​Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley says the world is being reshaped by technology and T&T must figure out how to keep up in order to survive.

In his Republic Day message, the Prime Minister said according to predictions, every aspect of human activity in the world will be reshaped in the coming decade. He urged citizens to shift their outlook from “Me to Us.”

“What is required now is that we take a deeper look at the world of the 21st century, with the realisation that some of our present socio-economic and political perspectives are unsuited to the challenges that are emerging,” Rowley said.

He said one of the troubling questions facing governments around the world was how to prevent a fallout in the job market, how to create sustainable jobs and what happens if losses outstrip job creation.

“As our Republic goes forward, this is just one of the many serious considerations which should be in the minds of citizens, because we have to ensure that we are a people, not of unskilled labour, but a people thrusting forward, learning new skills; a people, who, overall, cannot afford to be on the wrong side of this century’s technological divide,” he said.

The Prime Minister also acknowledged the “sad, dark side” of T&T—including crime, social ills, drug abuse, unemployment and the lasting psycho-social effects of the pandemic.

“The past year has been difficult for all of us. We have had to deal with both the effects of the pandemic and the fall in energy prices, which have meant a reduction in revenue,” he said.

But he said citizens should also be grateful for the positives—including the reopening of the economy and a return to our way of life through vaccination.

“Recently, I said that God is on our side, and we needed to be on His side too. Earlier this week, he showed how much he was on our side with the announcement by bpTT that it had begun production from its Matapal gas project, much earlier than expected.”

He said this project is expected to produce between 250-350 million standard cubic feet per day - just about half of what the company produced on average over the past ten years.

“Whilst this does not solve our gas problems, every little bit helps,” he added.

The Prime Minister also cited the new $500 million Marriott hotel project for Tobago, saying it would assist in solving Tobago’s tourism problems.

He said the return to school for vaccinated students and the country’s open borders are also gifts to be cherished and celebrated.

Rowley admitted he was saddened by the way the country has been forced to commemorate this Republic Day.

“Disappointingly, we are still grappling with the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, which demanded and has extracted so much from us. We have done reasonably well, as a Republic. Scanning the globe, we can cite other Republics, both long-established and former colonial territories, which unlike us have either unravelled or been caught in belligerence and ethnic warfare.”

He said T&T has kept together and claimed some measure of civility and progress but there was much more to be done.

“It is a day like today that we should question ourselves about who we are, our individual roles as citizens, our special obligations to each other, and move to recognise the uniqueness and greatness of our land called Trinidad and Tobago and the melting pot within,” Rowley said. Source:  T&T Guardian, Sept 23, 2021

​The Black Man, Dr. Leroy Calliste, five-time Calypso Monarch Black Stalin,  celebrated his 80th Birthday on Friday, 24th September, Republic Day.
Birthday blessings, health and happiness galore uncle Leroy, we love yuh baaaaaaaad!

Enjoy 

Click on this link   to see the beautiful photos and story about the Tobago Heritage Queens. Or,
copy and paste this URL into your browser   
​https://www.guardian.co.tt/article/tobago-heritage-queens-6.2.1386438.4287a79ff5​

Phoolwanti 'Doll' Ramsingh, 58, of Doll's Chulhas in Branch Road, Fyzabad, is affectionately known as Aunty Doll, the Chulha Lady from Fyzabad and the Original Chatak Matak Queen.

People come from all over T&T and overseas to her place for the unique culinary and cultural experience from seeing a chulha or dirt oven built from scratch, custom made to the buyer's specifications, to feasting on a variety of delicious food off the chulha–to bread and pizza from the dirt oven 'hot on d' spot,' and spending the day reliving the 'ole time' days.

The chulha means different things to different people. It is a link to the past, and can still be found in several people's backyards for sentimental, cultural and traditional reasons hearkening back to the time of their grandparents or great-grandparents.

People swear there is no comparison between food cooked on a chulha to food cooked on modern gas and electric stoves, and induction cookers.


The chulha can also be used as an emergency stove for when the electricity goes, natural disasters like storms and floods, or when you run out of cooking gas.

As people did more cooking and baking at home during the COVID-19 lockdowns, the humble chulha and dirt oven have also enjoyed a resurgence.

For Ramsingh, disconsolate over the death of her husband, making chulhas was a way to keep herself occupied and focused and has enabled the mother of seven, grandmother of six and her family to earn a living during the challenging COVID-19 economic times.

