In the distance, a jet airliner dips serenely towards a city airport.

Closer and lower, gulls wheel and cry. And beneath them a perfect, smooth-edged field of immaculately mown grass shimmers in the heat.

It’s a scene that can be found in many countries, but it appears mainly in the Caribbean, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, India, Pakistan and, alone in a cooler part of the world where a beautiful summer’s day is not to be taken for granted, England.

Because these are the blessed places on earth where top level cricket is played.

There is nothing quite so sophisticated as a cricket match, and for all the skullduggery of the professional sportsman, for all the profanity of the drink-fuelled crowds, the five days of a test match do more for world peace and harmony than a dozen G20 summits. If only the USA, Russia, Syria, Iraq and North Korea played cricket, we could all sleep more easily. The world of test cricket is a world of gentlemen (not some of the players, obviously).

It’s a gathering of kindred spirits in which mutual respect is demanded and happily given.

And surveying it all from a lofty position high in the stands sits a multinational nucleus of knowledgeable, experienced, articulate men and women who may or may not know they have the best job in the world.

Cricket commentators have often had no formal training for the role. They are former professional players or perhaps journalists who played at a decent amateur level in their youth and have talked their way into a life of leisurely travel, following the sun around the world and broadcasting to those of us who languish at home, at work or even on holiday and cannot be among the few thousand supporters in the stadium that is currently the focus of global attention.

Oddly, even in the countries where it is a national sport, cricket doesn’t attract large crowds at grass roots or even national level.

It’s only international matches and trumped-up commercial leagues that get people through the gates. Walk into a national stadium when Trinidad and Tobago are playing one of the other West Indian nations and you are not going to have much trouble finding a seat. Stroll off the seafront at Hove on the south coast of England into the ground where Sussex are entertaining Yorkshire and your only companions are likely to be one man and his dog.

Even in traditionally fanatical India the fans’ attention span has dwindled and it is the dumbed down version, T20, all over in a couple of hours, that is the most popular. And they’ve created the Indian Premier League, where superstars from around the world play wham bam thank you ma’am, not for their country but for themselves, under a franchise flag that represents nothing more than where the bank transfer is going to come from.

The five-day game, though, is the one beloved of the purists.

Whatever your thoughts about the British empire – and I would like to think they are mellowing, as it ended a long time ago now – it did bring to the world a sport based on civilisation, one that involves the brain as much as the muscles, and which can be discussed by people from all backgrounds and heritages. It’s a sport where you can watch a man (and increasingly a woman) grow in maturity, from raw talent to top professional and, cruising back to earth like one of those airliners, on to elder statesman and wise pundit.

What other arena could have transformed a mean, powerful, monosyllabic giant into Sir Curtly Ambrose, a knight of the realm following in the footsteps of Constantine, Sobers and Richards? And now Sir Curtly even deigns to give us an opinion now and then.

The world mourned the passing of the avuncular Barbadian Tony Cozier just as it did his Australian equivalent, Richie Benaud, and English legends like Brian Johnston and John Arlott.

Now, as the poshest of them all, Henry Blofeld, prepares to hang up his blazer, it’s time to enjoy the new breed’s views on pigeons, cakes sent in by listeners and what kind of bowler Angela Merkel would make. And that new breed includes women.

Nowadays the commentary box benefits from the extra touch of civilisation that the presence of a woman brings, with Donna Symmonds blazing the trail in these parts while Isa Guha and Alison Mitchell josh with the gents in the UK. Many of the most famous commentators went on working to a great age, so maybe if I get my application in now, there is still time.

After all, I know a bit about it, I’m free to travel and I can eat chocolate cake with the best of them.

Too many people are “negative reactors.” We are comfortable doing almost anything to defend our so-called territory, even if it means hiring hitmen to kill those who you think have wronged you, while infringing on the boundaries of others.

