Miss Cayman Legit

Monday, April 26, 2004

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Reader comments:

• It is a shame that they are ridiculing this girl because of her birth place. She has resided and attended school on the Island from the age of two. I feel she has just as much right as any other Caymanian. For god's sake her mom is Caymanian. That definitely counts as something. By the way, she was the qualified from all the contestants and I'm proud that she was crowned Ms. Cayman and am sure that she will uphold her position with grace and competency. Why is there never a controversy when Ms Cayman was born in the USA or has resided in the UK for most of their lives? Stacey is Caymanian and has the same right as any other qualified Caymanian to hold the crown and if taken away would serve no just to anyone - Distraught
  
   
• I lived in the Cayman Islands for a while and, although being a white person, found the locals’ obsession with everything white almost nauseating. I am convinced that if the queen was whiter, then her ethnicity would not have been called into question. I am back in the U.K so I no longer fear retribution. I am of the opinion that the young lady should return the crown out of respect to all Jamaicans and enlightened Caymanians - Tommy Brown
  
   
• It’s not a matter of colour. It’s the fact that people instinctively sense that this individual does not regard herself as Caymanian and therefore cannot truly be their representative.
  
  Before I even saw Stacey Ann, I heard her on a local talk show. I was amazed by her speech… she sounded so Jamaican. I was put off by a potential Miss Cayman sounding like a Jamaican and I had not even seen her yet. Not that there's anything wrong with speaking like a Jamaican… if you are a Jamaican.
  
  Stacy Ann seems to have identified mostly with her Jamaican heritage and would have made a good Miss Jamaica. Her mannerisms, her speech etc tell everyone where her heart lies… and it’s not Cayman. Once again, Cayman has been used. She had a better chance of getting in and winning in the Caymanian pageant than she would have in the Jamaican pageant. Funnily enough, if she'd won Miss Jamaica, the Jamaicans there would have objected loud and long about it… and people here would have seen their point of view. In Cayman, we are not supposed to offer any opposing view point, though.
  
  Stacey Ann is representative of her generation, in that she has one Caymanian parent. After the development of the 70's, you would be hard taxed to find a child with 2 Caymanian parents. These children are the new Caymanians… my children fall into that category. Therefore, I don't have a problem with her heritage… it’s a common sociological phenomenon here in Cayman. However, I would expect someone who has been here from age 2 to sound and act like a Caymanian. And when I say that, I don't mean that she has to sound like those stupid ads on the radio that degrade the Caymanian way of speaking, either. I'm a Caymanian born and bred and I certainly do NOT sound like that!
  
  People have certain expectations as to how "My Caymanian Girl" should sound and conduct herself.
  
  Sorry, Stacey Ann, you don't make the grade… try speaking and acting more like the Caymanian people you represent - Direct Current
  
   
• Don’t the contest judges have some sort of guidelines, or at least the common sense, to realise that Miss Cayman should at least sound like a Caymanian and, in any event, certainly not like a Jamaican? - Anonymous
  
   
• Obviously not - Juicy Fruit
  
   
• The Cayman Islands will not have a representative in the Miss Universe pageant this year. Lucky for Jamaica - they will have two representatives. This seems harsh to say but look at our so-called Miss Cayman - how can she represent us true born Caymanians? She doesn’t even speak like us. She should not have entered in the first place. If we can’t find Caymanian contestants for the Miss Cayman contest then I suggest that the contest should be called off. I would like to see what would happen if a Caymanian won the Miss Jamaica title. Miss Cayman - Stacy is NOT! - Anonymous
  
   
• I would just like to make sure the readers know that the new Miss Cayman’s mother is not Caymanian either. She too has Caymanian status. Where that information came about I don’t know. I don’t think it has anything to do with color. Stacey is just too Jamaica and you can’t take that out of her. Although she lived here in the Cayman Islands most of her life, she only socialized with the Jamaican side. And she likes to push up herself too much. Stacey was very lucky that Dina dropped out. But one thing came to mind - the committee is to blame for this mess. My question is why the hell did they not call for contestant six months ago. Three weeks of training is bull. That’s why our true born Caymanians cannot do better. Stacey knew that she was going to lick it hard, because she had the most experience - Home Grown
  
