Tariq Shamoon Mohammed, 31, was returned home and reunited with his family.

According to a statement from attorney Nafeesa Mohammed, who had been lobbying for his release, he had been detained in Saudi Arabia in August 2015 for interrogation on allegations of terrorism.

She said the allegations were “unfounded, untrue, baseless, and mere speculation and conjecture”.

Tariq was held while returning to the city of Madinah in Saudi Arabia with his wife and infant son to complete his final year as a student of the University of Madinah where he was pursuing a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Islamic Theology.

Nafeesa pointed out that he had never been involved in illegal activity within this country or elsewhere.

“During his detention, Tariq was separated from his family and endured severe conditions including solitary confinement. However at all times Mr Mohammed complied with any and all requests of the authorities in Saudi Arabia,” she reported.

She said that the family is relieved to have him back home.

“It is with a sense of relief and answered prayers that the family of Mr Mohammed would like to acknowledge all the support from the citizens of Trinidad and Tobago and throughout the world who bore testimony to his innocence.

This is a time of healing and reunification with his family, friends and community,” she said.

She continued: “Tariq now has to rebuild his life and is cooperating with the authorities in Trinidad and Tobago to share his experience and ensure that his name is cleared of any negative stain or stigma arising out of this ordeal.” On a Facebook group dedicated to his release Tariq’s father Shamoon Mohammed posted, “Tariq came through the last night and he is now trying to catch himself. He is tired and at home in Trinidad.

Thank God” and “Thank you for all your contributions”. The post received 31 comments from friends, family and well wishers.

“All our prayers have been answered! The Almighty’s work is slow but sure!” one poster wrote. “So glad that this ordeal is over. Welcome home!” another poster wrote.

In November this year, five Muslim men returned to Trinidad after being detained in Venezuela since March 2014 on terrorism charges. The charges were subsequently changed to intention to commit espionage and commit a criminal act.

In October this year a judge passed a guilty verdict and sentence of two years, six months and 25 days but they were released after it was determined they had already served this time.

But, as the car moves along, there’s a point where they stop, turn and walk back to the little hut at the entrance to the field. This is consistent behaviour.

On Boxing Day, the fields were quiet.

“Are those dogs on vacation today or, are they working?” I wondered aloud.

As soon as I said it, I saw them. There they were, sitting quietly, looking out at the road.

We passed by without the usual fanfare. But they were there, steadfast in their duty.

The birds were there too, about their usual activities.

Public holiday or not, nature goes about its business, doing what it has to do. It’s not a ground-breaking discovery.

I am sure many others have observed it too. There’s a very comfortable balance in nature’s cycles that’s soothing, a flow that makes it reliable.

And perhaps that’s why sometimes a retreat into the natural environment soothes the mind. Perhaps it is the subconscious recognition of this flow that allows us to regain some balance in ourselves. It is a renewal that we need from time to time.

The idea of the new is a hopeful one. A new shoe perhaps, a new pencil, a new bag – they make us momentarily happy in a way that we may not necessarily be able to explain.

Sometimes an item isn’t necessary, yet we purchase it because it catches our fancy.

What is this ‘fancy’? Is it really just about having something new? What exactly does this new thing add? The answers vary. One assumes that it isn’t the same for everyone. But, at the core of this acquisition of newness, one thing seems consistent – there is the sense of filling a void. Whether the void to be filled is the genuine need for a new shoe because the old one is worn, or the void has to do with the acquisition of material things as a show of status, there is inevitably, a void. And it seems that life really is about ensuring that voids are filled.

But, as soon as one hole gets filled, another one appears.

And so, I guess, there’s always a hole in the bucket, dear Henry, dear Henry.

And then the New Year comes along, a psychological event even as it is temporal.

For many people, it brings the promise of better things. Even though January 1st looks like any other day of the previous year, it represents a renewal.

It is a time that fills us with a sense of renewed energy and many possibilities.

There’s a chance to fix those holes in the bucket or get a new one.

There’s vigour in the start of a New Year. And that is hopeful.

But then, for some, as the year progresses, their energy and sense of purpose begins to depreciate. The trick really is, “how do we sustain that feeling of renewal so that we can continue the year?” Perhaps one can find the answer in the infant. The infant child finds the world a curious place. She is easily entertained.

Buy her expensive presents and she finds a box. That mundane, old cardboard box can be any number of things, from drum to wheelbarrow.

She invents games, she invents people – she flows with the day.

She gets bored too. And then she rests and awakens again to explore. You might say that the child has no responsibility. She can afford the luxury of play.

And I will disagree.

