Chinee tekkin ova...
The minibus stopped at the traffic light on Regent Street and the two women behind me start talking very loudly about how the "chinee tekkin ova". I turned my ears, not my head though, to hear more.
They said eh eh, you see how much of dem Chinee deh pun Regent Street now and how dat dey leffin Suriname to come Guyana. Dey say dat in French (Guiana) de Chinee have to employ locals, but in Guyana it dont seem so, and dat the chinee putting the vendors out of business because they selling cheaper than the vendors. One lady say is not only Guyana, even USA where everything now making in China. The other lady say but is what will happen in Guyana, and that the chinese have to be grateful to the Guyanese traders who used to go and buy from them in Suriname and make them happy.
I started looking at the stores on Regent Street, it is true, there are many retailers , and the Sindhi/Indian and Chinese retailers seem to be sharing store space. A friend from Bangalore who lived for a year in Guyana next door to a Chinese restaurant used to wonder why Guyanese would leave, when chinese immigrants who know little English were able to set up restaurants in almost every coastland village and to make a living while Guyanese were leaving.
I felt a little nervous about the resentment expressed and while glad that people are able to speak loudly, wished that I could have turned to the lady and said go tell some Minister or President or somebody of your concerns and fears.
I wonder if the Government and other interested parties are measuring what impact the stores owned by Chinese importers would have on other small and micro Guyanese retailers and whether now Guyana would have any hope of a manufacturing industry. It has been interesting to see the African concerns about the new 'emerging powers'
They said eh eh, you see how much of dem Chinee deh pun Regent Street now and how dat dey leffin Suriname to come Guyana. Dey say dat in French (Guiana) de Chinee have to employ locals, but in Guyana it dont seem so, and dat the chinee putting the vendors out of business because they selling cheaper than the vendors. One lady say is not only Guyana, even USA where everything now making in China. The other lady say but is what will happen in Guyana, and that the chinese have to be grateful to the Guyanese traders who used to go and buy from them in Suriname and make them happy.
I started looking at the stores on Regent Street, it is true, there are many retailers , and the Sindhi/Indian and Chinese retailers seem to be sharing store space. A friend from Bangalore who lived for a year in Guyana next door to a Chinese restaurant used to wonder why Guyanese would leave, when chinese immigrants who know little English were able to set up restaurants in almost every coastland village and to make a living while Guyanese were leaving.
I felt a little nervous about the resentment expressed and while glad that people are able to speak loudly, wished that I could have turned to the lady and said go tell some Minister or President or somebody of your concerns and fears.
I wonder if the Government and other interested parties are measuring what impact the stores owned by Chinese importers would have on other small and micro Guyanese retailers and whether now Guyana would have any hope of a manufacturing industry. It has been interesting to see the African concerns about the new 'emerging powers'
on the flip side they are bringing cheap stuff from china
ReplyDeletecan the locals access the same?
Now I have always been baffled by these types of complaints about our immigrants or any immigants for that matter (I am sure the Bajans are saying the same thing when we take over their country.)
ReplyDeleteSo what if they are having an impact on retailers? Why can't Guyanese (or any of that matter) suck it up and say "we need to find a new way to do business"? Why can't we learn to be competative instead of complaining about this pervieved "unfairness"?
do you think there is a concept like 'unfair competition?"
ReplyDelete