Letters

To leave or not to leave

Dear Dr Abel,

I must commend you on your article on June 9. I am a Jamaican who has been living in New York for the past 16 years. I do not intend to return to Jamaica, at least not until changes are made. I am willing to help, however small it may be, to restore Jamaica back to the beautiful island it once was.

Dianne Malcolm

Dear Dr Abel,

I agree with you. I for one would love to retire in Jamaica. My parents had to run from Jamaica in 1970. My sister stayed until 1990 and she had to leave because of crime. I love Jamaica dearly and I don't think it is doomed to self destruct.

V.S.

Dear Dr Abel,

I am from Canada. I love your country! I enjoy my stay every time. I go to the ghettos and they treat me better than the people who live in middle-class or upper-class Jamaica.

In order for your country to be better, you need new government! Next, you need a new police force! Some of them are just as corrupt as the criminals! If those two things do not change, gang activity will occur. Everybody wants law and order, but the Government and the police have to change their behaviour.

Veronica

Dear Dr Abel,

To add fuel to your recent article in The Gleaner, I would like to point out that I believe that there is a systematic behavioural problem with some Jamaicans.

I am not sure if it is the result of socioeconomic circumstances. I say this because I was born in the inner city and had a choice. I was on a suburban bus in the suburbs of Philadelphia recently. The bus was filled with working- class people from all walks of life. A Jamaican young lady came on the bus and decided to get on her cellphone and the tone and the words that came from her mouth had the bus astonished. For some reason, she believed that she had to be rude, loud and outright nasty. Some Jamaicans seem to believe that being bad and rude is what is expected of them.

In west Philadelphia, Jamaicans have made a name for themselves, and it is not for setting world records in sports.

Barrington Goldson

Dear Dr Abel,

Quite a predicament we're in. However, I think about a society in which unchecked erosion of values coupled with an aversion to leadership from the truly talented among us, leaving sociopaths to take us down the path of misery.

We need a programme that could in short order awaken nascent honest, high-minded leaders and send them to the fore where we need them. There is an embarrassed, frustrated, angry diaspora just itching to help any worthy cause in leadership.

K. Runcie

Send questions and comments to our health specialists at Your Health, c/o The Gleaner, 7 North Street, Kingston; email: yourhealth@gleanerjm.com.

Unless otherwise indicated, letters and the specialists' responses are usually published.