Why is it important for a nation to pause and honour its achievers? Because, to use a wise saying, “A high tide lifts all boats.” And so we lift our nation when, collectively, we laud our athletes and courageous Jamaicans from every walk of life.

Thus we arrived at the National Indoor Sports Centre two Saturdays ago in high spirits to applaud our athletes in the Rio Olympics Homecoming event. I shared on social media the grand entrance of our athletes and their bright smiles as they received their awards from Prime Minister Andrew Holness and Minister Olivia “Babsy” Grange. We appreciated their good humour as Usain Bolt, Asafa Powell and Julian Forte danced for their fans.

We enjoyed the soaring voices of Kevin Downswell, The University Singers, and Chris Martin. And then there was Spice. As far as I was concerned, she was just a small blip on an otherwise great programme. The loss of column inches and airtime to the discussion of this blip concerned me more, as we have so many other important issues to discuss and resolve.

My criticism was for the many empty seats at the event when I can think of so many Jamaicans who would have been very happy to attend. For example, our senior citizens, who are the most passionate Jamaicans you can find, follow athletics keenly. Then there are the children’s homes and police youth clubs, where teens need great role models to fuel their aspirations. What joy they would have experienced to share in the event. This is where our Members of Parliament and parish councillors could have assisted in liaising and organising. That network could have been used strategically to save time and effort, as they can assist in issuing tickets and following.

Event planners are constantly learning new lessons. We have learnt along the way that holiday weekends are notorious for no-shows — you can invite up to 50 per cent more to get a decent turnout.

As for me and Hubie, we attended the event to honour our athletes and enjoy ourselves — and we did. A couple of minutes of an inappropriate act should not rain on their parade.

50 years of Jamaica-Spain relations

We recently shared in a toast to the 50th anniversary of diplomatic relations between Spain and Jamaica on their National Day earlier this month. Their dynamic chargée, Carmen Rives Ruiz-Tapiador, paid tribute to Ambassador Aníbal Jiménez y Abascal, noting, “He set an example for me on how a diplomat should behave: love your host country and your profession as much as possible.”

Rives certainly took this advice seriously, continuing the great work of Ambassador Abascal, and his predecessors ambassadors Celsa Nuño and Jesús Silva, with her dedication to The Spanish-Jamaican Foundation which celebrates its 10th anniversary this year. To mark the event, she announced top prizes for outstanding communities and presented assistance for hearing aids to the Jamaica Association for the Deaf. She also committed to continued support of Jamaica’s popular culture.

It was the priceless contribution of the Government of Spain that resulted in the restoration of the Holy Trinity Cathedral in downtown Kingston. We owe a debt of gratitude to the contribution of Spain’s master of restoration Professor Antonio Sanchez-Barriga Fernandez, who in 2008 engaged 32 young people from the community to work with him, some of whom are continuing his marvellous work. Thank you, Spain!

A remarkable and breathtaking Jamaican treasure, the cathedral, led by committee leaders Enith Williams and Errol Moo Young, welcomed their first tour bus — as part of the Island Routes tour — a few weeks ago.

Congratulations AmCham honorees

The awards ceremony held by the American Chamber of Commerce of Jamaica last Friday highlighted several outstanding individuals and companies. Hearty congratulations to them all, though I must mention some of my favourites: individual awardees Professor Ernest Madu and Lt Col Victor L Beek; President’s Award winner, that passionate patriot William Mahfood; and the top awardees for corporate social responsibility, the Digicel Foundation and the GraceKennedy Foundation.

In congratulating the honorees, US Ambassador to Jamaica Luis Moreno expressed his faith in Jamaica and his commitment to work with our Government and security forces to reduce crime. He reminded us of his promise to bring in US$1 billion in investment to Jamaica. “Together we can bring down crime,” he said, noting his country’s partnership in such areas as energy, the environment, health, and human rights.

Kudos for Jamaica’s democracy

We were proud that Ambassador Moreno applauded Jamaica’s democratic system in his address at the AmCham event. “Jamaica’s democratic government can be a model for the entire world,” he said. The ambassador noted that, although we had a close election, “the transition was seamless”.

We must thank our Electoral Commission of Jamaica (ECJ), led by Dorothy Pine-McLarty, and the Electoral Office of Jamaica (EOJ) headed by Orrette Fisher, and their predecessors, for this vote of confidence. Recently, the ECJ hosted a Democracy Workshop, at which they launched the ‘Jamaica Democracy Passport’, so that our citizens can better understand the electoral system.

Not resting on their laurels, Pine-McLarty says the ECJ and EOJ will have an ongoing programme “to increase public awareness of all aspects of the electoral system, including: voter registration, the polling process, political party registration, campaign financing, [and] recommendations to Government on technological advances to further the preservation of our democracy”.

This is very reassuring indeed, especially when we hear US presidential candidate Donald Trump daring to question the legitimacy of the highly respected US electoral system. May he live to eat his words.

lowriechin@aim.com

www.lowrie-chin.blogspot.com