Trinbago Forever

Let Freedom Rain?

noreply@blogger.com (Trinbago Forever) — Fri, 13 Aug 2010 20:07:00 +0000

"To enjoy freedom we have to control ourselves."

Virginia Woolf (1882-1941) British novelist and essayist.

This is a month bracketed by two contextually similar and aptly august occasions in the national calendar: Emancipation Day and Independence Day. These are celebrations based upon the concepts of freedom, self-determination and all the ideals, possibilities, and buoyancy attendant with such notions. We commendably celebrate these occasions with gusto: historic achievements which, even in the case of emancipation, were notably not marked by the bloodshed of our forebears. While assuredly, this is welcome to note, in another perspective some posit that these somewhat ‘free’ freedoms we acquired, point somehow to an ethos absent of profound appreciation and value for that which is among the most sacrosanct aspects and aspirations of humankind. Our celebrations of these events therefore, become construed by some, as mainly a reflection of our penchant to make celebration of any circumstance, great or small, and we, as a people, more blithe than indomitable.

Nonetheless, sandwiched between these momentous occasions, thus far this month, we have been beset by weather conditions and deluges therefrom, which seem determined to fulsomely chastise us, on the one hand, for our blitheness or to test our indomitability on the other. And although we have suffered through these weather conditions before with similar consequential carnage, like the fittingly named American 70s soul singer, Swamp Dogg (no relation to Snoop), our patience, with the perennial plague of flooding, judging from media reports, columnists, and commentators, seems to have finally grown thin. Indulging in the Dogg reference a bit further, there is also the debate of how much the cause of the flooding is of our own making. Is this then, some ‘synthetic world’ of flood and folly that we have helped wrought upon ourselves through littering, wanton quarrying and deforestation of our hillsides, and the construction of office buildings, shopping malls, and homes apace, in the pursuit profits and votes, without much concern for the environment or making commensurate adjustments to the drainage infrastructure? The common-sense concept which we all intuitively know, yet ironically fail to heed, is that that the more we increase the impervious coverage of the earth, the greater, faster, and more intense rainwater runoff will be.

Freedom, as we all know, is also about responsibility. Truly, nature, inclusive of some of our low-lying topography is a definitive contributor to our present predicament, but we must also acknowledge our own actions and, as well, inactions, as contributing to our diluvian troubles and do all that is necessary to minimise and abate our flooding problems.

Colm Imbert, the previous Works and Transport Minister, raised the prospect of collection or detention basins as one solution to the flooding problem, albeit describing constructing and allocating them as expensive and time-consuming. But given these attributes, wasn’t it perhaps best we had examined and implemented this idea sooner rather than later, given all the costs in reparation that have to be undertaken now, and particularly when prices for anything in this in the country, once proceeding on an upward trend, hardly seem to go down again? And why wait too, when this is a perennial problem that has been spreading to areas that previously suffered no flooding as the impervious coverage of the country increases?

In fact, the use of collection, detention basins or holding ponds, is one of the older and well-known methods of what is more widely referred to as SUDS -sustainable urban drainage systems- that have been employed in cities in the UK, US, Canada, and other countries. Apart from collection basins, SUDS also includes use of pervious or permeable-materialed sidewalks, and permeable asphalt roads and parking lots to reduce the volume (thus intensity) and pollution of storm water runoff. SUDS are beneficial in that they aim to reduce runoff and preserve the natural water or hydrological cycle (precipitation, absorption, and evaporation etc.). Changes in the hydrological cycle can have significant impact on the availability and quality of drinking water as well as impact on wildlife.

Of course, a major cited problem for our recurrent flooding woes is littering. The current administration started off with a Clean and Beautify T&T Day, held just over a month after being elected to office, much the same as the NAR (National Alliance for Reconstruction) administration did under Prime Minister Robinson, back in 1986. Similar to 1986 as well, this recent initiative was also a success, attracting widespread popular support. The administration however, perhaps in partnership with corporations and non-profits, must keep up the focus on maintaining a clean environment as a never-ending as opposed to a typical local nine-day wonder, if we are to seriously address preserving our environment and living conditions.

With respect to recycling, laudably, there are several government and private initiatives in operation, although these are limited by collection material, areal scope or both. Some companies engaged in such activity include Republic Bank (Make a Valuable Deposit), Carib Glassworks Limited (CGL) and Plastikeep. The WeCan Waste/Recycling & Urban Enhancement Initiative (think of those large rectangular stainless steel waste-bins on the sidewalks in Port of Spain) launched by the Port of Spain City Corporation in 2007 for a cleaner nation’s capital, from all appearances, seems to have had some success. The initiative has also spread to Arima, Chaguanas, Point Fortin, San Fernando and Tobago (see Guardian story). As of yet though, there is no fully comprehensive household recycling collection service in the country. This ideally is where we need to get to.

Trinidad and Tobago is a place of free and fun-loving people. David Rudder reminds us in his Ganges Meets the Nile, that we are ‘one lovely nation under a groove,” but the recent floodings have put many a sorry song into the hearts of many of our fellow citizens across this land. We are thankful to all those individuals, nonprofits, and corporations who have freely given of themselves in helping those who have suffered loss. But lest we forget, the wet season is still far from over: let us all do what we can to lessen the flooding and lighten the hearts of those whose lives the waters may leave stranded.

Some local environment/disaster preparedness resources

EMA -Environmental Management Authority

ODPM - Office of Disaster Preparedness and Management

SWMCOL - Trinidad & Tobago Solid Waste Management Co. Ltd.

Trinidad and Tobago Met (Meteorological) Office

Lead Her Ship

noreply@blogger.com (Trinbago Forever) — Sun, 06 Jun 2010 03:45:00 +0000

"A woman is like a tea bag- you never know
how strong she is until she gets in hot water."
Eleanor Roosevelt (1884-1962)

It’s arguably certain that many don’t firstly think of Mrs. Kamla Persad-Bissessar as a woman Prime Minister but simply as the Prime Minister: a person who is now leader of our country. Admittedly, it has now become more difficult at times to discuss successes in the context of such traits as race, gender, and religion, given the opportunities and successes that have become more commonplace among greater levels of diversity (note: typically, socio-economic status gets a pass, whereas, sexual orientation, once it begs the question, still has some ways to go in terms of acceptance in Trinidad and Tobago and the wider Caribbean). But in terms of, particularly, political leadership, despite successes, women ascending to the highest political office is still enough of a rarity that compels attention.

Within the Caribbean, Mrs. Persad-Bissessar has only two such predecessors: Dame Eugenia Charles, Prime Minister of Dominica from 1980-1995 and Portia Simpson-Miller, Prime Minister of Jamaica from 2006 -2007. Mrs. Persad-Bissessar’s, ascendancy to office now makes her eligible for membership to the Council of Women World Leaders (CWWL) an international network of current and former women prime ministers and presidents, whose mission is “to mobilize the highest-level women leaders globally for collective action on issues of critical importance to women.” There are now roughly two dozen women heads of State and government across the globe.

Similar to CWWL, within the region there is CIWiL (Caribbean Institute for Women in Leadership) whose participating member countries are: Antigua and Barbuda, Belize, Haiti, Jamaica, Saint Kitts & Nevis, and Saint Lucia. CIWiL’S mission, in part, aims to “advance women’s transformational leadership and increase the number of women in politics, leadership and decision-making at all levels in the Caribbean.” Locally, we have the well-established Network of NGOs of Trinidad and Tobago for the Advancement of Women, which, according to their Web site, consists of a network of 102 civil society organisations, making them the largest “umbrella organisation” in the country.

So does gender in leadership matter? Should we care whether or not women are in leadership roles? Does this issue matter at all with respect to growth and development? The essence of such questions was the theme of a speech “Women and Leadership: The Missed Development Goal,” delivered in October 2007 at the Ministry of Community Development and, Culture and Gender Affairs’ Distinguished Lecture Series (notably, about a week prior to this event the then UNCA- United National Congress Alliance - held its election rally where it was reported that the current Prime Minister received the loudest applause among a slate of candidates presented, with her as the only woman).

In the speech, delivered by UNDP (United Nations Development Program) Gender Team Director, Winnie Byanyima, one of her first and fundamental points was that equality of politics is a human right (this of course relates to Article 3 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights which explicitly codifies this right), and that the UNDP’s focus for promoting increasing women’s political participation was to help ensure attention to women’s issues and thus potentially reduce gender inequality gaps. This too is all tangential to the United Nations’ CEDAW, the Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Discrimination Against Women, to which Trinidad and Tobago is a signatory. Another reason for women’s political participation offered by Byanyima, was that their participation has a positive impact on governance. She alluded to three studies which showed a positive correlation between women’s participation in public life and reductions in levels of corruption. Ms. Byanyima also went on to present other arguments for women’s leaderships roles in the private sector as well.

In the United States, a Pew Research Center report, A Paradox in Public Attitudes: Men or Women: Who’s the Better Leader?: a survey sample of 2250 telephone interviews, published in August 2008, it was found that while respondents rated women superior to men in traits such as honesty, intelligence and “a handful of other character traits they value highly in leaders,” only a meager 6 percent related that women make better political leaders than men. However, 69 percent said that men and women equally make good political leaders.

But notably in the survey, for job performance skills, women got “higher marks than men in all of the measures tested: standing up for one’s principles in the face of political pressure; being able to work out compromises; keeping government honest; and representing the interests of "people like you."

The survey also focused on four traits typically viewed as negative with regard to leadership: women (85%) were the more emotional than men (5%) and women (52%) were more manipulative than men (26%). On the other two traits, men were deemed more arrogant (70%) and stubborn (46%) than women.

Relative to the world of business, the Harvard Business Review in its Women CEOs: Why So Few? published December 2009, it points out that for the article, while “we studied the leadership of 2,000 of the world’s top performing companies, we found only 29 (1.5%) of those CEOs were women.”

With the recent global onset of the global financial crisis, with many still scratching their heads trying to find the reason why so many ‘smart’ financial experts helped take the world so close financial oblivion, some researchers have been looking towards a gender influence as well. John Coates, a former Wall Street trader turned researcher now at Cambridge University, believes that testosterone lies at the root of the irrational exuberance that leads to bubble markets (note: "irrational exuberance" is a term credited to Alan Greenspan, former Chairman of the U.S. Federal Reserve Bank and is also the title of Yale University professor Robert Shiller’s book, first published in 2000 after the dot.com bubble. A second edition was published in 2005, where Shiller essentially warned of the current economic crisis). Coates conceptualized and developed his theory from observing the excited behavior of his fellow male traders on the market floor. His findings, for some, seem to beg the question “Would women make for more level-headed traders?”

In light of this too, we may also wonder whether with more women political leaders if we would have a more peaceful world. This has long been an argument put forward by many. Fukuyama, the noted American academic, in his "Women and the Evolution of World Politics," published in the Sept/Oct issue of Foreign Affairs magazine in 1998, writing off of anecdotal evidence from researchers on chimpanzee behaviour, notes that the researchers essentially observed murders between different chimpanzee groups. Fukuyama notes that intra-species violence in the animal kingdom is a rare occurrence, limited to infanticide to be rid of a rival’s offspring. Only chimps and humans, according to Fukuyama, seem to have an inclination for murdering their peers. Among chimps’ social interactions, he reminds us that like humans, chimps cajole, plead and bribe in building their social connections with the males being the primary actors of violence. However, Fukuyama acknowledges that:

“Female chimpanzees can be as violent and cruel as the males at times; females compete with one another in hierarchies and form coalitions to do so. But the most murderous violence is the province of males, and the nature of female alliances is different.”

Moving away from the primate comparison Fukuyama also notes that “In every known culture, and from what we know of virtually all historical time periods, the vast majority of crimes, particularly violent crimes, are committed by men.”

Fukuyama’s article did generate some criticism from several writers also within Foreign Affairs magazine (Jan/Feb 1999) some months later. ("Fukuyama's Follies: So what if women Ruled the World?").

One critic writes “Whatever our genetic and prehistoric cultural legacies, women in the past two centuries have more than adequately demonstrated a capacity for collective violence. They have played a leading role in nonmilitary violence such as eighteenth- and nineteenth-century bread riots and revolutionary uprisings, in which they were often reputed to be "foremost in violence and ferocity.”"

Another Fukuyama critic states:

“He [Fukuyama] argues that men are more violent than women. Someday he may provide actual evidence that this is a biological rather than social tendency. But even if women are innately less violent, they are plenty violent enough to call into question Fukuyama's claim that more female political power would mean more peace.”

Another notable criticism presented is that while women primarily may not be the actual doers of violent acts, does not rule them out as instigators, supporters or enablers of such acts.

Violent crime, with such including violence against women, certainly has become a central issue for us in Trinidad and Tobago. And if the participation of more women in public life can help to abate it, surely even the most chauvinistic males among us might be in agreement.

