On most days you can find NAMDEVCO Chairman Wendy Lee Yuen up to her wrists in the dirt, wearing a simple pair of jeans and a long sleeved shirt. She wears her hair short and prefers to go without make-up, because “the heat will melt it off anyway,” she laughs. No nail polish either. “If I wore it, I’d have to wear gloves, and I love to feel the soil between my fingers.”

Point to any plant and ask her about it and she will tell you about it with certainty. It’s a love that was born many years ago, growing up on a ten-acre property in La Romaine, South Trinidad; she was literally surrounded by every conceivable type of mango tree, other fruit trees and flowering plants. The family also reared animals and grew vegetables between the flowers of their front garden, so it was not strange to see little eight-year-old Wendy weeding, watering and taking care of the greenery. All too soon though, it would stop (for a while).

“My parents migrated to Jamaica in 1964, uprooting me (pun intended) from what I was used to,” she explained. “They would live there for three years before moving on to Barbados in 1968, where I attended St Ursula’s Convent. Because I had started my education very early, I finished school early at 15, and they were in a dilemma as to where I would do A-level because there were no facilities at my school in Barbados. So in the end they decided to send me to Jamaica to do my A’s at a boarding school facility in Kingston, the Immaculate Conception High School… and they (the students) never let me forget that I was from a small island!” (Laughs)

From early on, she developed a great sense of independence, something that she still sustains, together with an assertive attitude, sprinkled with a sense of humour. “My father’s best advice was about keeping my sense of humour,” says Lee Yuen. “I think that it’s stood me well throughout my life. I mean, if you can’t laugh at yourself when others are laughing at you, you will go ballistic and that will send your blood pressure up. My independence is possibly one of the factors that I can identify in my character development; I’ve been told I’m a little aggressive for a woman, but it’s only because I don’t sit back and wait on things, I’m a doer, a go-getter. I’m persistent, but not stupid. I set my targets. I would tell people that I’m single-minded, my mother would say, ‘God you’re stubborn!’ But I won’t knock my head on a stone wall. Sometimes determination is not a quality that’s often admired in a woman.”

She was determined however, to explore her island home during her formative years, which she enjoyed, learning every nook and cranny. Being a visitor is not the same as being a tourist. For Lee Yuen, discovering hidden beauty spots in both islands came with a sense of pride and accomplishment, for she can now boast that she knows places in most islands that aren’t on any map, catalogue or brochure, that not even the villagers know about. That explorer’s spirit came back home with her after she completed her schooling, then she began to teach high school in 1974. It was then she met and married her husband of 28 years, and he had to promise her that she could attain her dream of attending university.

“You see, after marriage, saving money and working for four years, I knew there was more to do. My family was old-fashioned and one of the conditionalities for getting married was that my husband permits me to go on to university. My husband wasn’t the one to deny me; you see, it did not mesh with my father’s vision for women. Higher education didn’t seem to factor in his vision for his daughters’ lives (I have two sisters). I was born in the 50s and this was the 70s. Eventually, I got him to agree about university, so I enrolled in 1978 and did Natural Sciences for that first year. Then my son came along. While doing Zoology, Botany and Chemistry, I suddenly discovered that there were too many words with ten letters or more that I couldn’t relate to, or see the continuation of that line of study having a profound influence on my related choice of career. So right there and then I applied to transfer to agriculture.”

Doing a full-time degree programme with a husband to cook for and a baby to mind is difficult, yet despite all that, she was elected class representative and was awarded the Marie Curie prize for being the best all-round final-year student. Determination indeed, has its own reward, for Lee Yuen got her honours degree in agriculture. Now she was faced with a new dilemma. Should she work for someone, or stay home and spend quality time with her son and look at her options? “I chose the latter,” she says. “I was really the happiest person to graduate in the class and I started doing landscaping but was always involved in the agricultural sector in one way or another, networking with other students, looking for business opportunities. The worst day of my life was when I had to put my son into nursery school. I had this immense feeling of guilt, that I was a terrible mother, opting to follow my education instead of staying home to take care of this infant. I dropped him off and I was actually in tears for the entire day. But I shouldn’t have panicked, because he came home happy. As moms we always agonise about these things. Men don’t have to, they can uproot themselves with ease, or come and go at the drop of a hat.”

