An insult to senior citizens

THE EDITOR: In one fell swoop MP Rodney Charles relegated all "senior" citizens to their rocking chairs or their funeral pyres.

At a recent press conference on April 19 Charles stated that Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley and Opposition Leader Kamla Persad-Bissessar, SC, should bow out of politics to, “help usher in a new generation of politics.” His reason for petitioning their departures is…their ages. Apparently, they are too old to be in politics.

Following his "logic," Charles has in effect concluded that people have a shelf life and "old" people have no value. While he did not say at what age they become incompetent, ineffectual, and inadequate and should consequently retreat from public life, he noted that leaders under 50 were trending both regionally and internationally.

Charles specifically referred to the prime-minister designate of Singapore. who is 51 years old. Perhaps he should have extended his gaze to India, the largest democracy in the world, which is led by a 73-year-“OLD” man. Prime Minister Narendra Modi is far from old and doddering and is poised to win another election with a landslide victory.

The point is, Mr Charles, people should be judged by their performance, not by their age. Furthermore, people should be able to choose their leaders, not have leaders foisted upon them.

With his single statement Charles has disparaged the work of organisations like the Trinidad and Tobago Association of Retired Persons (TTARP) and the AARP in the US. These organisations are committed to ensuring that retired people, or “seniors” as they have been labelled, continue to live full, happy, healthy, productive lives. They are encouraged to live with purpose and to continue to pursue their goals and dreams. Some people choose to retire from their jobs at age 50 but they continue to serve in many capacities. They don’t just lie down and die.

In this country there are many “senior” citizens making differences in their nooks and crannies, and in various fields. They sit in boardrooms and make decisions to take their companies forward. They engage in not-for-profit activities to share their knowledge and to give back to society.

There are religious leaders who are well over 70. Should they leave their flocks in the hands of “young” people who still need to gain knowledge and experience life? Should they abandon them simply because of an arbitrarily established age limit for contributing to society?

Charles added that his generation of politicians has failed the younger generation.

How did Persad-Bissessar fail the younger generation? Her legacy is one of building schools to educate the younger generation and keep them away from lives of crime. Her legacy is the Couva Children’s Hospital to save the lives of the future generations. There are many young people on her team.

If you, Mr Charles, are of the view that you have failed, you should make your way to the political cemetery alone. The rest of us senior citizens will continue to make our contribution to our country.

JASODRA RAMPERSAD

via e-mail