Adios 2018, Bienvenido 2019

WELL, WELL WELL said de ole man. What ah Christ-Mas! Barrels by the thousands, long lines wid happy faces, daily cashing remittances at Western Union and Money Gram, Shoppers storming de stores from Sunday to Sunday, even members of those Religious Organ-I-sayshun dat does be pon Radio and TV condemning de Celeb-bray-shun of Christ-Mas, calling it derogatory Pagan Festival, found it convenient to shop, buy and sell during de Season, Sabbath or no Sabbath!
We might be far from 100 per cent correct with regards to de exact day or month on which Christ was born, but we will not be chastised by de Father if we celebrate His Son’s birth, death and Resurrect- shun!

Christ-Mas is my fair-foh-it Season. Yes de Food, de Music, de Shopping, de Lights, de Gift exchanges and so on. But best of all I have great respect foh “de Reason foh de Season!” And this is because ah strongly believe in de Power of de Catholic Church Novenas, dat is ah Nine Day period set aside foh Private and Public Devotions, to obtain special Graces and offer other Prayer Requests foh all sorts of Imminent Needs.

That Nine Day Period (Novena) before Christmas, when Catholics and Anglicans throughout SVG meet to offer special Prayers foh de nay-shun, is wuking miracles. Simply do de Maths, read de Newspapers, or check de Police records foh December, see how de Crime sit-yuhhere- shun compares wid de other months. May I suggest for de umpteenth time to de Churches, forget bout de Go-venommint, hold at least three or four Novenas throughout de year: “ Easter, Emancipation, In-de-pen-dance and Christ-Mas.” And de Demons will Flee!

De local Nine Mornings Committee dat promotes SVG’s Christmas Cultural Festival dat coincides wid de date of de Catholic Church Novena, continues to attract large crowds. Again I say it is commendable, dat de Committee is holding on to its original format: “Devotions, Praise and Worship, den street concert.” Widout being critical, de Committee needs invigorating! Some fresh young faces wid new blood. De I-dare of “A Christmas Express Ride around Kingstown” needs to be revisited.

Lie-Za say ah must say Adios to 2018. She lived in fear all year as young criminals ruled de roost wid Guns. De Media had a feast all year too, covering story after story on Murders, Rapes, Robberies, Kid-napping etc. Lie-Za has some info, dat mek her want to bet dat while it is commendable to say dat close to 100 of our young students receive scholarships and bursaries to Universities, dat 98 youngsters of similar ages are awaiting trial on murder charges. And nearly three times dat number of young people, also of similar ages were arrested, charged and many imprisoned foh criminal activities. Imagine ah young man was fired, arrested, charged and discharged foh stealing and eating ah slice ah cake from his Employer, another foh ah piece ah dough-boy. Empathy gone out de window!

Lie-Za was in tears when she said dat our young people are like an endangered species. Dey run ah-foul wid de Law, get arrested, beaten, abused, charged, and sentenced. Our young women and under-aged girls getting raped. Imagine two young men convicted of raping a 12-year-old and get two years in jail.

De You-Gee Farrel Saga turns out to be an embarrassment foh our Trial System and by ex-tenshun de Go-venom-mint. Dat poor girl was abused, de story dat should ah bin like ah still born baby, was blown too far out ah proportion. She was Prosecuted or is it Persecuted, went on Try-all, sent to de mental home to prove her sanity, and den when de sh—t hit de Fan, she was Vindicated, Case dismissed.

One ah de High Point in de year was de Marie- Warn-her Euphoria. De Law is passed foh SVG chosen farmers to cultivate Marie Warnher. Lie-Za calls it Rasta Euphoria as de Holy Herb is expected to bring dem de 3H’s: ah Higher High, Health and Happiness. She however feels dat ah lot ah Rastas are about to go to Prison foh lack of overstanding and information of de new Law.

So in ah few days, we will say “adios 2018 y bienvenido 2019.” Blessings foh de New Year and wid dat, is gone ah gone again!

0ne Love Bassy

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