Where do we go after 60?

THE EDITOR: I am a proud national of Trinidad and Tobago. I am proud of our warm spirit, our hospitality, our generosity. Our musical culture – steelpan, calypso, soca, rapso, chutney. Our food – the list is too long to itemise. Our storytelling. Our folklore. Our dance.

Our academic and creative talent often surpasses our shores, shining brightly in foreign lands. For a small country we have done well. I have travelled to over 40 countries and TT is by far number one on the list. As Denyse Plummer rightly said, "forget New York and de old talk."

In one of his early addresses as prime minister, Dr Eric Williams remarked that the future of our nation is in the school bags of our children. I see myself as a product of this vision. From primary school in Morvant to PhD from the University of Oxford, all at the expense of the Government. Thank you, taxpayers.

So yes, I am a proud national. And I am a grateful national. But I am a sad national.

I observe a declining morality in my country. A level of self before country that manifests in rule-breaking and corruption. It will lead us to our decline.

Too many of us are no longer disciplined in our approach, productive in our demeanour nor tolerant of our fellow countrymen and women. "Together we aspire, together we achieve." Are we truly together as a nation 60 years later? What do we hope to achieve going forward? Do we have a vision for our country?

As we turn 60 this month, we should undoubtedly celebrate. We have achieved much and should be proud of this. We surely punch above our weight as a small country – a tiny dot in the Atlantic Ocean/Caribbean Sea. But we should also reflect. We should reflect on where we did not do so well, how we can do better, and where exactly we want to go as a society.

When our children celebrate 80, 90, 100 years of independence, what will they be able to look back on? It is our responsibility to decide this now – for the love of our country.

JAMELIA HARRIS

Morvant