One year after former Japanese pannist Asami Nagakiya was murdered in Port-of-Spain, Japanese DJ Selector Hemo is calling on the police here to ensure her killer is brought to justice.

Nagakiya’s body was found under a tree at the Queen’s Park Savannah on Ash Wednesday last year. No one has been charged with her murder.

As citizens and visitors alike participated in this year’s Carnival celebrations on Monday and yesterday, Hemo, whose real name is Tomoko Inoue, made yet another call for justice over her close friend’s murder.

“She was my friend and a member of my Yosakoi team and had always joined my events relating T&T,” Inoue, here for yet another Carnival season, said in an interview with the T&T Guardian.

Inoue has been visiting T&T for the past 17 years to play music at various Carnival events.

She said she still could not understand why anyone would have killed Nagakiya, who accompanied her (Inoue) to Port-of-Spain to participate in the Carnival yearly. She said Nagakiya enjoyed playing the steelpan but played mas “for the first time last year and after Carnival Tuesday it happened.”

Inoue said she would like “to ask the police in T&T to catch the perpetrator and bring (him) to justice as soon as possible.”

The Japanese DJ said she “fell in love with T&T from my first visit and I have been trying to promote T&T’s music abroad.” However, she expressed concern about the number of murders in the country, adding that the crime problem was making it difficult for her to encourage people to visit T&T by themselves.

“There are too many indiscriminate killings of civilians and I don’t want to see people in T&T die any more,” she said.

Inoue said while people can walk alone at nights in Japan, it is not the same in T&T because of the crime situation.

Asked to comment on soca music, Inoue said she loves it and promotes it wherever she goes.

“Soca is very positive and happy and I think is the only genre which enables people to wine and with someone you don’t know,” she added.

She said she promotes soca in the nightclubs, on the radio and elsewhere, including the Yosakoi festival, which is held in 200 different countries of the world, including Ghana and Belize. She said she will be in Grenada next to play soca music.

She also spoke of the need for closer cultural ties to be developed between Japan and T&T in the coming years, and the need for assistance to be given to the artistes to ensure that existing challenges to promoting cultural exchanges could be significantly reduced.

Inoue said: “Coming and visit T&T is a big hurdle for those who don’t know well about this country. I would like to invite Trinidadian artistes and exchange the culture. So I’m looking for sponsors.”

Dimanche Gras productions at the Queen’s Park Savannah celebrates their 70th anniversary next year and for many of those years the show was considered to be one of T&T’s premier pre-Carnival events, showcasing some of the main elements of Carnival and paving the way seamlessly for J’Ouvert.

For many years, Dimanche Gras was a show to which locals felt comfortable taking their friends or family visiting from overseas, confident in the knowledge that even if it went on for too long, the combination of masquerade, in terms of the Kings and Queens of the band and the Calypso Monarch competitions, would be entertaining and enlightening.

On the evidence of last Sunday’s production, however, it has become totally misplaced to use the words “premier” and “entertaining” in the same sentence as Dimanche Gras.

Firstly, Dimanche Gras without the masquerade element is simply a calypso competition, which on the basis of the small audience who paid their money to attend Sunday night’s show, is destined to attract smaller and smaller patronage.

Logic, if not good sense, would suggest that the two main elements of Dimanche Gras should be brought together once again.

Secondly, while it was a good idea to reduce the number of calypsoes performed by each singer on the night from two to one, increasing the number of calypsonians to 15 may have been counter-productive.

That the cast of competitors ended up at 17 this year is testament to the shambolic nature of the organisation of the show, in which a lawyer’s letter could overturn the rulings of the semi-final judges. Surely, if St Vincent-born Lornette Nedd-Reid (professionally known as Fya Empress) was good enough to qualify for the finals, it should not have been held against her that she was not born in this country.

Thankfully, there is some indication that the rules of the competition will be amended to treat with this issue.

Thirdly, for years Dimanche Gras has been crying out for the kind of slick and professional event production that, for anyone with cable television, could have been seen on Sunday night at the Academy Awards with a flick of the remote control.

While the Oscars were not without a major mix-up, the production of the show was consistent with an event being televised live, with one aspect of the show flowing smoothly to another with carefully-scripted interventions from the host.

On Sunday night in Port-of-Spain, while the calypso competition aspect went smoothly, what came afterwards was a huge disappointment in terms of the missteps, malfunctions, miscommunications and mistakes.

Seeds of Icons was a great idea that flopped because of poor production.

The poor attendance at many of the shows during the 2017 Carnival may have been due to the economic downturn.

But, surely, the audiences would return to the Queen’s Park Savannah for Dimanche Gras if they could be assured of a tightly-produced, entertaining package that showcases the best of the year’s calypsoes and masquerade in a coherent and flowing programme.

It would be a shame if there were no local capable of delivering this job, but T&T has been doing Carnival for too long to accept sub-standard productions of its major shows.

A woman, Michaeline Wall, a disabled person was convicted a few weeks ago (Guardian, February 11) for marijuana offences. It passed relatively unnoticed in the gush of Carnival, Trump and Fatca mush. This is Ms Wall’s second offence; last year she was found guilty and fined by a magistrate for using marijuana for the pain from which she suffers constantly.

This conviction was more serious as Ms Wall admitted to selling marijuana because it was the only way she could make a living.

