At any juncture of our lives, whether in our personal relationships, in the fulfillment of our various private and public obligations, or in our relationship with our Maker, there is always the possibility of making a fresh start, so as to forget the errors of the past, and move forward with new vigour and in a new direction.
This is no less true as a member of the various communities to which we personally belong, and as a citizen of this now beleaguered country of ours.
Since our Independence so many years ago, with so many changes in government and national policies, with so many things happening which have been gradually eroding the unity and peacefulness, which have been the hallmark of our country far beyond our borders, we seem to have lost direction as a nation.
These divisions within our population now seem so stark and irreversible that our nation seems doomed to travel forever on an endless road of violence, political instability, criminal activity, and racial tension.
Where is the answer?
It simply lies deep in the heart of each one of us. It lies in every Guyanese making a commitment to place our country and our people before personal pleasures and riches and prejudiced positions and party affiliations and fundamentalist preachings. It lies in each one of us shedding these preconceived false ideas of what constitutes the acquiring of happiness and fulfillment of our lives. It lies in our belief that our success as a nation, as a people, and ultimately as individuals, will depend on each of us accepting that we need to treat all others as equals and as fellow travellers on this road to recovery and renaissance of our country. It lies in the realisation that there is no other way but that we love one another as we love ourselves, find the courage that is embedded in all our souls to make the necessary sacrifices, and exploit the faith and hope to create a vision of what we make of our country, and working to bring this to reality.
On the practical level, we need to remind the various sections that make up our nation to do their part in this drive towards our unity and progress on all fronts.
Our Government and Opposition need to understand that they are servants of the people, that neither has an immutable right to govern us or to treat us and our country as their property. Changes in government and changes in policies as agreed by the populace as a whole are a natural part of nation-building, and we will stand no movement towards entrenchment of one
side or the other in this position, nor any subversive activities to frustrate the will and choices of our people.
Those who have developed this narrow-minded approach to our racial diversity need to understand that the vast majority of Guyanese, who see their efforts at division of our society along racial lines as the main problem to our progress in every aspect of national life, will not tolerate these attempts at disunity to further their own selfish purposes, and hope that they will respond to our appeals to look within their hearts and renew the campaign towards harmony among all our brothers and sisters.
To those who have strayed into illegal activity of whatever nature, and for whatever reason, we must renew our efforts, not so much to condemn and convict, but to reconcile and rehabilitate, so that they once again see the usefulness of walking on the right side of the law, and are given the opportunity to provide
the means to maintain themselves and live fulfilled lives.
To those responsible for the education of our children and for the spiritual development of our
people, I would again appeal for us all to realise
that the responsibility for the prevalence of so much abnormal behaviour within our society is partly ours, and we need to accept this responsibility, and devise creative measures to address the lack of morals and values that is the cause of so much pain and suffering, not to mention the economic and social problems which they cause.
To our parents, please see that the most
valuable gifts you can give your children are your hearts, your presence and your ears. There can be no substitute to these, nor can you pass these on through agencies.
To all Guyanese, I wish you all a Prosperous New year in every aspect of your lives, and hope that you face the coming 2005 with the courage to break new ground in a joint effort in making our country the land of hope and joy that it can be.