“This stance against child marriage must be seen as an absolute. Much like the universal condemnation of child soldiers, so too we must recognise that child marriage can never be justified.” The following Letter to the Editor on child marriage, in response to recent remarks by Opposition Leader Kamla Persad-Bissessar, …
Read More »Scary Shamfa! Ex-FITUN official Akins Vidale on the iron fist inside the TDC glove
I can still remember the accolades coming in from many quarters for the impressive PNM candidate for Tobago West in the 2015 General Election. I refer, of course, to Shamfa Cudjoe. It took one short month in office for the newly appointed Minister of Tourism to declare to the Parliament …
Read More »Taking a long, hard look: Daly explains why courts can’t save us without better policing
I suppose one can admire the zeal with which the Attorney General, Mr Faris Al Rawi, pursues his causes in the Parliament. Likewise, members of the Opposition have made a number of valid points concerning legislation brought before the Parliament recently. It would of course be more palatable if both …
Read More »Pen in school, Minister Garcia? Best honours brother who fathered the writer in him
I couldn’t believe my ears. Had the radio just said that the Minister of Education was planning to start instruction in panmanship in the nation’s schools? Had someone finally seen the light after all these years, just as the Lloyd Best Institute of the West Indies was launching a week-long …
Read More »Letter to the Editor: Is T&T cursed by our horsemen of the Apo-calypso?
“How else can one explain our two honourable Houses of Parliament, Upper and Lower, that seem to be ordained never, like East and West, to meet? “Where parliamentarians and some senators too seem to spend more time in the highest courts of the land trying to embarrass one another, to …
Read More »Letter to the Editor: Carnival, Panorama and ketching the spirit
“You don’t have to be an expert to realize that Panorama pieces are saturated with arrangers’ attempts to evoke certain emotions in the listening audience, which, in turn, are designed to elicit particular responses… “Successfully executed and then terminated with a flourish, these figures often have the effect of making …
Read More »Is Cudjoe’s TDC move a sham? Ex-TIDCO CEO on Govt’s new tourism plan
Government last week announced a decision to dissolve the Tourism Development Company (TDC) and replace it with two, maybe three agencies. It is unclear, to me at least, what the government might have in mind with this move. Minister Shamfa Cudjoe’s announcement made me remember a line from the Eagles’ …
Read More »Is the Ministry of Education waiting for our own Columbine?
“We are still grappling with—and even clueless about—how to curb the high crime situation in the wider society. Any wonder the violent behaviour is mirrored in our schools? “And let us not stick our head in the sand because these pupils live in the communities and maybe even repeatedly interface …
Read More »Usain cyar Bolt in fetters! Best on mas, media and more mistakes
Some people will stop at nothing to bring a good man down; many of them are in the media. Ask soon-to-be former NCC chairman Kenny De Silva who decided to resign after reading an editorial in the Express. Or current Pan Trinbago president Keith Diaz who has decided NOT to …
Read More »Our dilemma: Daly looks at the soft underbelly of Trinidad and Tobago society
Winston Churchill, the glowing imperialist, at the time when he was seeking to have Europe fortified against Nazi Germany, referred to Italy as the soft underbelly of Europe. What Churchill meant was this: However successfully Europe was fortified, it would be vulnerable to the attack through the soft underbelly of …
Read More »Letter to Editor: We can alter our attitude towards women at home
“Now, when these men are “old and strong” and the society is reaping the results of generations of domestic and communal dysfunction on a large scale, we are conveniently pointing accusatory fingers at a veritable forest of old, hard, crooked trees that we as a national collective did nothing to …
Read More »Day in the life of an accountant: Balancing motherhood, studies and job with few promotion opportunities
“Each company has its own culture and, where I work, we are a private company and the boss has all the say. If your supervisor doesn’t like you then it is difficult [to get] promotions and a salary increase. “In the workplace you will meet various kinds of people. Some …
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