Senator John King believes Barbadians must do better at celebrating their own while they are alive.
He was giving his obituary speech for the late Right Honourable Sir Lloyd Erskine Sandiford during the yesterday morning’s session of Senate.
Talking about his admiration for the former Prime Minister’s resoluteness, King was critical of what he believed to be society’s habit of only speaking glowingly of people once they had died, believing that it should be done when they are alive.
“Too often as a nation we begin to give accolades, or as the young people would say, ‘give people their flowers’ after they have passed,” he bemoaned. “How many more times will we see this play out? At some point in time we have to look deep within ourselves and decide that there are some things that need to change, and I believe that that type of behaviour we exhibit from one generation to the next is one of them.”
After pointing out how it could look hypocritical, King continued saying: “We have to confront it and decide this has to stop. We must be able to reach out to people and let them know that we appreciate them and the things that they have done. I would go even further and use a word that would kill some people to just say, let people know that you love them. It is not that hard.”
The former calypso artiste stressed that it was important to remember that despite the various things that may divide us, we are all human and should be treated as such, especially when it comes to those who are leading the country and have to make the difficult and often unpopular decisions.
“For all of us on the outside we can have various points of view but unless you are sitting in that hot seat, you can only speculate but you really don’t know,” he said. “Therefore it is important that when we come to these types of things because there will be more of these, we will be able to do it in an environment that is changed and more appreciative of what these persons have done.”
The Government Senator was also of the belief that former Prime Ministers in Barbados should continue to carry that title with them even after they have left office as is customary in American politics with their Presidents. He believes that will increase the respect given to those that have held that position.
“I believe it is incumbent upon us that we begin to change how we view our leadership. That should be seriously considered and all of the privileges that go along with that should also be extended to those persons once they leave office. The reason I say this is because I have had the unfortunate privilege of watching persons who have served in that capacity struggle in this country at simple things like going to an event,” King concluded.
Sir Lloyd Erskine Sandiford passed away on June 26 at the age of 86, having served as Prime Minister from 1987 to 1994. He was laid to rest on July 14 at the St James Cemetery after a state funeral. (JC)
