Ronald Thwaites | Chang’s dilemma

I think I can understand Horace Chang’s unease about the efficacy of the social intervention dispensed by the Peace Management Initiative (PMI), the Citizens Security and Justice Programme (CSJP) and a host of other projects attempting to alleviate material and spiritual poverty, and all the social disorders which it spawns.

He needs these efforts and the paltry tokens being carried out in these zones of special responsibility, to amount to more than they are designed and funded to deliver. But it is not possible. The rot of social destruction, the disordered elements of the culture, idleness and unrequited anger, mixed with weed, liquor and the cheap prevalence of guns, make for a toxic stew which the pity-me-little social programmes can only divert or abate for a while, but cannot attack systemically.

Yes. We need to admit that the country is that sick. And it isn’t going to get any better, given the Government’s frantic self-deception that someday the states of emergency, and even the more severe lockdown which some would envisage, will scare the criminal-minded into submission or better still, render them extinct.

Let us call this the Green Bay mentality. It is a similar frame of mind that befuddled British society in the mid-19th century when, at the public hanging of a youth for stealing a shilling, pickpockets were rampant in the crowd. So what has changed?

Dr Chang, good clinician that he is, wants a real solution. But the chronic economic inequality, the classist social order, and the political structure of which he is a leader cannot countenance the depth and breadth of the therapy which the sickness requires.

The minister posits investment in upgrading police stations. That is a no-brainer and a relatively cheap sop, given the ridiculous pay, the crushing hours and the absolute necessity to try to avert a disgruntled force (with not a few corrupt elements) from reverting to its People’s National Party preference. But none of that can stop the crime.

Next, he says he wants to address the conditions of schools and the quality of education, especially in high-crime areas. So then Horace, as it is becoming now, we had better target all the nation’s schools because crime is rampant everywhere.

This remedy can work, but over a long period of time, and will involve major changes of personnel, discipline and curriculum. CAP and ASTEP won’t cut it, even if they can be made to operate efficiently and without corruption. Can parents, teachers and the obese educational bureaucracy be convinced of this effort? And the same political considerations apply for the teachers as with the police.

BILLION-DOLLAR INTERVENTION

The measures which Minister Chang proposes as effective social intervention are going to cost billions, which must be afforded if crime reduction is to be the outcome. And there is nothing yet spoken of about jobs for those whose poor socialisation and extreme need require temporary support while being educated or rehabilitated.

In the meanwhile, the PMI and CSJP projects have their limited utility. Chang’s latter-day promise not to de-fund them is welcome, even if likely to be half-hearted and half-budgeted. The big question will be answered when the next Budget is read. Will it show any appreciation of Chang’s consciousness of what comprehensive social reconstruction will really entail?

The best new year resolution the nation could make is to banish the false conceit that crime is being brought under control by existing measures. Nothing less than the foreswearing of political divisiveness and a united resolve to offer hope, order and good purpose in 2020 will work.

By the way, telling lies to yourself is the height of stupidity. I am privy to a school which is spending 250 per cent more for the same basket of school-feeding items than it did about two years ago. I reflected on this reality when viewing the Government’s advertisement to the effect that “stable inflation is to the economy what bass is to reggae music”.

Where do these people live; where do they buy food; which prices have abated with the appreciation of the dollar? Could ‘Brother Gad’ bring the same basket of goods to Parliament for the same money as he did a few years ago? What else matters, anyway?

There should be no place for delusionary politics and public relations in 2020.