BEST WEEK EVER:

He might not be Vincentian, but on a global scale, American business tycoon Donald Trump is undoubtedly having the best week ever. Scratch that – he’s having the best life ever! Despite the multitude of naysayers, Trump will be sworn in as the 45th president of the United States of America. Political analysts the world over wrote at length about why Trump would lose to the Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton.{{more}} The man himself probably expected defeat too; which would explain his pre-Election Day rants about the US electoral system being fraudulent and corrupt. Oh, to have been a fly on the wall when he realized that victory was his!

St Vincent and the Grenadines is receiving a thrashing from Mother Nature that has been ongoing (intermitently) for the past couple months. Not even fully recovered from Tropical Storm Matthew, SVG is once again being pummelled by the weather — this time a trough system. The damage has been significant. In addition to landslides, destruction of homes, damage to agriculture/crops and road safety being compromised, there has also — more sadly — been loss of young lives. We can only urge all our citizens to continue to be vigilant and stay safe, while the authorities do their best to help us recover.

After reading articles heaping praise on a man who donated his body to a local medical school, ‘Angus Geraldus’ (presumably a pseudonym) wished for his body to be used in the same way following his death. He offered his body to all three local medical schools, only to be rejected by all three. So irked was he by this apparent snub, that he penned letters of complaint in all three newspapers. “What’s wrong with a Vincentian national’s corpse?” he asked. We don’t have an answer to that, but we imagine that posthumous rejection — even before you’ve given up this mortal coil — has got to sting!

If I had a question in SVG Parliament

I would ask the Minister of Health to please state if there is presently a psychiatrist employed in the service of the Government of St Vincent and the Grenadines and if not, what efforts have been, and are being made to recruit one or more such professionals. The existing staff at the Mental Health Centre are most likely doing the best they can with the resources at hand, but let’s be honest, our attitude towards mental illness is antiquated and our mental health system is in need of serious, sustainable attention. Failure to act not only affects the patients needing care, but puts the entire society at risk.

Media Watch

Doom, gloom, more doom, and even more gloom. That’s the way the offerings from most media houses in SVG go these days. But what about the positive contributions of Vincentians at home and abroad? We’re not saying that we should bury our heads in the sand when it comes to the ills of society; far from it. But with these dark clouds constantly hovering overhead, is it not also important to give the people hope? Where is that silver lining?