If someone accidently scratches your vehicle in the mall, steps on your toes in the supermarket or drives too slowly for your liking, too many Trinidadians are ready to kill. Too many people in TT are comfortable placing hits on others because they are too eager to prove what they can do, or how powerful they think they are.

The hitman business is booming in TT and heinous crime continues to be a major problem throughout the world. The number of car thieves, murderers, purse snatchers, kidnappers and fraudulent politicians is growing at an alarming rate.

Despite the many excuses made by those in power, no added resources are needed by the criminal justice system in order to accomplish a reduction in the crime rate.

Government finds it easy enough to spend money, but difficult to spend it productively.

The number of serious crimes known to the police has made a quantum leap and surveys show that many are not reported to the police. The key to making our country less dangerous and less susceptible to violent crimes is to change the rules of the game. We must reduce the enormous daily waste of time and effort that make it so expensive to arrest, convict, and punish the guilty. While the machinery of government is always plagued by weak accountability and inefficiency, the law enforcement problem has increased dramatically over the last 20 years.

Greater participation between community members and law enforcement is essential to help ensure that crime and victimisation rates begin to decline. Individuals can take steps to protect themselves and their property by attending self-defence courses, acquiring guard dogs, or engraving their property with some form of identification. Businesses can initiate crime prevention measures in the workplace, ranging from hiring well trained security officers to installing security cameras, as well as training staff to recognise potential problem situations and criminal activity.

Neighbourhood crime prevention is an important strategy in the fight against crime because it affects the fear and perception of crime as well as the actual prevalence of crime. If members of the community are participating in crime prevention, their perception and fear of crime may also reduce.

There are many different approaches to neighbourhood crime prevention. The attempt is to establish a cohesive and socially aware community where crime cannot flourish. We need to engage in a concept called target hardening.

This involves making it physically more difficult for the potential offender to engage and be successful in criminal activity.

Installation of deadbolt locks in doors, the latest anti-theft devices, using steering wheel locks for cars, and putting iron bars on windows are just a few examples of target hardening.

The recent surge of cybercrime has made it increasingly necessary to address issues of privacy. Computer users must protect themselves from victimisation by installing the latest software that has the ability to defend against potential intrusion by hackers and other cyber criminals.

Citizens can take an active role in preventing crime, preventing victimisation and reducing the fear of crime in their communities.

SIMON WRIGHT Chaguanas

That’s the claim from Ashana Civil Mechanical Contractors managing director Phillip Whiteman whose company had initially been hired to build the now controversial school.

Construction of the school came under public scrutiny after Education Minister Anthony Garcia announced the school was found to have been constructed “in a swamp and the school is sinking.” He was responding to a query from a parent at the “Conversations with the Prime Minister” forum at the Point Fortin East Secondary School on Tuesday evening.

The parent asked how soon her child and other students could expect to be moved out of the community centre and into a new, more comfortable school.

Garcia responded, “We are taking measures to ensure that those who were responsible for the design would be held accountable, because we cannot understand how a school could be built in a swamp.” He told Newsday construction of the school commenced in 2010.

However, in a statement last week, former Education Minister Dr Tim Gopeesingh said construction of the new school was initiated in 2009 under the Patrick Manning-led PNM government with a contract valued at $23.6 million and awarded to Ashana Construction Limited.

He said the contract was subsequently terminated and tenders for a new school design were put out in 2014 and was awarded to Construction Services and Supplies Limited (CSSL) in February 2015 for $25 million. Gopeesingh said when he assumed office, no activity had taken place at the site for several years after the original contractor “ran into some difficulties” with the foundation.

However, in a telephone interview yesterday Whiteman countered that the school had not been built in a swamp and the company had been awarded compensation by the court for delays in the school’s construction.

“The project got stalled and eventually got stopped, and a new consultant and contractor was brought on,” Whiteman said.

“I spoke to Gopeesingh many times explaining to him the problems and he just stopped. He just didn’t do anything. There is a swamp adjacent to the site.

The school is not built on the swamp, its private land. It was very soft.

