Prime Minister Gaston Browne has pushed back against criticism over a recent family vacation, saying public figures should not be condemned for spending time with their loved ones.
Speaking on his Browne and Browne radio programme on Pointe FM, the Prime Minister said he was surprised by the backlash.
“Recently when I took my family away, I was shocked to see some so-called sensible people in the society making an issue about it,” he said. “So what do they want me to do — take a kip woman to go on vacation?”
Browne said the trip was an opportunity to expose his children to different cultures and experiences.
“I took my family and I want my children to be there to experience things, cultures — because you see we must understand, as adults we’re not necessarily living for ourselves,” he said.
He added: “Our story is their story, or their story is our story. And we can’t be so selfish in which we just want to take care of our own personal consumption and we don’t look after our children.”
The Prime Minister added that investing in children is part of responsible parenting, and said that this sense of sacrifice was more common in previous generations, even under hardship.
“It was not always so, because even when we were poor, our parents used to sacrifice for us,” he said.
He shared a personal example, recalling his mother’s priorities when resources were limited.
“I recall with my mother — I know that she would have loved to probably go to the hairdressing shop and do her nails and so on and fry her hair — but she made sure that the little money she had… she prioritised caring for her children.”
