ALL HANDS ON DECK – BASIL SPRINGER COLUMN WHICH WILL APPEAR IN THE BARBADOS ADVOCATE’S BUSINESS MONDAY ON AUGUST 3, 2015 “In his heart a man plans his course, but the LORD determines his steps.” – Proverbs 16:9 In the 1960s the so-called More Developed Countries (MDCs) in the Caribbean – Jamaica and Trinidad and […]
“The role of the private sector is to ‘do business’ and drive growth. The role of the government is to provide regulatory/policy and service functions (especially providing a dynamic enabling environment for the private sector). The role of the Trade Unions is to induce harmony between employer and employee to achieve greater productivity for fair compensation; and the role of Civil Society is to support the other social partners by mobilizing volunteers and garnering grant support from benevolent sources.
“But reflecting what an amazing country. I wrote the following to my daughter after my trip to Hong Kong and Singapore. These two places are probably two of the most entrepreneurial places in the world. Singapore in particular is a model of entrepreneurship, enterprise and innovation. That a small country, just a little bigger than Barbados, (277 square miles compared to Barbados’ 166) with 5 million people (Barbados has 280,000 people) no mineral resources, could have a per capita income of US$55,000 is amazing given that in 1965, Singapore had a per capita income of $511. Barbados’ per capita is about $11,000. So Singapore’s per capita is five times that of Barbados. Barbados and Singapore were at the same level 30 years ago. The country is clean, green and orderly. A place that is worth a visit.”
In her own words: “Writing is not something I produce, it’s something that produces a change in both myself and my readers. When I’m writing, I feel energized and an infinite amount of time would pass by without me getting weary. It is my passion, my first love and my reason for being. It is my motivator and healer…it elicits a catharsis as my ‘pen’ captures what we all think about but seldom discuss. This passion has led to the publication of my first book “Thinking out Loud” and my second book “How to Find Yourself and Claim What’s Yours”.
One way to overcome this predicament of party political power which I do not think is doing small countries of the Caribbean any good, is to stop the tug-of-war that takes place between the members on either sides of the political divide. Would it not be more sensible to change the constitution and use the slender political resources to move the country forward?
May all leaders, amidst the turmoil of multitasking and complex problem solving, slow down the mental processes of thinking, planning, and analyzing. Let their minds become still; let their brains rest, concentrate and listen to the messages of renewal from God.
Then there is the business of West Indies cricket where we make blunder after blunder and disgrace ourselves in the eyes of the world. The latest of these is the treatment of a cricket stalwart, Shivnarine Chanderpaul, as he ends his illustrious 20-year career for the West Indies. He is only exceeded by Brian Lara as the most prolific scorer for the West Indies. He has 30 test centuries and a batting average of 51.1. He is allowed to fade into the sunset without even so much as a courteous farewell. What manners! What governance, notwithstanding the divergent views of some of our cricket legends.
On May 4, the column was entitled: “Planting Seeds of Inspiration” and the summary paragraph read: “Let us plant seeds of inspiration in the garden of youth and let us nurture them with the grace of God and watch them grow so as to engender a sustainable future for posterity.”
Let us resolve to be innovative in finding solutions for our political, economic, spiritual, intellectual, emotional, financial, business, environmental, and healthy lifestyles; let us work together for the common good rather than fritter away our slender resources fighting against each other.
What continues to amaze me is that there seems to be a lack of appreciation that economies can only grow one successful enterprise after another and that the macro-economic language should be reserved to report successes rather than to propose visions of grandeur and to rationalize failures. I would much prefer to see more resources being rapidly allocated to potential micro-economic opportunities and let the macro-economic issues stabilize themselves when significant growth takes place.