YOLO

YOLO means 'You Only Live Once'. 

Below is a link to an interesting take on the subject. YOLO hasn’t caught on in Trinidad and Tobago as yet....it is left to be seen. But trust the masses to follow (and take to an extreme) a random uttering by an artiste – their god.

Enjoy!

http://www.themaneater.com/stories/2012/4/3/yolo-youre-doing-it-wrong/

Sources and further readings

http://www.themaneater.com/stories/2012/4/3/yolo-youre-doing-it-wrong/

www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=yolo

Somewhere Only We Know

(The following is to be accompanied by alternating vocal intonations of excitement and dreamy)

Trust me! There is NOWHERE!....NOOOO-WHERE folks... like home!

Though I am a ‘birthed’ citizen of the twin island republic of Trinidad and Tobago, I was born and mainly raised in Tobago. Therefore I would be known as a ‘Tobagonian’. A person born and mainly raised in Trinidad would be known as a ‘Trinidadian’. Those distinctions are used mainly in-country. However for you my foreign friends, we are to be called ‘Trinbagonians’.

I recently spent 13 glorious days at home in Tobago and at what i consider the best time on earth – Easter! No folks, not even Christmas can hold a candle to Easter in Tobago. I swear every year that the island will sink. Hundreds of visitors – mostly local tourists (yes Trinidadians) flock to my lovely island. I feel so happy that folks are happy. They spend all their time soaking up the clear, blue saltwater of the pristine seas; and eating up the crab and dumplings; and enjoying our yearly offerings of Bethel harvest, the Mt. Pleasant Village Council Fun Day and the world famous Buccoo Goat and Crab Races – WORLD FAMOUS! Suffice it to say there is food EVERYWHERE! And you know we can cook!?

Pigeon Point beach, Tobago, Trinidad and Tobago
Photo courtesy: destination360.com

Also this year there was a concert put on by radio station 100.7fm where the main act was ‘Konshens’. And it was held on (another world famous) Pigeon point beach. Of course I attended...you had to ask?

And of course who could come to Tobago without a night or two at Club Shade? (not sure if they’re world famous but they’re definitely T&T famous). My gosh Shade was ‘ram’! But I take any opportunity to listen to the world famous DJ Mighty Krush play. (Yes! Tobago has many 'world famous' that folks are not aware of) He played at every event I went to. He is in high demand because he is good at his trade. He is the best! And no....my opinion has nothing to do with the fact that I have a huge crush on Mighty Krush (blink, blink).

And we have coming up the Tobago Jazz Experience from April 21st - 29th. My island will sink! Eeek!

Yes folks, coming home always give you a warm, fuzzy feeling you get no other time. There are familiar sights, scents, faces, things even vehicles. The familiarity is overwhelming and comforting. Home will always be home for anyone. Regardless of where it is or how it looks. You just wanna go home.

Last year when my cousin and I drove off the fast ferry in Trinidad she screamed “Home! I smell you!”  I said “really? That smell is inviting to you?” (Yo! Trinidad smells really, really bad. Sorry to say but it is a fact.)

But, it was home for her J

PS. Pigeon Point really looks as seen in the photo with that tree and umbrella. No touch up there. BEAUTIFUL!

Sources and further readings

http://www.visittobago.gov.tt/       

www.youtube.com/watch?v=GWMCx7c_BVo

REDjet in the red

Photo courtesy: caribbean360.com

I can’t say that I’m surprised. REDjet is in the red. As a matter of fact, they are grounded (pun intended). The average citizen had been wary for a long time about an airline that offered those ridiculously low prices. It really didn’t need an accountant, economist or a businessman to know that if your expenditure is more than your income you will fail. Duuuh! However REDjet were confident that they had a secret formula to make it profitable.