   
• I think that it is unfair to all the other delegates to have two Jamaican nationals at the Miss Universe pageant. Stacy Ann should not have entered the contest in the first place. Miss Cayman should be a native of the Islands. The way I look at it, is the Cayman Islands do not have a representative this year - Silver, United States
  
   
• It has been pointed out that Stacy's mother is NOT a native Caymanian either. Thanks for that clarification, because I did read it or hear it on the news that Stacy had one Caymanian parent… although being a Caymanian these days is no longer special… any and everybody is a Caymanian now.
  
  This fact makes Stacy's crowning as Miss Cayman even more disgraceful. Stacy has two Jamaican parents… she was born in Jamaica and came here as a young child. Where are her Caymanian roots? How can she hold herself up as a representative of the Caymanian people? She certainly is not the type of girl I envisage Papie Conolly singing "My Caymanian Girl" to. And it’s not her colour, I repeat. It’s the fact that she's NOT Caymanian.
  
  Traditionally, Miss Cayman is a beautiful Caymanian young lady that the country identifies with. On a whole, the contest winner has captured the hearts of the Caymanian people (with one notable exception that caused the people to torch the winner's prize car because she, too, was a Jamaican.)
  
  I think why it’s so hard for people to accept Stacy is the fact that her two immediate predecessors were Caymanian to the core. Both Nichelle Welcome and Shannon McLean hailed from the heartland of Cayman, East End, a district still steeped in rich Caymanian traditions. The Caymanian people lovingly embraced these two beautiful young ladies and proudly showed them off to the world as a sample of the typical Caymanian young lady. Shannon and Nichelle are hard acts to follow and we can't accept Stacy and hold her up as "My Caymanian Girl", because she is NOT Caymanian.
  
  I suspect the problem lies with the composition of the panel of judges. How many in that panel were Caymanian? I understand that it’s good to have some outsiders judge the contest to prevent corruption. However, this year's result is not satisfactory, either. I feel if the panel was made up of more Caymanians, we would have had a Miss Cayman that was more representative of the Caymanian people. Miss Cayman should be a Caymanian… that is a no-brainer.
  Cayman has been experiencing an identity crisis since the large influx of expatriates to our country. We have lost many Caymanian traditions. The distinctive district dialects are no more and today, our children ask their Caymanian teachers to show them how a Caymanian speaks!
  
  This identity insecurity has intensified in recent months following Cabinet's drive thru Status grants. We have many top civil servants who are not Caymanian and now we have a Miss Cayman who is not a Caymanian. What's next? Will we soon have Members of our Parliament who are not truly Caymanian?
  
  As innocent as it may seem, the result of the recent Miss Cayman contest is just a foretaste of things to come, as non Caymanians boldly take up positions that were once considered reserved for Caymanians - Direct Current
  
   
• In addition to the sentiments expressed by your readers, there also seems to be some ambivalence, to say the least, over the legitimacy of the new Miss Cayman within the Ministry of Tourism itself – which is the organisation responsible for the contest and is very likely to blame for this controversy by failing to screen contestants in the first place and for not selecting qualified judges or giving them proper guidelines as to what to look for in a “Caymanian”.
  
  The Minister for Tourism left the night of the pageant without having the customary 'official' congratulatory photo taken with the winner. So far, he has refused to have the official photo taken with the new Miss Cayman receiving her prize-winning car.
  
  He was observed cheering wildly at the contest at each appearance of Miss West Bay… displaying his preference. He is obviously distancing himself from Stacy because of her Jamaican heritage… so what happened to the right of Status holders to be treated as “Caymanians”? – Anonymous
  
   
• Only in Cayman can something so simple become so troublesome. The thought that someone who is not a born Caymanian, neither mother or father Caymanian, someone who doesn’t even identify herself as Caymanian, can represent Cayman is sad - Derrick Powell
  
   
• It is very sad when people are so small minded. I have heard Stacy Kelly speak and it does not sound Jamaican. It sounds like a well spoken individual. If this is what we Caymanians call Jamaican well more power to Jamaica.
  
