The conundrum of violence in Jamaica

Jamaica has a scourge of brutal personal violence. It has plagued the country for the past 40 years, and seems to have reached new levels. A lot of bright heads have been scratched to find ways to solve this problem .

The images alongside show how violence has changed lives in most parts of the country--the difference between the "sweet old days" and the "time of wicked ways". They reflect a harsh reality about the problem of violence. Wealth has done very little to protect a Jamaican from being a victim of crime. The one area where people's fear of violence is greatest is in the home, which is supposed to be a sanctuary. Access to the wider range of consumer goods available on the island or "from foreign" has given comforts but also given motives to some criminals. The motive is less the visible signs of wealth--TVs, VCRs, DVD players, fancy cars--but often the basis of those comforts, which is money.

Life behind household bars is as much about protecting oneself as about protecting one's wealth; though most wealthy Jamaicans do not keep much cash at home. Criminals, however, know that invading a home to get cash or easy to sell items is often simpler than robbing a bank or holding up a store. Most institutions now surround themselves with armed guards, alarms and electronic monitoring devices. Most homes are protected by dogs, alarms, contracts with security companies, and personal firearms. However, it is still not easy to get money from people directly and that seems to have led to use of kidnapping and ransom, hoping that people will pay highly to save loved ones. The fear is greater because it seems that whatever victims do the criminals will be brutal. The instance and fear of crime is greatest in the corporate areas of Kingston, St. Andrew, St. Catherine and St. James--the latter posing a particular economic problem because that is the parish of Montego Bay and many tourist dollars.

Many Jamaicans, however, also respond to the threat of crime in an enigmatic way. Despite the very high levels of crimes against persons and a rising level of murders, people don't impose curfews on themselves. While residents may stay behind bolted doors and grills when at home, when people go out they appear to have less visible security; and as far as I know no one is making a big market of selling bullet-proof glass for cars. At night the roads in Kingston and many other places are not empty. Of course, certain downtown areas are avoided. But in uptown areas, people will still have a heavy social calendar, and it is rare for an event like a regular house party to be protected by guards; and such events will still be held outdoors if weather and space permit. In rural areas most people seem to go along with daily life much as they want to.

It seems that citizens see less of a role for themselves and more of a role for government, and they feel that crime has never really made it onto the political agenda, in part because a significant number of politicians and the party machinery are somehow implicated in criminal activity. A recent correspondent to The Gleaner seemed to sum up well how many people feel about crime and government's inability to deal with it.

"The crime problem has been neglected for so long that people have become comfortable with [actions] that are in place - and working. This system uses violence to solve all problems. People no longer have to use the expensive and meandering maze that we call a justice system. Violence is immediately and richly rewarded and the entire society has come to realise this.

Crime cannot be managed without the help of the citizenry. The Police have lost their respect and earned their distrust. Many now see them as nothing more than an irrelevant irritant.

Minister Smith has got to level with the people and let them understand that the violence we are experiencing is the result of deep, long-standing social and psychological problems which have been ignored for so long, they are now absorbed into our culture."

People have become cynical about "crime plans", and a new one was launched in early November. Equally, many people have little sympathy for action to cut down ganja (marijuana) plantations such as was reinstated recently; many feel that by giving a livelihood to some in rural areas ganja cultivation has been a factor in minimizing crime.

Some see the government's assessment of the problem as deeply flawed because it will not accept certain "truths" about Jamaica that have a greater bearing on crime that low income and race. In an newspaper letter/article provocatively entitled "Licensing the Jamaican penis" (see link), Kevin O'Brien Chang wrote the following:

"No other country has over 85 per cent of babies born to unmarried mothers and over 50 per cent without registered fathers. No other country routinely discusses parenthood in such relationship neutral terms as 'baby father' and 'baby mother'. No other country so readily accepts absent fatherhood or brings up children so carelessly. And no other country not at war has such a high murder rate.

In "Life Without Father" David Popenoe found the relationship between family structure and crime to be so strong that it erases the relationship between race and low income and crime. Two-parent white and black and rich and poor offspring have far lower incarceration rates than their fatherless peers. But because there are so many more poor and black single-parent children, these make up the bulk of those in U.S. prisons. No doubt the dynamics are the same in Jamaica.

Most fatherless children grow up to be well-adjusted individuals, and only a small percentage become criminals. But almost anything bad that can happen to children occurs with much greater frequency to those from single-parent homes. Nor does fatherlessness affect only children. For men with no family involvement are far more prone to violence than those in settled relationships.

Any society with large concentrations of young, unattached males asks for and gets chaos - two prominent examples being the 19th century American west and the 21st century inner-city ghetto.

All of which boils down to this: If the majority of fathers supported their offspring psychologically and financially, Jamaica would have a much lower murder rate."

Jamaica appears to be an exception to many rules. That related to its attitude toward parenthood is worth considering in the context of dealing with crime. Again, taking words from Kevin O'Brien Chang, he cites the famous anthropologist Bronislaw Malinowski:

"[He] considered the principle of legitimacy a universal sociological law. The crucial determinant of legitimacy in his view was the male's public commitment to his child's mother, not the widely varying concept of legality...What matters is not a piece of paper, but the father's willingness to give emotional and material support to his offspring.

The general societal rule, Malinowski found, was that no child should be brought into the world without an acknowledging father to act as the custodial male link between child and community.

But with more than half our children having no registered fathers, Jamaica appears an exception to this rule. Many of our 'fathers' are mere sperm donors who boast of the number of their children but contribute nothing to their welfare."

From this perspective, crime fighting is a much harder task because instead of blitzing crime it would need changes in social inter-relationships and introduction of laws that bind fathers and empower women and mother with regard to paternity obligations. That's has more banana skin quality for most politicians, who would rather go with the visible "attack" on crimes and criminal themselves, and would be leery of touching a deep-seated social issue of which many may be part.

However, if this parental root is indeed the main cause of the crime problem it will be very difficult to deal with because Jamaicans have lived so long with a slack attitude to child-bearing and child-rearing. It seems that people have been more prepared to protect their right to "just go mek pickney" than most other things. But if they believed that this was actually life threatening would it be enough to make that attitude change? Answering that question will be an interesting test over the next year.

No moaning at Mona

Mona Reservoir is one of Kingston's environmental treasures. Seated at the foot of the misty Blue Mountains, adjacent to the university campus, it has become a favourite walking and jogging area. Its perimeter is 1600 metres and with its constant residents of pelicans, herons, and egrets it provides a tranquil place to recreate.

The reservoir has some some points of intrigue such as the aqueduct. My wife discovered the reservoir years ago when she had to go to Jamaica for work. I have discovered it during my recent visits to Jamaica and now try to take at least one walk around the reservoir if I am in the capital for a few days. On Sunday I did the walk during the mid afternoon with my 4 year old. She is to say the least a real trooper. Her only concerns were why there were so many centipedes and snails, and couldn't they make their homes elsewhere. She managed the whole walk without being carried, and even enjoyed getting doused by a good rainfall that hit us for about half the circuit.

A parent is a guide, interpreter, and protector. I am enjoying playing those roles especially on our extended travels, such as now during the Christmas school holidays. Television is a modern necessary evil, which naturally children enjoy because of the immediacy of images it provides. But if there is the opportunity to do real things then there is no place for TV. My little one played with some other children before our walk and all they needed was a little sunshine to have great fun on swings, chasing each other around the mango and orange trees, or taking quiet time sitting on the floor with books. They needed no directions and only occasionally sustenance in form of some snacks and drinks.

