music.  They are expressions of who we are as a people.  They are authentic expressions; not mimicry of the north.  Therefore, they are truth, goodness and beauty. When you hear and experience this culture, it rings true in your heart; as true as Olatunji or Santana playing “Jingo”.  If our business people, our national and regional private sector are to successfully compete in the liberalised, globalised, digital economy, we will have to shift our assemblage points back to the centre of who we really are, what we can produce and distribute better than others. We certainly have the examples of indigenous entrepreneurial success with integrity to emulate and motivate us.  Some business icons who have left or are leaving must be remembered for this purpose: Cyril Duprey, Bolan Amar, Sydney Knox, Gopichan Ramsaran, Ken Gordon and Grace Talma are just a few. These men and women are sterling examples of business leaders of integrity who did not cut corners or sully their reputations on the road to success.  Rather, they demonstrated good corporate citizenship, patriotism and support for the indigenous culture of Trinidad and Tobago and the Caribbean. To conclude, our culture and our unique Caribbean identity is our business.  For this enterprise to flourish, it has to be nourished; not with violence, kidnapping, cheating; but with ingenuity, innovation and the sweat that comes from an honest, hard day’s work.  It is said that “Work is worship”.  So let’s give praise children.  We have a lot to do.