Notes from a small island

Notes from a small island
A weblog by Jonathan Ali

Wednesday, April 14, 2004

The lead story in today's Express is about Brian Lara, and the clever headline is worth a chuckle or two. But the story itself, as with the article in yesterday's Express that raised Nicholas' hackles is awfully depressing. Lara's is a majestic achievement, worthy of recognition. But while cynically opportunistic politicians trip over themselves once again to show their--and their political party's--appreciation, others who have done great things (particularly in the arts, as Nicholas noted) continue to go unnoticed and unsung. And as Lara is drunkenly feted, the godawful mess that is West Indies cricket at this moment is swept aside, with people like the former minister of sport saying moronic things such as Lara's heroics will "put an end to the insularity in the West Indies."

And the politicians aren't the only ones at fault here. So is corporate Trinidad and Tobago. As they do on these occasions, the big businesses didn't lose a moment in taking out pricy congratulatory press ads, ads that really do nothing but raise the profiles of the companies concerned. If they really wanted to show meaningful appreciation for Brian Lara's achievement, they could have taken the hundreds of thousands of dollars spent on those ads and, for example, made donations to the charity that Lara founded in memory of his parents. (And TSTT could have saved some money and lowered our ridiculous telephone rates.)

One consolation I suppose in all of this is that Lara, unlike the first time he broke the world record ten years ago, is now a much more mature individual and will know how to handle all that is to come better than he did the first time around. That, and he will hopefully keep his eyes on the true prize--raising West Indies cricket to great heights again.

posted by Jonathan | 11:15 AM 0 comments

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