Tag Archives: Raffique Shah

Crime in T&T, International, USA

Americans’ right to revolt

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By Raffique Shah
February 24, 2017

Raffique Shah(WARNING: The contents of this column are meant to inform readers, more so citizens of the USA, of their constitutional rights vis-à-vis those who govern them. They are not intended to incite anyone, anywhere, to take drastic action to remove any leader, even if he (or she) has become a despot. I further warn my Trinbagonian brethren who live in the USA, and who may be visiting T&T for the Carnival, to resist the temptation to take a printed copy of this column when you return States-side. Mere possession of it could be grounds for denying you entry, or worse, for declaring you a terrorist!)
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Carnival, Entertainment, General T&T, Music

Hail the Queen

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By Raffique Shah
February 24, 2017

Raffique ShahI had planned to write on the resurgence of Calypso Rose since last year, when, having read about her successes in France, I decided to check YouTube to get proof of the pudding, in a manner of speaking. I have grown wary of boasts by many bards, more so those of the fast-foods Soca-ilk who make similar claims when all they have done is appear at carnivals or concerts up the islands or before diaspora-audiences in North America.
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Crime in T&T, General T&T, Law, Murder, PNM, Politics, Violence

Edge of Anarchy

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By Raffique Shah
January 24, 2017

Raffique ShahThe spontaneous eruption of a community close to the Maracas-St Joseph Police Station last week, which was triggered by the gunning-down of two men of dubious repute almost on the doorstep of the station, illustrates how this society has drifted to the edge of anarchy.

According to news reports, one of the men had reported to the station at around 3.30 pm as required by the terms of his bail for gun-related charges. The other had accompanied him. Seconds after they exited the station, six gunmen attacked their vehicle killing them.
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Business, Finance, General T&T, Recession

We must do, or die like stray dogs

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By Raffique Shah
January 11, 2017

Raffique ShahIf fantasy could be magically transformed into reality, as Dictator-General of Trinidad and Tobago, I would harness the approximately $10 billion per year that is wasted on cigarettes, alcohol and gambling and put that money to productive use.

But then I’d be a dead dictator before I could even proclaim the prohibitions, since I verily believe that 90-plus per cent of my countrymen smoke, drink alcohol or gamble, and many of them engage in all three vices.
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Crime in T&T, Finance, General T&T, Recession

A decisive year ahead

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By Raffique Shah
January 04, 2017

Raffique ShahIF asked what is the number one problem facing the nation as we enter 2017, the overwhelming majority respondents would say violent crimes, especially murders. My beleaguered fellow citizens, having survived another bloody year during which killers showed utter contempt for law and order, see a slide into anarchy looming large.

But I submit that the perilous state of the economy is the biggest threat to national stability, and the Government’s apparent inability to formulate strategies and plans to resuscitate it is the gravest danger the country faces.
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General T&T

Little boy that Santa Claus ignored

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By Raffique Shah
December 30, 2016

Raffique ShahIf there is one universal truth about Christmas, it is that the festival is about children, most of all their innocence that runs so deep, for two thousand years adults have convinced them that there is a Santa Claus who dwells somewhere near the North Pole, and whose life-mission is to magically materialise toys and gifts that he distributes to little boys and girls across the world during that one night of the year.
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Crime in T&T, Death Penalty, General T&T, Law, Murder

Clueless on crime

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By Raffique Shah
December 16, 2016

Raffique ShahA tragedy of our time is when we are outraged by the gore of one of the daily dosages of murder, we erupt into a cacophony of protest, condemnation and cries for the return of the hangman, such expressions lasting no longer than the proverbial sno-cone in the midday sun.

I predict that before the dirt settles on Shannon Banfield’s grave, seasonal parang music, alcohol and black cake will numb the senses of all but her loved ones whose pain will, understandably, last forever. And an avalanche of Carnival-related activities will further distract us from the atrocities that are committed daily on the killing fields of Trinidad more than Tobago.
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Caribbean, Cuba, General T&T, International, Passed on

Castro: colossus of the Caribbean

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By Raffique Shah
November 28, 2016

Raffique ShahIN response to a request from one young reporter for me to comment on Fidel Castro after the legendary Cuban leader died last Friday, I blurted out: he was a colossus of the Caribbean who walked the world stage tall like a giant.

I don’t know if my one-sentence summary of the complex character that was Fidel was original, but I certainly think it was accurate. Never before in the history of the Caribbean had we seen a leader of his stature. And, like him or loathe him, the titans who straddled the world stage during his 50-year tenure at the helm of Cuba dared not ignore him, with many of them grudgingly respecting him.
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Elections, General T&T, PNM, Politics, UNC

The corbeaux are circling

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By Raffique Shah
November 23, 2016

Raffique ShahThe campaign for next Monday’s local government elections has degenerated into a dogfight that is dominated by fluff, innuendoes, outright lies and a teaspoon of violence which the main combatants, PNM leader Dr Keith Rowley and UNC leader Kamla Persad-Bissessar, hope will generate a large voter turnout and salvage their respective political careers.
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