For her poverty, disability, and possibly her gender, Ms Wall has the unenviable position of being the most visible and most helpless woman to be so negatively affected by the most powerful men in the country: the Prime Minister, the Attorney General, and the Commissioner of Police.

First the Commissioner, he whose modus operandi now seems to be brandishing statistics at the population showing them the crime they’re being terrorised by is not there, or less than they think.

The Commissioner should put away his statistics and look at his officers, the brave policemen who arrested Ms Wall, twice, and asked what else they’re up to.

There’s no point being outraged at those who would arrest a disabled woman, twice, while bandits, murders, rapists, child molesters and psychotic drivers roam free.

Laventille residents recently provided the Commissioner with the names of officers who allegedly come in the community and, among other things, frame young men who won’t sell drugs for them.

Clearly, there’s a cancer in the body of the police service. And the Commissioner either doesn’t know or doesn’t care.

Which leads us to the PM and AG. The PM, as chairman of the National Security Council, and head of the government, is ultimately responsible for the protective services, and their failures.

The AG is responsible for the legislative agenda of the government–in this case, the archaic laws concerning marijuana.

This is actually an excellent opportunity for their collective redemption.

For here, it appears, is one small thing that could change the lives of poor people, help women, and redirect the brutes in the police force (at the least) away from innocents.

That thing is changing the law on marijuana. There’s also another benefit to reforming the law: the effect on national mental health, but more on this later.

The law, as it is now, allows lazy police officers to “game” the promotions system by recording drug arrests for small amounts of marijuana.

It’s also corrupt, since the black poor are invariably victims of this.

This leads to the slow death of entire communities as young, innocent men are thrown into the prison system and transformed into monsters. It also clogs the judicial system to the point of paralysis.

But don’t take my word for it. Writing in the NY Times on February 7, the former president of Colombia, César Gaviria wrote of his country’s experience with the war on drugs: “The war on drugs is essentially a war on people. Throwing more soldiers and police at the drug users is not just a waste of money but also can actually make the problem worse.

“Locking up nonviolent offenders and drug users almost always backfires, instead strengthening organised crime.”

Furthermore, he wrote: “Many of our brightest politicians, judges, police officers and journalists were assassinated. At the same time, the vast funds earned by drug cartels were spent to corrupt our executive, judicial and legislative branches of government.”

Mr Gaviria is a member of the Global Commission on Drugs.

Of that organisation he wrote: “We believe that the smartest pathway to tackling drugs is decriminalising consumption and ensuring that governments regulate certain drugs, including for medical and recreational purposes.”

And here’s the crux for Trinidad.

The medicinal use of marijuana could transform the mental and social landscape of Trinidad and Tobago now.

The recent incident of the woman on Wrightson Rd who had a minor breakdown after a traffic altercation is an indication of the massive amount of stress and mental illness silently ravaging the country now. Many more incidents occur daily without the coverage.

Relatedly, an article in the Express on February 15, reported the head of the Pharmacy Board, Andrew Rahaman, saying the mark-up on medical drugs is too high (sometimes 100 per cent), and ought to be regulated.

Which again brings us back to Ms Wall, who resorted to marijuana because she could not access legal (and considerably less effective) drugs and healthcare.

Ms Wall is an emblem of many of the people walking around the country now: severely afflicted by some form of malady which could be helped by an inexpensive, home-grown remedy.

This isn’t to say marijuana is a panacea, but decriminalising it could change the nation for the better in an incalculable way.

It could literally free a whole class of people from the bondage of corrupt police.

It could improve the mental health of the nation. It could force the police to work at chasing actual criminals.

Very little groundwork needs to be done on this. The research is already there. Johann Hari’s book, Chasing the Scream, provides history, cites numerous legal and medical studies, and stories of the consequences of the war on drugs gone mad.

So, in this period of reflection after the excesses of Carnival, perhaps the Attorney General and the Prime Minister can think about this.

It’s an easy win: decriminalise a drug that was legal in Trinidad before independence, provide relief to people suffering from a wide range of disease, from stress to cancer, and free a large number of black poor people from police persecution.

Or is this too easy for politicians? Here’s a sweetener: do this, and you’re guaranteed a second term.

Put God on TTPS Payroll. Acting Deputy Police Commissioner Wayne Dick last year revealed that God had helped him to be astute, as well as arrest and charge a suspect in the Shannon Banfield murder.

Therefore, if God is put on the Police Service payroll, He will surely work even harder and, being omnipotent and omniscient, may even prevent people being murdered in the first place.

In these parlous times, people shouldn’t expect God to work for free or prayers. After all, He has other things to do, such as preventing same-sex marriage, abortions, and shrimp.

Make Business Illegal: All crime is caused by capitalism, as all trade union leaders and UWI academics who are not economists know.

Therefore, the government must make it illegal to make a profit, especially obscene profits, which are defined as profits larger than the salaries of trade union leaders and UWI academics.

Once profits are eradicated, therefore, all crime will cease, including domestic violence since women will not nag men for money to buy shoes.

Make Criticism of Feminists Illegal: When men and women who like men are allowed to badtalk gender feminists, this facilitates social injustice and high-priced coffee, which encourages criminal acts.

Badtalking equity feminists has no effects, since that species of feminist rejects the concepts of patriarchy and brewing.