Her husband, son (24) and daughter (18) are proud of their mother, who is fully involved with her chosen field of agriculture. Lee Yuen was also a founding member of the Association of Professional Agricultural Sciences and has served as president of the Horticultural Society for several years. She was also vice president of the Agricultural Society and in 1999 became their first female president. “There are a lot of people out there that think that the agricultural society is a man’s domain, you know that? I think I made a valuable contribution; each president should have a vision and bring that vision to the society. We were able to have interactions with numerous district societies… it’s being able to convince other members that this is a valid activity and you have to reach out to the members. I didn’t just join an organisation because there is one out there, it has to work.”

Throughout her involvement in the agricultural sector, Lee Yuen has represented Trinidad and Tobago at many fora: she’s been sponsored by the Commonwealth Foundation to present a paper at the Rural Agricultural Society to Commonwealth Conference back in 1998 in Australia, which she says catapulted her into public speaking. She has travelled to Brazil, Chile, Holland, Costa Rica and most Caricom countries. She’s been asked to chair sessions at the  European Union Agricultural Branch, reference international funding, but what she remembers fondly, her experiences in England, where she represented Trinidad and Tobago at the Chelsea Flower show. “I actually got to meet Prince Charles,” she laughs.

The society has won lots of medals and awards, including the prestigious Holford Medal (2001) which is given  to the country with the best display of flowers in all the shows in the UK. “It’s always a rewarding and wonderful experience to be there to have these compliments paid to our flowers, foliage and our displays,” she said humbly. “Our winning the Holford medal was the greatest achievement… no… the pinnacle of our horticultural achievement! Joan, one of our members, is a fantastic designer. Thanks to her, at the end of that day we had the most photographed display at the entire show. I like to think it’s that little bit of carnival creativity in every Trini. Our displays have a rhythm, they move, they speak to you. We were so proud, receiving all those medals and compliments, but the best part was how people talked about wanting to visit us, and see the actual plants growing in fields, on trees and in gardens. If we could just capitalise on that market, bringing in plane loads of people to visit with us, all the cruise ship people who come in to see our plants, we will be successful, for they (visitors) are a valuable market too.

“Things like that make you feel that you contributed, and it makes you feel you’ve contributed to your country’s development, so when I was being asked to be the chairman at National Agricultural Marketing and Development Company (NAMDEVCO, now for over two years), there was no question. “I serve in whatever capacity I can, sharing my knowledge and experience of over 12-plus years with anyone who wants to know. I also teach landscape management at the university, and I’ve just been asked by the Ministry of Planning and Development to represent the agricultural sector on Vision 2020 Committee. “I take that very seriously and I also take it as recognition of my participation in the sector for all these years. I also participated in the Caricom secretariat, meeting with ministers of agriculture for the region repeatedly, both as a participant and as an observer. “You need to be a thinker, have a vision and see how things can develop.”

Workshops, conferences, meetings and more seem to dominate her life, but she has found that balance between work and family and kept it. At present, she is involved with growing and supplying foliage and flowering plants in a nursery located on Caura Royal Road in El Dorado. Most of the plants are used in projects with Home Construction Limited and she is currently in the process of extending the nursery, already filled with local and foreign plants. Here was where she seemed more at home somehow, away from the office, surrounded by the greenery. Maybe she was thinking about NAMDEVCO’s upcoming trade mission trip to Martinique next month, where she hopes to penetrate the market with our fresh produce. But it was impossible to tell, as her hands were once again deep in the soil, touching nature’s gifts.

