Excerpt from Jamaica Observer column published 18 January 2021

_{By: Jean Lowrie-Chin}

World famous futurist Edie Weiner, who spoke at an IWF (International Women’s Forum) event here in Jamaica some years ago, was back last week to address us at a virtual IWF Conference. Weiner is convinced that we are entering a new civilization where humans are capable of three things: leaving the planet, destroying the planet and designing the future. She believes that with Elon Musk’s advances, in ten years we may be holidaying or even living on Mars. She warns that Arctic ice is melting faster than the models had predicted. She said that with artificial intelligence (AI), we are designing different futures in which genetic engineering, nanofabrication and 3-D printed body parts will see us humans no longer as just this body we live in, but merged with IT.

Weiner says that HR and IT must now be joined together, as one cannot function without the other. She challenged us to ‘go back to square one, re-imagine everything.’ She says we now have three life cycles: 1-50 years old, 51-100 years old, and the life ‘out in the ether’ – our entries saved in a cloud and thoughts on social media – what are the ethics around these? For architects, the built environment must take climate change into account – design on water as coastlines disappear and create extra-terrestrial developments. Soil testing on Mars will be an interesting exercise.

She notes that we have moved from workplace to work-space, that gender has new definitions, that e-sports is gaining as much popularity as physical sports. She has seen 30,000 people watching e-sports in a stadium (pre-Covid), beamed to 30 million. Universities are offering expensive scholarships to ‘e-thletes’!

She says the generation of energy will come from previously undiscovered sources as ‘everything is made up of energy’, so that innovators may be turning batteries into motor vehicles. She opines that with the new wearables and remote medical care, doctors may become the last resort. Indeed, the Texas A&M is recruiting mechanical and electrical engineers for medical studies as that is the way of the future.

She notes that we are moving ‘from mankind to mind-kind’ where the mind will be far more necessary for productivity and therefore the emphasis must be placed on critical thinking. We will go from education to learning, she says, where technology will allow you to be immersed in every subject. You will not need teachers, she notes, but you will need millions of ‘guides’.

She sees the rise of ‘distributive income compensation enterprises’ (DICE), like Airbnb and Uber forcing us to re-imagine the structure of economies. She notes that capitalism now has two branches, private and public, wherein ‘things that matter will become part of the bottom line’, the relentless evolution of corporate social responsibility. Interestingly, she notes that Trust is today’s new luxury, ‘much wanted but in short supply’ 

She described an experiment with the female and male brain when faced with a problem to solve: the man’s brain lit up in a particular place while the woman’s brain lit up all over ‘like a pinball machine’. She believes organisations need both types of brains to be successful.

She wants us to allow the younger generation to imagine their future, “From John Lennon to John Legend to young legends. Let us pass on our hopes, not our judgement to the younger generation.”

Regarding Covid, she declares, “The virus did not stop our lives. It has accelerated the need for change, it has forced us to re-examine healthcare, social welfare, prisons and workplaces.”

She said that successful organisations must promote true diversity, valuing the thinking of different types, and understanding that in the gaming world young people are choosing to be anyone they want, so they do not feel limited. Referring to her humble beginnings as a foster child enrolled in a school that was described as the worst in America, Edie Weiner believes, “It’s not about the haves and have nots, it’s about the cans and the cants.”

She said Nelson Mandela used his mind to escape from his physical 27-year imprisonment and emerged to change his country. “Power is not something someone gives you,” she explained. “Power is what you take.” She said successful leaders have three things in common: vision and passion, the ability to articulate them in word and deed, and a complete lack of embarrassment.  On this Dr. Martin Luther King Jr day, we can agree that he manifested these qualities. 

In short, to seize the opportunities of this new civilization, we must return to square one, shrug off the old formulae, re-imagine a brave way forward and take our power to make it happen. 

Gut-punch for the free world

The dawning of 2021 brought us new hope. We were so glad to see the back of 2020. Then on January 6, not even a full week into the new year, we watched with horror the attack on the US Capitol, a gut-punch to the free world.  Our country has benefitted greatly from the USA via the USAID and Ambassadors appointed by both Democratic and Republican administrations have engaged generously with our people. Ambassador Sue Cobb and Ambassador Pamela Bridgewater served with excellence and grace.

The last time we met with outgoing Ambassador Donald Tapia was at an event sponsored by his embassy to celebrate Jamaica’s Unsung Heroes. Past US Ambassadors have come together to create the American Friends of Jamaica (AFJ), raising millions each year for our worthy causes.

