I have to wonder ...

June 30, 2003

Dear Sir,

While I deplore the needless death of the young lad who died as a result of a traffic accident on Ord Road over the weekend, I have to wonder what two 15-year-olds and a 14-year-old were doing in a car, driven by an allegedly impaired driver, at the ungodly hour of 5 a.m. Did their parents not know that they were out? Or, even worse, did they know and not care that they were out?

DAVIE KERR

St. George's

Confused by Minister

June 26, 2003

Dear Sir,

I read with interest the letter in today's Royal Gazette from the Minister of Immigration.

The subject was the need for Bermudians, born overseas to supply their parents' marriage certificates when applying for passport. The Minister, in very dignified terms, which on first reading seem to make sense, was "saddened" at his Department being taken to task for insisting upon this point, stressing that they were only doing their job and carrying out Washington's requirement.

He will be even more saddened to hear that at 11 o'clock this morning the British Embassy in Washington, stated, in answer to my question, that such is not the case. Washington is acting, in this instance, as agent for the UK and as many Bermudians will have noticed (if they have ever applied for a passport in the UK), marriage certificates of parents are not a requirements. My call was monitored, as they said, for "security reasons" so perhaps a tape of it exists. Anyone can make a similar call.

I thought the requirements as laid out in the Minister's letter sounded a bit hash and stringent and in fact, one might say, an infringement of human rights. Many children are born to unmarried parents, maybe here, maybe overseas - sometimes accidentally, sometimes intentionally. As we Bermudians know only too well. Should these people be denied a passport for lack of a parents' marriage certificate? What about those ultra modern "free thinkers" who consider parenthood without legal marriage perfectly acceptable? The UK, which has become so modern that it practically scares people to death, doesn't seem t consider marriage a matter of much importance, in fact a bit old fashioned.

I am thinking of my three old school friends from the 1930s. They were all real "down de road "Bermudians but were all born in China and I just be they have never had their parents' marriage certificates. I wonder how they are doing all these years without passports.

Bermudians, being great travellers, should be warned never to set foot off the island if pregnant and unmarried. They might give birth to foreign born infants who will be forever without passports.

JANE POCOCK

Warwick

An unwritten policy

June 27, 2003

Dear Sir,

Your readers may be aware that some time ago the Department of Immigration set up an anonymous hot line so as to encourage the uncovering of immigration violations in an atmosphere of confidentiality. I believe that your readers may be interested to know that there appears to be in place at the Department of Immigration an unwritten, covert policy, known only of those who have had the misfortune to be caught by it.

It would appear that despite the laudable and much publicised reforms in relation to the granting of Long Term Residency Status to those who can meet the residency requirements, there is an insidious unwritten policy currently being implemented, the aim of which is to reduce, wherever possible, the number of people who will ultimately be able to enjoy the benefits of the reforms.

It would appear that a calculated and conscious decision has been made by "the powers that be" that anyone who potentially may qualify for Long Term Residency Status within the newly imposed term limits will be deprived the opportunity to meet the residency requirements by a refusal of the renewal of that person's work permit wherever the need for such renewal arises. I am speaking of people who are close to qualifying but who, as a matter of unwritten policy, wherever possible will not be permitted to meet the residency requirement. It seems that what the PLP given with much fanfare, the PLP taketh away behind closed doors covertly and surreptitiously.

Rights of citizens (and I use the world "citizen" in the broadest sense) are not cut down in one fell swoop. They are chiselled away slowly, chip by the chip, as we remain ambivalent, complacent, asleep. Then one day we awaken to find that the rights and protections which we hold dear and which we pride ourselves on, freedom of speech without fear of reprisals, freedom to chose how we live our lives, how we raise our families and how we interact with our neighbours are gone. It remain complacent and ambivalent even at the unjust treatment of a few expat contract workers resulting from unfair and unjust immigration treatment, after all, it does not affect "us" but bear in mind the inevitable result of these myopic policies.

Will it take the loss of our international business before we awake from our slumber?