In Trinidad and Tobago, as elsewhere, women have made enormous strides in closing the gender gap: Mrs. Persad-Bissessar’s achievement represents a significant mark in such progress. According to the last available census reports, women constitute roughly half of the population. Maybe this is a sign for us men and women, boys and girls, to be equally committed in the progress of our country.

The People's Partnership the People's Choice

noreply@blogger.com (Trinbago Forever) — Sat, 29 May 2010 18:44:00 +0000

Congratulations to our new and first woman Prime Minister, Mrs. Kamla Persad-Bissessar, and hearty congratulations also to the people of Trinidad and Tobago, our Elections & Boundaries Commission, the media, and to the Trinidad and Tobago Police Service for a smooth and civil transition of government. Mrs. Persad-Bissessar’s and the People’s Partnership’s 29-12 victory over Mr. Manning and the PNM (People’s National Movement) is readily reminiscent of the 33-3 victory of the NAR (National Alliance for Reconstruction) over the PNM back in 1986. Then, such was all the more significant given the PNM’s holding of the political reins of power since 1956. However, back in 1986, despite the NAR’s tremendous victory, the Trinidad and Tobago economy had been undergoing a recession since 1982. The NAR, under Prime Minister A.N.R. Robinson, had taken the difficult and seemingly inevitable choice to seek IMF (International Monetary Fund) assistance which, in 1988, then imposed severe economic restrictions upon the country which precipitated a groundswell of unpopularity against Mr. Robinson and his administration. With the backdrop of this unpopularity, the militaristic Islamic group, the Jamaat Al Muslimeen, led by Yasin Abu Bakr, sought to overthrow the Robinson administration in the 1990 coup attempt: an event during which Mr. Robinson sustained a gunshot wound to his leg and where he and some of his cabinet members were held hostage for six days. The PNM returned to electoral victory in 1991.

At present, the economic situation in Trinidad and Tobago is thankfully not close to what it was in the 1980s. However, now there is sufficient economic turmoil in the more advanced economies of the United States and Western Europe to warrant concerns of contagion for the developing world. Similar to the NAR post-victory atmosphere in 1986, there seems now to be a widespread sentiment of hope and promise for the country and the new administration. It is not hard to imagine however, that should there be an economic turn for the worse, how drastically such sentiments might change. Change, it should be noted, was the campaign theme of the People’s Partnership, for which the party was accused by some of trying to don Obama-esque raiments. And Mr. Obama’s lustre, given primarily that, thus far, there has not been a bolstering of the beleaguered U.S. job market, has naturally suffered. So the political lessons from at home and abroad are all there for the People’s Partnership to take note.

Nonetheless, for the political change, as has been a theme on this blog, there still remains much onus upon the people of Trinidad and Tobago to put forward their best efforts to help the country move forward. Electoral change is only but one and relatively infrequent aspect of democracy. The real work comes in the everyday constancy of people-participation for genuine concern for the overall development of the country. Within the engine of the free market system in which we operate, is Adam Smith’s identified root of self-interest which acts as the system’s igniter and fuel. Many however, sometimes take the notion of self-interest too much to heart where they forget or choose to ignore that Smith’s view of self-interest was predicated upon two aspects of the concept: one individual, the other collective, where each complemented the other. Of self-interest Smith states in 'The Wealth of Nations (Note: this is the commonly used title. The formal title is An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations):

"But man has almost constant occasion for the help of his brethren, and it is in vain for him to expect it from their benevolence only. He will more likely to prevail if he can interest their self-love in his favour, and shew them that it is for their own advantage to do for him what he requires of them. "

Essentially, to somewhat paraphrase Smith, while we all look out for own interests we would do well to realise that each of our interests are wrapped up the interests of others in the society. The U.S. economic meltdown under which Mr. Obama’ s popularity is being tested, had its roots in truly rapacious and narrowly focused self-interest run amok, within an environment of little market oversight or enforcement. While he was elected with a great expectancy of change and a leveling of the playing field, such has been not easy to come by, particularly with well-moneyed interests and political gamesmanship seeking to stymie and water-down stricter market reform initiatives at every turn. As such, there are many who having voted for Mr. Obama’s ‘change,’ now feel that their voices, efforts, and ideals are still being stifled and supplanted by those with the power of the purse over their congressional representatives: many still see the continuance of a system where the self-interests of political elites and corporate elites act in concert at the expense of and indifference to the interests of the wider population.

Similar and other hindrances to desired and needed changes in light of the new direction in which the Trinidad and Tobago population now seems eager to pursue, are what the Persad-Bissessar administration and the population at large will have to remain alert to as well. The populace however, must be realistic and also know that in any economy, of sometimes competing interests, trade-offs between one decision and another are inevitable: and while politicians seem to relish as being all things to all people when on the campaign trail, once in office the realities of restrictions and political and other accommodations rear their heads.

So let us enter as we must, into any new life-chapter, with a positive attitude and attendant action to accompany our progress. But let there be no delusions that our fate lies solely or primarily with our elected officials within whom we have placed our trust: our fate, is also very much, of the stuff of actions of us all.

Summit All Up

noreply@blogger.com (Trinbago Forever) — Thu, 23 Apr 2009 14:44:00 +0000

CARICOM Heads meet with Mr. Obama

Well, the 5th Summit of the Americas is over and it remains to be seen what benefits are to be derived from it. However, I, and I am sure, most would agree that, to paraphrase U.S. President Obama, it all depends on the actions of the member countries rather than just their words. This certainly has been the bugbear of international agreements of all kinds for many years. Many countries sign on to laudatory and grandiose statements, resolutions, protocols, and whatever label they come up with, and unfortunately many a time there is no follow-through on what they were signatories to.

At the end of this summit Prime Minister Manning’s was the sole signature (so it is notable too that not even Mr. Obama signed) on the final document (see the Declaration of Commitment of Port-of-Spain), signing on behalf of all the governments. It remains to be seen now how binding his signature can be upon all the other nations as the OAS (Organization of American States) claimed in a post summit press conference. Nevertheless, from all indications and reports, this appeared to have been a summit of much frankness and openness, so perhaps for all of this forthrightness some diplomatic feathers were ruffled. In the midst of all of the hemispherical problems however, it still remains that there are many issues, which, in all likelihood, can best be solved through cooperation among countries and this, despite whatever differences, is what should remain at the forefront of our leaders’ minds.

For many, as was obvious from the general reactions, this summit was also, to a great extent, about the presence of Mr. Obama. His youth and charisma along with the historical significance of being the first Afro American U.S. President, carries a powerful combined impact that surely will not dissipate for a considerable time and overwhelming receptions are what will follow Mr. Obama for a long time in all his travels on the global stage, similar to, but I believe beyond those of the still lusty receptions of his Democratic predecessor Bill Clinton, providing he maintains his popularity.

It is for a similar reason too why Evo Morales, the Bolivian president, is also popular, at least in Latin America: he being the first person of indigenous descent to be elected president in his country. Mr. Obama’s visit too, represents the second such, what can be considered, historical visit for our country within recent time, the first being that of the visit of Mr. Mandela in 2004.

The Prince & the Pres: Brian Lara and Mr. Obama. This photo graced the covers of all local newspapers.

U.S. President Obama greeting children at
Piarco airport Trinidad and Tobago

A gushing Mrs. Paula Gopee-Scoon, Trinidad and Tobago's Foreign Minister, and Mr. Obama.

The Pres. Obama photos above were taken from a slideshow available on Whitehouse.gov

Summit Time

noreply@blogger.com (Trinbago Forever) — Fri, 17 Apr 2009 19:38:00 +0000

The 5th Summit of the Americas is now underway in Port-of-Spain, Trinidad and Tobago (the first Summit was held in Miami, in 1994). The theme of the Fifth Summit of the Americas, is "Securing Our Citizens' Future by Promoting Human Prosperity, Energy Security and Environmental Sustainability."

In line with this theme, the 5th Summit of the Americas Web site states “The focus of the Fifth Summit will be on human prosperity, energy security, climate change and sustainable development.”

Given the above, there are many issues that our country needs to address which fit into the summit theme. However, if we tried to tackle them one at a time we’d never get around to them all. In fact that is why we have all these government Ministries and departments (isn’t it?) where each of them fulfilling their respective mandates as need be, would help address all the varied issues at hand.

Nonetheless, given the limitations of the poll we have available now, please bear to select just one issue in answer to our poll question in the right right menu bar.

Thanks for your participation and comments.

See live coverage of summit activities on Trinidad and Tobago's CNMG (Caribbean New Media Group) live stream. Be sure to check out other Trinidad and Tobago news sites and blogs for coverage and information.

It All Ads Up: Alas, We Own Media Matters

noreply@blogger.com (Trinbago Forever) — Thu, 16 Apr 2009 16:52:00 +0000

"People perpetuate themselves through the images they create."

Errol Sitahal, Tony Hall from And the Dish Ran Away With the Spoon

With the recent closure of Gayelle TV’s News Department one wonders if there is any more fallout to come with respect to local media. This conjecture is by no means to cast any mal yeux (pronounced locally as: mal-jo) i.e. bad or evil eye, upon the local media fraternity but is simply made within the context of the current global economic downturn, which, of course, is having an impact on the local economy. Across the globe, the economic squeeze is being felt in varying sectors and the media industry has not escaped the constricting economic embrace.

Although, at least in the U.S., there has been some recent lightening of the dour recessionary rhetoric from the U.S. President himself, when he was widely quoted in the media on Tuesday April 14, as seeing “glimmers of hope” for the U.S. economy. Mr. Obama’s statements were later on the same day followed by similar sentiments from the U.S. Fed Chairman, Ben Bernanke, who was reported as stating that “recently we have seen tentative signs that the sharp economic decline in economic activity may be slowing.”

But the U.S. media, particularly newspapers, have not been faring well: a negative consequential continuation of the growth of online media and cable, and which is now seeing a further dampening of the outlook for the industry with the current economic climate. In the U.S. from the State of the Media 2009 Web page, produced annually by the renowned Pew Research Center, the report starts with a succinct and telling statement, “Some of the numbers are chilling.” It goes on further to state in the introduction that: “This is the sixth edition of our annual report on the State of the News Media in the United States. It is also the bleakest.”

It reports a 23% fall in newspaper ad revenues in the last two years, along with the bankruptcy and loss in stock value of newspaper companies. With respect to the Internet the report states:

“The number of Americans who regularly go online for news, by one survey, jumped 19% in the last two years; in 2008 alone traffic to the top 50 news sites rose 27%. Yet it is now all but settled that advertising revenue—the model that financed journalism for the last century—will be inadequate to do so in this one. Growing by a third annually just two years ago, online ad revenue to news websites now appears to be flattening; in newspapers it is declining.”

In the U.K. a December 2008 article "Writing on the Wall for Newspapers" (you can register for free to read the article) in the Financial Times relating its findings from Deloitte and GroupM (a media and marketing forecasting company) industry reports, mentioned predictions of a fall in ad revenues for the newspaper and magazine industry by as much as 20% in 2009. In U.S television the situation of industry decline seems the same, at least for traditional broadcast stations. In "The Not-so-Big Four," an article in the April 8 edition of the Economist it states that:

“Local television stations, many of them owned by or affiliated with national broadcasters, have seen advertising revenue fall by as much as 40%... It is not that people are watching less television. In the last quarter of 2008 the average American took in 151 hours per month, an all-time record, according to Nielsen, a market-research firm. The trouble is the growth of choice. More than 80% of American households now get their television via satellite or cable. To them, the broadcast channels are just items on a menu containing hundreds of dishes.”

From the evidence it is clear that consumers are moving from old media to new media, from print and broadcast to the Internet and cable. Back in May 2008, Advertising Age, the barometric publication of the U.S. and global advertising industry reported -"Revenue Grows by 8.6% Propelled by Digital" - that the acknowledged big four of global advertising, Omnicon, WPP, Interpublic, and Publicis generated 12.3% of worldwide revenue from digital services.

One way in which print is seeking to remain relevant is by bridging onto the digital world via QR (quick response) codes. This is a patterned image that contains a URL code or internet address. These codes are placed together with their print ads in magazines (they have been and are used in billboard and bus advertising as well) and allow the reader with a cell phone camera to photograph the image and then 'dial' or link to the company’s web site via the stored code to make further enquiries of the product or service being advertised. QR codes have been in use in Japan, where they were developed, since the mid 90s. They are now gaining greater attention in Western media markets. (See the QR Image code created for this blog in the right menu: visit qrcodekaywa.com to do the same or any other QR code generator web sites.)

