Though he passed away when I was still very young, this little bit of folk wisdom has stayed with me throughout my life, and although, at the time, I may not have fully understood the true meaning of grandpa’s favourite saying, I eventually came to understand that it was his way of introducing us to the benefits of moderation. Though I often struggle to put it into practice, it is a saying that has served me well throughout my life, and not just where the dinner table is concerned.

But these days, it seems harder and harder to implement this wisdom, as the cultural tide continues to shift towards an acceptance of overindulgence and excess. All around us are messages to consume more, eat more, spend more, party more, and drink more. Just listen to our music – often a telling indicator of a society’s values – many of our song lyrics promote and praise excessive drinking and eating. The attitude towards wanton spending is the same, as all around us are vulgar displays of wealth and reckless spending, starting with the government itself whose members are constantly implicated in scandal after scandal concerning misuse of funds. The messages to overindulge, often from those who are supposed to be in positions of leadership, are clear.

But all of this excess comes at a high price.
Obesity rates in this country have been soaring, and one UN based organisation frighteningly places us in the list of top ten fattest countries in the world. Though the predilection for gluttony can be traced back to the immorality of plantation days, the in_ ltration of scores of American fast food chains with their American fast food portion sizes has only served to make matters worse.

With regards to our attitude to alcohol, I think that it is clear that we are not a society that practices responsible drinking. Is it any surprise that alcohol related deaths and accidents are so common when a government sponsored competition once rewarded a singer one million dollars for a song about rum? Again, the messages to overindulge are clear.
The great irony is that all of this excess does not make us happy; it actually reduces the amount of pleasure that we feel. Human beings are extraordinarily adaptable, and the more pleasure that we feel from something, is the more stimulation that we will require in the future to feel that same level of pleasure. Once we start on the treadmill of ‘more, more, more’, it’s hard to get off of it.

The Buddha once taught his followers that they must strive to be like a sitar that is neither strung too tightly, nor too loosely. A sitar that is strung too loosely, he reasoned, would not be able to play a tune, while a sitar that is strung too tightly, would eventually snap.
I think that this is a wonderful way to think about ourselves as consumers, that we should aim to be like the moderately strung sitar, neither denying ourself pleasure, nor enjoying to excess; perfectly in tune. So the next time we sit down to a delicious meal, it would perhaps serve us well to remember to leave the table feeling like we could have eaten just a little bit more. Through practicing a bit of moderation, we might just end up enjoying ourselves a bit more.

Simple Korean Pancake (gamjajeon) Here is a wonderfully simple recipe for a korean potato pancake called gamjajeon.
Please enjoy – in moderation, of course!

Ingredients

1 large potato, grated

? cup small onion, grated

? cup potato or corn starch

? tsp salt

For Sauce

2 tablespoons soy sauce

1 tablespoon white vinegar

1 tbs chive, chopped

1 tsp pepper sauce

1 tsp white sugar

1 tsp toasted sesame seeds.

Directions
1 Combine all ingredients for sauce in a small bowl. Set aside.

2 Grate potato and onion and place in a small bowl. Add potato starch and salt and mix to combine.

3 Heat a non-stick pan over medium high heat. Add two tsps vegetable oil and swirl the pan around to coat evenly.

4 Add potato mixture and spread it thinly on pan.

5 Cook for a few minutes until the bottom of the mixture turns light brown and crispy.

6 Flip pancake over and cook until other side turns golden brown and crispy as well.

7 Slide onto a plate, cut into eight triangular pieces (as if you were cutting a pizza) and serve with dipping sauce. Enjoy!

The novel attempts the treatment of a young teenaged underprivileged male of African descent within modern Trinidad where, despite the modern structures and life on the island, the colonial past remains trapped in pockets, a shadow hand that charts the course of the characters’ lives. The young African-Trinidadian male navigates mind and body to break through notions of that colonial past that is both abstract and real.

He simultaneously begins to grow aware of a wider Trinidadian society that lies outside his little enclave of poverty. This is a coming-of-age novel that brings us up to date with some of the social, economic and political concerns in contemporary Trinidad and Tobago.

Q Can you tell me a bit about your personal and educational background? How did you enter into writing? Carol Sammy: I developed a love for the English Language at an early age. My father read to us from Jane Eyre and other books. That played its part in fostering an appreciation for English as it was perpetuated in the then mother country of England. At the age of seven, the first book I read was Martin Rattler by R M Ballantyne (a children’s classic published in 1858).

The text was so complex that when I look back now, it’s a wonder that I understood and enjoyed the book so well, yet I did. Reading was…a form of escape for me and so, eventually, was writing. I started my first novel at 16 and finished it at 22 – it was good for practice, if nothing else.

I did ‘O’ and ‘A’ levels in Trinidad, then came up to England to do a Higher National Diploma in Printing and Publishing. I never went to university. My family couldn’t afford it. But, as life has been my greatest teachers, I didn’t think I missed much.