BACK in the late seventies to early eighties, Errol Asche was seen singing on Scouting for Talent and wowing people with his soulful lyrics and delivery. Soon after, he started doing his music videos with the band Ed Watson and the Brass Circle, wearing the typically flambouyant suits of that period, all decorated with glitter. His hair was in an Afro, coupled with a bushy beard.

All too soon though, he seemed to disappear from the limelight, leaving his daughter Karene to carry on the family legacy of song (she’s now co-reigning Junior Calypso Monarch for 2003). But he’s back now. The beard is gone, along with the glitzy-looking outfits. He wears shades these days and dresses more “mainstream”. As for the afro? “I decided to make a change in my outlook,” he laughed, shaking his six-to-seven-inch dreadlocks.  “I noticed that the people responded to performers with looks like this, so I just decide well, let me try something too.”

Another thing he’s “trying” is getting back in touch with his earlier style of music; Asche is promoting his brand new CD, which is distributed under the JW label and Crosby’s Records, with cover concept and photography done by Julian Williams (that’s the JW in the label). It was also produced by close friends Florence and Arnold Jones of Boston. The CD, called Straight from the Heart, features 12 tracks of Caribbean- flavoured music that shows off his trademark soul-inspired vocal stylings. Always at home with the classics, there’s a medley in there that contains five tracks, each of which he performs full length. He has included songs from his days on Scouting for Talent, songs like “Dream of Me”, “Many Rivers to Cross” and “Synthetic World”.

“They are very enjoyable cover versions,” he explained. “Some have a more party flavour, some of those were prepared for live performances and this is that package that I’m looking to market, trying to fit into both the party circuit and live circuit, whoever might be listening.”

His last recording was done by Alvin Daniel; a compilation CD that included Denyse Plummer and Melanie Hudson back in 1996. His contribution came in the form of two songs, one of which was titled  “The Woman Make Me”.

“The second one was about crime, but I can’t remember the exact name,” he said with a grin. “But that was a good year though. I was able to make the Soca Monarch semis that time. You see, my life is totally music. People don’t really categorise me as a calypsonian, they know me from the old days singing my soul music and thing, but I can handle calypso. I started my soul music career from 1979, but the history of the music stems from my history with Ed Watson; I had a great deal of success with him, and lots of chances. Tunes like ‘Hot Soca’, ‘Boogie Woman’…  that was in the days of grooving with the band.

After being a band singer for so long, I moved on to do more work (contracted by JW) and ended up doing about five albums with them. The album Jam Meh Hard was a big success abroad. “Where is the Love” was a very nice track. I made it to the Soca Monarch finals.”

Asche also mentioned working with William Munroe, a man whom he credits (and is especially grateful to) for channelling his energies towards calypso, a musical form he never even thought about in his heyday. “Without Munroe and his support, it just would not have been possible,” Asche admitted. “I must give him full credit for realising that I could do it (sing calypso). Really, I had a lot of difficulty in the beginning, though. I was known as a soul music person. “Boogie Woman” was already out and it was around 1981 or 82… Munroe was running the Kingdom of the Wizards tent then and he had asked Roy Cape to audition me as I was a newcomer. I was getting little ‘fatigue’ too, from the top artistes. They saying, ‘Who is this Asche?’(laughs) Time was passing and I didn’t sing yet, so somebody said, ‘Aye, yuh not rehearsing this fella here?’ So I had my audition and I guess it went well, because next thing you know they invited me to come up to Arima to perform with the tent.

Everything went so fast it was like a baptism by fire, but I wanted to be in this show so bad. Not long after, Munroe turned ownership of the tent over to the Martineaus and I worked with them until the tent disbanded.”

It’s Asche’s hope that his fans haven’t forgotten about him (“I still around, man,” he joked), he’s just been busy doing other projects. He spends his time doing live appearances throughout the country, sometimes performing in clubs and casinos and said he will be available for shows during Easter and Mother’s Day celebrations. Regarding his latest musical effort, people have responded favourably, 100 percent, he admitted. His roots may be in soul music, but he has proven that calypso is a huge part of him too. Now he’s going back in time to give it to you Straight from the heart, which will soon be available locally.