My youngest child spends a lot of time with adults and it is beginning to give her an air of sophistication that disguises her age. Her eldest sister says, correctly, that the youngest one needs to spend time with her own age group and she does. But like a lot of only children, especially with older parents, Mum and Dad are often around and can be good play mates. She picks up quickly on many things and words, so during our walk she probed me about what hovering meant, and what is an observation; and she is now able to show that she knows the beginning of words. So we had a lot of "Reservoir. That begins with an R, like me." She turned the walk into a challenge: "Run, run, as fast as you can. You can't catch me. I'm the gingerbread man." That got her most of the way round. So, like the little train who thought he could, she did. I was so proud of her for that.

Why some people dislike Canada

Oh, Canada! I love all the Canadians I know. But my daughter who studies at McGill in Montreal has nothing but a healthy loathing of Canada. "What about the pleasantness of the gem of Quebec?" I ask her. "It all sucks!" she snarls back. That's how it has been for the past 2-3 years since she went to university. Now McGill has a famed reputation for being an administrative Gulag and many a student has ended up bald because they get notifications of course choices after the deadline, or their online fee payment is late even though the "system" says transactions went through and balances are clear, they still get notices of penalty fees and course continuation is threatened.

My wife studied in British Columbia and Ontario and loves Canada. Her sisters studied in Canada and they think the place and people are alright. I met lots of Canadians in Guinea and found them to be real friends, who speak with a quaint English and even quainter French accent.

I have however begun to develop a dislike for things Canadian since I started forex trading. Trading is risky business: prices go up and they come down. Sometimes the daily movements are large, say 150-200 points (that's as many US dollars per lot traded), and that volatility is what creates nice trading conditions. But you like to feel there is some rhyme or reason to the movements. The Canadian dollar is called a commodity currency because it is sensitive to the developments in the market for crude oil and gold, minerals it has in abundance. It is also very sensitive to developments in the US, its neighbour and major trading partner. But it also seems to have mind of its own.

The US dollar has had a period of prolonged weakness, and it was movements against the Canadian dollar over the past weeks that signalled the start of a US dollar rally; the Canadian dollar had reached nearly 90 US cents in early November from a position of about US$ 1.08 in August. It since rose quickly and touched US$ 1.25 on Sunday and Monday. But as they say there was no follow through, and this level was known as one of major resistance. But the "loonie", as the Canadian dollar is called (because of the duck on the dollar coin, not because of the people) seems to have gone a bit barmy (see chart and click to see full size).

The start of this trading week has been unbelievable. Admittedly conditions are strange the week before Christmas, especially after important interest rate decisions over the past two weeks; traders are winding down and closing their books for the year. But picture poor me. The US dollar was strengthening against other major currencies, but the Canadian dollar position did not respond. Gold and oil prices fell and the Canadian dollar did not decline. I was trading Canadian dollar several days ago, and bought US$ and saw little gain; I should have been suspicious then. However, I bought US$:Can.$ again on Sunday at around US$1.015 and saw the price move towards US$1.025, and I got a nice little profit. The rise faltered and I rode the down movement towards 1.018 and bought again; the price rose towards 1.022 and I made a little more dosh. Good day, I thought, and was ready to leave my trading desk. Then I saw the price fall again towards 1.016 (see the first block of blue bars going down), so I bought again and the price began to rise and I was rubbing my hands.

Now we know about going to the well too often and about that deadly sin, greed. Yikes! During the course of the next few minutes the price fell about 200 points! It rebounded and then had a slow slide for the rest of the day to settle at around 1.003. I was not fazed because I thought about the fact that over the past two weeks the US$:Can $ pair had traded in a range between 1 and 1.025; it was "consolidating" in this area so I set my stop-loss at 1.0. Market sentiment was that if it went below 1, then look out o.95. If it went above 1.025, hello heaven. But that's a wide range for sure. Let me cut to the chase. The lunatic that I am had a position that went as low as minus US$1000 as of early this morning as the North American traders pummelled on Monday, and when the loonie saw the greenback getting up, it pummelled it again with Asian traders and early European traders pushin the rate to around 1.001. You have to imagine the loss ticker flipping between minus $200 and 600, staying stable, then switching back and forth to have an idea of how the day went.

When I saw that 1.001 figure at about 2.30am this morning I said to myself, well it was a deep stop and if it gets broken then so be it. I went back to bed accepting a nasty stain on my trading book. Well blow me down. I got up at 6am and found the loonie had counter punched by the greenback and was now around US$1.01. What the @#% is going on?, I ask myself. But before I could figure it out I just accepted that at least my potential loss was now only about US$350. I gave a heavy sigh of relief. I had dreamed of how I would rationalize the $1000 loss and that I would never "double-dip" again on the trades, etc., yaddah-yaddah.

A few bits of Canadian price data were due out around 8.30am and the rate coasted up toward 1.012 ahead of that. I nibbled at some positive gains. Then the data came in a bit worse than expected and the rate shot up to 1.016. I got some more profit and reduced some losses and sat back. Maybe we will see 1.02 again today, I mused. But guess what? The loonie remains loony and the rate plummeted to test 1.006. I got through the test and is back at 1.01 as I write. I will see where the duck has landed later this afternoon.

Well my position is much reduced and I am happy to watch this mad patient try to climb out of the asylum. It is not putting me into the cookoo's nest, though. I am due to travel today and wanted to have nothing major still trading. That I have achieved. My account stands balanced for today, which is a tad better than minus US$1000. Not good trading tactics, I have to admit though. A lucky escape some may say but you have to ride some waves like this one. Had I been on the other side of the deal I would be getting more of the Tiffany earrings my wife so loves. At least I don't have to buy a set of false diamonds from a dollar store.
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A post script to my fellow blogger at http://www.onlinefxtrading.net/. He has been chronicling how he is doing with his trades and his "strategy". His profits on his practice accounts are of the order of US1-20. That is, however, not what trading is about and if he wants to make money doing it dollar by dollar won't do it. He has to learn that very hard lesson of sitting with a deal a longer time than a move of 1-10 points. Get used to the up and down of 25-50 point moves. It's good for toughening the nerves and developing the discipline of respecting a deal. If one is nervous then a wide stop-loss will give more comfort.

I am learning to leave the dog to sleep and accept that sometimes a burglar comes in and takes all my goodies. But I am finding that most times the dog does a good job, if well positioned and the goodies stay safe. So, I trade with a bit more of a sanguine air. I am making a bit more than I am losing this month (up 30 %) and hope that it continues that way. Yes, I am miffed that I tightened a stop-loss with Euro:US$ and found myself closed out by 2 points. Leave well alone, eh! But in the big scheme of things you have to let that go. And I did.

Happy trading!

Jamaica's investment club debate

Professional economists are supposed to love empirical evidence. I admit that as a professional economist I have shied away from certain things, one of which is regression analysis and econometric forecasting. The main reason for that is a belief in a maxim I learnt at graduate school: the one thing you can be sure about with a forecast is that it will be wrong. If that is the case, I figured, then why spend laborious hours modelling and refining data sets to get something wrong? If my instincts tell me something I perhaps stand as good a chance as a modeller in getting a right answer.

I had a teaching assignment in Tortola, British Virgin Islands in September (see blog); my teaching was in the evenings and my hillside hideaway where I was living gave superb views to the sea and other islands and I had time to think. I kept on getting notions about OLINT and whether the numbers made sense. High returns often lead to immediate suspicion that something is not right. It can happen for short periods of time with speculative ventures and when you are the innovator of some idea and get huge benefits from being first. You see this easily with investments in IPOs where the price on opening is often multiples higher and those who were in the IPO make a whopping profit--hence the suspicion about who investment agencies allow into IPOs (friends, family, etc).

