Category Archives: General T&T

General T&T

The Cap of Freedom

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By Dr Selwyn R. Cudjoe
February 01, 2025

Dr. Selwyn R. CudjoeLately we have been obsessed about the elimination of colonialism in our society, the coat of arms discussion being the latest manifestation of this obsession. Only a rigorous study of and a confrontation with our historical past (and present) can release us from this debilitating condition.

Our progressive workers and thinkers have worked to mitigate this condition for over 100 years. Canon Philip Douglin came to Trinidad as the pastor of St Clement’s Anglican Church, St Madeleine, in 1887. That year he delivered a lecture, —The Rio Pongo Mission”, about his missionary work in West Africa.
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Crime in T&T, General T&T

We created the monster

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By Raffique Shah
February 01, 2025

Raffique ShahWhen the moral fabric of a society runs into decay before it could bloom, we know we are in deep trouble.

When children have no idea of the values that were applied by our forebears to guide us so that we can distinguish right from wrong, that we can act in good faith to build a country that booms and blooms, that makes living here a pleasant experience, we have reached the point of no return. The young—and here I mean under ten—can only envision a hell such as Dante’s Inferno: they enter puberty and they abandon hope.
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General T&T, PNM, UNC

UNC’s victory: the necessary antidote to PNM’s revival

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By Dr Selwyn R. Cudjoe
January 25, 2025

Dr. Selwyn R. CudjoeA United National Congress victory in the forthcoming election is the necessary antidote to heal the fissures that have erupted in the PNM’s political structure. Only a UNC victory can counteract the fiendish act of PNM’s hierarchy of selling the party to the highest financial bidders. This will necessitate that PNM takes a more careful look at itself, especially in the absence of the Leader of Our Grief and Sorrow.
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General T&T, PNM

PNM sells out to the rich

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By Dr Selwyn R. Cudjoe
January 18, 2025

Dr. Selwyn R. CudjoeThe People’s National Movement came into being against the backdrop of the representatives of black and brown people who met in Bandung, Indonesia, to oppose colonialism. In 1955, 29 countries representing 1.5 billion people (or 54% of the world’s population) demanded a greater share of the world’s financial resources.
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General T&T

Young faces acid test

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By Raffique Shah
January 18, 2025

Raffique ShahI do not think that I carry the proverbial “blight” that people who when they speak or merely mention something good that’s happening, it turns sour. Still, I do not feel as confident as I ought to be commenting on the respite the nation has enjoyed in the murder rate that was dizzying, bloody, almost macabre. Hours before Prime Minister Dr Rowley advised the President to declare a state of emergency, the murder rate was astounding, taking this country into a bloodbath that was horrible even to think about.
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General T&T, Politics

Be thankful for Rowley

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By Raffique Shah
January 11, 2025

Raffique ShahIt would be quite a thing if the leadership succession issue in the ruling People’s National Movement were to erupt into something akin to war, while the party has often been described as the best organised in the Caribbean.

I had planned this column before Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley announced his proposed resignation, and subsequently the naming of his successor, Energy Minister Stuart Young. That grabbed national attention and with it, controversy, before I could write. But that is politics for you—unpredictable in the most stable of times and immutable in the worst of times.
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Crime in T&T, General T&T, PNM, Politics

Vote out the PNM

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By Dr Selwyn R. Cudjoe
December 28, 2024

Dr. Selwyn R. CudjoeThree recent events cemented in my mind that the poor and the not-so-poor will suffer much more over the next five years than they do today if the present Government is not changed.

The PNM must move aside to allow us to inhale a new breath of freedom, experience greater competence in running the country’s affairs, and to assure us that we can expect a more normal life in the future.
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Crime in T&T, General T&T

Put books in prisons

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By Raffique Shah
December 28, 2024

Raffique ShahThe world is what it is.

Having stolen one of Vidia Naipaul’s more thought-provoking opening phrases, frankly I don’t feel guilty. I do not believe I stole anything from VS. I’m sure he has quoted or fallen back on many a Trinidadian writer for original material to start his considerable portfolio of novels that made him famous. “The world is what it is” is as powerful a line as Dante Alighieri’s “Abandon all Hope, ye who enter here” in his 14th-century narrative poem, “The Divine Comedy”.
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General T&T

“What is man, that thou art mindful of him?”

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By Dr Selwyn R. Cudjoe
December 09, 2024

Dr. Selwyn R. Cudjoe“What is man, that thou art mindful of him?” —Psalm 8:4

Last Monday Lisa Morris-Julian, Minister in the Ministry of Education, and two of her children (Xianne, 25 and Jesiah, 6) died in a fire that destroyed their Arima home. The cause of the fire remains sketchy but the response of the T&T Fire Service left much to be desired.
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General T&T, Health

Amid your revelry, stay safe

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By Raffique Shah
December 21, 2024

Raffique ShahOver the past two to three years, I have destroyed two cooking pots, having forgotten them on the stove and not having adhered to the safety rules we had agreed to enforce. It was not deliberate, of course. I can easily explain how it happened and why, as we grow older, we should be very careful when dealing with doing things we did ten to 20 years ago. Hell, I have been multitasking all my life and very efficiently, too.
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