It’s a piled foundation though, the piles are not sinking. Five years ago it wasn’t moving, I don’t know if it is moving now. I doubt.” He said Ashana had not been paid any money for work done on the school and the matter had been taken to court.

The second contractor, Construction Services Supplies Limited referred all queries to the Education Facilities Company Limited (EFCL).

The EFCL corporate communications manager was reportedly in a meeting and did not return any calls.

Prophet Muhammad once said that health is for the one who fears Allah. He said health is better than wealth.

An unhealthy man with enormous wealth is worst than a healthy man with extreme poverty. The prophet always prayed for health and peace of mind. He was careful in safeguarding the health of the body with the culture of the soul.

He also said cleanliness is half of faith. He emphasised that this hygienic rule of cleanliness contributes to a healthy mind. Combing of the hair is highly recommended.

To ensure health, exercises have been prescribed. Innocent plays, horse racing and archery have been greatly recommended.

The prophet advised that there is no harm in wealth for one who fears Allah. Health for one who fears Allah is better than wealth and self-contentment is better than gifts.

AHAMAD KHAYYAM Curepe

Of course, the first three categories are the “smarter” ones who have been able to conceal their nefarious activities by working together to keep power, money and influence in a tight circle; these are the ones who live a life so luxurious that many people would kill to have the same experience… and that brings us to the last category.

The last category of rubber- slipper-wearing “badmen” are the real goons (low-level thugs-for-hire) and gangsters who either operate by orders from higher up or simply based on opportunity and greed.

I have met goons and gangsters from all over the world; and when I say all over, I mean several individuals from gangs that have featured on the UK documentary series: Ross Kemp on Gangs.

Interestingly, regardless of where the gangsters I’ve met are from, they all have one thing in common: poverty.

This reality makes we wonder: what exactly is gangster life all about if they and their kids are still hungry? Isn’t a gun much more expensive than a plate of food? What are the benefits of this gangster life if one could never even afford anything better than rubber slippers. Why not work hard in a minimum wage job instead? Why go around killing people and selling drugs if there is such high risk when we all know that the life of a gangster is a short one? If we could answer these questions, we will go a long way in understanding the criminal mind towards dealing with crime here at home, but for now, it really seems to me that this “gangster for life” thing is short-sighted stupidity to say the least.

So why do they continue doing it and why does it influence youths to join? Why do they enjoy this lifestyle? Of course, not all goons and gangsters remain poor forever, there are some who rise to the top and set up businesses as covers, and some even get to meet the President, but the majority never get those opportunities.

It is the dedication of the others who remain poor forever that baffles me. I have heard some goons and gangsters boast of their achievements, but seriously, owning a neck-full of gold really does not signify wealth, it merely indicates abject ignorance.

So far, I have determined that goons and gangsters are thrilled by the prospect of taking lives, whether it’s directly with a gun or indirectly with drugs.

So the question is: how do you reform a man who takes pride in his work of killing people for little or no money? How do you change a man who loves the smell of marijuana mixed with the smell of smoke from a semi-automatic gun? We will never be able to influence the minds of gangsters because they are morally depraved people motivated by the ever-elusive allure of wealth of the few who made it to the top.

So this “gangster for life” thing is about fame within the community and fear from the residents on a hungry belly. Hear how dumb that sounds? Being a “gangster for life” means that for now, they can terrorise society until their number calls because every day we wake up to read the news about the murder of another societal pest at some young age.

It is unfortunate that high-risk youths growing up wanting to emulate this crap do not understand just how ridiculous this career path is because death is the only outcome. I used to be one who supported reforming these gangsters, but I am slowly realising that it is much too late now. They will always be criminals and not even their grieving mothers, wives or daughters could convince them to put down the guns.

“Gyangster fuh life” — maybe so, but how long is that life? I’m just really confused as to why anyone would want to live the life of a gangster because it’s a poor one that does not guarantee life beyond the age of forty…

and that’s a stretch. It is time for the media and music artistes to stop romanticising this l i fe s t y l e and get the message out to the youths that it really isn’t worth it.

