Letter to the Editor

This morning I sent this letter off to our three daily newspapers.


The Editor:

Someone once advised me: "If you agree to pay someone X amount of money, always pay them what you promised or more. Never change your mind and pay them less."

This morning I remembered this worthy piece of advice as I read in one of our daily newspapers that Fay-Ann Lyons-Alvarez's $1,000,000 prize money has been "slashed" by $250,000. Mere weeks ago, headlines in the papers screamed that this woman (performing pregnant over Carnival 2009) had created local history with her string of soca victories. Headlines following soon after proudly announced the successful birth of a bouncing baby girl to "Soca's Royal Couple".

Among other things, Fay-Ann is (listed in no specific order of importance) a woman, a wife, an artiste, a new mother, a citizen of Trinidad and Tobago. I see the 'slashing' of her prize money from $1,000,000 to $750,000 "due to the economic downturn in the country" as being more than just "unprofessional". I see it as a blatant symbol of how this Government regards and treats its citizens in general. It shows lack of respect for her as an artiste - and by extension all local artistes and our right to be fully recognized, to earn our due and to earn a good living as we create and sustain "the multi-culture" of which this nation so loves to boast. It shows lack of respect for her as a wife and mother - and by extension all mothers/parents/caregivers/citizens who, in this time of "economic downturn", struggle to find ways to feed, clothe and house themselves and their loved ones. It shows lack of respect for her newborn baby - and by extension, all of the children of Trinidad and Tobago who deserve to live in an honourable nation that provides, at the very least, basic necessities to guarantee their ongoing health, harmony and happiness.

Elspeth Duncan,
St. Augustine