At 11:59pm on March 16th, the airline suspended all flights. The airline which is based in our eastern neighbour, Barbados is said to need $8 million and government support to resume business. Really REDjet?!? ( BBM confused emoticon) This move placed over 90 employees on the breadline, resulted in a number of passengers being stranded and a strain on regional travel. Four days later the Barbados Civil Aviation Authority (BCAA) revoked REDjet’s Air Operations Certificate (AOC); which then gave the Trinidad and Tobago Civil Aviation Authority (TTCAA) “no option but to revoke REDjet's licence because the airline no longer had a "valid" air operator's certificate from Barbados.”

“The airline which is owned by father and son Ian and Robbie Burns took to the skies last May 2011, putting forward a model designed to bring affordable travel to the Caribbean from as low as US $19.98 before taxes. And the Burns have given the assurance that they are willing to continue providing affordable air transport across the Caribbean if they could receive a small part of the state assistance given to other airlines.” (there is a contradiction in statements if I ever saw one).

However I am not concerned about the business end of this issue. What irks me is that Trinidad and Tobago seems to be quickly becoming ground zero for scam artistes - local and foreign, small and large. REDjet in my opinion falls in the category of foreign and large.

I remember there was some hesitancy of the then Minister of Works and Transport, Mr. Jack Warner to agree to the granting of the license for REDjet to fly into Trinidad and Tobago. There was a public outcry that ‘the government’ was trying to protect Caribbean Airlines Limited (CAL), and that they are denying the ‘poor man’ the opportunity to see the world. Now whether by knowledge or happenstance, Mr Warner has been vindicated and hundreds of members of the flying public have lost their money (which REDjet has faithfully promised to refund).

This reminds me of husband and wife Ravi Arjoonsingh and Vicky Boodram-Arjoonsingh. A Trinidad Express newspaper of 7th May 2011 said “The couple, who owns Boodram's Travel & Tours and Ship Ahoy Cruises, were jointly charged with 14 counts of demanding money by virtue of a forged document. Ravi was also slapped with an additional charge of uttering a valuable security while his wife was slapped with three counts of the same charge. Vicky was further charged with three counts of forgery of a valuable certificate.”

Where are those two? And what are the overseers of these different industries doing to protect us, the citizens? As usual, it’s left up to us to protect ourselves.

Sources and further readings:

http://www.caribbean360.com/index.php/news/barbados_news/562318.html#axzz1qXDHNgbK

http://www.jamaicaobserver.com/latestnews/Trinidad-to-meet-with-REDJet-after-Barbados-re-issues-operations-certificate

http://www.trinidadexpress.com/news/Vicky_Boodram__husband_on__11m_bail-121452578.html

Dem follow me like Twitter...

As was pointed out in this and other communications courses, social media is incorporated in some form by most organizations and businesses today.

Social media is everywhere and access is even at our fingertips...literally!! What role, if any, do social media play in media literacy?

Social media are forms of electronic communication (as Web sites for social networking and microblogging) through which users create online communities to share information, ideas, personal messages, and other content (as videos). The first known use of social media was in 2004 (Merriam-Webster).

However, Michael Haenlein, an expert on social media says “there seems to be very limited understanding of what the term ‘Social Media’ exactly means....We begin by describing the concept of Social Media, and discuss how it differs from related concepts such as Web 2.0 and User Generated Content. Based on this definition, we then provide a classification of Social Media which groups applications currently subsumed under the generalized term into more specific categories by characteristic: collaborative projects, blogs, content communities, social networking sites, virtual game worlds, and virtual social worlds.” (michaelhaenlein.com)

Blogs and social networking sites are the most used forms of social media today. Facebook has dominated the market with 800million users as at September 2011 and estimates to hit the 1billion mark in August 2012. Twitter is also heavily used.

Social media has become such an integral part of people’s lives that businesses have incorporated it into its operations. Many businesses have Facebook pages and Twitter accounts. They have incorporated the virtual into their business. This benefits the consumer who can now for example, stay at home and view products before going to buy them; or make queries without having to pick up a telephone.

