in Cultural and Creative Sectors in Developing Countries: The case of Jamaica Deborah Hickling Gordon Ph.D I smiled when I read this headline. “Large…
Rethinking ‘Informality’
Rethinking ‘Informality’
Challenging discussions on Jamaican identity, unity, and progress on Independence Day
A lively discussion took place on the Independence Day holiday (August 7, 2023) at “Regardless” (The Manley Centre), the former home of National Hero…
Challenging discussions on Jamaican identity, unity, and progress on Independence Day
Obscenities by Jamaica’s tone-deaf MPs-200 percent salary increases
For me, no other word can describe a 200+ percent salary increase for parliamentarians than OBSCENE. https://jamaica-gleaner.com/article/lead-stories/20230517/massive-salary-hike-political-directorate
‘Dr. Clarke, who closed the 2023/24 Budget Debate in the House of Representatives on Tuesday (March 21), advised that 95 per cent of public officers have indicated acceptance of the offer, which sees them getting a 20 per cent salary increase over three years, from 2022/23 to 2024/25.’ https://jis.gov.jm/finance-minister-thanks-civil-servants-accepting-restructured-compensation-package/
What justification is there for the level for MPs etc and the huge disparities with public sector workers?
I don’t forget the PM’s election promise for job descriptions for MPs. If we’d had those, we’d have an idea what they do that may make us feel they’re worth the increase.
Without such descriptions, it’s à contemptuous insult to Jamaican citizens.
My blood will boil while I wait to learn why so much.
‘Perception vs Reality-Unravelling Jamaica’s crime disconnect’-(I’m not crazy.) May 15, 2023
Frankly, I’ve been wrestling with Jamaican crime trends for many months. I told my wife that my feeling was we were following the wrong narratives. Yes, Jamaica has unbelievably scary murder numbers. However, we have been told for many years that 70+ percent of these murders are gang-related, ie criminal on criminal. Those are still killings, but the average person should not be immediately terrified by these, though they could become collateral damage. The other point is that domestic violence is about 20+ percent of murders: we have serious relationship and conflict resolution issues and this is borne out by this high ratio.
The other point is that, we know violent crime has not (yet) targeted the tourism sector. There, sexual assault, robberies, scams and petty crimes do occur, but, generally, visitors to Jamaica should fear less being targets for murder. So, when countries like the USA issue travel advisories citing violent and high crime issues, they are real facts, but they are warnings that should not be surprising to Jamaicans.
While Jamaica has its crime problem, we also know that it’s startlingly different from the USA’s or UK’s crime problems, for instance. In the USA, what scares many is the incredible amount of mass (4+ people) shootings, using assault weapons, often appearing random https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-41488081-already 200 in 2023!. In the UK, knife crimes are running at all-time highs https://www.express.co.uk/news/uk/1732889/uk-knife-crime-map-areas-spt#: In line with the long-term trend, the use of sharp instruments was the most common method of killing in England and Wales, responsible for 41 percent of the total 696 homicides in the year to March 2022, according to the Office of National Statistics.
A common trend amongst some young Jamaicans we know if to leave the USA as soon as they finish their studies and return to Jamaica because they are terrified of becoming a victim in a mass shooting. For them, that’s not jumping from the frying pan into the fire. They feel much safer in Jamaica. Admittedly, most of them leave in safer areas in Jamaica, but they are mobile and engage in higher-risk activities, like many young people, but still think they run fewer risks back home.
The article below, by Dennis Brooks (senior communications strategist for the Jamaica Constabulary Force), touches on how the data tend to support my idea that crime may be bad, but it is getting better. (I worry about using better for something so heinous, but it’s language not sentiment. I’d love to write that no crime exists, but…)
Even if I suspected Dennis of bias, I would respect any analysis that appears genuine.
**********
Read the piece, https://www.jamaicaobserver.com/columns/perception-vs-reality/ and focus on the role the local media play in stoking the ‘fear’ factor by highlighting violent crimes, so that public perception would be odd if it did not veer towards fear, when reading or seeing images in such reports, daily.
Have you ever watched the weather forecast and heard the reporter tell you that the temperature will be one thing, but it will “feel like” another?
As crime rates continue to fall across Jamaica, many Jamaicans still perceive the country as an unsafe place to live. This perception is not based on reality, but is influenced by various factors that create a distorted view of the actual crime situation.
