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And so, now then. And so here,1999, the dawning of a new age, a new millennium – a brand new start , and a brand new future. And so Wales then – and what new start, and what new future?

In Cardiff, Criccieth and Caernavon. In the long, winding streets of Tylorstown, Tonypandy and Tonyrefail, a nation holds its breath in anxious expectation

The Welsh Assembly? Will it be a nothing more than an expensive talking shop, a glorified County Council, a Blairite satellite controlled by his Welsh “safe pair of hands” Alun Michael, or will it be a genuine powerhouse bringing direct democracy for Welsh people in every aspect of their lives; a radical, reforming body with real policies and bright minds to implement them. And who’s dumb idea was it not to get Tower Colliery leader, Tyrone O’ Sullivan involved!?

Will we see young Welsh people regain their trust and respect for politics and politicians. Wales a country that spawned such political fire brands as A.J. Cook, Will Paynter, Arthur Horner and Nye Bevan, now has a population who feel so disillusioned and betrayed by the whole political process that a vote to have their future shaped by their own countrymen was almost a step too far for them.

Will The W.R.U. stop their petty bickering and start make decisions which are actually for the good of the game, the clubs and the many devoted fans. And we will be celebrating Welsh success in the World Cup in a completed National stadium!?

Will the Manics, Stereophonics, Catatonia and other Welsh bands continue to produce music of power, passion and commitment or be sucked into the watered down, New Labour fashion accessory of ‘Cool Brittania ‘ – with all the imperialistic overtones that name conjures up. By the way, I’ve just heard Cwmaman’s favourite sons, the Stereophonics, new album “Performance and Cocktails’ and it...r...o..c...k..s...Buy it now!

Will we see a film produced in Wales which is...ehm!....well just a good film...without having to keep making reference to its Welshness, sheep, and Tom Jones. Karl Francis, where are you? We need you!

Will we see more positive female role models, like Cerys Mathews, emerge from a Nation for so long dogged by male chauvinism . Yeah, Cerys proves what we’ve always known, you can be intelligent, successful, female, Welsh and sexy.

Will we see a Welsh Arts Council run by, and for, genuine artists, writers and filmmakers, and not the present situation where it seems to be controlled by a small click who’ve achieved their “status” through nepotism, patronage, or having a brother in a famous pop group! Well, perhaps this change will really be wishful thinking on my part! We desperately need to insure that the real creative talent this Nation produces is able to show the outside world just how inventive, exciting and relevant Welsh culture really is.

In this fast moving technological age of the Internet, cyberspace, and where digital communication happens at the touch of a button – in this hyper-real world where image has become everything – what kind of Wales do we want to project to the outside world?

Welsh TV serves up Satellite City, repeats of Windsor Davies in Grand Slam and countless other stereotyped images of boyo’ culture dreamed up in the minds of Cardiff’s chattering classes .The Tourist board is happy to project romantic images of lonely deserted beaches,daffodils, love-spoons, happy smiley miners in flat caps, women in national costume, unspoiled country side, unpolluted rivers – images that cover up the real: homeless on the streets, heroin being shot-up in abandoned terraced houses, young people soul-sick, lost in alienation in this rootless, depthless world, and the boarded-up shops in towns and villages where it is no longer possible to earn a living, and where the idea of any future has been ruptured.

We cannot solve our problems until we are allowed to face them.

Wales ! Wales! An image of an image. A shadow of a shadow.

We are caught up in the schizophrenia of wanting to sell ourselves to an outside World, which in turn is content to see us in all the sentimental, stereotyped images of Wales and Welsh people which have evolved since the days of ‘How Green was My Valley?’ and the rest of the sentimental slush served up by Hollywood, while at the same time desperately trying to cover up the sometimes brutal realities of post-industrialisation and all the social and economic problems that throws up.

And so, we need to be brave. And so, we need to move forward.

And so lets banish for ever all those stereotyped images of our Nation. And lets finally get rid of those men in the grey suits who control the Arts Council, W.R.U. Tourist Board and all the other Quangos who have for so many years blighted our progress, and lets get people involved in making the decisions for this country who actually know what they are talking about.

Lets see Wales, a pluralistic, multi-cultural society, projecting itself as a thriving, developing nation ready to take its place in the modern world, and lets see more Welsh people Online, connected to the World Wide Web promoting this image.

Lets remember, and celebrate the lives and values of some of the real heroes we’ve produced who’ve been obscured by those Celtic mists thrown up by the Tourist Board and Arts Council’s: people like Evan Roberts the Loughor evangelist who literally changed the world, Nye Bevan the creator of the National Health Service, and Mogg Williams, the Miners Poet, who was completely ignored by the Arts establishment here during his lifetime.

And so, here then. And so, 1999, a year where many people’s lives have become so desperate, and desolate that they are actually looking forward to a coming apocalypse with positive relish.

And what if like so many before these predictions are wrong, and there is no new age to come, and the dawning of the third millennium becomes just another Saturday. According to the Samaritans, their busiest time is the first couple of weeks of January - the hope of a new year ahead has vanished and tedium has returned. How much greater will that disappointment be in the year 2000, when that January turns out to be another cold, wet month in Wales, just like the previous one? And nothing has changed. Nothing at all. Will despondency be the outcome of hope and expectation? We want to know the future. We want things to change. We want to believe ‘that it’ will all be better, but when it isn’t any better, many may be left with despair.

And so then, here now. And so here is the irony.

Only when enough people realise that true change can only happen when they themselves take control of their lives and make it happen, and the only time it can happen is now, and then, and only then will Wales, and the world change, and a new age will finally dawn. We cannot wait for the next millennium, or the dawning of a new age, or the fulfillment of some prophecy in order to change our lives, and our country. We only have this very moment. It is the only sure moment in our lives and the only true reality we have. That is what matters and that is where we can make a difference.

In Bangor, Barry and Bedwas. In the small terraced houses of Llanelli, Llandovery and Llangefni. Our future is in our own hands!

John Evans

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