Emanuel Chan-A-Sue, MS
Stabroek News
January 9, 2005
Emanuel Alphonsus Chan-A-Sue, MS, businessman of Mabaruma settlement, died on 18 December, aged 91
Quite unlike the famed North-West Frontier Province of British imperial India, British Guiana's North-West District (NWD) was once regarded as the 'Forgotten Province.' Over 250km from Georgetown, accessible mainly by a dull, day-long boat trip along a dreary coastal landscape, and without soil suitable for sugar or rice cultivation, the district for decades was neglected not only by the central government but also by commercial interests and the general population.
That changed when there was a gold rush and, moreso, when the NWD became the focus of international attention in the late 19th century. Venezuela's claim to the territory nearly sparked a war between the western hemisphere's two most powerful states - the UK and USA - in a controversy that was eventually settled by international arbitration. Internally, the sudden strategic and economic interest led to the formal establishment of the North-West as an Administrative District with its centre at Morawhanna.
Emanuel Alphonsus Chan-A-Sue was the grandson of one of the Chinese families who, along with a motley crowd of African, Indian and European fortune-seekers, swarmed into the new district already inhabited by the indigenous Arawak, Carib and Warrau. Apart from triggering the inevitable miscegenation and creating a small but cosmopolitan community, the influx impelled the introduction of new industries which, in a small way, diversified the economy and fuelled lofty hopes of food self-sufficiency.
These newcomers pioneered farming, logging, mining, balata-bleeding and trading. In their wake came the police, priests (mainly of the Roman Catholic Church), and officials of the central government. The economic surge was so significant that contraband smuggling, a local tradition that survives up to the present time, threatened to displace the territorial controversy as the basis of relations between Guyana and Venezuela.
The Chan-A-Sues opened a general store at Morawhanna, the low-lying, malarial, mangrove morass which served as an entrepot and terminus of the fortnightly T&HD steamer, most famously the MV Tarpon. But it was unsuitable as the centre of government business in the district on account of frequent floods caused by high tides. The administrative centre - and with it the police station, postal agency and other government offices - was relocated to the prettier, healthier and more spacious Mabaruma Hill, 8 km away.
The Chan-A-Sues followed the administration's lead, transferring their interests and assets to Mabaruma where they acquired a few hundred hectares of land. Emanuel Chan-A-Sue junior, called 'Sonny' because he had the same Christian name as his father, was born on December 19, 1912 in Suriname of which his mother Susan Chan-A-Sue nee Lieu, was a native. As an infant, he was brought to the North-West where he attended the Roman Catholic (Primary) School and worshipped at the Roman Catholic Church. He also attended St Stanislaus College in Georgetown.
Most of his long life was spent in Mabaruma where, by age 16, he was fully involved in working in the family business, rarely travelling to Georgetown and never leaving the country. From his enterprising parents, Emanuel junior inherited a thriving general store and a flourishing farm. A practical man, he qualified in electrical engineering through correspondence courses and built a wind-charger to generate power. He cultivated a variety of citrus fruits - grapefruit, lemon, lime, orange, tangerine - and reared cattle, horses, poultry, swine and sheep on the stock farm.
Unassuming in manner, unaffected in speech and unpretentious in dress, Sonny Chan-A-Sue was easily recognised by his trademark open-necked shirt and short pants. He spent his days working on the farm or driving his little lorry to the Kumaka stelling to send produce to Georgetown and to collect supplies for his store. He passed his evenings entertaining officials, residents and visitors who, most likely, were his best customers. Using his own funds, he built something of a social centre where movies were shown, dances were held and games played.
As the Guyana-Venezuela territorial controversy worsened, especially after President Raul Leoni's infamous July 1968 decree "annexing" the territorial waters of the Essequibo, troops and sailors of the Guyana Defence Force, prodigious consumers of food supplies, were deployed to the district in increasing numbers and Sonny Chan-A-Sue was always on hand to sell or serve. As government's administrative, agricultural, educational, medical and other services expanded, he became the one to whom the growing corps of teachers, nurses and other state employees looked for credit until their salaries, usually late, arrived from Georgetown.
Sonny Chan-A-Sue became popular because of his affability and accessibility and, not least, his acceptability to most of the people in and out of the government. Unlike his younger brothers who all predeceased him - Charles and Leonard becoming elected members of the National Assembly and John once running for election as an independent candidate - he never displayed an overt interest in partisan politics or divulged his personal views. In fact, he allowed his shop front to be used as the settlement's neutral 'speakers' corner' from which activists of all parties could campaign.
He never sat on committees and councils, nor held public office, nor founded community organisations, but he was genuinely generous and liberally supported charitable, religious, social and community activities. No one was surprised when he received the national award of Medal of Service (MS) for service to Mabaruma Settlement.
Sonny Chan-A-Sue's name will be remembered by more people than those of the district commissioners and regional chairmen who came and went. He not only witnessed the transformation of a frontier settlement into a respectable township but also actively and unselfishly contributed to making a 'Forgotten Province' into the Barima-Waini, one of Guyana's most important regions.