The Jamaica Constabulary Force (JCF) reported a 22 per cent decline in major crimes in the first quarter of 2023 compared to the same period last year. Commissioner of Police Major General Antony Anderson announced that murders were down by 21 per cent; shootings, 13 per cent; rapes, 47 per cent; robberies, 32 per cent; and break-ins, 11 per cent. These significant reductions in crime rates are a testament to the hard work and dedication of the constabulary and its law enforcement partners. For the first time in recent memory, both violent and acquisitory crimes have been significantly reduced.
Despite these considerable reductions, some individuals feel that the data does not align with their lived experience. Instead of questioning the data’s credibility or dismissing it, we must examine the factors influencing how safe or unsafe people feel to understand this dissonance.
Several factors may affect the perceived safety in the same way surface level or atmospheric factors can influence the difference between actual temperature and how it feels. In the case of crime perception, some crucial factors include the media’s role, social media influence, personal experiences, and economic factors.
The media often focus on sensational and violent crimes, which fuels the impression that crime is rampant and out of control, even when official statistics show a significant decrease. The rise of social media and increased access to gruesome crime scenes have also shaped crime perceptions in Jamaica. Graphic images or videos of crime scenes circulate on social media platforms, contributing to a sense of fear and anxiety. The lack of regulation and editorial oversight on social media can also lead to the spread of false information and rumours, further distorting what becomes the public’s perception.
Personal experiences play a significant role in shaping safety perceptions. If someone has been a crime victim, or knows someone who has, he/she may feel more vulnerable and fearful, even if crime rates are declining overall. Moreover, economic factors, such as financial insecurity or economic hardship, can cause people to feel less safe because they are more vulnerable to crime or view crime as a symptom of broader social problems.
Unfortunately, some members of the editorial and commentary class in Jamaica cast doubt on crime data’s veracity only when it shows a decline. This selective scepticism undermines law enforcement efforts and creates discord among citizens who need to trust the data to make informed decisions about their safety.
Playing politics with crime data is detrimental to Jamaica. The reality is that there has been a significant decline in major and acquisitory crimes, and we should acknowledge this progress. Accepting crime data only when it suits a particular narrative does a disservice to the people of Jamaica who deserve a safe and secure society.
The response to the feeling of dissonance ought not to be to ‘throw shade’ at the data, but to help people understand the dissonance. By raising awareness of the discrepancies between crime perception and reality, and by emphasising the positive strides made in crime reduction, we can help shift public opinion towards a more accurate understanding of the current situation. This shift will enable Jamaicans to make better-informed decisions about their safety and allow law enforcement agencies to focus their resources more effectively.
Ultimately, building a safer Jamaica is a collective responsibility that requires the participation of all citizens, organisations, and institutions. We must all commit to addressing the factors that influence crime perception and work together to ensure that the reality of safety in Jamaica aligns with the perception of its people. Only then can we truly create a secure and prosperous nation for everyone.
Should points be deducted for coaches’ inapporpriate conduct
First, a disclaimer, of sorts. I am a passionate football fan-a fan of the game, having played at a high level, being a licenced coach and certified referee. I am also a near-lifelong Liverpool FC fan. My comments are made in the vein of the football fan, but it happens to be true that an issue has been sparked by Liverpool’s coach, Jurgen Klopp.
The truth is Klopp is one of many managers who are passionate on the sidelines and that sometimes boils over into confrontation with officials, to my mind simply because it’s they or players who need to correct something. The coach can deal with the players in many ways, but dealing with officials is limited, especially during matches. Looked at simply, what should one do when an apparent blatant transgression goes unpunished? Shrug the shoulders? Say “Well, that’s life.” Whatever indifferent reaction some may prefer, the reality is that decisions and match outcomes affect people’s livelihoods in significant ways. Fans can go and drink away their horrors, but a team that loses points when officials appear to have done a poor job can have players and coaches losing their jobs. It’s rare for officials to lose theirs.
That said, Klopp’s actions at the weekend: appearing to approach the 4th official in anger, though halted by a pulled muscle, and then saying after that he did not like what the centre referee said to him at the end of the match, has sparked reactions. One set has come from Refsupport, a UK charity giving support to referees.
Martin Cassidy, CEO of Refsupport, has proposed the best way to deal with managers and coaches abusing match officials would be to deduct points from teams for such behaviour. He may be right, but would it be a good idea?