A newspaper ad that read: “A call for singers who are interested in acting…” was the catalyst in Christine Johnston’s career move.

At the time she was an accountant, straight out of school, with accounting firm Pannell Fitzpatrick now Ernst & Young. She also sang with the St Ann’s folk choir and entered numerous song festivals representing Trinidad and Tobago regionally. “On a whim I auditioned and I almost died when they called me back…and from my first acting, thereon I was bitten by the theatre bug.”  Now, the theatre producer runs her own production house “Baggasse Company”. She’s also a freelance events co-ordinator, president of the National Drama Association of Trinidad and Tobago (NDATT) and a member of Telethon for the Arts Committee.

After working a combination of 18 years in various capacities, one in a profession she never really liked and the others steering her away from what she really wanted to do, (she was company secretary for Trinidad Pilots and Berthing Masters Association and manager at Queen’s Hall), she took up theatre full time. Her first acting stint — working with Raymond Choo Kong in the musical production The Fantastiks. “I was the female romantic lead alongside Errol Fabien, the male romantic lead… After that performance Choo Kong asked if I was still interested in acting, to come across to the Trinidad Tent Theatre and I went,” Christine said. Over the years she has worked with actors Godfrey Sealy, John Isaacs, Wendell Manwarren, Roger Roberts, Leslie-Ann Wells and Deborah Boucaud-Mason.

The 20-something-year-old, then could only apply what she learned in A’level English Literature at St Joseph’s Convent, Port-of- Spain. Although she oftentimes found herself consumed in reading Nancy Drew, Steven King, Robert Ludlum books and as she said, “you couldn’t get past the ‘Mills and Boons’ and ‘Harlequin’ stage” — studying the works of Shakespeare was a plus. “I read some Derek Walcott too but I read more for enjoyment. Schoolwork was enough. After you read Shakespeare you want to read something a little light.” Amidst the many plays in which she starred Christine recalled the musical Ad later changed to Rampanalgas Sunrise by playwright Roger Israel. Together with Leslie-Ann Wells she starred in Carnival musicals J’ouvert and To hell with that written by Felix Edinborough. She then decided to try her hand at producing — her first being Winners and in 1986 formed The Baggasse Company.

The real challenge came when she strayed from the musical and orthodox plays tackling serious societal issues like HIV/AIDS, homosexuality (in the play As Is) and rape (Extremities) since, “nobody was doing these kinds of works”. In 1990 she began directing engaging the works of local playwrights Tony Hall in Red House Fire and Twilight and that of her sibling Judy Agard in A Brighter Day. Some of the more popular plays out of the 56 productions done in the 17 years of Baggasse’s existence are adult comedies M Butterfly, The Shadow Box, The Mind with the Dirty Man, Nikki Does, Last of the Red Hot Lovers and Shag Around. The latter, she said, created some controversy because of its predominance of obscene language. Christine’s retort: “I am much in favour of freedom of speech. Art mirrors life. The harsh realities are that people curse all the time. If you want to convey the realism of the piece there is no way around it.”

Currently, she is putting together a one-woman (where she plays all characters) play called Shirley Valentine written by British playwright Willy Russell. The play which opens April 2, at Queen’s Hall is about a 42-year-old housewife, married with grown children. She’s unhappy with her life and longs to recapture the life of her youth. Why her choice of play? “I had it for ten years. It’s a lovely piece. The themes are universal, the messages are strong. It’s heartwarming, funny, wistful, sometimes sad and a moving piece of theatre… I feel comfortable doing this play because I’m the same age with the character (or at least she’ll be 42 in June).” She admitted it’s a challenge for her, the actress, in capturing all the roles of each character. And there are side-effects.

