100% Support of Caribbean Xpress

100% Support of Caribbean Xpress

Publisher,

We have chosen CARIBBEAN XPRESS exclusively for it's content and journalistic approach.

Caribbean Xpress assures it's readers that they are committed to independent and aggressive journalism.  

Don't believe us? take a read! 

This form of approach is unbias.  That is what people need! The features are written in a neutral and unbias form of journalism without prejudice. 

It takes alot of courage for any medium to take such an approach because there are usually reprehensible action(s). But, these action(s) are null and void especially when this newspaper reports a 'feature' solely on its' merit. 

What each individual wants to do is totally up to them. They can read then, form their own opinion because none of these 'features' will ever help and/or assist the formation of opinions. 

The 'features' will always include 100% content of what they are about.  We have always stood by this approach because the only 'other' medium that we choose is the Kaieteur News however, certain storylines include a bias approach whereas, each story in the Caribbean XPress DOES NOT have a similar approach.  But, the Kaieteur News does have an aggressive and independent approach to its' journalism. 

We are glad to hear that Caribbean XPress will continue in the correct direction for its' journalistic approach.  This is what separates the best from the rest.  Don't believe us? then, call us(not everyone just, the staff from Caribbean XPress) during the day time hours at 416 744 7728! and you'll see why we promote this newspaper to each and eveyone that calls us!

Do we ever get into any debates on it's content? ABSOLUTELY NOT!

Just one read will convert anyone that this form of approach to journalism is what people need.  What they want to do after that is their business.  They are free to form their own opinion.  But, you can be certain that no 'features' will sway someone's opinion in any direction.

Unfortunately, we cannot compare the 'features' with any other similar newsapers because we DON'T read any other newspers because of their journalistic approach.   We like to read a 'feature' that is unbias and without any prejudice.  That is what Caribbean XPress is all about. 

And we will support any of the advertisers that stick to their continued support of the Caribbean XPress.  Whereas, the advertisers that 'pull' their ads will suffer 'lost' business because of their lack of 'doing what's right'. 

By the way, on a daily basis, Kaieteur News continually gets six figure hits.  We don't see why Caribbean XPress cannot do the same or better given its' journalistic approach.  Kaieteur News mainly reports on happenings in Guyana whereas, Caribbean XPress reports on the entire Caribbean!  Hence, our voicemaill message at home.  Don't be afraid to check it out!

Caribbean XPress brings the Caribbean together!

We will continually do our part to promote this great newspaper and in time, Caribbean XPress will see the number of it's 'hits' increase incrementally.  We meet family and friends that compliment us all the time(at the grocery store, mall, picnis etc...) for getting them aware of Caribbean XPress because it's a newspaper that includes 'ALL OF THE NEWS' from the Caribbean. 

That is just it! this is a newspaper that has it 'ALL'! Any idea why Walmart has become so successful? they have it 'ALL'! Now, people can read the Caribbean XPress for news throughout the Caribbean in one issue. 

Just one more thing, can we do something about the website.  It's a good website but, we need to include an option to increase the size of the fonts to make it readable to each and everyone expecially the 'older' readers.  For example, the Metro grocery store site allows for readers to increase the size of the content.  Can we try to improve on this? or am I mis-using the website? I know most older people like their newspaper but, if this can be improved then, we'd get them to read the Caribbean XPress more often on-line. 

The Caribbean community(especially Guyana) keep picnics(for each village) throughout the warmer months and getting the word out about Caribbean XPress will increase readership plus, these events at The Centre will significantly get more reader's with signage and other advertising techniques.

Best Regards

Brian Samad, 

Bassant Motorsport

(soon to unveil my 'own' Motorsport Team)

F.O.T.T. Friends of Trinidad & Tobago , ready to assist

Farouk Hydal

Friends of Trinidad & Tobago continue to assist the community in resolving Issues at the Toronto Consul Office.

Farouk Hydal is approaching 74 years old in December has become the liaison officer between the public and the T&T Consul General office.

Farouk Hydal is the Public relations officer of F.O.T.T. and has been serving the community for many years. His relentless pursue of resolving Birth Paper and Passports issues has made him the go-to-guy when there are matters requiring an Ombudsman.

Farouk is in contact with key personnel at the Consul General Office and Can help you .

To reach Farouk Hydal please call him at 647-271-6358 or email him at faroukhydal1937(at)hotmail(dot)com or you can email FOTT at fott(at)live(dot)ca

Devi Mandir continues to impress the community at large .