Gender feminists, however, are real women and sort of men who understand everything about everything and, ipso facto, are able to speak for all human beings, including men and the women who like them.

Hence anyone who criticises a gender feminist’s opinions, ideas and arguments is helping criminals and should be prevented from so doing.

Make Whips Tax-Free. Everyone except parents who don’t read the Bible knows that sparing the rod spoils the child. Government should therefore remove taxes on rods, leather belts and bilnas, while providing subsidies to guava trees. Children who are beaten but still grow up to become criminals probably weren’t beaten hard enough.

Eradicate poverty. Were it not for greedy business people, the government could eradicate poverty tomorrow. All they have to do is print more money so that everyone will be well-off.

This policy was working well in Venezuela until the CIA fomented unrest by sabotaging toilet paper factories.

However, if the United States refuses to sell T&T toilet paper, politicians who want to allow 12- and 14-year-old girls to be sold in marriage can talk enough crap so ordinary citizens don’t have to.

Ensure Religion Is Respected. This will go a long way towards reducing crime, since people who respect religion are less likely to be criminals.

While it is true that all reliable surveys show that societies with high rates of religious belief are more violent and corrupt, all those acts are committed by non-believers and people who belong to the wrong religion.

Thus, the high rates of violence and corruption in religious societies proves how evil flourishes among atheists and people who worship false gods, which is why respect for religion is crucial for fighting crime.

Stop Earthquakes. Everyone except atheist geologists knows that homosexuality causes earthquakes.

Last December, Trinidad and Tobago experienced a 6.1 magnitude earthquake and in that same month some homos had to be thrown out of a Government consultation on how to stop homosexuals spreading AIDS by their abominable lifestyle.

Look how many women are being murdered in T&T and, as everyone knows, homosexuals hate women.

That is why they are homosexual. Therefore eradicating homosexuality will help stop women and heterosexual men from being abused and murdered, as well as raise oil prices.

Change Men. Men commit 99 per cent of all murders and, although men are also 90 per cent of all murder victims, they usually do something stupid that gets them killed.

So if we teach boys to be more like women, when they get into a confrontation they will not kill, just criticise the other person’s hairdo.

The government therefore needs to make boys watch Sophia the First, play with dolls, and cry when sad. This will ensure that they do not grow up to be murderers, rapists, or footballers.

Email: kevin.baldeosingh@zoho.com• Kevin Baldeosingh is a professional writer, author of three novels, and co-author of a Caribbean history textbook.

The media have a very important role to play in the development of our music in the creative arts industry.

I am concerned about the coverage of the music of all genres that citizens heard or did not hear during this last Carnival season. I take my cue from what Liam Teague said when he spoke about Panorama as reported in the press.

He said, “What can actually help Panorama is educating the masses. A lot of people come into the pan yard and sit and listen but aren’t aware of the intricacies and subtleties of the music.

We can spend five or ten minutes speaking to the audience to give them a greater appreciation and a lot more people will be inclined to visit pan yards because what they are hearing won’t be a mystery.

His comments are applicable to the other music and competitions that come with each Carnival (and throughout the year).

So in addition to pannists speaking to audiences at the pan yards, I ask that we also have a consistent body of work from critics who can rouse people to visit the calypso tents where attendance has been declining for years.

Critics are a major resource in the creative arts, whether we are dealing with fashion shows, culinary arts, award ceremonies, art exhibitions, drama, dance or poetry.

Where calypso, pan and Indian music are concerned in Trinidad and Tobago, there are issues that need ventilation.

Witness for example, the controversy about the use of melodies from Indian movies in the chutney competitions.

At one point there were useful critiques of calypso and calypso tents from Derek Walcott in the Trinidad Guardian, Keith Smith in the Express and there were also Mark Lyndersay, Terry Joseph and Debbie Jacobs.

In addition there have been several articles by professors Gordon Rohlehr on Calypso and the late Orville Wright about Pan and Panorama in the Trinidad and Tobago Review.

To date I have seen one very incisive article from Winsford James about MX Prime’s Road March contender “We Jamming Still.” But this is not enough. There has been virtually no evaluation of Panorama, the calypso tents, the chutney soca Monarch Competition, the Calypso Fiesta, the Young Kings Competition, the Calypso Queen Competition or the International Soca Monarch Competition. So the public is not really enlightened about the state of the music that has come with the 2017 festive season.

Unless the analysis of our music is addressed we will lose precious time in the quest for the development of the creative arts industry which is an important aspect of our economic diversification.

Aiyegoro Ome

Former President NJAC, former Chairman NACC

It was an epic experience. This was a show that left patrons saying “I owe Machel some money” as the massive crowd got much more than what they paid for on the night. Enjoying the show from the stadium or in the comfort of your home, one could feel the clean, powerful energy emanating from the performances.

The major highlights of the show were the demonstrations of love and unity in the music industry. For years the soca music industry endured the rivalry of some of the major players in the game and on that night the synergistic performances made soca music history.

Bunji Garlin and Machel Montano united in a musical collaboration that came as a musical gift to soca lovers around the world. These artistes were music rivalry for years and in an open but civil manner.

Promoters and other industry players had to be mindful of this rivalry when confirming the logistics of the performances at events where the two artistes were booked to perform.

