The Book of Days

52 Weeks Later

2011-05-26T10:41:00.001-04:00

It's the one year anniversary of the coalition sweeping into power with an unprecedented popular mandate. They've been extensively analysed and polled, so there probably isn't any merit in rehashing the mantra of the last few weeks.

What is important is that we utilise an appropriate benchmark in order to assess this and any other government. These benchmarks will inevitably include direct comparisons to previous administrations as well as comparisons to a 'gold standard' of governance.

With respect to the comparison with the immediately preceding administration, I believe that there is no doubt that the current administration has not only shown but has also done many of the necessary things to bring about some degree of confidence back into the realm of good governance.

There are simple instances of line ministers and the Prime Minister making themselves available to be interviewed. There is the pleasing sight of high ranking cabinet ministers taking questions at the Post Cabinet Press Conference. There has been a restoration of Parliamentary oversight with the establishment of many Joint Select Committees, answering of questions posed to Ministers and even the sheer number of sittings that the Parliament has undertaken.

There has been an attempt to improve levels of transparency with the advertisements of numerous tenders for various projects. Whether or not this actually leads to any degree of improvement in the award of contracts is left to be seen, after the Mary King and NP debacles.

From a macro perspective, the Economy has been stabalised, reports of serious crimes have decreased while Agriculture has been given priority, despite the absolutely horrendous acts of bulldozing crops a few weeks ago. In addition there is a massive thrust in Trade and Industry and Foreign Affairs to position this country into a more competitive position and the Ministry of Energy has awarded new exploration contracts. The Ministry of Works has completed some outstanding PNM projects while undertaking some new initiatives.

However, this has all been marred by the events of the SIA, Mary King, Jack Warner and FIFA, Dookeran and Anil, Ramlogan and the Piano, the placement of ministers in capacities which clearly overwhelms them (Baptiste-Cornelis and Gopeesingh) and lately, the furor over the imminent award to a friend of the PM of an NP contract.

It is here that we must revert to the reasons why the current coalition is in power. A large part of their election was apathy toward the PNM and more specifically, Patrick Manning. Their campaign was hinged on the idea of new politics, better governance, increased transparency and less corruption. I am not one who believes that we have gotten exchange rather than change. However, there have been frustrating incidents. Incidents that make one wonder whether or not they realise that their election was something far more significant than a glossy campaign or rum and roti politics.

52 weeks later, each of the component entities of the Partnership seem intent on building their identities. The MSJ officially launched as a political party, while the COP has promoted their serialisation in the lead up to the 50th Anniversary of T&T's Independence. This, I believe, can only auger well for the strength of the coalition. It is high time however, that the component entities begin holding each other, especially the majority partner, accountable for actions.

As for the PNM, as has been the case with many parties shocked into opposition, there have been serious problems organising into a viable alternative administration. Significant steps have been taken, with the recent executive election and the consolidation of power around Dr. Rowley. Recently, however, the resurgence of a Manning faction has proved to somewhat discredit the idea that the PNM is a cohesive unitary party. This undermines their credibility when they seek to imply that the coalition of 5 is not a cohesive unit. There seems to be a misunderstanding that Cabinet cohesiveness and political cohesiveness are divergent. The PP is not a unitary party and as such, it is expected that divergent views are given at the level of the Executive of the individual parties. The same is not true of the current PNM, where divergence of views is tantamount to a direct assault on the authority of the Political Leader and the Whip.

For the first 52 weeks, I would agree with Mr. Imbert, who exhibited the most class I've seen of any politician in recent times when talking at a seminar hosted at UWI reflecting on the 1st year of the PP government. The government will get a passing grade; somewhere in the region of 6/10. There remains a lot of work to be done and many important manifesto promises to be fulfilled that requires the constitutional majority that they currently enjoy.

In the next year, I fervently hope that the PP address the structural aspects of governance, from a proper reshuffle of the cabinet to the laying and passing of legislation overhauling the constitution to better reflect the society that we live in and hope to build. This in addition to the developmental pillars that they themselves have set out and which would be the benchmark by which their governance would be judged. The 'gold standard' will be their ability to move T&T higher in the international indicators of development.

We cannot hope to achieve First World status with a Third World mentality. No more in our history is it more true than it is at the very present. Here's to a much better next 52 weeks.

2011 Academy Awards Picks

2011-02-26T21:16:00.003-04:00

So it's the annual season of Hollywood self-congratulation and the Academy Awards are less than 24 hours away. In the vein of lightheartedness, I'll post my picks for the awards in major categories. Just as a note, and for full disclosure, I have not seen the following movies which have been nominated for major awards: Winter's Bone, Animal Kingdom, Another Year.

Best Animated Feature:

Who should win: Toy Story 3
Who will win: Toy Story 3

Sorry all you Pixar haters, but you can count another golden statue in the pile for this flick which can evenly contend for th highest prize.

Best Adapted Screenplay:

Who should win: The Social Network
Who will win: The Social Network

I was caught between The Social Network and True Grit for my pick, but in the end I gave the edge to The Social Network mainly because of how fast paced the movie was and the incredible effortlessness that the delivery of the script contributed to the success of the movie.

Best Original Screenplay:

Who should win: Inception
Who will win: The King's Speech

The creative genius of Nolan that went into the multi-layered Inception is second to none. However, Academy voters have been barraged with the Weinsteins' King's Speech and the Royal tale will get the undeserving nod come Oscar night.

Best Director:

Who should win: Christopher Nolan (Inception)- Not Nominated
Who will win: David Fincher (The Social Network)

For another year, Nolan is snubbed. The win will come for Fincher, previously nominated for Benjamin Button and strangely not nominated for Fight Club.

Best Supporting Actress:

Who should win: Melissa Leo (The Fighter)
Who will win: Hailee Steinfeld (True Grit)

He's gone completely mad! That's what you're probably saying. But, with Amy Adams also nominated and the Academy's penchant for honouring young actresses in this category, this will probably be one of the few upsets of the night.

Best Supporting Actor:

Who should win: Geoffery Rush (The King's Speech)
Who will win: Christian Bale (The Fighter)

Look, it's MY opinion alright! You can comment and give yours too. I just think that acting goes beyond the ability to morph oneself by gaining or losing weight. Bale's performance is great, but I personally think that Rush embodied the role of Lionel Logue and made him completely believable.

Best Actress:

Who should win: Annette Bening (The Kids are All Right)
Who will win: Natalie Portman (Black Swan)

They both give convincing performances but again, in my opinion, Portman does more morphing by losing weight than acting. The real crime in this category is that Julianne Moore didn't get a nod.

Best Actor:

Who should win: Colin Firth (The King's Speech)
Who will win: Colin Firth (The King's Speech)

No contest. And the explanation for it is simply to look at the performance. Notable omission is Leonardo DiCaprio and no, not for Inception, but for Shutter Island, which was released in March and duly forgotten. His performance in that movie was at least better than Jesse Eisenberg in The Social Network, for which he got a nom.

Best Picture:

Who should win: Inception
Who will win: The Social Network

And you're thinking I've COMPLETELY lost it. Truthfully, I'm not that confident in The Social Network, but I gave it the edge over the King's Speech because of the nature of the story and the voters who actually make the decision. In any case, for yet another year, the best movie of the year won't win the Oscar.

After all is done tomorrow night, I think it's Inception that comes out on top with 5 or 6 awards, mainly in minor categories. Kings' Speech and Social Network should each pick up about 3.

In Defence of Dookeran: CLICO

2011-02-10T09:16:00.002-04:00

I am under no illusions that the Leader of the Congress of the People, de facto Deputy Prime Minister and current Minister of Finance, Mr. Winston Dookeran is in need of my or anyone else’s defence when it comes to matters of the economy or his ministry. It is, therefore, not in this context that I endeavour to write about matters that fall under his purview and recent developments that seek to distract and detract from what has been, thus far a commendable performance in a difficult position.

Firstly, and since the matter preceded him, I will tackle the issue of CLICO who are calling for Mr. Dookeran’s head as per their payouts. More specifically, Mr. Peter Permell has been talking to anyone who cares to listen, and has, to an extent, successfully gotten quite a significant portion of the population to go along with his ludicrous claims. As per CLICO, and I will painfully stand corrected, if wrong, the Minister identified approximately 250,000 policyholders/depositors who were affected by the fall out of the failure of the insurance giant.

Of these, 225,000 are traditional policyholders, traditional the word used to describe people who invested their monies in an insurance product familiar to most, namely (i) a life insurance policy payable to a beneficiary upon the policyholder’s death and (ii) an annuity policy payable to the policyholder upon retirement OR if death of the policyholder precedes retirement, to his/her beneficiary. The Minister has been at pains to point out that these persons are fully covered, have nothing to worry about and their investments are secure.

The second tranche of approximately 25,000 claimants are, in fact, depositors, despite the label of ‘Policyholder’ that Permell has managed to successfully introduce via the formation of his group. These depositors invested into a product sold by CLICO, namely the Executive Flexible Premium Annuity (EFPA). Whether or not they were misled by the company and its agents is a separate matter. By the very sentiment of the Minister and the Governor of the Central Bank, these individuals and, in some cases, CORPORATIONS, invested in a non-traditional instrument. What Mr. Permell, in his many ventures to the media and histrionics at meetings, has failed to clearly explain to the public is the nature of these EFPAs. What was the attraction to these ‘Annuities’? Was it the interest rates of 12-14% in an environment that, at the time, was paying at best, 5-7%? If not, then what? And if yes, then the case for greed cannot be made any clearer.

In any case, of these 25,000 depositors, approximately 11,000 hold less than TT$75,000 in assets and will be completely covered by a one-off payment as laid out by Dookeran’s plan in the 2010/2011 Budget. This leaves 14,000 depositors whose claim on the Treasury is approximately TT$7 billion, an average of TT$500,000 per client (although a median figure would be more instructive). Every single one of these depositors will receive an initial payment of $75,000, a total of $1 billion this year. The remaining $6 billion will be paid over the next 20 years in equal payments ($300 million/year), at 0% interest (just about the same that you or I are currently receiving on bank deposits). The important thing to take away from this is that every single depositor would have had the majority of his/her initial capital preserved.

A 20-year bond is to be floated to finance this debt that the GORTT has decided to undertake. Permell has either chosen to remain ignorant of the terms of this bond or has taken a conscious decision to suppress the information surrounding this issue. Depositors have two options. (i) Accept an initial payment of $75,000 and cash in their bonds at 100% of their face value each year for the next 20 years; thereby receiving 100% of their capital back (at an average of 2011-2030 inflation-adjusted dollar values). In a hypothetical case of a depositor with $1 million, and assuming a generous adjusted average inflation/depreciation rate of 7% over the next 20 years, the depositor will be reimbursed the equivalent of $581,000 in terms of 2011 dollars. This represents a ‘haircut’ of approximately 42%. This ‘haircut’ will be greater or smaller, depending on the rate of inflation/deflation and appreciation/depreciation of the TT dollar.

The second option is the acceptance of an initial payment of $75,000 and the immediate cashing in of the 20 year bond. As with any bond being cashed in prior to its maturity date, there will be a discount attached to the face value. Mr. Dookeran has gone out of his way to interfere with the free market by negotiating with local banks to accept the first 5 years of the CLICO issue at approximately 92-95% of face value. The remaining 15 years, as generally agreed, will attract a discount of approximately 40-45% (that is, 55-60% of face value) Again, using our hypothetical depositor with $1 million to receive, he will receive a lump sum of $75,000.
Assuming the bond attracts a discount on the lower end for both the first 5 years and the remaining 15 years, the depositor will be reimbursed $212,750 for the first 5 years and a further $381,562.50 for a total of approximately $670,000; a haircut of 33%. Note well that this sum will be a lump sum ($75,000 from GORTT and $595,000 from the commercial bank to which the bond will be sold). If the bond is cashed in at the higher end, the payment would be in the region of $710,000, a 29% loss on capital. This lump sum will be obtained almost immediately from the date of the first payment, tentatively scheduled for March 2011 (as indicated by the MoF and Attorney General)

In addition to this, provisions have also been made for individuals to receive money where a case of need is made out. Provisions have also been put in place for credit unions, which had no business investing in these types of products in the first place and which recklessly and irresponsibly weighted their portfolio heavily in the EFPAs, to be paid greater sums.

All this flies in the face of the suggestion that the minister is being vindictive or that people will have to wait for 20 years to get ‘their money’. What it means is that these depositors will have to experience some loss on their initial investment, not a large price to pay in a situation where they would otherwise receive nothing. What Permell is strangely quiet about is the concept of personal responsibility when it comes to investment. CLICO was not, and is still not a state owned entity.

Where is the criticism for the directors of the company which essentially ran a Ponzi scheme on EFPA deposits? Where is the criticism for those investors who piled all their money into a single investment, regardless of whether or not it was deemed risky at first, or if it was approved by the Central Bank? The long and short of this sham story by Permell is that these depositors chased after fast money and lost. It is NOT the responsibility of the REGULATOR to reimburse losses. The REGULATOR is not a GUARANTOR. If there is a facility for guarantee of funds, such as the Statutory Fund, it is my understanding that CLICO is responsible for contributing to that fund. If said money was not deposited, it is not the responsibility or obligation of the Central Bank, the REGULATOR, to meet that commitment.

Just because the GORTT has extended a facility to these depositors does not mean that the Treasury should be used as a cash cow for these accounts. As was stated soon after the election, the CL Financial Group had a net liability of $20 Billion. This means that the group as a whole, of which CLICO is a 100% owned subsidiary is insolvent. There are NO net assets for anyone to receive. The assets which exist, as explained by the minister, are heavily leveraged or encumbered. As such, any monies being paid are as a result of an assessment by the ministry and the Central Bank as to an amount deemed sufficient to prevent contagion to the financial system. Rest assured, if this were a similarly private, smaller insurance company or financial institution; investors would be fending for themselves and holding empty hats.
It is noteworthy also, that despite the best efforts by Permell to misrepresent, both S&P and the IMF have approved of the way that the Minister has handled the situation; S&P even suggesting that the GORTT has been more than generous in handling the CLICO affair. What Permell has conveniently failed to mention is that the Sovereign Rating of ‘A’ is as a RESULT of the GORTT’s handling of the CLICO matter, not a license to sweeten the deal.

So Mr. Permell, it’s about time you came clean on this whole charade. Depositors, as rich or poor, young or old as they are, are lucky to be receiving anything in the first place. Admit that the only reason this came to a head was the order by the Minister to issue a stop on the payment of interest at the ridiculous rate in this fiscal environment. Admit that responsibility for this fiasco lays LEAST in the hands of the Central Bank and the former and present Ministers of Finance and MOST in the hands of the company’s directors and irresponsible investors. Accept responsibility for risks associated with your investments, something that you seem averse to, as evidenced, not only by this case, but also by the fallout from the closure of BWIA where investors, including yourself, are seeking to recoup a premium to the approximately $0.20 a share that the company was delisted at.

It is a sad and lamentable fact that many unsuspecting citizens were caught up in the failure of this institution, but it cannot be the responsibility of taxpayers and the treasury to pay for the irresponsible decisions by directors, shareholders and clients of a private company. The GORTT has a responsibility to ALL citizens, not just the 1% (14,000 clients) affected in this case who are claiming 17% ($7 billion) of projected 2010/2011 revenue. It is most interesting that despite the claims of the EFPA group and the delays in payment, that no legal action has been formally filed. Is it now that legal counsel has advised the group that this is a losing cause and there are absolutely no legs to stand on?

The lesson from this for everyone is that individuals need to be more careful and seek financial advice if they are not competent to make such decisions on their own. The Central Bank needs to review insurance companies to ensure that they comply with relevant laws. Finally, and most importantly, the AG needs to ensure that justice must not only be done but seen to be done with respect to the directors of companies who mismanage funds leaving individuals in dire straits while they are allowed to enjoy the fruits of their ill-obtained gains.

A Partnership's New Year Resolutions

2010-12-30T12:44:00.001-04:00

With New Years in the air, another arbitrary 365 days begin. And what better than to propose some resolutions to a government that has found itself on the end of some severe (rightly or wrongly) criticisms since assuming office?

I’ll start with my wish list on the legislative agenda.

Government must bring legislation to limit a Prime Minister to two terms in office, set fixed election dates and commence the institution of Local Government reform. These were clear points in their manifesto and they must go about doing it while their majority is largely intact and before there is a descent into political games regarding these very important variations to the Constitution. They must also deal with the outstanding legislation governing Property Taxes and reform of the Board of Inland Revenue. Finally, they must put forward a very clear policy on the Caribbean Court of Justice. Some decision must be made on whether we continue indefinitely with the Privy Council, adopt the CCJ or go it alone with a final appellate court.

On the social front, this government must begin the process of reviewing and removing legislation from the Masters and Servants Act to Equal Opportunity Legislation and the laws criminalizing homosexuality, abortion and prostitution. It cannot be acceptable that prisons are rampant with sexually transmitted diseases and the excuse given by the prisons authority is that homosexuality is illegal, so condoms cannot be distributed. It cannot be acceptable that civil rights are denied to selected portions of society because of a religious lobby. It cannot be acceptable that the same religious lobby prevents safe and effective health care to women in need of termination of pregnancies, for whatever reasons, the details of which can be expounded in legislation. It cannot be acceptable that brothels operate as freely as they do in the classified section of the newspaper, yet their workers are not given protection in terms of their employment or health.

Onto the Economy and Finance, it is my wish that government resolves to end the current crisis of confidence. There is a need to reign in inflation. This can only be done with the aid of the Ministries of Food Production, Trade and Industry and National Security. We must deal with the spiraling cost of local produce, which can be controlled by local measures. We must open our economy to more markets and set about lowering or removing tariffs which, while protecting out local manufacturers, also gives them monopolies, prevents them from improving efficiency and deprives local consumers of choice of product and competitive pricing. The ministry of National Security needs to be involved in stemming the flow of illegal drugs into the country, a trade, the size of which rivals that of the legal, onshore economy.

