Yet for others the embrace of Christmas in ways in which Guyanese seem to have a peculiar talent in merely confirmation of something tough and resilient in ourselves; that even if the guns do not fall silent the carols will ring; that Guyanese are prepared to stroll even past menacing-looking uniformed men perched in vehicles, looking for that special curtain material or for the toy that is eagerly awaited by the little ones playing at home. The crowds in Regent Street and Water street are a rebuttal of those who thought that Christmas would be a thing of the past. The masquerade and the one-man bands refute the notion that we are too battered to buy or too bitter to sing and dance.

But our resilience should not be taken for granted by those in authority, nor should it diminish our resolve to press for solutions to the most pressing problems infecting our society. Crime, lawlessness, bad manners, garbage and ugliness, political strife should not be the elements which define Guyana and Guyanese. We deserve more and better, and more from a better Guyana. So even as we celebrate Christmas regardless of our bitter experiences, let us be crafting the agenda for 2003. High on the agenda would be a reformed and redeeming political landscape that would offer Guyanese more light and less heat in 2003. Heaven knows that the majority of Guyanese are sick and tired of the tedious, protracted and unseemly yard brawl that has characterised exchanges between our two major political parties. I am sure that most of us would wish that in 2003 we would see a new culture being ushered in, led by the persons in both parties whom we know to be possessed of the wisdom, statesmanship and intellectual authority to introduce and nurture that culture.