  Speaking of rules, the rules say you must have Caymanian status. Miss Kelly has that and naturalisation. She has represented our islands in more than one forum including sports. So-called Caymanian reactions to this contest are what help to reinforce the behaviour of expatriates living in this country. The whole point of obtaining status (citizenship) is that you have the same rights as the native born. If she was from the US, Canada or, even better, a white Jamaican, no one would be complaining. GET OVER IT PEOPLE. If you don't want others from overseas to have rights and privileges too, then change the laws and tell our long-term residents that they are not worthy of anything despite their contribution to the success of our islands.
  
  On the night of the contest if anyone can truly say she was outclassed by any other contestant then they were blind. The judges found the best representative. For someone who we do not call Caymanian she certainly answered the question best when describing Caymanian culture. Something most Caymanians don't know. On that night she proved to be classy, well spoken and intelligent. The judges chose the individual who illustrated the qualities that an international queen should have. It did not matter that she was not born here, what mattered that we would make Cayman look good.
  
  For the contestant who dropped out that is just too bad, and who is to say that she would have done better than Stacy.
  
  For those of you who say Jamaica is going to have two representatives you are truly stupid.
  
  If you know Stacy personally then you will know that she is a confident young woman who will not let people walk all over her. This might offend many just because she is a black woman. A confident woman can really rub people the wrong way. If you don't know Stacy then you can't make a judgment about how she feels about Cayman.
  
  Miss Kelly will represent us well. She has the crown and it's not going to be taken back. So I suggest you stop slandering the woman.
  
  As for acting Caymanian, please tell me how to act Caymanian. It should not matter if you were born here or not, what should matter is how you contribute to the growth of our country. There are many Caymanians who do nothing for Cayman but expect everything. If one day someone well educated, who loves our islands, well spoken and has great plans for our future should run for election he would be told "no" obviously because he was not born here. If it was American or elsewhere and they see the valuable contribution he could make, trust me he would be utilized (Colin Powell in the US). But we would prefer to have the "Caymanian born" politician suck us dry for years and do nothing for us, just because he was born here.
  
  Please stop blaming the expatriates for us not loving things Caymanian. It is our own Caymanians that make us feel small when we use Caymanian dialect, it our own Caymanians that have allowed this country to become so Americanised. It is our own Caymanians that are not working with our troubled youths as they should, leave these jobs to other who will tolerate the disrespect of our own. People from other Caribbean countries find out dialect interesting and try to speak it. I am sure you have heard an expatriate lamenting on how our voices sound like we are singing when we are speaking. So stop blaming others for our problems and start trying to solve them from with in. Being Caymanian and loving Cayman is something that we should take responsibility to teach from with our homes.
  
  Mr. James Watler wrote a book with Caymanian dialect how many are aware of this. How may Caymanians, not the ones over 60 are even interested in reading it, or can even read it? Why is his book and a few others like it made unimportant by our Caymanians? We are the ones who should be promoting it.
  
  The point: Stacey earned the right to be crowned Miss Cayman whether we liked it or not. If there was another Contestant was better on the night of the contest who was Caymanian born or not then I would have a problem. Obviously those who are having a problem were not in attendance - Caymanian to the Bone
  
   
• Miss Cayman Stacy is NOT. Thanks for reminding me about Dina. She would make a good Miss Cayman - A Die Hard
  
   
• If she gets something what a slap in the face it would be for the Caymanians... oh I can hear it already from the Jamaicans: “A Jamaican had to do it for you! You can’t do without us!” - Anonymous
  
   
• As a very proud Jamaican living in here in the Cayman Islands. I can see how the Caymanians feel regarding Miss Cayman not being Caymanian. I feel that the young lady should not have entered in the first place. Miss Cayman should be Caymanian. This could never happen in Jamaica and people sit back so easy and don’t do something about it - what a shame. I say give Caymanians the spot light and stop fooling the world. Although Stacy has Caymanian status, there are some things that status holder should not get involved in. And Miss Cayman is one of them... I wonder what Miss Jamaica is going to think when she meets this girl from Cayman who calls herself Miss Cayman but sounds like a Jamaican - Jamaican to the Bone
  
