Tag Archives: governance

Following last week’s column on the self-esteem crisis, which looked at the circumstances which contribute to the breeding of heartless persons, I was reading an interview with a rape victim who has written a debut novel entitled Dark Chapter. The book explores the traumatic experience of the author, Winnie Li, …

For many years I have described the low self-esteem plaguing many of our youngsters and its relationship to violent crime and anti-social behaviour.  The now widespread fighting in schools is a related phenomenon. Much of my personal knowledge of the self-esteem crisis comes directly from dialogue with some youngsters to …

I must give credit to Kyle Skeeto Amos for the headline of this piece. His contemplation on the nature of our democracy is nothing short of brilliant. That said, I want to use another story, the one about the hikers and the lion, to perhaps identify why there is no …

“If you don’t know where you’re going, any road will get you there.” This is one of the first quotes you learn when trying to understand Monitoring and Evaluation. Given current realities in Trinidad and Tobago, it seems applicable. I recently finished reviewing the National Budgets presented during the period …

So the Finance Minister’s budget presentation is over; we all now know the major highlights. I make no apologies for not offering any red or yellow-tinted responses or comments or analyses. I want to break with the sterile ‘This was good’ and ‘That was bad’ tradition and discuss instead what …

Opposition Leader Kamla Persad-Bissessar yesterday reminded Trinidad and Tobago of why the Parliament Channel is as useful as a Lasco fan on Maracas beach, with her latest charge of contempt against Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley. On Friday, Tanty Kams asked House Speaker Brigid Annisette-George to refer Keithos to the …

Fifteen years ago, shortly before becoming a columnist—as a guest speaker at an event organised by the late Lloyd Best—I characterised our political contests as a fight for the national cash register. I also asserted that in politics you can lawfully t’ief, based on the way the State enterprise system …

How many times since last Carnival have we heard the refrain “We jamming still” quoted? And in how many different contexts? Lifted from the Ultimate Rejects’ mega soca track “We Doh Business,” it has tended to be used so often because it sums up very neatly the “carnival mentality” we …

The major business groups last week reportedly temporarily arose from their customary  indifference, alarmed by the prolonged and unrestricted crime spree.  In passing, it should be noted that it is apparently the rising cost of doing business in a crime-ridden environment that has set off the alarm from slumber this …

“I have a right to call it as I see it and, at the moment, the Ship of T&T is drifting perilously close to the rocks, with the captain appearing not to have a steady hand at the wheel.” In the following Letter to the Editor, former TDC chairperson Dennise …

“Because we are too spineless in the face of our failed colonial realities, we must now live in fear of a generation that will have theirs: by any means necessary. “They cannot be blamed, for it is we who failed to confront the new pirates head-on, so that generations to …

Anthony Bourdain is a chef, a food and travel writer and television personality. He has significant credibility evidenced by his winning a Peabody award and several Emmys. Our country was recently the subject of an episode of Bourdain’s well-known television series Parts Unknown. Its broadcast has stirred controversy among a …