There is hardly a Jamaican family that does not have close relatives living in the USA and even in this pandemic, remittances have increased, the fruit of their labour, many serving on the frontline of the Covid crisis.

America is our family and so we wish President-Elect Joe Biden and Vice President-Elect Kamala Harris a successful way forward through the tragic suffering and death caused by the Covid-19 pandemic, and the trauma of last week’s insurrection. They need our prayers.

Domestic violence and our children

One of the elements of the ‘Nurturing Care Model’ developed by the Early Childhood Commission, is a safe environment, and so we are heartbroken at the murder of four-year-old Cloey Brown, caught in the crossfire of a domestic dispute between her father and her uncle in Trelawny early last week. Just a few days later, we learned that two-year-old Akeira Kerr was injured in another family dispute in Trelawny: her aunt threw a stone at her father, fracturing the child’s skull. Thank goodness we hear that she is showing improvement at the Bustamante Children’s Hospital where she underwent surgery.

Our social workers and psychiatrists should be engaged by the relevant ministries to creating mediation training programmes especially during these Covid times when tempers are short and patience is wearing thin. Mental health issues are on the increase worldwide, and we cannot afford to have our innocent children becoming victims of yet another serious health hazard.

Excerpt from Lowrie-Chin Post published 02 June 2008

_{By: Jean Lowrie-Chin}

Sharing this column on Hon. Gordon ‘Butch’ Stewart who passed away yesterday.

“Butch Stewart’s childhood was no easy street,” said the young voice on the call-in radio show. Jaime Stewart was 12 years old when she made her broadcast debut correcting a talk-show host’s assumption that her father was born into privilege. It was this challenging start as an early breadwinner for his humble Jamaican family, that helped mould Gordon “Butch” Stewart into today’s business titan.

Jaime, now a Director at Sandals Resorts Intl, reflects on her father’s unwavering ethics: “He makes decisions based on what is correct and then fights for them. This applies to the environmental issues with other properties. It all boils down to laws that have been broken. My Dad is a strong patriot and when it comes to his country, he will stand up and take the beating.”

Last Tuesday, hundreds of guests converged on a glittering Hope Gardens to commemorate the 40th Anniversary of the ATL Group. In his trademark style, founder Butch Stewart shared the kudos with six ATL long servers who in turn paid tribute to their visionary leader. They had their own special stories about the man Virgin’s Sir Richard Branson saluted as “a guy who knows how to build a brand… a maverick (with) guts, determination.”

Long before branding became the hot marketing buzzword, Butch Stewart had slapped the Fedders logo on the side of his first luxury buy, a white Mercedes, much to public amusement. For him, it was simple: Fedders had helped him to buy his Benz and he was going to use his Benz to sell the brand. And how. Butch Stewart and his lean team became the talk of the middle and monied classes, as the folks you could call in the morning and know that by the time you had returned from the office in the evening, your home would be as cool as a Fedders breeze. ATL Technical Control Manager Errol Lee related the rush he was in during those early times, to deliver the instant gratification promised by his boss, resulting in three fender-benders.

It is this single-minded focus, that has seen Butch Stewart parlay a nine-man operation into the ATL Group of Companies that now employs over 10,000 persons throughout the Caribbean. The humble company has spawned the Sandals and Beaches chains, an automotive company and this venerable newspaper.

As Sandals Project Manager Betty Jo Desnoes tries to define the maverick style of Butch Stewart she describes a scene: “He gets a call, spins around in his chair, punches his calculator and gives an answer. Or he will call in about ten of us, listen keenly and quickly sum up. I have never seen anyone cut through the fog of indecision so quickly.”

In reading his marvelous book, “All That’s Good”, one discerns that the guiding force of the Stewart empire is the synergy of three basic Christian principles, faith, hope and love. Only a person of faith would have invested in the run-down Bay Roc Hotel in 1981, rapidly rolling out a gold-standard hotel chain that would cop the most coveted international tourism awards. ATL’s master plumber and jack-of-all-trades Aston “Plum-Plum” James remembers being told by his boss, “Plum-Plum, come take a ride with me. We’re going down to Montego Bay to look at something.” It was nine months before James returned to Kingston, leaving behind a shining restored property, Sandals Montego Bay.

And hope. Betty Jo remembers the devastating blow dealt by Hurricane Gilbert in 1988 to the three Sandals properties in Montego Bay as well as two others being built in Ocho Rios and Negril. She said on hearing the news, “Mr Stewart…began galvanizing. He dispatched every truck he had and bought up every piece of lumber and nails.”

