As a part of the community, Ma Pau readily identifies with this celebration and has contributed $5,000 to this year’s event which begins at 6 pm tonight at

Adam Smith Square, Woodbrook.

TKR will face Jamaica Tallawahs at 8 pm tonight TT time at Sabina Park in Jamaica.

TKR have already booked a place in the knock-out phase with two matches left, and are almost guaranteed a top two finish after the preliminary stage.

It is beneficial to finish in the top two, as the top two teams have two chances of qualifying for the final on September 9.

TKR lead the standings with 14 points after earning seven wins and one loss. Despite a stellar run of form, Borde said there is no time to relax.

“The tournament has a long way to go in it. We are not even close to (achieving) anything yet. We are still focused and taking each game at a time,” Borde said.

Borde said the team would not experiment much with the line up, although the Knight Riders have already booked a place in the next round “We have a squad that all players are ready.

We expect that we will play like we have played the last couple games with intent to win the match.

There is no plan to experiment.

The team is focused on what we have to do and our job here is to win matches.” Brendon McCullum (40 not out) and Darren Bravo (38 not out) were the top TKR batsmen in the last game, leading the team to an eight-wicket win over second placed St Kitts and Nevis Patriots on Wednesday.

Borde said a number of players are stepping up for TKR which has led to the team’s success.

“It is a game that batsmen will take risks, so you are not going to expect that each game a player will fire.

That is why it is important for us from a team perspective that various players step up.” Pakistani Shadab Khan, who has been an instrumental player for TKR, will rejoin the team in Barbados when they face the Barbados Tridents on September 2. Khan played the first six matches for TKR before he and the other Pakistani players were called by the Pakistan Cricket Board to complete fitness and medical tests ahead of national and domestic commitments.

Roach and fellow fast bowler Shannon Gabriel took four for 71 and four for 51 respectively to dismiss England for 258 on day one yesterday. At the close West Indies were 19/1 after 12 overs in reply with Kraigg Brathwaite and Devendra Bishoo at the crease.

Roach is hoping the West Indies can put the regional team in a strong position today after surviving a tricky period under lights yesterday. “It could have been more (wickets) obviously.

Batting under lights is never easy, but I will say well played to Kraigg and nightwatchman Bishoo and I think that once these guys can stick out there and put up a fight against the English we can get a lead and try to win this Test match,” he said.

Roach, who was proud of his effort, said it was also great to see Gabriel playing again after recovering from injury. “It is really good to see Shannon fit and raring to go. He has been our best bowler for the last year and I will say well bowled to him for his four-for. For me I felt really good as well today (yesterday) and I just want to continue doing what I am doing, working hard and getting more wickets for the West Indies.” Roach said team meetings over the last few days helped the West Indies.

“We had a very strong team meeting, a very open team meeting so the guys know what we are about for the rest of this tour. It is all about going out there putting your best foot forward, working hard and performing for the West Indies.”

At a recent news briefing in Tobago, Duke vowed to swim between the two islands starting Monday at 8 am, he later elaborated that he would undertake this feat in a relay with fellow THA minority member Farley Augustine.

Duke has begun to hype up the event by posting on a picture of himself clad in a wetsuit to his Facebook page along with a video of him and Farley in a practice swim with the musical backing of a Mavado-styled singer extolling his ambitions.

However, open-water swim veteran Gordon Borde, in a CNMG News interview with Kent Fuentes, cautioned Duke over the reality of sea conditions, based on his own unsuccessful attempt at a similar feat in 2013 from Crown Point to Toco.

“It would take us 12 hours to reach Toco Point, we had estimated,” Borde said. “We had to go across the shallows and experience the currents and so on.

“But the currents were so strong that they were pulling us down, like we were going to Venezuela. So after a period of 14 hours, and we did 25 miles, we abandoned the swim.” He said Duke’s swim from Scarborough would be even tougher.

“Let’s say he does get to a certain distance off of Tobago, he’s going to encounter the easterly currents,” Borde added. “So he’s going to go through the same thing we went through.

Borde said that only in the unlikely event of perfect conditions on a particular day, then an experienced open-water swimmer would have a chance to complete the course. In Duke’s case, Borde said, “If he wants to make it across, perhaps go across in a boat.”

The event begins at 6 pm at the TT Hospitality and Tourism Institute (TT HTI), Chaguaramas.

