Dear Editor,

  As an anthropologist, historian, and political analyst, I want to commend Sir Alex Rosario for his article entitled “How a charity almost got away with kidnapping 103 African children” (Daily Herald, April 28, 2021).

  Now, not only the story (the act) was evil. But it also portrays a nasty and as we say here in these Islands, a dirty act. All through the centuries past Europeans were known for stealing other peoples’ children. It is not from this day and age. The practice did not start on the island of Haiti.

  For us Black People in these Caribbean Islands, it all started 500 years back with the Atlantic slave trade – bringing men, women and children to the Americas. Historical photo-records show the thousands of “Black Children” that arrived in Europe, North America, the Caribbean to serve the various purposes of kings and queens, white slave-masters, plantation-owners, bankers, business people, etc.

  For us here in these Caribbean Islands, some of our very first black ancestors came as young children that occupied and worked “hard-labour” in order to feed the evil institution of slavery. The “wicked” act of stealing other cultures, other “peoples’”, other “nations’” children is a inné European behaviour. It cannot be erased from their genes. It cannot be erased from their DNA. It cannot be erased from their psyche nor their “mind of thought”.

  Thiefing peoples’ children is one of their “evil” attributes committed upon the very first inhabitants of Canada and American, the Native Indians. The Europeans did the same in South America with the advent of Alvares Cabral and his crew accompanied by their Catholic god to Brésil in 1500. They uprooted, destroyed and killed Amerindians and took away thousands of their children to Spain, to be the “playing-objects”, amusements and abuse of all manner to people of importance (aristocrats, nobles) in those bygone societies.

  Likewise and when the white European colonizers arrived in Australia, they too accompanied by their religious institutions brought hurt, shame and destruction to the very first inhabitants of the vast continent, the Aborigines’ families, as the colonizers ripped away children from their mothers’ arms.

  Today and in our day and age, can we ever fathom the emotional, physical and mental pain and abuse the children suffered from the hands of cruel white colonizers and their religious accomplices.

  The thiefing of other nations’ children by the ancestors of present-day Europeans in Africa, Asia (l’isle de la Réunion), in the Americas is not of today nor is the nasty practice of paedophilia.

  Who adult in his right mind would want to have sex with a child?

  What manner of human being would open a “Café” in order to sexually-traffick childen into such an evil?!

  In the third edition (Tome III) of my book Le Dictionnaire des Bons et Mauvais Amours (or Good and Bad Sexual Affairs) there is a Chapter entitled “Amour Pédo-Criminalité” where I bring to the readers’ attention that “nous avons tous un travail à faire et une grande responsabilité. A savoir, ne jamais cesser de dénoncer ce <mal>.”

  Child abuse, child-sex-trade, and child prostitution is my business, your business, everybody’s business.

  Paedophile organizations are criminal organizations!

Beverly Richardson

The author of many books.

Dear Editor,

  Do politicians continuously only think of themselves and never do what they are elected to do? Politicians are not put in government to make hay for themselves by making use of the mishaps and misfortune of the public. Again, they are put there to take care of the needs of the people. I still cannot understand why the dismissal of a civil servant was the cause of a meeting of Parliament. And why should the Minister concerned be publicly questioned about it while Parliament is infringing on the rights to privacy of the civil servant? If the real intention was to guarantee the rights of that civil servant, why not direct her or refer her to the competent authorities – in this case the Ombudsman or the Ambtenaren Rechter?

  In my opinion, the government is playing along with whatever certain members of Parliament are getting away with and that demonstrates a certain sign of weakness. MPs [Members of Parliament – Ed.] Wescot and Emmanuel publicly used the rights of privacy of that civil servant and did what has become commonplace in the government of St. Maarten: politicize it and, as it were, scheming her into believing that they were going to bat for her.

  If I read well, the weak Minister felt backed in a corner and did not say anything positive on the performance of that civil servant. So now my question is: “If that young lady seeks employment elsewhere, what kind of a reference letter would she obtain from government to go along with her diploma(s)?

