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5th Annual Konkan Fruit Fest
Promenade, D B Bandodkar Road, Panaji, Goa
16-18, May 2008
http://lists.goanet.org/pipermail/goanet-goanet.org/2008-May/073789.html
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Goa, become a toilet? Even if this is true, I would say the expat Goan
has to take on his or her own (large) share of the blame for this.
Why so?
Firstly, expat money has been used to "toiletise" Goa, even while we
keep getting sermons from abroad. Take a look at the 'rent backs'
along the Calangute-Candolim concrete slum and take a guess who's
investing in them.
You preach to everyone else, want to have a Goa with picturepostcard
qualities, and then go on to build your own palace in concrete
wherever! I know of expats who sold land to the kin of politicians in
Porvorim and then went on to talk about how "corrupt" Goa is!
Secondly, the expat character (as the letter below underlines) can
have a very fickle mindset. I know expats who had nothing to do with
Goa till 1992. And were then very proud to "be Goan" when the Brit
tourist "discovered" Goa as a holiday destination and playground to
cure boredom and fight lousy weather.
Now that we're seeing the end of the Brit tourist cycle here, the
expats are jumping on the bandwaggon and are quick to agree that "Goa
has become a toilet"!
Three cheers for having a mind of your own.
There is indeed a problem with expats not getting renewal for their
visas in Goa (and Kerala) in recent times. But should your judgement
of Goa (toilet or paradise) be just based on how cheap it is to access
holidays here! Please do not mix up issues. Yes, we have problems...
but we don't like it when someone tries to go hammar and tongs just to
make the most of the situation. Can expats see the issues in proper
light for themselves? FN
2008/5/14 Carvalho <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>:
> --- Eddie Fernandes <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
>> "Confiscate properties of UK Goans and deport them"
>>
> ------------------------------------
>
> Dear Eddie,
> It is very distressing to read the letter you
> forwarded, not the least of which is because I have
> recently landed in London. It seems to me that
> bad-luck follows me like a black cat wherever I go.
> When I first landed in the US, I was very proud to
> tell them that I came from Dubai. Unfortunately, 9/11
> put a stop to me ever mentioning the Middle East. Now,
> in the UK, I've been very proud to say I'm from Goa,
> but seems like I shall soon have to invent a bogus
> ethnicity for myself. Just the other day someone asked
> me if I was from South America. Perhaps S.American is
> a possible fake identity for me. I shall have to
> investigate.
>
> What is going on in Goa at the moment is sheer and
> utter madness. As a Goan, I understand that despair
> and distrust have led to this backlash. However, it is
> disgraceful that we Goans have turned out to be so
> xenophobic. The British community who have bought
> property or flats in Goa are a minuscule percentage,
> who hardly make a dent in the overall property market.
> (Note M Parriker makes the same assessment in his
> interview).
