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Wednesday, January 16, 2013

Go, go my words -- come, come my words

I admit my title for this reflection is very weird. I am thinking in terms of a traditional Chuukese saying that goes, "kene no ko fos, niwinto ko fos", whose literal translation is something close to the title.

Chuukese believe in the sacredness of "words". What you utter is a projection of what is deep in you. Hence the advice is to be very very careful with your words because they carry always the potential not only to destroy others, but also yourself. Go go my words is too easy to do -- to engage the mouth in speaking. Come come my words is impossible to do -- that is no one can ever eradicate the impacts of spoken words. The power of words.

I am reminded of this saying today after I attended the session of congress this morning. Let me leave it at that.

On another note, it has been said several times that the FSM needs real commitment to economic develop projects and investment to move ahead and break the trend of dependency inherited from the Trust Territory era. I haven't come across any objection to this statement.

But, unless common folks, citizens in general, become serious in holding the leaders responsible -- in making the leaders not only "stick to their words" but also appreciate "the power of  words", they choose to use, even during "off the record" moments, development efforts will remain elusive.

Words reveal intentions and impact actions. We need to pay attention to "their words" and do our parts as citizens in moving forward.

I am sure some people are doing this -- that is, they are tracking what our leaders do. Many times, we stop when we find out what they do or don't do.

Just some cheap words at these walls as reflect on today's events.

markapito@gmail.com

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