The Devi Mandir (Satya Sanatan Dharma Cultural Sabha-SSDCS) is a Hindu Mandir located in the beautiful city of Pickering Ontario, just a short drive from the city of Toronto.

The Devi Mandir is dedicated to serving the needs of Hindu Community in the Greater Toronto Area by continuing to propogate the teachings of Sanatan Dharma through Puja, Pravachans (discourses) and Bhajans.

It is the aim of the Devi Mandir to ensure that the youth of today are well equipped to propel Hinduism into the future. By teaching them from a young age, they will have a better understanding and appreciation of Hinduism.

Every year the Devi Mandir hosts students from the St. Mary Catholic Secondary School in Pickering for presentations and information on the Hindu religion.

They have recently recieved a letter of acknowledgement from Tomy Valookaran, the Chaplain of the school.

“I am writing this letter to acknowledge the great work being done by the Devi Mandir in Pickering. For the past 5 years the Pundit and the members of Devi Mandir has hosted our grade 11 students regularly orienting them to the faith which nouishes many Pickering residents at Devi Mandir. Living in a multicultural multi-faith community, it is a valuable experience for our students who are all Catholic. Understanding other Faiths and religions helps to eradicate the biases and wrong assumptions many of our students have which will help create a more harmonious community. The actual experience of being in the temple visually seeing all the symbols of the Hindu faith adds to the intellectual knowledge these students have acquired from their world religion course. Every year we take approximately 400 students through eight presentations at the Mandir. These orientation presentations are outstanding with multimedia and keeps the students focused. During question and answer period, students are given the opportunity to ask any question, which are dealt with wisdom and tolerance. I would greatly encourage all those involved in putting this program together, finding the finances and personnel, to keep up your great outreach. May God bless you abundantly.”

History : In 1988, a small group of Hindus began congregating to engage in religious activity at West Hill Collegiate, Scarborough. As the group became increasingly larger, a need was recognized - the need for more cultural and prayer centres to facilitate worship by Toronto’s Hindu families. It was decided that Toronto’s East end was in greatest need of such a facility, so this area was made the group’s focus, and the journey began. A property at 2590 Brock Road, Pickering was purchased in 1989, and this location remains the current site of the Devi Mandir.

Fashion emergency … or when a tie is not just a tie …

A silent revolution is taking place in the heart of one of the most deliberately undemocratic institutions in the Caribbean, unnoticed by many for its significance, yet it has within it the power to launch a tsunami that washes all the political dead wood away.

This revolution is being spearheaded by a man who set himself the goal to bring change, and like many others, I too have been doubting his ability or intention to follow through on his promise. Having said as much publicly many times, I, like many others, have been forced to stand and take note and acknowledge his efforts. When one side raises its standard, the other has no choice but to play a better hand and in that way we all win, especially if all parties are now forced to find and bring their “A” game.

Make no mistake, when the Political Leader of the People’s National Movement breaks with a tradition as deeply entrenched and as psychologically important as the balisier tie it sets certain things in motion within that party that will bring change. Listening to the comments being made by some political dinosaurs is demonstrative of where he is trying to move the party from and he needs to be encouraged and supported as he endeavors to stamp his authority despite being dragged down by opposition to his leadership from within.

Now is the time for the young generation, the “New” PNMites to make themselves known to their leader and to stand with him and support him. This event must herald a cleansing of sorts, a turning away from the maximum leader and the ‘not a damn dog bark’ culture entrenched into the party’s psyche by others who have gone before. Dr. Rowley’s role here is not an easy one by any stretch of the imagination, and I am encouraged to see him finally stamp his leadership on the nation’s politics. Where we go from here can only improve our lot as all of the people benefit when those who have the power to lead do so.

Now is also the time for men of yesterday like Patrick Manning and Colm Imbert to vacate their seats and make space available for the next generation to serve. They must take with them all of their political baggage, including challenger-inchief Amery Browne and all of the others who have stood against the dawn of the party’s new day despite and regardless of the noises being made.

Dr. Rowley, your next step must be to open the party to all creeds and races to join and feel welcome and at home. You must put transparent and public policies in place to safeguard the party and the country from the abuses that took place under its last leader and you must again distance yourself from the charades and escapades of that crew and their followers. For the PNM to bear good fruit once again the people of the country need to see and believe that real change has come, and I dare say no will be believing that as long as members of Manning’s former cabal speak in any way for or on behalf of the party.

