Address by His Excellency Senator Timothy Hamel-Smith Ag. President of the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago at the IRO National Day of Prayer and Thanksgiving and the Catholic Church “Respect for Life Week” Event, on Sunday 26th September, 2010, at the Raja Yoga Centre Headquarters.
I am pleased to join with the Inter Religious Organization in this national day of prayer and thanksgiving, which it has been organizing for several years, in the season that celebrates our Republican status.
There is much for which we can give thanks, as a nation and we must not cease to pray for direction on the way ahead and for the preservation of the things that we have already accomplished. Our decision in favour of republicanism, taken in 1976, placed on us greater responsibility for the conduct of our affairs and as we celebrate Republic Day, each year, we should be mindful of the fact that we are far removed from the colonial days. We can make no excuses, therefore, for non-achievement. We must see to it that we ourselves do what is necessary to rise to a much higher position in the index of worldwide development.
The Catholic Church has chosen this time to celebrate “Respect for Life Week” and today, we witness a coming together of the church and the IRO in order to focus our attention on aspects of the well being of our nation and indeed, that of others as well. The theme “Respect for Life” is an important one. It should cause us to think deeply about how we see life.
We, in Trinidad and Tobago, are blessed with freedom to a degree that in many parts of the world is not known. We take for granted freedom of assembly, freedom of speech, freedom of worship and other freedoms which are some of the rights of man, but which some dictatorial regimes do not permit.
The denial of the rights of man is a manifestation of the lack of respect for life – life which is given to each one of us by no one but the Creator of mankind. This is a consideration that we ought to keep in mind when we deal with the issues of life, from the womb to the grave, encompassing the taking of life, in whatever form, as well as its preservation.
But life is not mere existence and it should not be so regarded, particularly by leadership in any country. It is the duty of persons who are elected or selected to lead nations to institute and maintain policies that ensure that opportunities are made available to all citizens to have a decent standard of living.
The General Assembly of the United Nations, in 1948, proclaimed the Universal Declaration of Human Rights as “a common standard of achievement for all peoples and all nations, to the end that every individual and every organ of society, keeping this Declaration constantly in mind, shall strive by teaching and education to promote respect for these rights and freedoms and by progressive measures, national and international, to secure their universal and effective recognition and observance, both among the Member States themselves and among the peoples and territories under their jurisdiction.”
Trinidad and Tobago is a signatory to this Declaration, as it is to the two Covenants relating to human rights – the Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights and the Covenant on Civil and Political Rights – as well as the two Optional Protocols to the latter. Together, these instruments recognize the right to work and free choice of employment, to fair wages, to life, to adequate standards of living conditions, to liberty and security of person, to privacy, to freedom from cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or from torture, among other rights.
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But these ought not to be simply conditions on paper. They should guide our policies and more than that, be reflected in the visible standard of living of all our citizens and not just in the statement of national statistics. We must also be careful to recognize that consideration for every category of person must be obvious. In this context, our differently-abled people must not be left behind. I believe that we have some distance to go in recognizing that every citizen, including the physically challenged, has value.
The way that we take account of all of our people reflects our respect for life or lack thereof. While it is true that we have different abilities and various levels of ability and gifting; while it is also true that there are those who do not make use of opportunities presented to them for their good, we need to pay greater attention to the famous statement: “All men are created equal”. That is a clear statement as to value.
When we come to that place of understanding the inherent value of mankind, our decisions and choices will reflect that understanding. We will be careful to provide opportunity for all and take the means that are available to encourage the uplifting of those who, for whatever reason, do not see themselves as worthy. There will be no room for our prejudices of all sorts and we will be more disposed to forego our personal choices for the common good.
Respect for life, while embracing the idea of avoiding murder, driving carefully, avoiding risks to life, for example, will take on a larger dimension, including that of recognizing the sanctity of life, in its many facets.
Tonight we have heard many fine words of wisdom on the value of respect for life. However we must not leave this place without making a commitment to do something about it so as to ensure that respect for life becomes part of the fabric of our national life. With this in mind over the next few days I propose to submit to the Inter Religious Organisation for consideration a form of National Commitment which I hope they will embody in all our places of worship.
I am happy also that the Prime Minister is here with us tonight as I would like our Government to similarly take steps to have this National Commitment embraced by our schools and communities through the Ministries of Education, Technology and Tertiary Education, Community Affairs and the Ministry of the People as well as in our places of work.
This National Commitment is really made up of 12 Commitments which will help to transform the attitudes of our people and engender patriotism and love of country. Each month we could adopt one commitment and seek to embody it in our daily lives. I anticipate then at the end of 12 months we will have gone a long way to transforming attitudes of our people and our Nation itself.
Ladies and Gentlemen, these are a few thoughts that I place before you as we consider the future, having achieved forty years as an independent Nation and thirty-four as a Republic. I have no doubt that we are endowed with the resources, natural and human, to make our beloved country a world leader. It depends largely on our own attitude towards one another and in response to opportunities that we have or challenges that we face. It also depends on the initiatives that we take, as we chart our course as a nation.
I wish you all and your families health, strength and wisdom as you proceed on life’s journey.
Thank you, Ladies and Gentlemen, for the courtesy of your attention.
