The advent of the computer has been hailed as a blessing, not in disguise but in real focus. Once, when a report had to be done, it was handwritten in full or dictated by those who were inept at the typewriter. This report was given to a secretary or a typist and reproduced for correction. When corrections were done the report was retyped and sometimes little nuances had to be ignored because of the difficulty in retyping once more. Retyping could be onerous, especially if the report was long and you were in a hurry to make a presentation.
Additionally, a secretary was a necessary addition to the work factor. Her or his time and workload were factors that had to be taken into consideration.
For a consultant working privately, the cost of preparing the report also had to be a factor to be taken into consideration. Depending on the length and intricacies of the report, this could be considerable.
All of this now is a thing of the past. The computer has changed this. Furthermore, as computers become mobile and cheaper with adequate memory, reports are now done on the move. Indeed, we have reached the stage where we can even talk to the computer. Sometimes the computer talks back, embarrassingly, to boot.
This brings me to the point of publishing. We in Barbados are beginning to write more and more. New authors are cropping up daily and previously unknown names are beginning to claim audience or a readership along with the likes of George Lamming, Austin Clarke and Kamau Brathwaite.
Recently Orlando Marville, the late Jeannette Layne-Clarke, Cynthia Wilson, Harold Hoyte, Peter Laurie, Esther Phillips, Elton Mottley, Carl Moore, Ralph Jemmott, to name a few of the over 100 outstanding Barbadians who are among the novelists, poets and scientific contributors and, of course, my son, Sean. The arts are taking a quantum leap into the field of literature in the world and with the help of the Internet the world is at our feet here in Barbados.
Known mostly for cricket and the occasional excelling star, we can now put into practice that 98 per cent literacy boast that we say that we have and that the expenditure of thousands of dollars on education has produced.
Excursion into literature by new authors rides on the success into music, song and theatre which recently put Barbados on the world stage – Rihanna. Whereas we have very few raw manufacturing materials for us to compete, the playing field is almost level when it comes to the “conception of the mind”. Here we can explore the world.
Therefore it behooves the Government to give encouragement and incentives to this area of endeavour. Talk of refurbishing the old Empire Theatre in Bridgetown could be a step in the right direction and the minister responsible for culture should take note.
It would be good to be assured that this possible project has already been discussed possibly with the help of the Chinese government and an early implementation can be forthcoming.
Talk of a literary festival should not be talk only, but should be a local event in the novel and poetry art forms inviting foreign participation. Then those who pen or air their contribution on or in the local media can have a chance to compete on a wider scale.
When I was learning banking in 1964 at Barclays Bank DCO, Old Broad Street, London, I was taught that if you forward purchase expecting that the price would rise, it was prudent to hedge forward by selling at the high price. This meant that the two transactions would cancel out, thereby leaving you with the ability to take advantage of a lower market price if the price happens to fall in the future.
I am now burning only 15-watt bulbs.