Q How does your relocation to England inform your work? How profound has that been for you? CS: I have lived in the UK for nearly 30 years overall and the time and distance have indeed allowed me to look at Trinidad as both a Trinidadian and (almost) a foreigner. Had I never left Trinidad, there is every chance I would have taken for granted those things that have become dear and precious to me.

Many people who have left their homeland to live elsewhere in the world can become pretty sentimental about it; others become critical, and some may develop a tense combination of the two.

As a writer I sometimes fall into this last category.

This business of living abroad is a unique position to be in for my writing, as it helps me to make practical comparisons about issues affecting society. It also forces me to be objective and nonjudgemental.

Q Can you speak a bit about the first book and then the movement into the second? How many years were there between them? CS: The book Dilemmas of Deokie was published first, but it was actually written second.

I returned to Trinidad for five years in 2004, and started writing Mercy Cried No within four months of my arrival, under the quite unoriginal name of Land of the Hummingbird.

I got started on Dilemmas of Deokie as soon as I had finished that manuscript and sent if off to the publisher. It took time, effort and sleepless nights pulling that story together, but it also gave me such a continuous buzz that I worked at it with real energy.

At the end of 2006, Heinemann gently rejected the first version of Land of the Hummingbird. I told the editor that I had another manuscript that they might be interested in. She was willing to look at it, so I sent Dilemmas of Deokie to her around March 2007.

After it had been with them for many months, they informed me that the manuscript had potential.

Editing that novel took me on another mental and emotional rollercoaster because even after all that hard work there was no guarantee that it would be accepted. In March 2009 the manuscript was officially accepted as the In the meantime I had completely revamped Land of the Hummingbird, gave it the name Mercy Cried No, and sent it off to about three or four publishers. It was eventually published by Hansib Publications in 2015, _ ve years after Dilemmas of Deokie.

Q You deal with a young man of African descent coming of age. Did you have a model for the character? CS: In my _ rst book the protagonist is a young Indo-Caribbean girl.

In true Trini style I didn’t see why my second shouldn’t feature a young African-Caribbean boy. I believe in mixing it up a little, and the beauty of being Trinidadian is that we have access to the machinations of the two major races of the island in a way some in other parts of the region don’t. Some of my funniest, cleverest and closest friends dating back to my school life are people of African descent, and Quintel is in part a combination of some of them, or at least some of their attributes. And, if truth be told, he has shades of a few of my Indian friends as well. He embodies a little of what I have seen in young men today. But mostly he comes out of my own head, a credible _ gure invented from years of experience, observation and interaction with others, a solid device in human form used vicariously to birth a story I was longing to tell.

Q I’m always curious about the writer as performer. Maybe you can speak about that? CS: I’m not sure how to answer the _ rst part of this question myself! Do writers perform? Maybe our writing is a performance in itself. Maybe I’m a kind of stage actor who’s too shy to open my mouth and speak, so I let my pen do the talking for me.

I can only say that getting into character involves the vividness of my imagination. A writer has the gift of harnessing their powers of imagination, rather in the way a body builder builds up the muscles he already has. We all have muscles, but we’re not all body builders. We all have an imagination, we don’t all use it to tell a tale that intrigues others.

I think I see my characters as individuals in their own right; although I create them, sometimes drawing them from a variety of people and qualities merging together, it’s not me acting them out.

I make them do what I want them to do, and often there’s a distance between me and them. The reader sees things through the eyes of the characters, especially that of the protagonist, and I usually keep out of the way or stay behind the proverbial screen. I’m not sure how good I am at analysing my own style, but that’s the way I feel when I write.

Q The book is very current and also highlights the white/black race issue that we don’t usually see in our day-today politics in Trinidad. What was your motivation? CS: Whether I like it or not, I’m a product of colonialism. There’s no turning back the clock and doing it differently. And so I write about those issues that affected my development as a person, and indeed the development of many generations of West Indians. The white race, in the form of the British both past and present, the Americans and now other white nations in this global village we’ve become, have had an astounding impact on the overall fate of the Caribbean peoples. It is perhaps not classed as a direct issue nowadays in Trinidad; interaction with the tiny minority of whites on the island is negligible.

Any racism between whites and non-whites currently within Trinidad itself is not the theme that I handle in the book. It’s more so the far reaching effects of slavery and indentureship that are handed down from generation to generation, that muted awareness of our history and where we came from, the power that was exercised over us so that we ourselves were powerless – those unsavoury dregs are still there as evidenced by the huge stir caused by the MacFarlane Cazabon mas.

The pain and shame of being so massively ill used may be lying dormant, but it will erupt when shaken by a psychological earthquake.

I do believe young Trinbagonians today, unlike preceding generations, are so caught up in their own modern little world that they can’t be bothered with what happened in the past, and it’s perhaps just as well. It may still come with age and exposure. But I’m convinced there are the odd few young ones who currently give it thought, and this is where Quintel’s character pays homage to them for their ability to look their history squarely in the face, and where his journey to a deeper level of understanding can bring some comfort and, if it were even possible, a little closure.

