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T h e B a h a m a s W r i t e r - I s s u e # 3
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Release date: Wednesday, January 16th, 2002

**Happy New Year from The Bahamas Writer**

Welcome to the January 2002 issue of The Bahamas Writer. Please
feel free to forward it on to anyone you know who's interested in
writing.

Submit your articles, stories, poems, scripts or writing tips for
consideration in upcoming issues. Although there is no payment
for submissions to The Bahamas Writer, this is an excellent way
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Guidelines at:
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================== CONTENTS ===========================

1. Story Submission: "Was One of the Magi, A King from Lanka?"
2. Writing Tip: "Burning the Midnight Oil."
3. Article: "Nothing Stays the Same - Or Does It?"
4. Update on Submissions Section

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This Newsletter is maintained by Gavin Knowles:
http://www.bahamasb2b.com/bahamasb2b/FastSites/index.html 

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1. Article Submission: "Was One of the Magi, A King from Lanka?"
by K.T. Rajasingham.

I am pleased to welcome writer K.T. Rajasingham from Bangkok,
Thailand. Although K.T.'s article mentions "the birth of Jesus",
K.T. says "This is a historical treatise and has no bearing on
Christmas and New Year. A new approach, that is all...As a
Historian, I have done extensive search for facts to complete
this research. I trust that you will enjoy reading it and also
your readers would enjoy reading this piece of mine."

Was One of the Magi, A King from Lanka?

A page in history reveals that the Tamil king of Yalapanam
(Jaffna), was one amongst those wise-men - Magi, who went to
Bethlehem, to worship the new born baby Jesus. This happened,
according to the prophecy in the Bible. "Kings along the
Mediterranean coast- the kings of Tarshish and the Islands- and
those from Sheba and from Seba- all will bring their gifts."
Psalms 72-10.

Joao de Barros, the Portuguese historian, in his book, "Asia de
Joao Barros, dos fectos que od Portuguese fizeram no
descobrimento & conquista dos mares & teras do Oriente,"
published after 1563, relates, "a king of the island of Ceilam,
called Primal, went in a ship to the coast of Mascate, to join
other kings, who were going to adore the Lord, at Bethlehem, and
that he was the third."

Read rest of article: http://www.bahamaswriter.com/magi.htm

K.T. specialises in news, political analysis, political
commentary, conducting exclusive interviews, and writing on
subjects of special interest.

Says K.T: "I write a series to Asia Times online
(http://www.atimes.com) Sri Lanka:The Untold Story. They publish
this series on every Friday. This series in all, is to have
nearly 25-30 chapters.

"I am also accredited to cover UN ESCAP (UN Economic and Social
Council for Asia and Pacific) on behalf of EPN (European Press
Network) a news website based in Paris, where they put up
Freelance journalists contributions for sales."

K.T. says he has a project to conduct exclusive interviews with
the Heads of States in the African Continent.

Check out his web site at http://ktrcom.tripod.com/ktrajasingham/
where some of his published articles are posted. K.T. can be
contacted at ktraja@loxinfo.co.th

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Note: You may distribute this Newsletter. Feel free to post it
to your website or BBS if you like. However no part of this
Newsletter may be reproduced in whole, or in part, without
keeping the links within this newsletter active.

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2. Writing Tip: "Burning the Midnight Oil!"

"Burning the midnight oil" doesn't have to sap your energy! You
might find that a couple of late night writing sessions after
everyone's gone to bed and the house is at its most peaceful, can
be so fruitful that when you collapse into bed you sleep "like a
log" and awaken in the morning more refreshed than ever!

- Fay Knowles,
http://www.bahamaswriter.com

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3. Article: "Nothing Stays the Same - Or Does It?"

Everyone around the world held their breath as 2002 arrived. In
the Bahamas, although still saddened and affected economically by
September 11th, the main topic of conversation was - is Junkanoo
going to be postponed again? (Junkanoo is the sparkling downtown
Nassau street parade usually held in the early hours of "Boxing
Day" and New Year's Day. The name "Junkanoo" is said to have
originated from that of an African chief called John Canoe,
brought to the Caribbean as a slave).

New Year's Day dawned with the usual broadcasts from Queen
Elizabeth and our Prime Minister Hubert Ingraham. The Police
Commissioner proudly announced there'd been no serious incidents
over the Holidays and that crime figures were significantly down
for 2001.

We had unusually heavy rainfall over Christmas, causing the
Boxing Day Junkanoo to be rescheduled for later that day (Boxing
Day, the day after Christmas Day, is a tradition in the U.K. and
Commonwealth countries, said to have originated with St. Stephen,
the first Christian martyr, and the opening of church "poor
boxes").

Then a cold front blew in, with temperatures dropping to the low
50's. It was decided to postpone the New Year's Junkanoo to the
evening of Friday, January 4th.

By 5 p.m. that day, large numbers of Bahamians of all ages, many
clad in sweaters and hats, left their cars at home and ambled to
Bay Street for the 7 p.m. start of Junkanoo. Others curled up in
their warm homes to watch it on the local television station.

Our tropical trees and foliage, many still struggling since
November's Hurricane Michelle, welcomed the rain and cool weather
during the Christmas season.

Leading up to 2002, Bahamians seemed to be living in a "never
never land", spending feverishly, with apparent little thought of
tomorrow. Santa Claus still came through for many children, and
customers crammed jewellery stores seeking expensive gifts to
appease their husbands, wives or sweethearts. Magnificent New
Year Gala Balls were held and hundreds of dollars went up in
smoke as fireworks hit the skies over Atlantis, Sandals and
Nassau Marriott Resort.

Bahamians grumbled at limited standing room for Junkanoo on Bay
Street, but still paid top dollars for a seat on the bleachers.

In the meantime, our "lovely tourists", as the straw vendors
fondly call them, are back again. Cash registers purr and casino
slot machines eat up U.S. dollars.

Reality is setting in - school fees have to be paid and rising
insurance premiums are due.

Will 2002 be just like any other thriving year pre 9/11? Maybe
not, but it's predicted we'll not be long behind the U.S.
recovery, estimated by some economists for June or July. Then
everything should almost be the same again.

Author: Fay Knowles,
http://www.bahamaswriter.com

Copyright © 2001 Fay Knowles 

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4. Update on Submissions Section

Sorry, "Submissions" isn't completed yet! However I do have an
excuse; in fact several excuses! - Christmas, New Year and my
mother's six weeks' visit from England!

I'm working hard on it though. There's a mire of information
distributed about this rather complex subject. I will provide you
with simple guidelines to make the submissions process more
straight forward. Thanks again for your patience.

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I hope you've enjoyed this issue of The Bahamas Writer.
If you have any questions or comments relating to this
Newsletter or BahamasWriter.com please feel free to Email
them to me at:

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