“Blogs, which represent the earliest form of Social Media, are special types of websites that usually display date-stamped entries in reverse chronological order (OECD, 2007). They are the Social Media equivalent of personal web pages and can come in a multitude of different variations, from personal diaries describing the author’s life to summaries of all relevant information in one specific content area. Blogs are usually managed by one person only, but provide the possibility of interaction with others through the addition of comments. Due to their historical roots, text-based blogs are still by far the most common.”(michaelhaenlein.com)

I must say I enjoy my blogging assignments    :)

Sources and further readings:

http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/social%20media

http://michaelhaenlein.com/Publications/Kaplan,%20Andreas%20-%20Users%20of%20the%20world,%20unite.pdf

http://www.michaelhaenlein.eu/

http://mashable.com/2011/01/24/the-history-of-social-media-infographic/

http://mashable.com/2012/01/12/facebook-1-billion-users/

Foot in ass disease

Prakash Ramdhar - COP Leader
Photo courtesy: newsday.co.tt

There is a habit among the citizenry in Trinidad and Tobago to shoot off at the mouth before thinking on an issue or waiting for details to come out. It has gotten many a public figure in trouble.

The most recent is COP political leader, Prakash Ramadhar. He is livid that former Congress of the People (COP) member and mayor of the southern Trinidad city of San Fernando, Marlene Coudray has left the party and joined the United National Congress (UNC). She campaigned in the recent UNC internal elections for the position of Deputy Political leader, and won.

Needless to say, this is a serious blow to the COP’s ego and more so to the leader’s. The move would give the impression that, as a leader, he has no control over his members and that something is amiss in the party.

Ramadhar subsequently went on a media rampage that Coudray be removed as mayor because the ‘mayorship’ belongs to the COP, of which she is no longer a member. He claims there was a “gentleman’s agreement” in the Fyzabad Accord of April 2010 which allocated certain seats and positions to each party. Ramadhar is accusing the UNC of poaching members and hijacking the San Fernando ‘mayorship’. Ok fair.

But this week Mr Ramadhar went further to breathe fire and brimstone and threaten to pull the COP out of the People’s Partnership if Prime Minister, Kamla Persad-Bissessar does not appoint a COP mayor.

This was all done before someone wisely advised him and he requested a meeting with the 5 leaders of the partnership. Really Ramadhar? Is that the way a leader operates? Go to the media first, lambaste your partners then decide to meet with them?

This meeting should have been done first and depending on the outcome then you would have had the ‘moral’ right to curse then because you first tried to reason. So how do you expect to be received at this meeting? With open arms? How do expect the tone of the meeting to be? Seeing that you now want to negotiate with the very people you bitterly complained about?

And how do you feel? I would have been ashamed! There you went and put your foot in your ass. Shut up, think, analyze...then speak. Sadly, it is not one of our citizens’ strong points.

Sources and further readings

http://www.trinidadexpress.com/news/MAKE_OR__BREAK-144752995.html

Billy's got himself a gun

The scales of justice and a judge's gavel
Photo courtesy: business-ethics.com

Crime in Trinidad and Tobago is always a topic guaranteed to get the blood racing. Over the years I have heard so many, many theories on why crime is so high; and many, many theories on the major players involved or as former Prime Minister, Patrick Manning put it “Mr Big” and in the recent State of Emergency (SOE) “Big Fish.

However, I believe crime is a complex, intricate issue that stems from breakdowns in the fabric of society – the family; and on the other end, an archaic and failing judicial system.

There is an intrinsic need in humans for justice....not punishment, but justice. Justice is the the quality of being just; righteousness, equitableness, or moral rightness. This definition applies to all humans regardless of religion, the absence of it, or whatever belief system one believes in. You should be entitled to justice under state law and it is very well documented in all religious teachings also. For example the Bible clearly states several laws and agreements to ensure justice is served.