The Ministry must also seek to wipe out some of the liquidity in the system. This can be done by actively reviving the local Stock Exchange by initial public offerings for some of the more profitable government run institutions, including the Unit Trust Corporation, First Citizens’ Bank, the splitting up of NEL into its component parts (NGC, LNG, TRINGEN, TSTT and NFM) and offering each publicly. This move will allow a greater number of citizens to enjoy the success of a reviving economy, while allowing the government to raise money on the local market, interest free and for the small price of reduced (but still majority) ownership.

On Works, Transport and the Environment, construction projects that are long overdue (highways, dams, drains and hospitals) are about to commence. There must be a drive also to clean and clear waterways, neglected for years and which have since silted up and become overgrown, some not even recognizable now as previously being waterways. There must be a concerted effort to ensure that the floods of 2010 become the part of history that the Minister wishes it to be. As a result, collaboration must be made with the ministry of the Environment (unfortunately annexed to Housing, which is in direct contradiction to the Manifesto, which promised a stand alone Environment ministry) for effective litter wardens, the commencement of a meaningful plastic, glass and metal recycling industry and facilities for disposal and recycling of appliances, cars and technology (computers, cell phones etc) waste. There must also be moves to shut down every single open dump in this country and replace them with sustainable, properly managed landfills.

The Minister of Transport must also now expedite the issuing of electronic number plates and licenses. There must be the introduction of speed guns to allow officers to control the lawlessness that currently applies on the nation’s roads. The law has to be revised, raising the speed limit on highways from the current ludicrous 80kmph and fines must also be given to those drivers who do not adhere to a minimum or maximum speed on designated lanes. Reform must also take place to allow one to pay tickets and fines at any commercial bank or government cashier using modern methods such as debit or credit cards, not the system of cash only in the district that the offence was committed as applies at present.

As for taxis and the soon to be legal, PH cars, take a suggestion from my father and similarly to New York City which has color coded vehicles for public transport, ensure that ALL cars for hire, whether P or H, are painted a brightly designated color. (yellow was his suggestion). In addition, implementation of the announced plans for water taxis to Chaguanas, Point Fortin and the supplemental service to Tobago, as well as a passenger port at Toco must be seen to occur sooner rather than later. These services are required, necessary even to a population that is quickly becoming less tolerant to public relations bells and whistles and who crave delivery of services which had been less than forthcoming from the previous administration.

The Ministry should also partner with the Ministry of National Security to overhaul the number plate system for government and emergency vehicles. Such vehicles should have special designation plates (eg. the Commissioner of Police should be driven in TTPS1, with all other vehicles of the police service following suit) as opposed to the current system where emergency or government vehicles are registered with private plates. This will facilitate the public in the quick identification of a government or emergency vehicle and can assist if problems arise as to which vehicle responded to an emergency.

On the issue of Health, it is vital that the current minister access all available professional advice. As someone who is not from the health sector, she needs to fully understand all aspects of a very broken system before she can go about attempting to fix it. It is my hope for the new year that the ministry achieves their goal of commencing the construction of various hospitals. There is need now for 24-hour Primary care (Health Centres) in order to reduce the strain on Tertiary Care (Hospitals). There is a need for review of CDAP, where wastage abounds.

The Ministry should also resolve in the new year to launch a massive public education campaign on the importance of patients’ compliance with health care advice and medications. There is need for massive promotion of preventative health care so that our system is not strained with the volume of chronic diseases as happens at present. There is need for expansion of services and proper employment practices so that health professionals are not turned away from serving in public institutions. In short, there is need for the reform or overhaul of the Regional Health Authorities, where too much duplication of services occur for a country of only 1.5 million.

The Ministry of National Security should also look to overhaul the police service. In order to mitigate complaints that police, fire or health officers were called but did not respond, a 9-1-1 type system should be instituted nationwide, with callers speaking to dispatchers who have information, via GPS fitted in every single vehicle of the protective service (Fire, Police, Ambulance). Dispatchers will then relay information to the nearest available patrol to respond to the emergency.

There needs to be a comprehensive plan for crime, especially one in the short term to stem the number of violent crimes currently being committed. The only real measure of crime is the number of murders, kidnappings, rapes, thefts, white collar corruption, volume of drugs shipped and transshipped etc etc. There therefore needs to be a dent in these statistics and that can only come about by enforcing current law, increasing detection and conviction rates and institution legislation that ensures that perpetrators feel the brunt of a working system.

These are just a few of the resolutions that the current administration, still riding high on goodwill and a majority to effect real change, should look toward so that come Jan 1, 2012, Trinidad and Tobago will truly be better off on all fronts than in 2011.

The Reality of Perception

2010-07-07T14:05:00.000-04:00

At the first sitting of Parliament after its Ceremonial Opening, Prime Minister Kamla Persad Bissessar, in outlining her case for the rejection of Neal Parker as Commissioner of Police of Trinidad and Tobago, stated that justice must not only be done, but must also be seen to be done. She is, of course, quite right in that statement, although it can also be successfully argued that justice must also be blind, whether or not it may be popular.

It is highly ironic, therefore, that no more than ten days after that statement was uttered, that Mrs. Persad Bissessar would choose to appoint Minister of Works and Transport Mr. Jack Warner (UNC) as Acting Prime Minister. In keeping with her statement that justice must be seen to be done, the logical choice for the position of Acting Prime Minister should be the leader of the Congress of the People, Minsiter of Finance Mr. Winston Dookeran.

The reasons are clear. Firstly, Mrs. Persad Bissessar is Prime Minister on the basis of her party entering a coalition with other entities in the recently concluded General Election. The People’s Partership is essentially an amalgamation of the United National Congress, the Congress of the People and the Tobago Organisation of the People. The leadership council comprises Mrs. Persad Bissessar, Mr. Dookeran, Mr. Errol McLeod (MSJ), Mr. Makandal Daaga (NJAC) and Mr. Ashworth Jack (TOP). Only Persad Bissessar and Dookeran command any significant support in Parliament. It should therefore follow that the Acting Prime Minister should, on the basis of honouring the spirit of the coalition, be appointed from the leadership council.

For those who point out that the UNC overwhelms the COP 20-6 in terms of seats won, look no further than the United Kingdom, whose own elections, held a mere 18 days before ours, produced a hung Parliament. After forming a coalition with the Liberal Democrats, PM David Cameron appointed Mr. Nick Clegg, leader of the Lib Dems, as deputy Prime Minister, despite holding a margin of 320-54 in terms of seats in Parliament. This is a direct result of recognising the importance of the minority party’s role in the formation of the government and granting due respect to its supporters. It is the preservation of the perception of unity within the coalition.

Secondly, there arises the issue of the criteria for the selection of the Acting Prime Minister. The first criterion proferred was by the Attorney General, Mr. Anand Ramlogan (UNC). At the post cabinet news conference where Mr. Warner’s appointment was announced, Ramlogan sought to justify the appointment by stating that Warner, with over 18,000 votes, received the most votes by any single Member of Parliament in the recently concluded election. What Ramlogan conveniently overlooked was that Dookeran led a party that received over 100,000 votes. Who, therefore, has a greater mandate? Who is more justified in holding the position of Acting Prime Minister? Mr. Warner holds a major post in his own party as chairman and financier. However, in terms of the coalition itself, Mr. Warner is merely a Member of Parliament.

The other criterion offered was by the Minister of Sport, Mr. Anil Roberts (COP), who congratulated Persad Bissssar for appointing the Acting Prime Minister from amongst the elected members of the House of Representatives. This is a departure from her immediate predecessors who chose their deputies from the appointed Senate. One wonders, how, of her 28 members to choose, she arrived at the appointment of Mr Warner. Indeed, if the sole criterion is that the Acting PM should be a member of the House, it makes even MP #12 on the PNM bench, Mr. Manning, eligible for selection.

Finally, this entire issue boils down to perception. And this is where things are beginning to climax to a critical point for Persad Bissessar. The perception exists and is being perpetuated, that the UNC has simply used the COP to obtain government, and now, with a seemingly comfortable majority, counting the MSJ (1) and TOP (2), they are prepared to throw their major partner by the wayside, much like a rehashing of the NAR in the 1995-2000 administration. This again reared its head in the allocation of seats for the Local Government election, where the COP was initially, and obscenely, offered only 32 of the 134 local seats to contest; and in such an arrangement that they would be unable to obtain majority control of a single corporation. This, despite the COP’s stellar showing in the Diego Martin, Tunapuna, Arima, Point Fortin and San Fernando regions at the last General Election. This perception is reinforced with her appointment of Garvin Nicholas (UNC) as Press Secretary (essentially Minister of Information), despite her pronouncement that no unelected candidate would be handed a ministry. The People’s Partnership rode the wave of popularity into office by promising change. This is certainly not the change that people voted for when there is a continuation of bending of rules and redefining the meaning of ‘is’ in order to achieve a personal or political end. Where is the principle behind this appointment?

The crowning jewel in this increasing fiasco is the widely held perception that Persad Bissessar is merely a puppet to Warner. Dr. Rowley made mention of it in his campaign. Mr. Panday (B) has spoken ad nauseaum about it and now, with this appointment, and with one fell swoop, Persad Bissessar has confirmed in the minds of many that she is not acting appropriately in either of two ways: (i) independently as Prime Minister or (ii) in consultation with the other members of the Partnership Council.

This issue, ultimately, is not about Mr. Warner personally. Persad-Bissessar is the Prime Minister and, constitutionally, it is her prerogative to appoint whomever she wishes as Acting Prime Minister. However, she assumed that office by promising a leadership style that was divergent from the dictatorial and arrogant tendencies of her predecessors. She has just appointed a person to act as Prime Minister who was embroiled, rightly or not, in a great deal of controversy with respect to his dual portfolios as Cabinet Minister and Vice President of FIFA. Were the shoe on the other foot, I am quite sure much clamouring would be made by her about the arrogance of a Prime Minister to foister onto the population, a man who may not even be ethically grounded in holding his post as a Minister of Government.

Persad Bissessar must ensure that the decisions she takes are within the realm of acceptability by the majority of the people whom she asked support of a mere 5 weeks ago. Had Dookeran accompanied her on her trip to Jamaica as part of the governmental team, the issue would not have arisen. However, it must be a bitter pill for him, his party and his supporters to swallow, when come Thursday, he must sit at a Cabinet meeting chaired by Mr. Warner. And all for what? To feed the egos of a few and to protect their party from some imagined threat by another member of the Partnership? We are 41 days into this new government and already the foundation of confidence that many placed in this alliance has begun to waver.

Talkin' bout a Revolution

2010-05-31T14:29:00.001-04:00

For the last 40 years or more uprisings in Trinidad and Tobago come around every 20 years. On the last two occasions, in 1970 and 1990, the country was faced with violence and bloodshed as the seat of power was attempted to be wrested from democratically elected governments. Both times were as a result of people or interest groups believing that the government of the day was acting outside of the nation's best interest.

In 2010, again, 20 years after the Jamaat attempted coup of 1990, the aura of the nation was again ripe for revolution. With widespread allegations of corruption, crime and fiscal mismanagement coupled with a ruling party that controlled 26 of 41 seats, despite having a mandate from only 45% of the population in the last election, there was an air of frustration and growing discontent among citizens.

However, unlike previous years, in 2010, a revolution of democracy occurred. Gifted a General Election by the incumbent Prime Minister, 30 months before it was due, the opposition received widespread support and ousted Patrick Manning to install Kamla Persad Bissessar as the country's first female Prime Minister. Whether or not that bears any significance in the 21st century is debatable. What is remarkable about the victory is the fact that the incumbent only lost about 15,000 votes overall, a decrease of about 5% from the last election while the combined opposition was able to motivate an additional 80,000 people, an additional 23%, to cast their ballots in their favor. Even more so is the fact that almost every single new voter would have voted for the coalition.

And this is where the revolution begins to take shape. New voters would have been the apathetic voters of the last election and the generally indifferent youth constituency. The fact that these two groups, and more so, remarkably, from all accounts, the youth turned out in such force for what was effectively a rescue operation for this country shows that, regardless of the pronouncements of the political pundits, once given 1. A viable alternative and 2. A wildly unpopular incumbent, people can be mobilised to vote. And vote they did, with over 722,000 ballots cast (70%) in the biggest turnout since independence and the largest win for any party over the PNM since 1986; a 17 seat advantage with a special majority and a 20% victory in the popular vote.

Former Prime Minister Panday probably put it best when he said we would have to wait to see if this new government is indeed change or exchange. However, from the early signs, utterances and appointments, there seems to be a genuine desire to move away from the politics of the last 8 years, and indeed from the last 40 odd years of totalitarian rule by whichever person who holds the office of Prime Minister.

Kamla Persad-Bissessar is perhaps one of the luckiest politicians in the world and I mean that in the best way possible. After Panday called the internal election of the UNC she amazingly (by margin, not necessarily result) emerged a 10:1 victor, and one month later acquired enough support to become this country's first substantive female opposition leader (previously being appointed by Panday to serve in the post).

In addition, she was facilitated generously by the architect of the coalition, Congress of the People leader and now Minister of Finance, Winston Dookeran, in the run up to the May 24 polls. Throwing his and his party's support, unequivocally behind her as the candidate and giving up potential seats in Diego Martin NE, St Ann's East, Port of Spain North, La Horquetta/Talparo and Toco/Sangre Grande (to the UNC), Pointe a Pierre (MSJ) and Point Fortin (NJAC), in exchange for 1 UNC safe seat (St. Augustine), Mr. Dookeran again demonstrated his party's philosophy of country first.

The result of all this was Mrs. Persad-Bissessar leading a coalition into a General Election where she would emerge as Prime Minister with a massive majority for the coalition and a simple majority (21 seats) for her party by itself. It also made her the shortest served Leader of the Opposition in the history of Trinidad and Tobago, serving exactly, and merely 3 months. Surely this would not have been what the Pandays, Rameshes and Ramnaths would have anticipated had they been advised by their personal prophets or prophetesses that Kamla would last only 3 months as Opposition Leader!

In the space of less than a year, the two most experienced members of Parliament of Trinidad and Tobago and two fomer Prime Ministers have been humbled, one completely out of office. The armor of the old guard of politicians in this country is now perhaps destroyed beyond recovery. Race was the least influential in the minds of voters as it has ever been. A more educated and enlightened population that demanded that issues be addressed and unsuccessfully called for a debate between the candidates voted primarily on just that. Issues.

This isn't to say that we've made it. Hardly so. But it is a significant step in the right direction. Kamla has many to thank, but none more so than the youth. It was this group that ensured her victory. It is now her responsibility, aided by her government to execute the mandate so overwhelmingly entrusted in her. It is OUR responsibility, as citizens and as youth to ensure that that mandate is executed without the arrogance and lack of accountability and transparency of the previous administrations.

It is our duty in the next election to ensure that we get our elusive debate. It is our duty to ensure that they have kept their promises on constitutional reform and fiscal responsibility, accountability and transparency. Because in the same way we revolted against the incumbent in 2010 in the most significant demonstration of democracy, we must, without fear, be prepared to do the same in 2015 (or earlier) if this government fails to heed the lessons of their past.

Never again must we allow governments to get free rides on the basis of race or handouts. Never again must we tolerate the arrogance and wastefulness of politicians past. Never again must we facilitate maximum leaders in our Government. Never Again.

Pirates of the Caribbean and an Endorsement

2010-05-22T10:28:00.001-04:00

We should have elections more often. There's much talk of election reform and the need to have fixed dates for General Elections in Trinidad and Tobago. I propose April 1 of any year, as long as it ends with 1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9 or 0. And we should ensure that elections are held at least every 3 years, 2 years if we're in a recession.

The reasons are simple. Elections in this country are a great stimulus for the economy. They provide employment, from canvassers to overtime pay for police officers. They ensure that the media houses are well looked after; I mean, it's only in sweet T&T that a 1 hour newscast runs for one and a half hours, just to accommodate the volume of election ads. It ensures that money trickles down to the less fortunate; whether it's Jack and his US$200 in San Fernando West or Esther and her rolled up TT$300 in Tunapuna. Motorcades provide an even greater impetus to the gas stations and service shops, already not doing so badly with the hundreds of thousands of vehicles on the road. Not to mention the contracts for the ad agencies, T-Shirt companies, button makers, flag makers (probably not the $2 million flag makers, that probably a little too rich for this kinda season) and caterers.

Apart from that, there's the inherent entertainment value. From a 65 year old giving 20 year olds sex advice, to doctored photos which no one had seen until it was held up in a public meeting by the 'victim' herself, to strange accents and hairdos and cringe-worthy songs, which were even more cringingly sung along to.

But of all this, the talk about ships seem to have overtaken the campaigns. From one ship with 5 captains claiming that the other's ship is sinking to a 'mutineer' threatening a court martial against his captain of 24 years. Granted, the incumbent's ship seems to have sprung a few leaks, which will make their re election that much more difficult and one wonders what direction,if any, the other ship can sail in given the different ideologies of their captains but does this all matter if the ships never left harbour anyway? What point is there in all this ship talk if no new horizons have been explored or treasures returned?

But to this court martial; are we to expect Dr. Rowley to mount an insurgent campaign against Manning once the election is over, a la Jack and Ramesh? If so, how does this play out in a situation where the PNM wins a slim majority, say 21-20. And where does he get his support to do so, now that his Jacks and Rameshes have been wiped clean off the slate by Manning? And what form will this take, considering that Rowley will have no authority to launch any investigation into Manning, and, judging from the 1997 attempt, also has very little support amongst the delegates of the PNM?