Our local media environment has grown tremendously in the last two decades. From the listing provided on the TTPBA (Trinidad and Tobago Publishers and Broadcasters Association) Web site, there are some 37 FM radio stations and 10 television stations. There are three television subscription companies. Along with these we have three dailies, about a half dozen weekly newspapers and just over a dozen local magazines. With a population of only just under 1.25 million (according to the CIA Factbook Web site) it certainly does seem like a challenge for all these media entities to survive. However, according the Trinidad and Tobago Business Guide 2008/2009 (a 'Business Guide 2009/10 is already available), unlike other markets, local “newspaper circulation continues to grow compared to circulation decline of newspapers globally.”

Whether this remains the case as we attain greater online penetration remains to be seen. All three dailies provide significant free online content and if advertising revenues do become tight perhaps there might be some changes to this in the future. In terms of circulation figures, again according to the local business guide, the Express leads with 75,000, Newsday 65,000, and the Guardian 45,000. And perhaps as some tell-tale sign of desiring increased revenue, all three dailies have recently increased their cover price from $1 to $2. The overall local advertising spend however continues to grow from TT$253M in 2005 to TT$330M 2006. For 2007, the Who’s Who in Trinidad and Tobago Business Web site estimated the local advertising spend at TT$636M. Despite such figures, Gayelle however was forced to close its news department as the station’s ad revenues were down 50% as stated by its Executive Director, Errol Fabien.

In a related issue of Caribbean media, from several media reports earlier this month, Michael Lee-Chin, the billionaire Jamaican–Canadian investor, announced that a deal was close at hand for the total or partial sale of Columbus Communications Inc, his cable television Internet service provider and digital telephony company (which operates in 21 countries throughout the Caribbean (including Trinidad and Tobago where it trades as Flow) and Latin America. The deal according to a Gleaner report is to help AIC Barbados (the holding company for Mr. Lee-Chin’s Caribbean businesses) pay off US$170M in principal and interest on maturing promissory notes held by Jamaican investors.

According the the Gleaner (Lee-Chin to Announce AIC Asset Sale - Flow could provide J$15B financier needs to pay debts), Lee-Chin bought Columbus from a consortium of telecom firms in 2004 for US$80M and at present the company is said to be worth between US$200M to US$300M. The lead rumored buyer in the Columbus deal is Carlos Slim Helu (one of the world’s top three richest men) who owns América Móvil, the holding company of Claro, the latest entrant in the Jamaican wireless telephone market. América Móvil operates in 17 countries across the hemisphere.

From all this, it is typically clear that those with ample funds are more likely to weather and adjust accordingly when bad economic storms form. With the government bailout of the CL Financial Group, it seems that its subsidiary CL Communications, with its three radio stations (90.5, Music Radio 97, and Ebony 104), have been spared any woes. However, not too far afield in the region, it still remains unknown if the Antigua Sun, or the Sun St. Kitts/Nevis newspapers, both subsidiaries of Sun Printing & Publishing Ltd, owned by Texas billionaire Allen Stanford, now under investigation by the US Securities and Exchange Commission, will suffer any consequences as a result of their flamboyant owner’s current troubles.

Gayelle is not as well heeled as these other media entities. Hopefully, for their sake, they just had a slip and lost their rhythm with the lam-weh in the gayelle that is the business world and has not suffered a serious blow from the bois of a beleaguered economy. Advertising is the fuel and food of media…and so Gayelle may well question, alas yet again, whether the dish (or the cable) has run away with its spoon.

A Citizen's Trust

noreply@blogger.com (Trinbago Forever) — Sun, 12 Apr 2009 20:15:00 +0000

"If the people cannot trust their government to do the job for which it exists - to protect them and to promote their common welfare - all else is lost."

Barack Obama

Arguably, it can seem understandable from a government perspective, that when people do talk and write, complaining about all things government, that it seems as if such people are all anti-government. But governments, just like any other organisation or individual, are not perfect and must be able to accept and learn from fair criticism. There are though, degrees of governmental error from simple careless mistakes to downright ineptitude, indifference, and arrogance, just as there are degrees of public complaint, from basic letters to the editor, to massive all-out protest marches, and riots. Ideally, surely everyone wishes that such relational breakdowns would not occur but such is part of the inevitabilities of human existence.

There is the view too from the governmental or status quo side, that tends to look at people who do stir up protest, as troublemakers, rabble-rousers, and such like. And from the public complaint side, there are many, as protesters, or who see themselves as some conscience of the government, who actually welcome and relish the idea of being so labeled, finding identity with the likes of so many famed, and not so famous personages of protest throughout history.

Complaint and protest are healthy checks on government power nonetheless, just as the formalised separate branches of democratic governments are established to curb excesses in each other. Any government that claims to look out for the interest of its citizens would or should acknowledge this and have adequate measures in place to accommodate feedback from their citizens on how they are performing. But creating such avenues for feedback and redress are futile and creates distrust if in the end the government does nothing to improve its act. The people’s assessment of the government then redounds to the cynical description of ‘all talk and no action,’ and trust is broken. Trust, we all know, lies at the heart of any relationship and between governments and their citizens it is no less. In a paper, Building Trust in Government by Improving Governance, Larry Diamond of the Hoover Institution at Stanford University, writes

“ Failed states, revolutions, civil wars, and other related traumatic failures of governance all share in common the absence or collapse of trust: between citizens and the state, between different political factions or parties, and between ethnic, social or class groups at the mass level.”

Perhaps another way to look at the situation of complaints and protest against government is not so much in the vein of being anti-government, but rather as being 'pro-people' or 'pro-citizen.' Undoubtedly, some may argue that this is all just an artifice of semantics and spin as we all are accustomed to see government and corporate officials do. Yet, conversely too, it must be acknowledged that the way we do configure concepts in our heads tends to determine how we then think of them and consequently how we act accordingly.

In fact, what government hasn’t been elected because they clothed themselves in the mantle of being 'pro-people'? Essentially, we all know, ‘the people’ is what actually society is all about with government being the pre-eminent and formal body, so formed, to get the people’s work done for them. So when governments do, or at least appear to act in the people’s interest, then the need or desire to be anti-government is a non sequitur and does not arise. But regardless of labels, 'anti-government' or 'pro-people,' the core issue for citizens is for the government to do what is right. It is just wholly unfortunate in some countries where as Voltaire once said “it is dangerous to be right when the government is wrong.”

But systems have and continue to be developed by the U.N. and other international agencies and by forward thinking governments, at national and local levels, to encourage stronger bonds and accountability and, of course, trust between them and their citizens. In a report titled Engaging Citizens in Measuring and Reporting Community Conditions, Alfred Ho, a professor from Indiana University, examines two case studies, one from Des Moines Iowa, the other from Boston Massachusetts:

“The two case studies show how local public officials can work effectively with citizen representatives and community leaders to define the critical issues in public policies and community conditions, develop specific indicators to measure progress, and engage elected officials and the public in using the data to guide policy making.”

Edelman, a large, self-described independent U.S. P.R. (public relations) firm, has been conducting what it calls its Trust Barometer Survey for the past ten years (surely there are some readers now wondering about the veracity of a report on trust from a P.R. firm). For this year (2009) the survey consisted of just under 4500 persons in 20 countries across five continents. In the report (Edelman TrustBarometer 2009), business was trusted more than governments in 13 of the 20 markets surveyed and trust in government remained steady or declined in 12 of the markets surveyed.

Trust too is also about the average citizen believing that he or she can bring about positive change in the society. In essence, it is about trust in virtue and natural justice. What works against this however is what Paul Rogat Loeb describes in his book Soul of a Citizen: Living With Conviction in Cynical Time where (although it speaks to and of its U.S. audience, his words are applicable to us as well),

“We mistrust our ability to make a difference. The magnitude of the issues at hand coupled with a sense of powerlessness has led far too many of us to conclude that social involvement isn’t worth the cost."

Our hope and so our trust in a better view of our future becomes halted by cynicism, which Loeb describes as a cynicism that “implies no institutions, truths, or community bonds are worth fighting for.”

As such, in our criticism of government, we must caution ourselves to never become so cynical as to believe things can never be improved. And we should always recognise that we have a role as well as a responsibility in helping direct the government to do that which is right by us, its people.

With greater use of information and communication technologies (ICTs) by government agencies the concept of e-government has and continues to grow. However, government services so described do tend to bear expectations of greater speed and efficiency from citizens. Therefore, in a modern ironic twist, via less physical interaction, greater trust is hoped for and can be developed through greater efficiency of services in this way: for essentially, improved service is ideally what the public desires and of course deserves. So surely this is a way to build trust at one level and particularly so with a developing country such as ours where long lines and long waits and gaps in communication still typically remain the fare for government services.

However too, at present in Trinidad and Tobago, we are awash in questions about government trust. This stems from the governments’ initial statements about the global economic meltdown not having an impact on us, to later contrarily imploring us to tighten our belts, the current UDeCOTT (Urban Development Corporation of Trinidad and Tobago) Commission of Enquiry and the findings so far revealed, the issue of whether our Minister of Finance acted in conflict of interest and whether she was outright dishonest to Parliament, and of course the still absence of an Integrity Committee to complement our Integrity legislation.

In building trust though we must not and never forget that truth should be intrinsic to it. After all, it is the con (confidence) artist who gains your trust, only to deceive you; so true trust cannot be said to exist without truth being in effect. In this age of greater technological connectedness we can only hope that profound substantive connectedness i.e. trust, grows in tandem with all the social networks we form. For with the marvels of technology these days, we have all seen how things and people can be virtually changed, created, and appear to be in places where they really aren’t. Students now too, to a greater degree and professional writers as well, despite all the information available via the web, appear to be resorting to increasing levels of plagiarism.

We all know the famous Abraham Lincoln quote:

“You can fool all the people some of the time, and some of the people all the time, but you cannot fool all the people all the time.”

This quote though, I believe, is only true as far as we are vigilant enough to make it so.

Ablogged About Crime Again: Time to Snuff It Out

noreply@blogger.com (Trinbago Forever) — Mon, 27 Oct 2008 01:18:00 +0000

Unfortunately, sometimes I believe I should have a blog just dedicated to crime as this is truly the recurrent issue for Trinidad and Tobago. Crime just seems to have a life of its own which continues virtually unabated and woefully unaddressed. Surely there are a host of other problems we face and need to tackle but crime is the one-true issue that keeps gnawing –no- chomping away, at whatever sense of basic civility and hope we have for our country.

It has been so long that we have been enduring our Hobbesian torment that has mushroomed and remains with us like some mal-mutating lingering nuclear fallout. It is sad and actually treacherous too, that many of us are becoming or have become inured and desensitized to the crime situation, and somewhat accepting of the way things are now as some ‘new normal.’ And others, because they support the current administration, absolve them of all blame and responsibility.

Nonetheless for the morass, our Prime Minister and his cabinet members keep talking about other ‘this and thats' and ever glowing about forging ties hither, thither and yon, smiling all the while and wanting us all to be doing the same in unison along with them. The government and police authorities seem bent on constructing for us an environment not unlike the structured and sterile harmony in Huxley’s Brave New World. Yet, all their reassurances thus far remain delusional as their rhetoric fails to match the sordid reality around us. Government ministers seize every opportunity to regale us about our increasing city skyline, mega projects and Vision 2020. Yet, as of this posting, our murder rate stands close to the 450 mark. One cannot help but wonder when the year 2020 rolls around if our murder rate will be 2020 too.

The likes of Keith Cadiz, Choc’late Allen, Rev. Cyril Paul among others, have all tried to wake us up as a nation for us to see the rot that has taken hold and continues to spread. It was just a few years ago when roughly 100,000 people signed Mr. Cadiz’s online anti-crime petition and this was when the murder rate stood at about half what it is now. Yet then, when the petition was submitted to our President, Mr. Richards, for all the gentleman that he is, basically stated that his hands were tied: his decision reminiscent of someone named Pilate but ironically in our situation it is the masses themselves who then, and now, continue to be crucified.

The imagery and analogies come readily with respect to what the government is doing with all its glib and glowing talk of all the mega projects they seek to embark upon, images such as: pouring new wine into old wineskins, painting a house where the foundation and structural walls are no longer sound. So even if we were to make Port-of-Spain the most gleaming city in the region and oil were some day to hit $300 or $400 a barrel, all would still be for naught if the country remains riddled with crime. Surely any reasonable, sensible person would agree with this sentiment.

In this year’s budget presentation there was mention of the new 555 Initiative: basically a change from the previous 999 telephone number of the Police Emergency Rapid Response Service. However, as of this posting the Ministry of National Security’s Police Service Web page had only mention of the 999 telephone number to call, with no mention or hint of any 555 Initiative (hopefully by the time you read this the Web site will have been updated). In her budget speech, the Finance Minister also spoke about 450 police personnel being trained in community policing and potential for improved [?] rapid response and a national surveillance network. This surveillance network is one we have been hearing about for some time but delivering no substantial success as yet, given the still high crime rate we have, which the government itself asserts is mainly due to the drug trade which the very surveillance is supposed to address.

