Dear all, Compliments of the season.
Having just been adrift in my local NHS hospital, I am now safely anchored home. Catching up on kobor comes a "London Post" written by Selma Carvalho in OHeraldo "Adrift in an alien land - Portuguese passport-holding Goan arrivals in the UK" mentioned in Goan Voice and posted by Eddie Fernandes in Goanet Digest, Vol 8, Issue 886. What caught my eye was the photograph of a room full of beds. My first thought and delight was that the kudd system had arrive in England especially when I noticed the name Goan Association (UK) as the company has a flat in Ilford, with each bed sponsored byone of the various affiliated village organisations just like they did in Bombay in years gone by to the present date. In Bombay (Dhobitalao), these low cost budget places were used (and are still used) by travellers in our community from various villages as stopovers before seeking their fortunes in foreign lands. These places are maintained by voluntary effort and a small contribution into locally organised chapel funds. Our people as a whole in the UK have no community base and are themselves intentionally homeless. The Goan Association (UK) once had a clubhouse and grounds of six and a half acres in Beckenham, Kent but due to mismanagement and greed, we now have no place to call our own and no place which can focus on community activities leaving ourselves in the multicultural wilderness and mongrel society revolving around tablets (the most popular gadget sold this Christmas), not the one Moses brought down from the mountains with only ten lines on the best rules for living. Thankfully, the cultural wing of the Indian High Commission, London allocated the Histories of British-Goans Project a venue at the Nehru Centre to showcase what our ancestors did in East Africa including how they ran successful clubhouses and community events which continue in East Africa to this day. Thanks to the project organisers, it was here that I learnt how our early explorers left Goa without any travel insurance or much money headed for Bombay, found themselves unwelcome by fellow Goykars employed as servants, cooks and maids fashionable by the British and were forced to catch the Arab dhows and travel to Zanzibar, the first Goan outpost outside Goa in Africa. England in 1948, Mr Nye Bevan introduced the National Assistance Act to get it out of poverty hence the conception of the "benefits" system giving the population some income to live on while seeking employment and getting back on their feet. The National Health Service in England was sprung into existence at this time with the intent that when you have a healthy population the economy of the country will be healthier. In goanet digest vol 8, issue 888, Arwin Mesquita makes a very valid and notable comment "......but what's really sad is that even economically well off Goans are deserting their motherland". What these migrants to do not realise is that they will never complete the minimum of 35 years of national insurance contributions to receive the full state pension when they retire. Those of us who migrated from East Africa to England had a strong work ethic and a good name. There was very little thought on seeking welfare benefits and even though most would have started their life here with an entire family sharing one small room, there was no time for feeling sorry for yourself or asking for a sympathy vote, we all just got on with it and utilised the best resources we had. Today, most of those who struggled at that time do own their own homes be it detached, semi-detached or terraced but many will tell you it was not so easy for them to buy their homes at the time because there were many obstacles faced including racial prejudice when a person selling their home may not have been so willing to sell it to a non-white person. My observation today is that our people migrating from Goa to Britain do not tell the right story especially about their economic wealth and bring their ration cards with them depriving the local population of affordable food supplies and other essentials. At the moment as far as I am aware there is no one starving in Goa. Whatever their problems, everyone has a smile. Those migrating are following a herd mentality that the grass is greener on the other side and there is easy money without getting out of bed. This is not true in breadline Britain of today. Thankfully the UK government is aligning with other European countries and clamping down on today's "something for nothing" society. Those of us settled in the UK for some time are also becoming very economic and cautious with our assistance to our fellow migrants as trail blazers of the past have been left with a kick, in simple terms those of us who helped distressed fellow Goykers don't even get a "thank you" but our names are spoilt in the community and we become victims of idle gossip. In addition, those so called distressed Goans that are helped we find out later were not that distressed after all. There are many examples of this. It would not surprise me that those advocating on setting up an advice structure on Britain's benefit system or any other venture find support from a fellow Goan here in the UK to be minimal and my best advice would be to go to Nigeria where there are specialist schools that train in the UK's benefits system, deception and fraud, they may even get a certificate on completion of their training. For the super clever there is always the internet. This is the season for sob stories such as "No room at the Inn" and PR (Public Relations) exercises in advance of unaccountable fund raising events during the festive season in the name of charity to help poor Goans. The New Year's Honours List will be out soon, wonder who has applied for an OBE (One Ball Extracted). Britain no longer has an empire. If you are a white employer, you can rely on the Goan of today doing two people's jobs for the price of one (while the rest of your employees may be going to night school to further their career path) you can rely on a bribe, a bangle or a bhaji, or? Which brings me full circle ..... are our Goans stupid? Wishing you all a Splendid New Year 2014. Melvyn Fernandes Thornton Heath, Surrey, United Kingdom 26 December 2013
