Happy to have met ah lovely lady

Man, as much as ah would love to heckle de PM dis Carnival weekend, on prince-apple ah can’t. Ah sticking to de instructions of King Solomon who received de Gift of Wisdom from de Lord, but squandered it, but who wrote ” Ah time to die and ah time to mourn.” Our PM is mourning de loss of his dear Mother. Years ago ah met her at ah goat-cook in Congo Valley and couldn’t resist meeting dis beautiful lady. Mischievously, ah asked her if dey was an exchange at de Hospital when Ralph was born; great sense ah humour she had, she said: “Are yuh trying to say dat Ralph is not good looking?” Lovely Lady dat, and my sympathy goes out to de PM, who has lost Mummy’s good looks years ago.

HAS PAN GONE THRU?

Dey was a noticeable drop in de number of Steel Bands participating in Junior Pan dis year, and ah noticeable dip in de standard as well. Dey was no C.W. Prescod or St Joseph’s Convent, as only four bands participated in the Schools section, leaving GHS absolutely no challenge in making it ‘Four in ah Row’! And in de Community-based section of the competition, deys was no South East. Starlift, wid ah poor selection of song, was an excuse to de real Starlift, so too was de promising Rhythmix; therefore, Sion Hill had an easy win. But de real competition on Sunday was between Principals Erene Richardson’s Marriaqua Primary School and Miriam Pompey’s Bethel High, two Best Friends and Sisters in de same Church at Mespo. Bethel High narrowly won and Miriam is not de person to control her bragging rights, and de Erene ah know is not taking dat sitting down. Come Sunday, ah will add more fuel to dey fire.

Pan woman, Lie-Za, ‘de woman-on-de bass’ thinks dat GHS was de best band on display at Junior Pan 2017. Congrats GHS for ah fitting farewell gift to Headmistress Andrea Bowman who leaves behind ah challenging “Bench Mark,” if I may use de language of my profession. And thank you Mrs Bowman foh keeping GHS No 1 and foh doing ah great job on our girls, mine included.

Talking bout ‘Bench Mark’ eh! Ah drop in de standard in Junior Panorama could be a bad indicator in de general development of Pan in de country. One ah de problem is de date of de Festival, which goes back to 1977, when de Festival was changed to June/July. While dat date might ah bin I-deal foh Summer Visitors, dey was ah serious oversight, as de period leading up to de Festival, was also de period leading up to school examinations – de CPEA, CXC, CSEC/CAPE. Education is still de key to success and while our young people will love to participate fully in making costumes, practising foh Panorama and rehearsing dey Kaisos in de Band-room, dey can’t or will not shift from first priority! And dis is ah casualty, ah serious one too in Vincy Mas. Let us not fool ourselves, de youths should be ah major component in any development of our country. Unless we intend to go down de detached and destructive path we say is Vincy Mas, Lie-Za say right now “Vincy Mas is ah Festival of Fetes!” She even name ah few: “Wet Fete! Clean Water Fete! I Love Rum Fete! Dirty Sexy Soca Fete or reach Climax Fete! Oh foh ah good Clean Fete at Aquatic or Crows Nest. Carnival is suppose to be We Culture, but ah don’t care to be ah youth in 2017. And wid dat is gone ah gone again.

Bassy Alexander is a land surveyor, folklorist and social commentator.