Annoyingly too, there is the impression that whenever we hear government and police authorities speak on the crime situation it seems that relief will be with us a la Crazy's calypso In Time to Come. Clear evidence of this was borne out some months ago, when the National Security Minister told the nation to expect the murder rate to be reduced in about three years’ time.

So what’s next then for a longsuffering, ever anxious public? Perhaps firstly the National Security Minister or Police Commissioner should provide us with a template of what the barest minimum our police stations or major crime units might possibly be furnished with in terms of facilities e.g. one way mirrors for suspect lineups, maps (including digital versions) of the major cities and towns in the country, computerized data entry of police reports with printouts given to the persons making the report as part of a receipt or acknowledgement of the report received, a shared database network of drivers licenses, VIN numbers and vehicle license registration. Such a networked database should be accesible at all times to any police officer on patrol anywhere in the country, to check on any suspicious vehicle or driver. Additionally, as has been suggested before, the country with its ebb and flow of kidnappings should introduce an initiative similar to the US AMBER (America's Missing: Broadcast Emergency Response) Alert system. AMBER Alerts:

“interrupt regular programming and are broadcast on radio and television and on highway signs. AMBER Alerts can also be issued on lottery tickets, wireless devices such as mobile phones, and over the Internet.”

As such, a similar local initiative could work in coordination with the local media and ISPs (Internet Service Providers), transport organizations like the Public Transport Service Corporation (PTSC) and taxi and maxi-taxi associations, and the Lottery Control Board. Digital signs on some of the nation’s highways can also be included for broadcasting any and all details relating to a kidnapping. The point here is to instill an overwhelming sense of odds against the kidnappers’ perception of escaping arrest.

Commendably, the Police Complaints Authority is a good idea but there is still no clear indication on how well it is utilized or serves as some sort of evaluator and motivator, albeit a coercive one, for our men and women in gray. Perhaps maybe someone or some nonprofit organisation can launch their own Web site, blog, or wiki, where the public can submit reports of their own interaction with police personnel. This need not only be about complaints but praise as well. One US organisation which provides such a service for ensuring proper police service to the public is a US national nonprofit organisation known as the Police Complaints Center (PCC) which has been in existence for 25 years. The PCC's Web site includes sections on Good Cops and testing of police response times. Policy Link, another US based nonprofit organisation promoting social equity causes, published "Organized for Change: An Activist’s Role for Police Reform" in 2004. This is a community-centered manual for improving community-police relations. Of course the document is pretty much applicable only to the US environment, nonetheless it shows an openness and connection that can be established for improving police and community relations.

We all know that the underpinning of any society is that of maintaining law and order. Our constitution commendably seems to underscore this by stating in Ch. 5 Section 75(2), that the barest minimum of the Cabinet must include the Prime Minister and the Attorney General.

Like any other country, we have a well-laid out and codified set of laws for the populace to follow. Of what good is our law however, when particularly in relation to serious and violent crime, we appear to have little success of apprehending and convicting those who break it? It is not uncommon now to hear many expressing the view that ours has a become a lawless country, where many flout laws and regulations at will. True, our familial relations, educational and religious bodies can and must do more to instil a sense of morality and respect for the law among us. Yet the ultimate stop when persons do break the law is solely under the purview of the police service. And given the level of crime, the police service has a great abundance of work to do.

With the recent killing of the elderly Swedish couple and a subsequent assault on two British couples in Tobago, we are only now hearing from senior police authorities that Tobago is in need of at least 150 police officers. The gaps of securing our safety and apprehending persons are terribly glaring indeed with Tobago now coming more into focus with respect to crime. Surely the wider public would be more assured and in approval of the government for greater police presence and effectiveness than any mega project of gleaming buildings and bilateral agreements that the administration has in store.

In Trinidad and Tobago we take pride in our use of double entendre or double meaning in our everyday communication, entertainment and even politics. We do well to make inferences and read between the lines. And so, perhaps a suitable turn of phrase with the play on a word with its own differing and opposing meanings, can be of use and well accepted and appreciated here.

The word of choice: sanguine - meaning one the one hand, cheerful and optimistic; on the other, bloody, bloodthirsty, murderous. See its entry in the Online Etymology Dictionary.

For we all do wish to hold a sanguine view of our nation's future. But lamentably, what we do have, for the present, is a sanguinary state of affairs created by the horrendous state of crime in our beloved country.

Somet'ing SAUTT to pass in mih [my] mout’

noreply@blogger.com (Trinbago Forever) — Fri, 10 Oct 2008 17:52:00 +0000

Now that we are in the month of October, the Christmas preparation in Trinidad and Tobago begins as this month brings the start of the Parang season. For the wider ‘Net audience, parang is a local word derived from the Spanish parranda, meaning 'to make merry' or 'to party.' Parang is a Hispanic styled music played in Trinidad and Tobago around Christmas time.

Traditionally, the themes of this musical genre centered on the nativity but over the years these have come to include more secular and Carnival-type themes, which led to the development of a derivative known as parangsoca, soca (soca being a derivative of traditional Calypso or Kaiso music) combined with parang. And more recently another, derivative, chutneyparang, parang combined with chutney, chutney being the name given to creolized festive East Indian music popular at our Hindu weddings and other celebrations.

All this is well and good, as it has shown the development of the music and its incorporation with the other musical idioms in the country. However, some parang purists have lamented these developments given a trend that seems to totally ignore the traditional or 'true' parang as it was known and performed: its integrity and value becoming completely sidelined and disrespected.

This brings me too, to the title of this posting which, as the locals would recognize, is a takeoff of what can be termed a classic Christmas calypso penned my the Mighty Chalkdust or Chalkie as he is affectionately known. The famous refrain in the calypso “Somet’ing soyt [salt] to pass in mih mout,” has long been used by locals as a plea for the serving of ham when they go visiting at Christmas time. The salty, savoury ham is seen as the centerpiece of Christmas fare: the pièce de résistance, without which somehow the integrity of the Christmas menu has been brought into contempt, despite whatever else has been served.

The question of integrity with respect to the government was again recently raised in parliament when independent senator Dana Seetahal referred to SAUTT (Special Anti-crime Unit of Trinidad and Tobago) as the most likely resource that would have been used by the Prime Minister to monitor whether MP Kamla Persad Bissessar had a mole in the Integrity Commission. The irony of this situation as the senator had pointed out was related to several reasons:

(Perhaps the most pertinent one being) SAUTT is as yet to be lawfully constituted.
If SAUTT was indeed the instructed agency in question, as a policing unit it cannot or should not be taking instructions from political officials.
Given that SAUTT is as yet to be lawfully constituted it consequently answers to no one and as such is a law unto itself.

A digest - if it is all digestible -of all this is a conundrum whereby a law enforcing agency not lawfully constituted or not having legal integrity, was supposedly used by a political official to determine if another political official had managed to subvert the integrity another agency, an agency which, curiously, was established ensure the integrity of all the players involved. That agency, The Integrity Commission of Trinidad and Tobago, on its Web site, states that it is:

“mandated under the Constitution to ensure that persons in public life and persons exercising a public function comply with the laws governing integrity in the fulfillment of their duties and responsibilities to the people they serve.”

The above political-SAUTT-Integrity Commission muddle is sure to make anyone’s head spin and seems akin to the goings on at a Mad Hatter’s integri -tea party where similarly to the Carrollian chaos, answerless riddles and arbitrariness seem to rule the order of the day. It is notable that on the Integrity Commission’s Web site Community page, in an article titled What is Integrity, it quotes the famed playwright and former Czech Republic president Vaclav Havel:

“public officials live in a world of half-truth which saps the soul and integrity of any person.…Only responsible individuals of integrity risking the moral dangers of politics and persisting in their quest for a better public life can make a difference in the world.”

Havel as we see, notes that in public life there are inherent moral dangers and undeniably one factor which gives rise to such, stems from the Actonian admonition of what power and absolute power do to us.

But this fallout of possessing power also applies in many relationships e.g. adults abusing power over children, one spouse’s abuse over the other, senior workers abuse over junior staff.

And yet, unfortunately for some too, integrity means doing all that is integral to their own advancement regardless of the expense to others. In other words, their 'integrity' is only to ensure that their me-ism remains intact: lies by omission, half-truths, deceit and cheating bear no unrest upon their conscience so long as their desires are sated. In the book Lying: Moral Choice in Public and Private Life, by Swedish writer Sissela Bok, she writes:

“Imagine a society, no matter how ideal in other respects, where word and gesture could never be counted upon. Questions asked, answers given, information exchanged –all would be worthless. Were all statements randomly truthful or deceptive, action and choice would be undermined from the outset. There must be a minimal degree of trust in communication for language and action to be more than stabs in the dark. This is why some level of truthfulness has always been seen as essential to human society, no matter how deficient the observance of other moral principles.”

One can see that the 'worthlessness' Bok warns of here is also not unlike the situation in Lewis Caroll's Mad Hatter’s tea party.

Christmas is a time when we traditionally become more sincere toward and more caring of our family, friends and anyone we encounter in general. Yet while the integrity that we see lacking from those in authority is abhorrent and should not be tolerated, let us nevertheless, ensure to maintain our own integrity so that in all our actions and in whatever service we provide our fellow humankind, our 'menu' contains and conveys the soyt [salt] of our true good selves.

Back to the Blog

noreply@blogger.com (Trinbago Forever) — Tue, 07 Oct 2008 16:16:00 +0000

Look at the image on the left. By now surely you don't have to "guess whose back?"

Well “OMG!” as we would now say in the texting lexicon, I can’t believe I let so much time pass by. It’s disastrous for me to say the least but let’s just say I had ‘other things’ going on and that sometimes I can be too much of a perfectionist afraid of just blogging for blogging sake.

I am back and will strive harder to keep this blog going from here on. I am glad of the little following I had picked up and for the encouragement and good comments on the quality of my postings. At any rate the word forever is in the title of my blog and my cessation of it after such a short time just absolutely cannot stand (at least for me). So happily and long overdue....I'm back to blogging again.

True Crime: Arresting Our Most Serious Problem

noreply@blogger.com (Trinbago Forever) — Tue, 20 Nov 2007 05:10:00 +0000

I used to be a pretty frequent letter writer to the editor but I have slowed somewhat. In most of my letters, I generally focused on one topic, and did so because I believe it is the most important issue our country needs to address. I would hazard a guess that most people believe as I do. That issue is crime.

Since the general election, the media has continued its crime reports as usual but the report that seemed to bring the impact of crime into a clearer context for me was the Trinidad Guardian’s “Sixteen Murders Since Election.” (Trinidad Guardian Sat. Nov. 17, 2007). All this murder occurring within less than two weeks should -yet again- send a shudder down the national spine. If for some reason it does not, it would seem then that we are becoming desensitized and apathetic to a growing depravity has been with us for some time.

To me it is akin somewhat to our adoption of one of our nation’s watchwords: tolerance. ‘Tolerance’ was chosen with good intentions, given we all need understanding and acceptance of each other’s differences. However, our acceptance seems to have gone full tilt, as now we seem to be acceptable of any and everything with all our problems falling into the mix.

When the Keith Noel 136 Committee had its Death March into Port of Spain in October 2005, there were some who decried it as a local ‘west’ and ‘white people t’ing’ where the ‘fairer’ segment of our society was seen as wanting the government to lock down the predominantly ‘black’ areas of Laventille, Morvant and Beetham Gardens. Even if we give this position any merit, the point that remains is that we are all guilty at times, of not having any care for an issue when it does not seem to affect us. For instance, when the floods come in the wet season and ruins the crops of the farmers in ‘central,’ many of us do not come to their support but merely watch on at their plight as spectators. We complain however, when afterward we go to the supermarket to see that vegetable prices have increased with reduced supply.

Given our small size, many issues are easily national issues and crime certainly is one to be so considered, whether, you are white, red, yellow, black or brown; from west, east, south or central; rich, poor or in-between; PNM, UNC or COP. It is ironic that together we can tolerate so much malaise and wrongdoing but when it comes for us to face a problem concertedly as a unified force, we become conscious of our differences again.

Earlier this year, when then Trade Minister, Kenneth Valley, tried to downplay the country’s crime problems by comparing us with the rest of the world: essentially, the bandwagon defence, he was roundly criticised. Admiitedly, according to a UN/World Bank report of March this year, Crime, Violence and Development : Trends, costs and Policy Options in the Caribbean:

“Murder rates in the Caribbean—at 30 per 100,000 population annually—are higher than for any other region of the world and have risen in recent years for many of the region’s countries. Assault rates, at least based on assaults reported to police, are also significantly above the world average.”

So crime indeed is a Caribbean and not just a local problem but then hiding behind agglomerated figures belies the claims of leadership by our politicians, where, when on the hustings, they all seem to have the promised-land in their back-pockets. At a any rate, the report also states for the period 1999-2005 the homicide rate in Trinidad and Tobago more than quadrupled from 7 to 30 per 100, 000 (the same rate for the entire Caribbean).

