Dear Editor,
Many years ago, as postmaster, I went to Holland to attend a postal affairs training. Didn’t learn anything new, as far as the running of a post office was concerned, but there were postmasters there from all over the globe and I did learn some valuable things about big independent countries.
On the first morning there was a map of the world in front of the class and everyone was asked to introduce himself, point out his country on the map and say a few words about his country and culture.
One postmaster from Africa had never seen the ocean; his country Lesotho is surrounded on all sides by other vast land masses. From him I also learned that in Africa, acres of land are given free of charge to people who want to farm.
Two postmasters from China happily announced they actually knew each other in China. They were close neighbours back home; they only had to travel 12 hours by train to visit each other.
During the course of the training I was told by one of the Dutch instructors that “They are not really interested in learning about postal affairs, but only come here for the money.” (Each participant was given an x number of euros per week) Upon further inquiry I learned that the two postmasters from independent Egypt earned the equivalent of about a hundred guilders a month.
Another African postmaster whispered to me she had gone to the hospital across the street from the hotel to inquire about a job. She was willing to accept just about anything they had to offer. This told me that the salary of a postmaster in big independent Africa was nothing to brag about.
When it was my turn I had a surprise for them too. I told them I would love to show them my country, but I couldn’t, because it was way too tiny to be placed on a world map. From the corner of my eye I could see the big smile on the face of our Dutch instructor, but I have not forgotten the many puzzled faces I saw that day. They all looked at me in total disbelief. You have to be joking, Mr. Hodge, how is it possible that your country is not on the map? Not even a small dot?
These non-postal things I learned had me puzzled and made me appreciate my tiny dependent dot in the ocean a lot more. Did or did not this prosperity come from being Dutch? Yet, some politicians – current and former – are openly talking about independence for St. Maarten, while others are hinting at it with a measure of uncertainty. A former Minister is calling for a referendum to move the island in that direction.
Have they given it long and serious thought or do they just want to go down in our history book as the ones who saved the people of St. Maarten from the domineering Dutch, regardless of the outcome? What would their real motive be in pursuing independence from Holland? Do they want freedom from supervision; from a higher authority that’s restricting them from doing as they please?
Let’s consider the following. We have more than 100 non-Dutch nationalities living on the Dutch side of the island. If being under the Dutch is so bad, why have thousands of foreigners – from all over the globe – flocked to St. Maarten? It is obvious they have done so to be able to support their families back home in their “independent” countries. Millions of untaxed dollars leave this tiny island via courier services every month to the other Caribbean islands, even to independent countries countless times bigger than our dot in the ocean.
The word independence means “not dependent,” not having to depend on anyone and anything else. No country in this world is independent, even if many of them think they are. Even if we ignore our extremely small landmass and population, the first prerequisite for independence would be a competent and stable Government, and it is clear we don’t have one. Suggesting that our 17-square-mile half-an-island can survive independently is completely ludicrous.
However, I do believe there are independent people, namely politicians who have been in Government for decades and have accumulated their millions over the years. Poverty brought on by independence would have absolutely no effect on such individuals, other than having to relocate their families.
Clive Hodge