When justice is not served, then humans take it upon themselves to feel justified; because a s stated above, it is an intrinsic need. It is so natural that in the Christian faith, Jehovah (one of the names of the Christian God) appeals to persons to leave vengeance to him, He will repay.

However to those that do not subscribe to this or any similar view, there are the courts of law where they should be able to receive justice.

 When justice is not served, a ‘black market of crime’ will not only exist, but thrive! This, sadly, is exactly the case in Trinidad and Tobago. The wheels of our justice system turn too slowly. Our laws are grossly outdated and no longer commensurate with the age within which we live –intellectually or financially. The Police Service is suffering from many ailments which have seemed to overwhelm them. And if they do not function, then the knock on effect is that the courts have no one to prosecute.

With regard to justice, my theory is that apathy and hopelessness has taken over the entire justice body. Who shall be our saviour? Cause it seems lady justice in blind in Trinidad and Tobago.

Sources and further readings:

http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/justice

http://business-ethics.com/2011/01/27/1842-compliance-professionals-ask-justice-department-for-data-showing-programs-pay-off/

Jam at all Muslim in...

Inside Jamaat al Muslimeen compound at Mucurapo Road
Photo courtesy: newsday.co.tt

The Jamaat al Muslimeen organization is challenging The Educational Concordat of 1960 which assures "for the Preservation and Character of Denominational Schools." 

The issue of funding for the Jamaat al Muslimeen's Islamic Educational Complex which was established in 1978 was raised by Muslimeen member Lorris Ballck on Tuesday 31st January 2012 during the Commission of Enquiry into the July 1990 attempted coup by the Jamaat. He was lamenting the fact that he had to raise some $100,000 to pay teachers.

They subsequently held a protest on February 6th in front of the Education Ministry. Education Minister , Tim Gopeesingh met with them and promised to take a note to Cabinet this week to determine whether the school could become a denominational one. He said retroactive payment will be made to the institution’s teachers from September 2011.

However the bone of contention over the years that prevented funding from happening is the lands on which the compound sits. The state is contending that the lands belong to them; however the Jamaat has occupied the lands since 1985. In actuality, the organisation really has no legal documentation of title to the land. According to a Newsday article, "the land has been the centre of controversy with the Jamaat claiming successive governments have promised to hand over title. At one stage, former PNM prime minister Patrick Manning reportedly struck a deal to transfer the land and announced it on national television, only to back-track after voices within the PNM expressed strong objection. The Jamaat have also said former UNC politician Ramesh Maharaj promised the land, a claim which has been hotly denied. The group have also claimed that the land was transferred to them via regional corporation bodies."

One thing that is clear is that this group has been victimised pre-1990. Post 1990? They should not complain. By religious or state law they should have all been executed - the penalty for treason. If this was a Muslim state, those same people crying victimisation would have been the ones to pull the hangman's noose.

Other persons have weighed in on this issue. “Former Education Minister Dr Adesh Nanan said during his time in office discussions were held about making the Mucurapo school denominational. “Curriculum officers were sent to the Jamaat school to ensure they were following the ministry’s curriculum and guidelines. There was a criteria for funding, but it seems they did not meet that criteria because they were denied funding,” Nanan said. He was in full support of Minister Tim Gopeesingh’s approach."

Personally I believe it is because of the legacy and horrors of 1990 that post-1990 governments have been reluctant to include this religious sect under The Educational Concordat of 1960. No government wants to lose an election.

Sources and further readings

http://www2.nalis.gov.tt/Research/SubjectGuide/Legislation/TheConcordatof1960/tabid/302/Default.aspx

http://www.ctntworld.com/LocalArticles.aspx?id=37958

http://www.trinidadexpress.com/news/Enquiry_cut_short_over__distressed__witness-138452169.html

http://m.guardian.co.tt/news/2012-02-09/asja-mulls-jamaat-under-concordat

http://www.guardian.co.tt/news/2012-02-06/tim-considers-making-jamaat-school-denominational