Our police force, our last defense in the crime fight, languishes in several districts, with police stations lacking vehicles, basic and modern equipment and in some cases, personnel. There also needs to be more police officers on patrol: the police do not have much visibility in many parts of the country except maybe for road-checks. We also need more people trained in crime scene forensics and pathology. The government and business sector need to devise scholarship programmes for study in these areas. Such scholarships could act as incentives for people to take up careers in these fields that are so needed. [Bowling Green State University in Ohio, USA has worked with the Trinidad and Tobago Police Service from June 2006 to improve forensic skills in the service -BGSU forensics expert helps Trinidad and Tobago Police Force].

Perhaps scholarship programs too, should be devised for such areas as architecture, engineering and urban planning and development. This is in keeping with another strategy to combat crime known as CPTED (Crime Prevention Through Environmental Design). The term CPTED was coined or derived from the title of a book of the same name, by Florida State University criminologist C. Ray Jeffery in 1971. Jeffrey, who had studied the relationship between crime and the physical environment, had interviewed prison inmates about their influencing factors for committing crime and if any related to the environment.

Some key elements of CPTED (Virginia Main Street Monitor, Winter 2003, "Introduce Crime Prevention Through Environmental Design to Your Downtown")

Natural surveillance: is the placement of physical features, activities and people in such a way as to maximize visibility. A potential criminal is less likely to attempt a crime if he or she is at risk of being observed. At the same time, we are likely to feel safer when we can see others and be seen.

Natural access control: is the physical guidance of people coming and going from a space by the judicial placement of entrances, exits, fencing, landscaping and lighting. Access control works by denying a criminal’s access to potential victims. It creates a perception of risk for would-be offenders.

Territoriality: is the use of physical attributes that express ownership, such as fencing, signage, landscaping and pavement treatments. A well maintained home, building or community creates a sense of ownership, which helps deter criminals. [Yes, I know some readers may see this more as an encouragement than a deterrent].

CPTED: With respect to vacant areas in a community

1. Designation: What is the intended use of the area? What behavior is allowed?

2. Definition: Are there physical limits to the area? Are borders
between the area and public spaces defined? Is it clear which activities are allowed where?

3. Design: Does the physical environment safely and efficiently support the intended use?

In 1982 another book on crime and the environment was also published: Broken Windows. This book used the analogy that when a window is left broken in a building it eventually attracts further decay which can spread throughout a neighborhood.

In January of this year at a breakfast meeting on Crime and the Administration of Justice , then acting Chief Justice, Roger Hamel-Smith, also made reference to crime and the environment in his keynote address. In describing crime origins he stated:

“Crime is not the offspring of a particular kind of person, someone, e.g, from a broken home, an abused family, one who has never been taught moral values or right from wrong. No. The epidemic does not begin with such a person but with something environmental. It flourishes when the environment makes it conducive to behave in a particular way. Knowing that the police seldom respond with alacrity, criminals become emboldened and secure in the knowledge that the chances of getting caught are slim.”

With specific reference to the 'broken window' theory he also stated:

“In the seventies, there were eight courts in St George West to deal with such case load. Today there are thirteen courts so that means in the last 30 years we have expanded the court capacity in this district by 60%, but the number of matters entering the system has increased by some 500%. The same applies to the other two districts. This is a big ‘broken window’ that we must repair.”

Hamel-smith went further to highlight the DPP’s (Director of Public Prosecution) office, where he related that:

“At present, I am told that there is a shortage of some 26 attorneys in that office. The department must be stretched to the limit and one thing is for sure, there is no long line waiting outside to be recruited there. The lure and attraction of private practice is far more compelling than public service and that is a main stumbling block to improving the judicial system.” [Blogger's Note: I do not know to what extent, if any, this situation has changed at the DPP's Office]

Whether it be the criminal justice approach or the environmental approach, it seems that we are not implementing all the stops in any timely manner to halt the crime in our midst. If there is not a considerable dent soon in the crime situation, or if the public does not likewise feel a greater level of safety and reliability upon our police service, the next step for some maybe vigilantism.

Vigilantism though, is also the first stepping stone towards anarchy and this is certainly not a milepost we want to include on our route to a better Trinidad and Tobago.

Crime/Police Resource Links

Crime Stoppers

List of Police Stations in Trinidad and Tobago

Police Complaints Authority

Quo Vadis Trinbago?: Taking Ourselves Forward

noreply@blogger.com (Trinbago Forever) — Sun, 11 Nov 2007 00:11:00 +0000

The elections are over. Hopefully there will soon be a cleanup of all the campaign posters pasted up on every lamp-post and wall available. My wish for such a clean-up is not only literal but also symbolic. This is not to say that now we get to resume our affairs with a clean slate. It is simply that an election, like every transition, natural or contrived, in human affairs, marks a time when we can try to take a step outside ourselves and make assessments of where we are and where we ought to go.

Of course, some of the answers to these questions should have come up during the campaign season. Needless to say, for the incumbents, the PNM, we were doing fine and moving on to further glory. For the challengers, the UNC-A and the COP, we were in a sorry state, with the way to sure glory being attained only by the removal of the PNM. And somewhere betwixt these two divergent views lies the truth.

We all know now that the status quo has prevailed. The incumbents have returned to office; the opposition remains… well…the opposition. And what about the promised glory? It should be instructive to us that the term utopia, that ideal and perfect place conjured up in the mind of Sir Thomas More, was derived from the combination of two Greek terms meaning respectively ‘no place’ and ‘good place’ and was an island. I guess with a bit of wry wit we can wonder then, whether our promised glory is some ‘no good’ place: but then that would lead us to a dystopia, a place on the other end of the spectrum of mythical worlds, where surely none would like to go.

We are just over a decade from the PNM’s destined date for us of achieving ‘developed status.’ But what really is this concept of developed status that we seek? According to the WTO (World Trade Organization) there are no definitions for the terms ‘developed’ and ‘developing’ countries for its member nations. Members have the prerogative to declare themselves as any of these descriptions as they wish.

However, under the Agreement to Establish the World Trade Organization, developing countries are singled out as targets to be the beneficiaries of international trade. So if in just over a decade’s time we declare ourselves 'developed' this is one privilege we will lose. Although arguably some may ask, “What privilege?”

Also without a ‘developed nation’ definition, the OECD's (Organization for Economic Development ) Glossary of Statistical Terms (last updated Oct. 2005) simply presents the well known list of developed countries as:

“Japan in Asia, Canada and the United States in northern America, Australia and New Zealand in Oceania and Europe are considered “developed” regions or areas. In international trade statistics, the Southern African Customs Union is also treated as a developed region and Israel as a developed country; countries emerging from the former Yugoslavia are treated as developing countries; and countries of Eastern Europe and the former USSR countries in Europe are not included under either developed or developing regions.”

Glaringly absent from the 'developed' list is China, which was listed as the world’s fourth largest economy according to a Reuters Sept. 2007 report.

But development as we all now recognize, is not essentially about money but about people and the quality of life they enjoy; hence the HDI or Human Development Index, a "way of measuring development by combining indicators of life expectancy, educational attainment and income into a composite human development index." ..."The HDI sets a minimum and a maximum for each dimension, called goalposts, and then shows where each country stands in relation to these goalposts, expressed as a value between 0 and 1." (Trinidad and Tobago ranks at number 57 out of 177 nations on the UNDP's - United Nations Development Programme -world HDI lisitng).

Some of the 'quality of life' bugbears that are on the top of our list include the high crime rate, the need for more and improved health facilities and traffic congestion. Surely there are others, but perhaps tackling at least these three in a thorough fashion can put us on a firm footing on the glory road to development. For development, a thriving economy with money overflowing from our tills and pockets, is untenable, if we are constantly ever fearful of bandits and kidnappers. Development is untenable, without healthy citizens, healthy in mind and body. Development is untenable, if we are all choking from the exhaust fumes of our vehicles on equally choked roadways.

We should all start thinking of what we want our ‘developed status’ to look like and perhaps establish some district repositories for citizens’ ideas for later retrieval and implementation by our local and central government leaders . This seems akin to what the Community of Democracies (CD) countries is about. “The CD is an intergovernmental coalition of democracies and democratizing countries with a stated commitment to strengthening and promoting democratic norms and practices worldwide” (Trinidad and Tobago is a member of the CD) and whose theme for its Fourth Ministerial Conference to be held in Bamako, Mali, November 14-17, 2007 is Democracy and Development.

One of the more recent and acclaimed books on development is Societal Learning and Change: How Governments, Business and Civil Society are Creating Solutions to Complex Multi-Stakeholder Problems, by Canadian author Steve Waddell. (Of course, I have ensured to include the book's subtitle here to make the point of my mentioning it more self-evident) Mr. Waddell’s thesis is essentially that through change in ourselves as individuals, and change in the way the three key systems that make up our societies — the political system (government), economic system (business) and social system (civil society) function, there can be a new framework upon which change can be initiated and flourish.

The book makes the argument that for change to come about “The critical contribution is creating new relationships between people and organisations that traditionally would not interact but in fact have common interests.”

‘Change in ourselves’ and ‘creating new relationships’ certainly seem like good starts toward 'developed status.' And while we choose governments and rely and look to them to help take us to such a level, these are activities we can each commence for ourselves, without awaiting new and recurrent promises of roads toward glory, every five years.

Worldspeak: Wha' Allyuh Say?

noreply@blogger.com (Trinbago Forever) — Thu, 08 Nov 2007 03:18:00 +0000

The local blogosphere, like the mainstream media, is already awash in post-election coverage (and so I may turn to such in my next posting).

However, we must all congratulate ourselves for still maintaining a generally peaceful transition process. And regardless of which party you supported, the PNM (People's National Movent) has emerged on top and so we must all throw our support behind the administration. Of course, we should not turn a blind eye to any foibles it may commit.

The UNC (United National Congress) is again in opposition and must accept that position and proceed with its work without wallowing too much in the bitterness of defeat.

The COP (Congress of the People) failed to gain any seats. This is a new party, albeit not consisting of political newbies. Nonetheless, just as in the corporate world where competition usually works to the benefit of the consumer, more political voices should help to keep the administration on its toes for our benefit.

So let us move onward and remember that democratic participation does not end after election.

And now on with today's post.

I have decided to place a Babel Fish translator on this blog (toward the bottom of my sidebar), in the hope of reaching even more people across the globe. Or perhaps some English speakers may also just be interested in seeing how the blog reads in another language. I cannot vouch for how well the translation is done and this is not to take away any credit from Babel Fish, but simply acknowledging the fact that language is probably best translated by a person (as opposed to a program) actually listening to or reading what is to be translated and that person too, needs to understand all the nuance, slang etc., being used.

Language is fluid, dynamic and in some cases individualistic, e.g. I cannot think of a translator program being able to translate ‘firetruck’ and ‘firetrucking’ in any of B.C. Pires’ articles.

My inclusion of the translator is also for us to remember that with the global reach of the Internet, use of English alone certainly is not adequate.

Sites such as Gobal Voices “a non-profit global citizens’ media project founded at Harvard Law School’s Berkman Center for Internet and Society, a research think-tank focused on the Internet’s impact on society” (About Global Voices), are committed to translations of blogger content from other languages into English and via its Project Lingua has translators that translate content from English to other languages.

With a global world (excuse the tautology but I am sure the point is taken) there is no point in being Anglo-centric. According to UNESCO (United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organization) as at 2003, English as the language of use, led the other major languages (by a remarkably wide margin) in online content.

Chart of Web content, by language

English 68.4%
Japanese 5.9%
German 5.8%
Chinese 3.9%
French 3.0%
Spanish 2.4%
Russian 1.9%
Italian 1.6%
Portuguese 1.4%
Korean 1.3%
Other 4.6%

However, in languages actually spoken the world over, Mandarin Chinese, given the sheer number of the population of China, leads the world. Here is the top ten list taken from an August 2007 article "Most Popular Languages" on About.com by Matt Rosenberg, who states that his primary source for this list was the CIA World Factbook.

1. Mandarin Chinese - 882 million

2. Spanish - 325 million

3. English - 312-380 million

4. Arabic - 206-422 million

5. Hindi - 181 million

6. Portuguese - 178 million

7. Bengali - 173

8. Russian - 146 million

9. Japanese - 128 million

10. German - 96 million

So as Trinidad and Tobago seeks to move forward in the world, let us -particularly our education professionals- keep in mind the importance of learning other languages (as well as retaining our own local dialect) for extending whatever impact our country has and can continue to make in a world of of ever increasing cultural, people and ideas exchange.

Apart from the opportunity of learning Spanish or French in our secondary schools, here are some links for language classes and resources in Trinidad and Tobago.