WAKE UP CALL

Sandys

Embarrassed on 20/20

June 28, 2003

Dear Sir,

There can't have been, in recent years, anything more embarrassing for Bermuda than the spectacle of watching Tourism Minister Renee Webb last night on ABC-TV, trying to convince 20/20's John Stossel that it's OK to use images of one produce to sell another.

None of the discomfort prompted by the bashing that Bermuda unfairly received as a result of corporate inversions comes close to the mortification caused by our Tourism Minister's defence of a very bad decision.

I've watched this sorry saga of Ms Webb's version of truth in advertising unfold over the past few months and have, until now, resisted the temptation to blast off any angry diatribe about all that is wrong with her position - but was always able to take a few deep breaths until the impulse passed.

But Ms Webb's performance on a broadcast that reached tens of millions of viewers was the last straw.

As an incredulous Mr. Stossel said to Ms Webb, "Bermuda has beautiful beaches - why are you using shots of a beach in Hawaii to sell the island?"

Ms Webb's response - "There's nothing in that picture to say where it is" - is breathtaking in its arrogance and worrying in its blinkered simplicity.

As Mr. Stossel put it - Give me a break.

When it first became clear that the Department of Tourism had inappropriately used stock photography for its advertising campaign, Ms Webb should have gracefully admitted that it had been a mistake to do so, replaced the offending shot, and moved on.

Instead, true to form, Ms Webb dug in her heels, deepening the hole she found herself in with every attempt to brush away the torrent of criticism.

We proudly boast of our beautiful pink beaches and our crystal clear water. Why didn't the Tourism Department use our own stock photography to illustrate what are undeniable points of differentiation for Bermuda? The files of Government Information Services are full of stunning shots of Horseshoe Bay, Clearwater Beach, and Elbow Beach - was there not one that would have met the purpose of this particular advertisement?

In an ever-competitive market, the challenge is to identify those attributes that set us apart from the competition. I don't think there's any argument that our beaches and our people, perhaps not in that order, are two of those attributes.

But here we have an ad for Bermuda that boasts another country's beach as well as another country's model.

Would you accept Coke saying that they used a portion of a can of Pepsi to promote their soft drink? Or Gucci saying they featured a corner of a Louis Vuitton bag because it created the right impression of luxury? Or Donna Karan saying she used shots of Liz Claibourne's designs to convince women to buy her DKNY line of clothing?

Of course not. Common sense tells you it's wrong to use your competition's product, no matter how generically represented, to sell your own.

Come on, Ms Webb. You're starting to sound like the Iraqi Minister of Information who, surrounded by US and British troops, insisted Saddam Hussein's Republican Guard still held Baghdad.

In the face of irrefutable evidence, Mohammed Saeed al-Shahef continued to spout the party line. He became a global joke, prompting dozens of web sites that immortalised his more outrageous ravings. Let's hope that we don't wake up one morning to find Webb sites devoted to Renee's take on advertising.

BDD

Paget

We are a family, Bermuda

June 30, 2003

Dear Sir,

On a daily basis more and more Bermudians are giving up on Bermuda. We are fed up with the way things are and how they are going with education, housing and finances. Many blame the people. Many blame the Government. I say the answer is clear; it lays within all of us.

Government? What is Government? The World Book Encyclopaedia tells us that it is a group of people from a family to a nation that has rules of conduct to govern lives. I wholeheartedly agree with this because Bermuda is a family - 25 square miles - certainly no room for strangers. We are a family, Bermuda!

Somewhere in our transition into a modern society we have forgotten our heritage or family, our thinking and way of life. This I believe is one of our major downfalls. Instead of helping one another we pick up selfishness. Instead of humility, we pick up pride. We have forgotten how to love one another; instead we judge. This is not the healthy and productive behaviour of a family.

The parties that govern us are flesh and blood and are prone to pick up the same sickness of selfishness and pride. Fear not because within you and me is the power to vote; vote them in and vote them out! We, Bermuda, have the power.

My wish is to leave you with these thoughts. If this Island can continue to move forward and not fall, we can be a shining example as a lighthouse for the world. Let us not forget love and let us not bring forth revolution but realisation.

BLACK SWAN

City of Hamilton