Let’s join hands to build the nation

I had the privilege of calling the father of George Bovell the III in Athens a few days after he had placed third and won a bronze medal at the Olympics, to extend my sincerest congratulations to him. During our conversation he told me that they would be returning to Trinidad on August 31 and invited me to a function that was planned in his son’s honour on Friday September 3, 2004 at 7.30 pm. I was again remined by one of his assistants on Thursday to ensure that I would be present. On Friday night I arrived a bit late due to the fact that I had to wait for someone to accompany me there. On my arrival I was greeted by a true Trini crowd, people of all different ethnic backgrounds, the food, drinks and music that included chutney and calypso was a true reflection of the people of Trinidad and Tobago.

Later on in the night I was introduced to Mr Bovell’s special guest who was 102 years old, only to realise that it was Mr Blade who happens to be the oldest customer in our group of companies. There was a brief official ceremony where all three generations of George Bovell’s thanked each and everyone for their assistance and support in helping George the III in achieving his goal, from their speeches I remembered a piece of advise given to me by my late father Mr Ramlal Maharaj, which is, to be successful in life we must aim high likewise we must accept success and failure with the same temperament. Man plans but only God decides. After the brief ceremony, George the second announced that his son’s trainer, Anil Roberts was present in the audience and called upon him to say a few words. When he addressed the gathering he described George the III as an athlete of honour, a simple human being and that he is very proud of being his trainer and was happy to be associated with the entire Bovell family.

An interesting thing to note is that the mother of George the III is a Tobagonian and as we all know his father is a born Trinidad from the village of Mayaro, this makes him a true Trinbagonian, half Trindad and half Tobago. On the other hand I realised that Anil Roberts was accompanied by his mother, an Indian lady dressed in a sari and his father Al Roberts, with whom I was acquainted with for serveral years. It had now dawned on me that the entire nation stood firmly behind George the III, a true Trinbagonian who was trained by a true son of the soil. A few Afro and Indo Trinidadians whose minds are set on hating and competing against one another, what are you all going to do now, stop supporting George the III? The choice is yours; it is now time to stop looking at the petty things in life and start supporting the more important things that will bring success and benefits to the entire nation.

In light of all the above we are now faced with the choice of either dropping George the III and Anil in the ocean between Trindad and Tobago or giving them the honour, recognition and place in society that they really deserve. Maybe it is the opportune time to rename the Trinity Cross, the highest award in the nation, to the “George III and Anil Gold Medal.” The crux of the matter is that we have just celebrated 42 years of independence and have not built a nation with one people; we are still discussing the Trinity Cross. It may sound stupid but let us reflect on the reason why this name may be a considered a good suggestion as a replacement for the Trinity Cross. Trinity — Christian — God the Father, Son and Holy Ghost
Hinduism — Brahma, Vishnu and Mahase. When Christopher Columbus discovered Trinidad, he named the island La Trinity because he saw three mountain peaks.

Let us now examine George and Anil. George III — Mother born in Tobago and father from Trinidad — half  Trinidad, half Tobago. Anil — Born from the womb of a mother of Indian decent and a father of African decent. Anil and George are true “Trinity” from Trindad and Tobago — from African, Indian and White origin. George the III repersents the vehicle and Anil the driver, by which means they were able to bring the first Olympic medal in swimming to Trindad and Tobago and the Caribbean. George and Anil’s gold medal could also identify with all races that make us a unique nation. I would like to see the promise made by the Prime Minister to build a stadium with an Olympic size swimming pool with world-class facilities constructed as soon as possible, bearing the name the George and Anil Stadium.

Finally, I call on the nation to wake up and smell the coffee. Let us join hands and start to build a nation, one people, one race, the human race, one religion, the religion of love. Look around the world and see the loss of innocent lives which is a direct result of political leaders and others all fighting in the quest to hold on to power for their personal gain or cause. We pray that the Supreme Being does not allow this to happen in our beloved island of Trinidad and Tobago.