Copyright thevoiceslu
Every year at this time, I choose a personal challenge, often in the linguistic field, that’ll allow me to continue assessing the varying nuances and hilarious misconceptions associated with how some local creole (Kweyol) words are loosely-translated to English. Saint Lucians still respond to some select creole words in ways that simply have no relation to their origin: like ‘Salop’ and its multifarious negative interpretations that simply don’t fit its affable English definition. Or ‘Pigeon Peas’ for what creole-speakers still simply call ‘Pwa Angol’ (‘Angola Peas’). Tomorrow (October 26) will mark another annual celebration of International Creole Day, with the usual last-lap ‘Jounen Kweyol’ activities hosted island-wide, bringing-down the curtains on Kweyol Heritage Month 2025. But, as per usual in any election year, party politics and campaigning take front-and-centre over everything else as the country approaches its tenth General Elections since Independence (1979). All the political talk right now is about ringing bells — but just not Jingling Christmas Bells… Instead, it’s about when and for whom the bell will actually toll when the Prime Minister actually announces the election date. With so-much talk of bells in the air, I therefore tried hard this past week, to find the English word for the instrument that makes bells ring — that hanging-banger that rings every tone. It’s called a ‘Balang Klosh’ (in Kweyol) and can be as-long-as Big Ben’s, or short as that rang by old-time head-teachers (principals) to start each school day. I grew-up admiring the way the bell-ringer at the Castries Catholic cathedral would jump-and-swing, in calculated combined equilibrium on-and-off the long ropes, to coordinate the timely rhythm of at last two bells hanging 100-feet in the loft above. But while my dad taught me church bells were rang from ‘a belfry’, he never referred to the bell-ringer as anything but ‘Nom Balang-klosh-la!’ Fast-Forward to today for a special election bell version of ‘Balang-klosh’ politics — Saint Lucia style … The opposition United Workers Party (UWP) is loudly demanding that Prime Minister Philip J. Pierre immediately ring the election bell. Why? Simply because the UWP Leader demands… The party’s leadership (and those dreaming of replacing them) know Prime Minister Philip J. Pierre is the only one – by law – who’ll announce the date for their next electoral Judgment Day, but they continue to demand he rings that bell, by their command. The UWP hurriedly selected and launched its 17 candidates, but with costs rising and momentum not on its side, the absence of an election date is causing concern for those paying the campaign bills. Profit-and-loss investment estimates are declining vis-à-vis the party’s chances of winning. Today’s UWP Leader is surrounded by new blood in dark shadows, harbouring deep cloak-and-dagger post-election leadership ambitions. Wishful successors see their present Leader as an outgoing spent force, spending his last source of influence on an election they all know they simply can’t win – unless a drastic unforeseen earth-shaking or political climate-changing circumstances arises. Or, as close observers are increasingly concluding, the UWP leadership really believes Saint Lucians are the dumbest and most-gullible electors on Planet Earth, only waiting to be fooled by blinkered opposition politicians into blinding themselves to what they saw and felt by way of social and economic benefits in the last four years. This apparent contempt for the intelligence of Saint Lucian voters is indeed baffling, especially from a party that blamed COVID-19 for calling late elections in 2021 – and in a new age when everyone (supposedly) has unlimited access to information at their fingertips. But one does not have to be on Facebook to see or feel the across-the-board benefits from this Labour-led administration. This unique coalition is largely seen as having delivered enough on its campaign promises in the past four years to qualify it to request a second term and to urge voters to continue (instead of reversing) the new momentum built since 2021. This unique tried and successfully tested formula of a Cabinet of Ministers that includes now-independent former senior Cabinet ministers in two previous UWP administrations (including one as Prime Minister and Party Leader) is again being offered to the electorate. Meanwhile, those in the UWP leadership who act they never left office or feel have residual powers of prime exceptional privileges continue to pretend they’re calling the shots, living with ‘Boloms’ in the Lalaland of The Beatles’ top hit score for the hallowed 1968 hit film ‘Yellow Submarine’. The UWP leaders keep telling their supporters every invisible sign shows they’ll win the next General Elections, whenever called between November 2025 and October 2026. Also counting belief in Boloms to mislead their supporters into disbelieving all they see and have benefitted from since 2021, the old and aspiring leaders sound more like ready to bang their heads on the tough walls of Elton John’s 1973 hit ‘Yellow Brick Road’’. And the hits keep coming… Now that the Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ) has told the UWP Leader he should stop wasting its time, his party has decided to continue his decade-long pursuit of Castries South MP Dr Ernest Hilaire, announcing plans to file yet-another legal case – this time accusing Hilaire of ‘Assault’. But, lest I get lost in transition and translation, I must hereby confess that I had to resort to asking Mr Google for the English name for a ‘Balang Klosh’ and his Meta AI assistant replied: “You’re thinking of a clapper! That’s the part that swings back and forth inside the bell, strikin’ its sides to produce that beautiful ringing sound.” Now, that — to me — is no adequate expression to describe this particular creole adjective. But my point being made, I rest my case that the island’s indigenous language is so pregnant with possibilities for preservation and innovation that can take the concept of a ‘Balang Klosh’ to higher heights, without losing its ring! Happy International Creole Day, everyone!
