SINT MAARTEN (GREAT BAY) - Hope, resilience and personal transformation took center stage Thursday evening as hundreds gathered at Port St. Maarten for Choose Happiness, an event that challenged attendees to look beyond life's hardships and embrace happiness as a conscious daily choice.
Hosted by the Indian Merchants Association (IMA) in collaboration with the Sadhu Vaswani Center St. Maarten, the evening brought together community leaders and residents for an inspiring programme focused on mental wellbeing, faith and the power of personal change.
Parliament Chairwoman MP Sarah Wescot-Williams delivered the keynote address, reminding the audience that while technology continues to transform society, one uniquely human ability remains unchanged: the power to choose. Quoting the Dalai Lama, she said, "Happiness is not something ready-made. It comes from your own actions."
She urged attendees to pause amid the demands of daily life and ask themselves, "What am I carrying, and why am I carrying it?" while emphasizing the importance of collective mental health, compassion and supporting one another. Describing happiness as a daily practice, she encouraged choosing hope over despair and reminded the audience that choosing happiness is not selfish, but an act of care for both oneself and the community.
Following the keynote, Alita Singh delivered a presentation titled "Beyond Survival: Choosing Happiness." Reflecting on St. Maarten's resilience through defining moments such as constitutional change, Hurricane Irma, the COVID-19 pandemic and the prolonged power outages of 2024, she challenged attendees to move beyond survival and intentionally make room for healing and joy.
"Resilience helps us survive. Happiness helps us live," Singh said, encouraging everyone to create their own "jar of happiness" while helping others create theirs through kindness, hope and compassion.
Although internationally respected spiritual leader Didi Krishna Kumari had travelled to St. Maarten for the event, illness prevented her from attending in person. Ashok Lalwani, Head of the Sadhu Vaswani Center for World Peace, encouraged attendees to embrace the evening's message rather than focus on disappointment.
"We can choose to regret that Didi is not with us this evening, or we can choose happiness," he said. "She is here in spirit. Her thoughts are here, and her blessings are with each one of you."
Following a symbolic candle-lighting ceremony, attendees viewed a recorded message from Rev. Didi Krishna Kumari, who challenged them to stop asking who else needs to change and instead ask themselves, "Who needs to change to bring happiness?" Her answer was simple: "It is I who need to change."
She encouraged the audience to cultivate an uncluttered mind, keep their hearts light by letting go of anger and resentment, place life's burdens in God's hands, and remember that lasting happiness begins with personal transformation.
The evening concluded with a vote of thanks by Divina Mirpuri. As attendees departed, they carried with them a shared message that echoed throughout the programme: St. Maarten has repeatedly demonstrated that it knows how to survive. The next challenge is to heal, reconnect and consciously choose happiness—one decision at a time.