Butch Stewart decided that he would rebuild the properties even better and hastily called a press conference in New York to outline his plans. With their reputation on the line, every team member toiled ceaselessly, no one working harder than the boss himself. Hailed by travel writers as “a miracle”, the resorts were rebuilt and reopened three months after Gilbert in time for the beginning of the 88/89 winter tourist season.

Most obvious is the love. Former ATL Warehouse Manager Josephine Marshall who recently retired after serving the company for nearly 32 years recalls her trepidation in the seventies when people were selling out and leaving Jamaica. She said Butch Stewart called them into the boardroom to assure them that he was going nowhere and that their jobs were safe. “That’s why I stayed so long … Mr Stewart is a fantastic man!” she enthused.

Former ATL Branch Manager and now Sandals Projects Director Eleanor Miller remarked that Butch Stewart “never asked you to do something that he would not do himself … It’s very much a family environment.” The other 30-year veterans Larry McDonald, Phillipa Thomas, Carl Ennis and Checks Nichol all relate incidents of his quiet generosity: airlifts to Miami to get the best medical care, scholarships for children of team members, personal guidance and mentorship. This care is part of the ATL and Sandals culture, warmly extended to customers and guests.

But make no mistake; Butch Stewart has no patience for dishonesty. “There are only two things that will get you fired from this company,” says Betty Jo Desnoes, “lying and stealing. He won’t fire you for a bad decision and will even say a bad decision is better than no decision at all.”

Jaime Stewart recalls a business-imbued childhood where family vacations became trade show visits. “It was extraordinary, going to England, the ITB show in Germany. These were experiences that can’t be taught.” Jaime and her siblings share their father’s passion for the industry: “He lives, eats, breathes his work and makes room in his life for all those in his business,” comments Jaime. She says that growing up, her mother PJ “helped us to understand that he couldn’t be with us as much as he wanted because he had this huge commitment not only to us and customers but to his employees and employees’ families.”

But there was a great sadness in Butch Stewart’s life, the loss of his son Jonathan to a motor vehicle accident in the 90s. “A lot changed when Jon died,” said Jaime. “Dad became even closer to his family and more spiritual. Now, wherever he is traveling, he goes to Mass every Sunday and on his way he will call us to find out if we are planning to go.” She reflected that he also lost his father and brother in recent years and is very emotional when he prays. “This is why he wears dark glasses in church,” explains Jaime, “he hardly ever has dry eyes when he is worshipping.” The shades were very much in evidence on Wednesday, when Butch Stewart and his staffers attended a 40th anniversary service in downtown Kingston conducted by Father HoLung, who lauded Butch Stewart’s generosity to the less fortunate.

Butch Stewart has stayed a tough course, taking every challenge as an opportunity and every employee as family. Prime Minister Bruce Golding has observed that he will be remembered as the man who revolutionized marketing in Jamaica, and enjoys the fierce loyalty of his staff. No doubt, the annals of tourism will also record him as the man who redefined the “all” in all-inclusive.

Excerpt from Jamaica Observer column published 21 December 2020

_{By: Jean Lowrie-Chin}

Our bumpy ride through St. Thomas was relieved by the parish’s beauty spots.  We passed Bull Bay, where we had enjoyed happy reasonings on the beach with Fred and Cynthia Wilmot of blessed memory. Three generations of Wilmots still continue their legacy of wholesome living, with an ever-expanding fan base of surfers worldwide. The Roselle Falls take your breath away and there are colourful fruit stands; this parish yields some of the sweetest fruit in Jamaica, matchless naseberries and mangoes.

The parish is home to our courageous National Hero Paul Bogle and we see his spirit reflected in the teachers and parents of special needs students, resolute that with the right testing and guidance, the children will one day be able to make their way in the world. We had met them at the opening of the opening of the Lyssons Centre of Excellence in 2017, and now we are back, because that school is at capacity and so the Digicel Foundation team has added a second special needs school in the parish, rebuilding the Pear Tree River Technical and Vocational School, the former Pear Tree River Primary School.

With a background of lush greenery, the school stands out with clean and colourful lines, created under the watchful eyes of the Foundation’s construction Manager Carnel Campbell. We are inspired by the enthusiasm of the Education Ministry’s Director for Region 2, Janet Brimm. She also was the Ministry’s coordinator for the Lyssons Centre of Excellence.  

