Tag Archives: Raffique Shah

Entertainment, General T&T, International

Beyoncé a Boundary

16 Comments

By Raffique Shah
January 10, 2010
Trinidad and Tobago News Blog
www.trinidadandtobagonews.com/blog

BeyoncéShould readers feel I am making light of a serious subject, I plead guilty. With the coming of artiste Beyoncé taking on proportions of the second coming of Christ, I cannot help but enjoy a sense of detached amusement. First, I had to find out just who the hell Beyoncé was. Upon enquiring, I repeatedly mispronounced the name-Beyonce, Beyond-only to be rudely corrected by my daughter.
Continue reading Beyoncé a Boundary →

Complaints, COP, Crime in T&T, General T&T, PNM, Politics, Protest, UNC

Firestorm is a-coming

5 Comments

By Raffique Shah
January 03, 2010
www.trinidadandtobagonews.com/blog

ProtestShould political turmoil erupt in 2010, it wouldn’t be because of the Property Tax or government’s now toned-down spending spree. The opposition, united or divided, cannot trigger mass action, the kind we experienced in 1970. If anything, it’s the extreme insensitivity of uncaring ministers-Peter Taylor’s ‘living off the fat of the land’, Gaynor Dick-Forde’s ‘only 12 people against the tax’, Neil Parsanlal’s Goebbels-like, weekly media-bashing-that would send angry masses streaming onto the streets.
Continue reading Firestorm is a-coming →

Finance, General T&T, Politics

Year we learned discretion but ignored destitution

1 Comment

By Raffique Shah
December 27, 2009
www.trinidadandtobagonews.com/blog

Trini People‘TWAS a year that brought mankind’s madness crashing into the stark realities of the punitive sins of excesses, the deleterious effects of unbridled greed, and maybe, just maybe, it also slammed some heads-in-the-clouds freaks to ground level.
Continue reading Year we learned discretion but ignored destitution →

General T&T, PNM, Politics, UNC

Backing Bas …or Ramesh

9 Comments
Basdeo Panday, Kamla Persad-Bissessar and Ramesh Lawrence Maharaj
Basdeo Panday, Kamla Persad-Bissessar & Ramesh Maharaj

By Raffique Shah
December 20, 2009
trinidadandtobagonews.com/blog

As a Christmas gift to my colleague of many, many moons ago, I am backing Basdeo Panday for leadership of the UNC in the upcoming party elections. I have taken this decision, not after long and hard examination of the issues at stake, or any analysis of the future of UNC, but purely because Bas is a man. And this country of warped minds where people are whimsical in their outlooks, man must back man.
Continue reading Backing Bas …or Ramesh →

Crime in T&T, PNM, Politics, Security

Crime shift from urban to rural districts

26 Comments

By Raffique Shah
December 13, 2009
www.trinidadandtobagonews.com/blog

ViolenceI WISH I could take comfort in the marginal drop in the number of murders this year when compared with last year, the way Acting Commissioner James Philbert does. At a recent year-end function, (Acting) Assistant Commissioner Gilbert Reyes sought to assure citizens that soon we shall not only hear talk about further crime-cuts, but we shall have less crime to talk and write about.
Continue reading Crime shift from urban to rural districts →

corruption, Finance, PNM, Politics, UNC

Lords, hear ye my prayers

17 Comments

By Raffique Shah
December 06, 2009
www.trinidadandtobagonews.com/blog

Patrick Manning and Basdeo PandayFROM today and until such time as I lose faith in the many manifestations of God that most people believe in, I revoke my agnosticism in the interest of my country. Given the multiple blights that seem to have overrun this country, I have no choice but to turn to the deities in a bid to restore some semblance of sanity to the only nation to which I bear true faith and allegiance.
Continue reading Lords, hear ye my prayers →

CARICOM, CHOGM, Finance, International, Politics, Security

An ‘old boys club’ headed by an old lady

7 Comments

By Raffique Shah
November 29, 2009
Trinidad and Tobago News Blog
www.trinidadandtobagonews.com/blog

Commonwealth 2009 Heads of State
Commonwealth 2009 Heads of State

Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) 2009Friday morning. Big day for Prime Minister Patrick Manning. Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II heads a list of dignitaries attending the CHOGM. Over the next three days Trinidad and Tobago, this small country, will showcase its wonderful Chinese architecture to our envious Commonwealth brethren. Look at me! Watch my costume (including my brand-name ‘darkers’ that I don’t take off, not even to look Her Majesty in the eye, as royal etiquette demands). Don’t mash my Performing Arts cape! I’m on the world stage!
Continue reading An ‘old boys club’ headed by an old lady →

Culture, Entertainment, General T&T, Law, Politics

Educate, don’t just legislate

10 Comments

By Raffique Shah
November 22, 2009
Trinidad and Tobago News Blog
www.trinidadandtobagonews.com/blog

The President, Prime Minister Patrick Manning, Hazel Manning and their son toast the official opening of the National Academy for the Performing ArtsON many occasions during my 40 years of driving on the nation’s roads, I’ve witnessed drunk drivers endangering the lives of other motorists. Mostly late nights, although I’m sure it happens during daytime as well, I’ve seen vehicles wobble much the way drunken persons do when they try to walk after consuming litres of alcohol. On occasion, I’ve had to make the risky decision either to overtake the drifting jackasses, or stay far behind them for my safety.
Continue reading Educate, don’t just legislate →

Culture, Finance, General T&T, Media, Politics

At that price we expect nothing but the best…

14 Comments

By Raffique Shah
November 15, 2009
Trinidad and Tobago News Blog
www.trinidadandtobagonews.com/blog

IT’S most columnists’ nightmare, having to return to a topic he or she will have dealt with recently. It gets worse when the target is a politician, matters not what side of the divide he or she is on. They never look into their mirrors and wonder why writers focus on them. They conclude you are against them, that you support their enemies, hence your criticisms.

But, as I learned early in my many years of writing opinion pieces, you write and be damned; if you fail to address burning issues, readers conclude you are on somebody’s payroll. There are so many important matters I wish to address, to have my fellow citizens focus on. Sadly, because of the insensitivity of our politicians, I have to forego serious issues and zero my computer on Prime Minister Patrick Manning.
Continue reading At that price we expect nothing but the best… →

Complaints, corruption, General T&T, PNM, Politics

What price, national pride?

8 Comments

By Raffique Shah
November 08, 2009
Trinidad and Tobago News Blog
www.trinidadandtobagonews.com/blog

SPORT Minister Gary Hunt is convinced that the $2 million national flag that flutters over the Hasely Crawford Stadium would instil national pride in the populace. From the flak he has been subjected to ever since the issue first surfaced-the cost, that is, not the flag-he must be wondering what sin he has committed. In time, he argues, people would come around to understanding why his ministry opted for a 2,000 square feet flag hoisted on a 150-foot pole.
Continue reading What price, national pride? →