Most financial institutions pay meagre nominal returns, except in situations where inflation is high. You may often find that in real terms (adjusted for price increases) it is hard to get positive returns. The institution where I do most of my banking in the US pays 0.15% a year on my current account. Several years ago I looked at US market interest rates and saw that money markets were paying substantially more than that (say 4+%), and giving similar liquidity, so I took my deposits and placed them in a money market account (MMA). I found the MMA was not as easy to use for regular banking (bill paying, transfers etc.) so I looked for another option and found Internet banks but they too were a little like bricks and mortar banks (a bit bureaucratic and sluggish) but on the Internet. So I looked for another option. I discovered PayPal through selling on eBay. PayPal allows money to be placed into an Internet account and for transfers in and out to be made by e-mail; most transfers are free; and it pays rates close to money market rates. It also links to real bank accounts so permits transfers across them in a way that the actual banks still find difficult. So for the past five years or so most of my banking is done through PayPal. I can make transactions where ever I can find an Internet connection and my only minor problem is that transfer take about 3 business days. I have been earning closer to 4-5% a year on current account instead of 0.15%--a big difference over several years.

OLINT is paying something near 10% a month. How is that possible? I decided to do some research. The "investment club " is supposedly able to do that because it is based on foreign exchange (forex) trading. I say supposedly because one of the issues about such clubs is that details of their actual activities have not been disclosed; that's not a crime but it makes it hard to prove what is going on. So I started online forex trading (see earlier blogs) and wanted to see if I could replicate OLINT's results. Now I admit that I made horrible mistakes at the beginning: these are especially common to new traders, though seasoned traders are also guilty of them occasionally. I started trading with real money much too soon, but I found that I enjoyed the risk taking, and it was important to deal with the real environment--as vices go it seemed not so harmful and playing just with play money seemed like a waste of time. The real environment means nerves: when losses or gains start to show, the heart races, the palms start to sweat and calculations are being made about how far this will go.

Experienced professional traders set up deals in quite precise ways: they set the all important point of entry, which gives the maximum risk/reward potential, and set their risk ("stop-loss" point) and reward ("limit"), then make the deal and sit back. (Actually, they watch what is going on, getting new information that may change outcomes today or later, but tend not to tamper with their deals). They take the gain or loss as set up. If things dont work out they go back and analyze their assessments and try to come up with revised trading strategies.

Professional traders have a particular way of dealing with potential gains: taking half the profit when the reward is two-thirds satisfied, and setting the stop-loss to the entry point, so ensuring a decent profit and no possible further loss. They also use "trailing stops", which follow the price by a pre-set margin, say 10 points: when the deal moves in your favour the limit keeps moving to safeguard the pre-set margin, when the price moves against you the margin reduces but no more than the pre-set amount. So the most you lose is say 10 points from where the price is. If you have already set a limit for your deal but are not content to see that be met the trailing stop says take me out at my limit but don't let me lose gains because of price reversals, so you get out at the deal limit of the trailing stop limit, whichever is met first. (I have started using these more; my first experience was bad and I misunderstood how it worked; it's very important to ensure that the trail is set the right way, such as buy--not sell--when that's what you need to close . Sounds simple but believe me misstakes happen.)

I am learning all the time. I found from trading the live and practice accounts that volume is very important. US$50,000 in the practice account is huge and with the margin trading possibilities of lots of $100,000 you can see gains that make you blink but also losses that make you wince. You can also take risk with trades and not care. With live money you wince a lot whatever, but as a I said your nerves start to play on the deal and that is a major barrier. I use smaller margin trading lots there (US$10,000, meaning I put up say $100 of my money to play with the bigger amount and a 1 point movement represents US$ 1 on my actual money, so 15 point gain/loss is $15 profit/loss). I have learned over the last two months to let my nerves play less. I try not to watch deals as much and let them run. I even set deals and then go on trips, which sounds risky but is no different from keepinga position overnight and seeing how its done in the morning.

Why volume matters is that if the balance is small then deal sizes must be small and also the margins for losing are very finer. If there is an intention to make a decent amount of money one needs a balance of at least $1000: that allows deals bigger than just one lot that don't risk too much capital and can handle a few losses. Amounts such as $250-500 are really too small. about $2000 is nearer ideal for starting as a small trader. By having larger lots and letting deals run longer individual deals can net $50-100 more easily (say 2 lots gaining 25 points); of course you can lose more on each deal. (Onlinefxtrading is an interesting blog about one Jamaican's experience with online trading and highlights perfectly why small amounts wont work and are likely to end up losing.)

I also found that intervention tends to lead to worse results. I found that tampering with a deal tended to mean that actual gains were less than potential gains. A major novice mistake is to close deals too fast either to minimize a loss or because you fear losing a gain. But in doing that you miss the nature of price movements in financial markets, which have wave tendencies (ebb and flow) and reversals are normal. The experts have sophisticated ways of calculating the possible reversals and set deals up so that reversals do not damage the risk/reward set up. So, with a stop-loss of 45 points a 38 point reversal towards loss is interesting but not critical; without the analysis a 38 point reversal often leads to a panicky feeling, especially if the trading position is large. This pull-back as it is called is part of the trend and so should be left alone. So, armed with their charts, and price movement details and experience, professional traders make money more than they lose and they can make large profits. [Yesterday showed me that well: I had sold at 1.4610 and set my stop-loss for Euro:US dollar at 1.4660, the price rose to about 1.4590, then reversed and the Euro ended the day closer to 1.4430. (I did not get all of that gain as I did not believe the fall would be so dramatic--very unlike Euro/US dollar in recent weeks--and took my profit earlier.)]

I, on the other hand, am armed with few of these tools, including lots of sources and market contacts alongside that can tell me about developments in related markets (especially futures, equities and commodity prices); this is a big handicap because the markets are linked. Nevertheless, how have I done? Well, David Smith and OLINT can sleep safely for the moment. Since September I have not managed to make 10% a month; I am down overall. But since September my performance has been improving, and at mid-December I am up 25%, so if I made no more trades that would be a good point of satisfaction. On any given day, it is possible to make money whether prices rise or fall, and I have played with several "emotional" strategies, including looking for cheap deals (say 5-15 point gains, especially on a single lot), which satisfy the need to see the cash balance rise but tend to give less overall if one looks back on how a deal could have played out. So, I have tried not to be greedy and if I see that I have made between 1-5% on the day I tend to say "I'm out". Now deal making is such that new opportunities always present themselves so to avoid that temptation I often have to close my account and walk away from my "dealing room" (my basement office). Another lesson is that the return visit tends to mean losing some of the initial gain.

Experience matters. When I lose $200-500 in a day I am not fazed anymore because I now know I have the potential to gain the same amount. The tendency to think the market is against you when you lose is normal. (Believe me, you do feel this way when a lot of deals go sour.) You also need to live through volatile experiences and know your history. I was in the market during the past two weeks when the major countries (Canada, UK, European Economic Commission, and US) made interest rate decisions and also when very important data were published. Many traders take a side line ahead of such situations knowing that the price movements afterwards are hectic and conditions can be unclear; they prefer to see how things settle and then re-enter. I gained despite the increased volatility; it is hard to say where I would have been if I had been on the sidelines but I am in the middle of my own research and it's important to know the feeling of seeing your position move 60-100 points for or against you in a flash. I also learned important lessons about disorderly about trading conditions: my stop was set at 30 points but my deal was not filled until the loss had gone to 60 points--there was a market gap when it is almost impossible to fill orders because of the speed of price moments,which usually lasts no more than 30 seconds, and deals then get filled at the nearest point. Expensive lesson in that case, but it also helped me with a large gain in another deal. I also learned that it is better to stay with a group of currency pairs, and get to know their market characteristics better. It's good to know where the US dollar sits in terms of decade lows and have a notion of to which point it will initially rebound, and so on.

