Krista Henry, Staff Reporter

( L - R ) Tony Rebel, Shaggy

Over the Christmas season many artistes played Santa giving generously to homes, causes, schools and impoverished persons. While some may have given as a public relations stunt, not everyone believes it was for unselfish reasons.

Recently, the public saw entertainers such as Shaggy, Christopher Martin, Mavado and many others lending a helpful hand. Popular dancehall entertainer Mavado did his stint with a new charity, Connect Jamaica, to ensure all local schools are able to connect to the Internet. Shaggy stood firm to his pledge in assisting the Bustamante Children's Hospital by donating cash and kind. Queen Ifrica, Tony Rebel, Luciano and Mutabaruka have jointly formed the Committee for Community. The group focuses on establishing peace within garrison communities and donates energy and time to helping in this effort.

While some do it for a good cause, not all members of the public are convinced about the reason behind it. When THE STAR spoke with persons around the island, they believed some of their favourite, and not so favourite, entertainers may have been trying to improve or better shine their 'public image.' According to Rushit depends on the artiste.

Struggle

( L - R ) Chris Martin, Mavado

She said, "some of them, have been through some sort of struggle that might inspire them to genuinely give back. Assuming they're humane, if I went through some of the struggles they went through I would want to give back and help someone. The initial thought is to give back and it's also a money-making business so, yes, some of them killing two birds with one stone but I think the initial thought was giving back."

For George, however, he believed that if an artiste made a public display of the incident rather than doing quietly, more than likely the act of giving was a mask to improve their public image. He said "I would like to think that some of them give out of genuine concern ... but, then again, the ones that do you don't usually hear about it. So, most of the ones you hear about are for their image. If it's just to say 'I give this' that's all about their image."

For some persons, some entertainers are more readily believable. According to Talia it was more than likely the conscious artistes with good images that gave genuinely to charity. Artistes that had a need to make the public think better of them were doing it for their images. She commented that, "in Mavado's case, I think its strictly about image, he has a kinda bad man/gunman image, his giving away computers, I believe is nothing, but a ploy to improve the image he has. There are those who I believe do it for charity but I also believe that humans are selfish and we derive some form of personal benefit from everything we do."

For many, time spent interacting with persons is a more genuine sign of caring than simply writing a cheque.

Names changed upon request.

( L - R ) Mutabaruka, Luciano - File photos