   
• The person who submitted the piece: Miss Cayman Legit, please find your own nickname as your opinions may not always be in line with mine. "Caymanian to the Bone" has been used by myself now for over a year in letters, etc., and I would not want anyone to confuse our views. As for your opinion that the current "Miss Cayman is legit", well that's okay, it's great to be able to express yourself. But what I did not appreciate is your berating and scolding Caymanians like they are nothing more than beggars just because they voice their opinions against something such as the winning Miss Cayman contestant. I have no problem with who won the title. She's well spoken and professional. But other people have a right to their personal feelings. I can imagine the sunken feeling some of the contestants and family may have felt, as this seems to be the way of life here on these islands. The foreigner always gets the better job, the promotion, the spotlight, their bills paid, etc., etc. Maybe people are just fed up with seeing everything go to people who found our shores nice, and stayed. Where are the rewards for the true hardworking Caymanians? Maybe that was what the letter writer you were responding to was thinking. Instead of being so negative, nickname stealer, please put yourself in the contestants' and families' (and other Caymanians') shoes for a moment - Caymanian to the Bone
  
   
• I have to agree with "Jamaican to the Bone". The Miss Cayman competition is no longer about Caymanians being proud of Caymanians. They really should re-think the title and the responsibility of being Miss Cayman if just about any nationality can carry that title. We had some very good candidates in the last competition. Miss Sophifa Ebanks being one of them, and yet instead of supporting one of our own we choose to give it an "outsider". There isn't much of Cayman to belong to Caymanian as it is, and we just keep on giving away what is left to the first one that puts foot inside the door. I say leave Miss Cayman to the CAYMANIAN Misses - A Caymanian for Caymanians
  
   
• I am glad to see that the real "Caymanian to the Bone" is back and did not have a drastic change of heart, as one was led to believe from the recent post. Phew! To the counterfeit "Caymanian to the Bone": get your own nickname! You can't touch the original! Some things can't be imitated. Use your imagination and come up with your own handle! Good reading your position on this issue, CTTB. As usual, I agree with you - Direct Current
  
   
• I appreciate the objectivity of "Jamaican to the Bone" expressed in his/her recent post. That individual is fair and understands how angry true Caymanians feel when they see a foreigner representing the Cayman Islands as a Miss Cayman. As s/he said, it could not happen in Jamaica. That’s one thing I admire about my Jamaican friends, they stand up for what they believe in… nobody is going to walk over them, that’s for sure. We Caymanians are too passive - Direct Current
  
   
• I think these people with these comments should look into themselves Stacy Ann, accent is not the priority here It doesn’t matter what accent you have, you are going to represent a country as long as you speak properly, that is what counts. I think she did well and should go on to represent this Island. Good luck girl, I give you a ten - Anonymous
  
   
• When will the jealously between the Cayman Islands and Jamaica end?... NEVER! - Audrey Powell
  
   
• I am not scolding Caymanians for having a voice. People are entitled to voice their opinion, just like I am entitled to use the nickname “Caymanian to the Bone”, which is not even a Caymanian but a Trinidadian phrase. LOL
  
  If there was a more deserving contestant “born Caymanian" then obviously she should get the crown. However that was not the case for this contest even if Dina had entered, who could not beat any of the other contestants EITHER. There are circumstances when a deserving Caymanian is looked over for a job and many other things. However as Caymanians we need to start ensuring that we are so well equipped that we cannot be ignored. As for the persons who stated that people with status should not get themselves involved in certain things that is contradictory. The whole point of obtaining status is to have the rights of a "native born Caymanian". If status holders should think that way many areas of our country would be ignored one major area is Sports. Should Kareem and Cydonnie not represent Cayman and leave that to "native born". When they receive medals we support them, it does not matter that they were not born here. What matters is that they were our representatives and they did well.
  
  Let us remember on thing, our population is extremely small. I am sure that if you look at other populations worldwide that can be compared to ours you will see that they too have had representatives not "native born".
  
