Dear Editor,
There are certain things that happen in life which when I experience them make me teary-eyed. I listened to an excerpt of an interview and it reminded me of one of the almost daily advices I got from my father. He always reminded us not to lie because “two wrongs don’t make a right”. Over the years I have heard all kinds of reasons why people react to certain behavior the way they did. If they would react in a way that is reasonable, it would be understandable to me, but “paying back in own coin” is not the solution to resolve a problem.
If you are paying back that is not self-defense, that is paying back, which makes you equal to your so-called offender.
I am of the opinion that too many people on St. Maarten are of the opinion or under the impression that they are entitled to a whole lot of things, which they are not. Again I put the cause of the lack of civics and basic laws of the land, which if instructed in the schools would eventually let everyone know where their boundaries are. Because if I did something that in one’s opinion is not correct (acceptable) this does not give another person the right to do the same thing and not expect a reaction. Again, two wrongs do not make a right.
I understood from a child that not because something is not against the law (an offense in the law) that makes it the right thing to do. This comes with a sense of integrity. Which sadly to have to say is not regularly displayed by those who, because of protocol, we should expect if from.
What I experienced in 1970 when I first came to Sint Maarten compared to what is happening today makes me ask where and why. I know that the nucleus of the population has changed, but I must also add that the temperament of the politicians has not helped. The expression is “… at.any cost”. We have had a lot of investigations involving high-placed government employees and all of those investigations involved illegal handling of monies. Why are there so many churches on St. Maarten?. What part of Romans 13:1-7 did none of those politicians understand, or is it their nature to ignore what is the right thing to do, just like they are ignoring the plight of the people?
Before continuing I have this question. Is it not normal for any self-respecting person who when expecting visitors to, what we would say here “straighten up the house”? So why is it such a big thing now for aspiring politicians too, because ( just like any other government in the kingdom has done for years) the St. Maarten government has decided to patch up the holes in the road, in connection with the visit of the royal family? This is letting us know from the onset, what kind of politician we could expect.
Now this. Since when have those roundabouts been in place? So, let me ask this. If I was Prime Minister at least twice since 10-10-’10, and had promised never to use link-one or link-two, why all of a sudden the interest to spruce up the Cay Hill roundabout? Which link is that a part of? And what would “not taking care of our own” during the time that I was in charge say about me?
Again I have to insist that it is never personal, because I too put myself out there for 41 years, knowing that there would be retaliation, but I did not fool the people, neither some of the time nor did I try to all of the time. I served and protected them to the best of my ability all of the time. I did not rely on the people to forget, otherwise I would be relying on them to forget the so many unfulfilled promises made.
When I read “Not that the other roundabouts are that exemplary either”, I said to myself it is either memory loss or G.A is in opposition. There is a saying “The only way for evil to be triumphant is for good people to do nothing”. So permit me via you to ask those who are expected to do the right thing. It takes much more energy to concentrate on not doing the right thing and then we forget because it is not genuine.
Russell A.Simmons