She has undertaken the responsibility to figure out her surroundings and her relationship with it. She is even figuring out her relationship with her family.

Aren’t most of us in the same position, trying to decipher our own meaning within the world? The infant however, does it with a sense of curiosity that many of us have lost.

And many have also lost the happiness of engaging in an activity that provides a sense of being at one with self and by extension the universe.

As 2017 opens in all its vigour, perhaps it’s an appropriate time to recapture the child, recapture the sense of wonder and curiosity that opens the mind to varied experiences.

And through that, may each of us energize ourselves each day as we strive towards our centre. Perhaps then, we may realize that many of those holes aren’t really worth filling.

We already have the bucket that we need to carry that life-sustaining w a t e r .

A very h a p p y, productive and healthy 2017 to all!

We now do our duty in terms of protest or support by liking or disliking a comment on social media. And why not? It is a lot easier than writing a letter or getting into the streets and supporting or opposing what our consciences tell us.

I tried to explore this trend in a social media discussion a couple of years’ ago. Some people wrote that I was out of touch: Had I not seen the social media movement create a wave of liberation through North Africa? Well, actually I had. But apparently we were so stuck on making our own comments locally that we never had time to do what mattered: going out in the streets to be seen and counted as a force! Listen, our complaints about crime, poor education and health care, collapsing infrastructure, mismanaged State assets (that’s your assets, folks!), corruption and filth are valid, but not justified. That apparent paradox is probably our greatest handicap. We have no problem leaving our filth at the riverside or beach, but are furious if we see that by our homes. It is not enough to “like”, “dislike” or post a word-limit comment on issues. We have to go and show who needs to be shown that enough of us care enough to take it on and bring pressures where pressures must be brought. We need to justify our concern (if we truly feel concerned) by some form of action, not just by clicking “post” or “send”.

If we do not get out, one-byone, two-by-two, how will the others, the crowds, the mobs, know where to meet, to march, to bring enlightenment to the population, then how will enlightenment come? We woke up today to a New Year, a year of frightening uncertainties, here in our homeland and our homes, but more frighteningly, around our world. The oil and gas we breathe is running out in our reservoirs, and the price we used to sell it for is dropping.

This is a double-lose situation.

However we do nothing but hope and pray that we find more oil and that those external powers which rig markets and declare wars will send the price up again.

Our “Estates” are light-years’ apart in terms of seeking meaningful pathways out of our muddled darkness. Government, Opposition, Labour, Business, Civil Society, the Mob are all totally separate entities in our sorry little society.

All are shouting, and none are listening. This is a shamefully muddled scenario, and I wonder how Shakespeare might have described it—in a “crowd / riot” scene, no doubt. The word that comes to mind is Babble: Shameful, disconnected, dishonest clamour and babble, without even the energy to start a movement or movements towards rescuing ourselves.

You see, we have no leaders.

Not one of our estates has a leader whom anyone, including various memberships can respect.

This has been the legacy of over fifty years of so-called independence: A dearth of leadership. And if we have no leaders now, from where are we going to find them for the future? Young people world-wide are detaching themselves from the societies that have been built for centuries, retreating into the black hole of cyberspace.

And all around us, what they c annot see, the c louds of war are gathe r i n g .

W h a t are you g o i n g to do a b o u t this in 2017?

Praying all day, every day bodes well for a career as a priest, or even as one of those businessmen qua pastors who try to sell tap water in a bottle as “Holy Water” just like Michael Jordan’s “secret stuff ” from the movie Space Jam; however, non-stop prayer is not a sensible way to run a country, if no other steps are taken.

Are we expecting God to descend from the heavens and say “abracadabra” or touch the heads of the leaders, so that they suddenly get the same ideas that people like Professor Ramesh Deosaran have been telling them about all these years? You would think that after decades in Parliament, the current Government would have hit the ground running and cleaned up this place, but since taking office, Rowley’s response to, and plan for every problem in this country has been “pray for…” In June 2016, he asked the country to pray for oil and gas. Then in September 2016, he asked citizens to attend a day of prayer at the Queen’s Park Savannah to pray for higher oil prices and for the Opposition to vote for FATCA .

And then, in his Christmas message, Rowley again asked the country to pray for the families who lost a family member to violent crime, which his Government has failed to combat. And I have been praying for at least one member of the People’s Partnership to go to jail for corruption, but they are all still out goading us with their very existence.

Is it that God is not listening and/or answering, or is it that we’re not heeding His advice? This reminds me of the story of a very religious man who was once caught in rising floodwaters.

The man climbed onto the roof of his house and prayed for God to rescue him. A neighbour came by in a dinghy and said, “The waters will soon be above your house.