These two musical titans have since settled their differences.

Another display of unity was the side by side performance of Iwer George and Chinese Laundry. These two radio station owners battled with each other for years. It was so bad, Djs rumoured that Iwer’s music was not being played on 96.1fm for years because this station is owned by Chinese Laundry. Who knows? They have also resolved their differences openly on stage at Machel Monday and allowed the world to see the power of love and unity.

“Love in the house,” as they say in the music world, was truly demonstrated at Machel Monday. Who would have thought we would ever see the day when Bunji Garlin would agree to appear on Machel Monday.

This signals to the world that us Trinbagonians have a love that is expressed unreservedly in the culture of our people. The concert somewhat reminded me of the Bob Marley One Love Peace concert in 1978 where he brought the Prime Minister and the Leader of the Opposition on stage together to shake hands. Who knows, maybe we will see our political leaders together shaking hands at the next Machel Monday.

Well done, Machel Montano, your concert was a true animation of the words of your song “Is love ah wanna see.”

Ronald Huggins

St Joseph

Blackpool Sports Club from Mt Lambert, will stage it’s 26th anniversary football match in memory of one of it’s foundation members, Cecil “Rajay” Joseph, on Sunday 4pm, at the Aranguez Savannah.

In the past, the club has honored former sporting and cultural icons for their contributions, such as former national footballers-Alvin Corneal, Sedley Joseph, Everald “Gally” Cummings, Selris Figaro, Kelvin “KB” Berassa, Gerry Browne, Lincoln “Tiger” Phillips, Leroy DeLeon, Ellis and Vernon “Sam” Sadaphal, Leon “Smooth”Edwards, Ron La- Forest, Ulric “Buggy” Haynes and Kent Bernard, a hometown hero from Petit Bourg.

This year former West Indies and T&T Test cricketer Harold “Harry Joe” Joseph, who also played football, will be recognised for his contribution to sports, as well as master pan arranger Jit Samaroo, who led Renegades to nine Panorama titles. Samaroo’s posthumous award will be collected by his son Amrit, who is a budding pan arranger.

Also to be recognized, will be, Cecil “Ju Ju” Brewster, Grantly “Garbo” Boyce, Garvin and Garthorne Craig, Harold “Falcon” Richards, Rasheed “Nagar” Ali, “Parry” Parris, Lennox “Marcus” Marcano and Neville”Romeo” Salandy.

Special mention will be made of Leslie Joseph, the main organizer of the event, himself a former first division footballer with Maple and his brother, Lloyd “Golden Boy” Joseph, a former hard kicking forward with Blackpool and Colts.

The teams for Sunday’s match will be skippered by “Harry Joe” and Garvin Craig and will include the above mentioned players together with Stephen “Gomo” Gomez, Douglas St.Hill and his brother Winfield, “Speck” Ramoutar, Dexter “Funk” Joseph, Rory Gajadhar and many others from the SanJuan and surrounding areas.

The annual general meeting (AGM) of the West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) which was scheduled for this coming weekend in Antigua has been postponed to month’s end due to logistical problems.

With the West Indies playing England in Antigua this weekend a number of tourists are flying in and it is very difficult to get all the directors of the board in Antigua on time for Saturday. Dave Cameron the standing president of the board was due to be ratified in the position for yet another term at this meeting.

The WICB had announced last month that Cameron and his vice-president, Emmanuel Nanthan, were the only candidates put forward for the respective posts by the deadline.

“The Corporate Secretary, Verlyn Faustin, confirmed that Cameron and Nanthan were the only two nominees received for the posts of president and vice president respectively,” the WICB said.

“Both Cameron and Nanthan have already served two year terms in the respective positions. The posts will be ratified at the Annual General Meeting (AGM) also due on the same day. The election and AGM are scheduled for Antigua.”

At this meeting the directors were also due to hear from outgoing CEO of the board Michael Muirhead. The Jamaican who did not renew his contract with the regional organisation was replaced by Englishman Johnny Grave. Muirhead is set to manage the Stanford Cricket Ground and Sticky Wicket Restaurant.

The facility is to be expanded to house the new headquarters of the West Indies Cricket Board as well as the players’ academy.

Muirhead will be in charge of identifying funding as well as the overall expansion programme. The facility recently played hosts to the Regional Super50 tournament which was a huge success.

Also on the cards for discussion was the West Indies senior team scheduling for the rest of the year and also proposed tours by international teams outside of the FTP.

Last week, Fantastic Friday marked the countdown to the big Carnival weekend as final competitions got under way—International Soca Monarch (ISM) on Friday night, Panorama finals on Saturday night and Calypso Monarch on Sunday (Dimanche Gras) night. What does the Soca Monarch offer to the genre? And has Dimanche Gras lost its appeal?

Competition diluting soca?

On the soca front, after the announcement of the finalists for the Soca Monarch competition, Erphan Alves voiced his hurt on social media, expressing his disappointment for not being chosen in the final 21. He said he had a good song but he felt the judges may have been hard of hearing.

For Alves and other participants, the International Soca Monarch competition has become a marketing tool or soundboard for their product.

According to Dr Suzanne Burke, lecturer in Cultural Studies at the University of the West Indies, ISM serves as an opportunity “to harness emerging talent in the soca arena.”