Alliance Française de Trinidad & Tobago

Center for Language Learning (CLL) U.W.I. (University of the West Indies) St. Augustine. CLL's offering include Arabic, (Mandarin) Chinese, French, German, Hindi, Italian, Japanese, Portuguese, Spanish, and Yoruba. English as a Foreign Language is also taught to international students and professionals.

Government of Trinidad and Tobago Secretariat for the Implementation of Spanish

Thanks to the Trinbago Forever Voters

noreply@blogger.com (Trinbago Forever) — Thu, 08 Nov 2007 00:42:00 +0000

Thanks to all who participated in the Trinbago Forever ‘elections.’

In all there were 30 votes: 19 (63%) for the COP (Congress of the People), 6 (20%) for the PNM (People’s National Movement), 4 for the UNC-A (United National Congress Alliance) and one for TUF/DAC (Tobago United Force/Demoratic Action Congress).

Vote Here: Trinbago Forever Election Poll

noreply@blogger.com (Trinbago Forever) — Sat, 03 Nov 2007 07:16:00 +0000

Well, better late than never. I have put up a poll so we can all guage how the election results might turn out on Monday. See the survey in the sidebar.

And please, just as on election day, do vote only once.

Trinbago to de Bone: Two Islands One Nation

noreply@blogger.com (Trinbago Forever) — Fri, 02 Nov 2007 02:46:00 +0000

One of the main reasons why I gave this blog the name I did (maybe more appropriately, this should have been an earlier posting), was to make sure to incorporate the complete name of the country Trinidad and Tobago (pronounced toh-bay-go). For those of you who still do not know where to find us, see the red rectangle to the top left of the map of South America above (taken from the World CIA Factbook) with a clear view of the country in the map below. The country is just off the coast of Venezuela.

I once lived in Washington State (not Washington D.C.) in a town called Bellingham, on the US Pacific Northwest -a most beautiful part of the US, very scenic, with very friendly, civic-minded, welcoming people- where, when I applied for my driver’s license, for “Place of Birth” I, of course, filled in "Trinidad and Tobago." At my turn at the counter, the clerk said to me, “Which is it? Make up your mind. You can’t be from two places.” Whereupon, I explained to him that that, was the name of the country and I went on to provide some brief local and Caribbean information. He then smiled broadly and thanked me for the quick geography lesson, saying he’d always dreamed of traveling to the Caribbean but never did.

The US northwest, unlike the US east coast, does not have large populations of Caribbean people. Indeed, there are Trinbagonians and other Caribbean people living out in the US Pacific Northwest as you find us scattered anywhere, but there, we are much fewer and farther between. And so, knowledge of our part of the world is less known to people in that part of the US, unless perhaps they frequent Vancouver Canada, where there is a huge Caribbean population and an annual summer Carnival put on by the Trinidad and Tobago Cultural Society of British Columbia.

My point still though, is to always keep in mind that we are two islands but one nation and this is a point I think that some of us fail to present or remind ourselves and non-nationals about. I guess this is typical where you have two distinct regions within a country, one larger than the next, with the larger having more infrastructure and is also the seat of government. Whereas for many people in Trinidad, Tobago comes to mind as a place to go for the long Easter weekend, the Heritage or Jazz festivals, I believe many people in Trinidad forget that many people in Tobago need to come over to Trinidad to purchase goods, obtain specialised healthcare, conduct business etc. So there is, I believe, a general marked difference in perception of how people from the two islands look at each other.

My last posting dealt a bit with constitutional matters. Here, let us follow-up a bit with putting Tobago into some focus. For our constitution, there is, in a matter of sorts, two major aspects to consider. One, is the overarching constitution, as it relates to all the citizens of Trinidad and Tobago. The other is the Tobago House of Assembly (THA) Act, 1996 (with the latest amendment, Act No. 17, enacted in 2006 increasing the number of departmental secretaries from five to seven), which stipulates how the governing body of Tobago, the THA, governs that island and its relation to the central government in Port of Spain. For years, there have been public fora and discussion in the media about the administrative relationship between the two islands. One recurrent theme in relation to this has been the granting of more autonomy to Tobago, or what is more commonly know as the Tobago internal self-government movement.

A major proponent of this movement has been Mr. Arthur Robinson, who was born on the island and is a former Prime Minster and President of Trinidad and Tobago and the leading architect of THA Act, 1996. Even with the current election hustings, the question of preserving the autonomy has been broached again. In a Newsday report ("Sinister Plan for the THA," Friday Nov, 2, 2007), Dr. Jeff Davidson, a member of the Tobago United Front/Democratic Action Congress (TUF/DAC) Steering Committee, was said to have raised the issue at a public meeting in east Tobago, last Saturday. According to the Newsday report, Dr. Davidson stated that the question was relevant, given the recent establishment of an office of the Ministry of Local Government at Plymouth, Tobago.

Despite all these efforts by those in Tobago for consolidating their autonomy, what we typically have in Trinidad and Tobago is always a movement of power remaining and being pulled toward the centre. This is evident in what passes for local government in our country, where local election candidates are characteristically proxies for the major parties and the elected MPs from the general election. Similar to Tobago in the region, is Nevis in the unitary state of St. Kitts and Nevis, which also has long been seeking greater autonomy. The extreme end of these arrangements in these situations is, of course, secession and the middle ground and more widely proposed suggestion being some sort of federal arrangement as exists, say, in the United states and Canada (Canada, people should remember, still continues to deal with a similar situation with Quebec).

Dr. Ralph Premdass, Profesor of Public Polcy at the University of the West Indies (U.W.I.) St. Augustine, in a paper titled "Self-Determination and Decentralisation in the Caribbean: Tobago and Nevis, " (July 3, 2000) writes that:

"The claim to sovereign autonomy in a separate state runs into a series of doctrines which both affirm and deny that right. The United Nations Charter seems to do exactly this. The self-determination principle has become firmly enshrined in Article 1 of the United Nations Charter: "All peoples have the right to self-determination; by virtue of that right they freely determine their political status and freely pursue their economic, social, and cultural development"."

In further explaining, Dr. Premdass goes on to inform us that:

"While part of the UN Charter seems to legitimize the right of a people for statehood, another part, Article 6, argues for the preservation of the territorial integrity of the state: "Any attempt aimed at a partial or whole disruption of the national unity and the territorial integrity of a country is incompatible with the purposes and principles of the Charter of the United Nations". The matter of defining precisely what is a people, homogenous or diversified, in a particular territory, small or large, with or without economic self-sufficiency and viability, had been a source of much debate historically."

Whatever is the ultimate solution in all this, remains to be seen and is to be determined by the citizens. As a people though, we do need to start raising and discussing these matters with more regularity rather than, if at all we do, every five years. Moreover, exposure to such matters of local civics, should have its inception in our schools and youth clubs.

Questions relating to the configuration of our nation are far too important to be repeatedly set aside, for they go at the very heart of who and what we are: to ourselves and to the world.

Courting the Constitution: Dictating Freedom

noreply@blogger.com (Trinbago Forever) — Mon, 29 Oct 2007 02:56:00 +0000

"The price of freedom is eternal vigilance."
Thomas Jefferson (1743 -1826)

A major item in international news last week was that Aung San Suu Kyi (pronounced Awng-Sahn-Soo-Chee) was freed - albeit only for a short period - to hold talks with the ruling Myanmar (Burma) junta. For the uninitiated, Aung San Suu Kyi is one of the world’s most renowned political prisoners, an advocate for nonviolent resistance and a Nobel Peace Prize Laureate (1991). Her party, the National League for Democracy (NLD) won a landslide victory in Myanmar elections in 1990 which the ruling military junta refused to acknowledge and she has lived mostly under house arrest for 12 of the last 18 years (in the full 18 year period she has also been imprisoned and has been in and out of house arrest). San Suu Kyi’s temporary release, was the latest development in reconciliation and reform efforts by the United Nations in Myanmar, following a bloody pro-democracy crackdown that took place in the streets of Yangon, the nation’s capital, in September.

By now, (given that you are still reading this post), you are probably wondering “What does all this, happening half a world away, have anything to do with Trinidad and Tobago?” The connection is one of how much do we value our freedom and are vigilant enough about preserving it. What do we and how many of us, know of our own civil rights? How many of us know and are willing to stand our ground and assert our rights when we perceive or know they are being infringed?

This is not to imply that Trinidad and Tobago is anywhere near to what exists in Myanmar, but with the ongoing election campaigns, these are some of the concerns that should arise in the minds of voters. Some may argue that these concepts are too philosophical and far removed from ‘bread and butter’ issues like crime, jobs, healthcare, housing etc. but as basic as these issues are, they all still are borne upon the underlying issues of individual rights and freedoms: the fundamental tenets of a liberal democracy. In a liberal democracy, where the primacy of the individual is recognized, we each possess authority upon which we can make petitions upon the state with regard to some of the very ‘bread and butter issues’ mentioned earlier.

One topic that has arisen during this election and which goes at the heart of the freedoms for everyone is the anxiety about dictatorship. Admittedly, the way this concern arose, coming from Trade and Industry Minister, Kenneth Valley, when the Prime Minister rejected his bid to return as the Diego Martin Central MP for this election, seemed disingenuous. Nevertheless, I would tend to agree with Trinidad Guardian columnist Tony Fraser ("Is Valley Right About Manning?", Oct. 17, 2007) who has stated that the motive for Mr. Valley’s utterings are “in a way” irrelevant given that:

“Outside of whatever is driving Valley, the incontrovertible evidence indicates that for six years while he has been Prime Minister and while there has been robust debate on constitutional reform, Mr Manning has stayed far away from having either his government and or party put forward a coherent set of proposals for discussion on the constitutional reform that is needed.”

and …“So beyond the few isolated comments he has made, mainly about an executive president, the body politic is not aware of PM Manning’s thinking and that of his party on this central element of our democracy.”

One aspect about communication, is that omission is also a means by which a message is communicated. Given this, such an omission of comments as regards the constitution has not only been committed by the Prime Minister and the PNM (People’s National Movement) but by the other political parties as well, for as Mr. Fraser again writes:

“None of the major political parties contesting for the vote has advanced a cogent set of views on reform. The conclusion must therefore be that they are all harbouring the notion of achieving the special majority to make unilateral changes [about the constitution] or that they do not consider constitutional reform to be a significant enough issue to be addressed.”

Notably communication by omission is linked also to the concept of lies by omission, or, expressed another way, typically 'those who hide nothing, have nothing to hide.' And this essentially is the source of the warning against political ulterior motives in Mr. Fraser’s statement.

With respect to omission, political (and corporate) speak have come some ways over the years. No longer or seldom now do we hear the replies of “no comment” in response to pointed questions. Now, the general strategy developed, is that replies are in fact given but none that answers the questions. We should not however, rely solely on the media to ask pointed questions. We, the people, need to ask as well: to think and challenge our politicians on their positions, principles and strategies. And of course, when unclear or equivocating answers are given, we can draw logical conclusions from such.

Typically when we think of dictatorships, we think of some regime coming to power and taking our rights and freedoms by force. What some do forget however, is that rights and freedoms can also be given away. As I referenced in an earlier post (Ideas: Do Our Politicians Have Any?) about Plainclothes' calypso We Laughin,’ we are a society that eschews weighty matters. We never seem to ever get serious enough about matters that require our utmost focused sobriety. A case in point is the 1990 attempted coup. It is true that during those tension-filled days people needed relaxation more than usual but that period became noted for its coup parties as well.

As such, it seems understandable why weighty topics such as the constitution have never enjoyed considerable response for public fora discussions and so more must be done, as I have made the point earlier, to show that the constitution underlies the bread and butter issues that we tend only to focus on. And whether it be sheer ignorance or deliberate, our politicians constantly fail to make this connection to the populace.

An absence of a clear understanding of how the constitution affects us individually, as well as our basic needs, is thus a sure recipe for the giving or taking away of our rights and freedoms. Consequently, our focus of any anxiety about a creeping dictatorship, should not only be upon our politicians but should also include ourselves.

Commendably, with reference to the opening paragraph of this post, there is the song In Burma sung by David Rudder. I found this song on the De Cooler: Soca News blog.

Taking on the Superbugs: Engaging in Hand-to-Hand Combat

noreply@blogger.com (Trinbago Forever) — Sat, 27 Oct 2007 05:05:00 +0000

Headlong into this election season, one concept that may readily come to mind is the ‘doctrine of clean hands.’ This concept though, belongs to the legal profession, where it refers to the rule of law that a person coming to the court with a lawsuit or making a petition, must approach the court without previous wrongdoing with respect to the matter at hand, i.e. the person must approach the court with ‘clean hands.’

The doctrine of course can similarly be applied to politics where candidates coming to the ‘court’ of the electorate with their petitions for votes, must likewise do so with ‘clean hands’ and must not have committed any wrongdoing. Here though, the matter at hand is quite open and it refers to candidates generally having to be of ethical character. Additionally, by law, a person who has been previously convicted of a crime is debarred from seeking public office. The use of the phrase ‘clean hands’ also conveys good imagery. After all, it is with a handshake that we acknowledge each other and ‘seal the deal,’ and who wants to do that with anyone who has soiled hands?

