Citizens and Friends of Sint Maarten,
Warm Season Greetings to all,
It’s the time of year where one looks forward to enjoy the company of friends and loved ones, and to share in the traditional joys of the Holiday Season.
It’s also an occasion to take a look back at the past year and plan our resolutions for the New Year.
In today’s high technology driven era, we have come to accept the notion that our island, our neighborhoods, our schools, our families, our businesses can no longer function in isolation from the world. The past year, Sint Maarten did not escape the effects of the worldwide economic recession.
However, I am confident that this downward period will see an improvement in the New Year, as countries search for and resolve the challenges they face.
Looking ahead to 2012, we must do so with confidence and determined to succeed. Let confidence prevail and be reflected through the investment and love we shower on our children, on our youth. Investing in our youth is a joint responsibility, a social and moral contract between parents, families, neighborhoods, the public and private sector.
Countries are inclined to divide into categories of those who have and those who have less. I share the notion that a family’s social economic status must never be a deciding factor whether a child becomes a success full citizen or falls through the cracks of society.
As we continue to strengthen the institutions of government and governance of this young Nation, our focus should remain without blinking an eye on the well-being of every child. I paraphrase George Burns who once said; "when you wake up in the morning do something. Have a point, a direction you’re headed into. If kids had that, it would help them over any rough spots in life. If you can get a child to fall in love with something, his lifestyle will go in that direction. It doesn’t have to be anything fancy, just something". Let our hearts be warmed this holiday season with the positive resolutions we make for the New Year.
I highly commend all, including non-governmental organizations who made it their mission throughout the past year to support our children in a positive manner. Continue in the New Year to invest in the future generation of this young Nation. Make our neighborhoods, our schools, a great place where our children can be children, where they are safe to learn and play. Shower them with Love and Praise.
Have a safe and healthy turn from the old year into the New Year 2012.
God Bless our nation and its children.
Hon. drs. Gracita Arrindell
President of Parliament