Tag Archives: Raffique Shah

Culture, Entertainment, General T&T, Music

Play mas

By Raffique Shah
February 18, 2012

Raffique ShahNOTHING that I wrote last Sunday should be misread as the lament of an “ole geezer” who has had his Carnival day and who now wants to deny others the joy of the festival. Quite unlike some “sourpusses” who see nothing good in Carnival, I believe ours is a unique mix of music, artistry, colour, spontaneity, high-energy, sexuality, conviviality and more, much more. So, as this year’s festival comes to a climax over the next two days, I encourage Trinis-to-de-bone and our foreign guests to “play mas”. Have a whale of a time, but be safe.
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Culture, Entertainment, General T&T, Music, Security

Total disrepect

6 Comments

By Raffique Shah
February 12, 2012

Raffique ShahI HAVE been nursing a not-so-quiet anger since last Sunday’s Panorama Semi-finals, and no, it has nothing to do with Despers being omitted from the finals, although I feel “a how” about that. I have asked fellow pan-fans, many of whom, like me, no longer make the pilgrimage to the Savannah, but who, nevertheless, do not miss a note, “How could they show total disrespect to pan, to the thousands who labour in panyards to produce one of the world’s biggest musical extravaganzas?”
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Crime in T&T, Finance, General T&T, People's Partnership, Police, Politics

From blimp to ‘battimamselle’

3 Comments

By Raffique Shah
February 05, 2012

Raffique ShahSHORTLY after the PNM government acquired the second or third sky ship (“blimp”) a few years ago, a well-informed patriotic national who resides in the US asked me why they did not consider new surveillance technology like remote-controlled drones. We had a healthy discussion on the issue. I did not understand, nor could I explain, why Martin Joseph and his security advisers opted for the unwieldy “blimp” over the many ultra-modern devices that were then in service from Afghanistan to America.
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Finance, General T&T, Politics

Let the tax debate begin

3 Comments

By Raffique Shah
January 29, 2012

Raffique ShahPRESIDENT Barack Obama’s bold move to seek to apply a tax rate of 30 per cent to America’s super-rich should serve as a catalyst of sorts for Finance Minister Winston Dookeran. Dookeran said recently that his ministry would soon review the income tax regime in Trinidad and Tobago. Changes to this country’s income and corporate taxes were last made in 2006. Then, the Patrick Manning government raised the personal allowance for individuals to $60,000, and applied a fixed rate of 25 per cent tax on all chargeable incomes above that.
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Crime in T&T, Death Penalty, General T&T, Law, People's Partnership, Politics, Violence

Joker wild in Cabinet

4 Comments

By Raffique Shah
January 21, 2012

Raffique ShahJUSTICE Minister Herbert Volney invariably comes across as a joker in the theatre of the macabre…a kind of black humour specialist.

He seems not to know whether his role is to make people laugh, cry or have a compelling urge to throttle him. He cannot decide if he is an entertainer, intimidator or Soca Monarch contender.
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General T&T, Religion, Schools

Boorish behaviour by schools’ boards

4 Comments

By Raffique Shah
January 14, 2012

Raffique ShahTELEVISION footage that showed a hapless young female teacher being bullied by hard-backed men and a “be-hijabed” woman was the pannier that broke this jackass’ back. I had stupidly stayed silent when Sat Maharaj and sundry Maha Sabha persons, again men and women, hounded school principal Sita Gajadharsingh-Nanga. I thought that more than enough had been said and written about that unsavoury stand off to convince Sat and his people that they should improve their pedigree.
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Finance, General T&T, People's Partnership, Politics

Fear for our future

4 Comments

By Raffique Shah
January 07, 2012

Raffique ShahWITHIN recent times, I’ve had an uneasy feeling that this country is drifting around aimlessly. I sense that in the economic turbulence that has gripped much of the world, we have let go of the rudder of the ship of state, and cast our fate to the wind and the rough seas without even trying to steer a course to safety.
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General T&T, People's Partnership, PNM, Politics, UNC

Play mas with your medals

13 Comments

By Raffique Shah
January 01, 2012

Raffique ShahA FEW weeks ago, Dr Brinsley Samaroo telephoned me. After we exchanged pleasantries, he got down to stating the purpose of his call. House Speaker Wade Mark had asked him to make contact with a number of ex-parliamentarians whom he (Mark) wanted to recognise for their service to Parliament, and, presumably, to country. Brinsley informed me that I was among those selected, and he wanted to inform me and to gather some biographical data from me.
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Culture, General T&T, Media, Religion

Gifts that last a lifetime

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By Raffique Shah
December 25, 2011

Raffique ShahA CHRISTMAS Day column could be a writer’s dream, or his worst nightmare. Many among those who revel in the spirit of the season would reason that it’s the best platform from which to extend greetings to a large number of people, thanks to the wide readership that the Sunday Express commands. Others might ask, in between “hics” and “burps”, “Who the hell reads anything on C’wismas Day?”
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General T&T, People's Partnership, PNM, Politics, UNC

Degeneration now

6 Comments

By Raffique Shah
December 18, 2011

Raffique ShahYOU would think that two years after he suffered the most severe political flogging in local history, Basdeo Panday would have long ridden off into the sunset, hoisted his grandchildren on his lap and sat back in luxury, enjoying an ex-prime minister’s generous pension and perks. But that’s not Panday’s style. He’s back into active politics…or so he says.
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