  When will enough be enough? As long as one knows how to reckon, two and two will add up to four. When I read that article I thought of several known sayings like the one about “long rope…” and “what sweeten’ goat mouth”, etc. And my mathematical mind also produced a temporary formula which is T+E=>NAUP. But I believe that it is proven that K+A+R+M+A is the permanent formula. . .

Russell A, Simmons

Dear fellow countrymen,  More than a year ago, our beautiful island was closed in response to the then-flaring corona pandemic. That heralded a period of uncertain and fearful days, weeks, months. For a while, it seemed to go better. Now it seems like we are back to square one. Especially now, on King’s Day, I had hoped for more freedom of movement. Even here in this palace, where it is normally so lively around this time, the silence is palpable. But the coronavirus has not yet been completely tamed.  And yet, while the numbers are still troubling and health care workers are working overtime, it looks like things are slowly turning around. In the press conference on April 15, the Prime Minister aptly put it: the tipping point is approaching, the point at which the vaccine will gain the upper hand over the virus. Until then, it is a matter of persistence. It is not that we can neglect measures to prevent the virus from spreading further. It is still important to avoid contacts and to observe other applicable safety regulations. This goes against our wishes and feelings. We like to give each other “brasas” (hugs). But now that is not possible.  We cannot ignore it, the coronavirus is taking a heavy toll on our society. To everyone who has to miss a loved one due to corona. To people who are ill or who are struggling with the physical and mental aftermath of the virus. On the elderly and young people who have to deal with stress or loneliness because of social limitations. To all our business owners and to people who have lost or are at risk of losing their jobs. I am with you in my mind.  But I am convinced that the tradition we stand in will help us get through this difficult time. Each of us individually, but also our country as a whole. “Love your neighbor as yourself”, this means to me: look after one another, help one another, comfort one another. Exactly what we now see happening in our neighborhoods, where neighbors help each other to get groceries, or pay extra attention to those who can now receive fewer visitors. Support each other unconditionally regardless of religion, origin, or background. Many people from Curaçao recognize themselves in this and that makes me proud.  Within our kingdom, we also know cultural traditions that sometimes differ greatly from each other. Our collective history has seen bitter periods as well as times of hope and expectation. Despite the – sometimes large – differences in experience and perception that exist, we have been united in a kingdom for more than two centuries. That is significant. Without covering up differences of opinion, it is good to have an eye for what connects us. Also within the kingdom, we look after each other and we support each other. The examples of this have also been numerous in recent times; dozens of healthcare workers from the Netherlands who arrived at Hato at the beginning of this month to assist their colleagues in the CMC, food aid that the Dutch government makes available through the Red Cross, 30,000 extra vaccines that were delivered urgently by the Dutch government, the help that Defense offers in vaccinating our population and in maintaining public order and Aruba sheltering patients to relieve pressure on our ICU. And in turn, we were able to help our Kingdom members from Bonaire with care for their patients when needed.  This is an ideal day to appreciate and celebrate our unique connection with the 4 countries of the Kingdom and the 3 public entities. Together we are strong!  As between people, expressing gratitude between countries is not always easy. Expressing appreciation can make a person appear vulnerable because it recognizes that one is indebted to another. Yet it is important that we express gratitude not only as human beings to each other but also as countries within the Kingdom. Not as a sign of weakness but as a sign of strength. More than ever, these tokens of appreciation between people, but also between our fellow kingdoms, are of essential significance.  On March 19, many of you exercised your democratic right to vote. That was important. The next government will be given the heavy responsibility of, among other things, getting the economy back on track, which has been hit hard by the corona crisis. Recent times have shown that constructive cooperation within the Kingdom can contribute to this. Undersecretary Knops recently described cooperation within the Kingdom with the word “huntu”; only together can we progress within the Kingdom.  In line with the measures in force, it has been decided that this year, as in the previous year, no King’s Day reception, and for the time being no King’s Games and Ribbon Rain, can take place. The day before yesterday I also conveyed this message to the 32 citizens of Curaçao whom I was able to inform on behalf of His Majesty, King Willem-Alexander, that they will be decorated with a royal decoration for their many years of special service to the Curaçao community. I would like to congratulate the recipients once again on their honorable distinction. I look forward to meeting and embracing not only the recipients but all of you.  I would like to toast the health of our Majesty King Willem Alexander and the merits of our recipients. We celebrate King’s Day 2021 at home, from a distance, but together.  Long live the King.
Lucille George-WoutGovernor of Curaçao