Soiled hands though, do have real and serious consequences and societal impacts. One leading negative impact of soiled hands is staph (staphylococcus) or MRSA (methicillin-resistant staphylococcus aureus) infections, as has been highlighted by the spate of such infections in the United States within the last few years: the latest victim being a middle school student in Canarsie, New York City who succumbed from a staph infection last week. According to the US Centers for Disease Control (CDC), MRSA caused more than 94,000 life-threatening infections and 19,000 deaths in the United states in 2005. Trinidad and Tobago, has also had a rash of reports of staph infections in our public health institutions within the last few years.

Conspicuously though, a most basic activity that may prevent the incidence of this grave infection is hand-washing. This is the most elementary of hygiene practices which we are all taught from about the time we learn to talk. It is clear here though that we all are being taught one of the most familiar of life-lessons: never forget the basics. Humankind has achieved such advances in science and technology it seems utterly foolhardy that we ignore what has long been the hallmark of basic human hygiene: clean hands. It seems that with our modern and busy lifestyle, many people have discarded or forgotten the importance and benefit of an age-old simple practice.

The Mayo Clinic in an online article “Hand Washing: An Easy Way to Prevent Infection” reminds us that

“Infectious diseases that are commonly spread through hand-to-hand contact include the common cold, flu and several gastrointestinal disorders, such as infectious diarrhea.”
… “Inadequate hand hygiene also contributes to food-related illnesses, such as salmonella and E. coli infection.”

The advent of these superbug or antibiotic resistant staph infections, also has many people pointing their fingers at doctors’ over-prescribing of antibiotics and the agribusiness sector, where it has been found antibiotics are used too extensively to ward off diseases in livestock, being administered intravenously or as an additive in the feed. However, the antibiotics from livestock do not make their way to us only through meat consumption. Antibiotics also leave the livestock via waste, enter the natural water supply and so becomes part of the food chain. Notwithstanding all this, hand-washing is still undoubtedly the most elemental way we can stave off the danger of coming into contact with these pernicious pathogens.

While having all the latest technology in our health institutions is something from which we can all benefit, we cannot hold fast to the belief that having state-of-the-art facilities is the singular factor in delivering good health care. Importantly, all medical personnel must be vigilant in the simple practice of hand-washing, as they should all know, far better than the rest of us, about the increased potential for infection in health instititutions.

We should all remember and go back to the basics, like washing our hands and keeping our rooms neat and tidy. People in Trinidad and Tobago, of my generation and older, can remember of having to hold out our hands for them to be inspected every morning by the teacher before entering class in primary school. Hands had to be clean and fingernails absent of dirt and neatly trimmed.

Modernity while good, has perhaps also made us too reliant upon everything external to ourselves, where people reach for a pocket calculator for even the most basic arithmetic problem. Prescriptions are available for almost any ailment or in the least, we are encouraged to ask our doctor whether drug X “...is right for you?” We seem to forget that we are no more or less human than people living centuries ago. We must remain appreciative of our own instincts, and senses and also recognize the obligation and basic need we must all fulfill in following basic human hygiene.

And so, we must all approach each other with clean hands: reflective of our character and our cleanliness. Clean hands are therefore not only a requisite for public office but for the office of life which we all occupy, sometimes hugging, shaking or just holding hands as we go along.

Election Update: Manifesting Manifestos?

noreply@blogger.com (Trinbago Forever) — Fri, 26 Oct 2007 06:27:00 +0000

In my posting Ideas: Do Our Politicians Have Any? (Friday October 19, 2007), I lamented the lack of availability of manifestos from the political parties for the upcoming general election. Notably, the Trinidad Guardian in its editorial of Monday Ocorber 22 “Lack of Manifestos an Insult to Voters”, basically shared the same view as this blogger with respect to the absence of such key political documents.

However, from a posting on Allyuh.com "COP 2007 Election Manifesto Online," (Oct. 25, 2007), I have learnt that the COP (Congress of the People) has made its manifesto available for download on its Web site. Allyuh.com reports that this is probably “a first in national politics,” and as far as this blogger knows, it would seem that this assertion is perhaps well-founded.

So now, contrary to my earlier piece, I have now learnt that the COP does have its own Web site and now too, has made its manifesto available to the public. One down, two to go. Here is the link for the COP Web site. Again, I place here the links for the PNM (People’s National Movement) and the UNC (United National Congress) Web sites, so that people can check and recheck them periodically to see if they will follow suit in placing their manifestos online for download, or at least to see if/when they announce when such documents will be available.

But remember there is no point in just downloading without reading and forming your own opinions about these manifestos. Yet, politicking operates in an arena where personality always seems to trump policy, or in our media age, this may be better put by saying that, “image trumps the issues.” Truly personality and image do matter but as we all know, courting anyone purely on looks without consideration for their beliefs and actions will make for a meaningless and empty relationship.

Following our parties or political personalities like Pied Pipers, without question of what they really stand for and the means by which they seek to accomplish their -if at all- stated goals, can only eventually lead us to the same fate of the famous Pied Piper’s furry followers.

Casting Our Net: The Caribbean Web Presence

noreply@blogger.com (Trinbago Forever) — Fri, 26 Oct 2007 02:12:00 +0000

It was not intentional to have two technology based postings follow one after the other, but over the past few days I have been pleasantly surprised to learn of two Caribbean based tech-themed blogs, Caribbean Web Development and Silicon Caribe. These are two blogs which cater to web development and general technology education, development and trends in the region. I learnt of these two blogs from the Caribbean Blog List posted on KnowProse a well-known Trinidad and Tobago based blog.

Since I started blogging, I have been fascinated learning of all the variety and wealth of information available about Trinidad and Tobago and the wider Caribbean on local and Caribbean based blogs. As an avid web surfer, one disappointment I have always had was the dearth of online content available on anything Caribbean apart from tourism based content. Surely I found the news sites, newspapers and radio stations, and regional bodies like the ACS, CARICOM (I have even found out that there is a CARICOM blog as well) the ECCB etc. but apart from such sites, I could hardly find any websites, say on Caribbean academia or professional and community associations etc.

Let me emphasise, I am not saying that there were not or are not any such sites but simply saying that by way of content outside of tourism, there was and is, still truly a lot to be desired on Caribbean based information by way of traditional websites. Many Caribbean based sites that I have found too are by travelers to the Caribbean who have set up Web sites describing their stay in the region. While I have no objection to non-Caribbean folk writing about and promoting the region it surely is refreshing to discover the blogosphere of Caribbean people writing about themselves and their region.

We have long sought to shed the perception of us in the Caribbean of being only about sand, sea and sun and the complementary motifs that go with these three S’s, rum, reggae, calypso and limbo. While we are and should be proud of these our cultural markers, we do need to escape the pigeonhole that many non-Caribbean people still place us in. Unfortunately now too, that hole has now incorporated the negatives of our high crime rates and HIV infection levels. Despite our many academics and college graduates spread far and wide across the globe, our achievements in sport, and the selling of our products on supermarket shelves abroad, I have had to spend many a time in my travels trying to present a more multifaceted view of Trinidad and Tobago and the wider Caribbean than the typical narrow perceptions that many non-Caribbean persons still have of us.

The local and Caribbean blogosphere has truly added a new facet of the region for us and others to look at. My still lingering thought though, is how much of a readership do these blogs enjoy. This is especially so, given now there are so many competing channels of information and entertainment available, with watching cable television at the forefront, taking up so much of our time. Just as there is the Pew Internet and American Life Project that tracks Internet usage in the United States, there should be similar local or regional bodies that do the same or at least one to track the readership of this parallel press which is not visible or available on any street-side news-stand but requires the purposeful clickings of a web surfer.

In terms of Trinidad and Tobago's technological transition, there is fastfoward.tt a project of the National Information and Communicatrion Technology (NICT) Plan by the government, set up to, as it says for “transforming the country into a knowledge-based society by 2008.” (There are NICT generated reports available on the NICT website). Yet clearly the country, at least on the government’s part and the manner in which, in the main, it provides public services, is in no way in keeping with the buzzword description of a knowledge based society, particularly too with 2008 just months away.

The thing we tend to forget in the region too, is that in terms of world presence we are still so small. With almost any type of global statistical presentation there is almost always an agglomeration of the figures for Latin America and the Caribbean. Even in terms of academia, with a look at North American and European university courses on the region, the focus is again almost always 'Latin America and the Caribbean:' we are seldom, if at all, given any singular distinction on our own.

Everyday, increasing amounts of people are using the Internet for their primary source of information and entertainment. Internet World Stats puts the current figure as just over 1.2 billion. The Internet now also includes network television and radio. New electronic appliances and gadgetry seem all to be configured assuredly with some Internet access included in their makeup. The leading search engine company, Google, is undertaking a massive effort to digitise perhaps as many as 30 million books to be made available online.

It thus seems incumbent upon us to go on generating online content about ourselves, to tell our stories and present our own vision to the world. And this is what must always be kept in mind: once you have content online your audience can be anywhere in the world. And for this, we must be more aware of maintaining a level of quality for what we present. There must be an adjustment too for being more culturally and globally aware. The Internet presents the world to us on a platter and likewise we, when we place content online, are made so easily available to the world as well.

Let the world enjoy us for the spiciness and flavour which we all savour so well in our cuisine. Let us spread our recipes of creativity and energy and leave a pleasant aftertaste of ourselves with the world.

TNT in TnT: Web 2.0 for Trinbago Development

noreply@blogger.com (Trinbago Forever) — Mon, 22 Oct 2007 16:20:00 +0000

As a newbie blogger, my awareness of the amount of Trinidad and Tobago online content has been increasing, particularly so, of course, with respect to blogs. Incidentally, the first TNT in this posting title is not an abbreviation for ‘dynamite’ but my own abbreviation for ‘The New Technologies’ and their attendant applications -or apps, as techies refer to them. Such apps and activities include web site feeds, wikis, podcasting, blogging (albeit blogging has been around for some time but has grown in extent and influence in the past few years) and the use of social network sites like Facebook, MySpace and Second Life. Of course, there has been an explosive global growth of such technologies and activities within recent years, so perhaps my TNT abbreviation is right on the mark.

All such technologies fall into what has been coined as Web 2.0. This term refers to, and is inclusive of, all the aforementioned technologies and applications that facilitate greater personalisation and collaboration among web users. The ‘2.0’ descriptor is reflective of this development as a perceived second generation or evolutionary phase of Internet development, emergent after the success of the dot.com companies came to their demise via the tech bubble bust in the early 2000s.

One trait that has long been applied to the Internet is its ability or potential to be a societal leveler: to increase the possibilities of everyone with access to an Internet connection by increasing their ability to acquire and share ideas and knowledge, express opinion, and facilitate the formation of social networks and participation in collaborative projects. One notable book greatly endorsing this Internet leveling theory is The World is Flat by Thomas Friedman.

Many people, global organizations such as the UN (United Nations) and its satellite agencies, governments and notable individuals such as Nichloas Negroponte the co-founder of MIT’s (Massachusett's Institute of Technology) Media Lab, who has launched the global initiative of One Laptop per Child (OPLC), have accepted or acknowledged this power of the Internet and have sought ways to facilitate and keep track of its growth.

One such measure is the ITU’s (International Telecommunication Union) DOI (Digital Opportunity Index) which measures countries' information technology and telephony access for their citizens. The DOI 2005/6 report saw South Korea leading the rest of the world (181 countries were surveyed) as the most ‘wired’ nation, where about 94% of its internet users have access to broadband: a result of the government of South Korea’s determined effort of using technology as a development strategy for the country. Trinidad and Tobago ranked 59th on the report.

If Web 2.0 can live up to its touted benefits from social networking, its usage among our citizens could conceivably have some positive effects on our social conditions. If in addition to exchanging photos and posting video of friends and relatives or of de lime at de fete on YouTube and Flickr, more of us can exchange and collaborate to come up with solutions or ideas to address some community needs or aspirations: we could perhaps better see and enjoy the beauty in empowering ourselves.

An increasing number and diversity of local bloggers and podcasters is an increased potential of citizen journalists that can provide more news, information and opinion on issues. Increased possibilities and abilities via technology should probably and logically lead to more citizen action with more pressure and increased official and unofficial stratagems for rating accountability in the public and private sector.

Like South Korea however, we still need to rely on the government to provide or facilitate the improvement of our info-telecom infrastructure. Government too, should provide improved and increased e-services through the various ministries, which would be a virtual decentralisation of government services that should somewhat alleviate -but not remove-the need for the long ignored calls for the actual physical decentralisation of such services from Port of Spain. The government can take example of all the mas camp web sites, where people can purchase Carnival costumes from anywhere in the world, long in advance of their arrival for the national fete.