Rowley's best chance for leadership of the party, apart from him potentially leading a motion of no confidence in the Prime Minister soon after Parliament is assembled, is for the PNM to lose the election. That would put additional pressure on Manning to step down, and perhaps lead to a public endorsement of Rowley from the General Council of the PNM. Whereas there are other issues for the PNM to deal with, their image at this moment is tethered to the machinations and fortunes of its political leader; a leader so unpopular that he has spurned T-Shirts with slogans such as: 'We vex, but we voting PNM'

And onto the Partnership, with their 5 captains. It's not as cobbled together a mess as some would like to make it to be. In truth, there are 2 parties in the coalition. There is near to no chance that NJAC will hold a seat, Point Fortin being their best hope. Errol McLeod may win his seat for the MSJ, while the TOP may win 1, perhaps 2 seats in Tobago. The COP has to win at least 2 or 3 seats for the coalition to form the government; but more than that, the COP has the support of a wide cross section of the population, as does the UNC. Combined, they can easily pull over 300,000 votes; with some polls estimating that their tally may even cross 400,000 come Monday.

While there are dangers of a coalition government not lasting its term, that has never been the case in Trinidad and Tobago. All collapsed governments have been single party, namely 1991-1995 (P), 2000-2001(U), 2001-2002 (P) and 2007-2010 (P). In addition, the structure of the Partnership, in it's truest and most ideological form, should allow checks and balances as it seemingly prevents any of its constituent parties from gaining a majority of seats by themselves.

So what does this all mean? Well weighing the good with the bad in its most basic sense, the PNM has to be given credit for initiating and continuing programmes such as GATE. They have to be commended for the Waterfront Project and the Summits (YES, commended). The IFC was constructed in an attempt to diversify the economy away from oil and gas. The Summits were meant to raise T&T's profile to allow companies, through the Business Forums to establish their presence here. Not this, or any other government could have foreseen the collapse of financial institutions around the world.

Serious, unaddressed questions remain about the Prime Minister's Residence, NAPA, the Legal Affairs Tower, the Tarouba Stadium, the Scarborough Hospital, the National Oncology Centre in Mt Hope, the Church in Gunapo, 'secret scolarships', crime, health and basic infrastructure. And most distressingly, only TT$20 billion in the Revenue and Stabalisation Fund; less than a year worth of government expenditure. All this after buoyant oil and gas prices, and revenues cresting TT$300 billion.

It is for the latter stated reasons that I will endorse the People's Partnership in an all round attempt at change. I don't believe that the Partnership is perfect and vigilance must be assumed for people such as Warner, McLeod, Sharma and Indarsingh. They must be held accountable and to a higher standard than the incumbent, because they have insisted on a higher standard themselves.

But I believe that a Partnership change will engender change in the way government is run. I believe that it will engender change in the way the economy is handled. And I believe that it will engender change in the PNM. It will allow for the nation to breathe easier for a while, while allowing the PNM to regroup to be a strong opposition party with a new leader and truly new faces (ie. without the arrogance of Imbert, Enill, Brown, McDonald and the ilk).

I encourage people to vote for the Partnership, but if one is not so inclined to do, I just encourage people to vote. Even if you aren't satisfied with either of the parties, take the time off to go and deliberately spoil your ballot, so that it will be counted as a protest vote against both parties. By not voting and remaining silent, you consent to the status quo, and a no vote is a silent vote in support of the party in power, whichever party that may be.

Election Country

2010-04-20T16:22:00.001-04:00

Trinidad and Tobago heads to the polls on May 24 for its fifth General Election in 10 years. Three of those five elections were arguably necessary given the expiration of elected terms (2000 and 2007) and a hung Parliament (2002). Interestingly, the other two occasions were as a result of Prime Ministers fearing that they, and by extension, their governments would face fairly dicey Motions of No Confidence; Basdeo Panday in 2001 following the fallout with his Attorney-General and two other Members of Parliament and again in 2010, with Patrick Manning, who surrendered a very comfortable majority in the House of Representatives (26-15), only 29 months after winning his mandate.

For Manning, a four-time elected Prime Minister and the longest serving MP in the history of Trinidad and Tobago, this is his second snap election and is shaping up to be one of the most difficult elections that his party would have ever faced. Indeed, before a vote has even been cast, the Prime Minister and his party go into the elections of May 24 with a virtually reduced majority, a top PNM official being quoted as saying they hope to retain 22-23 seats. I suspect that that number reflects a best case scenario by their strategists.

But what of this obsession with elections? In 2007, the Opposition (UNC and COP) were obliterated in the Parliament, despite together polling more than 52% of the popular vote. While it made the PNM a minority elected government with a large Parliamentary majority, it also paved the way for some stability, given the breathing room afforded to the newly re-elected Prime Minister. In fact the PNM's win in 2007 was the largest margin given to any party since the 1986 NAR assumed office with 33 seats. And despite being plagued with issues of corruption surrounding Udecott, delivery of basic services, some unpopular personalities in Government and a noisy Opposition, it stretches the mind to think that even a combination of these things can force a Prime Minister to call an election with an 11 seat cushion in a 41 seat House.

Now, we have the situation of the Opposition being gifted a General Election at the height of incumbent unpopularity. They have cobbled together a deal, an accord, an arrangement, not much of which has been made public as yet. What we do know is that Kamla Persad-Bissessar is the Prime Ministerial candidate and, if successful at the polls, will go down not only as the first female Prime Minister but also as the shortest served Leader of the Opposition. Poor Bas; this certainly wasn't what he would have had in mind if someone told him that 3 months after assuming the position Kamla would no longer be Leader of the Opposition!

What is most disappointing in the short campaign thus far, is the almost comical avoidance of the issues by both platforms. Neither have come forward with a Manifesto. Where are the policies on crime, utilities, infrastructure, constitutional reform and health? Both are keen to play to their respective bases, one with 'It's a Love Thing', the other with an embarrassingly tacky use of Celine's 'A New Day'. I can see the VH-1 folks beginning to compile their list of the 100 worst election songs ever!

But it brings us to the point where the PNM is hoping to win this election by holding its base intact and the UNC/COP/etc hoping to win by convincing us, esoterically, that the PNM is worse so they should automatically get our votes. There doesn't seem to be any enthusiasm to present themselves as viable parties with definite plans for T&T. Election fatigue much? It's gotten so bad in the last 10 years that whereas previously, unelected candidates would quietly go back to their daily lives and jobs, there's almost a celebrity attached to these names. Names like Princess Smart, Rocky Garcia and Gavin Nicholas.

All this in the face of an arguably unnecessary election, which is costing taxpayers at least $23 million as per the EBC and God alone knows how much more with the wanton use of the Government Information Services Limited as a thinly veiled augmentation of the administration's campaign. As for the other side, it probably doesn't take too many guesses to determine where their financing is coming from. And in the true spirit of T&T politics, there must be some expectation of reward (read: corruption and nepotism) for such huge investments over the course of the last two elections.

And what of you, the electorate? Well apart from being distracted from everything imaginable, including CXC/CAPE, Fashion Week, T20 and ODI cricket, the first African Football World Cup and life, in general, we have to ask ourselves what kind of country we live in when 4 of our last 6 governments have collapsed (1995, 2000, 2001, 2010). What impact does this have on our faltering economy and our international image? And where do we go from here?

At this point it's too late to register to vote. But if you are registered, ensure that you do vote for your party, or even if you have to go into your polling booth and deliberately spoil your ballot because you believe that you cannot, with a good conscience, vote for any of the options presented to you. After all, an opportunity like this comes only once every five years. Well, at least theoretically.

'Twas the Summer of 2009

2009-09-12T22:13:00.000-04:00

It was over in a blur. Another 'summer' gone, this time spent, not on vacation or in relaxing rotations. And the memories it created would be the ones that one wishes never to remember, but persist to haunt regardless.

Innocent at its beginning, it was just another rotation and surfing the ocean of obligation. It quickly dissipated into fatigue and frustration. Education yes, but at a heavy cost to body and mind. And the result, in part, was manifest on that fateful Thursday morning. As quickly as the events of that day unfolded, it seemed that another 8 weeks were gone, and the reputation of the self-proclaimed dragon beckoned.

In between all this, another world was being created, only to crash within a few months. Another attempt failed, perhaps because of inopportune timing, but probably more as a result of personalities which clashed and should never have tried to become compatible in the first place. It was unfair to expect any more than what eventually became the outcome of such an arrangement and in keeping with the theme of this summer, it was over as quickly as it began. And for the most part, it was for the best.

It was a summer full of work and sparse on free time. Trying to prepare for finals in a way that somehow didn't compromise what had to be done. Trying not to go mad in a forest of people driven by their own insanity. And surviving. There was no silver lining. The clouds just gathered upon each other. From frustrations arising from school, to those arising with the increasingly difficulty with which life in this country is now lived, 2009 provided no end of examples.

Not much more can be said about crime and the economy than has inexorably been ventilated. There seems to be no concern by this government, so ill-led, that they are so unpopular. And therein lies the problem. A government that cannot direct themselves can hardly chart the course for a country, especially one as complex as Trinidad. There was a time when the hope was that the older generation of politicians would retire or die and allow for some fresh ideas to pervade. Now, the chalice is so poisoned, not even that seems as though it would be enough.

At the end of it all, nothing much changed. Lives went on. Flooding, traffic, murders and corruption continued and the date for exams drew excruciatingly closer. And in a nation that has grown so much more selfish, that, I suppose was the most important thing for me.

Summit Entertainment

2009-03-28T21:05:00.000-04:00

When plans were announced that Trinidad was to play host to the 5th Summit of the Americas and the 21st Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting, I thought, at the time, that they weren't inherently bad decisions. I still think that playing host to these summits will have very little downside with respect to the reputation of the country while the potential benefits are there for the picking. The manner in which preparations have been taking place, from $2 billion conference centres to $300 million upgrades to a perfectly functional airport, stripping tints to cordoning off the slums of the city with a wall akin to Berlin, however, leaves one to wonder.

You see, I thought that maybe, they were just caught up, living in ivory towers and completely out of touch with the citizens of the country. That would explain their lackadaisical attitude towards improving basic infrastructure that would benefit the masses, as opposed to concentrated spending in city centres on edifices that require high maintenance costs and that redound few, if any, tangible benefits to the ordinary citizen. But that was completely thrown out the window when they decided to build a wall around the problems of the Beetham. When they started to crack down on tints and PH drivers. When you can't drive more than 500 metres these days without seeing some form of law-enforcement. When painting lightpoles and fixing overhead lines seem to be a greater priority than the drapes at the palace. So, the sad truth is that they really do have an idea. They know what needs to be done. They just don't, unless, of course it's for Barack or the Queen.

There is a sad and frustrating history for the majority of all these summits, be they regional or international conferences or conferences on foreign policy or the economy or the environment and that is that very little is ever taken away. Resolutions are passed and then ignored by the very countries that voted for them. In the end, these meetings end up as glorified cocktail events and a means for banana republic leaders to obtain a much sought after photo-op with the leaders of nations that actually matter in the international community.

The Summit of the Americas is no different. Since Mar del Plata in 2005 the Corporación Participa of Chile estimates that, up to 2008, no fewer than 12 of the 21 countries they tracked actually regressed from where they were at the start of that Summit. On a -3.0 to +3.0 scale, Trinidad and Tobago, led by an eager government effort to host the 2009 edition earned a -0.01 rating, indicating that absolutely no progress was made on the goals set out by the 2005 Summit. Barbados (+0.54), Jamaica (+0.53) and Grenada (+0.14) all fared better than this Southern Caribean, twin island, black goldmine state which experienced unprecedented revenue windfalls within the period.(FULL ARTICLE HERE: http://www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=46271)

Where, then, does this leave us? It is pointless to argue about what should and could have been in terms of the implementation of resolutions from previous summits and the agenda for this one. No doubt, given the current state of the world's economy, the resurgence of a more belligerent Russia and a compliant Venezuela, increasing international pressure for the US to just do ANYTHING when it comes to Cuba and a more diplomatic foreign policy approach from Clinton and Obama, this 5th Summit can be an unprecedented success. What it will fall short of is the myopic anticipations by many leaders in the Caribbean who seek a saviour in Obama.

It will not address Caribbean poverty, receding Caribbean shorelines and Caribbean crime. These are all issues that the governments of the respective sovereign countries have to deal with by prioritising their people or the people have to deal with by sacking their governments. The whole crux of independence is dealing with your own affairs and not conveniently prostituting your nation to another because you too are inspired by its leader's rhetoric.

But then again, how independent are we when we allow our government to spend billions of our dollars to put a coat of paint on our dilapidated house, just because some guests are dropping by for a couple days? Why is it that nice roads, strict law enforcement, a spruced up South Terminal, beautification of the highways and hiding away the undesirables of the Beetham and downtown Port-of-Spain, among other things, are so hurriedly done for 4,000 visiting dignitaries but a million people still wait for the pipe dream of Water for All, a license and ID that looks 21st century instead of more retro than the Beatles, a DNA Bill that lies fallow and allows child rapists to escape and the breathalyser which is yet to be implemented and allows drunk drivers continue to kill?

I'm just asking, because the answers seem simple enough. Maybe we need to start getting them when we ask the questions, instead of the bullshit replies we continue to accept from Imbert, Enill, Manning and the lot.

State of Fear

2008-11-10T15:06:00.000-04:00

"When something can be read without effort, great effort has gone into its writing."- Enrique Jardiel Poncela

Michael Crichton died last week after a very private battle with cancer. Crichton was many things; a writer, a producer, a novelist and a critic. He was one of the first authors I was ever dedicated to reading and my introduction to his work at an early age helped to form a basis of interest in many spheres, from science, to medicine, to engineering to history and the arts. If Crichton was anything, it was that he was a jack of all trades when writing. His work was easy to read, which is a testament to his greatness as a writer. His legacy will undoubtedly live on. May he rest in peace.

Another's whose legacy is sure to live on, should the status quo be maintained, is Patrick Manning's. Though not for the glowing reasons attributed to Crichton earlier. Manning's latest flexion of his ever increasing intoxication with power came when he recently 'visited' a radio station to complain about the 'disrespect' shown to him and his government by two broadcasters during a newscast. Ignoring the obvious undertones of a Prime Minister personally visiting a media house, no doubt in an effort to intimidate, it is even more disturbing that the CEO of 94.1FM, 'O Brien Haynes, would immediately suspend the individuals in question without at least a hearing for their side of the story.

Whether Haynes acted out of support for the Prime Minister or fear of him is unknown, but highly inconsequential at this point. If anything, he should have been at pains NOT to have taken any action at all, until formal procedures were set in motion. This isn't an issue of a crime, a murder, a rape. It is an issue of two of the most basic rights enshrined in the Constitution of Trinidad and Tobago, namely, Freedom of Speech and Freedom of the Media. It is not an exaggeration to say that it is frightening that the Prime Minister of a country can casually walk into a media house and saliently have individuals fired, regardless of the spin that Manning and his equally disappointing Minister of Information, Neil Parsanlal, a man who emerged from the bowels of the media, want to put on the incident.

But it speaks to a greater dimension that has now pervaded our society. It is as a result of the windfall revenues that the government has experienced over the last four years of hyper-inflated hydrocarbon prices. Intentionally or inadvertently, the government has succeeded in instilling a state of fear in the vast majority of citizens. And it has come about in subtle ways and in the name of progress, social justice and handouts.

While the obvious fear of being a victim of crime has exponentially increased in every sector of society, regardless of race and class, a more silent, insidious fear is being inculcated in specific sectors of the population. Sectors that any truly developed society require in order to function democratically and efficiently.

In the first instance, there is a fear amongst the unskilled or semi-skilled sector, highly involved in the CEPEP and URP projects, that protest or a show of disapproval against the government would be met with their termination and therefore, loss of income. So they stay quiet and accept the pittances. Their children are brought up to believe that this is their only means to survival and a dependency syndrome develops that keeps these workers enslaved and loyal to the state.

In another instance, contractors and business people who depend on government investment in their companies are fearful of losing lucrative opportunities should they be perceived to be acting or vocalising dissatisfaction with the current administration. Therefore, they don't say anything when corruption is blatantly practised under their purview. It is in their interest not to whistle-blow, and so the country loses.

Yet another, more relevant example is seen with the very media. The government provides many media houses with the revenue they require in order to keep functioning. It is by no fluke that 7 television stations, over 20 radio stations and almost 10 newspapers manage to stay afloat in a country with a market of just over 1 million people. This supersaturation of media has not made government more transparent or accountable, as is clearly evidenced by the comedy, nay, tragedy, that is a post cabinet news conference. Instead, many of those in the media would rather keep a fairly neutral line in terms of its editorials lest it be the focus of the withdrawal of government sponsorship and ultimately, bankruptcy. It is this fear that prevents the emergence of an activist media, intent on finding the truth, rather than simply reporting the spin fed to it by the Parsanlal types.

In the final, saddest anecdote, the government has successfully managed to silence the voice of the young intellectual class. Tertiary students, usually the most liberal, activist individuals in any society have been muted. They are fearful to speak out against the administration that pays their fees in full. A noble effort by the government to increase the number of university graduates has had the effect of enrolling many who see a degree as nothing more than a means to an end, with no sense of social activism. So when the media is attacked, the Guild of Students is strangely quiet. There are no longer any protests on campus because students no longer worry about their fees being raised. They are, what I like to call, the fearful complacents.

Ultimately, a government that rules from a throne of fear has more to fear for its own survival when things go south. They cannot continue to spend their way into garnering support and silence. One can hope that democracy prevails. But hope is not a strategy. Slowly but surely, people must be willing to rise from fear and challenge the government on their policies. The media must not be afraid to ask the hard hitting questions and demand transparency and accountability on behalf of its subscribers. The businessmen should not be fearful of losing a contract because they stood for integrity. Students should put aside their fear of victimisation in the name of standing up and demanding that our leaders lead by example and with responsibiliy.