She oftentimes finds herself carrying on one-woman conversations, even out of character — while operating in the kitchen, in the car when no one is around (and causing drivers passing by to strain their necks looking and questioning who she’s talking to). “It’s seven different characters and it’s capturing the essence of them in voice, mannerisms and expressions. The lines are difficult and it’s a lot of material.” Christine shares few similarities with Shirley — they both had negative experiences at school and “I sometimes desire to go back to the free and more spontaneous times”. Christine has “found a niche that I had never found before. I didn’t care at the time (her earlier years) that I wasn’t paid any money. I did the work because I loved it. It was exciting, different, challenging. Money was never an issue,” Christine said. Her parents, on the other hand, weren’t too keen on the route their youngster was taking. “They said you’ll never survive, liming with these crazy people.”

Christine expressed her hatred for the use of the word “stigma when the topic of homosexuality and its association with “the theatre”, came up. “I take serious offence to people saying it’s a stigma… I think I am very proud to be working with these people — the Peter Minshall’s of this world. It doesn’t affect me in any way. I was naive at 21, when I got in. I think people who are gay are expressive, fairly artistic and fall into an art that will cause them to be expressive and creative. On the next level, if I could use a line from Shylock from Shakespeare’s The Merchant of Venice: ‘If you cut me would I not bleed?’ Everybody is human. Putting labels on people I don’t think is necessary.”

Boodoo Singh cried tears of joy when members of the Petrotrin Boodoosingh Tassa Group won the Republic Bank Tassa Taal competition held in Penal recently. For him it was not just another crown taken by the group for excellent tassa drumming but moreso an achievement he had been striving for all of his life.

Singh, 63, said he believes that the tassa drum is the heart beat of the East Indian community. “The sound that emanates from the tassa is powerful and rhythmic. The sweet sound of the tassa tells that something great is about to happen. In the case of a wedding, two people have pledged their lives together and the families prepare for months for this event and the tassa drums tell of the greatness of this event,” Singh said,  speaking passionately about the tassa. Singh who lives at School Road, Santa Flora, was originally from Williamsville and took up tassa drumming from his father, John Kumarsingh. He was determined to pass it on to his sons and his grandchildren.

 “In the early 1940s when I was just a little boy my father would be occupied day and night preparing the drums for the many weddings in villages in and around Williamsville. He was well known for his skill in beating the tassa. As a child I never thought I could take his place and make the drums ‘sing’ like him. But I had to assist him in everything he did and from this closeness that we shared I grew close to the drums.” He noted that the tassa drums have ‘mellowed’ him as a man. “I use to be an aggressive person in my 20s but I believe the tassa really helps an individual to get hold of their temper. When you put all your physical and mental strength in beating the tassa, you are drained. You must become calm to collect yourself in order to move on.”

With some 50 years experience with the tassa drums to his credit Singh and his family are versed not only in the art of playing, but making the drums as well. His sons Lenny, Suresh, Monesh, together with his grandchildren have taken over the drums and have been creating a sensation where ever they play. Suresh and brother Monesh play the small drums. Lenny beats the base and nephew Mark beats the jaal. The group has been in existence for the past 15 years and during this time they have won more than 40 major awards. They play out every week from Friday, Saturday and Sunday at weddings and public and private functions. Singh noted that while many people’s children live away in many parts of the world, he can boast that his sons have stayed together because of the need to provide tassa-drumming to the many people who request it.

His second son, Suresh who is a contractor with Petrotrin, said that for him the drum is life. “As a youth coming up in this deep south village, there’s not much to look forward to in terms of entertainment. I realised that the tassa drum is not just a musical instrument it is something that is sacred and very much part of the Hindu religion. And this is why I guess my brothers, their children and I, have been around to carry the tassa forward into the next generation,” he said. He too noted that while many parents would find great difficulty in bringing their children together, the tassa drums are responsible for keeping the Singh children united. His father would spend long hours demonstrating how to use the sticks on the drums.