“The competition was formed to fill a void in the festival space since the calypso competitions were not recognising the soca as a legitimate art form, where they consistently placed soca practitioners low in the order. Left up to the calypso gatekeepers, the soca may not have had its rightful place,” Dr Burke said.

Before the competition became a spectacle which has annually filled the Hasely Crawford Stadium, it was located a stone’s throw away, in the landfill opposite (which is now used by Customs for imported cars), where a minimal crowd supported the venture. William Munroe, the brainchild behind ISM, persisted with the competition. Over the years he made the claim that the show contributed to the development of soca, providing a platform for neophytes and seasoned performers to improve their talent.

Dr Burke has noted a double-edge purpose of the competition. “The ISM has proven to be a vehicle to improve the visibility of soca,” she said. “In the main, the ISM represents one of the main vehicles through which soca has been taken to the region and the world. The reigning Soca Monarch gets more cachet and bragging rights which transfers into greater earning potential for the year of his/her reign.”

On the other hand, she countered, the competitive element, with its marking schema, can sometimes force participants to engage in formulaic presentations to ensure they gain marks in certain categories.

David Rudder, who has won Road March and Calypso Monarch titles, agrees that the ISM can be used as a measuring stick. Using his experience when he was crowned in 1986, Rudder said his objective was to use the competition as an outlet to be recognised. “I achieved my goal and moved on,” he said. This is no different for the ISM, he said. “You have to pace yourself,” he said.

The challenge is not to get stuck in a rut to focus on writing or performing for the sake of the competition, he said. “There is a lot of instruction in the performances – you know, wave your hand left or right, and the new ones (performers) get stuck in that. If you find yourself in that, either pull out or address the monotony,” Rudder advised.

Dr Burke noted that there has been an improvement in the production, giving soca artistes better opportunities to improve their craft.

“There has been training and development of soca artistes before they are allowed to enter the competition to improve the soca product; increased investment in the industry as opposed to the show/event. And there’s an emphasis in moving from event to industry,” she claimed.

But veteran musician and producer Carl “Beaver” Henderson said placing the focus on acquiring the top prize money can reduce the quality of soca music production and consequently the perception of what is required in the industry.

“Now, the actual craft of writing and producing is to hustle a prize. True musicians are limited as a result. They (writers and producers) have removed the music and creativity from it,” he said.

Henderson said most of the songs nowadays have a limited scale or what he terms “flatline music”, because the dynamics of harmony and melody are stripped.

On the other hand, he added, he noticed a trend going back to what people consider the roots of soca. For example, Rudder’s Welcome to Trinidad uses the calypso style of the 1940s; Ultimate Rejects featuring MX Prime have an element of calypsonian Shadow’s bassline in Full Extreme; Bunji Garlin’s 1995 gets nostalgic about feting with the use of a brass arrangement; and Sekon Sta used the heavy iron percussion reminiscent of a steelband’s engine room in his song Kings and Queens.

Sekon Sta, the son of the late lyricist and calypsonian Merchant, said his song (co-written with Preedy) had a lot to do with what he knew growing up. “I am a reflection of what I know,” he said. “I am my father’s son. Calypso is my forte. It is reminiscent in my writing, in my authentic direction.”

Another trend noted is the fusing the soca music with global elements such as EDM (electronic dance music), which Henderson also supports. “There is nothing wrong with change,” he said. “But don’t strip the craft.”

Rudder said EDM is passing in the tradition, as did Sparrow who had a Latin edge in some of his calypsos, Clive Bradley with Funk Kaiso and Ras Shorty I who absorbed music surrounding him. At the same time, Rudder said the outside influence is looking at what Trinidad is doing.

“The EDM Trinidad music is looking at Europe. That sound (EDM) dominates but it should be the other way around,” he said.

As a member of the next generation of soca, Sekon Sta believes music has to go with the direction the world is going, but in accepting that fact, the T&T identity in the music should not be sacrificed.

“The fusion is going to be there, one way or the other. I have no problem with that. At the end, so long as there is that distinction that it’s truly us,” he said. Calypso and Dimanche Gras Dimanche Gras traditionally served as a foundation stone for calypso. As a lyrical gayelle for the best calypso bards at the Queen’s Park Savannah, the show served as both entertainment and a form of identity for some people.

According to Ngozi Liverpool, who has done postgraduate research on the topic, the Dimanche Gras of the 1940s to Independence era served as a method of transition. “The nation emerged from colonialism to independence, then to being a republic. Carnival was used as a decolonisation tool,” she said.

The Dimanche Gras of today, however, is influenced more by consumer values and commercialism, she thinks.

“Now the people want to see more,” she said. “What was fulfilling then, is not fulfilling now.”

For the calypsonian, the Dimanche Gras is about politics—the affairs of the nation. Now that the genre is categorised into political, social, nation-building and humourous, there is a stifling of the calysonian’s craft, Liverpool said.

But Cro Cro (Winston Rawlins) looks at the advantages of self-promotion in the competition. “The prize money is decent enough,” he said. “Wearing the crown means going international—so when people hear your song, they respond Kaiso, Kaiso, meaning you are accepted.”

Acceptance, he said, begins before the finals.

“It happens in Skinner Park, where the semifinals are held. If you get toilet paper, it means you have work to do,” said Rawlins, who was Calypso Monarch in 1988, 1990, 1996 and 2007. “It depends on how good your material is.”