Groups going throughout the country and doing these acts of kindness have become a norm.

What is amazing is the amount of garbage that’s being collected.

Who is responsible for having our environment in this unclean and unhealthy state? Our beaches after the weekend are a disgrace.

Fellow citizens, let us change this culture of dumping our garbage indiscreetly. Let us protect the environment. This is everybody’s business. We can carry a garbage bag on our outings and do what is required.

We are not ignorant of the aftermath of the indiscriminate disposal of our garbage. Change must begin with each one of us.

Let’s keep our environment clean.

ARNOLD GOPEESINGH via email

New cars look glamorous but the class of vehicles imported doesn’t provide protection in auto crashes. Auto dealers won’t discuss this to hurt auto sales. The buying public is equally to blame. Buyers judge vehicle road integrity on recency of licence plate. The Licensing Office doesn’t have or doesn’t enforce the ISO 26262 standard. Or the safety standards are so low that vehicles made from low-grade cardboard would pass licensing vehicle integrity standards covered under ISO 26262. As a going-along-with-nonsense society, public pressure will not rise up to change vehicle safety standards. Also, speaking out to do so will be suppressed.

Laudable as this concept may be and essential as it is in a Christian context, the word carried with it echoes of sadness, given the ages of the speakers. It begs the questions of what the long-term value is in the practices which gave rise to the students’ ‘sacrifice’ and of the entire perception of student ‘success’.

In an ideal world, all students would achieve ‘success’ and would progress from the primary level to schools that empower them to realise their potential.

The value of the student whose talents lie in the vocational field would be seen as equal to that of the ‘academically inclined’ student.

The concept of the craftsman, the artist, the musician, or the sportsman as a high-achiever, worthy of recognition as a valuable and cherished contributor to his society would hold true. Such a student would see his unique and God-given talents as a blessing and essential to the balance, efficiency and upliftment of his country. He would know that his country’s bank of knowledge and skills are enriched as much by his contribution as those of his more ‘academic’ brother or sister. In addition, the student would be given the opportunity to play, relax and to ‘be a child’. Tragically, in our society, this would be seen as quixotic, even ludicrous. We do not cherish all our children and their talents. In our materialistic and competitive environment, we may say that we cherish all in equal measure but in practice, we uphold some as ‘more equal’ than others. We force them, as well, to turn their backs on the healthy balance of play and work.

This is not to decry the outstanding achievements of the students who employed their intelligence, capacity for hard work and ambition to good effect.

This country needs their intelligence, creativity, innovativeness, direction and work ethic. We need our young people to set the standards that will make us hold our heads high in the global village.

The scientists, the teachers, the philosophers and the researchers are among those who are the cornerstone of a just and progressive society. They are jewels in our national crown. The danger we pose to ourselves is in recognising only the academically inclined as the valuable jewels in the crown. In today’s Gospel, Jesus presents us with the parable of the sower and the seed. His words should force us to ask ourselves some uncomfortable questions.

Are we offering our children the good seed of the Divine sower or are we substituting inferior and infertile seed, which will never bear valuable fruit? Is the ground of our children’s minds prepared in such a way that the true seed finds the depth, richness, and the opportunities to produce in abundance as the Lord has intended for them? In our bid to ensure that our children enter ‘good schools’, are we forcing them to live lives of stress, which deprive them of the joys of childhood? Are we sacrificing our children’s need to interact healthily with their families and with one another? Are we curtailing their ability to think independently, to create their own identities and to develop their own talents, and leading them instead to sacrifice their gifts on the altar of our fears and our vanities? Let us sow the good seed that will redound to the benefit of all our children and the society to which they belon

Laudable as this concept may be and essential as it is in a Christian context, the word carried with it echoes of sadness, given the ages of the speakers. It begs the questions of what the long-term value is in the practices which gave rise to the students’ ‘sacrifice’ and of the entire perception of student ‘success’.