Speaking to the Sunday Guardian on Wednesday Ramsingh said "October 11 will make it five years my husband Chandersingh Ramsingh died. When I lost him, I used to be like not here.
"I dropped everything, I was a wreck. One day I decided to start back and threw myself into my work. When I started back making fireside, I would be enjoying myself and forget all my worries.

"When I made the fireside so nice, it made me live. I told my daughter Sandy if not for the chulha I might have gone."

She said when she was in the process of making a chulha, she felt so happy inside that she lost track of time and her daughter had to remind her to take a break and eat.

Ramsingh learned the art of chulha making from her grandmother Sancherie Dookie from Spring Trace, Fyzabad.

She reminisced about when she was a little girl sitting down and watching her grandmother fashioning a chulha, she tried it and it came out just like hers.

With the help of family members, such as her daughter Sandy, her grandchildren, among them Abby, who also cooks, Ramsingh can make ten chulhas a day starting from around 10 am to 10 pm. A dirt oven will take a week to frame with steel and BRC wire.

She also fits in brush cutting with a weedwhacker six days a week from Monday to Saturday with her son Randy in the morning, and when she returns home, she starts work on her chulha making.
Ramsingh revealed that the reason they started selling 'chulha food' was that a lot of people did not know the taste of it, so she and her daughter decided to cook and cater food from the chulha and dirt oven. ​The menu includes on dirt oven Thursdays: coconut bake and baked chicken. Chulha Fridays: stew-curried chicken, channa and aloo, murtani, dhalpuri and mother-in-law. Chulha Saturdays: curried duck, channa and aloo, murtani, buss up shot and mother-in-law, to pepper roti, octopus, and bread and pizza from the dirt oven are also available.

She and her daughter Sandy were trying out new dishes such as pumpkin with chicken, sweet pepper and carrots in the dirt oven.

Tuesday night they did channa puri stew/curry chicken and chataigne puri.

Ramsingh said that people from all parts of Trinidad, even Tobago come to her house to sample her 'sweet hand' and buy a chulha or dirt oven. They come from as far as Tunapuna, Mayaro, Aranguez, Trinicity, Cunupia, Siparia, Fyzabad, Princes Town, Penal, Debe, Avocat, Santa flora. Trinidadians living in the diaspora in the US, Canada, and Europe have also visited.

You can see Ramsingh on Facebook @ Doll's Chulhas and Fireside Cooking With Doll-Hot From The Chulha.

For T&T’s 45th Republic Day which will be celebrated on Friday, the T&T Association of Ottawa (TTAO), Canada, hosted a free virtual cultural event last Saturday at 7.30 pm. Cocktails preceded the celebrations at 7 pm and an after-party closed off the occasion.
Master of ceremony for the virtual event was actor, playwright and theatre director Rhoma Spencer who opened the formal segment with an Ottawa land acknowledgement: “Ottawa is built on the un-ceded territory of the Algonquin Anishinabe Nation whose ancestors have lived on the land for millennia.”
The Canadian and T&T national anthems followed.
Guests were treated to a wide array of cultural performances starting with the Dynamic Damaru Tassa Crew. The national instrument was well represented by Pan Fantasy with renditions of Dancing Queen and Dingolay, and bp Renegades Steel Orchestra performing Jahaji Bhai.
Afro-Caribbean and Indian dances were performed by members of Cultural Arts Studio with Belé and Devil Dance, and a Footsteps Dance School classical by Bollywood dancer Baby KV.
Calypso and opera came from six-time Canada Calypso Monarch Macomere Fifi who did a tribute to the Calypso King of the World, the Mighty Sparrow, followed by Lord Baker’s God Bless Our Nation and Ulyn Small.
The virtual gathering also heard greetings from TTAO president Ingrid John-Baptiste, who also read a message fromT&T’s High Commissioner to Canada Dennis Moses. Making toasts to T&T were Mayor of Ottawa Jim Watson and Member of Parliament for Neapan, Ottawa, Chandrakanth “Chandra” Arya. Dr Alfredo Walker gave the keynote address.
The high point of the annual event is the award. This year’s awardees are from the University of Ottawa and will receive CDA$1,000.
TTAO vice president Dianna Pierre presented Jason Leach, part-time professor at the university, with the CLR. James Award. Zuwena Walters, who is studying speech science language pathology, got the Naz Award, while The Friends of Serviam’s Patricia Sylvester presented Alayna Horsham with the Serviam Award. Horsham is pursuing her bachelor’s degree in Biochemical Sciences.
The selection committee for the scholarships comprised Andrew Williams, Rose LeBlanc, Hazel Pompey and Joe Cabrera.
Door prizes of T&T mugs, a bottle of rum punch, gift certificates and dinner for four courtesy Bacchanal went to Brenda Walters, Eddy Alleyne, Errol, Hedda Simms, Joy Grainger, Pearline Williams, Simone Waithe and Myra Flash respectively.
Rosanna Lashley delivered the vote of thanks. House and after-party music was supplied by TTAO’s resident DJ David Supersound.
Part proceeds from the event will go towards the 2022 scholarship awards and the Haiti Relief Effort.
John-Baptiste says TTAO has been working with the mantra, Love from the Inside Out…Spirit, Mind and Body. She expressed her gratitude to TTAO teams, volunteers and supporters, as well as sponsors Ottawa’s Bacchanal, The Cultural Arts Studio, Aylmer Electronics, Carib Brewery and Angostura Limited.
The group can be reached at TTAO.ca, its Facebook page or by telephone at 613-834-1718.
Persons who want to support the group’s efforts can send cheques to PO Box 8401, Station T, Ottawa, K1G, 3H8 addressed to Trinidad and Tobago Association of Ottawa, or e-transfer for donations 2022: tantassociation@gmail.com.
Source: Trinidad&Tobago Guardian, Sept 20, 2021

