Dear Editor,
On December 5, 2013, one day before Finland celebrates 96 years of independence from USSR, I heard the sad news that one of the most admired men on earth had passed on. While it is true that we all know that this day was looming, it was still sad to see such a great man left us so early.
I turned on my TV and BBC World was the first channel I tuned into. I told myself the great man left us before the president opened his mouth. Anyway, I thought losing Nelson Mandela was very sad until I opened the Jamaica Observer the following morning and saw the headline entitled 'J'can leaders hail Nelson Mandela'. Reading what some non-politicians said, it is very clear they have nothing in common with the great man apart from the skin colour.
Mandela was for the poor, the forgotten, the oppressed, not dwelling on the past and believe in reconciliation. Nelson Mandela devoted his life to the ideal that the dignity of the human person was a God-given right that should never be denied or downtrodden. He led and inspired his country's epic struggle for freedom and democracy and will be remembered with special pride as the first president of democratic South Africa.
Mrs Simpson-Miller is Jamaica's first female prime minister and Nelson Mandela is the first president of democratic South Africa and that is where the comparison ends. She was elected to office because she promised to champion for the poor and all she is doing right now is ignoring the people who put her in office. It is very clear she learned nothing from Mandela who was a champion for the poor and the oppressed people of south Africa and the world.
I wish that the Opposition leader had not mentioned the word "bitterness" in his tribute. This is the same man who asked all his senators to resign en masse because some of them endorsed another candidate. Mandela spent 27 years in prison for fighting the apartheid system and still had the decency to forgive his oppressors.
The honest truth is that none of the non-politicians in Jamaica are fit to praise Nelson Mandela. Mandela put people before self and party. He stayed in prison so as to give the oppressed people of South Africa a platform to fight for equal rights. He led by example, he was not interested in retribution, but reconciliation and forgiveness, and he will be surely miss.
Long live, Madiba! I hope your Christmas dinner with the likes of Martin Luther King, Gandhi, Mother Teresa, Bob Marley, Peter Tosh, Prince Diana, Rosa Parks and all the other people who championed for oppressed people of the world is going to be a blessed one. There is much to talk about up there.
Hero Scott
herocarlito@yahoo.com
Learn from Madiba!
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On December 5, 2013, one day before Finland celebrates 96 years of independence from USSR, I heard the sad news that one of the most admired men on earth had passed on. While it is true that we all know that this day was looming, it was still sad to see such a great man left us so early.
I turned on my TV and BBC World was the first channel I tuned into. I told myself the great man left us before the president opened his mouth. Anyway, I thought losing Nelson Mandela was very sad until I opened the Jamaica Observer the following morning and saw the headline entitled 'J'can leaders hail Nelson Mandela'. Reading what some non-politicians said, it is very clear they have nothing in common with the great man apart from the skin colour.
Mandela was for the poor, the forgotten, the oppressed, not dwelling on the past and believe in reconciliation. Nelson Mandela devoted his life to the ideal that the dignity of the human person was a God-given right that should never be denied or downtrodden. He led and inspired his country's epic struggle for freedom and democracy and will be remembered with special pride as the first president of democratic South Africa.
Mrs Simpson-Miller is Jamaica's first female prime minister and Nelson Mandela is the first president of democratic South Africa and that is where the comparison ends. She was elected to office because she promised to champion for the poor and all she is doing right now is ignoring the people who put her in office. It is very clear she learned nothing from Mandela who was a champion for the poor and the oppressed people of south Africa and the world.
I wish that the Opposition leader had not mentioned the word "bitterness" in his tribute. This is the same man who asked all his senators to resign en masse because some of them endorsed another candidate. Mandela spent 27 years in prison for fighting the apartheid system and still had the decency to forgive his oppressors.
The honest truth is that none of the non-politicians in Jamaica are fit to praise Nelson Mandela. Mandela put people before self and party. He stayed in prison so as to give the oppressed people of South Africa a platform to fight for equal rights. He led by example, he was not interested in retribution, but reconciliation and forgiveness, and he will be surely miss.
Long live, Madiba! I hope your Christmas dinner with the likes of Martin Luther King, Gandhi, Mother Teresa, Bob Marley, Peter Tosh, Prince Diana, Rosa Parks and all the other people who championed for oppressed people of the world is going to be a blessed one. There is much to talk about up there.
Hero Scott
herocarlito@yahoo.com
Learn from Madiba!
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