The country will once again owe you a debt of gratitude as this change will force your political opponents to improve their performance and deliver on their promises. The people will thank you for having the testicular fortitude to stand against the tides of business as usual and bring reason once again to the politics of the “corridor” and hope to an entire country so fed up of being deceived. I urge you to stand strong and your name will be carved into our history. Embrace the successes of the party’s past, learn from its mistakes and forge a new vision, again one that is all-inclusive and welcomes ALL of the people regardless of ancestry or creed.

I also call on all of the democratic, patriotic members of that party who know in their hearts that it is a continuous insult to the nation that Manning & Co. are still sitting in the Parliament and buzzing around the politics despite the mess they made of it on their watch. I call on you to reject their revisionist history and to work with the new leadership to help bring balance to our politics once again.

courtesy tntmirror.com

Letter from the Publisher .

Nirvan Balkisson

What a Divali 2011 celebration in T&T and here in Canada. Despite the curfew, Divali Nagar had another successful celebrations in Trinidad. The adjustment of the timing to meet the curfew hours didn’t dampen the spirits of those attending the annual Divali celebrations at the Divali Nagar.

Here in the GTA, the annual Divali Nagar took place on Oct 22nd at The Centre, in Mississauga and despite the main artiste Lalchan Rafi Singh absence from the event, the performance and presentation of the event  as well recived by the audience.

I told the crowd that each one will recieve a $10 coupon which will be used when Lalchan did come to Toronto, but most people stated after the event that they got their money worth with the performance of Ramona and Randy, Vasantee Mistry, Ian and Sunita Maharaj, and Polly Sookraj. Music was played by the Harold Boodod Indian orchestra which consist of Harold Boodoo, Shivo Mohabeer and Roger on Guitar.

Once again I will continue to relay some of the happenings going on in T&T and below is a relevant article that I pulled from the T&T Mirror..
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Of all the administrations which have run this country, the People’s Partnership assumed office with perhaps a mandate second only to that of the NAR of 1986 but with its leader, Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar, displaying a sensitivity to the issues of press freedom that had been displayed by no other leader in our country’s history.

Dr. Eric Williams launched his political career by burning copies of the Guardian in Woodford Square; George Chambers threatened journalists at a public meeting in Arima; although ANR Robinson opened up the access to the electronic media, his administration attempted to starve the TnT Mirror of newsprint.

The less said of Basdeo Panday and his Green Paper on Media Reform the better; and while Patrick Manning did sign the declaration of Chapultepec, the heavy handed attempt to impose bans on two reporters for contempt of Parliament and his barging into a radio station to protest some admittedly off-colour on-air  remarks did not display any appreciation for the role of a free press in a democracy.

Media practitioners, a number of whom joined her administration, could be forgiven for expecting to be different, the Persad-Bissessar who courted them assiduously while in Opposition and remained on first-name basis with the corps of political reporters even after taking office.

In fact, the PP stated in its manifesto a commitment to amending the Constitution to provide for “a free press, unfettered by government intimidation and uncompromised by government preference.”

Many believed a new media era had dawned when, unlike the ever-imperious Manning, Persad-Bissessar shooed away her handlers and walked into the crowd of journalists waiting to interview her at her swearing-in ceremony. That honeymoon was never destined to last, but even her most avid supporters in the media must now be wondering how quickly it has ended.

Glimpses were seen, beginning with the Reshmi Ramnarine episode, where the smile was replaced by a grimace under intense questioning. Then the confirmation came with her complete ignoring of a group of  reporters who had waited for hours for an interview at the UNC’s Family Day in Syne Village, Penal. Her National Security Minister, Gary Griffith, put that one down to the reporters now posing a possible security threat.

None of this, however, has come as a surprise to us at the Mirror, which has seen its fair share of politicians falling in and out of love with the media. The love, of course, is strongest when they are in Opposition, since our politicians, surrounded by sycophants while in office, quickly become high on their own supply of propaganda and begin seeing every criticism as part of an Opposition plot.

This newspaper was founded on a commitment to independent and aggressive journalism and has over the years paid a high price when politicians decide to use State resources to force us to bend. We do not intend to yield to that. Instead, as part of our commitment to a free press and to holding this and all other administrations to their lofty promises we intend to, beginning this week, name and shame every State organisation and their spineless officials who have been co-opted in what is an inherently corrupt, illegal and unconstitutional enterprise.

Beginning today also, we shall be holding accountable all those agencies that have pulled their advertising, by publishing their names on the otherwise blank pages to which they had previously committed advertising. Trinidad and Tobago is not Guyana, where the Government bans television stations, rations advertising and still does not allow privately owned radio stations. It is not Venezuela, where Hugo Chavez has cultivated a cult of personality and shut down every independent news medium that refuses to comply.