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Speaker:The Honourable Basdeo Panday, Prime Minister of the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago
Date: December 25, 1999
Occasion: Christmas Address to the Nation
My Fellow Citizens; Residents; Visitors; Friends and Well Wishers of the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago:
Wherever you are at this moment, I pray that this Christmas is a time of particular tranquillity for you.
Two thousand years � Two Millennia � after the Birth of Christ, we have not yet achieved the essential purpose of Jesus� mission on this earth.
That purpose, as I understand it, was that through his example and his teaching, we would love our God, and we would love our neighbours as we love ourselves.
That ideal, applied to nations as well as to individuals, would bring peace and undertanding among families, among communities, and among nations.
World peace and understanding is still an elusive dream.
Among families, and between neighbours, the causes of conflict are becoming more complex, and the resolution of such conflicts is becoming increasingly more tragic. Your own life might have been touched by such conflict.
In any event, we are all witness to the domestic tragedies, and the criminal assault on innocent individuals at levels that appear to be reaching the most shocking extremes.
Whatever our individual circumstances, my dear friends, we are all affected by the suffering of those around us and that of people around the world.
It pains us to see the circumstances which poverty imposes on so many people here in our country and around the world.
We share the agony of our neighbours in nearby Venezuela, as we did with our neigbours in Montserrat in the face of the enourmous disaster wrought by the volcano on that island.
My Dear Friends:
Wherever you are at this movement, I trust that this is a time of tranquillty for you.
Not all of you are with your loved ones.
Some of you may be feeling the greatest hurt because your fathers are not with you; because you are not sharing Christmas with your mothers, or with others you love most.
Some of you may be in hospital, in other institutions, or in lands far away from home.
Whatever you circumstances, there is reason for thanksgiving.
There is reason to give praise for the blessings we enjoy, no matter how limited we might consider them to be.
Whatever our religion at Christmas time, as at no other time, we can find the faith to believe in ourselves, to trust our neighbours, to forgive those who might have done us wrong, and to honour our God.
Let us also find time to give silent thanks to, and prayers for those persons who must toil throughout the Christmas Season to serve us and to protect us.
Let us thank our policemen and policewomen who are working around the clock to keep us safe.
We must also thank our doctors and nurses and all staff at our hospitals and clinics for the care that they provide at this time.
Let us thank our religious leaders, whose mission is to encourage us and to inspire us to carry out the purpose of the life of Christ amongst us.
Let us give a special thought, and in whatever manner possible, let us give a helping hand to those in need.
Beyond today, beyond this season, let us remember, whenever we speak of the new millennium, whenever others speak of the new millennium, we and they are measuring the affairs of humankind since the Birth of Jesus.
Let us therefore bring to all of our affairs to every relationship in which we are engaged, what Jesus taught two thousand years ago � love for our God, and love for one another.
When we do this, it will be to the greater good of our beloved country.
My Dear friends:
My wife Oma, and our children join me in extending to you our heartfelt wishes that this Blessed Season brings rich blessings and lasting tranquillity to your lives.
Our final note, I plead with those of you who will be on the roads to be moderate and to be responsible.
God Bless each and everyone of you.