Fredrick I am indeed astonished but not surprised that our people in the UK have given you the figure of 100,000 of us living here in the absence of any proper documentation or calculation. Is this answer based on when the beer goes in, the brains go out or are they using a chinese bead counter? The question you raise is a very important issue as Goa plans for the future. Perhaps the Department of NRI Affairs could administer an international census for people to take part. Goa net readers may wish to visit http://www.globalgoans.org.in. Also may I suggest that our people overseas contribute to the distress fund for Goans overseas currently funded by the Goa Taxpayer. This month World Goa Day will be 21 years old of which only 10 will have been of socialising singing and dancing around the world. A start can be made by sending a percentage of surplus funds to the NRI Office at Porvorim if all agree. The other issues our people face in other parts of the world will be too long to fit in this note and perhaps could be compiled by organisers of World Goa Day events.
Best regards. Melvyn Fernandes Thornton Heath, Surrey melvynfernan...@virginmedia.com