He did not go into how many points would be involved for any transgression, but one can see the bun fight at the season’s end if such deductions matter in terms of teams’ fortunes for the next season, literally, with relegations/promotions and with qualification for UEFA tournaments.
Other details were not given, but one can think of how any scale of deductions would be food for subsequent criticism. They could even lead to legal challenges. We saw a few weeks ago, how Juventus, having been deducted 15 points for transfer transgressions, were given back the points and suddenly the fortunes of many teams are affected as Juventus rose up the table.
What many have seen in recent years is not inappropriate behaviour by coaches and teams, in isolation. It has occurred with a backdrop of some poor officiating. In the recent era of VAR, we have also seen opportunities to correct certain match-changing decisions by a set of officials reviewing the on-field decisions. However, we have seen that this has resulted in a series of clear inconsistencies in how officials interpret football rules. A valid question, though, is how far can poor officiating justify angry reactions from coaches, players and fans? The answer to that is nuanced by the fact that refereeing bodies don’t appear ready to openly hold officials to account for clearly poor decisions. At least, that’s annoying to many.
Now, officials do not make the rules, they interpret them, and many are subjective, but the bodies that do (FIFA and IFAB, mainly) and offer ways to interpret them seem to have added more confusion than clarity. We now have a world of frustration often caused by officials making these subjective decisions. Some of these can be shown clearly to be wrong from any objective assessment. (Most recently, referee Tierney penalized Mo Salah for a foul, which the assistant referee closer to the incident did not flag, and which video evidence showed was clearly Salah BEING FOULED. That sort of egregious mistake feeds into teams’ frustration.)
But, if penalizing teams for their coaches and players behaviour seems right, does not giving teams (back) points for poor officiating make sense? It would if the referring bodies were to be completely frank about officals’ performances. (How would that work?) In the absence of that, what about the occasions when officials and their body (eg PGMOL) apologise to teams for bad or wrong decisions?
At least, that would have a semblance of symmetry that accepts that match outcomes depend on teams and officials.
Deducting points can be fraught with complications (as seen recently in Serie A and Juventus). But, if a punishment seems to fit a crime, should we not consider if other ‘crimes’ warrant similar treatment?
My full view is that football needs a bigger overhaul to deal with discipline. It has allowed petulance to be the norm for decades and now tries to reel back parts of that. Other sports stamped down on it decades ago. But, the ‘beautiful game’ has long felt that it has to be more free-for-all than controlled. Are we reaping the harvest sown long ago?
Constitutional Reform Committee Background Documents: Obtained via Access to Information Request
We are, again, indebted to Susan Goffe for trying to put some order into constitutional processes in Jamaica, which often seem to be ‘seat of the pants’ approaches, with little serious consideration of the consequences of poorly prepared legislative changes.
Many things should concern Jamaican citizens about the early actions of the Constitutional Reform Committee, especially its chair. She has constrained matters, severely, by placing the need to table a bill in May as a ‘drop dead’ date, even though she’s stated that a realistic deadline is when the next national elections are due. December 31, 2025. Why?
Further, she has muddied the waters on public consultation by running a Twitter poll. In her reply to my concern, note the casualness of what she seems to be doing: “I threw out the question in the poll because of a very spirited discussion I had with some of my #stjameswc constituents.” (my stress). One doesn’t throw out questions in proper public consultations; it’s a structured process to try to get views of a representative sample of citizens. That said, we also do not see any indication of a consultation strategy or timeline.
Concerns have been and continue to be expressed about the Constitutional Reform Committee which was established last month. Some of those concerns …
Constitutional Reform Committee Background Documents: Obtained via Access to Information Request
Artificial Intelligence? No Thanks
Question for you: Why do you write a blog? No, it’s not a trick question … you’ll understand in just a minute. To answer my own question, I write …
Artificial Intelligence? No Thanks
One Final Experiment With AI
A few days ago I posted about my experiment with Artificial Intelligence and concluded that it’s not something I have any desire to use. But, since …
One Final Experiment With AI
Don’t stifle our voices, says citizens’ group to parliamentary committee
Is our democracy being watered down? I am beginning to wonder. On Thursday, January 19, 2023, the Parliamentary Committee on Infrastructure and …
Don’t stifle our voices, says citizens’ group to parliamentary committee
Dialect and heritage-November 5, 2022
In 1956, 300 locations were selected by the University of Leeds for a nationwide survey of dialect. How did people use language and what were the …
Dialect and heritage
Jamaica: Political Economy 