Bottom line? My question was whether forex trading made of over 10% a month returns possible . I have enough information to tell me that the answer is yes, though I don't know how sustasinable it is. Judicious trading can easily net 1% a day, and over 20 trading days a month even 20% is not amazing. So, I have no in principle problem with the gains that OLINT is paying out; there is no guaranteed amount and in recent months the monthly pay out has been around 7-10%. Now, David Smith is an experienced trader and reputedly very good so my next question would be how much is OLINT really making? I am not going to pursue that here except to say that if the gains are closer to 20% a month then with a lower pay out that allows space for covering other costs and a tidy profit for Mr. Smith and his corporation. I won't begrudge him that. Trading is stressful and though it may be different to play with other people's money I imagine the stress is still very high especially with sums in millions of US dollars. Big corporations give large pay outs to their CEOs if they can make the business very profitable so Mr. Smith is entitled to his slice of the cake.

Jamaica's "small man" has been thrown a welcome life belt with schemes such as OLINT and a lot of deposits have flown from banks into such schemes. I do not think all the schemes are the same so I will make no judgements about them. The government and financial regulators in Jamaica are now pursing various legal cases against such schemes and their outcomes will be very important (see article). Financial system regulation is important to give investors confidence in the institutions with which they deal, and also to determine if there is a need for insurance or some other cover to protect investors from losses. If something is not illegal then it can't be stopped on legal grounds. If it is risky and legal then investors need to know the risks they are taking on; so trading stocks or forex means living with price rises and falls and losses and gains.

If the legal cases go against the "unregulated investment schemes" and mean that some of them have to close the financial fall out could be devastating. Common talk in Jamaica is that the banks won't see many of the depositors flocking back because the widespread belief is that they are grossly underpaying depositors. The recent action of some banks (see article) to try to close the accounts of OLINT and Cash Plus, not honour their checks, and to demand that their employees disclose if they have accounts with such "clubs" or risk being firedhas angered many people unions. Again there is now a court case over this and injunctions have been issued to stop closures for the moment. It may also lead to a run on the clubs as depositors clamour for their money, which could threaten what was a viable operation (not Northern Rock, but the example is very vivid and current). A senator has asked that the issue of the investment clubs be>

The general feeling is that if you are able to invest with OLINT and Cash Plus you have been able to get a very handsome return. OLINT has been running for several years and I have seen no reports of dissatisfied customers. That is not to say that either club can continue to do as well. As far as OLINT is concerned, if its principal activity is forex dealing then this is not illegal. If it has been giving investment advice (which it denies) then in Jamaica that is an activity reserved for licensed and regulated institutions. If complying with relevant legal requirements is a problem then that will signal another problem. Forex trading seems to be a growing activity for small investors, and online companies are sprouting up like mushrooms; not surprisingly Jamaicans are apparently jumping on them (see Silicon Caribe blogs and also recent Gleaner article). They make money on the spreads (difference between buy-sell prices). David Smith is now offering such opportunities with the sweetener of a $100 bonus for Jamaicans who open with a stake of the same size (see I-trade FX website).

Sensible investors have not put at risk money they cannot lose. Some people might have taken on risk they cannot handle, but the recent sub prime mortgage crisis and other past financial crises show us vividly that this is always the case. They also show us that regulation does not prevent financial crises. Simple precautions help prevent certain kinds of losses which individuals can avoid, one of these is to test how easy it is to withdraw funds: my feeling is that if that is a problem then better not to go there. I tried an online trading company recommended by one of my commentators and doubled my initial stake and more. I then tried to withdraw the full balance. The company asked for several pieces of documentation to prove who I was and confirm my credit accounts, part of normal "know your customer" rules. My money has been returned to my credit card account so I feel that I am dealing with an institution I can trust, even though the process was cumbersome.

A bitter pill in the recent dealings with the investment clubs is the vigour with which they are being pursued and that has made the "small man" very angry as he has done well out of it. So, he is asking, "Why the government can't go catch all o' de thief and murderers who a mek we suffer?" Good question.

Domestic violence

If you have no notion of what violent crime does to a society you need to visit Jamaica. A rate of murders that leads the world and many acts of brutal violence has scarred this country and changed dramatically how people live their lives. Much of the violence is gang-related. An astonishing number of brutal killings are of women and children. That is a bizarre inter-relationship. Drive-by shootings seem to be increasing. A lot of policemen are killed, but the police also do a lot of killing.

One aspect of the escalating crime is how the police have been targeted. The police have a tough task but the force has not helped itself with its reputation for also being undisciplined and also home to many criminals (see recent report in The Gleaner of comments by Montego Bay's Police Superintendent). Police crimes involve corruption (including the traffic cops asking for "a little help"), lottery scams, missing drugs and firearms, and more. Citizens are being asked to help the police but there are many reasons why there is much reluctance. Just this week I saw how non-community minded the police are. A vehicle was broken down on a major road near Devon House. Police officers were in the area doing vehicle checks and towing. One motorist became frustrated because when it was possible to pass the broken down vehicle a policeman proceeded to saunter in the road way deaying the traffic, which was again caught by a red light. The driver honked. The policeman waved his arm angrily at the motorist and pointed for him to pull over. The driver started to drive on, but the policeman grabbed the car door, yanked it open, and made a grab for the driver. He yelled at the motorist and acted like an ordinary angry citizen with no sense that he needed to maintain order if not the law. I have seen this kind of policing often in Jamaica. (I also saw this type of loutish action many times in Guinea, even with policemen jumping into cars and trying to pry the controls for drivers!) Simple situations can escalate into major altercations with this type of behaviour; and this was over a traffic non-event.
Almost everywhere you go in Kingston you see police in bullet proof vests and battle helmets, heavily armed with sub machine guns; you often see defence force squads rolling around in armoured trucks; or neighbourhoods sport signs that they are protected by some private security force. This gives the city an eerie sense of being constanly under a state of emergency or martial law. Curfews are common in problem neighbourhoods.

Crime has also changed life at any middle and upper class homes. Most Jamaicans have lived within grilled and barricaded homes for decades now, since the upsurge in violence in the mid-1970s. But the possible random nature of crimes and their brutality is sending fear through neighbourhoods that normally would be wary but generally felt to be safe. It's rare nowadays for people to just sit outside their homes, but you could leave a door open to let breeze through. Increasingly doors are shut and locked; if opened then the grill gate is locked. Who are the prisoners now? Politicians, their families and also some prominent business people have recently become targets . The increasing sense of threat that the privileged and middle and upper classes feel is likely to be a platform for action.

The Gleaner reported on a march for peace by children in midweek and gave a vivid description of what violence is all about: "The dehumanising conditions in large pockets of these inner-city communities, the high rates of unemployment and the cynical manipulation by political hacks over many years have contributed significantly to the antagonistic and anti-social behaviour that breeds a vicious cycle of criminality. That cycle must be broken by strong, coordinated and sustained social intervention." It also comments about how informers are reluctant to come forward for fear that corrupt policemen will reveal their names. The country seems at a loss how to deal with crime. Whatever has been tried has had no effect on the rate of murders. Whatever will be tried next is likely to fail if there is no willingness on the part of the public to real support action against crime. That means that the incentives for helping remove criminals has to greatly outweigh the risk of criminal reprisal. If this is not present that all bets are off.

Relative values

I increasingly enjoy my visits to Jamaica for the chance to hear people talk about events. Their conversations rarely cover major events of the common news variety. Talk about elections, politics and world events are often about how the personalities behave themselves and usually with a jaundiced eye (with comments such as "Look how dem mek fool o' dem self." ) and distrust ("Bway, dem can lie!"). The conversations I like are about happenings in the districts and stay close to what sticks in the memory for its humour, personal significance, example of someone's character, etc. As I usually spend time in rural areas I rarely hear direct accounts about the hardships of life in the Kingston ghettos, and the escalating national murder rate and brutal violence, which is hitting the headlines every day (over 1400 murders already this year!). I get to hear more of these stories as I talk to my older relatives, but sadly not nearly as much as I would like and not as much as I would have heard had I not emigrated.

