General T&T, Politics

Intentional distraction

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By Dr Selwyn R. Cudjoe
February 08, 2025

Dr. Selwyn R. CudjoeNostalgia led me to the People’s National Movement Mani­festo of 1991, the year it defeated the National Alliance for Reconstruction. The PNM returned to government in 1991 but lost power to the United National Congress in 1995. A year later, the Leader of Our Grief and Sorrow challenged Patrick Manning’s leadership and lost. His rise to national prominence began at that point. The Leader will leave the political scene in a few weeks but will retain his influence on his protégé, Stuart Young.
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General T&T

Hiding our inhumanity

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By Raffique Shah
February 08, 2025

Raffique ShahOld age is a B!!ch. Growing up as a boy in rural Trinidad, I would often hear that refrain coming from the mouths of people who were, well, old. In those times, anyone who had a couple grey hairs or whose skin looked like leather, or who walked around seeming to have difficulty in making their next step, was classified as old.

They may have been 40 or thereabouts and would utter such refrains when commenting on some inadequacies they experienced. And, I would think, what are they complaining about? They should be happy. Mostly, they had retired from some job they held so they did not have to commute to work every day. They lived seemingly relaxed lives. Except for some infirmities, they looked in pretty good shape, so why the complaints?
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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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