Tag Archives: Raffique Shah

corruption, Court, Crime in T&T, General T&T, Law, Parliament, People's Partnership, Politics, UNC

Watchdogs of democracy

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By Raffique Shah
September 16, 2012

Raffique ShahFIFTY years ago, in one of his now-famous speeches delivered during the euphoria of Independence, Prime Minister Dr Eric Williams told citizens of the fledgling nation, “…Democracy, finally, rests on a power higher than Parliament. It rests on an informed and cultivated and alert public opinion….” I recalled that injunction last week when the nation was shaken from its Jubilee stupor to learn, through the alertness of the media, that an injudicious act of Parliament was about to hurl us down a legal precipice, the consequences of which are best left to the imagination.
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Business, General T&T, Labour

God will not help the stupid

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By Raffique Shah
September 09, 2012

Raffique ShahAS ironical and comical as it may seem, the one word that drives the fear of God into the average Trini, is “gas”.

Yes, you read right—gas! I know the more enlightened in the country might think that Shah finally flipped his lid…he gone off. After all, if anything, for the sake of country, we need more gas.
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General T&T, Politics, Sports

Part-time patriots

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By Raffique Shah
September 02, 2012

Raffique ShahPATRIOTISM. I have seen and heard this word used, misused and abused so much over the past few weeks, I felt like retiring as a patriot, surely an oxymoron that would have reduced me to a moron. Patriots, like revolutionaries, racists or bigots of any shade or persuasion, cannot resign or retire or even change. Either you are, or you are not.
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General T&T, People's Partnership, Politics

Wine and have a good time

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By Raffique Shah
August 26, 2012

Raffique ShahI SUPPOSE there are a few achievements that we can celebrate at age 50. Top of my list would be the blessing that as a nation of many ethnicities we have not degenerated into bloody race wars or violent religious conflicts. It’s for want of trying, I should add. Many ethnic, political and religious misleaders, past and present, have worked hard to steer their flocks into confrontation. They could not give a damn about the possible consequences of their manipulation. Luckily for us, as David Rudder sang, most Trinis just “want to wine and have a good time and look for a lime”..
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England, General T&T, Politics, Sports

No political blight

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By Raffique Shah
August 19, 2012

Raffique ShahI EXPERIENCED déjà vu last Monday, a feeling of “been there, seen that” as I watched the Prime Minister and her Cabinet colleagues milk golden boy Keshorn Walcott for all he was worth, and then some. Politicians can be merciless in extracting their mileage from achievers. Walcott, having endured two extensive world-class sporting events with all the in-built tension, not to add energy- sapping hours of travelling, was forced into an ultra-marathon homecoming to satiate the political appetites of the powers-that-be. In what should have been his hour of glory, I felt sorry for the boy.
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General T&T, Sports

Memorable moments in time

By Raffique Shah
August 12, 2012

Raffique ShahTHERE is an afterglow to the Olympic Games, an image or moment in time that remains etched in the minds of hundreds of millions of people who view the quadrennial extravaganza. These indelible memories are often so overwhelming, they capture the hearts and minds of most fans. In my case, I’ll always remember the men’s 100-metres final in Seoul, South Korea, in 1988 —the greatest race (for me) until this year’s edition in London, England.
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General T&T, Sports

Glorious Olympic fields of dreams

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By Raffique Shah
Aug 05, 2012

Raffique ShahHALFWAY into the Games and it has been a mixed bag thus far. Oh, the performances all round have ranged from superb to sublime. Really, who could ask for better than what we have seen in the aquatic centre? Just to have witnessed the curtain come down in the career of possibly the greatest swimmer ever, Michael Phelps, was worth it. Bear in mind Phelps started these Games with the threat of Ryan Lochte looming large over his quest to become the most decorated swimmer.
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corruption, General T&T, People's Partnership, Politics

Exoneration or escape?

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By Raffique Shah
July 21, 2012

Raffique ShahFORTY years ago on July 27 I was released from prison a free man. I had spent 27 months in prison, faced a court-martial on mutiny and other charges, and had been committed to stand trial for treason. The treason charge was without substance.

But on the equally serious offence of mutiny, for which the court-martial had found me guilty and sentenced me to 20 years imprisonment, the Court of Appeal later decided there was a miscarriage of justice, hence it overturned the conviction.
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Finance, General T&T, India, People's Partnership, Politics, Racism Watch

When Race Trumps Reason

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By Dr. Selwyn R. Cudjoe
July 18, 2012

Dr. Selwyn R. CudjoeYou work at an institution for ten years; you begin to like that institution. You grow to admire the intellectual caliber of the men and women who work there and you embalm those precious memories. Ultimately, you reverence that institution as a place where standards matter and excellence is the order of the day. You read Terrence Farrell’s Central Banking in a Developing Economy: A Study of Trinidad and Tobago, 1964 to 1989, you appreciate the origin of central banking in the nation, pre and post-independence. You realize the stature of the men who served this nation as governors (sadly there are no women) and you feel a sense of pride in your nation’s achievement. You realize that no matter what its limitations are, it tries to reward excellence signaling to the nation’s young men and women that achievement matters.
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General T&T, Labour

Memories of another era

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By Raffique Shah
July 14, 2012

Raffique ShahLAST week, memories of another day, another time, another Trinidad and Tobago swirled through my mind. It happened over several days as many of us who grew up in the villages that make up what I call “Greater Freeport” gathered to pay our final respects to an elder, Boyd “Baykay” Roberts. Baykay was a contemporary of my long-deceased father Haniff, and a close friend of my deceased uncles, all of them sugar workers, ordinary people, barely literate, but wise in the ways of the world.
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