In my case I love to hear about the life I missed when I was not living in Jamaica, especially about my family. A cousin and I have separately started building family trees and these stories help to flesh out the personalities. I started the process late but better that than never. My father reminisces a lot and he does this more since his stroke last year, but he is starting to confuse the details (not a real surprise anyway for a man nearly 80) so I need to really pay attention to what he says. He often talks about his life in Cuffy Gully, St. Mary (a land rich in hills, agriculture and rivers). He has great stories about his three uncles (Levi, Consie, and Mas' Will), for whom no woman seemed off limits. For instance, one uncle went to Kingston to visit his sister (my grandmother) at the house where she was a domestic. He was left alone with the girls who were preparing gungo peas (reputed to make people feel aroused) and by the end of the afternoon this uncle had "made three babies". True or false, that is some reputation.

Life in rural Jamaica in the 1920s through 1940s sounds like it was really sweet. A river ran through the land owned by my great grandmother so the children all became swimmers, especially the boys. They also used the river to play and to catch shrimps and fish (something I vaguely remember doing also when I was a boy). My father would help to sell herb medicine (bought from the husband of an aunt for two shillings and three pence [about 15 pence in current English pounds/30 US cents] and sold for three shillings and six pence, and the profit helped pay for his secondary school education). He would also help one of his uncles make shoes, managing all the steps needed; in those days with no electricity in the rural areas machines needed real manpower. The money my father made from this work also went towards his school fees.

The uncles were typical men of the time and mainly artisans. One was a builder, who later went to Kingston and "made a fortune" through government contracts in the 1960s, but wasted it all on women. Another uncle was a shoe maker, who could do wonderful work but was a wizard when he drank: one time he had to change the two left-footed shoes he had made for a man's wedding on the day of the marriage and the wedding went off well. The third uncle was a tailor. All of them started and ran their businesses from their mother's house, which became a pathway for men needing fine clothes and shoes. I guess that as business was good the stream of men was also a source of distraction for the sisters in the household.

It is a great pity that we have no pictures of these men, and I only have pictures of my paternal grandmother and one of her sisters. Somehow, however, the family will try to keep their memories vivid.

Roads to oblivion

Jamaicans have a very rough approach to driving. On most roads they drive fast whenever possible, loving to ride close behind the vehicle in front waiting to overtake and accelerate towards the next vehicle and start the manoeuvre again. Jamaican males sees cars as extensions of themselves and use them to make statements; this macho way of affirm their maleness is cutting many lives short. Road deaths are very high for a country of some 2 1/2-3 million people, about 300-350 a year. Most accidents involve cars. For the past 15 or so years, the gender breakdown shows that 81 % killed are males and 19 % females. Most of the dead were in their productive years. Children and the elderly have accounted for approximately 30 % of all road traffic accident fatalities over the last five years. Most accidents are due to reckless driving of some sort, and about 1/3 of accidents are found to be due to faulty tyres.

Today, on an otherwise uneventful drive from Mandeville to Kingston and back I saw again why road accidents are plentiful and why deaths are high, though amazingly I saw no dead or injured. First, I saw an articulated truck, jack-knifed on an uphill corner facing into the mountains. I can't even imagine what speed the driver was doing for him to lose control going uphill. Second, a car driving in front of us drove into a parked truck, as the driver appeared unable to see well as he glared into the sun. The rear corner of the truck just pierced the windshield of the car and was inches away from the driver's head. A very lucky escape and thankfully the car had only been moving at about 50 km an hour. Next, another truck had decided to try to reshape a hill and this time it had been "de-cab-itated"; the cab and parts of the chassis were strewn across the road. There was no sign that the driver had been hurt but oil and debris were on the highway.

Road conditions are not good and there is a permanent race that Jamaicans would win if it were an Olympic sport, and that is "patch up" road. Every few months roads are scraped and another thin layer of tar and stones goes on top of marl, waiting for heavy rain and traffic to wash it away again so that the race can restart. It provides good employment opportunities so I don't foresee any government changing soon this seemingly useless band-aid practice.

Road conditions are made more difficult by idiotic road maintenance crews, who seem to have about as much intelligence as a flattened mongoose. Imagine a road jam in the middle of the day on the highway from the capital due in part to patch-up works, but then made worse because the flag person was waving one line of traffic to the right of the work and the other the left. So far alright? But the left side traffic then was headed to a parked steam roller! So the drivers were at a dead end and of course wanted to back up to then join the freer flowing right side. Jamaicans have a way of saying "idiot" that seems onomatopoeic, they say "eejyat". And when an eejyat causes you problems for no reason it's a real saint who does not "cuss them out".

Jamaica launched a "Think before you drive" campaign a short while ago to help reduce the carnage on the roads. Within it a programme for the identification and reconstruction of "collision bad spots" was to be put in place by the National Works Agency, which had identified seven such spots island wide--a very low number. I don't think this "thinking" is making much headway in terms of driving attitudes. My last example from today spells that out. Two minibuses, both filled to bursting with passengers. Each one heading along Highway 2000 (a 2 lane by 2 lane freeway) at well over 100 kms an hour. Each racing side by side trying to overtake cars. Highway 2000 looks like a raceway so why not race on it. Only pure luck saved those nearly 30 passengers from a horrible and stupid tragedy. I can't tell if they were begging the drivers to stop or if the drivers had any notion that what they were doing was verging on kamikaze behaviour. They were also "eejyats".

The need to drive with due care and attention is another area where Jamaicans better wise up fast before they hit another self-destruct button.

Grave issues

Special thanks to Ms. Janet Hayles of Knockpatrick, Manchester, Jamaica, for sharing her knowledge with me.

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In Jamaica, up until about the 1960s-70s, most families would bury their dead within two days, because many could not pay for morgue fees. Immediately after a death, the practice was to put the body at the back of the house on a tall table covered with zinc sheeting; the body would be wrapped in sheets with an iron on the stomach to stop it swelling. The two big toes would be tied together; the nose, ears and bottom would be plugged to stop flies entering the body; the two arms and hands would be placed at the side of the body. Chipped ice would be placed all around the body, which was then covered with zinc sheeting. It was important that the body be placed somewhere out of the sun. If no visitors from far away were expected the burial would often be within 24 hours of the death.

Carpenters would visit the home with their tools to make a coffin; cut board was usually kept at home in anticipation of the need to make a coffin. Local men in the area would come and start digging a grave; all they needed was drink (mainly white rum) and food (ground provisions). Women in the area would come and help prepare food, serve, clean the home and other household chores.

After the death there is period known as "nine nights". The night before the burial would be the start of "set up": visitors would come to comfort the bereaved, and help in the home. Then the body would be prepared for burial by family and "respected" persons in the community: the body was washed and dressed in the person's favourite clothes. For those who had been regular churchgoers, their coffin would be taken to their church or place of worship, and following the service the body would be buried either in the church graveyard or in the burial plot at the family home. If the dead person had not attended church or a place of worship regularly, a ceremony would be held at home, and the body then buried in the family plot. The burial plot was simply a hole in the ground, covered with earth. After the burial family and friends would continue to visit to comfort the bereaved during a period of nine nights, especially for the first three days and nights, during when it is believed that the dead person will "visit" the home again.

A year after the burial the tomb building would begin. (The belief was that beyond a year the dead would come back to complain that they were uncovered and cold.) The burial plot would be cleaned: weeds were removed and some "spirit" (white rum) was added around the plot. Tomb building was usually as big an event as the set-up; those who had not been able to make set-up would try their best to be at the tomb building. Drinking and eating, and recalling memories of the dead person's life, were important parts of tomb building.

