WWLOR is a jovial, whimsical creature, started by a woman from the US or UK (I presume – the whole thing is too flippant for anything as serious as background facts to be divulged).

She’s a yoga instructor and a good-looking, bikini-wearing type who looks great in photographs.

I don’t know how she came to be living on a small island in the Caribbean, but she clearly likes it, as do the many contributors whose playful efforts add to the flow of sophistication-gone-native.

She talks of “the patience required for an island lifestyle that has the tendency to move at the speed of a hermit crab.” The blog is apparently just for fun, a way for someone who’s a bit of a writer to pass the time and stay sane. Reality does not intrude here.

All in all it’s the sort of thing that must get right up your nose if you’re a Caribbean islander born and bred. During my time in these parts and on various other islands it has become apparent that the locals tolerate the expats and find them useful financially, if not actually welcome. The everyday life of the newcomer is very different from the daily grind of the indigenous, and the two worlds run in parallel, with little social contact.

The name of the blog tells us much of what we need to know.

The use of the word “rock” is probably meant to be wryly affectionate but comes across as rather insulting. It bothered me when I was in Guernsey and it bothers me now. The “rock” that these people referred to back then was the place where I grew up, and I don’t consider myself a country bumpkin, redneck or whatever the insular equivalent might be. It’s not like London or New York, but that’s not to say it is inferior to those places.

Back on my “rock” in the English Channel I found it offensive to hear criticism of the lack of facilities and so on – and mine wasn’t the first generation to feel that. There’s an old saying there: if you don’t like it, there’s a boat in the morning.

My island was invaded in the 1970s by the finance industry, which resulted in a huge influx of money but also pushed up property prices out of the reach of people who didn’t happen to be high-earning bankers, accountants and lawyers.

Meanwhile, these people who were helping themselves to the beaches and modernising big old farmhouses in quiet country lanes would laughingly tell their friends that it was all tolerable as long as they could “get off the rock” now and then.

There was a London-born TV presenter, brought up in the island, whom I interviewed once, and I asked her what she did at weekends. She said she went straight to the airport after work on Fridays and got the hell out. And now that she’s a well known BBC radio journalist with a reputation as a hardnosed interviewer, I doubt that she can be found on her holidays adorning the coves and strands where she once risked her youthful intellect so her parents could save tax.

It’s hard to imagine Tobago suffering such a fate, although the people who drive such things wouldn’t consider the word “suffer” appropriate. In their world, rocketing property prices are a good thing. Highend estate agents don’t want to see your family in a nice home you can comfortably afford; they want to see houses changing hands at extortionate rates that are reflected in the size of their commission.

There is an element of this behind the Bagonians’ fear of Sandals. They don’t want their island chewed up and spat out. Even if that were the case, though, it is highly unlikely to happen with Trinidad, where the holiday checklist runs from sunscreen and bottled water to bulletproof vests.

Presumably the women who live on rocks don’t see themselves as a threat to the lifestyle of their adopted home – and why should they? They’re minding their own business, keeping the local wine shop going and conducting field trials on the effectiveness of supermarket shampoos and conditioners in tropical environments.

And yes, I feel entitled to poke fun because I too am guilty of coming over here and soaking up the free vitamin D, cluttering up the beaches (where you don’t see that many locals anyway) and, initially, complaining that the vegetable vendors didn’t know what cilantro was (because TT has chadon beni, which tastes the same.) You live and learn.

It is very tempting to abstain from the confusion and incivility that characterises election processes all over the world, going as far as murder in some cases. Further, the ordinary citizen can sometimes feel that elections are merely a formality, lacking any real substance, and an obstacle to real participation in the life of the nation rather than a way of choosing persons best equipped to help us take care of the common good.

Cynicism and apathy seasoned by gossip and innuendo, replace serious reflection and enlightened choice. We know that for evil to triumph it is enough for good people to remain silent, so the bad state of our countries and of the world is created in part by our refusal to assume our responsibility as citizens. If we limit our understanding or our role as electors to collecting giveaways beforehand and marking an ‘x’ on one day, then we are inviting poor government. If we contribute to the pre-election climate of hostility and violence, we are ensuring that fear and a legitimate desire for one’s safety will keep thinking people away from serving in public office.

If we are too lazy, or worse, too prejudiced to try to understand what is at stake in the global economy in which we are implicated, what the values are that will foster authentic human development for the greatest number of our citizens, who those persons coming forward to serve in public office are, and what their reasons are for doing so, then whether we vote or merely pontificate in the rumshop or the drawing room, we are responsible for the leadership of the country.

Further, we have to understand that once we bleach the ink off our finger, our duty as electors is not done. No, an enlightened populace continues, vigilantly, to inform and critique the conduct of government. Critique is of course different to criticise – the former requires critical thinking of which every citizen is capable in a culture such as ours where language, self-expression and performance come almost naturally.