The foundation will be awarding 17 scholarships, mostly to those who were successful in the SEA exams. Over the years, the foundation has given 225 scholarships valued at $680,000, to secondary and tertiary students, a media stated.

The foundation is a non-profit organisation whose main objective is to award scholarships to Spiritual Baptist youth in an attempt to lift the next generation of the faith out of the morass into which the Prohibition Act of 1917 has placed the members of the faith,” the organisation said.

“FAAS BY is conscious that the youth makes up 40 per cent of the faith now, but represents 100 per cent of the future.” For more info: 645-4814.

On Monday, City Hall romped to a 5-0 win over Central Market in the quarterfinals. N’Kosi Raphael scored a hat-trick to lead the way for City Hall, which won the league title earlier this month.

City Hall also got goals from Atibal Daniel and Shevon Williams.

Central/Eastern were no match for St James Medical, as the latter eased to a 3-0 victory on Thursday.

Tevin Figaro, Stephan Guun and Keron James each found the back of the net. City Hall and St James Medical will battle in the first semifinal next Tuesday.

In another quarterfinal, St James Division defeated Western Division 2-0 as S Springer and Akhel Fairbain scored one goal apiece. Public Health upset Transport and Cleansing on penalties 3-2 after regulation time ended 1-1. Marvin Joseph scored for Public Health during regulation time, while Andy Charles was on target for Transport and Cleansing. St James Division and Public Health will meet next Wednesday in the second semifinal.

QUARTERFINAL RESULTS: City Hall 5 (N’Kosi Raphael 3, Atiba Daniel, Shevon Williams) vs Central Market 0; St James Division 2 (S Springer, Akhel Fairbain) vs Western Division 0; Public Health 1 (Marvin Joseph) vs Transport and Cleansing 1 (Andy Charles) Public Health won 3-2 on penalties; St James Medical 3 (Tevin Figaro, Stephan Guun, Keron James) vs Central/ Eastern 0.

SEMIFINAL FIXTURES: City Hall vs St James Medical, 5 pm, Tuesday St James Division vs Public Health, 5 pm, Wednesday

However, she says while enrollment may be affected, the institutions cannot give up but must continue to provide their services and be able to provide the facts about the benefits of education to an individual.

“What we have to do is define and continue to emphasise to citizens and students the importance of education in the long term because education is a tool and a mechanism to take us and catapult us out of many situations, such as poverty and take us to the next level.” Persadie made the comments during an interview with Newsday following an Accreditation and GATE Funding Informative Session at the school on Thursday evening.

The session dealt with the present and future of funding for education in TT; international accreditation vs foreign degree; the importance and relevance of accreditation by the Accreditation Council of Trinidad and Tobago (ACTT); and “Why now is the right time to pursue your MBA.” Participants at the session also heard from Nigel Forgenie, the Chief Executive Officer of the Youth Training and Employment Partnership Programme (YTEPP) on the benefits of getting an International MBA from the Lok Jack Business School as he did.

Persadie said in light of the current economic situation and the GATE means test, the school will have to take a new look at its recruitment and see how it can adapt in the event there is a decline in enrollment.

“So it doesn’t mean that Lok Jack will say ‘Okay, recruitment and enrollment are down so we will downsize.’ We won’t say that, we will say what other services can we offer and we are not only postgrad, we are also undergrad, we are in company development, we are in short term programmes, we are in research, so we impact differently and while one sector might take a little hit, we can impact somewhere else and make up the shortfall and continue to survive.

So we don’t rely on one mechanism or one revenue earner to survive.”

Several things stood out about the concert, the maturity of audience, the musicians and the choice of songs presented. Parris was in his first full-length concert while Bri was warming the audience with her soothing voice. They both did several solo pieces before coming together as a duet. Strangely, Parris seemed to be off his mark from the start. Listening to him on several previous occasions he came across very well, but somehow he seem outside his comfort zone that night.

Sources said it was not like that in the rehearsals but it just did not click for him. Congratulations must go out to him for going the distance as he got better in the second half of the show. It was also nice to see him do the Kalyan’s classic Can You Love Me.

Other songs he performed included My Love, Love on the Brain, Pledge Allegiance and Permission.

Bri on the other hand chose to use her songs to try to capture the love of her life. Songs like The Very Thought of You, All Night Long (Nancy Wilson), I am Ready for Love (India Arie), Love Song (Adele) and Your love is King (Sade). Her poem, Body over Mind, showed her struggle with love and had the audience wrapped up in her story. Together, Parris and Bri performed Insanity and You’ve Got what it Takes.

