{"id":56604,"date":"2026-11-06T00:32:02","date_gmt":"2026-11-06T04:32:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.trinidadandtobagonews.com\/blog\/?p=56604"},"modified":"2026-11-06T00:32:02","modified_gmt":"2026-11-06T04:32:02","slug":"shame-on-you","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.trinidadandtobagonews.com\/blog\/?p=56604","title":{"rendered":"Shame on you"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Raffique Shah
\nOctober 24, 2026<\/em><\/p>\n

Raffique Shah<\/a>We in Trinidad and Tobago cannot claim, as most small island states do, to know little or nothing of bloody revolution. True, the experiences we had may not have been bloody by international or European standards. When changes in power occur, they tend to be moderate.<\/p>\n

Our elections are usually peaceful, with a little picong passing from one politician to the next. Even our revolutions were mild when compared with other parts of the world. But what makes it mild or moderate or bad?\u2014the carnage, the destruction of property, the rank lawlessness, or…something else?
\n
\nWhen I hear reports of death tolls, the first thing that comes to mind is, those lost souls belonged to families and society. They were human beings who lost their lives, and in most cases, innocently so. The sad reality of a revolution or war is that lives will be lost, even in a peaceful demonstration; all it takes is one ignorant fool to trigger an unwarranted attack, resulting in loss of limb or life.<\/p>\n

Back in 1970, one of our soldiers was killed in action by a wayward shot from a machine gun handled by the Coast Guard. Overall, with up to 50,000 engaged in daily protest marches, no one else was killed. I cite these numbers, as indefinite as they may be, to show and perhaps appeal to politicians of today that an entire revolution occurred and the death toll was still smaller than the daily carnage occurring in our country currently.<\/p>\n

In Paris, France, they have been rioting and looting for the last few weeks, and their death toll remains non-existent, save for a few limbs lost here and there and hundreds more injured. To date, with all that violence, Paris is operating\u2014business as usual, tourists continue to arrive (perhaps President Macron should consider revolutionary tourism as a currency earner) and people are living their daily lives.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, here at home, I stay inside all day, as do most of my neighbours because timing is insignificant where self-preservation is concerned. Now, when you exit your house, you look at your cameras before you even step foot outside, such is the state of affairs in this cursed land.<\/p>\n

I think back to two significant incidents that occurred last week. One with an older woman who was beaten and robbed in a car park in Maraval by some able-bodied, lazy young men who refuse to get a regular 8-4 job.<\/p>\n

A piece of advice to women in general: if the contents of your bag\u2014bag included\u2014are worth more than your life, feel free to hang on to it as they brutally beat or, worse, stab or shoot at you while relieving you of it. For the smart ones out there, let it go, your life is worth more than $20,000 and two lip glosses.<\/p>\n

The other incident that caught my attention was where three youths, clearly under 20, relieved a man of his jewelry as he dined with his lady friend at a popular Ariapita Avenue restaurant and bar.<\/p>\n

All of these men are of school age, be it tertiary or secondary. In Paris, the students are protesting the rise in cost of fuel, and the conditions under which they are forced to learn at their schools in the poorer districts. They lack infrastructure and teaching staff.<\/p>\n

We at home have all of those available. And, our education is free. You can even get books for free; and last time I checked, we didn\u2019t have a problem staffing our schools. Yet, they riot for better education and we squander ours, choosing instead to steal, rob, beat and murder because that is easier than earning an honest living.<\/p>\n

Maybe it\u2019s the lack of education or an unwillingness to learn on their parts, but I wish the day would come when these same young men realise the only ones living \u201chigh off the hog\u201d are those higher up the order in their crime syndicate. Often, these youth are left to live off their bosses\u2019 crumbs, while their share affords them new Nike shoes and Opnet-looking gold chains.<\/p>\n

To the mothers who accept trinkets from these deviants, you sport them proudly. Have you taken a look at your surroundings? You live in a one-room house with all your children, and the same son who is bringing home the spoils of his crime pursuits. The roof probably leaks in several places, and there are quite possibly mattresses littering the floor.<\/p>\n

Have you no ambition as a mother to see your offspring lead a righteous life, make something good of himself? You blame teachers, church elders, the police, the government, everyone except yourself. God forbid you take some responsibility for your own actions and the consequences thereof.<\/p>\n

Shame on you.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Raffique Shah October 24, 2026 We in Trinidad and Tobago cannot claim, as most small island states do, to know little or nothing of bloody revolution. True, the experiences we had may not have been bloody by international or European standards. When changes in power occur, they tend to be moderate. Our elections are … Continue reading Shame on you<\/span> →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[169],"class_list":["post-56604","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-general-tt","tag-raffique-shah"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.trinidadandtobagonews.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/56604","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.trinidadandtobagonews.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.trinidadandtobagonews.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.trinidadandtobagonews.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.trinidadandtobagonews.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=56604"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/www.trinidadandtobagonews.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/56604\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":56605,"href":"http:\/\/www.trinidadandtobagonews.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/56604\/revisions\/56605"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.trinidadandtobagonews.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=56604"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.trinidadandtobagonews.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=56604"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.trinidadandtobagonews.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=56604"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}