What needs work though is careful thought, self-discipline, and a refusal to be limited by self-interest and the prejudices of the tribe. What needs work is a contemplative attitude that takes into account our duty of reverence to God, our Creator, and the people whom he created as part of the human family to which we ourselves belong and an understanding of our responsibility to our common home so exploited due to greed and our obsession with our own comfort.

The martyrs of this weekend’s First Reading and of our own age, as well as the people who refuse to sacrifice their integrity for the almighty dollar, sterling, euro et al, continue to offer us encouragement to walk in the ways of justice and of peace. May we not falter due to cowardice.

I say minor because in the People’s Partnership reign there were massive reshuffles.

As the previous prime minister, Persad-Bissessar was the conductor of musical chairs.

She made so many changes to her Cabinet people began to question her competence as a leader to select people of talent.

Not once did we know why a minister was replaced. Now she has the temerity to “select” people, such as National Security Minister Edmund Dillon and Health Minister Terrence Deyalsingh, for removal. Is she for real? I know if she were in power she would have fired ministers left, right and centre like a bull in a china shop.

Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley gives his ministers a chance to redeem themselves.

But then how do we know when a minister is performing or not. I would like both Persad-Bissessar and Rowley to tell the nation what are the criteria of an effective minister.

Dr Winsford James, political analyst, has said that Rowley’s Cabinet is mostly invisible.

Does he want every minister to have his or her 15 minutes of fame on national TV? What is wrong with these people? If Rowley gets a monthly report of the operation of each ministry on his desk, that’s fine with me. All I want is each ministry to communicate to the population on a need-to-know basis.

We need to know who are the contractors building our roads.

We need to know how many Housing Development Corporation houses are unoccupied? We need to know what foreign contractor has submitted a bid to complete the San Fernando to Point Fortin highway? We need to know what the Health Ministry is doing to identify those areas which are Zika-free or Zika-infested.

Everyone of us needs to know about issuses which have a direct impact on us. If this information is not forthcoming from each ministry, then and only then could we say a minister is not performing.

So, Rowley must continue to monitor every minister continuously.

He must let each minister be approachable to get important information in the public’s interest. Then we can say who is performing or not.

The views of the Opposition are designed to distract the population. Persad-Bissessar had a once-in-a-lifetime chance. Now she must sit back and watch how to run a government effectively, not like a village council where meetings are held in private homes.

JOHN JESSAMY Fyzabad

The water supply in Ramkissoon Trace is unpredictable and usually not all residents benefit from the standpipes, as such we began to rely on truckborne water, especially those living on the hills. We have been able to save a lot on our pockets. The water is clean and service is done courteously as the workers call when on their way to supply residents with water. It is said that one must give credit where it is due, so a round of applause to the staff and field workers at the corporation for a job well done. I have visited the corporation’s office on several occasions and I commend all staffers on the efficient work they perform.

TENISHA SYLVESTER via email

It is becoming a habit for people in control of institutions to use their influence with alarming frequency to avoid being brought to justice or answering for their actions when they have mismanaged or acted outside the law.

The previous PP government fired as fast as these acts were committed and was chastised for so doing and may have contributed to its loss in the 2015 general election.

The present Government is doing the opposite and protecting misbehaviour and mismanagement, attempting to give the perception of a stable government.

Which action do citizens prefer?

S RAMPERSAD San Fernando

A PIERRE Marabella

Not every person is amused but I still try to be jokey. What is not so funny is the confrontational whiff of political blackmail from the collective trade unions.

This letter is not about what percentage of salary increases for which they wish to bargain.

This letter is about pride, how they view themselves and how the public reacts to this mass condemnation at the first sign of difficulty.

There is always this negative approach to intended government proposals. I cannot see how this allegedly banana republic- like approach benefits anybody.

We have just barely survived a most difficult 2010-2015 administration, with an unparalleled lack of good governance.

Why would anyone with a modicum of intelligence wish to put back the clock and return so quickly to a state of suffering? For what? Thirty pieces of silver? What comes across is that the unions do not appreciate the word “politics” in all its manifestations.

It is “one for all and all for one” only when pertaining to money.

Is it vastly true that the poor are destined to get poorer? I think this happens because some people appear unable to rise above their own poverty of thought. The unions, which are supposed to provide the vision, panic and advise their workers to selfishly self-destruct.

Will our public servants be seen protesting, vulgarly lying on the ground and scratching their stomachs as was recently portrayed on TV? A threat to withhold support at the ballot box is as useful to this nation as a box full of banana skins.

LYNETTE JOSEPH Diego Martin

Then premier Dr Eric Williams intervened when the Mighty Sparrow staged a boycott of the Calypso King competition during the late 1950s. At that time the first prize for the competition was $40 and a brass crown.

