Kudos to Surf Side

December 27, 2007

Dear Sir,

My wife and I spent three days of Christmas at the Surf Side Beach Club on the South Shore in Warwick. I highly recommend it for its ambience, excellent service and good food and wine. I thought that Surf Side showed all that is best in Bermuda with goodwill and no racial tension. It brought home what can be done to improve our country's image in respect of all races. Our Island can, and I feel confident will, put racial tensions, and issues behind us. Thank you Surf Side for a very happy Christmas!

JOHN GILBERT

Paget

Appealing to the converted

January 11, 2008

Dear Sir,

Relative to the letter from Lynne Winfield, December 31, 2007 social change etc. while most would agree with the concept, they oppose the methodology. If they are white that is, and whom she is out of touch with, I feel. People do not fear change per se they only fear change for worse not better, let's not confuse the terminology.

The view of "whites" being a monolithic entity is nonsensical really and saying whites this and whites that rather than the encompassing "we", gives the perception of bias. With a society divided in half, the basic requirement for coming together, would I think be trust as a priority. Not many trust the present government, it seems, and for what some would say, very sound reasons.

That said, it will be difficult to trust those that voted to return them to power, and that will remain the dilemma for the foreseeable future bringing both sides together to solve issues etc., that is.

We are reminded at this point in time, that the white voters in the US voted for a candidate not because of his colour, but for one who seemed to embrace the most honest, ethical and moral persona to bring about meaningful change in Washington D.C.

A lesson could be learned from that Senator, who uses "we the people" refusing to be selective unlike the very opposite used in Bermuda recently.

If C.U.R.B. wants to be taken seriously rather than a feel good evangelistic group, appealing only to the converted, it will need to re-evaluate its approach and its composition, if it is truly interested in meaningful dialogue, rather than non productive monologue. Regrettably rather than seeing more meaningful dialogue in Bermuda we are witnessing the termination of more and more avenues of discourse, and the lack of participation of educated thoughtful contributors seriously interested in the quality of life in Bermuda for all.

SOCRATES

Paget

Currying favour

January 10, 2008

Dear Sir,

Senator Walton Brown is not serious. No one should have any illusions that he actually desires "moderation". He is now a member of the PLP hierarchy and is a "preferred" cousin of the Premier. He, therefore, has more access to him than many. If he were serious he would have given his "words of wisdom" to the Premier in private.

Unless the Premier is a far bigger man than any politician I know, Senator Brown has made it almost impossible for him to follow any of Senator Brown's suggestions. How many of us are likely to be persuaded by a presumed friend who chooses to send us a critical message through those whom we perceive as our bitter enemy and critic?

No matter what is true we all know how Premier Brown perceives some (perhaps all) of the reports of The Royal Gazette and we all know why. Even Tom Vesey recognises that the PLP hierarchy is not very likely to hear any criticism except from its "friends". So what motivated "a friend" to send the Premier and the PLP hierarchy a message through "an enemy" — particularly a criticism of the Premier's foundational principle. The premier not only believes that race relations should be front and centre but his "Big Conversation" and his rhetoric has done what no one else has been able to do.

He has not only made the white community pay attention to us in the black community, but he has provided an avenue that has brought black and whites together in a positive fashion. For some it has been a biracial interaction that they have never before experienced, despite our 20 square mile proximity. One has to assume that Senator Brown was far more interested in currying favour and approval from those in the UBP/white camp than he was in persuading or influencing either the PLP hierarchy or the Premier to modify their approach or to take him seriously. That is most unfortunate!

EVA N. HODGSON

Crawl

Ill-conceived, short sighted

January 16, 2008

Dear Sir,

Yet another nail will be driven into Bermuda's cultural coffin, should the COH turf the BSoA from its current premises at City Hall. Having been around for almost 50 years, this gallery has supported generations of artists and is the nucleus of art in Bermuda ¿ now more than ever as at least five galleries have closed in the last five years. It is the last commercial gallery in Hamilton.

The BSoA has been going from strength to strength the last few years with a new look and a fast turnover of interesting shows, including photography, computer art, sculpture, and the work of the Westgate inmates. People new to the Island as well as many locals flock to the Friday night openings, to tap into the pulse of Bermuda's artistic community. Art in our schools is making a comeback, and for many years the BSoA has given our up and coming young artists a venue to display their work via school group shows. Nowhere else has the space to offer this opportunity.

As a Harbour Nights vendor I often get tourists enquiring where they can see and buy original art. Unfortunately their options are very limited, unless they want to travel to the Arts Centre at Dockyard. There is also Masterworks and The Elliott Gallery, but these don't offer the same range of work and have different agendas, plus they are well outside Hamilton.