The music was exceptional with Tony Paul excelling on his saxophone and flute doing several solos.

Dean Williams was also very good on guitar. Ron Clarke on keyboards also had several solos to add to the variety. Andre Jack (bass) and Shaquille Noel (Drums) complemented them but Noel was too loud at times. Mikhail Salcedo (pan) opened the concert with Bri while Makeena James and Alianna Grant provided background vocals for the night.

Before the audience dispersed young and upcoming comedian and current Kaiso Blues barman Keston James gave several jokes and was warmly received.

The new 18,000 square feet, family entertainment centre includes a variety of attractions such as a large bumper car track and an innovative children’s play area as well as lots of other fun games and activities.

The Chaguanas store was opened in response to feedback from the successful South branch according to CEO Steve Maharaj. “Ever since we opened our first store in South, we received a lot of requests from guests to open a branch in central as their family entertainment needs were not being met. We are pleased to finally bring the FunStation brand to Chaguanas,” Maharaj said.

The new laser tag arena is already popular with both adults and kids as they compete to become the champion of the arena. “It’s nice to see parents and children playing together.

We have also hosted a number of laser team-building events for companies. It’s a great icebreaker for staff.” Both kids and adults can also enjoy the new bumper car track. “The cars are large enough that two adults can fit together in one car. It’s especially fun watching kids’ excited expressions as many of them are driving for the first time.” The Active PlayZone is the newest attraction. It is a two-level fully interactive play area with elements such as ball blasters, obstacle course and a spiral slide. The PlayZone is healthy, active fun for kids. It is always supervised by an attendant as safety is a high priority at FunStation.

Continuous improvement is critical to long-term success, Maharaj says. “TT has a very advanced population when it comes to entertainment. Our company has a philosophy of continuous improvement and we’re always adding new games and attractions. FunStation (South) was the first standalone family entertainment centre locally and the first to have fixed-location bumper cars, carousel, train, rocket ride and mini-bowling. We introduced laser tag to TT and this year we added the Active PlayZone. Now Chaguanas can share in the fun!” FunStation opens everyday including holidays and admission is free.

The event featuring six local rock bands, an Aruban and Canadian band takes place tomorrow at Space La Nouba, South Trunk Road, Gulf View, La Romaine.

“This concert features six local bands, all who have made their own sound within these borders, some of which are flying the flag of Trinidad and Tobago high internationally,” said a media release.

LYNCHPiN, Incert Coin, The Supernormal Band, Alter Rootz, Goodnight Parliament and Bound to Oblivion are the six local bands on the cast. Aruban band This Will Be No More and Canadian Keychain are the two international participants.

According to the release, local band Bound to Oblivion was described as “some of the younger blood in the Trinidad rock scene” and as having what it takes to take TT further in the rock world.

Described as a band which merges TT ’s flavour with rock and roll, fans of Alter Rootz can look forward to hearing the band’s fused sound. “These four individuals have created a sound that encompasses a matrix of Caribbean music fused with the sounds of metal, hip hop, far and Middle Eastern influences. Recently they have come back from representing Trinidad and Tobago in Canada’s Club One Releases Showcase,” the release said. Local grunge-metal band Goodnight Parliament, it said, strives to push musical boundaries and blur the lines of musical genres.

The Supernormal Band, one of the five Wacken Caribbean Metal Battle finalists selected to represent TT in Suriname, will also perform at the concert. The release said, “This four-piece Trinidadian rock band was created in 2008 by founding members Andy Rambharat and Mitch Ramberan and is a melting pot of rock, kaiso, calypso and dancehall…” Described as local hard rock legends, Incert Coin, complete with its new members, will also be there. Fans might hear from the band’s fifth album, And in the end..s’all for naught. Rounding up the TT acts will be Wacken Caribbean Metal Battle finalist and winner, LYNCHPiN.

Another Wacken Caribbean Metal Battle finalist, This Will Be No More, who has toured in Suriname and Mexico, will be the regional act at the concert.

Keychain who has played over 200 shows in four countries this year, including the final night of Festival d’été de Québec (with Gorillaz, Of Mice and Men, etc.), Mexico with Crazy Town, and across Canada with Nothing More, Hed PE and The Devil Wears Prada; will perform some of its hits for attendees.

Tickets are available at various malls.