Tag Archive for 'Raffique Shah'

Thanks, pa

Published on June 16, 2013 in Gender and General T&T. 3 Comments Tags: .

By Raffique Shah
June 16, 2013

Raffique ShahFATHERS like mine—ordinary men, barely literate in most instances who worked hard to provide for their families—are remembered only by their immediate families and maybe some friends and people in the communities in which they lived and died. In a society where success is measured by materialism or academic achievements available only to the few in his time, men like Haniff Shah, a sugar worker who garnered neither fame nor fortune, are consigned to mere statistics in dusty ledgers lodged in dank archives. Continue reading ‘Thanks, pa’

All the Queen’s donkeys

Published on June 9, 2013 in General T&T, People's Partnership, Politics and UNC. 3 Comments Tags: , , , , .

By Raffique Shah
June 08, 2013

Raffique ShahTHE DILEMMA I face every week writing a column must be no different to what my colleagues in all the print media do: what can I write about that’s reflective of good things happening in the country? Surely, there must be positives in the society, nation-building initiatives, achievements by citizens that are worthy of public praise.
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No to jungle justice

Published on June 2, 2013 in General T&T, Law, Opposition Party, Parliament, People's Partnership, PNM and Politics. 30 Comments Tags: , , , , , , .

By Raffique Shah
June 01, 2013

Raffique ShahAT all times, human beings must be able to distinguish right from wrong; it is what differentiates us from other life-species. At all times, too, man must have the fortitude to stand up for what is right, to speak out against injustice, whatever the consequences he may face for his outspokenness. Today I feel compelled to make such stand on an issue that many may deem unimportant, and for which I risk being condemned.
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A matter of trust

Published on May 26, 2013 in corruption, General T&T, Law, Opposition Party, Parliament, People's Partnership, PNM, Police, Politics and Security. 30 Comments Tags: , , , , , , , , .

By Raffique Shah
May 26, 2013

Raffique ShahI CANNOT quite figure out why so many people are shocked by Keith Rowley’s “revelations” in Parliament last Monday, or alarmed that the string of e-mails he read into Hansard; at first blush, appears to be as bogus as Clifton De Coteau’s black mop. Parliament has long degenerated into a theatre of the absurd, a forum for dishonourable members to slander and scandalise each other, an arena in which targeted citizens are crucified before hordes of reality-television viewers, a fate far worse than that which Jesus Christ is said to have suffered however many centuries ago.
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Cut CAL to the bone

Published on May 19, 2013 in Business, Caribbean, Finance, General T&T, Media, People's Partnership and Politics. 4 Comments Tags: , , , .

By Raffique Shah
May 18, 2013

Raffique ShahIF ANYONE can produce proof that there was a time when this country’s state-owned national airline, in whatever incarnation, made a real profit over a sustained period, meaning at least one year, I would surrender my sanity and vote in the next election. I feel safely insulated from having to do something so unpalatable because I know that in the post-Independence history of BWIA, now CAL, taxpayers who may have never travelled on an aircraft have paid dearly to keep the airline afloat. In the process, they have funded generations of joy riders who are stricken with a stratospheric strain of “gas brains”, and affliction I call “plane brains”.
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Suffering in silence

Published on May 12, 2013 in Entertainment and General T&T. 3 Comments Tags: , .

By Raffique Shah
May 12, 2013

Raffique ShahSHE had first contacted me a year ago, via a circuitous route, to relate a problem she faced at her Diamond Vale home and to see if I could offer any advice. Last week, the pensioner called again. Her problem remained unsolved. If anything, its impact on her health has worsened, and she had tried all avenues I had suggested, without success.
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Make poverty history

Published on May 5, 2013 in Caribbean, General T&T, Opposition Party, People's Partnership, PNM, Politics and Race and Identity. 4 Comments Tags: , .

By Raffique Shah
May 05, 2013

Raffique Shah “MADAM,” a drunken Winston Churchill is said to have whispered to the socialite sitting next to him at a formal dinner, “Would you go to bed with me for five million pounds?” “My goodness, Mr Churchill!…well, I suppose…,” she hesitated. “Would you do it for five pounds?” the rascal politician interjected. “Mr Churchill, what kind of woman do you think I am?” she uttered, with righteous indignation. “We’ve already established that,” Churchill said calmly. “Now we are haggling over the price.”
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Marathon madness

Published on April 21, 2013 in General T&T, International, Security and Sports. 0 Comments Tags: , .

By Raffique Shah
April 21, 2013

Raffique Shah

Being an avid athletics fanatic, a distance running devotee, I was all excited over last Monday’s Boston Marathon. I missed out monitoring the event via live streaming because of a commitment that I could not forego. But as soon as I returned home, I went online to check on the results, especially the top winners’ times.
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Margaret Thatcher: Sinner or Saint

Published on April 14, 2013 in Africa, England, General T&T, International and Protest. 7 Comments Tags: , , .

By Raffique Shah
April 14, 2013

Raffique ShahSPEAK no ill of the dead, they say. It is an Omertá-like Mafiosi code that binds hypocrites international, that global brotherhood sworn to covering up the dastardly sins of leaders like Margaret Thatcher, who are lionised in life and eulogised in death, thus distorting history to the extent that the truth be buried forever.
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We are not obese

Published on April 7, 2013 in Culture, Food, General T&T and Health. 13 Comments Tags: , , .

By Raffique Shah
April 7, 2013

Raffique ShahTrinidad and Tobago is not the third fattest nation in the world. In fact, I venture to add that we would hardly rank among the top fifty countries when it comes to obesity. What are the scientific bases for my bold pronouncements? They are the same used by Britain’s Daily Mail when the tabloid threw the fat spotlight on us last week—none! Or let’s say I trust my eyes when it comes to evaluating fatness.
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