For all our riches and aspirations, our pride and successes, Trinidad and Tobago has, now, more than ever, become a State of fear. And nothing but slivers of courage will be able to rescue us from our deepening abyss.

Dreams from his Father

2008-11-03T19:34:00.000-04:00

Tomorrow is historic, regardless of the result of the election. America will either have its first non-white president or non-male vice-president. It will be the first time in more than a generation that a senator will be elected President and it will be almost 100 years since the last time neither a sitting president or vice-president will have their names on the ballot. It will be the first time in almost 200 years that the winner will assume office on the heels of consecutive two-term presidencies. And more, even almost mischievously, it will be the first time that the US will have a president who was not born in the land mass traditionally recognised as the United States of America.

Hardly surprising, I'm going all-in for Barack Obama. Not that I live under any misconceptions that an Obama presidency will cause the Bush turds to suddenly smell like roses. But that I believe that if anyone gets it, it's Obama. He's educated, a child on the tapering edge of the baby boom and the tonic that America needs if it hopes to regain respect and standing among other nations in the world.

He's also liberal and progressive. Words that the right have demonised, but which have been embraced by Western European societies to advance their civilizations by leaps and bounds, while leaving the New World behind. He supports the rights of minorities, the rights of women, is a supporter of stem cell research and doesn't believe that global warming at the hands of humans is a myth. He supports a tax code that will bring relief to the middle class. And importantly, he will be able to appoint judges that can balance a conservative leaning Supreme Court. But you know all this. So why reiterate it?

Well, for one, there's never much harm in overstating positives. But the real reason I restated it is because they're the reasons I'd like to see Obama become president. Not because he's half-black, or his campaign is historic or he's the less worse alternative to a potential Palin presidency (knocks on wood, revives my dying 4 leaf clover and does a rain dance). Because he IS already all of these things. It's because I support his stands and his policies.

And that brings me to hypocritical Trinis. It brings me to the ones who, a year to the DATE of this US election, had the opportunity to vote for change. To hope and believe that things could be better. To (use a quote sent recently from a good friend) see things for what they COULD be and not as they are. Because it's these same people who now parade around beating their chests for Obama. They flood the airwaves voicing their support for his historic candidacy. And for what reason, other than the color of his skin? Could they name a single Obama policy that they agree with? As a matter of fact, I'm sure these Manning loving, holier than thou, Bible-quoting types would disagree with the #1 ranked most liberal Senator and his #3 ranked running mate on issues of abortion, gay rights and embryonic stem cell research.

It's simply racism repackaged and a dearth of objectivity and constancy on their part. It's not sour grapes. Our elections are done and dusted, at least for another 4 years. But it speaks to our political immaturity that we can support the candidate professing change in a foreign land, while our own Rome burned and we twiddled our thumbs while staining our index fingers for the status quo.

But tomorrow night, by all accounts, will be Barack's night. Whether he gets to 270 early on, if at all, is left to be seen. But his campaign has broken barriers and given people a reason to be energised. It has levelled the competition and organised its supporters in unprecedented fashion. And come tomorrow night, the coronation of audacious hope will signal the end of the beginning, as he inherits a land broken, a people more in need now than they have been for over 70 years and a world looking towards him for guidance in the face of global uncertainty.

Raindrops keep Falling...

2008-08-17T19:00:00.000-04:00

Have you ever seen the rain fall in the wrong direction? Its silvery wisps gradually intensifying to crystal drops then to angry, pounding waves, each trying to outdo each other. The lush, green hills have faded into obscurity, veiled now by a white sheet of precipitation. The birds have gone silent.
The rustling leaves, gently portending the impending deluge have been replaced by battered foliage.

And unlike the way it began, it stops suddenly. Lightning crashes and the wind picks up where the cloudburst left off. Silence is replaced by more silence. Eerie pervasions tempt the heavens once more. This time, the downpour begins, accompanied by its supporting cast of light, sound and air. Unrefined souls may curse the deities. I turn off the music to listen to the symphony that has been provided by Heaven. I turn my head around to engage the beauty of the Earth.

The camera can capture but a fleeting moment; no substitute for the first hand ocular experience and a grave injustice to the magnificence that has just been witnessed. It reinforces an appreciation for life. It hastens us to put into perspective, life’s petty and petit dramas. It calms and brings sanity to the insanity of daily life. For others, it may be a twenty minute spell of rain that brings inconvenience, damp and cold. For me, it is a welcome interlude and a new beginning.

The birds sing again to pierce the deafening silence, no doubt prompted by the feast unearthed by the driving monsoon. It is over now. The breeze will blow chill tonight. Lovers will entangle in embraces, fuelled by the aphrodisiac of the air. And me? I will sip graciously from the vino chalice. I will appreciate the moon. I will think of my own. I will promise. I will dream fearlessly for if the rain can fall in the wrong direction, then so can I.

The Audacity of Hope

2008-05-09T07:23:00.000-04:00

'There is not a liberal America and a conservative America - there is the United States of America. There is not a black America and a white America and latino America and asian America - there's the United States of America.'-Barack Obama

Barack Obama has all but sealed the deal. And for the first time in America’s illustrious 231 year history, a major party will not send a white male to the presidential race. That he should emerge from the Democratic party never seemed in doubt, but in an election year where change is the theme, it cannot be more fitting that it is embodied by the son of a Kenyan immigrant with Muslim roots.

Tragic though it may be, Hillary Clinton’s inevitable coronation fell flat in the popular wave of support that has now landed Obama the nomination. It may have proven to be Hillary’s first and only shot at the nomination. What must be even more disheartening for her is Hillary’s calculated approach to it, refusing in 2004 to challenge the incumbent Bush 43 on the grounds of inexperience and being a first term junior senator from New York. Obama in 2008 is what Hillary could have been in 2004. The only difference is that he took the risk and challenged the mainstream thinking.

Now that the nomination is secured, she and her campaign have resorted to desperate tactics. They want to change the yardstick by which the nomination should be decided. In essence, they claim that she is the more electable than Obama and would pose a greater challenge to John McCain in the general election. What then, is the point of holding 54 primaries if, at the end of it all she assumes the ‘elitist’ position of telling the people that they don’t know what’s good for themselves and that superdelegates should decide the nomination.

Secondly, she is trying to have the votes in Michigan and Florida count, even though those states were forewarned about the consequences (ie. loss of 100% of their delegates at the DNC convention) of holding their primaries too early. At best, it is a dishonest way of adding to her delegate count since, following the rules as set down by the party, neither Obama nor Edwards campaigned in Florida and did not even have their names on the ballot in Michigan. It is exactly the kind of politics that Obama has denounced on the trail. It is a guttural, do-whatever-it takes, bring-down-whomever-gets-in-my-way politics that Americans seem to have found a way out of, through Obama.

And Obama himself, dogged lately by accusations of elitism and Rev. Wright, has emerged above the fray and positioned himself to become, if elected, perhaps the greatest statesmanesque president since Kennedy. And for good reason. His speeches inspire. His message is one of hope. It is, ironically, in the midst of change and a look to the future, a throwback to the past, where America was viewed as a nation of hope. Where dreams could be realized if one worked hard. Not the capitalistic mess that it has become, where health is in shambles, veterans are taken for a ride and spending is out of control. Obama is the voice of hope. He is the agent of change that people choose to believe in.

But he will have a myriad of challenges. He has to deal with a record deficit and an unpopular war. He will, if elected, for the first time in living memory and discounting the Cold War, inherit a battle that neither he nor his party initiated. And he may even have to battle more than John McCain leading up to the fall election.

Clinton is mortally wounded. The rising tide of young voters and widespread apathy for what passes as normal behaviour in Washington has denied her what she viewed was an entitlement. The Clinton brand is damaged. Bill has hurt his standing in the African American community. There seems to be no respite from the hemorrhage of supporters defecting to the Obama camp. Clinton will want another shot at the presidency. At 60, she probably will have only one more realistic chance, in 2012. And unless she plans to mount an insurgent campaign against an incumbent Obama, it would serve her better if McCain is elected this year to the White House. The impetus that she will gain should McCain fail to vastly improve on his predecessor will once again set in motion a much better prepared Clinton machine to assume the Presidency from what will more than likely be a one-term stint from McCain.

It is Obama’s Achilles’ heel. He may have won the nomination this time. But for all intents and purposes, it will be his only chance. He will either create the most significant bit of history since the abolition of slavery or will fade into the background as another ‘has run.’ It is a challenge and a tragedy for a man of 46. But it is the embodiment of the message that he has disseminated since he announced for the presidency. The message of hope. It is perhaps an indictment on American society as a whole that such a message should resonate so deeply. That things have gotten so bad that they see Obama as a knight in shining armor coming to rescue them. Moreover, foreign policy has been so bad that the world looks on, almost urging Americans not to screw this one up.

They are expectations that Obama will have to play down. Tangible change will not be immediate. In a world of mass media and the internet, he will be the most scrutinized president in history. Any faux pas will be pounced upon as evidence of inexperience and naivety. Success will bring the inevitable challenges, but more so, it will bring to an end the 20 year old Bush-Clinton dynasty. And unless Obama decides to offer Clinton the Vice Presidential post, it will be the first time in almost 24 years, that neither a Bush nor a Clinton would have their names on the ticket. It is this paradigm shift that will allow Obama to capitalize on the notion of change but it is also from such high levels of approval initially, that the only way to go would be down. It is almost surreal that Americans will know the result of their vote on Guy Fawkes day. In a fairytale world, it couldn’t be more perfect.

His rhetoric is almost flawless. His taglines are catchy and they resonate. He has risen above the challenges of name recognition versus the Clinton machine, to name vilification (Osama anyone?), to defending his religious affiliations. He has won the most states, the most votes and the most delegates. He has won the admiration and respect of millions. He is the presumptive nominee, despite the machinations of the Clinton campaign. And, for whatever it’s worth, he has my endorsement. America needs Barack Obama. The world needs Barack Obama. And for 12 hours on November 4th, 2008, if Americans vote with the courage of their convictions, audacious hope would have gotten a man elected to the most powerful position in the world.

'Change will not come if we wait for some other person or some other time. We are the ones we've been waiting for. We are the change that we seek.'- Barack Obama

Vote of Thanks

2007-11-21T22:21:00.000-04:00

No quotes. Just one of a few lines that my indomitable cousin uttered:

‘Always be grateful.’

It is simple and short, like most things uttered in wisdom. But on this Thanksgiving, I really don’t have a choice. Things aren’t perfect but what would life be like if everything were? So here it goes:

Thank you for allowing me to appreciate life so much more. An obscure Sunday evening in November turned into mayhem by an accident that changed so many lives forever.

Thank you for allowing me to appreciate death. You were one of the most generous and genuine souls I had ever met and your death on the eve of Christmas’ own eve made me understand how finite and fickle life can be.

Thank you for being a friend when I thought that I had none. You may not realize it and I have not yet had the courage to revisit that time but your tolerance of me even when it must have been to the point of annoying is something I can never be grateful enough for.

Thank you for willing to be my friend and while I know it has not been reciprocated, it is I who must take the blame for being the lesser person.

Thank you for showing me that I can move on regardless of how bad things get. Your absorption with yourself and the world around you only served as fuel that drove us apart. Maybe it’s too late now.

Thank you for not calling when you came. It allowed me to assimilate things in a different perspective.

Thank you for calling. It was the one call I least expected but was most appreciated since it was one of only a few I received for my birthday.

Thank you for making my life that much more difficult because it brought out a courage in me that I didn’t realize I had.

Thank you for being the selfish, pretentious, untrustworthy snakes that you turned out to be. There can be no excuse for what the three of you did. You are bound to a higher standard. Now, I can recognize insincerity from a distance.

Thank you for listening to my venting.

Thank you for trying to make me be true to myself. It will come in time but you are responsible for starting the ball rolling and helping me to disregard the expectations of conformity from others.

Thank you for being there during the hardest time of my academic life. Your support and concern were not unnoticed and it is partly because of that that I can appreciate fully where I am now.

Thank you for putting up with a far from perfect son. It is almost automatic that you are taken for granted, but it could never be right.

Thank you for your words of wisdom. Never would I have thought that two simple lines would have such profound effect on the way I live my life.

Thank you for putting up with my less than bearable antics. I could have been a much better brother.

Thank you for believing in me. You seemed to be the only one that did or cared.

Thank you for giving me something to believe in. If not in 2007, then maybe in 2012.

Thank you for nothing. You taught me that I should work for what I want most and not expect instant gratification. Now I appreciate it so much more.

Thank you for being my partner in crime. We may be taken advantage of or trampled upon. But our intentions are always true and if one person is genuinely grateful for every ten that walk all over us, it still makes it worth it.

Thank you all for everything that has happened in the last year. It has made me who I am today and while it could have been better, as all things could, I regret not one day of it.

Thank you for life. It is only by your grace that I opened my eyes this morning and will do so tomorrow.

Vive la Revolucion

2007-11-04T04:32:00.000-04:00

‘Remember, Remember the fifth of November’- Guy Fawkes Night

Come what may, November 5, 2007 will be remembered in the history books as the day that the electorate of Trinidad and Tobago took a stand. Whether or not history will record that it was the right one is left to be seen. About 700,000 people will let their voices be heard in what could be the most important general election ever to be held in this country.

The incompetence of the PNM and the bacchanal of the UNC-A has not caused, on the face of it, to have eroded their respective bases significantly. It speaks volumes about the maturity or lack thereof of the voters of this country. It makes you wonder whether the poor Laventille grandmother who has had children murdered or the destitute Barrackpore father without an avenue for escaping poverty will have any hope after tomorrow’s election and if in fact, they will be contributing once again to the vicious cycle of electing representatives to prop up a government that does nothing to address their needs, on a personal and national level.

All the crowds were impressive. All the supporters seemed committed. The true test will come once every finger is stained. Then we’ll know whether the country is steppin’ up, having an orange revolution or just movin’. Maybe it’ll have to be a combination of those three but for the second time in our history (other than 1981) T&T will choose from three very strong parties. The only difference is that for the first time, the ‘third force’ may actually win some seats. If that happens, it will have Hitler, Stalin and Mussolini turning in their graves for democracy would have won. And T&T would have grown just that little bit.

The sun creeps above the horizon as the deathly silence is pierced only by a few awakening fowls. This is the calm before the storm. The nation waits with bated breath. The majority of those who I speak with will stain their fingers for the COP, the party representing, to them, the best chance for some semblance of proper government. They represent a new hope. And while they have their fair share of geriatric members, they have also been able to capture the imagination of the youth, a notoriously difficult segment to corner. I, too will be staining that right index finger for the COP. I moved with them on September 10th 2006 at the Centre of Excellence when they were launched and I moved with them on November 3rd, 2007 at their final rally. On November 5th, thousands of us will be moving with them. We will be making a statement, starting a mini bloodless revolution and when the accountants of the election return their report, if the people of this nation have made the right choice, we’ll be moving to the Red House with them.

For too long we’ve searched the barren desert for the ilk of the COP. For too long we’ve clamoured for the strength of a third force to rule the land with a sceptre of equality and justice for ALL. For too long we’ve waited for a party to serve as a responsible guardian of our future. Come what may tomorrow, the COP is that manifestation. And if unelected, the people of this nation must examine themselves and ask why. Why did they let the chance to elect good men slip by? People get the government that they deserve and tomorrow will be no different.

Whether the hunger of the poor, the pain of the sick or the cries of the wronged will be arrested by the party assuming office on Tuesday is left to be seen. But until 6pm tomorrow, the nation waits in hope. And I, for the first time in a very long time, turn my head to the heavens and ask a favour of God. It is one of the hardest things to accept that despite knowing what is good and right, people will let mere animal instincts dictate their voting patterns.

We stand 24 hours away from the opening of the floodgates. All systems are go. The sun will provide the lights, the media the cameras and the citizens the action. And when the editing begins and the final cut is screened, let us hope that we get an Oscar worthy cast rather than a disappointing horror flick. I be movin’ so will at least 51% of the electorate if we are to see our hopes translated into reality. A reality that would have been borne from the frustrations of our people with the hands that they have been dealt in the last 50 years. And come tomorrow night, if I do cry, it would not be because the COP would have lost. It would be because my people would have once again let themselves down by not recognizing that governance should not be measured by who can throw the best picong or concerts. Governance is serious business.

Life will go on. I will be at the hospital on Tuesday even as friends finish up their degrees or start lives in other countries. Change will remain constant and the universe will continue to conspire to give us that which we most desire. But at least, for a little more than a year, the passengers and driver of the COP vehicle gave this not so little boy the hope that we could have done it.

Whether the dream ends tomorrow or a new wave of euphoria washes over T&T as the COP assumes even a single seat in the Parliament, I can say that for once, I have supported a political party and was not, in the least bit ashamed to say so.

Mr. Speaker, I beg to move, and I beg the good people of T&T to move with me and the Congress of the People.

‘The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing.’- Edmund Burke

We built this City

2007-10-03T14:36:00.000-04:00

The sun rises slowly above the hills of the Northern Range and one by one, the headlights dim as the cars march incessantly into Port of Spain. God, I never thought I’d see the day that I’d be watching the sun rise in the rear view mirror as I head into the smoggy capital city. From two, then three and now about six ‘skyscrapers’ litter the skyline of Trinidad’s finest city, edifices that confirm the monetary wealth of a nation that could be great.

Like zombies, the masses head out before the break of day in a valiant but more often unsuccessful attempt to head off the permanent traffic. Children awake at dream-weaving hours to commute to school. No one feels anything save and except frustration at the time spent in traffic or anger at the guy in front who just gave you a bad drive. But still they soldier on, heading into the big city, hoping to make a day’s wages so that they can enjoy the niceties that T&T has come to offer, whether it’s their after work lime at Ruby’s or their teenager’s lime at Zen or their 12 year old movie at Movie Towne.

