While in Toronto Canada last week I went to a live free performance by Jamaica’s international star Shaggy. The massive crowd, composed mostly of young females of all races, enjoyed itself immensely. At one point Shaggy brought a young girl of about 12 on stage and serenaded her while the crowd cheered. When he did his signature piece “It Wasn’t Me” the place went wild. (Why are women of all ages invariably the biggest fans of “old dog” songs?) Afterwards Shaggy gave a studio interview shown on big screens around the venue where he came across as bright, articulate and humble. Having tasted stardom once before and then been almost forgotten, he realized fame was fickle - “Another guy might soon come along to take my place, so I’ve just got to enjoy it while I can”. Shaggy made me feel proud as a Jamaican – “What a nice guy” everyone kept saying. The crowd left feeling happy and in high spirits, which after all is what entertainment is supposed to be about. All in all it was first rate stuff. The man deserves to have sold 10 million records.

The next day I returned to Jamaica and saw the Star headline “Chaos At ‘Fest : Bottles rain on battling deejays”. I turned to the story. “Reggae Sumfest hit an all-time low… as a war of words between DJs Bounty Killer and Beenie Man erupted in a full-scale war, forcing “Dancehall Night” patrons to flee in panic as missiles and gun shots reigned… the VIP/Press area became a sea of panic as members of the media fled in panic, trying desperately to find a safe haven in the middle of the melee”.

I shook my head, which I spend a lot of time doing these days. Why despite being established stars and having won numerous awards are Beenie Man and Bounty Killer like crabs in a barrel so intent on dragging each other into the gutter? Why at the nation’s biggest musical event – which should be a celebration of Jamaica’s greatest cultural creation and export – are deejays dressing in army fatigues and gangster outfits declaring “a war me come fah!” and “ people dead!”? What is it with this country that even after paying a lot of hard earned money to be entertained some people end up trying to maim or kill others? Is this nation completely out of control?

Of course I found myself asking similar questions about a month ago when I heard about 27 people being killed in three days in west Kingston with uncollected bodies being left to rot in the open while the Prime Minister and opposition leader traded accusations about whose fault it was and refused to even meet to discuss a way to diffuse tensions.

At the time I was in Singapore with a group of fellow Jamaicans. It was our first visit and we kept marveling at how prosperous, clean, and efficient it was. Even at midnight people were strolling around with even teenage girls nonchalantly taking the subway in assured safety. What a contrast we visiting Jamaicans laughed, as we reveled in the freedom of walking wherever we pleased without fear, to back home where once night fell we were afraid to even walk to our gates! And then we went back to our hotel and saw the west Kingston war images on CNN and BBC.

That week there was an Observer website poll asking if people thought the foreign media was making the situation seem worse that it was. A majority of respondents said yes. Well after a month of in Asia and Canada where not for a single moment did I feel afraid of being robbed or hurt, I think this is rubbish. Outside of countries embroiled in war only Colombia, South Africa, El Salvador and Namibia have higher murder rates than Jamaica. If anything the foreign media have given us a pretty easy ride because our reality is probably worse than our image abroad. In the 10 months since the Palestinian Infatadah began in Israel over 700 people have died. In the last ten months over 800 Jamaicans have been murdered and more than 100 killed by the police.

“The horror gentlemen, is that there is no horror!” a Russian author once wrote. And frankly that is how anyone who travels or even reads about other countries must feel today. It is not normal in most countries for music concerts to regularly end in bottle throwing and gun shots. (The Sumfest fiasco was nothing new – remember Ninja Man and Shabba Ranks and Super Cat at Sting a decade ago?) It is not normal for people to be afraid to venture out of their homes once the sun goes down. It is not normal for a nation’s leaders to play petty politics while bodies lie rotting on the street for days. Surely this cannot be the kind of country in which most Jamaicans wish to live.

In the eyes of most people, both here and abroad, for all its troubles and travails Jamaica’s saving grace is that it remains a democracy. But after seeing the disgraceful performance of Patterson and Seaga during the west Kingston war how can I ever bring myself to vote for either of them again? How can leaders with any pretension to honour or responsibility see scores of people gunned down and yet not have the decency to even sit down together and talk? How can either have any self-respect left? How can they look themselves in the mirror? Both it seems would rather see Jamaica destroyed than admit that they might have even been partly wrong and the other partly right. Because surely only party fanatics think either the PNP or JLP was completely guilty or wholly innocent in this affair.

Personally I think Jamaica’s violence is only tangentially related to politics. It is practically impossible for a largely urbanized country with 85% of children born out of wedlock and thousands of illegal guns floating around not to have a serious crime problem. Our politicians may not be able to do much about our absent fathers, but they have done virtually nothing to stem the inflow of guns. And whoever is responsible, both sides have not only acted as if the murders in west Kingston are simply a part of normal life here but have tried to use them for political advantage.

A few years ago Bruce Golding publicly asked Mr. Patterson and Mr. Seaga to join hands with him and walk through the inner city to show the solidarity of all political parties against violence. His overture was rejected because, so it was said, it would only have symbolic meaning. Well, by refusing to even meet to discuss what happened in Tivoli they are sending the same kind of symbolic message to the world as Beenie Man and Bounty Killer at Sumfest. Namely that Jamaica is a violent, hate filled place where those at the top deem destroying each other more important than the people’s welfare or even their own self-interest. The horror gentlemen, is that there is no horror. changkob@hotmail.com