Singh said a complete tassa side contains two small tassa, a heavy bass and the “jaal” (flatten brass instruments that are knocked together). “The two small tassa drums really bring out the sweetness that is heard. With the heavy bass complementing the two small drums, the brass jaal adds a different sound to bring out the complete tassa rhythms,” he said. The various rhythms that can be played on the drums include, tikora, nagara, chowbola, sumarie, steelpan, wedding hand, dingolay and tarada. Apart from these regular sounds, Singh has been experimenting with the classical sound of the old traditional songs such as gazals, tumree, drupad and tilanas. 

 The rhythms are created by knocking the different sides of the round-shaped tassa drums. The centre of the drums gives a hollow sound while the sides give a steep and sharp sound. The drum’s heavy bass is made of wood with the goat’s skin. However, it is prepared with massala which is pasted on the inside to hold the sound and make it more powerful than the smaller drums. The wood tends to keep the sound from scattering as one will hear in the small drums. This is why you get the “boom boom” sound from this drum. Suresh spends several hours building the drums, an art which he leant from his father. As well, he conducts classes with his daughter, Ade, five, and her cousins Alisha, Mark, Vishal, Tenele and Jason.

“These younger ones know how important the tassa drums are and they have shown great interest in beating on their own,” he said. Suresh would like the Government to build an institution in the deep south for children and the young people who are interested in learning to play tassa. Now that he has ensured the tassa legacy will go one,  Singh hardly takes up the drums, instead he is usually seen admiring his offspring who are now pushing his art into the future.

IT was an outspoken Kalena Maharaj who commanded the attention of everyone when she delivered a 45-minute lecture on “The consequences of meat eating on the Environment and the Human Body”.

She definitely impressed her audience and many of the participants sought her out at the end of the seminar at the Hindu Prachaar Kendra, Enterprise Village, Chaguanas, recently.  As she began her lecture, she grabbed the attention of her young audience with the question: “If we decide to walk into a meat shop and buy some lamb or chicken or any kind of meat for that matter, what are the consequences? “Not just the consequences of your wallet, and the recently killed lamb or chicken, but also the consequence on the environment.” Kalena was chosen to head the list of speakers at the seminar, organised by Dr Vijay Narinesingh of the Hindu Prachaar Kendra. She was selected from among a group of teenage students based on her public speaking ability. 

She admits  she was particularly interested in social studies while she was at the El Dorado North Hindu School.  “As a youngster I guess I am eager to learn about people. But I would like to do things that can affect people and make them think about life. I would like to do the necessary research and enlighten people about the ills of society,” she said. Kalena, a final year student at COSTATT, is pursuing an associate degree in management information system. However, she wants to study political science so she could become an analyst in political matters. When asked whether she would like to become a politician, she smiled and responded that time and circumstances have been the reason for many people jumping into the political arena and she would leave that question unanswered for the time being.

Based on her delivery of the lecture, one can conclude that Kalena will certainly make a good politician. She was able to convince the crowds that eating meat is wrong and that they should switch to a vegetarian life. “I was able to convince myself after research that meat-eating does affect the environment and as a result everyone should switch to a vegetarian life. I ate meat all my life and after this research I became a vegetarian,” she said. To drive home her point about the effects of eating meat on the environment she cited the destruction of the Central American forest and in particular the detrimental effect on the world’s great rain forest in Brazil.

Kalena said that she believes that there is enough food for all mankind through Mother Earth. “The Hindu philosophy teaches that killing an animal for the source of food is wrong. It is stated in the Vedas that food should come from Mother Earth,” she said. Kalena who is a devout Hindu attends the Kendra on a regular basis with her parents Pramechand and Virginia Maharaj and sisters Orrisha and Marici. Orrisha, who is an attorney and Merici, a secondary school teacher have been instrumental in assisting Kalena in her studies. According to her mom, Kalena is brave and bold when dealing with the public. “Kalena is a tomboy. She gets involved in cricket, swimming, tennis and all the other sports you could think of,” she said. She also noted that Kalena loves a challenge and would be quick to answer any one who is finding fault with her. Raviji, the spiritual leader of the Hindu Prachaar Kendra has been an inspiration for Kalena who praised the work he is doing with young people.