They all have their escapes. But from what? And why? And what of the old lady with seven grandkids to mind on a monthly pension that could barely even support her alone? Where is her escape? Or the man who doesn’t want to leave the hospital because his alternative is a lonely house with no one to talk to? We classify them and sometimes blatantly discriminate against them. They’re just ‘social cases’. Not our problem. It’s the government’s problem or the relatives' problem or someone else’s. As long as it’s not ours.

But the same sun still rises above each of our heads every morning. And like a neat cross section, the city provides an insight into the inner workings of the country. The flashy neon lights of the night and the newest BM-double Vays serve only to betray the poverty that the nation embraces daily. More than 300,000 souls who will go hungry today, who went hungry yesterday and who will go hungry tomorrow, even as the fat cats feast on the largesse provided by their well connected friends and family.

One day, one night, one moment,
my dreams could be, tomorrow.

Or it could never come. But I know this: If I don’t try it’s a lock that it’ll never come. So I’ll keep on trying. Even when it pains most. Especially when it pains most. Because if I’m to believe in the probabilistic, then things just might work out.

One step, one fall, one falter,
east or west, over earth or by ocean.
One way to be my journey,
this way could be my Book of Days

If you want it enough, the universe will conspire for you. I’ve learnt that. But it won’t happen by just wishing. You’ve got to get up and become involved. So instead of sitting by and letting things happen, we have to go out there and make the difference, first in our lives, so that we gain respect for ourselves. It is only when we gain a respect and love for ourselves that we could even hope to help others. And while each person’s journey will inevitably different, we all want to reach the same destination: Happiness.

And while I don’t profess to be the Happiness Guru, one sure way of being happy is by making others happy, as the old chorus goes.

No day, no night, no moment,
can hold me back from trying.

I can’t remember when it did become my journey, but it did. And because of it, I’m more patient and more understanding. I appreciate more of what I have and I appreciate the problems that people have. I appreciate people more and am thankful for those who’ve stuck by me all this time, even if they number in the low single digits.

And I wonder what it will take for more and more people to appreciate others. Yes, they have their jobs and their kids, their wives and lovers, mistresses and husbands, but can’t we all just take a collective breath and look up from that piece of paper or computer screen to just take in the scene around us? Let’s pretend for a moment that a world exists beyond our noses and get involved in making our environment a product of who we are not vice versa.

It’s grandiose a thought because it hinges on the belief that the majority of people can be selfless and spare a though for others or the things around them. But if enough do or at least try to, then maybe we can get back on track and drag the others with us.

The sun sets in my rear view mirror. Sixty skyscrapers litter the Port of Spain skyline, each indistinguishable from the other. The masses flick their headlights on, looking to home to escape from their day. An old lady begs with her husband at the side of the road, their shriveled frames belie their strength. Countless others await the fate this night will bring. We have gone nowhere fast. May heaven have mercy on our souls, for we did not. We are safe, none of us.

This way became my journey,
this day ends together, Far and Away.

Painful Practice

2007-08-02T09:08:00.000-04:00

Medicine has long been regarded as a noble profession and its practitioners respected as men and women of honour and integrity. Lately, however, it seems as though doctors have become the target and reason for everything that is wrong with our health system. The myth, perpetrated by none other than the Minister of Health himself, that the reason for poor healthcare in this country is as a result of incompetent, lazy and selfish doctors has caught steam with the general public, justifiably frustrated by the worsening manner in which health care has been delivered under this administration.

Minister Rahael cannot continue to use isolated incidents involving a few doctors to paint the entire profession with a brush that taints all. This is especially true when dealing with a profession, such as medicine, where reputation is essential in obtaining the trust and respect of your patients. If we are to use his yardstick, then we will be justified in painting all politicians as corrupt, including Mr. Rahael, himself, who came under scrutiny recently over the establishment of a nationwide pharmacy chain linked to his immediate family.

There has been a slew of controversies within the last five years that has led one to conclude that the government is determined to deal with doctors in a confrontational manner, unbecoming of the profession. Whether that has been over salaries, working conditions, questionable hiring and firing practices by the Ministry or the claim by those in government that the entire medical profession is sympathetic to the cause of a political party opposed to them, it is clear that doctors and medical students in this country have had to deal with more than their fair share of mauvais langue from the powers who claim to have the health of the nation as a primary concern.

It has become almost cliché to say that basic amenities have not been addressed even after the expenditure of close to $200 billion dollars in the last six years. There has not been the construction of a single general hospital. Instead, there has been the premature abortion of one in Tobago, while the rest of the nation contends with three under-staffed, poorly-equipped institutions that continue to run only on the dedication of their staff and the grace of God.

Surely, Mr. Rahael must be accountable to the nation when it comes to answering questions regarding the reasons why there are not enough dialysis machines or functioning Intensive Care Units (both adult and neonatal) or proper quarters for doctors and nurses at our hospitals. Are doctors responsible for the purchase of these machines? And then there is the question of drugs. Why are the pharmacies at the hospitals always woefully short of some medication at one point or another? Is it that there is a vested interest in forcing the public to go buy these drugs at private establishments, such as the one owned by his son?

Then there is the issue of admission criteria at the University of the West Indies, Medical Faculty. Why has this suddenly become an issue and why is race being considered as a factor? Is the government suggesting that the doctors produced over the last 20 odd years from Mt. Hope have failed the nation when it comes to providing adequate care? If so, then are there proper statistics or research to back that claim? Where is the current research that shows that a single ethnic group is being favored over another for admission into the medical school? And who exactly is in charge of making decisions regarding health in this country? Is it the Ministry of Health and their experts or is it the Ministry of Science, Technology and Tertiary Education? Under whose jurisdiction does the University fall and how can, with one fell swoop, the Government mandate change without proper research and consultation? And, if admission criteria need to be changed, then when does it take effect? If it takes effect immediately, then doesn’t that place, at a significant disadvantage, those students currently entering 6th and 7th years of secondary school who would have taken certain subjects on the premise that that was the acceptable criteria?

As if all that was not enough to frustrate even the most experienced of professional, there is the issue of hiring and firing practices by the current Minister and his cohorts. There was the claim that there was a shortage of doctors in the system and therefore the need to hire foreign doctors to meet the needs of the populace. Again, was any research conducted to determine the extent of the shortfall and therefore the number of doctors required to fill the void? Was consideration given to the fact that approximately 120 doctors graduate every year from Mt. Hope, so that contracts given to foreign doctors should be on a diminishing basis to account for the incoming new doctors?

There was the recent firing of two nurses at the Mt. Hope Maternity Hospital after an incident where a newborn was burned with a hot water bottle. By all accounts, published in the press, this directive came from the Minister himself. Apart from wondering whether the Minister has better things to do than to micromanage the hospitals, isn’t there something to be said about having a proper inquiry into the circumstances surrounding this horrific incident? As professionals, who would have spent a significant amount of time and expense training to become nurses, aren’t they entitled to a hearing where they would have been allowed to give their side of the story? Perhaps a hot water bottle was used to keep the newborn warm because the incompetent administration of the hospital and by extension, the Minister, were unaware that there were an inadequate number of incubators at the hospital and that the baby would have died, had he not been kept warm. But these stories never come to light. It’s easier to fire the nurses because it’s good Public Relations. The rabid population calls for blood and the Minister obliges, disregarding totally, the rights of any he may have trampled on.

In addition, we now hear of the firing of 30 recently graduated, local doctors from the hospitals. Is it that the chronic shortage is now over? If so, then why are our wards still heavily populated with foreign labour? If the excuse is that the doctors were not under contract, then perhaps the disingenuous perpetrators of that excuse would like to see all those doctors currently not under contract justifiably walk off the job, since they have no right to be on the wards. The exodus would be astounding and then the Minister would have yet another opportunity to posture himself on national television and accuse doctors of endangering the lives of their patients.

Mr. Minister, the system is broken badly and getting worse. Serious change needs to be made with respect to the proper administration of Health in Trinidad and Tobago. The report of Gladys Gafoor following the Commission of Inquiry into the Health Sector should be made public and its recommendations heeded. Instead of antagonizing the very people who have to provide health services to this nation (doctors, nurses, attendants, drivers etc) why don’t you expend more time and implore your Prime Minister to spend more money to properly upgrade the woeful facilities that currently exist?

You have had six years in government. Can you honestly face the nation and tell its citizens that the system, not incidental accomplishments, but the system as a whole is better off now, even after the most prosperous economic times that this country has seen? What is our life expectancy now, compared to five years ago? What is the infant mortality rate now compared to five years ago? How has the health system been able to cope with the rise in lifestyle diseases such as diabetes and cancer? How has our economy and productivity suffered because of inadequate or improper health care? If these questions cannot be answered at the drop of a hat, Mr. Minister, it is you and your government that has failed the people of this country when it comes to providing health care.

There are surely many other things that can be done to address the state of our hospitals than finding scapegoats in the very individuals who keep the sinking ship of health barely afloat by their dedication and compassion for their patients, rather than vindictive discrimination or the love of money. It wasn’t doctors that got whopping increases in salaries since you took office in 2001. I hear the Salaries Review Commission is meeting again soon. No doubt at least 67 parliamentarians will be better off following their recommendations. What about the rest of us?

Flourish, Exeunt

2007-07-22T06:07:00.000-04:00

Oh, the torment bred in the race, the grinding scream of death and the stroke that hits the vein, the haemorrhage none can staunch, the grief, the curse no man can bear.

But there is a cure in the house and not outside it, no, not from others but from them, their bloody strife. We sing to you, dark gods beneath the earth.

Now hear, you blissful powers underground-answer the call, send help. Bless the children, give them triumph now.

The Libation Bearers- Aeschylus [JK Rowling- Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows]

And then it was midnight, or 7:01pm in Trinidad. I had never stood in line, as I would for food or a movie, for a book. But all that changed on the night of July 20th, 2007. I was fully caught in the hype for the final installment of the Harry Potter series: Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. Harry Potter may mean different things to different people, but for the last 10 years, it has been to me very much what I suppose Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings was to my parents.

Ever since I could remember, I have read or been read to. I don’t know if my father remembers, but I remember, at 3 years old, clambering into bed with him and my younger brother, and being read the classic fairy tales and nursery rhymes of Cinderella, Red Riding Hood, Hansel and Gretel and many, many more. I never forgot them and as I grew, it was evident that those evening spent discovering the enchanted lands of fantasy and escape had laid the foundation for a lifetime of reading a myriad of books.

Finishing 400 page novels at nine and ten years old became norm for me. Then, as I started high school, there emerged from obscurity a British writer, who, on good account had created this series about a boy, who lived amongst Muggles but who was really the lone survivor of murder and who had vanquished, as a baby, the most evil of all Dark Wizards. And so, binding the planet with her tale of Harry Potter, Rowling’s spell evolved from a battle between good and evil to a battle between Harry and himself

Harry faces his greatest challenges, but as we read, he learns to overcome them using love, trust, friendship and restraint. His quest to recover the Horcruxes is akin to Frodo’s ‘precious’. He grapples with the loss of many of his closest allies in a bloodbath filled novella that answers all questions, ties up the series wonderfully and brings a sense of bittersweet closure to his legion of readers.
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He longed to discover the truth about his past and forged the strongest of friendships whilst courting danger under the watchful eyes of Headmaster Dumbledore at Hogwarts. We walked alongside him, whether recovering the Philosopher’s Stone or understanding Quidditch or participating in the TriWizard’s tournament or acing the Potion’s class using the text of the Half Blood Prince.

We were captivated, drawn into the magical fantasy of Harry’s world, vacillating between love and hate for Snape, becoming impatient with Hermione or just feeling sorry for Ron. The books became increasingly longer and more popular, as Rowling narrated every detail, from the shade of the drapes in the Gryffindor hall to the elusive Snitch to He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named himself.

She has served, not only to entertain us, but to allow us, especially those in our mid twenties, to live our own lives through the lives of her characters. Talking about Hogwarts is as nostalgic as talking about your old school. The non-magical tribulations faced by the gang while doing their OWLs is easily relatable and their stuggles with relationships is as human as ever. Rowling made sure never to cast Harry as a superhero. She ensured that he wasn’t perfect and it was that fallibility that accorded him a degree of humanity that so many of us could attest to. He needed people to trust, friends to confide in, teachers to guide him and was the subject of taunts and antagonisms. Were he not the Chosen One, he would be a regular boy. And it is that connection that had millions lining up at midnight to get their hands on the final installment to discover for themselves whether Harry’s fallibility would end in death or if the merchants of good would defeat the Dark Lord and his disciples.

Rowling imputes resounding political themes and lessons are learnt about absolute power and domineering government control. From the various Ministers of Magic to Dolores Umbridge herself, the latter books are wrought with warnings about allowing freedoms to be systematically undermined without a definitive uprising against those taking away those freedoms.

Reading the final book finally put a realization that as each page turned, you were one page closer to the end, with no Book 8 to come. As things were explained and understanding dawned, tears flowed freely, if not for those who died, but for the selflessness of some, the utter sacrifice of others and the loyalty of even more.

There will never be another Harry Potter. In twenty years, perhaps, another novelist will come along and take the world by storm. Whether the next great author can top Rowling as history’s best selling non-religious author remains to be seen. It would be a great day when another 400 million books can be sold, captivating from kindergarteners to pensioners, especially now in an age of TV, Internet, iPods and movies.

For now, we are left with seven of the most magical books ever conceived from one of the most creative minds ever to bless this earth. JK Rowling has showed that people are willing to read, if they are given something that they want to read. Her formula is not easily duplicated and, dare I say, will never be replicated. And as the first 12 million copies literally fly off the shelf as if enchanted by the Accio! spell, we can take heart that Rowling does not abandon her progression into darkness and death and that the aptly named Deathly Hallows is a final reflection of life and the importance of living not only for yourself, but for the general upliftment of others and society

Death is but crossing the world, as friends do the seas; they live in one another still. For they must needs be present, that love and live in that which is omnipresent. In this divine glass, they see face to face; and their converse is free, as well as pure. This is the comfort of friends, that though they may be said to die, yet their friendship and society are, in the best sense, ever present, because immortal.- William Penn (More Fruits of Solitude) [JK Rowling (Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows)]

Death Becomes Him

2007-07-18T20:49:00.000-04:00

On Monday we added another name to the already alarmingly long list of young people we’ve lost. I don’t know if the number is par, but personally, it seems that too many recent graduates or students of my alma mater are meeting their demise.

The latest, Shastri Sooknanan, decided that there was no longer a reason to continue his existence on earth and proceeded to swing himself from the rafters of his home. I didn’t know him personally, but even those who did couldn’t come up with a reason that would explain this seemingly inexplicable event. Being in the midst of severe tribulations, I can understand how easy it is to hide things. Not one of my friends has a clue as to what is transpiring in my deeply personal life. None of them know how close I, too, have come to being the subject of a story similar to Shastri’s.

I ponder as to the reasons and chillingly, I even admire his courage. I could never go through the process of actually attaching a rope, pulling a chair and following through with the actual act. Perhaps it is a reflection of a sickening mind, but I don’t blame him for the action that he took. I don’t view him as a coward nor do I think he may have been unjustified. We simply do not know the circumstances. We can only guess as to the exact event that broke his back and made him systematically plot to carry through with this mere minutes after his sisters were the last people to leave the house that fateful Monday morn.

What I do know is that he spent seven years at Presentation College and another five years attaining his medical degree. And after twelve years of intense studying, it took only two weeks in the workplace before something triggered him to complete an act so reviled by others that the Bible itself ensures its punishment as condemnation to an eternity with the Angel of Darkness himself.

Perhaps it is a failure of the system not to recognize and offer assistance to those amongst us who are truly in need of counseling, even when we ourselves recognize the need for it and are actually crying reddened tears for it. More so, it is an indictment on ourselves as humans that he didn’t, as far as we know, find a single individual whom he could have turned to confide in. A person whom he knew genuinely cared for his story and was willing to listen to him. And perhaps more than that, just a single true friend who would not glibly dismiss his sentiments as insignificant in the wider scheme of things.

We all have our stories, our secrets and our pains. Every so often we need a person in our lives to share, confide in and acquire advice. Whatever drove Shastri to the deep end, never to be rescued should not be allowed to repeat itself. But that statement rings hollow when I know that the only outcome of this would be a memorial service with a high-faluted dean, who pretends to care for the well being her students, addressing the rest of us as though she knows our stories and cares for the well being of our existences.

While some of our worlds come crashing down worse than America in Die Hard 4, no one seems to have an answer as to why so many choose to end it rather than fight it. Perhaps, it’s because all the fighting was done already. The challenges became insurmountable and the fight no longer held up. And boxed in, with no one and no where to turn to, the only reasonable decision seems to be ending it all.

The lamentations will continue for a few weeks, months perhaps, but in time to come, there will be a repeat because we would have failed to learn from our pasts. The fragile souls on the edge would have taken the leap into the unknown, in the fleeting possibility that they may, in fact, be finally saved from the machinations of a world designed to extricate from them only the darkest and most sorrowful aspects of their existences.

Judgments will flow from the experts and non-experts alike. They will be crucified, even in death and remembered, not for the great lives that they lived, but for the death that they chose. In the end, it is perhaps best not to glorify death. It is sick to be obsessed with it, as it is sick to be obsessed with anything I suppose. But unlike most other things, death is irreversible. A mark left forever in the sands of time that will demarcate the cessation of your time on earth. And for those who leave their footprints on their own terms, rather than on the terms of nature, accidents or God himself, the living is forever indebted to them for the actions that they failed to take to save a life.

