Up Front
Rolston Anglin-
Youngest Member ofthe Legislature wants a "fair deal" for Caymanians
Mr. Rolston Anglin
Rolston with his wifeShena
At first it was seen as a mere joke to manyof his Caymanian friends, a stupid idea at best, when Mr. RolstonAnglin decided to give up his job as an Auditor at the local chapterof the renowned accounting / auditing firm, PriceWaterHouseCoopers,to run for a seat in the Legislative Assembly.
Many saw the always neatly attired younggentleman only in the shoes of a business leader. Others saw himas an intellectual youth group leader at the Boatswain PresbyterianChurch in West Bay along with his wife, Shena.
With the elections in November 2000 justweeks shy of his 29th birthday, many people saw the young manas more suited for business. It was evident they felt politicswas not the right route for Mr. Rolston.
And, with his CPA (Certified Public Accountant)and his great job at the firm to complement his resumé,the question was... why?
He tendered his resignation, but on thebasis that if he wasn't elected, there would be an "opendoor" for him to return to his job.
"Many people asked me why I chose politics,but I just felt the urge, knowing I can make a positive contributionto the Cayman Islands," Mr. Rolston told Cayman Net News.
But his urge was too strong, to be talkedout as a dream. His dream, however, became a reality when he waselected as a member of the Legislative Assembly (MLA) from hisdistrict in West Bay. He is the youngest member of the Assembly.
In the Legislative Assembly, he sits onthe Business Committee and is Chairman of the Public AccountsCommittee.
And that's where his accounting backgroundplays a major role in his new role as a Legislator.
Like all little boys, he had many ambitions.At first, he wanted to become a fireman, then a policeman. Thatsoon changed however, to a pilot. But the turning point of hisyoung life happened when he took the first class in O'Level Accountsin 1986.
"After my first day in class I wenthome and told my father that I knew what I wanted to become. Ihad decided from that class what I wanted to," he said.
With his willpower, and sometimes-forcefulinfluences from his Accounts teacher, Mr. Peter Dutton, he startedto pursue his dream.
Mr. Dutton, he said was the only teacherto cause a blemish on his unstained school record, by giving himan after-school detention.
"Mr. Dutton saw in me where I wantedsomething and did not want to work for it... he was very influentialin helping me to pursue my dreams," he said.
He said during sixth form in 1990, whilepursuing his 'A'Level Accounting lessons, Mr. Dutton sent himto Price Waterhouse for an interview. That interview, in turn,landed him a summer job, earning $800 per month.
After he got his A'level results, it wasevidence what Mr. Rolston liked best.
"I got an 'A' in Accounts, 'D' in Economics;and 'E' in Geography. But they were all passes," he said.
With these results, PriceWaterhouseCoopersawarded him a four-year scholarship. He spent a year and a halfat Tampa University and was then transferred to, and graduatedfrom the Iowa University with honours in 1995. He aptly boaststo be the only graduate of the Cayman Islands High School to getan 'A' in A'level Accounts.
After his successes at the University, hewas back to the Cayman Islands working for Price Waterhouse. In1996, he pursued a CPA course (Certified Public Accountant). Again,he succeeded.
To him, accounting was just one of his genes.
"I just liked the subject. It justcame natural to me," he said.
Mr. Rolston feels that more Caymanians shouldget involved in the area of accounts. Of the 400 reported qualifiedaccountants in the island, only 50 are Caymanians - a mere 12.5percent.
"We cannot produce enough accountantsin the environment in which we live. Like corporate lawyers, accountantsare in great demand in the financial sector. The demand is therein accounting firms, banks, trust companies, all mutual fund administratorsneed accountants," he said.
He said the small entrepreneurs too, needto keep account of their transactions.
"As the competition grows in certainsectors of the island, small entrepreneurs quickly realize thateven though they were making money, they weren't making a profitor perhaps, weren't making the profit they thought they were,"he said.
"And that's where accounts comes in.It does not only provides books and records for you but it keepsyour company and tells you exactly how profitable you're becoming;where to invest your money, especially if you are a retailer.You have to know exactly what is happening within your company,"he advised.
He feels that the time has come for theIslands' bankers and government to conduct a dialogue and createfinancial aid and business advice for small businesses.
"This has to be the way forward,"he said, noting that it is incumbent on the banks to reserve apart of their loan portfolio for these small businesses.
And his advice to these entrepreneurs, "doyour market research... because a lot of good ideas do not sellwell to the public. So you have to be comprehensive. You haveto set reasonable targets in everything you do."
"This is something the government shouldencourage. However, I think they should not only lobby for smallbusiness but also low-cost houses," he said.
He said the Minister of Tourism (in chargeof housing), Hon. Mr. McKeeva Bush, is currently looking at alternatemethods of construction, among other options to bring down thecost of housing.
Rolston as MLA
Being a member of the Legislature, Mr. Rolstonhas not one, but three significant ambitions he would like toaccomplish in his first term.
First, he'd like to see the "immigrationsituation dealt with."
"Immigration has to deal with the peopleof Cayman connections and long-term residents. We must have transparencyin immigration which tells people what is expected of them whenthey come to the Cayman Islands, what rules there are and howthe system operates," he said.
The remaining two are low-cost housing andthe implementation of more educational and vocational training.
"Owning a house is a dream, and I wouldlike to see those people's dreams come true. Education is thebedrock to society, therefore, I think educational and vocationaltraining are priorities," he said.
On the Present Selection of Government
Mr. Rolston strongly supports a formal organizationwithin the political process.
"I think there must be transparencyin the political process. In other words, when a person in WestBay votes, he/she should know whom the candidates are going tosupport for Executive Council."
He added, "you need to know who youare voting for. Because I am sure that there are people in somedistricts who might not have voted for certain candidates hadthey known those candidates would support some of the people theysupported, and vice versa."
He said he doesn't believe that it's "sexist"to have only two females in the house.
"We don't look at life in politicsin terms of gender. We are a balanced team. We feel that it wasthe balance of life experience that has been brought to the table.We never looked at it in the sense of sex. I would never votealong those lines and I would never encourage the people to votealong that line either. I personally would not have a problemto support a woman as a leader," he said.
And what does he expect of himself in future?
"My outlook on life is, I will do andsay what I think is the right thing for this country, for everyone.If it means the people will accept that, fine. If they don't accept,I will take a hint by not running again," he said.