Fernandes inducted into Hall of Fame
For C.B.U. president Vic Fernandes it was a week of many triumphs, as on Friday night, he was inducted as the latest member of the Caribbean Broadcasting Hall of Fame. The CEO of the Starcom Network in Barbados received a standing ovation as his citation was read by Belize?s Cythia Henry.
Cynthia Henry, CEO, Bel Caribe Communications
?Vic Fernandes, you are the pre-eminent broadcasting personality of Barbados. And yours is the most recognizable and influential name among broadcasters in the Caribbean region. You were only seventeen when you answered the siren call of broadcasting, and have remained in its throng for thirty-five years, and counting. Over that time you expanded it frontiers an enriched its harvest.?
Rafiq Khan, Chairman, Adjudicating Panel
?It is my great pleasure to induct you into the Caribbean Broadcasting Hall of Fame. And to preset you the citation scroll affirming your transition to a higher realm. Congratulations and welcome.? [Applause]
Sir Colville Young, Governor General
?As he looks back years from now on this historic moment, he will, I hope remembers that it happened in Belize.?
Vic Fernandes, Broadcasting Hall of Fame Inductee
?I feel humbled by this honour from my colleagues and from my peers. And I thank you for the confidence you have shown in me. And I hope that I will not let you down.?
(Interview) ?I would have to say I haven?t felt this good since I got married to my wife. It?s a sense of elation. To be recognized by your peers is perhaps the signal honour that any professional can have. It is a humbling kind of experience. I have always tried to keep my feet firmly rooted on the ground. This industry is one that can cause egos to be enlarged beyond reality. I have always tried in my life, sustained by the core values which my mother imparted to me to remain humble at all times and to keep in my life, a certain simplicity to it. And therefore I will try not to let this go to my head. But I will bask in the enjoyment of this recognition.?
Patrick Jones
?Going in at age seventeen, did you ever imagine that you would one day get the highest honour that our fraternity can bestow on you??
Vic Fernandes
?Absolutely not; going in at age seventeen all I ever wanted to do was to get before that microphone and to practice, what I thought God had given me a skill or a talent in. And that still remains my only ambition in life. I would be just as happy tomorrow morning to resume a position on the morning show or anchoring the television news in the evening. And in fact, if I had a preference, I think that is what I would prefer to be doing. Maybe someday in the not too distant future I will return to doing the things that gave me the greatest of joy.?
The Caribbean Broadcasting Hall of Fame, which is administered by the C.B.U., was inaugurated in 1996, to honour excellence in regional radio and television. Fernandes now joins Hugh Cholmondeley, Alva Clarke, Rafiq Khan, Dwight Whylie, Tony Cozier, Olga Lopes-Seale, Ken Gordon and Jones P. Madeira as those media professionals bestowed with the Caribbean?s highest broadcasting honour. Next year?s C.B.U. Annual General Assembly will be held on the island of Tobago. Belizean broadcasters and media houses interested in joining the regional body should contact the news director here at Channel 5.