Williams intervened and the first prize was raised to $1,000. It was only then Sparrow called off his boycott.

Then when calypsonians voiced their disapproval concerning the lack of airplay for their music during the 1980s, then prime minister ANR Robinson took the lead in granting a radio station licence to the calypso organisation, TUCO (Trinbago Unified Calypsonians’ Organisation).

Now President Carmona, himself a competent “kaisonian”, has lamented the state of poverty endured by some calypsonians.

The reality is that at present there is an absence of anything which can really be called a calypso industry in TT.

Some high-profile soca artistes have been able to establish a performing circuit, nationally, regionally and internationally, while the majority of soca artistes continue to dream of the “big time”.

Also, only “one or two” calypsonians (Calypso Rose) can claim to “eat ah food” from calypso music outside of the Carnival season.

Back in the 1960s and 70s, calypsonians who did not win competition money could have depended on making a hit record and earning some dollars.

However, the calypso recording industry has collapsed because of piracy, new technology and even an absence of airplay.

Also, the calypso tents which were once the pride and joy of our nation are only being kept on life support by government subventions.

Most tent singers earn a three to four-week salary during the calypso season.

At present, the only way out for calypsonians to make a “good buck” is to win a big-money prize in a competition and there can only be a few winners. At the same time, most calypsonians remain in the “dreamland” of making a trip to the national semifinals at Skinner Park or the grand finals at the Queen’s Park Savannah on Carnival Sunday night. As Valentino sang, “next year is back to the … tent.” As a nation we have all failed to establish calypso as a viable and sustainable industry as other nations of this hemisphere have done with their art forms. Hence, the reason for the despicable state some calypsonians find themselves in and without the annual Carnival subvention from the State, the situation will be more devastating.

The time is now for all the wise heads of calypso to brainstorm a way forward to save this glorious art form which our forebears left for us.

Let me give some kudos to the PNM for staging a calypso contest to highlight its 60th anniversary.

OPOKU WARE Scarborough

“The belly has gotten a little bigger since I have been in this post,” former president of the Trinidad and Tobago Unified Teachers’ Association (TTUTA ) Davanand Sinanan joked, pointing to his growing stomach.

On his final day as TTUTA president, last Monday, Sinanan, 52, who cultivated a reputation for candour and diplomacy during his six years at the helm of the association, said he was anxious to once again become Citizen Sinanan.

The post of TTUTA president, he said, made him “lose my anonymity.” “As TTUTA president, I had to be conscious of where I went, what I did, how I behaved,” he said.

“I was always cognisant of the fact that I was the leader of a teachers’ union and never wanted to bring the association into disrepute.

“I wanted to consistently project that professional image for teachers and the association.

Teachers needed to see themselves as professionals and I tried to lead by example.” The river lime Sinanan has envisioned, though – involving a few of his closest friends from the St Patrick Educational Division – must take place before December 1 when he is expected to again re-assume duties as principal of his alma mater, Palo Seco Secondary School.

Sinanan, who served an eightmonth stint as principal of the school in 2013, ahead of his second term as TTUTA president, said he was looking forward to his assignment, confident that the foundation had already been laid.

Sinanan said he must reacquaint his thinking to the “nuances of school life as I prepare mentally to go back.” Barring his impending appointment, Sinanan said he had no immediate plans for the future.

“I am tired. The presidency took a lot out of me,” Sinanan said in an interview at the union’s headquarters, Southern Main Road, Curepe, while sending off a few e-mails and tying up other loose ends.

Describing his final moments in office as “bittersweet,” Sinanan said he was disappointed the long-awaited Teachers’ Centre, currently in the pipeline, did not become a reality under his watch.

Sinanan, who began his tenure as TTUTA president in March 2010, under the banner of the TNT (The New TTUTA ), said he also was unable to restructure effectively the administrative systems within the union’s head office.

He told Sunday Newsday: “It is not very efficient. Our productivity level is not what it ought to be.

On the issue of productivity and quality of service, there is still a lot of work to be done.” Sinanan acknowledged, however, that changing the culture in organisations can sometimes be a difficult task.

“There was that resistance and that really bothered me,” he said.

Outside of issues relating to the union’s internal administrative structure, Sinanan said over the past six years, he has often challenged the Ministry of Education to ensure that schools are safe, secure and up to internationally- accepted standards.

The 2009 Teacher of the Year described as “pathetic,” the government bureaucracy in addressing urgent teacher-related matters, saying the situation represented what he considered to be “a vicious cycle of inefficiency throughout the system.” “It was very frustrating. There were items on the agenda like a recurring decimal,” he said.

A vocal Sinanan also listed, among his peeves, what he regarded as the “dysfunctional state” of the education system.

