Misunderstanding is an old human problem. All of us have experienced being misunderstood at some point in our lives. Sometimes it is funny, as in sitcoms; they love to create misunderstandings or have characters lie for a laugh. But we know what it is to share something with someone, expecting …
Read More »Vaneisa: Dear President Kangaloo, here’s one way to advocate for change in our youth
President Christine Kangaloo played a hopeful string of chords for me with her inaugural address. She spoke of modernising the protocols that govern how citizens and her office interact, and “having its facilities put to even greater use in hosting cultural, educational and artistic ventures, particularly among the youth”. My …
Read More »Vaneisa: Hauntings from the past—Gabriel García Márquez and reconciled childhood memories
The fantastic stories he told emerged from the cellar of his childhood—resurrected and polished till they exuded the patina of his mind. Gabriel García Márquez often said that what Westerners called magic realism was actually commonplace events in his native Colombia. Over and over he mined moments from those days …
Read More »Vaneisa: Inside an abandoned world; breaking the cycle of violence and cruelty
LAST August, I wrote about Wishing for Wings, the 2013 book by Debbie Jacob, and the 2022 film by Dr Kim Johnson. I’d written about the indefatigable efforts of these two in promoting the culture of this melodious, cacophonous paradox called Trinidad and Tobago. The film’s premiere was then being …
Read More »Vaneisa: Portals to the Past—the power of meals and dreams
Ask people what it is that makes certain meals so special for them, and I bet that when they reflect they will say it is because it invokes some warm memory from childhood. Hardly is it connected to a lavish spread—it has more to do with its homely nature. The …
Read More »Noble: Reclaiming the dream—reconceptualised housing and family planning can lift T&T
As a people, we have dreamed that our lives would be better than those of our parents—and that our children would live even better lives. The harsh reality was exposed with the 2017 MFO Economic Sentiment Report. It showed a decline from three-quarters of our people who felt that life …
Read More »Vaneisa: Space for our diversity—T&T must resist “segregation” of “special interest” concerns
A long time ago, I had a discussion—maybe an argument—with a newspaper editor about what constituted “soft” news. He thought that issues affecting women were soft, and should be relegated to pages headed by labels that suggested they were for women only. Instinctively, I rejected that. It seemed to me …
Read More »Demming: “Our society must urgently navigate potholes of life… We need a deep, systemic redesign”
Forty years ago, while I was pregnant, I fell into a pothole. Fortunately, the fall did not terminate my pregnancy, but I still have the scar on my foot as a reminder. Forty years later our country continues to be haunted by potholes, despite owning the Pitch Lake and producing bitumen …
Read More »Vaneisa: Finding room in the little hut; a parable for unpacking problems
Snippets from childhood can pop up arbitrarily and stick in your head. As a wee reader (from the age of three), I read anything I could find, and some things have obviously lingered. I kept hearing this line from what was probably a morality tale during a difficult period these …
Read More »Orin: Your guide to wining responsibly—from an eight-year T&T resident
“[…] The number one complaint I get from women I asked about wining protocol is about men who don’t how to take their one wine and be contented. A wine does not necessarily signify a wish for continuing engagement or a deeper bond—irrespective of vigor, intensity or degree of contact. …
Read More »Vaneisa: In the wake of death—how different cultures say “farewell”
When someone dies, it is traditional to hold a wake. It’s a time for relatives and friends to gather during the nights before the funeral to offer commiserations and support for the grieving ones. Wakes are thought to have originated within the realm of Catholicism, when the idea was to …
Read More »Noble: Playing chess with The Dragon; Dr Rowley’s gas gamble
“For any developing economy dependent on a single export commodity, powerful economic and political forces, both domestic and external, qualify the choices open to governments and structure their incentives. “[…] It is tempting to put the blame on poor leadership and examples of questionable public policy. In the end, governments …
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