At each major Christian festival (Christmas, Easter) or on holidays (especially August) family and friends would clean the family plot and repaint the tomb stones (usually in white).

Since the mid-1970s funeral homes have developed and they now take care of most of the arrangements for burials. "Set up" is now longer than nine nights, maybe several weeks, and burials may be held up to a month after death. During "set up" a new trend is to employ a band to play music (especially drums). Some people still use their family plots for burials, but increasingly public graveyards are used.
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Two men travelling along a lonely road met a young boy and asked him if he knew where they get some ice. The boy said he knew a place and went to get the ice. The men used the ice to chase their rum. When the ice was finished they asked for more. The boy came back without any ice. "What's wrong? No more ice?" they asked. "There's plenty of ice, but Mama said I can't take anymore from the dead!" replied the boy.

Finding places on Jamaica's south coast

Many places in a country go undiscovered by most people. One of Jamaica's best kept secrets is its south coast, especially the area between the parishes Clarendon and Manchester (which reputedly got some coastline from the parish of St. Elizabeth so that every parish had some seaside).

It is extraordinary to travel along a road for an hour by car and meet only one other vehicle. That was the case between Milk River--where there are fantastic mineral baths with reputedly the world's most radioactive water, and supposed wonderful healing powers (see link for more on its origins)--and Alligator Pond. The road from the highway to Milk River is rough after much damage by mining truck. From Milk River to Alligator Pond the road is not bad but with occasional bare and rough patches. It hugs the coastline but this is not visible most of the time; instead one sees the high rising coral and rock hills to the north with john crows (vultures circling high above) and can cave openings. It's lined with cacti and thatch palms. The housing is sparse and apparently very basic. It is a land populated by fishing people and rastas. Popular folk lore has it that it is also full of "duppies" (ghosts and spirits); as you pass what seems like acres of uninhabitated land, with occasional cave mouths on the roadside, you can sense the fear people have when passing this area at night. Then you reach Alligator Pond, which has much more going on but not that much except one rare gem. A fish and seafood restaurant called "Little Ochie" has built a reputation for simplicity and excellent cooking. You choose your fish (parrot, goat, snapper, doctor, etc) or seafood (lobster; conch, crab, etc). You decide how you want it cooked (steamed, roast, jerk, etc) and drink fish team while waiting for it to arrive with "bammy" (cassava bread)and/or roasted breadfruit. Little Ochie's cluster of thatched huts on the beach really comes alive at night and the weekends, but the food is also available during the daytime.

The chefs love their work but they also know how to play in their downtime (as you can see from the video below).

This little area of southern Jamaica defies easy description. Most tourists never get anywhere near it. The bauxite and alumina business has meant that the area has had a lot of cash flowing through it. Fishing gives a good livelihood. Agriculture has been generally very productive. The relative economic success shows up in a very high number of bars and shops on the way north from Alligator Pond back into the parish of St. Elizabeth. I may exaggerate but it seemed like one bar every 400 metres. The land once owned by my maternal grandparents (near Myersville) is now part of the Alpart alumina complex. I never visit the industrial complex, but lament every time I pass its entrance.

There is nothing remotely glitzy about this south coast area (in marked contrast to the famed north coast), and that may be its saving grace. Life is generally slow to backward and distinctly rural, but that is a plus. Few properties have been barricaded by grills, even shops and bars. Foreign visitors who get this far are intrepid. As my father says, "You na ha' no reason fi drive yah so." So if you end up in this area you are either lost or you have found its secrets. If the latter only whisper about it to your friends.

A Sunday afternoon in rural Jamaica

Men gathered at a bar hut, tucked off the roadside, with its own patch of grass for parking. Some hold hot Red Stripe or Dragon Stout in hand, others hold a glass of white rum, ice and water. Two domino tables resound with the sound of tiles being slammed; then quiet, then tiles are shuffled. Jamaican dominoes has its theatrical style (see link), and one man poses as he crashes his final tile on the table. The dialogue at the tables is fast and furious. " Me nah 'fraid fi you! A no six-blank you gwan beat me! Cho' man, you can' play wid man; you is a bway!" People eye newcomers to see if better partners are arriving: "Watch dat man deh. 'Im dangerous wid de cards dem. Mi did play wid 'im since we dey a school."

Pretty girls adorn the calendars of the wall, and one serves at the bar. That's as close to equality as the genders will get here.

A man tends a small wood fire outside the bar. He stews a pot of pork from a pig killed by the bar owner yesterday. He is also frying fish. Cornmeal and plain flour stand ready to be mixed into dough, for dumplings. "You a'right boss? You can 'ol' you pork yet? Or is fish you want?"

Meagre-looking dogs wait their turn for any scraps. While waiting they sleep; the nights are rough barking at strangers walking by. They need no pedigree for their work and the rougher their background the better.

One man, dressed all in green (JLP colours), proudly yells "Fi mi gobment gwan change dis ya country. Me is Bruce Golding. You all gwan change." He proudly shows a photo of himself and Edward Seaga taken several years ago. He adds "We mus' bless di bar. Even di rum we a drink need God blessin'. Listen to dis ya CD. Is pure upliftment." The girl at the bar quietly changes the CD playing Sean Paul and puts on 'Bruce's' selection of revivalist tunes. Everyone continues to rock to the beat, even though the lyrics have switched from night to day.

A man so drunk that he can hardly hold his glass starts to argue with another man who had been so drunk he messed up the play at a dominoes table. The two of them sway in front of each other, grasping at and missing each other. No one cares about their argument, which is about who can throw whom out of the bar. Both would be sad if the owner arrived and threw them both out.

People pass in their cars and hail the crowd at the bar. "Is wha' you a keep up?" some ask. "We gwan nyam pork an' fish. You wan' grab some?" they get in reply.

The best seats are at the bar counter. Chairs have to be brought from a nearby house. Standard seating outside is the carcass of a car long forgotten, whose bonnet also serves at a preparation table for the fish fryer.

Some more women arrive. They start to organize: beer is repositioned on the bar shelves, tins of soda are counted. Men's eyes start to drift from the dominoes. Hunger is beginning to bite and a few drift off to get some of the sweet smelling food. There are other distractions: cell phones keep ringing and men break away for more than a few minutes to deal with the calls. The games break up a little.

The bar owner arrives with several cases of beer. He also bring a few car loads more of men. Spirits revive and the afternoon looks set to stretch into night. Those of us with other responsibilities make a move to eat the pork, fish and boiled dumplings; something needs to push down that beer. We make a brief farewell visit to the sugar cane bush at the side of the bar, and leave without fanfare.

The country roads are quiet but we decide to take a shortcut across the land being mined for bauxite. The red earth and white marl make a sharp contrast to the lush fields of yam, corn, and cassava. The roads are pot-holed and we have to drive slowly but we reach the highway again quickly. The town centre is almost empty when we get there; most people are resting at home as the hustle of the week takes its toll. Sleep and rest are now the orders of the day. Sunday is indeed a day for rest.

Thoughts for the day: Inspiration, culture and tradition

Taking what has become a regular pre-dawn morning walk from my father's house across and around the golf course I get a lot of time to think. I share my thoughts with the barking dogs who run my way, or with the crowing cocks that hail the sunrise, or with the egrets overhead as they wait for cows to come out. I look across the lovely misty hills of the parish of Manchester, which are like a blend of where my parents are from: my mother from the baked savanna of St. Elizabeth and my father from the lush hills of St. Mary. I think I am a lucky guy. I have the chance to spend some time with my father and for him to spend some days with his grand-daughter. She has spent most of the past few weeks in Barbados dressing in sweaters and leggings saying how much she likes cold places. Now she is in a Caribbean place that is really quite cold and is in her element.