Hop in and we’ll paddle to safety.” “No thanks,” replied the religious man, “I’ve prayed to God and I’m sure he will save me.” A short time later the police came by in a boat. “The waters will soon be above your house.

Come on board and we’ll take you to safety.” “No thanks,” replied the religious man, “I’ve prayed to God and I’m sure he will save me.” After a while, a rescue helicopter hovered overhead, let down a rope ladder and said, “The waters will soon be above your house. Climb the ladder and we’ll fly you to safety.” But again, the religious man refused; instead relying on his utmost confidence that God would not ignore his prayers and eventually save him.

All this time the floodwaters continued to rise, until soon they reached above the roof and the religious man drowned. When the religious man got up to heaven, he let everyone know that he had a “bone to pick” with God and demanded to have an urgent meeting to discuss his demise.

At the meeting, the religious man asked: “God, why am I here in heaven? I prayed for you to save me, I trusted you to save me from that flood.” “Yes you did my child,” God admitted, “And I sent you a dinghy, a boat and a helicopter.

But you never got in.” In the end, prayer alone does nothing. If we just sit around praying, we might as well all buy magic lamps and rub them until a genie pops out of one – like lotto.

Everybody these days wants to hold an “anti-crime” prayer meeting or crusade – never, of course, failing to collect tithes and offerings at every gathering – with nothing to show for the prayers.

But it’s not God’s fault. God has answered those prayers; He has sent us all the right personnel and information we need, but those in power have chosen to ignore them.

He sent us Dwayne Gibbs and Jack Ewatski to head the police service, but they were chased away because citizens let the corrupt police people confuse them with nonsense.

He sent us economists to explain why diversification is important, but we look past that and pray for more oil. He opened our eyes to all the information about corruption in licensing, police, coast guard, prison, PTSC, and every government ministry under the last government, yet we ignore it and pray for a better country.

In the meantime, I’m going to pray for a totally new government . . .

and act accordingly.

j a – mille85@ msn.com

A master of such ineffective daydreaming was Billy Fisher, hero of Keith Waterhouse’s novel Billy Liar, which begins with the 18-year-old undertaker’s clerk lying in bed, idly itemizing the things he is going to change.

“There would be no more breath-holding, eye-blinking, nostril-twitching or sucking of teeth, and this plan would start tomorrow, if not today.” Yes, it takes time, which is exactly what was in abundance last week when three of us were waiting for food in a restaurant.

It was in a relatively posh hotel which had apparently decided to woo the locals, perhaps because the occupancy rate has been low and they could no longer rely on tourists with more money than sense.

How could they get their own people through the door, though, when the hotel had such a reputation for being expensive? The answer they had come up with was to offer a very cheap menu: less than 150 of our embattled local dollars for three courses.

The cynical among us, i.e.

yours truly, suspected that other costs, such as their famously exorbitant wine list, would bump the bill up to gasp-inducing proportions.

But at first you go along with it.

The waitress shows you to a table in a dark corner and promptly disappears without offering to get you some drinks. Somehow you feel you’re never going to see her again, which might be no great loss, but it would be nice to forget her over a leisurely beverage.

Ten minutes later one of her colleagues appears with some menus; not just the special one, but the normal, pricey one, to which she draws your attention while tossing the cheap option down dismissively.

Three glasses of the bargain red wine, you order, with frugality ruling the evening. She trots off happily, only to return with the news that they don’t have any, but they do have these frighteningly expensive alternatives, which unfortunately are not available by the glass. Therefore it’s US$60 for a bottle – or nothing. It seems less like an oversight by the management than a tactic. They’re expecting you to do a quick bit of mental arithmetic and conclude that, as the food is a virtual gift, you’re still going to get out of there with some money in the bank.

The wine I reluctantly choose is, in fact, delicious, which is just as well, because it’s the only sustenance we’re getting in the foreseeable future. While my companions chatter away in Spanish, which I have been trying to learn for seven years but still can’t follow when it’s traded in rapid, sloppily pronounced slang, I get to thinking about this new year business. You have to look at the bigger picture. It’s not all about us and what we’d like. There’s the future of the world to be considered.

By the time the starters arrive, for instance, global warming will be a thing of the past.

Before the end of the main course the next ice age will have come and gone and eventually, when we’re nervously handing over a credit card, the weather will be warm but not oppressive and the USA, Russia and China will have wiped each other out, along with North Korea because even Putin can’t stand that young guy with the silly haircut.