By extension, the quality of music is reflected in the attendance at the calypso tents. In the pre-colonial era, the calypso tents were popular venues to express concerns of society and record the events of the time. The French creoles, the upper class in society, decided it was an opportunity to control the topics by managing the calypso tents.

In the post-independence era, the tents were owned by the calypsonians themselves, and were thriving at one point. However, over the years, audience attendance has dwindled. Also, some owners have complained of lack of sponsorship as a major contributor to limited upkeep and promotion of their shows.

“Crime may be an issue but if the programme is good, people will come,” said Cro Cro, who runs Icons Calypso tent. “I know people coming by me.”

Kurt Allen, Calypso Monarch 2010, believes in supporting any forum in which calypso is promoted. Allen has been running the Barrack Yard Tent Experience for the past three years and has faced the challenges of sponsorship. While calypso tents get a subvention from Government, groups like Allen’s do not, and depend on audience attendance to keep going. But Allen believes there is a need for this concept, as an alternative offering for the calypso artform.

The show is presented in a settlement where performers are scripted into vignettes as opposed to an introduction by a Master of Ceremonies. His cast includes calypsonians who are revered for past hits as well as junior performers who are considered next in line in the tradition.

“Looking at the history of calypso, it is a confluence of cultures where neighbours and children were allowed to shine in their own environment. It is a sense of home, a connection,” he said.

Looking at the present, Rawlins thinks the style of composition also makes or breaks the artform.

He says: “I have been a calypsonian for 40 plus years. This is my life... Most people write a poem and then put a melody. But it is a roots thing. The young people strange, they don’t take time to work.”

Nearly every book about the drug trade suffers from one fundamental flaw: guesstimates about the financial and other figures related to drug trafficking. This is so even when academics pretend they are relying on solid data while actually making an ideological case about drugs (or America). But 34-year-old journalist Tom Wainwright, the Britain editor of the Economist and the magazine’s former correspondent for Mexico and Central America and the Caribbean, has a university background in economics, politics and philosophy, which makes for clear analysis and a creative approach to figuring out the realities of the underworld.

As one example of how the value drug seizures are falsely estimated by officials, Wainwright cites a Mexico City marijuana haul which US newspapers reported was worth over half-a-billion US dollars.

The actual value, says Wainwright, was probably more like US$10 million. That’s because all drugs have to be processed before being sold, so using the street value for crops destroyed, Wainwright points out, is like estimating the value of a steer based on the cost of a steak in a restaurant.

Throughout the book’s ten chapters, Wainwright applies economic concepts like monopolies and labour supply to show how the drug trade works. He deals not only with staples like marijuana and cocaine, but also designer drugs created in laboratories and discusses how the Internet has affected the trade in illegal narcotics.

Applying business models, Wainwright explains that “Cartels play a role more like that of large supermarkets, buying produce from farmers, processing and packaging it, then selling it to consumers.”

The book is also leavened with lively anecdotes and colourful characters. Wainwright writes that “Straightforward ineptitude is frequently the cause of drug traffickers’ downfall, according to the Home Office researchers, who noted that the ‘soap opera lifestyles’ of dealers and their associates were often what caused them to be caught,” In one such case, a courier who had to hand over US$500,000 in cash decided to put the bills on a bed and have sex with his 17-year-old outside woman, taking selfies while doing so. When the girlfriend showed the pics to the driver’s wife, the wife became so enraged that she tipped off the police about him.

Much of the book is devoted to showing why existing anti-trafficking polices aren’t working. For instance, Wainwright explains that destroying crops doesn’t raise the prices that wholesale farmers charge to cartels, because the armed groups that control the cocaine trade in Colombia act as monopsonies. That means that one group has a monopoly in specific regions, like cable companies in Trinidad and Tobago until recently. All that destroying crops does is make poor farmers poorer, says Wainwright, while the cartels’ profits remain the same.

Moreover, he cites figures showing that, from coca leaf to cocaine powder, the mark-up is more than 30,000 per cent. Put another way, even if destroying crops tripled the farmer’s price, the retail price in the United States would rise less than one per cent.

“This does not seem like a good return on the billions of dollars invested in disrupting the supply of leaves in the Andes,” Wainwright dryly remarks.

The final chapter is titled, with seeming egoism, “Why Economists Make the Best Police Officers.” But Wainwright’s book proves his core point as to why an economics approach rather than an ideological one will do most to reduce the ill effects of drug trafficking.

Review by

KEVIN BALDEOSINGH

BOOK INFO

Narconomics

Tom Wainwright.

Public Affairs, 2016

ASIN: B017QL8XKE; 290 pages

Author Cheryl Ann Gajadhar is unlikely to win any literary awards for her first self-published work, but The Girl in the Cupboard has a straight-up, engaging honesty about it that promises to win the hearts, if not the minds, of readers.

It would have been preferable from a literary standpoint to have avoided the limiting language of the religious tract, but Gajadhar’s openly biographical story hinges on what she asserts is the eventual triumph of good over evil.

