It is time for us to be honest with ourselves

Fri, Jul 19, 2011

Editor: There is hardly anyone who would doubt that the country is facing challenging times. However, we cannot throw our hands in the air or raise the white flag in surrender. It is time to sit and discuss our challenges openly and honestly.{{more}} Very often, we do not have honest discussions because persons often say the things that they think that their bosses would like to hear, even though they do not believe it deep within themselves. It may be in order to get a promotion or a personal favour. The question is, does it really make sense to be in a position where you have to sacrifice your principles?

One thing that clearly has to change is our mentality. Very often, when anyone tells me about the need for technology transfer, I often reply that this should follow a mentality transfer. We must change our mindset if we are to be successful in overcoming our challenges. One of the most distressing statements I often hear is, “I am grateful for whatever little God gives.” As one writer put it, “We must be happy, but never contented.” This is because we should always be striving to achieve more. However, in the process, we should not exploit anyone. We ought to strive to achieve more as a people.

One thing I observe is that some persons seem to think that they have the monopoly on ideas. Even if there is an open discussion, it ends up becoming a discussion on their idea. As a result, we do not have a lot of ideas coming from our people. We ought to be a society that functions on ideas which should come from as broad a cross-section of our society as possible. We have to create the environment where we can constantly discuss ideas.

We often think of the hard workers as the ones who are constantly involved in the use of their hands and feet. However, in other societies, the hardest workers are the ones who have to constantly use their brains. Persons constantly involved in the use of their hands and feet hardly stop and take time out to think.

It is time to start a new era in our development. Let us sit down as a nation and discuss our challenges. We must put our personal differences aside and let ideas flow freely.

Mystic