The Editor, Sir:

I left Jamaica several years ago as a young man dreaming of a better life. I had the benefit of a fairly good education and a moderate post-primary education. I had the benefit of higher education and subsequent employment in the profession of my choice in my adopted country.

When I visited my relatives in the years of my training and employment, I was impressed with the improvement of the country in certain areas of development. Youngsters were no longer attending schools barefooted and carrying slates. The girls were beautifully fitted out with distinctive uniforms and the boys in khaki shirts and pants. High schools, some of high quality, had emerged all over the country. In my time there were not more than a dozen of any particular standard.

But of all the changes I observed, the most remarkable was in funerals, especially in rural Jamaica, however remote. In my time, the cedar wood, beautifully polished by the local carpenter, was used to lay to rest our departed loved ones. Today, I witness expensive caskets are the order of the day; the burial followed by a lavish preparation of food and consumption of full-strength white rum.

I keep wondering where all these lavish resources come from. My curiosity leads to a further enquiry. A humble farm worker saves most of his earnings to give his aged, dying mother a grand funeral, whereas a daily bowl of soup would go a long way to ensure a peaceful departure.

Nutrition and comfort

The local pastor or deacon, and others must have their say in a two-hour ceremony with speeches, beautifully laid out pictures and life stories. I conclude that the funeral parlours in Jamaica are doing very well.

How I wish we would prune down on these lavish final rituals and provide some modest nutrition and comfort for our aged loved ones on the eve of their departure.

I am, etc.,

ARTHUR S. BYFIELD

Boscobel

St Mary