Ironically, though, devilish ritual as related by “Annie” gives way to fantastical religious rite as the book’s lead character is rescued on a wave of pious hope. From the beatings and sexual abuse as a young child to powdered milk and sugar for breakfast and lunch, to the “devil” ceremonies during which “her body was tossed to and fro in the house like a flying object”, Annie’s tales of the early years are graphically discomfiting.

However, years later as a repentant convert who had experienced successive abusive, exploitative relationships, homelessness and poverty, the protagonist would find herself in a church with a minister “using anointed oil” following which she found herself “turning all around and pacing” as “her whole body felt like lightning and she cried and cried uncontrollably.”

Then taken in by a “Mrs Mate” who was the one who pushed her up the church queue for the special “anointing” Annie soon found that the committed church-goer had been gossiping about her, forcing her to eventually go her way.

This led to further introspection and deeper exploration of her beliefs. In the process, she finds “true intimacy” through her religious convictions. “It is better than the sex I had in the past.”

Counselling psychologist, Marcia Tappin-Boxill writes in the foreword she hopes “many will be transformed as a result of reading this book.”

The work of a professional editor could have helped produce a far more compelling narrative. During Annie’s years in a home for orphaned children, Annie sits on a pew with other children while visitors were usually made to sit in the rows on the other side of the aisle.

“It made the children look as though they were different to the visitors,” Annie says. “The other world” is how she describes life outside the walls of the institution.

It was there she cried “for almost everything, no matter how simple it was.”

“But all of that crying was done in a little cupboard which she had discovered. The cupboard was always empty, with nothing inside of it but Annie.”

Gajadhar has gone on to write a second volume about her experiences. Hopefully, she has pursued a wider audience with a bigger message in presenting a remarkable life out of which she has declared victory.

The Girl in the Cupboard was first published in 2008 with a 2016 reprint.

Today we have a short piece from Lauren, one of our Level 2 students at our Harvard Club, St James venue. ALTA students placed in Level 2 students can read and write, but slowly and often haltingly. Their literacy level does not enable them to read newspapers, fill in many forms or read text related to their skill area. Read about Lauren’s ALTA experience thus far below:

“Just to know someone else is interested in my education makes me feel appreciated and to excel in my progress of becoming a better person. ALTA is not only about developing skills in reading but your personality is very important. Sponsors need to continue sponsoring ALTA classes, give others the opportunity I was given, they are our stepping stone from ‘I don’t think I can’ to ‘I will pursue with confidence and determination.’ I am happy that I can improve my ability of securing a positive attitude in society by building a foundation of self-worth.

“Going beyond the call, the teachers are more than teachers to me, they are my friends. In going through the different topics, everyone is given the opportunity to voice his or her opinion and contribute in some way. ALTA also helped me to reveal my true potential and hidden talents. ALTA has opened an account into the bank of education for me, so that I can deposit into it all my learning that in the future, I will be able to achieve higher returns, in investing in my studies.”

If you would like to join the ALTA team and teach adults like Lauren to read and write, you’re just in time! We have been recruiting volunteer tutors since October 2016 and our screening interviews for those interested end in the second week of March.

The prerequisites to becoming an ALTA volunteer tutor are a Grade 1 or 2 in CSEC English and the ability to commit to teaching for one academic year.

Once you’re interested, give us a call today at 624-2582 and come in for a screening interview. The interview which is conducted by seasoned volunteer tutors is an opportunity for you to learn more about ALTA and figure out if ALTA is a match for you.

You do not need to be a teacher or have any experience with literacy, education or even volunteerism before coming to ALTA. ALTA provides training for all tutor volunteers. Training is done in April/May and gives volunteers the skills necessary to deliver the ALTA Programme.

Volunteers who complete training will choose a class venue where they will begin their year of volunteer service in September 2017.

Join the ALTA team today!

MORE INFO

Volunteer, Donate or Sponsor-a-student. Call 624-2582 or email altapos.tt@gmail.com for more info. Keep up to date with ALTA on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram: ALTA TT

Toronto-based cultural ambassador Dick Lochan sadly passed away on January 12 after suffering the effects of a brief illness. Dick was originally from San Fernando, Trinidad, but migrated to Toronto, Canada, as a young boy with his family in the 1960s.

A top notch calypso artiste and lyricist, he was a popular performer in Trinidad Kaiso Revue Calypso Tent and for many years was part of the Toronto Caribana Mas where he served as a professional MC for many shows.

Dick also taught the calypso and soca art form to youths in the Malvern Community in Toronto. Author of three books on Trinidadian dialect, a member of the Songwriters of Canada, he sat on the Advisory Board of Urban Music Association of Canada (UMAC).

In 2008 he recorded the very popular CD titled Juiceman, produced by Ossie Gurley of Who Let the Dogs Out fame. The CD featured many favourites including: Beggarman Carnival, Funny Money, Suspicious Lover, Dancemaster, Yuh Lucky Yuh Married, Juiceman and Who the Girls Love?

Dick will be dearly missed by the expat Carnival fraternity as well as by his mother; Patricia Lochan, wife, Francis, their two daughters, his siblings and all the extended family.

On January 15, a lively memorial was held by local Canada-based calypsonians at the Pavillion Sports Bar, Bellamy Road, Scarborough, Toronto, honouring the memory of Dick by singing some of his many compositions.

Resi in peace, Juiceman.