Rest In Peace:

Shastri Sooknanan (Class of 2001)
Dewan Suren Ramberran (Class of 2003)
Garnet Lalla Maharaj (Class of 2001)
Gerard Bertrand (Class of 2002)

“Of all the wonders that I yet have heard,
It seems to me most strange that men should fear;
Seeing that death, a necessary end,
Will come when it will come.”- Shakespeare

Opposing Forces

2007-05-03T20:49:00.000-04:00

The opposition in general should serve as an alternate government.

The UNC of 2002, when the final nail was pounded in the coffin that sent them to another 5 years in the Opposition grave, should have used the opportunity then, as articulated by its leader, to reorganise itself into a party post Basdeo Panday. The reality of the situation is that Panday is not immortal, and whatever he's done great or fallen short of for this country, the UNC needed to start moving quickly towards a post-Panday era if they were to attract any sort of new support or support from the Independent/Non Voters in T&T, while maintaining their base.

Given that they did, in fact, have internal elections and Winston Dookeran won the post of Leader, it showed that Panday's thinking was either that he was more of a liability to the party or that he wanted to move on to a life not as heavily set in politics (a retirement of sorts). The fact that Dookeran ran unopposed is immaterial. If anything, it showed a great vote of confidence in his ability to lead the party after Panday.

This is where things got messy. Instead of engaging in a divisive war that undid whatever goodwill there was, Panday should have helped (not dictate or unilaterally made decisions) his party, in Opposition to position itself as a viable, serious alternate to the PNM by the following:

1. Formation of a shadow government with its 16 MPs and 6 Senators that tracked each of the actual ministries and held ministers accountable; liaising with the Permanent Secretaries in order to ensure that policy was implemented and undue governmental pressure was not exerted on individuals or companies. To their credit, they did attempt to do this, but it fell apart quickly, even before the internal elections.

2. To provide effective representation to their voters and the wider population that did not support the election of the party in power. They needed to ensure that they were present at their constituency offices to serve the people that elected them and bring the issues facing the average person to the fore. Coming in from the government, they, more than any other group should have been well attuned to the issues facing people on a daily basis. Sure the simple, basic problems that existed 6 years ago when they demitted office still exist, but what proactive solutions have they proffered to combat these problems? They may not have the resources to implement the suggestions, but having documentation suggesting that an effort was made puts the onus on the Government as to why they didn't accept a possible solution. This is clearly seen with the immense pressure the GOTT has taken over the crime situation and now, with elections looming they are forced into consultations etc. Where was the similar pressure from the Opposition about Utilities, Economy or Health and Education? Imagine the leverage they could have had going into this election had they simply done their job.

3. Instead of bringing all these motions to the House as 'Urgent Public Importance' which were summarily dismissed by the Speaker (justifiably or not), why not use political maneuvers to have these motions tabled properly and force the GOTT into a debate even if the Private Motion would have been voted down by the majority of the government? The Democrats in the US pushed their bill through on the Iraq War Funding even though they knew that the President would veto and they didn't have enough support in either House to override the veto. Such a strategy would have forced the Parliament into voting or debating the motions and people would have seen for themselves how the response from members were. Instead, what we had were MPs like Partap, Nanan, Singh (Ganga) and Wade Mark seeking confrontation in the Houses when nothing at all was being done, except for a 2 min clip on the news that night. Not a single matter of urgent public importance was ever addressed!

4. Bargaining for what you want. Instead of withholding crucial votes and frustrating crucial legislation, they could have struck deals and ensured that some Opposition agendas were fulfilled. That way, they could have come to their supporters with some sort of proof that they actually engaged in a degree of decision making in the Red House. Ironically, the only time I remember in the life of the current Parliament that this ever happened, was when the COP gave conditional support for the Bail Bill in return for debate on the Equal Opportunity Bill. When the GOTT lapsed and the COP threatened not to renew the Bills, they tabled the bill, which is currently being debated. Had they not had that yolk over their head, do you think they would have given that Bill the time of day? And that's just a singular example of how the Opposition could have been more effective.

5. Call the bluff. There have been so many reports, rumors etc of wrong doing with the current administration. Why didn't the Opposition try to unearth as much as they could have with regard to these? There was much talk of Panday being singled out for prosecution under the Integrity Act. Why didn't the Opposition compile a list of similar offenders and remind the Integrity Commission that those persons were also in violation of the Act. Inundate them with letters and calls for action against the others until something happened. Instead, the Opposition went all wishy washy, caught up more with selling the (flawed IMO) point that there was a direct vendetta against, not only UNC supporters by the GOTT but against Indians on the whole. Where has that strategy gotten them? Won't it have been much more worthwhile to have organised their members to send in letters of complaint, organise protests (rather than the THREAT of protest) etc until some sort of decisive action was taken to ensure 'equality' before the law. But no, Panday chose to sell himself, selfishly, as a martyr. (of what, exactly is unclear, since there was damning evidence , provided by his own AG that he had an inappropriate account in London)

Those are just a few things that would have made for a stronger, more effective opposition in T&T over the last 6 years. We've spent the better part of the last 3 years seeing the UNC fall apart, while we spent the better part of the first 2 years seeing them try to get their act together.

A party cannot rely on people voting for them solely because they want to paint their opponents as monsters or proclaiming that anything would be better than them, if you don't have the track record to prove it. To harken back to the golden days of the UNC in the mid to late nineties needs a realisation that the UNC of 1995-2000 no longer exists, replaced instead by a shadow of a party (more like a committee of individuals seeking their own political survival) that has done very little in the preceding 6 years to demonstrate that they are competent to serve as the next government of T&T.

Dutty Wine

2007-04-27T10:01:00.001-04:00

Last night I sat eating my reheated dinner. It was leftover from lunch, and like most leftovers, it was a small task to fully complete its consumption. I flicked on the TV to look at the first National Debate for the Democratic candidates for the 2008 US Presidential election. Characteristically, I switched to the local news to see what new and exciting stories had captured the imagination of the press that day.

The lead story was that of Zen having their license revoked and now in an indefinite state of limbo concerning the status of their reopening. As I tried to reconcile the reasons why Zen should have their license revoked, I came to the conclusion that Trinidadians are a fickle bunch whose opinions change with the wind.

In the recent uproar over Danah Alleyne and her antics at Zen, the myriad of opinions show just how willing we are to be distracted by non issues.

Make no mistake. Zen was wrong in allowing admittance to an underage patron. There should have been better systems in place to check IDs. However, even the best systems contain flaws and having a rigorous system in place would not have prevented someone from slipping through the cracks. Zen’s responsibility is great, but it ends there.

People, for some reason are not willing to speak out and ask necessary questions of the other parties involved in this mess. Let’s start with the main culprit, Danah herself. She has admitted that she lied about her age to security to get through. She has admitted that she had a third party acquire the tickets for her and she has admitted that she lied to her father about her whereabouts that night. It is evident that she was determined to get into Zen, come hell or high water.

Having got past security, and probably thanking her lucky stars, she volunteered herself to go on stage in a public display with Akon. So we have at least four errors in judgment on her part. Danah is not as innocent as her father, brother and Manning would like us to believe.

The next party to this is her father. Akon’s performance did not start until 2 am. Was Dave not aware that his daughter had not yet returned home from an 'ice-cream' trip? In an age of cell phones and kidnappings, did he not call to find out about the whereabouts of his daughter after she had been missing for such a long time? Why was an alarm not raised? There are two very simple answers to this. The first is that Danah and Co. conspired well enough to keep her father in the dark, or Pastor Alleyne knew where his daughter was that night. Zen cannot be held responsible for ineffective parenting and the resulting fallout. The parent of a 14 year old is very much responsible for her actions.

What about those who acquired the ticket for Danah? Were they not aware that Danah was underage and not allowed into the nightclub? They are as culpable as anyone else in aiding and coercing her to attend the concert.

Akon's performance isn't necessarily everyone's cup of tea. But he was there to entertain those who had paid to see him. He would have been under the impression that this was a consenting adult.

Now, there is a huge outcry from prominent individuals. The issue has turned political, since her brother, Ian, was screened by the PNM for the Caroni East seat and is a member of the Arrive Alive campaign. Manning is now trying to save face by pleading for forgiveness of Danah. How convenient is the plea for forgiveness by these bigots, Pastor Winston Cuffie included, when just two weeks ago, they were silent on the call by another pastor from Tobago to ban Elton John from entering the island, based solely on his sexual orientation? Does forgiveness only apply to certain people? I would have thought that an all forgiving God would see no distinction in forgiving any of his flock. It seems as if these pastors are more hard line gods than God himself!

But Trinidad needs to take a serious look at itself. We allow ourselves to be blinded and brainwashed by people who claim to be cut from the cloth of God. It includes Pastor Manning, parading as the Prime Minister, Pastor Cuffie, who is more intolerant that most, Pastor Alleyne, whose daughter is a prime example of how not to rear children, Pastor Terrance Baynes who believes that homosexuality is a transmissible disease and the jewel in the crown, Pastor Vishnu Lutchmansingh, who claimed to have inherited from one obscure individual more than the GDP of the entire European Union.

And now, the thousands of other patrons of Zen are left to pay for a misbehaving teenager and her ineffective parent, while Zen themselves get their house in order. The most esteemed Defender of all things Moral, Manning, has seen it fit to drop every other issue plaguing this country since his ascension, to comment on what is effectively a matter involving a private establishment and law enforcement.

The only good that can come from this is that there should be stricter controls on who is allowed to enter nightclubs in this country. However, if the same Manning and Pastors Cuffie and Alleyne fail to do their part in addressing the social decay of this country, requiring IDs at entrances will serve only as a bandage over a gaping wound. A new industry of fake IDs will be set up and it will only take time before another 14 year old is made the clown in another media circus.

'A characteristic of the normal child is he doesn't act that way very often.'

The King and WI

2007-04-23T22:35:00.000-04:00

The high backlift. The crashing down of the blade and the perfect shot through the covers to the boundary. The Oscar winning performances ascribed to his name, even as the supporting cast failed to garner so much as a nod of approval.

He walked when he knew he was out. Sometimes, he had to walk when he knew he wasn’t. Now he has walked, pushed by the very hands that once applauded him. But that was the man. A gentleman and a sportsman on the field. The world of cricket had never seen and will never again see an incarnation of the great man. And it will be poorer for it.

The motivation of the man despite the negativity is something he will always be remembered for. His decorum and statesmanship was nothing short of that expected of the best diplomat.

As the salty tears streamed from his face on the fateful final day, his legions bowed before him and celebrated him. They acknowledged his status of Entertainer Supreme. He was the last of the old guard, from the era of greatness. A transitional soul that played at the heady heights of the early nineties to the dismal doldrums of the new millennium.

And as the indigenous orchestra played its farewell tune to its most celebrated son of the soil, realization was slowing sinking in that a void had been created that could never be filled.

He wasn't perfect, but it was his flawed genius that made him a legend. His off field antics and sometimes stubborn battles with administrators and sponsors served, not to blemish his legacy but to create it. The manner in which someone takes so much pressures without flinching takes much understanding.

Perhaps, fittingly, his imperfection is meted out by his 299 ODIs and 11,953 Test runs. Perilously close to unchartered territory. But then again, this was a man who discovered new heights and conquered them. These trivialities would have served only to affirm, rather than confirm his greatness.

In his final masterstroke, he has defied his detractors and ensured that he left on terms dictated largely by himself and no one else. He was a gentleman first, and a sportsman after. Others will be remembered for what they have done. He will be remembered for who he was and what he meant to the game. A greater compliment could not be paid.

Yes, we basked in his glory and cried at his feet. He was our man. He was our love. He was our Lara. And now, he is gone. The poet of great memories had written his final verse, without so much as a proper goodbye. And while there will be those who accuse me of elevating you on a pedestal, I rebut by saying that there is no harm in speaking the truth and no truth is more resounding than that which you have created for these islands in the last 17 years.

So thank you Brian. Thank you for the memories. Thank you for the 277, the 375, the 213 and the 153*, perhaps your greatest ever. Thank you for the 400* and the 501*. Thank you for being the Atlas for your nations. Headley would have been proud.

But thank you, Brian, for making the choice to leave when you did. For the ignominy of playing for those who do not deserve you superseded any more accomplishments that would have been added to an almost infinite list. You had nothing to prove and you proved that by exiting with your head held high and your dignity intact.

Dying to Live

2007-04-19T16:09:00.001-04:00

'The irony of man's condition is that the deepest need is to be free of the anxiety of death and annihilation; but it is life itself which awakens it, and so we must shrink from being fully alive.'- Ernest Becker

The complexity of our individual lives is as surprising as the interplay between us. We can play it like a song, a Shakespearean dramedy or even a movie. We can write our happiness, tragedies, achievements; even our jealousies and rage. Sometimes we are scripted, other times we ad lib. Most times we play a character that isn’t a representation of our true selves.

If we’re lucky, we grace this earth for about seventy years; the ancient biblical threescore and ten. Some of us manage to live past a century while others tragically fall during what should be the most prolific years of their lives. One thing is certain. We, most of us, are not aware of the hour at which we shall obtain our demise.

We only get one shot at living; a single passport at life. Some will swear that by fortune or by the grace of God, they have been given more than one chance at life. It is these who are most appreciative of life thereafter. They are the ones who grab the opportunity to live.

What would you do if you were given the chance to experience death and return to tell the stories? Many claim that they already have. Their near death experiences (NDEs) are tales of happiness and terror, confusion and disbelief. They all agree that there is some sort of life after our term expires here on earth. How then, do we rationalize our living? After all, no one has died and live to tell the tale! I believe that we must live to be happy.

Ill health transports us to a place that most of us choose not to visit. It unleashes upon our repressed souls the notion of our mortality. Having yet to extract the elixir that will grant us life ad infinitum, we grapple with the reality that one day we shall rejoin the soil from which we were first extracted. We shall become nothing more than the carbon, proteins and dust that formed our structure. We will no longer be sentient beings, if indeed, we were in the first place. Our veins shall run dry and, for the vast majority, the memories of our existences will crumble faster than the bones in our graves.

Happiness is defined by one’s own personal derivation of it. It is not universal in its attainment. It isn’t a do-as-you-please exercise. But true happiness can only be achieved when one is honest with oneself and can then charter a course in life toward successfully achieving it. For some, it will be a short, clear course, while others will navigate choppy waters. In the end, if you find the way to live every day as though it was your last, then you have done better than the most successful academic, sportsman or stockbroker.

Obstacles such as health may serve to detract. It is especially so if you have managed to initially overcome these woes. It is a torture because you think that every pain or strain may be an indication that your condition is returning or worsening. You live in perennial fear that you may once again have to face challenges that you never envisioned. You think that you cannot face another round of scourging. You think of the worst outcomes even before a proper diagnosis is made. You spend weeks pondering the results of the latest scans or bloods. I know you. I was you.

Don’t for one minute allow it to overcome you. I have come to realize now that regardless of the state of things around or within us, we must ensure that we live life fully. It is surely easier said than done, but the crux is that we live our lives until we die. To wallow and mope unnecessarily in the misgivings of our current realities is to allow death to have a premature stranglehold on our souls.

You can hope for a better reality post mortem, or you can simply ensure that the one life that you are certain exists, is justly served with the maximum amount of life due to it. And if, perchance you find happiness along the way, then does it really matter if there is a life hereafter? After all, once we are born we only hold a one way ticket to death.

April 12th, 2007

The Covenant

2007-04-09T00:04:00.000-04:00

Let us not deceive ourselves. Politicians are in the business of obtaining votes. Few admit to it but, to his credit, Basdeo Panday has made it clear on many occasions that his business in politics is simply in obtaining power. It was, after all, the motivation behind the now infamous Crowne Plaza Agreement of 2001 which failed so miserably that one must wonder what more it must take for supposedly experienced politicians to get their act together for the good of the country. And it is only then that you realize, or more accurately, it is consciously imposed on you that our politicians hardly ever have the interest of the country at heart in devising their political shenanigans.

As things stand currently, there will be a massive splitting of votes in the upcoming General Elections that will see the incumbent PNM win a majority of House seats quite comfortably. The population stands on the cusp of some serious decision making. No election in the history of this country has ever been more important. It is truly damning that Patrick Manning’s approval rating in Trinidad and Tobago is worse than George W. Bush’s in the USA, yet the major polls predict a landslide win for his party.

This is an overwhelming indication of the potential that vote splitting has in the First Past the Post system of elections. There can be no doubt that there is a desire for change. There is also no doubt that the population has become increasingly apathetic, fed up of 51 years of the same type of politics. There is a leadership vacuum with no clear heir to assume the position. In Medieval England, this would be solved by war, with the ascension to the throne of a new Royal Line. Our democracy, however, places us in the quagmire of returning spent forces to our legislative chambers and creating political dinosaurs.

Perhaps what is needed is a benevolent dictator to pull us out of our current predicament and set this country back onto a solid footing with a relatively efficiently functioning judicial, financial, health and education systems. But that is not even a viable option at this stage.

The solution lies not in Panday’s call for unity or Winston Dookeran’s rejection of any form of dialogue. Even though they may possess dichotomous personalities, their respective decisions and strategies simply culminate in a recipe for a PNM victory in the upcoming polls. One can be Machiavellian and adopt Panday’s pragmatic approach or settle for the inevitably futile method of Dookeran. Or one can compromise.

A compromise is not an alliance or an unification. It is not a repeat of 1986 or 1995. It lies in this middle aged Republic taking yet another step toward political maturity. We must come to embrace politics as if it were run like a corporate entity. If the Opposition forces are serious about unseating the incumbent, then they must negotiate a method by which they themselves contest the election against a single party rather than against each other as well as the incumbent.