He observed: “The system is focussed on certification and not the education of human beings. It certifies more people as failures than successes. I will continue advocacy for this radical transformation.” On a brighter note, the proud Penal native regarded his elevation to the executive board of Education International (EI), the world’s governing body for teacher- based trade unions, as one of his highlights in office.

Head-quartered in Brussels, Belgium, Sinanan said the EI represents some 32 million teachers and education sector workers in over 180 countries.

“That has been quite an achievement for someone from a small union in Trinidad and Tobago,” he said.

“As a member, I am now in a position to influence people in a global context.” Sinanan, who holds a Bachelors degree in Botany, said he also has been able to build on the work of his predecessors in gaining greater recognition for TTUTA through the Caribbean Union of Teachers.

“That has been a personal accomplishment for me,” he added.

Sinanan said the union also managed prudently its finances.

“We were able to manage finances in such a manner that the organisation is in a fairly healthy financial state, which is not where we got it. It was really in a precarious state.” “But we have been able to cut expenditure in some areas without impacting the delivery for service to members. The balance sheet is quite healthy and we were able to do that as a team.” Saying he received tremendous support from TTUTA ’S Central Executive and Conference of Delegates over his stewardship, Sinanan is hoping that the new Lynsley Doodhai-led TTUTA will continue in this vein.

“The union has to be the leading voice for education in the country and be given that level of respect and recognition on education matters,” he said.

“The union has to be led in such a way that the respect is earned consistently.” Saying that education was dynamic, Sinanan said TTUTA has to ensure that it can re-invent itself consistently to treat with the ever-changing landscape. Regarding the sector, Sinanan called for a commitment to developing its human capital in the context of national development.

“There is need for us to rethink our notion of education and how the system needs to be restructured by way of critical thinking, problem solving and sustainable development to add value to the society,” he said.

She said: “The NPTA is beaming with pride and joy as we celebrate fifty-six years of existence in Trinidad and Tobago.

“And today we are very happy to have two Ministers of Education at our launch at the Education Ministry.

That has never happened before,” after which she turned to the ministers and thanked them with a big smile.

Earlier she re-branded the purpose of the PTA from a perception of a fund-raising organisation to one that empowers members, reminding all of its motto: Home and School United for the Good of the Child.

She said: “As we reflect on our theme for 2016 (for their PTA week November 2 to 12), ‘Retooling Parents for the 21st Century Child’ it is important that parents acquire the skills to support, monitor, advocate and to develop the art of conversation with their children.” She explained: “It is indicative that it is a partnership between home and school, that this kind of partnership will engender the type of relationship bonding that will keep students close to school and will prevent them from turning to a life of violence and crime.” Ramatali added: “All stakeholders must continue to work together to deal with the challenging issues facing our school system.” Garcia pledged the support for the NPTA of his ministry stating that they recognise the valuable role NPTA plays in the education system in this country, noting that no one group can do it alone.

He said: “I have always been championing this cause. We at the Ministry of Education cannot do it alone or by ourselves.

“We need the active involvement of our stakeholders and parents.

“The NPTA constitutes one of our major stakeholders and we find it necessary to hold hands and to improve our educational system. We are happy to work with dedicated and committed workers of the NPTA.” He also said Ramatali and her administrators have been very supportive of the ministry, and that the two have gone past the days when there was conflict between them, and thanked her for that.

He stated: “We have been working together for the last 14 months, closely collaborating with them in almost everything that we do and we will continue along this road.” Speaking on the theme “Home and School United for the Good of the Child”, he said: “To me this is a most appropriate theme because there are so many changes that are occurring in the education system and those changes require parents, so that they can assist their children at best. It is important that parents retool themselves so that they will be abreast of exactly all the changes that are taking place in the education system and that will allow them much better ability to assist their children.” He closed vowing to give active support to the unit PTAs, and urged parents and teachers of schools without a PTA to join hands as it is important for them to work in collaboration.

Francis, in his remarks, said: “Students, regardless of level have a greater chance of achieving academic success when their parents are involved in their education.” He added: “The critical factor that most significantly impacts on students’ ability to succeed is the quality of parenting. So it will be remiss of us that as a ministry if we didn’t make some sort of transformation in our education system.

“Anything that works to wards improving the quality of education in our schools and hereby improving the kind of young citizens that we produce because of that, works to the benefit of the ministry and the nation.” Chief Education Officer Harrilal Seecharan also spoke of parental engagement in the lives of their children, as well as the theme which he said looks at empowering parents with skills for the 21st century, given the different issues and challenges with which students now face. He said: “The NPTA is on the ball in terms of retooling parents, provding them with the necessary skills for the needs of our 21st century students,” before he too pledged to work closely with the NPTA towards moving the education system forward.