NANAN, LALMAN (MEDALOF MERIT) of 421 Bonne Aventure Road, was called torest on Tuesday 28th February 2017. Son of Deokie and Nanan Chanansingh. Loving husband of Eleanor, Son-in-law of Rev. Isaac and Margaret Smith. Father of Denise (Mustapha) Mohammed, Joanne (Dhanrajh) Ramesar, Jonathan (Venesha) Nanan, David (Gaitri) Nanan, Rebecca(Khamraj) Pingal. Brother of Boysie, Samlal, Dolly and Paul Nanan.

Grandfather of Janise, Annelise, Mercedeseand Rhys Mohammed, Jordan Ramesar, Trida, Devin-Anne, Dana and Miriam Nanan. Relative of the Ramdhanie's, Bhagwat's, Jaglal'sand Smith's. Brother Scout of the Scout Association of Trinidad and Tobago, Member of the Presbyterian Church and Educator.

Funeral service takes place on Saturday 4th March 2017 at 11:30am at the Nanans Residence thence to the Bonne Avenuture Presbyterian Church for the home going service at 1:00 pm to be followed by Interment at the Bonne Aventure Cemetery.

SERRETTE: EPHREM formerlyof 2 Mora Street, Morvant passed away on Tuesday 28thFebruary, 2017 at the age of 92. He will be lovingly remembered as the husband ofPhyllis Hislop Serrette. Fatherof Clivia & Gerianne. Son ofthe late Arnold & Euphemia Serrette Brother of: Khalid,Clement, Owen, Millicent, Reynold, Cyril (D), Beulah(D), Donald(D), Lennard(D), Electra(D), Thora(D), Knolly(D), Martin(D), Michael(D) and June(D). Grandfather of: Kyrie& Gervais.

Funeral Subsequent. Enquiries can be madeat O.P Allen Funeral Directors,76-77 Eastern Main Road,SAN JUAN 638-7700

Police last night launched a manhunt for two gunmen who opened fire at a bar in Debe, killing two men and wounding another.

The identities of the dead men were not divulged by officers up to press time, however, as they were setting up road blocks in a bid to catch the attackers. The officers cordoned off parts of the SS Erin Road and Solomon Hochoy Highway Extension as they tried to capture the shooters, who escaped in a white car.

Residents said around 8.10 pm loud gunshots were heard outside Shortman’s Bar at Wellington Road, Debe. The two men were standing outside the bar when they were shot at close range. The gunmen then entered the bar and shot a third man as he tried to flee. The injured man was rushed to hospital and was awaiting treatment up to press time.

The shooting occurred a mile away from where hairdresser Ria Sookdeo was kidnapped last year.

Police are hoping nearby residents will provide them with any video surveillance or footage they may have of the shooting.

The Children’s Authority of T&T has come to the rescue of an eight-year-old girl who sources allege is the victim of sexual abuse at the hands of a male relative.

The reports were highlighted exclusively by the online T&T Guardian on Wednesday. A source close to the family, who requested anonymity, said the girl is exposed to pornography, prostitution and sexual debauchery by a male relative. However, although a report was made to the Children’s Authority on January 14, the source claimed no action was immediately taken.

But in a statement yesterday, the authority’s communications manager, Cheryl Moses-Williams, denied the authority failed to respond to the report. Admitting that initial reports were made to its Hotline about the child, Moses-Williams said that report “did not identify any concerns of child sexual abuse.”

“Once that concern was identified following receipt of a media report yesterday, the Authority’s Emergency Response Team (ERT) was dispatched to investigate the new allegations made to the media,” Moses-Williams said.

“Under the Children Act, 2012, the Authority is mandated to investigate all reports of abuse. Once a report of child abuse or mistreatment is brought to the Authority’s attention, the investigation process is initiated to substantiate or not substantiate the allegations with a view to determining whether the child is in need of care and protection and what interventions would be appropriate in the child’s best interest,” she said.

Last night, the source who highlighted the girl’s plight said they were grateful something was being done to help the child. The informant said the child had been begging to leave the house she occupies with her grandmother and the male relative.

“The child goes down on her knees and begs to be taken out of there, but I am not her guardian so I cannot take her,” the source said.

Explaining that the girl was abandoned by her mother in 2009 shortly after her birth, the source added, “(Name called) doesn’t come to check the child at all. She and her husband does not consider her as their daughter because she is mixed so they just left her there with the grandmother and went on with their lives.”

The source also said another teenager who lives nearby is a prostitute and has been indoctrinating the eight-year-old to a life of sex and debauchery.

RADHICA DE SILVA

Education Minister Anthony Garcia says parents could be held responsible if school age students stop attending school.

He made the comment during yesterday’s post-Cabinet press briefing, as he again spoke about the large absenteeism of students across the country on Ash Wednesday. 

Reiterating appeals for students to attend school following the Carnival festivities, Garcia said, “Now that Carnival is over, we’re asking students - please come to school and we’re also asking parents to ensure this.”

Garcia said there was a 13-18 per cent attendance at secondary schools and 20 per cent at primary schools. There were reports that absences continued yesterday, but Garcia said he had no figures for yesterday. 

For any child of school age who doesn’t attend, the parent can be held responsible and taken to court, he noted.

“Parents have a responsibility to ensure their children attend school...I appeal to parents - please send children to school. Their absence deprives students of personal development,” he said.