In an ideal world, all students would achieve ‘success’ and would progress from the primary level to schools that empower them to realise their potential.

The value of the student whose talents lie in the vocational field would be seen as equal to that of the ‘academically inclined’ student.

The concept of the craftsman, the artist, the musician, or the sportsman as a high-achiever, worthy of recognition as a valuable and cherished contributor to his society would hold true. Such a student would see his unique and God-given talents as a blessing and essential to the balance, efficiency and upliftment of his country. He would know that his country’s bank of knowledge and skills are enriched as much by his contribution as those of his more ‘academic’ brother or sister. In addition, the student would be given the opportunity to play, relax and to ‘be a child’. Tragically, in our society, this would be seen as quixotic, even ludicrous. We do not cherish all our children and their talents. In our materialistic and competitive environment, we may say that we cherish all in equal measure but in practice, we uphold some as ‘more equal’ than others. We force them, as well, to turn their backs on the healthy balance of play and work.

This is not to decry the outstanding achievements of the students who employed their intelligence, capacity for hard work and ambition to good effect.

This country needs their intelligence, creativity, innovativeness, direction and work ethic. We need our young people to set the standards that will make us hold our heads high in the global village.

The scientists, the teachers, the philosophers and the researchers are among those who are the cornerstone of a just and progressive society. They are jewels in our national crown. The danger we pose to ourselves is in recognising only the academically inclined as the valuable jewels in the crown. In today’s Gospel, Jesus presents us with the parable of the sower and the seed. His words should force us to ask ourselves some uncomfortable questions.

Are we offering our children the good seed of the Divine sower or are we substituting inferior and infertile seed, which will never bear valuable fruit? Is the ground of our children’s minds prepared in such a way that the true seed finds the depth, richness, and the opportunities to produce in abundance as the Lord has intended for them? In our bid to ensure that our children enter ‘good schools’, are we forcing them to live lives of stress, which deprive them of the joys of childhood? Are we sacrificing our children’s need to interact healthily with their families and with one another? Are we curtailing their ability to think independently, to create their own identities and to develop their own talents, and leading them instead to sacrifice their gifts on the altar of our fears and our vanities? Let us sow the good seed that will redound to the benefit of all our children and the society to which they belon

Last week Saturday, the couple attended a meeting of the Rotaract Club of Mt Hope and accepted the Paul Harris Fellow award on their son’s behalf. The award acknowledges individuals who contribute, or who have contributions made in their name. The family, together with the UWI medical faculty, had raised thousands of dollars towards the eradication of polio, which was Adrian’s dream.

The couple remembered their extraordinary son during a visit last week to the family’s home at Ana Street, Woodbrook. On the wall they had his shirt from medical school with a stethoscope.

His mother recalled when he was five years-old and attending Maria Regina Grade School, Port of Spain, he told her he wanted to be a priest. She told him he was her only child and she wanted grandchildren.

She said they gave their son a good upbringing and he was spiritually grounded and rooted deeply in his faith. She recalled he expressed a profound love for the Father, Son and Holy Spirit, for his church, St Patrick’s RC, Newtown where he was an altar server, and for the Bible.

She said he was close to priest Fr Esau Joseph who is also an anaesthetist; her son loved medicine and Joseph was one of his mentors. At a young age he decided he would become a doctor and then a priest later on. Shanti had a receipt he had written ten years ago where he wrote Dr Adrian Pujadas.

“From small he knew what he wanted to be. And we always encouraged him.” She said he was a contented child and she would buy him a $100 shoe instead of one costing $500 to go to school. When he was about ten years-old he asked for a cellular phone. She sat him down and explained the difference between needs and wants. Adrian responded that the phone was just a want and he could do without it.

She said people would trust him because he was focused and grounded and knew what he was about. “He always looked to help people.” Shanti recalled when he was small he would ask her how to serve God and she told him service to God is also service to man.

