07 May 1999, 846 words
I really don't understand Mr. Panday. Here I am, one of the best writers in the country and with a last name like Baldeosingh, yet he hasn't offered me a job on the new NBN board. And he must know that I want it, since I have on several previous occasions used this column to express my interest in being given a well-paying job at TTT, then ICN, now NBN. Indeed, I've applied so many times that I'm starting to get my acronyms confused.
Since I haven't been asked to serve on the Board, I can only assume that our Prime Minister, whom I know is not the kind of man to let a Maharaj or a Singh go to waste, wants me for Head of News. It is true that Tony Fraser occupies that post at present, and it is also true that Tony is a far more experienced and competent journalist than me. But so what? The Government wants NBN to promote positive news. Tony is the kind of fella who has Issues Live programmes about the growing threat of AIDS in our country. Doesn't he realize that that could scare away tourists? He also hosts programmes about violence in schools. Doesn't he realize that this could give schoolchildren a negative self-image? He even writes commentaries asking how taxpayers' dollars are being spent on the Ms Universe pageant. Doesn't he realize that Trade Minister Mervyn Assam has an accent?
Take the Caesar case. If I had been Head of News at NBN, I definitely would not have led with it if, as Mr. Panday said, something positive was happening that day. And I'm quite sure that Public Utilities Minister Ganga Singh must have been turning on a new standpipe or Local Government Minister Dhanraj Singh overseeing the completion of a new drain.
If I had been in charge of NBN, I would have emphasized that the Prime Minister cut short his overseas trip in order to comfort the entire nation. I would have pointed out that, in a fortunate twist of Fate - or as Maha Sabha pundits like to put it, dharma - Mr. Panday was abroad in Costa Rica when the unfortunate incident occurred at his official residence. I would have emphasized how he cut short his trip in order to return to provide succor and comfort to his staff (99 percent of whom, as the PM noted some years ago, are not of East Indian descent) and the whole nation (more than half of whom, according to the latest figures from the Census Bureau, are not of East Indian descent.) And I would have pointed out that this proved that the ruling UNC enjoys wide support across ethnic groups.
Of course, as a responsible journalist, I would also have provided accurate information about the unfortunate incident itself: how two men were shot and a secretary's assistant injured. But, as a responsible journalist, I would also have hastened to point out that this incident, though admittedly unfortunate, shows that the PM lives just like the grassroots people. Indeed, I would have pointed that the average citizen actually enjoys more peace of mind than the PM, since we are generally only in danger of being shot at by marauding bandits, from whom such behaviour is expected.
In the necessary follow-up over the next few days, I would then have pointed out that the truly unfortunate thing about this incident was that none of the media houses took the angles taken at NBN with its noble mandate to promote the positive. I would have pointed out that there was a lot of unnecessary sensationalism of what was, after all, a very unfortunate incident. I would have held a televised 12-hour prayer marathon and invited representatives of all the religions to editorialize on the need for more religion since, if women understood that they should obey men as God instructs in the Bible, Qu'ran and Bhagavadgita, none of this would have happened.
I would also have hosted a Talk It Out which posed the question: "Do we really want to encourage maccociousness in our society?", pointing out that it is this disgraceful national habit that makes Dhanraj Singh's life a living hell. I would also have had an Issues Live programme in order to discuss how mauvaise langue damages the economy by reducing confidence in Finance Minister Brian Kuei Tung.
Now I realize that Mr. Panday may be hesitant to appoint me to such an important post as NBN News Head because I have in the past written columns implying that he's an insecure, petty, vindictive, hypocritical totalitarian. I can only assure him that I meant this in a good way. And I believe I have in this column amply demonstrated that I can find - or, if need be, invent - those angles that will better serve the public interest, rather than just the interested public.
Copyright ©1999 Kevin Baldeosingh