…Men’s Day?
In case you didn’t know, Friday was International Men’s Day (IMD). It’s not sanctioned by the UN; they instead commemorate UN International Toilet Day on Nov 19!! Imagine that!! Your Eyewitness wonders whether they’re signalling what they think of men with that gesture. Toilet? Never mind, 80 countries across the world do recognise the same day set aside for men – including Guyana.
What’s interesting about IMD is that it was started back in Feb 1992, but was commemorated only by tiny Malta. But they switched in 2009 after a Trini by the name of Jerome Teelucksingh announced to UNESCO that he was celebrating IMD on Nov 19, which was his father’s birthday!! And the rest is history!! So, with a Trini kicking off a day for men, the mind is boggled as to what he thought ought to be done!! The limbo?
Turns out there are “Six Pillars of IDM”. These are: (1) To promote positive male role models; not just movie stars and sportsmen, but every-day, working-class men who are living decent, honest lives. (2) To celebrate men’s positive contributions to society, community, family, marriage, child care, and to the environment. (3) To focus on men’s health and wellbeing; social, emotional, physical, and spiritual. (4) To highlight discrimination against males; in areas of social services, social attitudes and expectations, and law. (5) To improve gender relations and promote gender equality. (6) To create a safer, better world; where people can be safe and grow to reach their full potential. All your Eyewitness can say is that it doesn’t look like that Trini fella had much to do with the “Pillars”. Not even a mention of a River Lime every weekend?
Well, this year’s theme was “Better relations between men and women.” Now, this is always a good thing, since all we have in this world are men and women. And if we can’t have good relations between them, life is certainly gonna be “nasty, short and brutish”!! Let’s face it fellas, it’s women who give us the nicer things in life and make it worth living. It’s not for nothing we call women our “better half”. In fact, in Indian Philosophy, women are seen as the provider of all energy that drive human existence. We male slobs are seen as inert matter without them!!
Anyhow, in Guyana, the Ministry of Human Services and Social Security held a panel discussion with men – mostly from the army! – dubbed “EngageMENt”. (Got the (pained) pun?) The thrust of the discussions seemed to be about getting men to share more responsibilities in the homes, and to work to reduce violence against women.
OK…but what happened to the Trini’s call that “Men wanna have fun”?
…our oil fame
Have you noticed all the attention we’re getting now that we struck oil? Seems that the furriners who’re flocking our shores don’t know – as the Opposition and other critics insist – that things are actually quite “brown”. To listen to the naysayers, you’d believe that we’re fast sinking into some bottomless pit of darkness, rather than slowly building the foundation for our economic and social takeoff.
But the furriners know better – one bigwig from the UK even said we’re one of the fastest growing economies in the entire world!! This must mean SOMETHING, shouldn’t it? The problem with the Opposition and the naysayers is that they want the Government to wave a wand and have everything fixed right away. But we know that ain’t gonna happen, don’t we? It takes time, for instance, to build the infrastructure necessary to support a modern economy. And it ain’t just roads, bridges and hotels; it includes a modern financial system. Have you had to withdraw money from a bank recently?
Yep! Stone Age!!
…COVID-decreased fatalities
With COVID…you gotta always keep your fingers crossed. But it does appear that, barring the appearance of a new strain, we’ve turned the corner on the COVID pandemic.
Take THAT, vaccine-hesitant enablers!
