By Raffique Shah
April 18, 2010
I DON’T know if the two main opposition parties in Trinidad, Tobago’s TOP, and the trade unions and NGOs, will forge an alliance that is attractive to the electorate. As I write this column, top officials from the United National Congress (UNC) and the Congress of the People (COP) have held several meetings.
Continue reading Unity essential – but no guarantees
By Raffique Shah
April 11, 2010
FIRST, let’s cut the bull over Prime Minister Patrick Manning’s reasons for calling a mid-term general election. The United National Congress (UNC) motion of no-confidence in the PM, which he cited as one reason, was doomed to fail-unless he feared his own members voting against him. There was no cause for concern or unpleasant surprises.
Continue reading Manning’s election gambit
By Raffique Shah
April 04, 2010
THE past two weekends were rather unusual ones. Easter weekend started off last Thursday with Holy Thursday, which was also April Fools’ Day. On Good Friday, while practising Christians solemnly commemorated Christ’s crucifixion, many citizens were beating up on ‘bobolees’.
Continue reading Can they count?
By Raffique Shah
March 28, 2010
Lest I am accused of consorting with the ‘drugs mafia’, or worse, being a drug lord posturing as a journalist, I need to be very careful how I couch my words in this column. With Prime Minister Manning on the warpath against enemies more imagined than real, the last I want is police swooping down on me, looking for ‘crack’ cocaine.
Continue reading Mad Man-ning on the rampage
By Raffique Shah
March 21, 2010
A seething rage has gripped this country in a manner we have never before seen. It’s frightening. Ever since I was a boy, I learned that the vast majority of our people have what I can only describe as a delightful sense of humour. But for a few ‘sourpusses’, we laugh at everything-from ourselves to pranks people play on us to remarks made by others that we find hilarious. For all our shortcomings, our weaknesses, Trinidadians and Tobagonians are generally a fun people.
Continue reading Geezers’ promoting rage and war
By Raffique Shah
March 14, 2010
IF I were Prime Minister Patrick Manning, I would fire my ‘spiritual adviser’ forthwith. I would instead hire a futuristic, 2020 model ‘secular consultant’, someone like, say, Raffique Shah. Before the howling starts, with every Tom, Dick and Harrilal shouting, ‘Shah looking for PNM wuk!’ or ‘We always knew Shah was PNM!’, let me explain why I offer the PM this advice.
Continue reading Hart-aches by the numbers
By Raffique Shah
March 07, 2010
If Prime Minister Patrick Manning’s brimstone-and-fire like sermon in Parliament two Fridays ago was reflective of the normal behaviour of Born-Again-Whatever, then I thank the Lord (if She exists) for saving me from the darkness that envelops such tortured souls, for allowing me to see the light of rational thinking at a very early age in my life.
Continue reading Governance by God…no less
February 28, 2010
THE tide of events often disrupts the best laid plans of columnists. I promised readers last week that I would today conclude my take on a ‘dying Carnival’. I wanted to share my thoughts on the few remaining bright sparks in the festival-the effervescent young pannists, calypsonians Kurt Allen, Brian London and Kizzie Ruiz, and dedicated cultural activists who refuse to allow our Carnival to descend into the abyss of nothingness.
Continue reading Ghosts in Panday’s political afterlife
By Raffique Shah
February 21, 2010
CARNIVAL Friday night and I am driving to Port of Spain, my mind working like a Pentium computer chip. Which route do I choose to reach St James, my regular liming spot? Over the years I have learned that bumper-to-bumper traffic, not to add a virtual sea of early-bird revellers, transforms the city into a motorist’s nightmare. So once one decides to enter the epicentre of Carnival activities, one needs to plan one’s route with a GPS-mind.
Continue reading Carnival: one foot in the grave
By Raffique Shah
February 07, 2010
www.trinidadandtobagonews.com/blog
Most readers would interpret my headline as suggesting that UNC “founding father”, Basdeo Panday, is enjoying sweet chutney/soca music in keeping with the spirit of the Carnival season. For them, “Karma” is a music band whose lead singer, Ravi B, won the recent Chutney-Soca Monarch title. Ironically, Ravi’s winning song was titled “Ah Drinker”. Ravi was not referring to orange juice or WASA’s now-scarce potable water, but to the wanton abuse of alcohol.
Continue reading Karma, Bas, not Kamla