I read with interest a letter to the editor ‘A Chinese’s memory of Trinidad’ in the Newsday -Nov. 15, 2019, by Dr David Chang of Canada.
Despite Dr David Chang’s revelation of racial attacks on the minority Chinese community in Trinidad, many sympathizers of the PNM and its policy of black hegemony such as David Mohammed and Roger Mohammed are in denial. It is the Mohammeds’ defense of wrongs and evils that have landed us where we are today. This aiding and abetting, egging on the race baiters of the PNM for their agenda that have brought the country to where it is today.
Chang wrote: “I am a Trini, born and raised and like so many others, I bear the scars of being beaten physically and emotionally by the hooligans, who even to this day, I remember. I remember my parents suffering cutlass threats and abuse just so they could raise their nine siblings in Trinidad.” Dr Chang continued: “Everything was “motherc- – -t this” and “motherc—t that” and “allyuh f—king thiefing Chinese, go back to China.”
Dr David Chang continued: “During the Black Power movement my family had to migrate to the US and Canada. It was either that or die at the hands of uncivilized Trinis. Blacks, in those days, celebrating: “we bun down the Chinaman shop.”
David Mohammed who has been perennially on air offering his advice to the black youths, instead of admitting that there is a crime problem in the country proceeded to identify Boysie Singh, Polol brothers and Dole Chadee as criminals. And he is right, but I have never heard any Indians social activist or politicians defending their wrongdoings.
Ben Gurion, the first Prime Minister of Israel, said that he awaited the day when there will be Jewish prostitutes on the streets of Tel Aviv. That was futuristic and visionary thinking on the part of Ben Gurion. Any community would be incomplete without its prostitutes and its criminals, and the Indian community is certainly paying a high price for its puritanical posturing. It is time that the community understands the role of criminals and criminality in the scheme of things considering other communities naked defense of a culture of criminality.
Standing up for right has been the culture and history of Indians. We have always resisted invaders and colonizers and never embraced their ideology. Today after centuries of occupation and oppression, India is awakening to take her place in the world and that could have only happened because its great sons and daughters who did not surrender to criminals and hooligans.
Dr David Chang and his family fled, but the Indian community should not. We are the single largest ethnic group with the largest pool of professionals. We have also toiled to develop agriculture and small businesses, thus making the biggest contribution to the economic, social, and cultural diversification of the country.
How many Changs have fled this country after being victims of crime? This is a question for the government to answer and if it cannot come forth with the answer, it is for researchers to collate the numbers and lay it out for all to see.
I want to congratulate Dr David Chang for displaying not only courage but more so, honesty in sharing his horrid experiences of himself and his family. I hope that other victims of crime step forward and share their painful experiences also.