When Will Onions designed the City Hall, he specifically designed part of the building to house the BSoA with the stipulation that they should have a "peppercorn" rent as long as the building stood. This expansive room with its high ceilings was never meant to be anything else but a gallery, and the thought of yet more offices being there is a depressing thought. The expense of building on to City Hall to create more space has been stated as one reason for the pending eviction. Why do all the CoH employees have to be contained in City Hall? I'm sure the Corporation has other properties they could be moved into (with free rent) or maybe the mayor's office could be subdivided? Even if you've never set foot in an art gallery, you know friends, relatives and children who are interested in art. The BSoA is a cultural institution, and all residents of Bermuda should take a stand against this ill-conceived and short-sighted possible eviction.

GRAHAM FOSTER

Protect Bermuda's art

This letter was sent to Mayor Madeiros and copied to The Royal Gazette.

January 15, 2008

Dear Sir,

We feel passionately that a country, and indeed its capital, should do everything in its power to protect its people's art and culture by giving them the prominence they deserve.

We therefore strongly object to the possible ejection of the Bermuda Society of Arts from the city Hall, particularly as it is now the one remaining selling gallery in Hamilton. It is also an easily accessible centre for visitors from here or from abroad who want to touch on the cultural pulse of our community. Often visitors will drop by during a lunch break to take in the latest offerings of our artists, photographers and sculptors. And exhibition openings, usually held in the evenings, are always packed to the hilt. In addition, the gallery is also important for our children since it's the venue for annual exhibitions presented by primary, middle and high school students.

When the Governor officially opened the City Hall almost exactly 48 years ago (February 11, 1960), he said, "I congratulate the Mayor and the Corporation on taking a national, as opposed to a purely civic, view in the construction of this very attractive building." We hope that you and the Corporation will agree that the national view is still of paramount importance. A city's soul cannot thrive on mere office space; it thrives on the inspiration of its artists.

MEMBERS OF THE JUST PASTELS GROUP

Sharon Wilson, April Branco, Brenda Bridgewater, Frank Dunlop, Frances Furbert, Chikako Hosina, Liz Jones , Monica Jones, Sharon Nannini, Janet Nearon, Zoe Oliver, Andrea Peets, Meredith Smith, Marian Thomas, Elizabeth Trott, Claire Wood

Were we mistaken?

January 10, 2008

Dear Sir,

Your Headline, 'BMA hits back at lax enforcement accusation' in Wednesday's January 9 issue of The Royal Gazette was as revealing as it was interesting. I respond to Mr. Hardy's point that: "Insufficient emphasis by regulators has been placed on the investigation of suspicious activities by licenced companies, managers and executives under Bermuda law," Mr. Kattan's response was startling.

Mr. Kattan reportedly stated: "It was the case in recent years that the international community has been placing much greater emphasis on dealing with the investigation of corporate wrong doing and fraud." In recent years? Corporate wrongdoing and fraud of offshore entities have been investigate for years all across the world. There are publications in Europe, the USA and even at least one based in the Caribbean that are devoted to reporting on ongoing court cases and investigations into fraud and wrongdoing of offshore financial entities of every kind.

More remarkably, Mr. Kattan later said, "... new laws such as those relating to insider trading and market manipulation... amendments are being made to the criminal code." That's all fine Mr. Kattan albeit decades late, but surely, not all, and hopefully very few "suspicious activities" relate to insider dealing and market manipulation.

Perhaps most troubling, is Mr. Kattan's assertion later on in the article that "The Authority will fully cooperate with the police in prosecuting those concerned." Perhaps this is where the seemingly disconnect occurs. Most people would tend to believe that to some extent the BMA must t be a driving force — in many instances — behind such prosecutions. After all, it is the BMA that receives applications to set up financial entities, annual financial reports, other relevant periodic reporting and information about many others aspects of their operations, during the existence of these organisations in Bermuda. If Bermuda's reputation is damaged, are we to believe that we should point our fingers at the police?

In totality, Mr. Kattan seems to be suggesting that the BMA would be willing to play "Good Samaritan" only, with the police being left to do everything else. No wonder Mr. Hardy opined that setting up a separate investigation branch would be worthwhile. Most of us involved in the financial services industry in Bermuda always believed that the BMA was our first line of defence in these matters. It seems now that we may have been sadly mistaken.

ANSON GREGORY BEAN

Fuzzy on my screen

January 11, 2008

Dear Sir,

I look at the Cable TV weather report on channel four at least once a day. The format has recently been changed from one that was always clear to one that is always fuzzy. It is difficult to read. Sometimes it is not there at all. If Argus is sponsoring this as a public service, someone from Argus should look at the new format and compare to the old, which was far superior. Is there some special reason why the old format was changed?

ELIZABETH STUCKER

City of Hamilton