One key aspect about development and people’s faith of achieving success in their own country is the actual or perceived level of opportunities or possibilities. When people see or perceive these as existing, increased or increasing for themselves, they can and do begin to dream, with dreams increasing in size in direct proportion to the actual or perceived level of opportunities or possibilities. We must use Web 2.0 though to bolster and complement and not to supplant our actual face-to-face connections. Technology can be used not just as a means to widen our familial and social connections but also as a means to deepen them: to establish more understanding among us in our increasingly busy and distracted lives.

Technology is not just about 'a rise of the machines.' It is a rise of the people; but it is not a panacea. Nonetheless, the evidence is there that the information age has been and is a boon to the lives of many across the globe. Surely, this is no different for us in our country.

Let us ride this second tech wave, Web 2.0, toward a shore of our collective increased opportunities and benefits. As great as riding the waves at Maracas or Toco can be, they can never provide a chance of making our future look so good.

See my blogrolls and site links in the sidebar.

Allyuh.com, is a local online content blog. It also rates local blogs and maintains a listing of the top ten local blogs (I hope with time this blog will appear on that list).

Caribbean Connector A blog by a Trinbagonian librarian: this is a good source for further information on Web 2.0. applications.

Learn more about computer technology and activity in Trnidad and Tobago at the TTCS (Trinidad and Tobago Computer Society) website (they also have a blog to click to on their site).

Mark Lyndersay’s BitDepth column in the Trinidad Guardian (Tuesdays), is also a good source for technology news and information. His columns can also be found on his web site at Lyndersay Digital.

Finally, there is the ICTS (Information and Communications Technology Society) of Trinidad and Tobago, which caters to professional development of IT professionals in the country.

Ready to Read: Ready for the World

noreply@blogger.com (Trinbago Forever) — Sat, 20 Oct 2007 07:43:00 +0000

"He that loves reading has everything within his reach."

William Godwin, English novelist, philosopher and writer(1756 - 1836)

I am a bit of a bibliophile (although I find myself not reading much of late) and thought to at least make mention of a few recently published history and political economy books on Trinidad and Tobago. The presence of these books here is essentially for informational purposes and do not reflect any endorsement on the part of the author of this blog.

- Clicking on a book cover image will take you to its Amazon listing.

History of Tobago by H.I. Woodcock (2007)

Trinidad and Tobago: Ethnic Conflict, Inequality and Public Sector Governance by Ralph Premdas (2007)

La Magdalena: The Story of Tobago 1498-1898 by David Phillips (2004)

Politics in a Half Made Society: Trinidad and Tobago 1925-2001 by Kirk Meighoo (2004)

The Mechanics of Independence: Patterns of Political and Economic Transformation in Trinidad and Tobago by A.N.R. Robinson and Dennis Pantin (2002)

I have always wondered whether we are a nation big on reading, whether there are any or many book clubs etc. dotting the country. My suspicion is though, that we are all so busy trying to improve ourselves in other ways or just otherwise caught up in so much other more ‘necessary’ activities, that we generally see reading as a luxury of time which relatively few of us seem able to afford.

In the absence of conducting any surveys or having statistics from NALIS (National Library and Information System Authority of Trinidad and Tobago) on library loan circulation or book sale figures from the major local bookstores, I at least decided to check the UNDP (United Nations Development Programme) Human Development Report 2006 for Adult Literacy in Trinidad and Tobago.

Under the heading Adult Literacy Rate (% ages 15 and older)
Trinidad and Tobago is ranked at number 57 out of 177 countries (Norway is at number 1 and Niger completes the list).

Countries in the region that came out ahead of us included:

Barbados (31)

Costa Rica (48)

Cuba (50)

St. Kitts and Nevis (51)

Bahamas (52)

Mexico (53)

The ranking of regional countries coming after us included:

Antigua and Barbuda (59)

Dominica (68)

St. Lucia (71)

Venezuela (72)

Grenada (85)

St. Vincenet and the Grenadines (88)

Suriname (89)

Dominican Republic (94)

Guyana (103)

Jamaica (104)

If you are interested in finding out anymore about literacy in Trinidad and Tobago, or you think you might know of someone in need of bringing his/her literacy up to a considered acceptable level, or you wish to become a volunteer reading tutor, then ALTA (Adult Literacy Tutors Association of Trinidad and Tobago) is one organistion that you might think of visiting.

Read on my people!

Ideas: Do Our Politicians Have Any?

noreply@blogger.com (Trinbago Forever) — Fri, 19 Oct 2007 20:29:00 +0000

One most unfortunate political tradition we have come to live with in this country is the absence of the battle of ideas. The most we ever get from our political combatants is a battle of picong, nothing more. While we cherish the fact that we are a people who are good at such exchanges and it is good, to some degree, that we maintain a sense of levity where we never take ourselves too seriously I, nonetheless, believe we embrace this somewhat sophomoric trait too endearingly.

It is this trait, of course, which was the basis for the calypso We Laughin’ sung by Plainclothes some 25 years ago (if anyone can find the lyrics to this calypso please send it to me). In it, Plainclothes’ central thesis was that we are not a serious people: for everything no matter the gravity, we laugh, in some sort of knee-jerk reaction of avoidance instead of facing our issues head-on. We are said to have a Carnival mentality. And albeit our Carnival is one of our and arguably also one of the world’s greatest festivals, too much frivolity outside of it can never be a good thing.

With US presidential campaigns, there are slew of debates where the electorate can hear the differing views of the candidates on various issues. Why is there little or no such similar fora in our country? We have such a thriving media environment where talk shows abound, it would be nice at least to hear candidates from differing parties appear on the same program to debate issues or present themselves as to why people should vote for them and not another.

Notably, there was a youth forum held at the Hotel Normandie recently (October 17) but regrettably there were no representatives from the major parties like the PNM (People's National Movement) or UNC-A (United National Congress Alliance) present. From press reports, only Winston Dookeran, leader of the COP (Congress of the People) was present to receive a manifesto of what were the youth concerns in the country.

And speaking of manifestos, it would seem that these are few, hard to find or non-existent. Why are such documents not circulating in abundance for people to examine and compare? And when I say manifesto, I do not mean some document containing broad lofty objectives on which any reasonable person might easily agree, e.g. equality for everyone, eradicating poverty, reducing crime etc. I mean outlining of specific strategies, with projected expenditure, timelines etc. as to how the party seeks to accomplish what it says.

We live in an age now where via the power of information and communication technologies the ‘power of the idea’ has become magnified a million-fold compared say with the period of the renaissance or even more recently to the industrial revolution. And speaking of technologies, while some political parties do have web sites, (I was able only to find sites for the UNC and PNM) there are no detailed strategies of their intentions to be found on them: only lofty and deliberately vague objectives upon which there can be no objective assessment. The concept of a creativity quotient (CQ) is now seen as significant for measurement as the traditional intelligence quotient (IQ). Creativity, innovation and problem-solving are the hallmarks of our era and for the future. Why are we here then looking forward for our country with the same old strategies and moribund approaches being used by many of those seeking to lead us?

Sad to say, our political leaders for the most part, appear to me to be more fabulists than fabulous. Notably, the very stem of the word candidate implies that those seeking office should at least be just that: candid. And this is not only with reference to being truthful but additionally to being open and clear with their ideas. providing some framework to some vision, if at all, they possess any.

The time of decision draws nigh. And yet, we await ideas.

Blog Action Day: Environment Trinbago

noreply@blogger.com (Trinbago Forever) — Mon, 15 Oct 2007 04:25:00 +0000

Today, Monday October 15th, I am publishing this post in solidarity with over 15,000 blogs worldwide, commemorating this day being denoted as Blog Action Day. This is an inaugural event and the chosen theme for this first Blog Action Day is the environment. The environment has had much global media coverage of late, particularly with all the concerns of global warming. Additionally, there has been the impact of the film An Inconvenient Truth, the corollary of former US Vice President Al Gore’s environmental crusade, for which he recently received the Nobel Peace Prize, sharing it with a United Nations network of scientists known as the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). Blog Action Day and its environmental theme has the endorsement of UNEP, the United Nations Environment Programme.

Coincidentally though, one aspect of Trinidad and Tobago which I believe does not get much coverage or is not given enough consideration by the public at large, is the environment. Some notable environmentalists/journalists who have done well to make the populace more environmentally aware are Dr. Julian Kenny, Eden Shand and Anne Hilton (please forgive me for omissions of other notable personages, which I am sure I have committed here).

Trinidad and Tobago along with the rest of the Caribbean islands have traditionally been heralded for their natural beauty. Yet somehow, in our developing status, we seem or are somehow forced to think much more of what might be deemed as more serious concerns, on issues such as economic development, crime and serious health issues like HIV/AIDS. While addressing these concerns are indeed critical and necessary, our environment, the very earth upon which we walk, air we breathe and water we drink, if ignored, we undoubtedly do at our own peril.

While admittedly there are environmental organizations and efforts in the country which are to be lauded, regrettably I do not see a widespread infrastructural approach to environmental issues and management in operation locally. For instance, while SWMCOL (the Solid Waste Management Company) boasts of its recycling programme, the average household in the country throws out all trash at home. Are our citizens in possession of any recycling bins for sorting bottles, plastics, paper etc? Walk through Port-of-Spain, go to any public or private agency or even at U.W.I. (University of the West Indies) and there are no receptacles for sorted trash.

A few years ago I remember going to Toco with a group of friends on the day after an extended holiday weekend and was sickened at the extensive and gross amount of trash that was strewn all over the beach. Hordes had enjoyed themselves at the beach and just left it in a disgusting state. The long and still ongoing battle between environmentalists and the government’s plans to build aluminium smelter plants in this country shows at least that we do not have a dormant or docile environmentalist movement.

Given the relatively sheer small size of Trinidad and Tobago and the other Caribbean islands, one might assume that we should more easily be able to manage our environment. Yet, our small size also merits that we should be even moreso conscious of protecting it.

Kudos to all the community organizations and individuals that help to promote awareness, action and protect the environment of our precious Trinbago. We who are here now and generations to come, are in your debt.

Short List of Community-based Environmental Organisations in Trinidad and Tobago

Asa Wright Nature Centre

Environment Tobago

Pointe-a-Pierre Wildfowl Trust

The Trinidad and Tobago Field Naturalists’ Club

No Village Idiots: The Importance of Community

noreply@blogger.com (Trinbago Forever) — Sat, 13 Oct 2007 23:19:00 +0000

If you were to look up synonyms for the word idiot on Merriam-Webster online, some of the results you would find are: blockhead, cretin, dolt, dope, dork [slang], dummy, dunce, fathead, ignoramus, imbecile, jackass, moron, nincompoop, pinhead and simpleton.

With all these synonyms it would seem that the lack of respect for idiots knows no bounds. Just as virtue is said to be its own reward, stupidity, it seems, is its own folly. However, when one looks up the etymology of the word idiot from ancient Greece, a curiosity arises. Therein we find the term ‘private person.’

It is said that among the Greeks who reputedly attached great significance to citizen participation in public affairs (although despite such credit given to them about their love for and practice of democracy it is known all women were excluded from participation; Greek society also had slaves who were likewise excluded from participation), a private person was one who did not participate in the public affairs of the state. In the book Bowling Alone by Robert Putnam, which looks at the erosion of the American society and laments at the withering of American community life, Putnam makes note of the idiot etymology as a starting off point for his thesis.

He essentially makes the point that people were becoming [in my words] ‘too private,’ each seeking after their own interests and thus reducing the social interaction among them and as a result reducing the social capital available to the community. Social capital as Putnam defines it, “refers to features of social organization such as networks, norms, and social trust that facilitate coordination and cooperation for mutual benefit.” Putnam in his book mentions that one of the reasons that the historian Tocqueville was so impressed with America, was its proclivity for creating associations. Tocqueville himself marveled at the level of equality that he found in America, which he saw as a derivative of the social interaction among the people.

Of course, it can be said, be it historically or in present day, that the United States is by no means a perfect example of equality and social life but undoubtedly, it can hardly be gainsaid that the principle of building social capital through social interaction is beneficial for stronger communities and thus a more equitable and content society. We should do well to ask ourselves why Trinidad and Tobago has reached to the level of crime, fear and anxiety that pervades our society. The point here though is not to imply that civic engagement is a panacea to solving our crime situation and other social ills. Nonetheless, with our citizens and particularly from a young age, being encouraged and becoming more aware of the contributions they can make via community involvement, such activity can at least do no less but be of benefit to our social conditions.

While every five years we look to see who can provide us with all the answers we seek to move our country forward, we should do well to remember that much power and answers also reside within us, the people: to organize ourselves and help to take charge of our communities, to make Trinbago the place we all want and know it can be for us all.