Dear Editor,

The Father’s Day greetings on social media reflected the various complex emotions about fathers, good fathers and bad fathers and good fathers who are sometimes bad and so on. Alcohol consumption in Guyana has played a huge part in diminishing the capacity of many men to be good fathers and in destroying families. There are too many stories of children begging and hoping that their fathers would not drink. The full page advertisements then, about alcohol and fathers and manhood are a mockery of those pleas and hopes by the Guyanese who hope that the fathers around them would stop drinking. The alcohol industry is vicious in its continued perpetuation of the myth of happiness and alcohol.

Congratulations though, to the people, also alcohol sellers, who chose to use their non-alcohol Malta brand to promote their Fisher activity for fathers and children. The ads were smaller, not as prominent… but important as they seem to indicate that there is a possibility for the private sector to provide events for Guyanese men and others to enjoy healthy lives and relationships without alcohol threatening to destroy them.

Yours faithfully,

Vidyaratha Kissoon