"Sometimes I go to bed hungry" - Portia Simpson-MIller, PM of Jamaica

video clip included 

I was a regular "news watcher" until the news got a little too morbid, a little too sad, a little too depressing for me. I now proudly rely on hear seh and Twitter (and perhaps Facebook) for most of  my current affairs. On July 21 (Monday), I saw someone tweeting about Portia (that should be the most Hon. Portia Simpson-Miller, Prime Minister of Jamaica ... but we've lost quite a bit of respect for her, so a few words have been dropped off) going to bed hungry.

Now imagine my shock, awe and dismay - how could the Prime Minister, aka the FLY Minister (nickname given to her due to the frequency with which she travels) be going to bed hungry. Flabbergasted I asked my Twtter timeline what was happening and my trusty friend, Dale, shared with me that our Prime Minister in fact uttered that sometimes she goes to bed hungry in a news clip.

But still, how could this be? I immediately got so upset. The Prime Minister is probably among the highest paid persons in the country (certainly the highest paid government official) and here she is saying she goes to bed hungry. She must be mocking the people. This is a mockery! How dare she ?! 

I was just a few minutes from preparing placards to stage a protest outside her posh office, because indeed this is an outrage. How dare she trivialize the problems of the people by saying she (whose salary none but a handful of Jamaicans can ever dream of) goes to bed hungry? When people in Jamaica are living well below the poverty line set by the UN - $US1 a day. When mothers are selling their own bodies, the bodies of the children and sometimes the children themselves so they can eat, so they can live.

Needless to say I was LIVID. So I went in search of the video clip, and I found it. (Please see CVM TV news video clip below, for Portia's "go to bed hungry" speech, skip ahead to 7:09)

For those using mobile phones, the clip may not come up so click here

No, did you hear the reporter's introduction to the clip? "She said the hunger pains some Jamaicans are experiencing because of the harsh economic times are not unknown to her". REALLY Portia REALLY? Even if you knew hunger pains before you were Prime Minister you're still collecting your HUGE salary, and affording not to watch the news and having your husband (or perhaps Marva) relay the news items to you over dinner. You Portia did not take a pay cut, have never taken a pay cut, did not even initiate any idea that maybe parliamentary officials could band together, stand with the people and take a pay cut (let me not bother to mention that the one-eyed bus driver, Bruce Golding, took a 10 % pay cut. However minimal that seems it was a sign of some sort of compassion for the people... the same people in her constituency and many others that are suffering).

Now, this is my favourite part- the PM said "I feel the pain and suffering of my people. I feel it, I know what it is, because I know what it is. Despite the fact that you may look at me and say Prime Minister cya be hungry, there are days when I go hungry because when I'm at work and I have no time to eat. I forget everything about eating because there is so much work to be done to get it right" ... she added that her administration will "get it right in the interest of all our people".

Yes PM you're right, you are completely right- we are here saying "The Prime Minister cya be hungry". 

No you cannot look at a poor man, while you're in your brand name sunglasses, designer outfit, coming out of your perfectly air conditioned SUV shipped from overseas, and tell him you feel his pain, his hunger, his suffering. 

Portia what we need is action not a bagga mout'.