Reality intrudes in the shape of a huge bowl like an inverted sombrero, at the bottom of which lies a pool of what can only be tinned soup. No homemade food has that consistency, like paint but slightly grainy. It’s Campbell’s tomato with a dash of oxtail mixed in to throw you off the scent.

While polar bears prowl outside before eventually being terminated by the balmy weather, the main dish arrives: heavily spiced small chicken legs that were cooked last month and frozen, to save time during the Festival of the Cheapskates.

I know what I’m going to resolve to do this year: I’m going to give up noticing things, being sensitive to those who don’t have my best interests at heart. Life is easier if you’re a lemming – that’s why we say “blissfully” unaware.

The path of true happiness runs through the valley of optimism, up the hill of faith and through the mist of deliberate ignorance.

Only then will we emerge into the eternal sunshine of the nottoo- bad.

So let’s do our best to make 2017 a good year, while acknowledging that so much is not in our control.

Life is like a fancy restaurant and the w a i t – r e s s will be a l o n g in a minute.

We l l , w h e n I say a minute…

But, while some of this may be useful if this review prompted reflection with a view to taking corrective action, most times it is merely a reliving of what was tragic at the time in a farcical mode as a way of distancing ourselves from the event.

As Christians, when we remember we are invited to engage in something quite different.

We remember, we put the pieces, the elements of the event back together in a way that allows the event to form something new and hopeful for our lives as we move forward.

We can do this because God is always reminding us, “See, I am doing a new thing, even now it breaks forth. Can you not see it?” (Cf.

Isaiah 43:19) In this way of looking, we are trying to see the pattern that God is weaving out of the varied strands of our lives so that all will have meaning. Of course to do this requires us to let go of our prejudices and half-baked assumptions and to assume in humility the attitude of a disciple, a learner, a follower.

The feasts which mark this weekend can provide us with the appropriate attitudes–the beginning of a new civil year into which we step without knowing what awaits us there, but with hope that we will be able to make something meaningful out of whatever time is allotted to us; The World Day of Peace, which will force us to acknowledge that all our schemes and plans have failed miserably to bring peace, even within our own hearts, and that important world bodies do not appear to have the formula either. But every year, we mark this day in hope that somehow peace will bless us this round. And for us Catholics, we celebrate the motherhood of the Blessed Virgin Mary.

Here we can find the secret of untangling the knotted skein of our lives.

Mary is the model of purposeful pondering, in her heart, not on social media where we compound ignorance by sheer repetition, but in silence and genuine questioning of the action of God in her life.

This requires silence, inner and outer, a real acceptance of our not knowing the answers, and humility to wait on God to point the way towards an answer.

Unfortunately, none of these attitudes and virtues are part of the culture into which we are immersed, but as followers of Jesus Christ and as people who want to contribute to the civilising of our societies, we have a responsibility to resolve to cultivate this habit of remembering so that the deep fractures of our world can come to healing and wholeness, holiness and humaneness.

The value for human life in particular seems to have depreciated in 2016 with the high murder rate, road accidents, theft, children abuse and other serious crimes.

We need to take the collective responsibility as a nation in dealing with the ills affecting the society. We need to once again instil a deeper sense of patriotism and work towards building a nation, where we can once again enjoy the freedom from fear and discrimination.

We need to re-examine and re-access ourselves of our moral, social, spiritual and family values, and make the necessary improvements as is needed. The members of the IRO will be leading the nation once again in these aspects.

On Sunday January 1st, 2017, we shall begin at all our places of worship, prayers and meditations specially dedicated for greater positive energy to spread in our land. We have also decided that at our regular monthly meetings for 2017, we shall include for the first time an interfaith service of worship at these meetings.

Some of the venues for these services are Chaguanas, Curepe, and for the first time in Point Fortin, Mayaro and Tobago.

We sincerely believe that with prayer and deeper renewed faith in God, that we can unite the nation to remove the darkness that is in our land. We need to regain our inner peace and love, for only then happiness can be experienced. This is only possible when we can respect each other’s worth, and seek to achieve in positive ways for ourselves.

Hatred, anger and jealousy would deter our personal progress and we should rather seek love, peace and contentment as our wealth. We should not compromise our moral, family and spiritual values for petty favours.

Let us build a stronger and caring nation upon the richness of the flora and fauna, our sea and sunshine, our fertile earth and clean air, the multi-religious and multi-ethnic cultural values that we are so privilege to have been blessed with. We can once we act collectively.

May the New Year 2017 be a year to rebuild for the benefit of each and every one. May God Bless us all, protect us, and grant us health, wealth and happiness.

