Goodbye to TT paradise

THE EDITOR: I am writing this letter in response the news I read about the father of two who was murdered and found in a pond. As a first generation American born to parents from Trinidad and Tobago, I am horrified and disappointed to see what Trinidad has become. It is not the Trinidad that my father and mother spoke about so fondly as I was growing up. It is not the Trinidad that I experienced in the late sixties and early seventies when my parents sent me over for summer holiday. Trinidadians must ask themselves some serious questions about the future of their country. Those of us in the United States and England who emigrated for opportunity must also ask and ponder what will be the destiny of the country that bore them. There were times gone by in Trinidad when a man or women could walk the streets from a dance. Now bandits are coming into parties and robbing people for their possessions. People are not even safe travelling the road from the airport after a journey.

This was evident when a man who came to Trinidad to surprise his mother was killed. Kidnappings, murders, AIDS and drugs are destroying this once beautiful paradise. There was a time when hard work was honourable, now greed and corruption saturate every facet of Government and society. There was a time when a drink of rum in a rum shop or dance was sufficient, now crack cocaine and marijuana are destroying a generation and is the driving force of the greed and corruption in this country. In addition to this, there is a subtle yet ever dangerous problem that Trinidad must come to terms with, and this is the racism that has sprung its ugly head. This subtle racism which I witnessed first hand in 1997 has the makings of a future civil war or racial genocide if it is not checked; one only has to see what happened in Rwanda or Kosovo. Indians and Afros are born Trinidadians who both have equal rights to economic and political opportunity. However if this goes on where Indians deny opportunities to Afros and Afros deny Indians opportunities, civil unrest will no longer be a discussion in a rum shop or bar but a reality. Collectively all Trinidadians must address these problems, however this is not the reason for my article.

I was saddened to see that a father of two was so brutally killed and for what? His life is of no value in Trinidad? Has money and drugs become more valuable than life itself? I cannot help but feel that my country America is indirectly responsible in some way for the state of Trinidad’s moral decay which ultimately led to the death of Carlos Phillip. In America drug crime contributes to more deaths than natural causes. The need to get quick money and materialistic things in life has driven the youth of America to have no value for life. What will Mrs Stoute tell her two children about why their father is not coming home? What will Christmas be like for this family in years to come? What effects has this had or will it have on Mrs Stoute and her children? My last question is to the murderers of Mr Phillip. Have you thought about the son who will have no father to play cricket or football with or the daughter whose father will never walk her down the ailse on her wedding day? Was his blood worth it?

Are the new clothes or fast cars worth the blood you spilled? What will you say to your God on judgement day when you are brought to account for his blood that stains your hands? In closing I knew Mr Phillip very well, he and I spent the better part of Carnival 1997 together and I never witnessed any inappropriate behaviour or drug transactions. He was a family man who enjoyed life. He was why people came to Trinidad; he was the type of person that represented the island well at home and abroad. The newspapers of Trinidad need not destroy the character of Carlos Phillip. Mr Phillip and any of the 227 people who have died this past year as a result of murder are victims of a society that is in decay and it will only get worse, not better. Carnival will only help Trinidad to forget about this side of her for a brief moment but the reality of it will not go away. I was planning to bring my family to Trinidad this year because my children need to know about their roots, however a country that cannot protect its own citizens is unlikely to protect my family and me. May Mr Carlos Phillip rest in peace and may God bless Trinidad and Tobago.

MAURICE MURRAY
Baltimore, USA