When I got back from my walk I had the pleasure of seeing my young daughter have her grandfather tell her some stories about his life, of when he collected mangoes as a boy. She has no real notion of where he grew up; she just knows where he lives now. I gave her a breakfast of Ovaltine and bulla bread (a staple for Jamaican kids), a first for her and she liked it; she's not yet ready for bulla and avocado pear (a traditional favourite for Jamaicans). We then spent a couple of hours dressing up Barbie dolls.

My morning thoughts began with Bob Marley's Redemption Song; it was really the first verse that got me, but the whole song is worth recalling:

Old pirates, yes, they rob I;
Sold I to the merchant ships,
Minutes after they took I
From the bottomless pit.
But my hand was made strong
By the and of the almighty.
We forward in this generation
Triumphantly.
Wont you help to sing
These songs of freedom?
-cause all I ever have:
Redemption songs;
Redemption songs.

Emancipate yourselves from mental slavery;
None but ourselves can free our minds.
Have no fear for atomic energy,
cause none of them can stop the time.
How long shall they kill our prophets,
While we stand aside and look?
Ooh!

Some say its just a part of it:
Weve got to fulfil de book.
Wont you help to sing
These songs of freedom?
-cause all I ever have:
Redemption songs;Redemption songs;
Redemption songs.

I think this song came to mind after a conversation last night with one of the coaches for the Jamaican karate team who had just returned from Japan; he happens to be my father's gym instructor and had popped in to see my dad. I asked him for his impression of the land of the rising sun and he answered that he admired how they protected their culture. He then expanded on how we in the Caribbean have no culture as we are all mixed up and a patchwork of peoples all thrown together. We had an interesting discussion about how the Romans viewed Europe, which they felt had no culture.

When I had visited Japan some 20 years ago I had noticed how homogeneous a place it seemed, and how traditions and standard behaviour seemed to be at the core of the country. That tends to make us feel that there is a culture. That sameness also comes with a certain conservatism, which can lead to hostility to outside influences and foreigners. I recalled some English friends who had studied in Japan; spoke Japanese fluently; married Japanese men; had children in Japan and lived there for nearly 20 years; knew much about Japanese culture and history, but were never fully accepted into Japanese society. Much of Asia prides itself on having a very long history and a wealth of traditions.

In Jamaica, we are by definition a young society and have been building a nation since independence based on a motto of "Out of many, one people". Views will differ about how inclusive and tolerant we are or have been. Those who happen to be on the margins of Jamaican society may feel constantly locked out, that is especially evident when it comes to homosexuals. But I love it when I am here and "foreignness" does not seem to be a reason for exclusion. Jamaicans of Chinese or Indian origin speak to me and I know immediately that they are true Jamaicans. Even though they are significantly in the minority they have an important place, often in trade and business, and that is recognized.

Coming out of a colonialism that was founded on involuntarily transporting people from their homelands, we we have a long road to travel to be able to build something that is truly worthy of the term culture, but we should try to build it. Many traditions coming from Africa, India, China or the Middle East have been part of the fabric that makes this country. But it's also true that many of these traditions have not lasted and are being displaced by practices that come from another new nation, the United States. So, it's hard to say which way we will go.

I am at heart a traditionalist, meaning that I love to feel that things that were important in my childhood will still be there and important for my children. Yesterday I went in search of "Solomon G(r)undy". This is the name of a dish derived from the English food Salmagundi, which was integrated into the English language from the French in the 17th century, and is a salad of cooked meats, lettuce, anchovies and eggs, with other condiments. But in Jamaica it is a paste made of red herrings and spices (and for me the best version is made by Walkers Wood).

For me, it also recalls a children's rhyme:

Solomon Grundy,
Born on a Monday,
Christened on Tuesday,
Married on Wednesday,
Took ill on Thursday,
Grew worse on Friday,
Died on Saturday,
Buried on Sunday.
That was the end of
Solomon Grundy.

Well, my search was successful; a few months ago there was none to be found on the island--a production problem I was told. But I learnt that most of the young people in the grocery store have no idea about these piece of Jamaican tradition; the cashier who was about my age did ask me to sing the rhyme.

We need to learn how to protect our traditions if we hope to build a culture. It is hard because of our size to not be swamped by foreign cultures. But if we can get the world to accept things we do (like reggae music) then we need to find ways to defend what we do. The best way to start that protection is to have them as part of our children's lives. I know my daughter will squirm at the smell and taste of Solomon Gundy, but she will at least have that smell in her memory bank, in the same way that she now has Ovaltine and bulla or the smell of salt fish, dumplings, and scallion.

So, I am going to do my little part to build a culture and expose my children to the traditions before they disappear. That's a small commitment but a big task.

Brawta

I am back in Jamaica and within moments I am struck again by how a country that is supposedly so poor has a rich vein running through it. Jamaicans are often known to be generous in spirit, and they can be generous in kind. One of our endearing characteristics is for a seller to give something extra to a buyer, what is called "brawta". Webster's online dictionary definites it as "a gift", "above extra", or "bonus". I have played with this notion in Barbados, and found that it's viewed as alien within the business areas that I have encountered. But in Jamaica it is as common as air. Go to the market and you wont be surprised to find some small token added to the basket, whether it's noticeably more than you ordered, or some fruit added to go with the vegetables. But it happens in stores too. The discount is often the brawta, whether this is 5 percent or more. It could also be a bag of sweets for the child accompanying its parents. The point is you get something for spending your money.

Brawta is not the same as the buyer getting something extra from the seller when there is haggling, or bargaining over the price. Brawta comes without any demand being made, but is a sign of appreciating the customer. I have come across it during my time in north and west Africa and I have also seen it in Europe (most notably in rural areas, but it exists in London markets too).

I have come across some form of the notion in Barbados, at least with some workers at the house where I live, who have brought mangoes, limes or starapples and left them in the kitchen, or who have done other jobs not at all related to their real tasks. But in the tourism business in Barbados it does not seem to strike much of a welcome chord.

Whatever brawta does to the bottom line is often more than recovered by the building of customer loyalty and a willingness to recommend a seller (hotel or restaurant). Tourism offers potentially great opportunities for brawta and I am convinced that it could do wonders for business. Boutique hotels or very small restaurants that I have visited in many countries--who have to do something different than just live off volume--have often shown an understanding that a client is likely to be a return visitor because of the way he/she is treated. The little extras are always remembered, whether it is the complimentary drink on arrival, a vase of fresh flowers each day, a bowl of fruit, the turndown service, free coffee, or being greeted by name. But larger hotel chains (eg some of the Marriott chain) have seen that occupancy rates can be kept high by not gouging visitors to pay for every item and offering something for free--breakfast and internet access are two common examples. So far my experiences in Barbados have not shown me that this is a part of the model being promoted.

If everyone likes a little something extra then you would think that it would not be hard to offer that. Maybe I am missing something.

Reaping the harvest of crime

Most countries in the Caribbean region have had a long experience of peace with other nations; few have actually been directly at war with other nations. However, we find that we are increasing "at war" amongst ourselves. With the stark contrast of Jamaica and to an increasing extent Trinidad most countries have also been free from high levels of crime, but this is changing fast. The development and impact of crime has been well analyzed in a recent World Bank/United Nations report, which points out how the region suffers from being an ideal transit location almost midway between a major supply of drugs (south America) and a enormous demand for drugs (United States). That position of transit has facilitated the entrance into Caribbean societies of a level and kind of violence that is truly alien to our cultures. More and more crimes are against persons and targeting locations that offer quick cash such as conveniene stores or gas stations. In some cases such as Barbados there has been a dramatic fall in commercial and residential burglaries during 2007, of some 15 percent compared to 2006.