HARRYPERSAD MAHARAJ JP President IRO

As Winston Churchill said, “We must never, never, never… ever, ever, ever give up”. There are solutions to practically every problem we come across in our lives. They aren’t always readily obvious; we may have to keep looking for a while. We just have to be patient and seek help from the right sources.

All of us have our life’s work cut out for us. Sometimes some of us don’t know exactly what this work is. But it’s a great help when we do. I recommend that we take the time and try to find out what it is. There is no greater satisfaction in life. Someone put it this way: find something you love to do in life and you’ll never have to work a day in your life again.

Not all of us are that lucky but there is no harm in trying. Finding and doing your life’s work simplifies your life and it gives you a great sense of satisfaction.

The point is, however, not to get carried away trying to do too much and/or trying to please everybody.

One of our greatest weaknesses in life is gullibility, believing everything you hear without properly examining the source.

There are a lot of uninformed people out there who are continuously and persistently trying to convince us that what they share with us is what you should believe and what you should do. If they are your boss you probably don’t have a choice. I’m talking mainly of friends and family and probably, mainly because they are close to us we are likely to go along with them. Take time to consider what other people say to you regardless of who they are as it may not be in your best interest. Some very so called intelligent people say stupid things. That is why you have a brain.

Finally, be aware that there is a greater power in our lives that is there to help us every step of the way especially when we encounter problems. Have faith in God, our heavenly Father who will never desert us. As it says in Psalm 27: “I had fainted, unless I had believed to see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living.

Wait on the Lord; be of good courage, and he shall strengthen thine heart: wait, I say, on the Lord.” And while you wait, do your part. Happy New Year.

A WEBSTER Longdenville

We have so much crime and general lawlessness it is becoming difficult for citizens to even remember what crime took place a week ago.

We have a fireworks problem, an arson problem as the new trend now by local criminals is the set fire to premises then rob them of their contents.

We have the daily occurrences of personal spitefulness between citizens which leads to more crime.

Murders, kidnappings and an overall increase of living in fear because of general lawlessness whether it be drivers breaking the law, of ordinary pedestrians being attacked or assaulted whilst going about their normal business.

This nation has now become a country not suitable for habitation by civilized and decent human beings, as it seems to be taken over and controlled by savages.

As for the governance of the nation by our elected representatives, they may not be here at all. Yes, they say a lot, but do nothing. They have simply run out of ideas of how to deal with our lawless scenario. They have abandoned any plan to deal with our crime problems and have passed the buck to the local police lock, stock, and barrel who have already become a law onto themselves. They have now adopted the same principle as the politicians of playing a wait-andsee game, hoping that things might change in their favour.

We are a nation falling to pieces with no one trying to pick up the pieces, or showing any inclination of fixing anything, bearing in mind the promises made by our politicians and the police.

There seems to be no respect of civic duty by our elected representatives.

We are on our own, and must now deal with matters as we see fit. If nothing is done soon to halt the decay then 2017 could be the year that may hasten the politicians to wake up to what is really going on here, with regards to high-class corruption and low-class criminal activities which is driving this nation to the breaking point. Then they may, at last, do something meaningful and constructive about our plight A good start would be to restore the death penalty.

G A MARQUESA via email

My New Year’s wish is that we invest aggressively rather than be conservative and attempt to hold on to the little we still have. My wish list is as follows: • Immediately outline a new economic plan that envisages multiple avenues for earning foreign exchange. Among the avenues should be investment in upgrading the tourism package to international standards, investing in food production by utilizing the Caroni lands and encouraging farmers to produce specific crops geared to export.

• Restructure local government to allow for community policing, community government services, community health care and scheduled maintenance of waterways and roads.

• New gun laws that incorporates a gun court, a gun amnesty and mandatory imprisonment for the illegal possession of a firearm.

• A new network of roads that opens the country to development and a rail system to immediately reduce the traffic congestion on the roadway.

• Reduce the number of State-controlled companies and enter a strategic partnership with the business community to ensure a secure future for the corporations that are at present under State control.

My greatest wish however, is for unity among our people. As leader of the DPTT, I will gladly give up politics if the two major political parties were sincerely dedicated to unity and to rebuilding our nation through embracing the contributions of the many talented people in Trinidad and Tobago.

We cannot go forward opposing for the sake of opposition, dividing our people and encouraging the hatred that has resulted in a politically divided nation anchored not by ideology but by ethnicity. I fully endorse President Obama’s statement that “we cannot change the history we inherited, but we can change the history yet to be written”.

Let us in 2017 start writing a story of unity, prosperity and hope.

May God Richly Bless Trinidad and Tobago and fill us with wisdom in 2017.

STEVE ALVAREZ via email