Manatt, Manatt, Manatt

Din Duggan, Contributor

MANATT, PHELPS & Phillips, Manatt, Phelps & Phillips, Manatt, Phelps & Phillips. No, I am not going crazy or begging a job nor did someone challenge me to successfully complete a tongue twister. I am merely displaying my extraordinary courage. I imagine that, like the legend of Bloody Mary, if I invoke the name of the United States (US) law firm three times in a mirror, it will dramatically present itself and something noteworthy will occur. Folklore has it that Bloody Mary would appear and brutally slay anyone brave enough to beckon her in this manner. Well, nothing happened. Perhaps someone has already summoned Manatt and its ghost is busy bludgeoning that brave soul. Has anyone seen the prime minister lately? What about the Jamaica Labour Party leader?

Manatt's name has been called so many times as part of the Christopher Coke extradition fiasco that its ghost is already here terrorising us all. If only the prime minister chose to express his manhood some other way - perhaps by arm wrestling Portia Simpson-Miller - we would be spared this onslaught of idleness. For, while we are consumed by the current scandal du jour the world swimmingly passes us by. Countries are taking bold and decisive actions to position for success when the global economy rebounds. Mexican President Felipe Calderon has called for debate on legalization of drugs to extinguish the drug wars that have engulfed his country. Even our communist neighbour to the north is busy taking slow but determined steps toward political reform. Our leaders, meanwhile, hold midnight meetings about "urgent party matters" and waste taxpayers' monies and time on dual-citizenship fights.

The good old days

The mediocrity is too much to bear. Allow me a moment to reminisce about the good old days when Jamaica was the gem of the world. Great nations trailed us in almost every essential category, our anthem bellowed in all corners of the earth and our legend stretched from the Caribbean to the Far East. Yes, 2008 was a good year, indeed. That was the year that our track and field team (minus the field) dominated the Beijing Olympics.

When we recall our great feats as a nation, we tend to eagerly reference these wildly anomalous achievements in sports and music - Bob Marley and reggae; the '98 Reggae Boyz; Usain Bolt; L.A. Lewis (okay, maybe not L.A. Lewis). These accomplishments are indeed badges of honour that we should proudly don. For a nation of only three million people to achieve such triumphs is simply amazing.

Take, for example, Singapore, another small nation that competed in Beijing. Practically in their own backyards, they could only muster one medal, silver in women's table tennis, their first medal in 48 years and second ever. Slackers!

240 billion reasons to smile

Singaporeans surely celebrated their one 'deggeh deggeh' medal as passionately as we did our 11. But when the festivities ended and it was time to get back to work they had about 240 billion reasons to keep smiling. Singapore, a nation not much more populous than Jamaica and one that became independent three years after us, has a GDP of US$240 billion - exactly 10 times greater than ours. They sport a crime rate that is as low as ours is high, an impressive education system, and a highly developed tourism industry that is now embracing innovations like medical tourism and casino gaming, and welcomed 10 million visitors in 2009, compared to our three million. They have a strong, stable currency that is almost at parity with the US dollar. And, to top it off, while Jamaica lazily tackles coastal erosion, Singapore is literally growing - its land area has increased by about 50 square miles since the 1960s as a result of ongoing land reclamation projects.

Their leaders have certainly earned their pay. And while I would never trade my Jamaican heritage for any other - least of all Singapore - I would definitely exchange an Olympic medal or two and an Air Jamaica load of our politicians for Singapore's disciplined, honest, and effective leadership. Because, even if the ghost of Manatt beats the political capital out of the prime minister and his government, we would only be left with the 'comrades', and it certainly wouldn't be long before we catch them in front of the mirror merrily chanting: "Trafigura, Trafigura, Trafigura".

Din Duggan is an attorney and entrepreneur who now works as a consultant with a global legal search firm. Contact him at facebook.com/dinduggan, twitter.com/YoungDuggan, or dinduggan@gmail.com.