On arrival ahead of our starting time, I am greeted by the Education Ministry’s PR representative Cheryl Smith, informing me that Minister Fayval Williams had arrived. We have attended several events with Minister Williams, and she is ever punctual. With constituency and Ministry duties, she manages to appear unhurried, graciously greeting us and pausing to speak to the teachers and commend the Lyssons students on their stunning art.

We have seen Minister Williams’ efforts during this critical year for education, meeting with stakeholders, implementing plans, engaging with media partners to ensure that our children would be able to continue their education. It is heartening that the Ministry has been ensuring that children with special needs are included in these efforts and that they will be providing the staff, furniture and continued maintenance of the Pear Tree River School. She noted that the special needs division at the Ministry also ensured that lessons are printed in Braille for blind children.

The art and craft items produced by the Lyssons students are exquisite. Miniatures of their paintings and papier mache sculpture would make great Jamaican souvenirs. Minister Williams agreed that she would speak with the tourism ministry on the matter. We hope that Tourism Minister Ed Bartlett will encourage our in-bond merchants to buy more of our fine local items instead of importing items stamped ‘Jamaica’ that are not made here.

Wherever we go in Jamaica, we are impressed by the professionalism and genuine care of our teachers. Rev. Remia Gordon, past principal and student of Pear Tree River Primary led us through meaningful Scripture Readings as she blessed the re-purposed school. Jacqueline Hendricks, Acting Principal of Lyssons Centre of Excellence navigated the programme with good humour.

It was great to meet the youthful Eastern St. Thomas MP Dr Michelle Charles. Hers is literally a hard road to travel but she does have a great deal of political experience in her family to assist her in making the lives of the long-suffering citizens of St. Thomas more tolerable. As I remarked to her, St. Thomas is a hidden treasure. The parish is becoming increasingly popular for folks who work in Kingston and when resilient infrastructure is in place, it will be set to thrive.

Five lives for a bike?

A 96-hour curfew was declared by National Security Minister Dr Horace Chang in Central Clarendon last Friday after a week of terror in which five persons have been shot dead and several others injured.  He noted that there had been an upsurge of gang warfare in the area.

Jamaica Observer staff reporter Horace Hines quoted the Minister: “I have been informed by the security team that this entire episode of killings has come about because of a dispute over a bike, which reflects the level of literal depravity in the behaviour of some of these elements out there.”

Several family members have fled the area for fear of their lives. We keep asking,

‘How did we come to this?’ Well, we are here now, so let us work on how we can emerge from this darkness. I am encouraged by folks like Dahlia Harris, willing to install cameras in their communities linked to ‘Jamaica Eye’ so there can be quick response and video to identify criminals more readily. We are relieved that there is now a facility that will allow witnesses to remotely participate in identification parades.

Meanwhile, remember that children who do not know love, cannot show love – the social aspect of crime fighting requires a vigorous plan involving church, community, civil society and Government.

Tankweld’s 50^th Anniversary

With a small bank loan, John Greaves and David Bicknell founded the steel fabrication business Tankweld in 1970 and grew it into an industrial giant which has implemented most of Jamaica’s major pipeline projects. The second generation, Chris Bicknell, Bruce Bicknell and Rusti Zacca expanded into steel distribution and in 2006, invested in the Rio Bueno Wharf with a 500,000 square foot warehouse. Chris Bicknell, Chairman and Group CEO notes, “Today our network sits on four solid pillars: the Rio Bueno Port facility, innovative shipping solutions, two million square feet of mechanized warehousing making us the only building material supplier able to store all our stock under cover, and the largest fleet of modern heavy-duty trucks.”

The company has done extensive outreach, supporting the Waterhouse and Arnett Gardens Football Clubs, a Homework Centre in Rio Bueno and the Seaward Primary and Junior High in Olympic Gardens. Food for the Poor (FFP) Jamaica Chairman Andrew Mahfood notes, “Their help with engineering, Board advice through FFP’s Vice Chairman Chris Bicknell, and support of our projects over the years has been nothing short of a company going above and beyond to ensure that those who need help, are helped.”

Farewell 2020

It has been a year of trials but finally it is ending. Stalked by Covid, we have experienced the heartache of mourning good friends virtually. We empathize with stressed-out frontline workers in health and security, and parents juggling jobs and virtual classes for their children. Then came the rains ruining roads and crops. Yet we give thanks that Government stepped up to give cash relief, the private sector financed thousands of care packages for the indigent and tablets for students, and special attention was given to our seniors.