None better than Mrs Best Village

Wong Sang was selected by the country’s first prime minister Dr Eric Williams to introduce the showcase which turned out to become the longest-running and possibly the most important venture of the Ministry of Community Development, Culture and the Arts. Though she later became synonymous with Best Village, her selection was a fortuitous twist of fate. The original person who had been in line to lead the programme in 1963 had to be rushed to Tobago when Hurricane Flora struck.

The eighth of 12 children born to Stella and Albert Moyou, Wong Sang attended Tranquillity Government School before moving on to St Joseph’s Convent in Port-of-Spain. After a short stint at George F Huggins, she joined the Public Service in the early 1960s and in 1963, was assigned to the newly-formed Best Village initiative.

“At that time Dr Williams had just completed cottage meetings in the rural districts and he decided that a forum was needed where the people could showcase their cultural talent which was not being exposed,” she once said.

Though she came from a Trinidadian/ Chinese background, that did not stop Wong Sang from being effective in her post as secretary and coordinator. Such was the breath of her appreciation of the potential of all cultural forms.

She was able to mobilize a wide range of people and to encourage the widest breath of cultural expression.

She was able to bridge any scepticism the communities of Afro and Indo-Trinidadians may have had, embracing the opportunity to showcase their ancestral and indigenous talents.

She reached out to people in Siparia and Rio Claro and other rural areas.

Wong Sing also played a role in the emergence of parang, especially La Divina Pastora under Best Village, on the national scene. She was also instrumental in setting up East Side Plaza on Charlotte Street, Port-of-Spain, an extension of the Best Village programme where craftsmen and designers could develop mirco- businesses.

As noted by Joan Yuille-Williams at Thursday’s moving funeral, cock does crow, but hen does lay the egg. Wong Sang was a woman of action, a true public servant.

One fascinating aspect of Wong Sang’s legacy is her role in fostering a greater appreciation for local food. Best Village was not just about art and craft.

“The local dishes and fashions were considered low class until...Dr Eric Williams found a way to bring the culture forward through the Best Village,” Wong Sang once said. Foods such as the Chinese dish of fried rice and East Indian dish of roti became even more popular through Best Village.

Wong Sang, who grew up in a home where a housekeeper was employed, once said: “I remember when the servants would go to their little hut and prepare their food of saltfish and rice while major foods such as baked potatoes and baked chicken, fish and chips are prepared in the main house. Best Village broke the barrier and the African, Chinese and East Indian dishes came to the fore.” Of Wong Sang, Erica Williams- Connell last week said, “My father realised that a programme such as Best Village could provide the ideal vehicle for raising the consciousness of our own nation vis-a-vis our national heritage.

But it is one thing to have an idea, quite another to implement it. He chose Joyce Wong Sang to do so.” Wong Sang was a shining light on the cultural front. She will enter the history books as a loving patriot.