By Raffique Shah
November 03, 2012
SOMETIMES the eternal optimist in me is severely challenged by a nagging pessimism in my mind, and I ask myself, is there any hope that this country would become the paradise so many think it could be, or are we condemned to the purgatory of mediocrity or worse? The thought that we might remain trapped in the netherworld of the latter depresses me.
Continue reading Changing the face of power
By Raffique Shah
October 20, 2012
MOST times I stay silent when I listen to people in authority or those who think they know it all say the wildest things. But there are times when I feel compelled to intervene, mostly when I think too much is at stake. This is one such intervention. For many years, but more so since the global food crisis of 2007-08, politicians and governments would vow to put this country’s food production on a growth path that would take us to full food security.
Continue reading Food for Thought
By Raffique Shah
October 13, 2012
RECENTLY, as I mused on the state of “permanent politicking” that citizens of this country have been victims of for decades, I thought, why not elect a government for ten or 20 years? Before readers condemn me to the gallows for instant execution, or cart me off to the lunatic asylum to spend what is left of my miserable life, hear me out. Over the past 21 years, we have had—what?—seven general elections. We have changed governments four times and faces in government at least ten times.
Continue reading Ten years and a ‘po’
By Raffique Shah
October 07, 2012
LAST Tuesday, one of this country’s great labour leaders and patriots, Joe Young, made his exit from life. Not a drum was heard, not a funeral note, as this gentle giant was hurried to some morgue, unmarked and indistinguishable from others. Not that he would have wanted otherwise. It was his final interaction with the ordinary man with whom he lived and mingled freely, for whom he fought many a battle. At age 80, Joe must have endured more than he could in this cussed country that he so loved. He was ready to join his ancestors, to re-link with old comrades.
Continue reading Joe Young: last man standing
By Raffique Shah
September 29, 2012
I WAS privileged to have known and spent some invaluable time with one of this country’s great thinkers, CLR James. He was in his winter years, mostly lying in bed, but his mind remained razor-sharp. A conversation with “Nello”, as he was fondly called, was worth several high-level lectures at any university, so I extracted the most I could from him during what would be his final sojourn in the land of his birth. Today, I remember him more for his wit than his wisdom.
Continue reading Tell me something good
By Raffique Shah
September 22, 2012
IN ordinary times, the Prime Minister’s decision last week to fire Herbert Volney for allegedly misleading the Cabinet on a critical issue (Section 34) would have won the lady universal acclamation. But these are extraordinary times. The baying of the hounds continues unabated, the sounds of fury rise to crescendos, refusing to be silenced by the sacrifice of one silly goat. The natives are restless.
Continue reading Backward ever, forward never
By Sasha Harrinanan
September 22, 2012 – newsday.co.tt
THE firing of Justice Minister Herbert Volney, two days ago by Prime Minister Kamla Persad- Bissessar, was karma for his controversial 1998 dismissal of a manslaughter trial against Brad Boyce, who was before the High Court for the 1996 killing of Jason Johnson.
Continue reading Volney paying now
September 20, 2012
My fellow citizens, much has been commented and reported upon the Administration of Justice (Indictable Offences) Act 201 and the proclamation of Section 34. I chose to remain silent on the matter since any premature pronouncement could have been deemed injudicious and appear to influence the outcome of my own investigations and examination of the issue.
Continue reading PM Kamla Persad-Bissessar’s Statement on Proclaimation of Section 34
By Raffique Shah
September 16, 2012
FIFTY years ago, in one of his now-famous speeches delivered during the euphoria of Independence, Prime Minister Dr Eric Williams told citizens of the fledgling nation, “…Democracy, finally, rests on a power higher than Parliament. It rests on an informed and cultivated and alert public opinion….” I recalled that injunction last week when the nation was shaken from its Jubilee stupor to learn, through the alertness of the media, that an injudicious act of Parliament was about to hurl us down a legal precipice, the consequences of which are best left to the imagination.
Continue reading Watchdogs of democracy
By Raffique Shah
September 09, 2012
AS ironical and comical as it may seem, the one word that drives the fear of God into the average Trini, is “gas”.
Yes, you read right—gas! I know the more enlightened in the country might think that Shah finally flipped his lid…he gone off. After all, if anything, for the sake of country, we need more gas.
Continue reading God will not help the stupid