Already settled in her office on Parliament Street, the new Minister of Community and Cultural Affairs is unfazed by the controversy surrounding her recent appointment.

"It was like being handed a box of goodies, all gift-wrapped'', says the Hon.

Yvette Swan. "I'm now in process of opening the box to see what we have, and to try and help develop the Ministry.'' Sen. Swan joins the Hon. Linda Milligan Whyte (Legislative and Women's Affairs) and the Hon. Pamela Gordon (Youth Development, Sports and Recreation) as the third woman, and final appointee in Premier Dr. David Saul's new Cabinet.

Responding head-on to criticism leveled by some sections of the community at the appointment of a Jamaica-born, rather than a "born and bred'' Bermudian to the Ministry, Sen. Swan, who married Malcolm Swan in 1970 and is the mother of three children, says: "This is my home and I feel I am a Bermudian first.

Whatever I have done in my life I have done with the Bermudian people in mind, for the good of Bermuda. When I was President of the International Federation of Business and Professional Women, it was all for Bermuda, not for Yvette Swan.'' She admits to being shocked, but honoured, when Premier Saul offered her the portfolio.

"With Sen. Milligan-Whyte already appointed, I couldn't see another woman being made a Cabinet Minister -- there have never been three women in Cabinet before! And,'' she adds, "No-one will ever know how happy I was to be given this particular Ministry.'' The Community and Cultural Affairs portfolio covers a variety of Governmental departments which, under the rather vaguely titled "Community'' and "Culture'' umbrella, are also to be found the Small Business Development Corporation, Consumer Affairs, and Community Education, as well as Libraries and Archives.

In spite of its relatively small size in terms of funding, Sen. Swan says she sees her Ministry as becoming one of the most important in the community.

"I don't see the Ministry as a `9 till 5' situation, but as a Ministry that moves on and on without any boundaries. I am prepared for that. It involves a lot of evening and weekend events, but I want to make myself available to get this Ministry to work -- not just the culture and heritage side of the Ministry, but the other aspects, such as small businesses, senior citizens, and all the community projects.'' Sidestepping the perennially thorny issue of what many consider to be blatant Government underfunding of the arts in comparison with the far larger hand-outs to various sporting organisations, Sen. Swan comments that she still has to study the details of allocations to her Ministry.

"There are many aspects to my portfolio.'' Echoing a need for financial caution that should warm the heart of the former Finance Minister, she goes on: "We have to remember that Bermuda works on a very tight budget and be careful not to over-spend our income. It has to be a delicate balance.'' With Government's new budget due next month, Sen. Swan is adopting a "wait and see'' attitude on the annual allocation to the Bermuda Arts Council. This was set, last year, at $175,000, and covered all aspects of the arts, an amount which, in the opinion of Arts Council chairman, Dr. Charles Zuill is woefully inadequate, given that Sports Development and Elite Athlete Assistance last year received $634,000, with a further sum of $220,000 set aside for "National Stadium Trustees''.

"I would like to look at the report from the Arts Council and people who get money from us. I need to look at the last three or four years, to see what is being done in that area, and move on from there. It doesn't make sense to just ask for things blind. We have to see what they have and how the money has been used, and that is what should come out of these reports. That is what I am looking into, during this `honeymoon' period!'' On the subject of the Bermuda Library, which has seen its budget seriously curtailed over the past two or three years, and a resulting sharp reduction in the number of books purchased and the cancellation of over half of its newspaper and periodicals subscriptions, Sen. Swan is also non-committal.

"I am meeting with the heads of the Library departments and we will address it then. I am very much for the Library and all its services. I was active in moving the Youth Library from Pitts Bay Road where there wasn't even a bathroom to its present premises.'' As for the Premier's reported comment that it is the Community Affairs aspect "that really makes this portfolio'', Sen. Swan answers that the two go hand in hand -- "I don't see how you can separate them.'' She points out that she has experience in both aspects of the Ministry, citing her work with children and senior citizens, and particularly her work with the very successful Community Schools programme.

"People see my work with women, and my involvement in all that, which I think has overshadowed everything else. But once something is done, I like to move on to other things, such as the work I did on the community schools project.

"We were determined that all the school buildings here should not remain closed during the summer, so we went to Flint, Michigan, to study community education. I was a part of that.

"People tell me,'' she adds, "that no one is aware of all the things I do, but, of course, I don't like to blow my own trumpet! I am not here to get a pat on the back -- I do it because I love it.'' She defends her record on the arts scene, mentioning that she is a pianist and Swan has strong cultural background Wesley Methodist Church Orchestra and is about to start voice training -- "if I get the time''.

Sen. Swan is a strong supporter of the Menuhin Foundation, which maintains a teaching programme throughout 18 primary schools on the Island. It is funded to the tune of $75,000 by the Arts Council which, in turn, depends on the Ministry for its funding. "My children all studied through the Foundation and, between them, have led three orchestras on the Island,'' she said.

She reveals that she has also studied ballet and took the International Dance Teachers Association examinations, "So when it comes to classical culture, I think I am well involved. But I have to look at all the different aspects of this Ministry, which includes our heritage, music and drama.'' Sen. Swan says she has long felt that as Bermuda's older population died, much of the Island's social history was dying with them.

"I always thought we should somehow go out and report it, so I was very pleased that Ruth Thomas (Cultural Officer) has done that with the book of `Bermuda Recollections'.'' Sen. Swan, an optometrist by profession, received her early education in Jamaica before entering Paddington Technical College and the University of Aston, both in England. An immediate Past President of the International Federation of Business and Professional Women, she is also a member of the Bermuda Professional Women's Association, where she has served on many different committees.

Sen. Swan has also worked extensively through the United Nations on behalf of women's organisations, notably as President of International Project 5-0, heading five international groups which hold consultative status at the UN.

Initiated to fund small projects, her presidency saw the start of programmes in India, the Philippines, Turkey and Mexico, and the sponsorship of the first Seminar for Arab Women, held in Jordan two years ago. So far, says Sen. Swan, she has visited and campaigned on women's issues in some 40 countries around the world.

It was when she was in China, representing the Bermuda Government as part of the British delegation at the UN's Fourth World Conference on Women, that Sen.

Swan received the news of her appointment as Minister of Community and Cultural Affairs.

"The night that Bermuda won the award was a Thursday and I knew that with the time difference, the Caucus should be in session, so I called the UBP head office and the Deputy Premier, Jerome Dill, came on the phone and said the Premier wanted to speak to me. When he came on the line, he offered me the Ministry. It was a huge shock! But I was very, very happy to accept.''