The Power of Culture

Oswin Chin Behilia packs his songs in contagiously catching Caribbean dance musical offering a wonderful amalgam of tumba, samba, jazz, and Latin as well as more archaic music styles like the mazurka and the waltz. Chin, as he is often called, is world famous in Curaçao. After a career as singer, he hosted a talk show on television for thirteen years and then became active as a politician. But after only a few years he had tasted more than enough. This does not mean, however, that Chin no longer works to advance Curaçao's interests. His latest CD Liber, recently released, specifically names the Dutch former Minister for Kingdom Affairs Nicolai and Dutch Prime Minister Balkenende in lyrics that say what needs to be said. He may be seventy years old, but Chin's fighting spirit and good cheer refuse to be tempered. Many of his songs were used during the referendum on Curaçao's civil status.

Chin pulls a number of diagrams from a folder and explains what will be changing. "Being an autonomous state within the Kingdom of the Netherlands is nothing but a farce. They will choke us. Soon we will have even less independent administration than we have now. We will be placed under administrative supervision. The fact that there is oil under our land makes it even more disastrous. Large stretches of the beach are already not freely accessible in Curaçao; three-fourths of the coast line has been barricaded with barriers protecting resorts. Fishermen have no access whatsoever. At the time, Shell erected Julianadorp for its personnel. Now even more communities are being constructed for oilmen. The island is nearly full. Things will erupt soon in Curaçao."