The region is often discussing ways of implicating the Diaspora in its development. Now we are reaping a strange reward for migration with the return of criminals from the Europe (mainly UK) and USA, and most (some 50-70 percent) of these deported persons have been shown to be closely linked with illegal drugs and have higher rates of repeat offences. Data also show a close correlation between increased deportations and the rise in the murder rate in Jamaica and Trinidad.


The impact of crime on ordinary people, especially violent crime against persons, is devastating. Those who are victims and live are naturally traumatized forever. Those who die leave behind an increasing string of bewildered grievers. The sense of insecurity about their lives causes people to make decisions that would have shocked them several years ago. Take for instance a Jamaican friend with whom I had lunch yesterday. He has worked almost all his life for organizations in or for the region, and has spent time in Washington DC (dubbed "the murder capital of America"). He is a cancer survivor, who retired and restarted work in a regional organization here in Barbados. He is pondering his options when he really retires. Having felt strongly about going back to Jamaica he bought land there. Now the decision time is nearing he is plagued with worries as he hears more and more stories of what appear to be gratuitous violence. He retold a story of a couple in Montego Bay who were recently raped murdered by a group of men who faked an accident with the couple; this in the area known to be the region's tourist capital. So what is he contemplating? DC seems a better option, he feels. But so is Las Vegas. In short, a choice other than Jamaica.


In the 1950s and 1960s thousands of Caribbean residents were tempted abroad by work and prospects of a better life in Europe and North America. Now that the Caribbean countries have had time to mature in their independence and could use all the skills that were exported, we find that many are driven away from the region or are very reluctant to return.


My personal view is that governments have been extremely timid when it comes to addressing rising crime. And too little will soon end up with too late. Citizens have largely been limited in their direct actions against rising crime, beyond trying to do the natural thing and move away from areas where crime is rising; but the crime follows relentlessly and as it spreads then the chances of being in the wrong place increases. Politicians know their motives and their constituents and it's clear that in a good number of cases important constituents are criminals. I am not tarnishing politicians with this observation, but it needs to be considered when thinking about solutions. The region has one of the best democratic records in the world and rarely has a change of government that needs violence. Therefore we know that our votes count. I find it peculiar that the fight against crime has rarely featured on manifestos of recent elections in the region. If crime really worries us then maybe it's time to look at and think carefully about those for whom we vote.

Small is truly beautiful

With great apologies to Schumpeter, I take his axim for this blog. I like functional and appropriate technology. That is why things related to sustainable development rank high on my interests. As an aside on that it's pure folly for governments in countries that have free resources like sunlight, wind, and wave power to move slowly to encourage the use of these as alternative to dependence on fossil fuels. So, with my position stated, I go to the fun.

I had to travel recently and as many know taking a laptop on a plane is one of life's new banes. "Out of the bag, please, sir." or "Put it in a separate tray, sir, not with the shoes and belt." are phrases that sweeten my air from Grantley Adams, where "please" is always omitted, to Paris, London, or New York. I have become used to this process but what began to tell on me was the weight, as I hauled a relatively heavy 3-4 kilos/7-8 pounds around on my shoulder or in roll-on bag. Sure, this is a much lighter load than in the days of luggable laptops at the beginning of the portable era: I remember walking with what seemed like a 20 pound laptop back in the 1980s. Then I got a bad/good break. My employer insisted that as I was on extended leave I needed to send my laptop back to Washington--bad break as I just got a consulting assignment. But during the trip back from the assignment I got my good break. I read one of those PC magazines, and in it I saw my saviour. A laptop that is only 2 pounds/1 kilo, and that almost all I needed ready loaded: e-mail connections, Skype, video and audio, etc. It also did not operate on Windows, but on the more esoteric Linux platform, with programs coming from open sources. And for less than US$400. So, I became the owner of an Asus Eee PC (see link). Sure, it takes getting used to, especially the very small keyboard and small screen (7 inches). But when I can carry something this light I know there have to be compromises.

But look. There is no real difference in functionality. I prepared this blog with no major problems because of the size of my cutie. So, I know have something new to bounce on my knee when I am spending those long hours in airports. The final plus: the Eee comes with a lot of new games loaded such as electronic versions of Soduku. I will be good. I will work. I will not waste time. Nah! And of course my 4 year old has just seen the new machine: "Hey! That's just the right size for me, Daddy!" My problems are now starting.

Human Development

Bajans are cock-a-hoop this week with the news that the Human Development Index puts Barbados in 1st place amongst developing countries (see link for country details), putting meat on the bones of high school enrollment (89%), high life expectancy (nearly 77 years) and very good levels of average income (US$ 17,300). Of the 177 countries covered, the nearest island countries in the region are The Bahamas (49th), Cuba (51st), St. Kitts & Nevis (54th), Antigua & Barbuda (57th), and Trinidad (59th), with Jamaica very low (101st). Singapore with which Barbados is often compared comes in a few places higher at 25th; Mauritius is down at 65th.

So how does it feel to be nearly developed? Barbados is a whisker ahead of the Czech Republic (32nd). Germany is a puff away at 22nd. If you have travelled you will know that there is a world of difference between most of the acknowledged developed countries and Barbados. But this little country deserves a lot of applause for making the most of what little it has. If there is an area where Barbados' position belies reality it's how life is lived. I may not express it well but the notion I have is that Barbados is still like a village or at best a small town when compared to how life is lived in a major developed country. Somehow, Barbados has retained a lot of the gentility that comes with much less developed countries where people have not become so rich and satisfied that they have forgotten that people are more important than things. So, in Barbados buses will just stop and let off or pick up passengers; similarly people will stop their cars to let others cross or just have a quick chat. I know that I have flagged before that some of this is changing, but for the moment it is still much in evidence.

There is no doubt in my mind that the absolute and relative smallness of Caribbean countries has been a great benefit. In a sense, if you cant get it to work on these little islands then you really cant do anything. Where I have doubts about the state of Barbados' development is in its ability to deliver public services, though I would admit that my experience is limited and largely anecdotal, and distinguishing between superficial and real progress. Size is not a help when delivering some services: having one of something is not much use. If Queen Elizabeth Hospital were to be damaged by fire I suspect that the country would face a health care crisis very quickly. Having a fleet of new swish police cars is not convincing evidence of control over crime. When the system is pushed it creaks--and one should see that this is a feature of the private sector too: the inability of the phone network to deal with the call volumes that arose after the earthquake should prompt a quick review of voice-carrying capacity. (My experience during that period was that internet services were fine but there would have been far fewer people near a computer at the time.) A visit to the airport any afternoon will tell you that the system cannot cope with the volume of international flight arrivals that appear to be clustered into a tight time period: I have been there many times in the last few months and the average time to get luggage is running at around an hour. Road congestion and traffic accidents have increased dramatically, worsened by modern day pressures to do everything by car, by what seems like interminable road expansion works and some very bizarre road designs that are literal bottlenecks which generate congestion.

So part of Barbados' push to be really nearer to Germany in lifestyle rather than in some statistical measure is to have good capacity and high quality over a wider range of services. That will be a huge challenge for a small island economy, and the reality may be that such capacity only makes economic sense if provided for a larger population as would be represented by several countries in the subregion.

Bajans may tend to be complacent or arrogant about what they have achieved after some 40 years of independence, but they need to retain some modesty. They may want to puff up their chests and claim that the rest of the region needs to bend and praise them. Attitudes need to change: some would say that a sense of excellence needs to be recaptured. It is only a short step from mediocrity to failure. An economy based on a fragile and somewhat fickle demand, as is the case with tourism, is no guarantee of long-term success. Factors outside the country's control can easily derail progress, whether it is the weakness of the US dollar, or rapidly rising oil prices, or natural disasters.

I will wish Barbados success, and smile as it celebrates its 41st anniversary of independence and realizes that life begins at 40.