Did you know that a Trinidadian was one of the outstanding figures of the Chinese Revolution?
That person was Eugene Acham Chen and this is an excerpt of his story.
In a small wooden house off Moriah Road in San Fernando, Trinidad ( see attached photo) Eugene Acham was born on July 2nd 1878.
He received his secondary education at St Mary's College and later on went on to pursued a law degree in London England.
He build a successful law practice in Trinidad , but when this started to fail he fled to China adopting the name Chen.
In China he went on to become one of China's outstanding freedom fighters. In fact in one historical document Eugene Acham Chen was regarded as the brains and soul of the Chinese Revolution. His story was featured in the Guardian Newspaper published on August 26th , 1962. ( see scan copy below)
In 1927 his mother was still alive and living in San Fernando. (Source:  Vitrual Museum of TT, Sept 5, 2021)

These were so heavy to carry around in my little pocket. (Photo: Virtual Museum of TT)
​

Trinidad and Tobago-born veteran journalist-author Jai Parasram is among the four Distinguished Fellows appointees to the Robarts Centre for Canadian Studies. Jean Michel Montsion Director, Robarts Centre for Canadian Studies recently made the announcement. They are York University President emerita Lorna Marsden and President of the Institute for 21st Century Questions Irvin Studin reappointed and they are joined by former diplomat and Director of the School for Public and International Studies at Glendon, Annie Dimerjian, and Canadian journalist Parasram.
Parasram is a journalist, author, and communications and media specialist, who worked at the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC) until his retirement in 2013. He was the Line-up Editor on the pioneering team that inaugurated the CBC’s 24-hour cable news service in Halifax, Nova Scotia, in 1989, and was privileged to edit the first newscast to air on the service. Parasram’s career began in his native Trinidad and Tobago in 1972 and spanned more than four decades, mostly in television, during which he worked as a reporter, editor, producer, interviewer, news anchor, news director and executive producer.
He has worked with clients in T&T, Canada and the United States in program development for radio and television, corporate communications, event management and political communication. He has also trained journalists in T&T and Canada. He has also served as a political and communication adviser to two Prime Ministers of T&T.
Parasram has won several prestigious awards for excellence in journalism. He holds a Master of Journalism degree (MJ) from Carleton University, Ottawa, Canada. Parasram is the author of Far from the Mountain (2013), a series of notes and commentaries on the politics of Trinidad and Tobago between 2007and 2012, and Beyond Survival: Indians in Trinidad and Tobago 1845-2017 (2017), a narrative about a people who blended the best of East and West to preserve for themselves and future generations, some of India.
Prominent members of the community, Distinguished Fellows are selected based on their past contributions to the Centre, the field of Canadian Studies or Canadian society. Working closely with the Director and the Executive Committee, they will offer advice on ongoing and future initiatives and priorities for the Centre.
Montsion said the Robarts Centre team will greatly benefit from these Fellows’ insights in supporting our activities, and in finding ways to make the scholarship conducted through the Centre more visible, connected, and part of the public conversation. (Source: Trinidad Guardian, September 10, 2021)