She also instilled in him that every day he met people he should impart something to them whether a smile, a word of wisdom or encouragement.

She recalled a doctor’s visit in September last year. While in the waiting room, a name was called and a lady in a wheelchair responded but had no one to take her in.

Adrian wheeled the lady, lifted her out of the wheelchair and into a seat and came back for her when the visit was finished. The doctor then came out to tell him about the prescription assuming the woman was his grandmother because of the tender way he treated her. She said this was an example of his caring and compassion which he had for people outside of his family.

Her son, she said, made parenting easy and they were never called into school for misbehaviour or for not doing well in academics. She added they had instilled in him that he should always share knowledge, have good people around you, and never look down at people as we are all God’s children.

In Maria Regina he would help fellow students with their sums during lunch time. At St Mary’s College he voluntarily gave of his time tutoring fellow students at the Form 6 level and participated in approximately 300 hours of community service while a school prefect over the two-year Form 6 period. At the 2015 CAPE exams he gained distinctions in mathematics, chemistry, biology and Caribbean studies and was awarded a national scholarship (additional) which secured entry to medical school at UWI, Mt Hope.

His father said when Adrian got the scholarship he told him that, apart from being proud of him, “you inspire me.” “It is the father who is supposed to inspire the son,” he added.

His son responded that without prayer it would not have been possible.

Adrian took a year off school and spent that time teaching his friends mathematics and other subjects. He started the UWI in September last year and continued his unofficial peer tutoring while also topping his class in the first semester. His mother said in the four months at the UWI he had an amazing impact on fellow students.

Some students were doing so badly they faced the prospect of not being able to continue but Adrian spent time teaching them and overall his class did well.

While attending the UWI he would frequently come home late.

His parents would later learn that it was because he would stay and wait with his friends, both male and female, until they were picked up.

“He was such a loving child,” his mother said.

His friends once told them that Adrian said he did not know the meaning of the word hate as he had never heard his parents say that.

“So much love he had and so much love given,” he said.

Also on Sundays he would go to UWI to assist an elderly person who had enrolled and was worried about failing. He would also go to the Mt Hope paediatric ward and read for children and would also make himself available to his father to help his grandparents at short notice.

Wendell said his son would quietly do these things and not tell them. His mother had instilled in him a mantra to “do good things in secret and silence.” Adrian died on January 20 this year in a vehicular accident which his father said was from a “bad drive.” His uncle and godfather Dirk, in his eulogy for Adrian, said they learned of the special bonds he built with fellow medical students in the few short months he attended medical school.

“Leadership skills were becoming more pronounced, that ability very few of us have to motivate and inspire others to be the best they can be.

The void created by his sudden passing is difficult to comprehend.

The source of relief is that he lived a fulfilled, happy and content life. We really had no idea of the countless people he impacted; your presence today supports that notion. No doubt about it, he was anointed, and would always hold a special place in our hearts.” At the UWI, he and his fellow students were working on a pamphlet about diabetes and they planned to dedicate it in his honour.

They held a birthday party for him in June and they had a big celebration.

His mother said she had never celebrated his birthday with a party before but he would receive a party for his 20th. His instructions to her was that there be no “old people.” “Poor thing didn’t get to see the birthday,” she lamented.

Wendell said they have accepted his death and, through it, he and his wife have become more spiritual.

He quoted the aphorism “It’s not the years in your life that count. It’s the life in your years.” His mother said after his death, she spent a month counselling those affected by his death.

“I did not shed a tear when he died. Three weeks after, it sink in.

Not seeing him walk through the door and give me a hug and a kiss.” Wendell said many other parents had lost children and were grieving and he asked people to spare a thought and pray for them as well.

Adrian’s mother said they wanted to share their story to show the importance of being involved in your child’s life.

“Spend time with your children.

Know them. They are all you have in this world. They’re a part of you.”