  In Jamaica if the winner was not Jamaican, trust me as long as they felt she was going to do well, she would be cheered on. Of course there would be a few disgruntled people but she would be supported.
  
  For the other Caymanian to the Bone you obviously have a problem with comprehension (by the way I did not even know you existed until you replied to me). I was not scolding Caymanians for having an opinion, I was stating that instead of blaming others we should start promoting and supporting ourselves. Caymanians have the intelligence and the beauty to excel but at times lack the confidence. If a Caymanian status holder is confident and willing to represent the island he or she should not be criticized. A status holder is Caymanian. Hardworking Caymanians get their promotions, homes and bills paid just like all other hard working people, regardless of your nationality. The point is work hard you get what you deserve. Being born somewhere should not entitle you to anything you do not earn. If a non Caymanian does not work hard, does not have the qualification, THEY SHOULD NOT GET THE JOB.
  
  For all Caymanians if you feel our culture and our country is slipping away, then I suggest that you make it your point to do something about it. Educate the youth about our culture, pump Caymanian literature, music and art in to society. Support events that are Caymanian produced. Cayman is not an isolated rock; we are competing on the global market, therefore the best person for the job, “status holder” or not should be chosen. If this is not the case then we are in big trouble globally - Caymanian to the Bone
  
   
• You are confusing two issues. You refer to an instance where a Caymanian should not get the job if s/he is not qualified. I agree. However the instance of having a Caymanian represent one's country is a different scenario than that. One expects Miss Cayman to be a Caymanian… and not simply a paper Caymanian, either - Anon
  
   
• Thank Heavens for your reply (Caymanian to the Bone) because they don't seem to know when to stop. Just remember all of you that are against Ms. Kelly are actually being judged by God right now and only God can judge Stacey. So give her a break.
  
  Go Stacey, Go Stacey. You’re killing them. You were the best contestant the night of Miss Cayman and you deserved it. Work HARDER for these fools.
  
  The best of luck goes to you in Ms Universe. The Lord does not like ugly! - Anonymous
  
   
• "A few disgruntled people” - which part of Jamaica are you talking about? I have been to a Miss Jamaica contest and saw with my own eyes a Miss Jamaica booed and trashed at on stage. Leave the Cayman people, let them be proud of what they have, like we Jamaicans are proud of what we have. And to the Dina fans encourage her to get back in the contest next year. If she starts training early the 2005 crown could be on her head - Jamaican to the Bone
  
   
• If we want a “born Caymanian” to win the contest, then we should have the rules changed to specify just that. Otherwise it is fair for a "paper Caymanian" to enter and even win the contest.
  
  And for all you complaining about a “paper Caymanian”, what would you say about a past Miss South Africa who entered Miss Universe representing SA who went on to represent Germany less than five years later. She won both contests because she was the best one, "paper citizen” or not
  
  To back-up one of the Caymanian to the Bone, there have been Miss Jamaica winners who were never born in Jamaica, only to return past the age of 18, received "paper citizenship" probably through a parent and were eligible to enter the contest.
  
  Speaking of Caymanian, if Dina was to enter, her parents are not Caymanian either, so here we go again, would that be a problem too even if she was born in Cayman and lived here all her life?
  
  In most countries (Cayman not included) it does not matter whether you receive citizenship by birth, paper or otherwise. All “citizens” have the same rights and privileges. All citizens are all expected to conduct themselves responsibly and to represent the country well if given the opportunity to do so.
  
  I would prefer to be represented by a born Caymanian but if the rules make room for others and they are the best representative then I want the best to represent my country - Anonymous
  
   
• I seem to remember that a few years ago a Miss Italy met with great resistance from Italians because she was not a born Italian. So, this sentiment is not unique to Cayman - Observer
  
   
• I cringed with embarrassment when I watched Miss Universe Tuesday night. Compared to the other entrants, Miss Cayman was a joke! How dare Cayman waste the country's money to send such a representative to Miss Universe? – Observer
  
   
• The national costume was very poor. I know in that department Cayman can do better than that - Mark Clarke

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