Dear Editor,

  Seemingly, there is an inherent yearning residing somewhere within the biological or psychological make-up of humans that’s driving and beckoning us to become better than who we are. We are constantly striving as a species to ax our old, unhealthy, and non-productive habits and practices that are frustratingly inhibiting our forward march and progress. Like a shadow to an object, we are seldomly unaccompanied by the images and forms of what we envision to be our best selves. The change we are desirous of realizing for ourselves keeps us in a never-ending laborious mental march. We are constantly employing rigorous self-discipline to feed essential virtues necessary for reforming ourselves while starving vices that are counter-productive to the change we seek.

  This innate longing that possesses and dwells in us and often commands us to leave our old selves behind and welcome the possibility of being born anew apparently has its origin in man’s fall from grace, and his subsequent odyssey trying to regain paradise lost. We seem unable or rather ill-equipped to erase or undo this impulsive need and powerful will we share to change ourselves and others. But if the possibility of reforming ourselves is an illusion and our mind is tricking us into believing that we are the sole agents of our reformation when in fact we are just passively responding to determinism and fate, then what’s the point of all our mental exertions?

  Who benefits from cleverly persuading us that we are the exclusive initiators and executors of the change we tirelessly seek? Whose agendas, albeit many times a manipulative one, are we serving unaware of the futility of trying to change ourselves in the face of determinism and fate? Who among us can say with any degree of scientific certainty that the possibility of self-change resides exclusively within our domain? Do we enjoy absolute dominion and sovereignty over the all-too-present biological and environmental factors that are constantly influencing the outcomes we are desirous of bringing about?

  The foregoing are some of the many uncertainties we face which have naturally provided a niche for the numerous change movements and their multi-billion-dollar self-help industry. The message that threads through these change movements is that we are the sole most powerful determinants of the spiritual, mental, and material alterations we crave in our lives.

  Many self-change materials purporting to offer road-maps to the change we desperately long for come wrapped in unsuspecting packages lined with carefully written and spoken words filled with pseudo-scientific information. From Rhonda Byrne’s The Secret to Echart Tolle’s The Power of Now and Dwanye Dyer’s podcast we are bombarded with scores of scientifically unverified methods, “new thoughts”, mantras and self-affirmations which excitingly promise self-transformation. But every so often we nevertheless allow ourselves to be duped, succumbing to the superficial messages of these agents of change who are cleverly and subtly more preoccupied with controlling our cognitive maps; what we think. We lazily outsource our thinking to these agents of change, relieving us of the burden to figure things out for ourselves.

  Whenever we fall prey to the persuasive and emotionally rich language of advocates of self-reformation, we fail to critically interrogate what is before us. And usually omitted from the literature of these new thought movements for change are some hard and inflexible truths, one of which is the need for us to first know who we are before attempting to change ourselves. It’s a Sisyphean task to change oneself while being in ignorance of oneself. Self-knowledge is an essential preliminary to self-change. But can we know ourselves? Well, so far, we seem to partially know that we are part reason, part animal, and mostly a collection of particles subject to the laws of chance. So, how then should we embark on our journeys to change ourselves in the face of such conflicting, uncontrollable, and largely unknown aspects of ourselves?

Orlando Patterson