Seeing a big picture requires a lens shaped by multiple streams of information. If you live within the confines of a cave, everything you know is defined by its walls. Not so? It follows that how you respond to events is determined by the knowledge that you have to work …
Read More »Vaneisa: Get up, stand up—T&T must ditch apathy to save country
Responses to the declaration of a state of emergency have predictably been draped in political flags. As usual, everyone knows what should be done, and just as in West Indies cricket, everyone knows where the blame falls. What continues to be apparent is that it is not politically expedient to …
Read More »Vaneisa: Walking away; when to cut your losses and move on
We associate the idea of walking away from something as an admission of failure, of quitting, and giving up. North American films are famous for having protagonists proclaim that they will never quit. Generally, the idea that’s been sold is that one must stick to the thing at all costs. …
Read More »Dear editor: Crime is hot topic, but inequal education system is T&T’s deepest issue
“[…] Our deepest issue is the inequality of our education system. Despite calls for reform, we’re stuck with a system that often doesn’t prepare young people for a changing world. “The prestige schools have better facilities, better managed teachers, and more opportunities compared to schools in rural or poor areas. …
Read More »Vaneisa: The ghosts of Christmas yet to come—how ‘small ting’ erodes T&T society
The final visit from the trio of Christmas ghosts takes Ebenezer Scrooge to a future—his possible future if he maintains his current pattern of behaviour. While Charles Dickens depicts this particular spectre as the most dreadful of the lot, it is actually the one who really represents the most hopeful …
Read More »Noble: The weary world rejoices—escape the darkness this Christmas
“[…] A thrill of hope! The weary world rejoices. Long lay the world in sin and error pining, till He appeared and the soul felt its worth…” Excerpt from the carol O Holy Night. 2024 has been a very tough year! The word ‘pining’ captures our mood after the battering of …
Read More »Vaneisa: The ghosts of Christmas Present—festivities without fripperies and foolishness
Comparing Christmas past with what exists nowadays is something I wanted to do as a way of measuring change. It had been partly influenced by the memory of Charles Dickens’ classic, A Christmas Carol, which was first published in December 1843. I’d thought the story of the miserly, mean-spirited Ebenezer …
Read More »Vaneisa: Ghosts of Christmas Past—cheer, chores and counterfeit
Everyone has their particular memory of childhood Christmas. It is one of those universally observed seasons that is inescapable. Even if you belong to a community that ignores or abhors it, the very act of spurning the commemoration leaves an impression of some sort. The month of December is probably …
Read More »Noble: The Highlanders road—how Robert Hernandez builds community through pan
“They say mih country so stressful, so tense/ With race hate, young jail bait, too much violence. Girl, pack up and go, this sweet Trinbago/ I tell dem no way (no way)/ How de people small-minded, macocious and loud/ Of bobol and scandal they boastful and proud/ Yet somehow I …
Read More »Vaneisa: Out of the loop—six days without the internet
Last Saturday, just before the tea break during the West Indies Test against Bangladesh, I scurried to my kitchen to prepare some herbs for the bhaji rice I was planning to cook on Sunday. It had been pouring heavily, thunder and lightning dropping a menacing feel to the afternoon. Suddenly, …
Read More »Vaneisa: Warming up for Christmas—how to get through a daunting season
I wanted to write something about the approaching season, and found this column from five years ago. It said most of what I wanted to say so I used it as the basis for today’s offering. There’s frenzy. And stillness. Gaiety and brooding. The full spectrum of human emotions stretches …
Read More »Dear Editor: “Why is there suffering in the world if God exists?”
“[…] I insist that God is good. I insist. However, a lack of understanding regarding how He works results in Him getting a bad rap. “[…] I would like to advance that there is logic to God, that there is more to life than meets the eye, and that there …
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