Canada, General T&T, International

Mass Exodus of Trinis?

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By Raffique Shah
May 8, 2023

Raffique ShahMy good friend Mike swears there is a mass exodus of bright young professionals from Trinidad, many of them with their families, their destination of choice Canada, which they see as a vast country with countless opportunities.

To support his contention, he asks me rhetorically: when last have you driven past the Canadian High Commission in Port-of-Spain early morning? I didn’t reply that I do not know where in the capital city the Canadians have their offices. He continued; It’s like J’ouvay morning downtown…if you see people. Raf, this is real…people are leaving in droves…it’s not just the crime, it’s the hopelessness. They see no future here for themselves and their families…
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General T&T, Protest

Validating Letter

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By Raffique Shah
May 01, 2023

Raffique ShahHistory is often a blend of recognizable names, established dates and accounts of actual events cleverly blended with outright lies, ego-boosting anecdotes born in the stupor of what Trinis call ‘rum shop talk’, and enhanced by time as even those who know the facts become victims of fiction manufactured in their fading memories, all of which end up published as ‘true stories’ that sometimes progress to documentaries and other cinematic productions.
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General T&T, Law, Police

Anarchy order of the day

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By Raffique Shah
April 23, 2023

Raffique ShahIn warfare, any kind of warfare, whatever the size, strengths and weaknesses between and among the combatants, what any general will enjoy fighting against, is an enemy divided. In World War II for example, the Allied Forces comprised most of Europe except, of course, Germany and Italy on one front, Japan on another and remnants of the Ottoman Empire on a third. Among themselves the impressive Allied leadership— Generals such as Montegomery, Eisenhower, Wavell among a phalanx of highly experienced and well respected, one might say tactical geniuses, had to cope with the egos of Charles De Galle and Winston Churchill, both of whom were themselves military geniuses.
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General T&T, Religion

The esteemed ancestry of Bishop Rawle Douglin

By Dr Selwyn R. Cudjoe
April 24, 2023

PART II

Dr. Selwyn R. CudjoePhilip Henry Douglin, grandfather of Bishop Rawle Douglin, took up his clerical duties at the St Clement’s Parish, St Madeleine, in 1887. Coming out of a slave past, having done missionary work in Africa and having been associated with some of the distinguished scholar missionaries of his day, Douglin was very conscious of Africa’s place in the world and the problems that beset his people.
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Crime in T&T, General T&T, Violence

Three Patriotic Tinis

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By Raffique Shah
April 16, 2023

Raffique ShahThe criminal underworld has expanded and intensified its war against mostly law-abiding citizens by mounting brazen attacks against selected targets in open thoroughfares, damn the innocent victims who are seen as collateral damage. They have expanded ‘home invasions’ to the extent they now dominate the news.
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General T&T, Religion

The esteemed ancestry of Bishop Rawle Douglin

By Dr Selwyn R. Cudjoe
April 17, 2023

PART I

Dr. Selwyn R. CudjoeTwo weeks ago I announced that I was taking a four-month hiatus from this column to concentrate on completing Two Caribbean Preachers. I did not know I would be back to these pages again so quickly. As fate would have it, Philip Douglin, grandfather of Rawle Douglin, is one of the preachers I am writing about. Sadly, Rawle Douglin, former bishop of T&T, passed away on Thursday, April 6.
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Crime in T&T, General T&T, Religion

Has God Forsaken Us?

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By Raffique Shah
April 10, 2023

Raffique ShahI believe it was the night before Holy Thursday, listening to news on radio or television, I paid attention up to when the announcer counted past seven murders. They might have been over a period longer than 24 hours. They might even have been less than the full day’s score. What did it matter? I asked myself—and continued doing whatever I was doing.
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General T&T, Shouter Baptist

Renewal and revival on Spiritual Baptist Day

By Dr Selwyn R. Cudjoe
April 03, 2023

Dr. Selwyn R. CudjoeI am disappointed I did not join with my brothers and sisters to celebrate Spiritual Shouter Baptist Liberation Day at Couva on Thursday. Try as I may, I could not find out what was being done to honour those who had fought so hard to realise themselves in a foreign land.

Spiritual Baptist Day is important to me. My aunt, Lenora O’Brien, born on November 13, 1895, was never afraid of practising her faith publicly. She rang her bell and proceeded towards the Tacarigua River on Sunday mornings as she and her fellow congregants proclaimed their faith.
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General T&T, Protest

Old Friends

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By Raffique Shah
April 03, 2023

Raffique ShahAs we mature in life, reaching what most people consider their mid-years, we may occasionally pause and consider what older folks have been preaching for as far back as we remember: you lose so many friends in your latter life, it’s not funny. I am seventy-seven, and I often consider that in my tiny community, there are only two other men, no women, of similar age who can reflect on events that occurred when we were, say, forty.
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General T&T, Parliament, PNM, Politics

Pristine Christine

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By Dr Selwyn R. Cudjoe
March 27, 2023

Dr. Selwyn R. CudjoeLast Monday, Christine Carla Kangaloo was inaugurated as the seventh President of the Republic. I did not support her candidacy to the highest office in the land, but was buoyed by the advice my friend Arnold Rampersad gave me some years ago about one of other political leaders: “Selwyn, she is now our President. We must wish her the best, work with her, and pray that she acts in the interest of our country.”
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