It hit us unexpectedly, frightened and disoriented us, like the 2:58am earthquake in the wee hours of Sunday morning that measured 5.63 on the Richter scale.
The Queen on the chess board was placed across a line from whence, before all BVI, on a radio show, she demonstrated the definition of dichotomy. And for the second time, in dramatic irony, the aggrieved was in China.
The Queen must surely be in total agreement with the Phantom of The Opera.
When Phantom went to ‘The Final Lair (Down Once More)’ as a hunted man in the waning moments of that masterpiece, he struggled with whether he should selfishly hold on to Christine or release her.
The Queen must have struggled. After all, she was poised to let go of an intense public relationship with her favourite son that spanned a period of 5 decades.
But through her actions, she summed up the relationship in the same single line as Phantom did, painfully but flawlessly, in the grand finalé:
“It’s over now, the music of the night.”
And then, Phantom erased himself, to thunderous applause, from the life of the woman he loved with heart, soul and might…
…Through music.
But the Queen’s erasure provoked a totally different response: Hearts faltered and bled; Eyes watered; Knees buckled; Mouths slackened in incredulity;
Nevertheless, the Queen was walking in her ‘street of knives’ and, like all who go there, she was, no doubt, ‘well armed.’ (Aaron Burr)
But if she is injured on her walk she can no longer bleed blue since her blue has morphed back into its red roots.
As to the earthquake, it reminded us that earthquakes are the stepchild of the Territory’s preparation for natural disasters.
We have incredibly good hurricane preparation plans and well-rehearsed tsunami drills but we are not so knowledgeable about what to do in our homes when earthquakes strike and shake us to the core.
But another shaking awaits. It is the beneficial ownership issue and the push by the kingdom that BVI adopt public registers.
Somehow, the Crown Dependencies seem to be subject to a different standard since they only intend to “…provide access to the information on our registers of beneficial ownership to those who can demonstrate that they have a legitimate interest.”
Perhaps they wait until 2026 when the FATF publishes AMLD 6. Maybe their confidence rests in an advanced constitution that shifts the base of the playing field to make it uneven.
Of one thing we are certain; If the requirement to have public beneficial registers is not an international standard, it puts our industry at risk.
And certain UK publications that are hostile to BVI use inflammatory rhetoric to denigrate our legitimate business. It would be superfluous to say that they know they are being grossly unfair.
Still, we were heartened to see the governor posing with local media practitioners on the occasion of World Press Freedom Day. He spoke, among other things about the importance of integrity and truth in reporting.
How wonderful it would be if, in the UK, officialdom could have a similar discussion. We continue to feel that OTs like BVI are subject to different standards.
And, unbidden, we think on the divide and conquer philosophy that helped the sun not to set on the British Empire for 4 centuries.
It just seems that there exists a burning desire in parts of the kingdom to ruin the OTs with standards, policies and laws applied sanctimoniously and selectively.
We wonder on what moral ground and through which transparent lens the kingdom administers its policies.
We hold the blade in the partnership and if they massage the handle, our blood flows.
The proverbial Sword of Damocles threatens us in so many ways; Not the least of which is the Order in Council that, by the swing of the pen, can change our guiding political philosophy from a representative democracy to an autocracy.
The optics feel wrong.
Fridays beg to be incorrect on these points lest our trust and belief in the system that has shaped our lives be swept away.
Happy Friday!