The only verdict is that the warring factions must come to the table, not in an attempt to merge their parties or compromise their principles. There is a reason that the two parties are now separate, and it is no coincidence that much of that has to do on differing views on principles and integrity. However, an agreement concerning the contesting of seats in such a manner that no constituency proffers more than two viable candidates, the incumbent and the negotiated opposition candidate is perhaps the most vital of any in the hope of mounting a serious challenge. Following this agreement, and prior to the election, agreements must also be made on which party nominates the positions of Prime Minister, Attorney General, Minister of Finance, Minister of National Security and Minister of Foreign Affairs, subject to success at the polls.

This method seeks to bring bout some semblance of respectability to the process while allowing for the will of the people to be expressed in such a way that people are not felt cheated in the final outcome. It also allows the parties to maintain their identities without being drowned in a soup of conundrums if a merger were to take place. It also allows a simmering of suspicions between the organizations since there will be no attempt to dissolve one or both, in the name of forming a new entity.

Our only hope for a change of government at this point is a coalition, a covenant if you will, of the separate parties of the UNC and COP, not an alliance or unification.
The people will unite on their own volition, not on the manipulations of politicians. The politicians’ jobs are simply to ensure that the will of the people is manifest adequately at the highest levels of administration in the country, whilst maintaining integrity, accountability, transparency, decency and honesty.

It is perhaps the best solution to a situation that has no good solutions.

‘Don't sacrifice your political convictions for the convenience of the hour’- Edward Kennedy.

Sun Apr 08, 2007
03:16 A.M.

A New Day

2007-04-07T02:57:00.000-04:00

‘Let the rain come down and wash away my tears, let it fill my soul and drown my fears.’- Aldo Nova & Stephan Moccio

It’s 4 minutes into the new day and I find myself on the internet. Facebook to be exact. It has become more of an addiction than the distraction that it once was.

I flick the light switch off and come to bed, my blanket pulled to my chest. It's worn threadbare now, a relic of my childhood but the source of most of my warmth and comfort during those trying and sometimes unbearable years. Like an old, faithful pup, it has continued to keep me company though its best days have passed.

The rain falls as it has been for the last four hours. The drops on the roof sound garbled and every so often a cold wind blows that lifts the ceiling tiles and drops them back down, in a well choreographed dance. A colder breeze blows and the blanket reaches my neck. I know one day it will fail to offer me protection. But for now, it is my only refuge.

As I lie here contemplating, I wonder when exactly I grew up, making that transition from boy to man. It was probably around 8 or 9, a full hand of years before puberty. We make our judgments on rigid timetables set for us by our biologists. Hardly ever do we acknowledge that we place in the minds of our children the tasks of adults. Physically, the body bears it, but the mind is forever changed, in ways so profound, that we can never truly recover the simplicity of our childhood, however short it may have lasted. What I can’t place is that time I became hardened, frigid and cynical.

Life tests us. Whether it is a designed assessment to achieve a higher end or simply happenstance, we find ourselves caught in a web, trying to extract only that which can adequately and safely nourish us, but sometimes being forced to consume poisons such as hate, jealousy and criticisms for actions that are inherently private and no one else’s concern.

That is why I no longer attempt to please everyone. It’s why I now try to live as freely as I could without depending too much on others. And it’s why I am now trying to break this mould that has set for years. But it is an exercise in isolation to continue along this path. For there will always be the desire for being needed and loved. To intertwine one’s fingers with another’s. To close your eyes and know that you can completely trust. To love without castigation and hate. But most of all, to simply live, without having to kill your true self.

‘How far you go in life depends on your being tender with the young, compassionate with the aged, sympathetic with the striving and tolerant of the weak and strong. Because someday in life you will have been all of these.’- George Washington Carver

12:27am Tue 03/27/2007

A Moment in Time

2007-03-18T09:34:00.000-04:00

December 13, 2006
1:43 pm

Life is about moments they say. Exactly who 'they' are, are people I've never come to known.

At this moment I'm sitting in the med sci library looking at people go about studying. I probably should be as well. It's an important exam. I know that. I just feel out of place. As though I shouldn't be here. I know that I want to be a doctor. I think.

Countless people have told me that I will be good at it.But medicine isn't something you should ONLY be good at. It should be something you genuinely have a passion for. I never bargained to be around so many motivated and driven people. Socrates and Aristotle would be mortified to see the herd ingesting what they are told, regurgitating it, in exactly the same way that they swallowed it. No intermission for questioning.

It's quite laudable that there is such diligence and committment, especially from people who will have others' lives in their hands. But they are so immersed in a little world. Calmly taking breaks going to Rituals to buy their $22 chillers so they can be seen to part of an imaginary elitest establishment. They forget there's a bigger picture. A real world where people struggle to survive on a daily basis and where the rivers and seas dont run rich with milk and honey. They stand at the top of Everest already, not knowing the travails of those who actually had to climb the slopes, some rocky, most slippery.

I'm no expert, far from. I have had many experiences with different people in the quagmire of life. I have experienced some of the best and the worst. But I am thankful for all, since the litany of debris that I have collected along the way has made me a better, stronger person.

For all the bad that may have come and is yet to come, I am contented with my life. I am not ecstatic about most things, but introspectively, I am happy that I have reached this moment. Things could have been better, much better, yes. But then they wouldn't have been as interesting.

The point of life is not to become a doctor or to be a millionarie or to be president. It is simply to be happy. To achieve a sense of purpose and contentment without obstucting others from a similar bourn.

What a Tangled Web We Weave

2007-03-07T11:14:00.000-04:00

"This is a court of law, young man, not a court of justice." Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr.

No more was this evident than at Monday's hearing of the Chief Justice's criminal case against the State on charges of attempting to pervert the course of Justice. It has been claimed that everything that transpired was within the realm of law. Unfortunately, the law is not always within the realm of justice.

This piece is not to ascribe guilt or innocence upon the CJ. That is a matter for a court or tribunal. What is troubling is the process by which this matter has unfolded. In this particular instance, an allegation was made by the Chief Magistrate that the CJ had attempted to influence the outcome of the now infamous Basdeo Panday trial. A file was sent to the Director of Public Prosecutions and an arrest warrant issued. The CJ was successful in obtaining a stay of the warrant, even while a vanload of officers was at his door attempting to take him into custody.

This, remember, is the man who holds the third most powerful office in the land, after the President and the Prime Minister. Evading arrest, an injunction was filed that was taken all the way up to the Privy Council, where it was dismissed and the way was cleared for Chief Justice Sharma to be arrested. He was, and soon after, Roger Hamel-Smith was appointed by President Richards as a 'caretaker' CJ. Meanwhile, the other issue of a tribunal against the CJ seemed to take less precedence as the criminal matter continued. It should also be noted that the Privy Council had, at that time, stated that a continuation of BOTH matters would be oppressive against the CJ. One can only assume then, that the state was heeding the advice of the Privy Council by not continuing with the tribunal and instead focussing on the criminal case.

Fast forward to the last week or so. The defence in the case requested that the first witness to take the stand be Chief Magistrate McNicholls, the man on whose allegations the proceedings came into being in the first place. This request was made around February 21. Around the same time, and quite innocuously, the PM also announced the recommencement of an effort to initiate a tribunal. The Chief Magistrate failed to show on Mon 26, citing a case that he was presidding over and again on Wed 28, this time with no reason given.

Finally, appearing in court on Mon Mar 5, 2007, the prosecution dropped a bombshell. McNicholls had informed the state that he was not willing to provide evidence in the criminal case against the CJ. A criminal case where he was expected to be cross examined by Senior Counsel Pamela Elder. Interestingly, it was also a case where the PM was slated to be cross examined as well. After months of legal wrangling, the arrest of the 3rd most powerful man on the allegations of this same man, with the drop of a hat, the case had been dismissed on the refusal of the witness, a Chief Magistrate no less, to provide evidence.

Pertinent questions of the separation of powers and political influence in the judiciary must now be addressed. If the Chief Magistrate was not compelled any longer to give evidence in the criminal proceedings, then why was that not communicated to the court on the previous two dates that he was expected to testify? Why was the case even allowed to continue if the Chief Magistrate knew that he was no longer interested in pursuing the matter. All that was needed was a letter from him to the DPP, informing the DPP that his testimony would no longer be forthcoming.

Indeed, more troubling are the utterances since. The Chief Magistrate has now said that he is willing to give evidence in the Tribunal. One now has to wonder why the change of heart and indeed, how a WITNESS, can wield so much power over the conduct of an investigation into the CJ. It is indeed frightening to think that a single man can make an allegation, withdraw from testimony, present himself again for testimony at a place HE deems fit and the DPP, Prime Minister, Attorney General and others just play to the strains of his flute.

Indeed, the perception is that there is extensive collusion between those that seem to have a vested interest in the removal of the CJ. This, after all, is a man who was appointed, not by the incumbent administration, but by its predecessor. It is, symbolically, the final estate to fall from the legacy of the UNC administration, what with the changing of the President, PM, Attorney General,Commissioner of Police and the DPP. It would complete the royal flush, so to speak, should the administration be allowed to appoint someone deemed sympathetic to their causes as the head of the Judiciary.

What has been the relationship between the Chief Magistrate and the Prime Minister, Attorney General and the DPP? The PM has claimed that he is taking a hands off approach, but by the very nature of proceedings, he has stuck his hand, many believe too far into the cookie jar already. HE was the one that instituted proceedings for the establishment of a tribunal. HE met with BOTH the CJ and the Chief Magistrate. HE has written to the President and the CJ. HE was the one that stood up in Parliament and announced that HE gave an ultimatum to the CJ to resign or face prosecution, a power that he did not have and more so a perversion of the course of justice itself, if ever there was. And it will be foolhardy to believe that his chief legal advisor, the Attorney General, did not direct and was privy to these actions.

Indeed, one wonders at the timing of the abortion of the criminal proceedings and the announcement by the PM that he will again be looking into the establishment of a tribunal. With the criminal case already proceeding, and the CJ out on bail, would it not have been prudent to stay the tribunal hearings until the criminal proceedings were complete?

Too many questions have been raised. The CJ is as good as free since one would believe that testimony from McNicholls would be shaky, at best. His credibility has been irreparably damaged and with it, the credibility of the ENTIRE judiciary of the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago.

"Empires are broken down when the profits of administration are so great, that ambition is satisfied with obtaining them, and he that aspires to greatness needs do nothing more than talk himself into importance. He has then all the power which danger and conquest used formerly to give; he can raise a family, and reward his followers."- Samuel Johnson: Letter to John Taylor, (January 24, 1784)

A God Forsaken Land

2007-03-05T03:41:00.000-04:00

"When I tell the truth, it is not for the sake of convincing those who do not know it, but for the sake of defending those that do." - William Blake

It has become a sadistic ritual to even glance at the news. I wonder when the nightmare will end. Indeed, I wonder when it began, for it seems that the abyss of our current existences has infinitely no beginning and no end.

The soil of our land is turning red with the blood of the innocents. It is a land forsaken. Forsaken by its people, forsaken by its leaders, forsaken by its gods. We turn our eyes and bury our heads in the tainted sands. We can no longer bear our reality. We have become like the very ones we promised we would never imitate. We have become a people of silence, a spirit broken, cowering in fear.

Our lyricists have gone silent. Subservient to the powers, more imperialist now than fifty years ago. Yet there are those who will claim that such utterances are cloaked in hyperbole.

The truth, running at its lowest ever approval ratings, has become a precious commodity. It is like gold. One must dig through torrents of mud to find a speck. But unlike gold, that speck fetches such a devalued price that one wonders if it was worth finding it in the first place. It is not helped by the fact that as one digs for more specks, thousands fold more mud is poured in a valiant and many times successful attempt to keep them hidden.

Yet there is hope, for there must be. Though broken, there are a few who still remain with a resolve, steadfast so, that the truth be uncovered. While some remain with their heads in the sand and others exploit it for whatever they can get, still, there are others who insist that the innocents must be avenged. And they dig through the sands for the truth, despite the machinations of the imperialists.

We seek a leader. No. Not the romantic notion of a saviour, but a true leader. A leader of his people, not of his bankers. But first, we need the people to awake from their slumber and find within themselves such a person. For it is within the people that change must come. It must come with a fiery desire and an unmasked ambition for that which is better.

But, like the abyss aforementioned, no end is in sight and one harkens back to the stark reality of the present. Realising that, though personal opinion may be strong, it has not manifested into a collective movement. One can only hope that that movement will not come at too late a time to save the few remaining pillars of the nation that are still worth saving.

I say hope, because I no longer say pray. Indeed, like those who have left the shores of this once paradise for lands deemed safer it seems as if God too has decided that he has had enough. What more can be deduced, when millions of prayers every week, in our churches, temples and mosques go unanswered. When men of the cloth become men of the prisons or martyrs in the streets? We look upon God, even our leaders call his name, but, out of earshot, no response comes. Yet, like children who don't know better, the flock returns every week to beg for an intervention, trusting instead an abstract deity to save them rather than dealing proactively with a reality that has manifest itself more terribly now, than ever before.

"The belief in God is not therefore based on the perception of design in nature. Belief in design in nature is based upon the belief in God. Things are as they are whether there is a God or not. Logically, to believe in design one must start with God. He, or it, is not a conclusion but a datum. You may begin by assuming a creator, and then say he did this or that; but you cannot logically say that because certain things exist, therefore there is a God who made them. God is an assumption, not a conclusion. And it is an assumption that explains nothing."- Chapman Cohen

Ganges meets the Nile?

2007-02-22T13:15:00.000-04:00

Trinidad and Tobago is on a precipice. It's not a scare tactic or attempted hyperbole. The truth of the matter is that, for the better part of the last six years, T&T has experienced unprecedented times, with respect to crime, the economy and government. It has also showed up our citizens as willing pawns in a political game.

A deeper understanding of the motivation of people's support for politicians in T&T is needed. There seems to be an almost lamb to the slaughter approach when election time comes around and people are asked to support a particular political party. Many times, support for any given party is usually based on hereditary voting patterns or ethnic voting patterns. Very rarely do people take issues and debates into account and make a conscientious decision on Election Day as to which party will be fortunate enough to receive their support.

It is this wonton waste of democratic rights that has fuelled the arrogance of our political dinosaurs since Independence in 1962. Never has T&T has a Prime Minister who has genuinely had the people's interests at heart. On at least three occasions (1986, 1995 and 2001/2), the country had been false started into believing that change would bring about the yearning for a clean political scene. A scene devoid of the petty bitterness that has led to the collapse of governments, resignations of Ministers and MPs and years of feuding between rival politicians, all claiming to be on the side of the people.

Today, following the victory of the People's National Movement (PNM) in the 2002 polls, Trinidad and Tobago stands at the mercy of murderers, kidnappers and big business. Yet, we are constantly being told that the crime rate is really not that bad, kidnappings are on the decrease and smelter plants are good for your health. The (and to an extent, correct) belief that 1962 politics can swim with a 2007 population is as sad as it is scary.

The Opposition is in disarray. The UNC, fractured by a clique of self serving executive members. The spin-off, Congress of the People, started promisingly, but seems to have been losing most of its steam from its heyday, just 6 months ago when it drew a crowd of 15,000 to its launching and had polls citing 40% national support. That support has now dwindled to less than 9%, though its leader remains the most popular choice for Prime Minister of the Republic.

Where do we go from here? If we are to believe the latest polls, one of which has proven quite reliable (NACTA), then the PNM should handily win the next election, possibly with a constitional majority. Meanwhile, the old fox himself, Basdeo Panday, never one to miss an opportunity for division, has reclaimed the reins of the UNC and almost laughingly, in a Ghandi-like attempt, has called for a reunification of the Opposition forces. This, less than one year since he launched a calculated bid to rid the UNC of his then annointed successor, Winston Dookeran. Panday has paralleled Dookeran's refusal to respond to his call to a covert attempt at (Dookeran's) supporting the PNM's return to power. What's more is that his supporters have taken the bait and have begun to characterise Dookeran as a traitor (to what or whom is still unclear), perhaps not willing to delve further into an analysis of why Panday has had such stormy relations with so many of his previous comrades.

Quite simply, Panday's call for unity is hollow. Unity for the sake of removing the PNM is not what this country requires. This country needs unity for the sake of the country. Unity in the opposition forces was a reality a mere 12 months ago. Given his track record, there must be a genuine concern about whether or not Panday can truly lead a united front into a sustainable government.

Unity must be organic and honest, not pragmatic and selfish. There comes a time when one must move away from doing what is pragmatic and realise that the country needs to wake up and do what is right. Unity is right, but political unity does not equate to national unity. Panday and his cohorts can spout as much as they want but his track record is there for all to see, from NAR 86, to NAR 95 to Ramesh et al in 2000, Crowne Plaza in 2001 and most recently, Dookeran in 2006.It is fools gold to believe that Panday, at 72 will change his ways. He is a demagogue to his supporters and nothing more.

The right thing to do is for people to call the government to account. To not sit in business meetings or Chamber meetings and allow the Prime Minister to run riot while you complain about crime and the effect of wonton spending. Imagine a PM admonishes the business community on their own turf, and you can still hear a pin drop in the room.

It is time that people take responsibility for their actions. If you choose to waste your vote over representatives who do nothing for you, that is, fortunately, your democratic right. However, when things continue to go down the abyss that they are, those same people must understand that they contributed to the problem, and by then, it may have been too late to do anything about it.

Notice that, unlike others, I did not say that they should not complain. They are, after all entitled to do so. However, it is a testament to the mindset of many, that they vote for these same representatives, get the same results, proceed to complain, but do nothing substantive to change the status quo when elections are held.

Humans have the ability to learn from mistakes, but like a brainwashed bunch, there seems to be very little dynamism when it comes to the selection of representatives when elections are held and it is an indictment that our politicians fail to foster an educated electorate.

An electorate that should understand that Government is not a prize to be won but a serious responsibility to be entrusted with.

Democracy in T&T

2007-02-17T02:13:00.000-04:00

Als die Nazis die Kommunisten holten,
habe ich geschwiegen;
ich war ja kein Kommunist.

