Follow your bliss....
The old pain of Grand Bahama has been explored and brought up a lot of unpleasantness. What it has not done is made anyone come up with more ideas of how to fix the problems.
As I have said before, it's not just about the Government. It's not just a Port issue. It's an everyday people issue. Things change when people change and we are changing all the time.... so let's make an effort to all change for the better!
I remember a few years ago I was listening to a speaker at a conference talking about a country to exemplify as it spoke of Singapore. The speaker (whom unfortunately I cannot recall at this time) spoke of how the country decided what sort of jobs and professions that they would need in the future and through the education system steering the students in those directions. With a concerted effort they changed their country for the best.
I heard this speech and was inspired because I was thinking here is the answer to a perplexing question posed every year for as long as I can remember only during the months of May and June each year ..... well we have so many students coming out of school, where will they have jobs? What will they do?
In the late '90s as assistant editor at the Freeport News I came up with a list of possible jobs and I had published in the paper which I thought could help.
Sometimes to prove a point, people don't tell an entire story. The entire story about Singapore that was left out was the fact that it is a communist country. Their decision to implement such a system to make their people world leaders would work if they of course had no choice.
We have many choices but no direction.
If we would begin to look a head at what we want to achieve and then begin the steps then yes we can do it without changing our views on governance.
What does our future hold? This questions is particularly acute for Grand Bahama because we have two things to think about ... what happens after the Hawksbill Creek Agreement is either broken or falls away, and then what the future of the country looks like?
The Hawksbill Creek agreement has a 40 years, but as with all agreements, it can be broken. So if it is broken for any reason, what will it mean for those persons living and working here?
Funny, as I am writing this post I did two things that made me smile. I checked out the Grand Bahama Port Authority's website and found out their vision is: "Our vision today is to become the island of choice for global investment in The Bahamas by 2012"
What I find funny about this is that it is not been updated.
Also, as I was looking up more information on the Hawksbill Creek Agreement I checked the "trusted" wikipedia to find out that the tax concessions that we are waiting to discuss with the Government and the Grand Bahama Port Authority, "has since been extended an additional 49 years, to the year 2054".
Things that make you go, hmmmm. I noted also at the bottom of the post its says, "This page was last modified on 10 June 2014 at 01:07"
Who did that?
All that aside, I implore you to think of a day when Grand Bahama returns to the government of The Bahamas and what it will mean to you and you will mean to the country. When Grand Bahama will no longer be generating $200 million to the coffers anymore. What is your part in this generation of funds now and what will it mean then?
What you do today will ultimately affect all our tomorrows.
Still follow you bliss to make this island the best in the country and in the world. What is your passion? Go after it with both hands. We can't all be just retail store owners, maids, shop keepers, etc. What is your part to play? I'm sure your gift will make way for you and ultimately help your island, your country and the world.
Nameste.
Ps. Thank you to all those who continue to read this blog and especially to those who commented and those whose words I was privileged to use last week to give full exposure. I love the feedback and do keep it up.
As I have said before, it's not just about the Government. It's not just a Port issue. It's an everyday people issue. Things change when people change and we are changing all the time.... so let's make an effort to all change for the better!
I remember a few years ago I was listening to a speaker at a conference talking about a country to exemplify as it spoke of Singapore. The speaker (whom unfortunately I cannot recall at this time) spoke of how the country decided what sort of jobs and professions that they would need in the future and through the education system steering the students in those directions. With a concerted effort they changed their country for the best.
I heard this speech and was inspired because I was thinking here is the answer to a perplexing question posed every year for as long as I can remember only during the months of May and June each year ..... well we have so many students coming out of school, where will they have jobs? What will they do?
In the late '90s as assistant editor at the Freeport News I came up with a list of possible jobs and I had published in the paper which I thought could help.
Sometimes to prove a point, people don't tell an entire story. The entire story about Singapore that was left out was the fact that it is a communist country. Their decision to implement such a system to make their people world leaders would work if they of course had no choice.
We have many choices but no direction.
If we would begin to look a head at what we want to achieve and then begin the steps then yes we can do it without changing our views on governance.
What does our future hold? This questions is particularly acute for Grand Bahama because we have two things to think about ... what happens after the Hawksbill Creek Agreement is either broken or falls away, and then what the future of the country looks like?
The Hawksbill Creek agreement has a 40 years, but as with all agreements, it can be broken. So if it is broken for any reason, what will it mean for those persons living and working here?
Funny, as I am writing this post I did two things that made me smile. I checked out the Grand Bahama Port Authority's website and found out their vision is: "Our vision today is to become the island of choice for global investment in The Bahamas by 2012"
What I find funny about this is that it is not been updated.
Also, as I was looking up more information on the Hawksbill Creek Agreement I checked the "trusted" wikipedia to find out that the tax concessions that we are waiting to discuss with the Government and the Grand Bahama Port Authority, "has since been extended an additional 49 years, to the year 2054".
Things that make you go, hmmmm. I noted also at the bottom of the post its says, "This page was last modified on 10 June 2014 at 01:07"
Who did that?
All that aside, I implore you to think of a day when Grand Bahama returns to the government of The Bahamas and what it will mean to you and you will mean to the country. When Grand Bahama will no longer be generating $200 million to the coffers anymore. What is your part in this generation of funds now and what will it mean then?
What you do today will ultimately affect all our tomorrows.
Still follow you bliss to make this island the best in the country and in the world. What is your passion? Go after it with both hands. We can't all be just retail store owners, maids, shop keepers, etc. What is your part to play? I'm sure your gift will make way for you and ultimately help your island, your country and the world.
Nameste.
Ps. Thank you to all those who continue to read this blog and especially to those who commented and those whose words I was privileged to use last week to give full exposure. I love the feedback and do keep it up.
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| Photo by Yasmin Popescu |
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