Guest Columns

The presentation and discussion of a national budget usually focus on competing ideas about the future of a country. The process is a statement about the development of the country. In 2020, Branko Milanovic, a reputed US economist, wrote, “the most important role economic policy can play now is to …

There’s a coalpot somewhere in my storeroom. And I own a bicycle.  Truth is, I down here long. So I don’t need any advice from any MP about how to prepare for what’s coming. I really down here too long fuh that. And after reading Scotty Ranking’s recent piece on …

“Words are the clothes thoughts wear” — Samuel Beckett, Irish writer. The Budget debate and its fallout sent me scurrying to recall Beckett’s writings. He is the author of “Waiting for Godot”—a play the late James Lee Wah introduced to me in the early 70s.  The state of play on …

The killing of the four Fyzabad youths narrated on the soundtrack of the sad stories of their parents is depressing. These young criminals were in their early 20s. But while we scratch our collective heads, we should recall that these are not the first children involved in murders. In 1993, Prisons …

This week, the shooting to death of the two security guards, Jeffrey Peters and Jerry Stewart, and the four bandits reminded me of Mahatma Gandhi’s quote: “The future depends on what we do in the present.”  It is highly disingenuous to wring our hands and bemoan the state of our …

One of the most dangerous things in life is to have someone ‘sweet talk’ you while being inauthentic. They say all the right words you want to hear, but the words do not mean a thing!  The Joint Select Committee on the Central Statistical Office (CSO) had words but nothing …

Our teachers’ day of ‘rest and reflection’ is entirely unsurprising. It is the natural outcome of events that began in the 1980s. The chickens have come home to roost. But even now, we, the society, are unprepared to confront the significant issues. We are stuck at “we want we money now”!  …

Buckingham Palace announced on Thursday 8th September 2022 the death of Her Royal Highness Queen Elizabeth, as per her official title. That announcement seemed to evoke powerful emotions from around the world and not just among the Royal family and the British people.  The world is now in mourning. All …

Harvard Business Review (April 2019) warned that perfectionism is a double-edged sword that can either motivate you to deliver high-quality work or cause you much anxiety and slow you down.  Are we witnessing this play out with the many iterations of the procurement legislation saga, or is it something else? …

“Forged from the love of liberty, in the fires of hope and prayer, with boundless faith in our destiny. We solemnly declare: Side by side, we stand Islands of the blue Caribbean sea. This our native land. We pledge our lives to thee.  “Here every creed and race find an …

On 30 August 1962, young boys from San Fernando, Rio Claro and Tobago stood shoulder to shoulder with the Tunapuna crew and others from Woodbrook and Ellerslie Park. We were all form one Queen’s Royal College students, present at the Queen’s Park Oval to hear Dr Eric Williams address the …

“[…] From the very first note, a Rudder song grabs your soul, and never lets it go. He gave us the anthem that still rallies West Indians near and far. He beseeched us to appreciate our neighbours, and to empathise with them in their times of struggle. He used calypso …