Commentary

All over a kite

YESTERDAY, THE STAR CARRIED a heart-warming story of the ceasefire that has been achieved among warring gangs, with nobody being killed over the past three months.

It is hard to conceive that 12 weeks of someone not being killed is an achievement, but for this community in Kingston 13 it is.

It has not been an unthreatened peace, though, and a very striking part of the story is the cause of the peace nearly being broken.

It was over a kite.

A kite is considered a child's toy, though adults certainly have fun with them. With the family feeling with which kite-flying is associated, as well as the carefree attitude of simply sending up a kite and watching it ride the breeze, it is hard to conceive that people would really kill each other over one.

But, according to the story, it very nearly happened. This underscores just how fragile the peace is in war-torn communities.

There is also another factor at work here: the all-important 'dis'. The story did not state that somebody had felt 'dissed', but in all matters of that sort, some form of disrespect is always a part of the flaring up of tempers.

And that emphasises just how fragile the male ­ for it is always men at the heart of these matters - ego is, especially in those without much else to hold them up in the ranks of men other than their 'respect' and their crotches. The long-term solution is to give them something that makes them feel self-sufficient in their manhood, without needing to look out for every single 'dis' to react to.

When we have got to that stage, then we will be making progress and the kites can fly in peace.