Als sie die Sozialdemokraten einsperrten,
habe ich geschwiegen;
ich war ja kein Sozialdemokrat.

Als sie die Gewerkschafter holten,
habe ich nicht protestiert;
ich war ja kein Gewerkschafter.

Als sie mich holten,
gab es keinen mehr, der protestieren konnte.

Recognise that poem? It was first published in 1976, more than 30 years ago. It remains as pertinent now, as it was then. The translation is at the end. By then, you'd probably have hazarded a good guess on what it is.

In a functioning democracy, it is usually the will of the majority that prevails. For whatever reason, be it constitutional insufficiency, citizen apathy or political arrogance, Trinidad and Tobago seems to be emerging as a democracy of only titular significance. There have been numerous examples of citizens’ calls for changes in policy at the national level, all of which seem to have been falling on deaf ears.

George Bernard Shaw once said that ‘Democracy is a device that ensures we shall be governed no better than we deserve.’

Our elected representatives and governments are proxies to function on our behalf. Practically, I do not believe that there could be consultation on every minor issue or that it is indeed plausible that citizens can have a direct say on every issue. (even though Cantons in Switzerland show that it can happen) However, when our representatives act contrary to the will of the people and especially when they do so in the caviler and arrogant manner of late, they must be held accountable. That accountability could come in the form of calling for the sacking or resignation of such representatives, but in our Westminster system, it really only comes once every five years when we have the opportunity to vote.

What sense then, does it make for people to continually vote for the same representatives when it is evident that that vote counts for little more than reinstalling someone who views his voters as a mechanism to retain 5 more years of an MPs salary and if he is lucky, a ministerial salary?

It screams of a political immaturity on the part of the majority of Trinbagonians when they cannot summon the courage of their convictions to make decisions that benefit themselves. With apathy abounding, a negligence to participate in the institutions that support our freedoms only serves to benefit those masters of spin who come begging cap in hand every five years to return them to power, only to neglect the very people who put them there.

It is only when the people demonstrate the will to actively engage in a movement for change that the politicians will sit up and take notice and realize that they no longer have a free ride to a seat in Parliament. It is only when people begin to take mature and objective perspectives on the issues that democracy can truly flourish.

Gandhi once said: ‘The spirit of democracy cannot be imposed from without. It has to come from within.’ People must take the initiative and realize that they have the right to speak out regardless of who tells them to ‘Shut Up!’ They must let their views be heard so that it cannot be said that they were silent when things were going awry. Regardless of who tries to suppress them, remember that ideas are indeed bulletproof and that if they manage to suppress one or two or ten or one hundred that there must be thousands more willing to protect the very foundation on which this country purportedly came into being, that of democracy.

While our politicians meander along a path towards the next General Election without care for dealing with issues currently at the forefront of the public’s interest, let us take the initiative to deal with the issues. Let us set the agenda and say that WE want to talk about the rising cost of living or the unacceptable murder figures or aluminum smelters. Do not let the politicians set the agenda for us.

That is the potential of a democracy. We must begin to effectively use whatever little power that we have and show the politicians that the most important office in a democracy is indeed that of the citizen. Interesting indeed will be that day when the Trinidadian politician must display humility, gratitude, accountability and those other aspects that citizens not only demand, but deserve.

Should we fail, there is no question that we will surely rue the day that we did not speak and act when we had the opportunity.

When the Nazis came for the communists,
I remained silent;
I was not a communist.

When they locked up the social democrats,
I remained silent;
I was not a social democrat.

When they came for the trade unionists,
I did not speak out;
I was not a trade unionist.

When they came for me,
there was no one left to speak out.- Martin Niemoller (1892-1984)

Happy New Year

2007-02-16T03:19:00.001-04:00

Created: December 31, 2006

So here we are. 365 days from where we were last year. Don’t know about you, but it doesn’t seem as though much has changed.

Counting upwards of 370 murders. Politicians still playing us for fools. Us, allowing ourselves to be played for fools.

Politicians being hanged. Wait, that one wasn’t so bad. They should be more encompassing with that one.

A kidnapped businesswoman who’s probably already dead. Money flowing like water, but water not yet flowing through our pipes.

Prices raising like Hef on Viagra. Well, maybe not. Hef’s been in the business so long that he’s probably permanently risen.

Back to school in a week.

So what are my New Year’s Resolutions? None. Oh wait, I have this doctor thing I’m trying to do. I should probably try to do that well. That’s not so much a resolution as much as it’s necessary.

Usually I have a couple, but this year, I’m just being honest with myself. May as well have none to break than feel lousy next week about breaking them all. (Cynical meter just went through the roof)

Seems like the more things change, the more they remain the same. Somebody already said that. Well, the more things change, the more I wish they won’t. Or at least, changed differently.

I have real issues with Darwin. This adaptation thing hasn’t been too good for me. Maybe I’ll expire soon from failure to adapt. Either that or bring down the rest of the species with me. Now, there’s a thought.

Happy next 365 days. Just happens that it’s 2007 years after a kid was born in a barn in Israel.

But before that, just have a good day tomorrow and a good week next week. And somewhere in there, do something good. So that 365 days from now, you can look back and say that you made a difference and people and things were better for it.

Then, maybe, cumulatively, you might just have that great year. No guarantees or refunds on that, eh.

Cheers. Oh, and pour me another.

Death of a Friend

2007-02-16T03:15:00.001-04:00

Created: December 25, 2006

Why do bad things happen to good people?

I wasn’t into the Christmas spirit anyway, but the last couple days have made that even worse. You see on Friday, I lost a schoolmate, a classmate, a friend.

He was only 22 years old. His demise was the result of a failed health system. A health system that has failed many before and will continue to fail in the future until the cronies in charge are removed and the health system becomes one of serving the people rather than the pockets of crooked doctors, businessmen and politicians. And it’s not even the public heath institutions I’m referring to.

But he wouldn’t want me to rant about this. He was a simple and humble man. Polite beyond comprehension and with a sense of duty to his friends and especially his family. He was an exemplar to us all. An exemplar by the way in which he sacrificed so much of his own potential luxuries in order to be a rock for his family. He was only just finishing his studies even while working full time. He was going to work on something he enjoyed.

If ever I wanted to believe that there is indeed a higher power, it is in times like these. I want to refuse to accept that people like him are taken from us, not to go onto a higher realm. A realm beyond our comprehension. Life throws obstacles in our way. He had overcome many in his short lifetime. This was one that he had no control over, because I’m sure if he did, he would have persevered to find a way around it. He did not want to go. He suffered for three weeks before finally succumbing. In the end, it was perhaps the better thing, given his condition. Even so, he was taken from us unbearably young.

A couple weeks ago I read about a 100 year old man, Marvin L. Northern who finally received his university degree. He had fallen one credit shy when he didn’t have the chance to take the Chemistry 101 class in 1929. He had to leave school to help out his family when the Great Depression hit. The university conferred the degree after he took a substitute class for Chem 101. He had been enrolled in that class for 100 years, without even knowing it. It was Life 101 and the University passed him with an A+, citing that ‘He’s mastered that course and mastered it well.’

Even though he was only 22, Suren would have passed that class with flying colours. He had experienced more life in his 22 years than many would experience in four times that. And in the end, I suppose that should be the #1 thing on our list of things to do while we’re here on Earth. To pass Life rather than have Life pass us by.

Who knows, maybe when we ourselves make that final journey to our graves or pyres, it would make more sense but for now, it seems unfair and cruel. A test of our faith and beliefs to make us realize how fickle we all are.

The holidays are all about misery and obligation, yet strangely, like a masochistic ritual, it doesn’t seem right until each element of the process is ultimately fulfilled. So lights, cameras and acting, it has begun. Usually I’d try but this year, I’m just indifferent.

So to all of you have an enjoyable and safe Christmas. Whether you’re like me and just going through the motions and managing a genuine smile once every so often or you’re really into the Christmas spirit. Take care of each other, because in the end, it’s only each other we have.

Rest in Peace Dewan Surendra Ramberran, Gerard Bertand, Garnet Lalla Maharaj and all other Pres Men taken from us too soon.

A Lonely, Old Man

2007-02-16T03:12:00.002-04:00

Created: December 07, 2006

It was raining. I frowned, livid by the fact that I was going to get soaked, yet again.

I walked into the room and there he was. Sitting in the corner chatting. He looked his usual self, dressed as though time had stopped thirty years ago. This was supposed to be easy. In and out. A quick escape in order to go back to the ruckus of studying for exams the next week.

As the others filed in, we realized that the six of us didn’t constitute the requirement for continuation. He insisted that we did, much to our chagrin. We tried to accelerate the pace in order to stunt the inevitable boredom. It was futile. He had determined that he was going to keep us there as long as he was legally permitted to do so.

I was angry at first. Angry that he could be so vindictive. He KNEW we had exams. Why was he doing this?

Anger turned into acceptance that I could do nothing about the situation. Acceptance gradually turned into a realization that this was an act, not of venom, malice or hate.

He was divorced. He spent his week looking forward to this day. He prepared more for it than all of us combined. He had no children, and I suspect that he regretted it. Today was the last day for the next two months that we were going to see him.

His melancholy existence was not apparent until he spoke. He was an enigma. Surrounded by many yet lonely. He spoke to many, but not with many. He knew many, but he did not know them.

Fourteen people every week. It was his form of decampment from a cursed reality.

And while we continued his spirits visibly lifted and for that time, he had a reason for living. It was one experience gained, rather than three hours wasted.

We finished and I walked out the door. It was raining. I frowned, still livid that I was going to get wet.

Of Aristocracy, Hope and Bitterness

2007-02-16T03:06:00.001-04:00

Created: November 29, 2006

Have you ever gotten that feeling? You know, the one that you can’t exactly describe? It’s a myriad of different emotions. Not sure if to cry or laugh or just ponder the reasons why you find yourself awake at 2 a.m. and thinking. Not studying to get that coveted piece of paper that somehow validates 3, 4, 5 or more years at school. Just sitting up and thinking.

Mt Hope cannot be called many things, from fun to exciting or even stimulating. But it can, at least for many who frequent it either for studying or teaching, be called pretentious. For some reason there’s a constant need to be validated and posture oneself as superior to others. It happens everywhere, of that I’m acutely aware, but for some reason, there seems to be an epidemic of epic proportions from this conglomeration of Pres Boys, CIC, Fatima, Naps Boys and Girls, SAGHS and especially those ‘Convunt’ Girls.

It probably wouldn’t have had me up thinking at 2 a.m. under different circumstances, but when I think that these are going to be the doctors of tomorrow I shudder. We already have a crisis in the health sector, admittedly not solely the fault of doctors, but when I look around, I don’t see that the future holds the hope of a change in attitude. Insularity abounds and it reinforces that while one works for 3, 4, 5 or more years on that piece of paper, what isn’t obtained is a real desire to interact with and genuinely care for people. That is why now, more than ever, there is a dimunition of respect for health providers, especially doctors, who were once held in the highest esteem.

We can complain as much as we want about the deleterious state of our nation, but until we actively become involved in making changes in attitudes, we will always find ourselves in a vacuum of want. The politicians know that while the people are content to simply complain without action, they hold the upper hand. We have to not only want change, but also actively pursue it. Hope is not a strategy.

Having broken the shackles of the last year, I was forced last night into thinking whether I was bitter about the events that transpired. I never consciously believed that I was. I was hurt and disappointed, but I never thought that I exuded a bitterness about it. Perhaps at a subliminal level it manifested itself and somehow escaped in an unpleasant way. I don’t hold grudges. More simplistically, I’m happy once you’re happy.

A friend once told me that I let everyone walk all over me. Perhaps it’s my nature not to be confrontational about pettiness. Maybe that was why I let myself get burnt as badly as I did. It’s because a series of petty incidents can rear a very ugly head, if summated. That was what they didn’t understand. That was why the arguments fell flat every time an example was asked for.

You see, a single incident is as petty as stealing your neighbor’s flower to make your vase look nice. Put them all together though, and it is as though you stole your neighbor’s wife. Maybe they should all go to hell. Maybe I really am bitter. Maybe I shouldn’t think at 2 a.m.

Return to Innocence

2007-02-16T03:00:00.001-04:00

Created: November 07, 2006

That's not the beginning of the end, That's the return to yourself

Live as though you were to die tomorrow, learn as if you were to live forever-Ghandi

This is the epitomy of life. Making the most of what you have and preparing best for the future. Striking the balance between both can be more difficult than walking the tightrope at the Suarez Circus. In the past week, this has been no truer.

It brings us back to the eternal questions: What is the meaning of life? What is the purpose of living?

Don't be afraid to be weak, Don't be too proud to be strong

Too often today we see life being treated with such scant regard. We've already violently lost over 300 of our brothers and sisters, mothers and fathers, sons and daughters this year. It is as though we have become immune to death now. We keep tolerating higher and higher levels of murder without demanding that the carnage be stopped. And when demands are made, too often the response is little more than a mere dismissal that crime really isn't as bad as it seems. Slowly, but surely, we're descending into anarchy. We saw what happened in the communities when Shazard Mohammed and now Kevin Valley were killed.

If you want, then start to laugh, If you must, then start to cry

Sweet, sweet T&T, what is happening to my country? When will we learn? When can we live again? When will our mothers, from Laventille to Cedros, stop weeping?

Since I started Year Three, it seems as though every lecturer has decided that I'm the most 'pickable' person in the group. Never, though, would I have thought that profound words would have echoed, intentional or not, from the lips of my Hematology professor, even while he tried his best to single me out for questions.

Be yourself don't hide, Just believe in destiny

While discussing the rates of infection in transfused blood, he noted that the contraction of HIV was 1 infection in 250,000 to 1 million transfusions. He then pensively added:

'While one in a million sounds like a miniscule amount, it is astronomical if you happen to be that one'

It's a variation of the old saying: I will consider nothing, unless it pertains to me

We have lost our sense of brotherhood and sisterhood. I am guilty as well of not being my brother's or sister's keeper. As we go about living, we don't stop to think much of others.

I've often looked at a vagrant or prostitute or a street child or drug addict and wondered of their story. What concoction of circumstance and choice has engineered their current situation?

Why aren't we paying more attention to helping them in our time of plenty? Do they want to be helped? Are they, despite the despise and cruelty inflicted on them by us, the seemingly educated and well off in society, happier than we are, with all our material wealth and university degrees?

It is only when it hits home that we stand up and pay attention. It is only when our son from Westmoorings is kidnapped that we are outraged. It is only when our rights are threatened that we stand up and defend. It is only when we are threatened that we react with a varacity and belligerence belying the morals and high grounds that we have previously stood for.

Perhaps it is human nature. It is just an excuse, though.

Don't care what people say, Just follow your own way

I want to move on but I don't know if I do. I don't want to be hurt again. I've had too much to deal with. It's said that you're never given more than you can handle. I think I can't handle much more. I don't know how much more I can bear. The spirit is strong but the heart is weak. I don't think it can possibly shatter into many more pieces.

That's not the beginning of the end, That's the return to yourself

'You're on your own, get used to it.'

Perhaps it is indeed human nature to be cruel. I can't believe that this could be said from someone whom I once considered a friend.

Perhaps it is time to return to the innocence of childhood, whatever little that was left after it was snatched.It is the only way to start anew. It is human nature to survive, and survive I must.

Don't give up and use the chance, To return to innocence - Enigma

Friendship Evaluated

2007-02-16T02:57:00.001-04:00

Created: September 07, 2006

Remember when we were innocent and things didn't matter?

George Washington, the first American President once said:

Be courteous to all, but intimate with few, and let those few be well tried before you give them your confidence. True friendship is a plant of slow growth, and must undergo and withstand the shocks of adversity before it is entitled to the appellation.

I think he was probably on to something. It's probably not surprising that my best friends and confidantes are those that I've known for at least the last 6 years. Maybe it's true that you can't find true friendship quickly, that it's a slow growth. Maybe that's why I have probably only a handful of friends that I can actually call true.

I always thought that I had good judgement. I still do. Maybe I need to stop listening to my head and more to my heart. Maybe I should make decisions based on what I believe rather than on what others would want me to believe.

I have always had very liberal ideas and ideals. I detest the self righteous 'right'. I have always believed in free will and live and let live. Why judge others when we are all imperfect? Why judge by race, class, nationality, gender, sexual orientation or even by the simplist of nuances like clothes, cars or significant others?

Maybe I am too simplistic and out of touch with reality. Maybe it's up to our generation to make the difference. Maybe we should stop trying to live for tomorrow or next week or next year. Don't get me wrong. We should always work for a better future, but isn't there something to be said about this moment? The one that we live in right now. This very moment when you're reading my journal and ask why, why not live as if each day was your last?

You're not guaranteed tomorrow, only right now. Why seek divisiveness, hypocricy, deception and frivolity? Seek upliftment and don't discriminate. We are all one. If you're religious, most teach that we have come from One and will so return. We are all brothers and sisters in this brief excursion on Earth.

Let us take care of each other.

The Journey Begins

2007-02-16T02:50:00.001-04:00

Created: July 03, 2005

Surrounded by people you know, yet you wonder why you're still feeling alone.

Maybe it's the moment and you're caught up with yourself so much that you don't stop to think about others. Not just the ones you know personally but just others in general.

What's the purpose of living if it isn't to do good? Sure, you'll be mean or mischievious, but greater good is what I mean. Help people who are truly in need. Learn to care for others.

Sometimes I think my generation is failing. Failing to realise that life isn't about what you can get out of it, but what you do to make the most of it. Legacy-what're you going to leave behind that would make people know that you were great, not just good.....that you truly believed what you said.....that you had passion.

To live is not only to live for yourself, but to live like the rest of the world depended on you. To make a difference.

To leave a legacy.