There is so much more that can be said on this topic. It’s a very complex one…however, a basic and noteworthy point could be that although we are still connected to our past we don’t have to be governed by it, bearing in mind that that is easier said than done.

Mercy Cried No, is available at Nigel R Khan and Mohammed’s Book Stores.

And, a presiding officer has an original casting vote the Attorney General told the media in San Fernando.

Al-Rawi said the Opposition United National Congress (UNC) was engaged in grandcharge and what he described as “shouting”, over their objection to the “elected” Terry Rondon as chairman of the San Grande Regional Corporation (SGRC) where there is a four-four tie following the November 28 local government election.

At last Thursday’s swearing-in ceremony for councillors, the UNC councillors walked out led by Opposition Senator Gerald Ramdeen with the party hitting back that Rondon’s decision to cast a second vote to break a deadlock over a presiding officer breached the law.

Al-Rawi commented, “I am not confident that the UNC will go to court on this issue because the law is pellucidly clear… I really do not think they have the guts to go to court on this. And if they do, then c’est la vie, (due process). That is what the courts are there for. We will meet them on the floor of the courts and we will beat them again.” Al-Rawi spoke yesterday at a press conference at the San Fernando City Corporation at Harris Promenade held to announce a toy distribution drive.

Al Rawi said that according to the Municipal Corporation Act and the Standing Orders of the SGRC, as amended post-2013, that a presiding officer has an original and casting vote. He explained, “The law is the outgoing mayor sits as mayor until a new mayor is elected. The outgoing mayor lawfully attends to the first meeting and the first order of business is the appointment of a presiding officer.

There is nothing in law that says the presiding officer must be the CEO.” At Thursday’s ceremony following the walkout by the four UNC members of council, Rondon was re-elected as chairman.

Al-Rawi said as an elected councillor, Rondon has an original vote and as the chairman at that point, had a casting vote.

“So it went from 6-6 to 7-6. Once the presiding officer was appointed, you then put the question of a chairman, meaning the mayor, to vote. You would have gotten 6-6 but the presiding officer under the law, has an original and casting vote. This is the ABCs of the law,” Al-Rawi said.

Apart from the hard-and-fast rule in the legal process, Al-Rawi said it was well known that the PNM won the popular vote in Sangre Grande.

“But they were so busy rushing to try to make sure they attended to the ILP (Independent Labour Party), that they did not pass proper law. And, we did not support that law as amended. We spotted certain positions, saw it in gear. But this is what the UNC purchased for itself,” Al-Rawi said referring to amendments made under the last People’s Partnership administration.

He charged that the UNC cannot have it both “hot and cold” as well as “approbate and reprobate” at the same time.

UNC chairman David Lee on Friday disclosed Opposition Leader Kamla Persad-Bissessar, who was attending a Commonwealth event in London, had been briefed on the developments. He said she may seek legal advice while in England.

However, Tabaquite MP Dr Suruj Rambachan, a former local government minister, again accused the PNM of disrespecting the law.

In a statement yesterday, Rambachan again argued the case for the CEO of a corporation to oversee elections on a council, citing the instance of the Siparia Regional Corporation.

“In Siparia, the presiding officer, councillor Shankar Teelucksingh has indicated to me that he was told by the corporate secretary that he did not have either a vote as a councillor or a casting vote as the presiding officer. The minutes of the Siparia Regional Elections will, if accurately recorded, will reflect these matters,” Rambachan stated.

In the case of Sangre Grande, Rambachan called on that corporation’s CEO to clarify the issue.

CEO are public servants and are not elected officials of regional corporations.

“In the circumstances which prevailed what was the role of the CEO of the corporation and why was complete control apparently given to Mr Rondon despite what has always been accepted traditions and protocols in such elections,” writes Rambachan. “Was the CEO directed to behave in a certain way in this matter? The CEO needs to clarify this since the independence of public servants and their oath to act without fear or favour could come under question.” Rambachan said the PNM missed an opportunity to unite Sangre Grande “in a display of magnanimity and consensus”, and referred to a letter Persad-Bissessar wrote to Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley asking for a meeting to consider co-sharing the management of the council.

According to police at about 5.30 pm on Friday, 15-year-old Josiah Martinez was at his home at light pole #55, Peaceville, Upper Seventh Street, Malick, Barataria when he got into an altercation with a 59 year-old male relative.

The male relative drew a firearm and shot Martinez repeatedly, hitting him several times about the body. Martinez’s mother, 37-yearold Keisha Ettiene, witnessed the incident and physically struggled with the male relative but he was able to run away. Martinez was taken to the Port-of-Spain General Hospital but died will undergoing treatment. The male relative, a retired employee of the Water and Sewerage Authority, remained on the run from the police up to news time. Police report that the altercation stemmed from a previous argument between the two on December 13.

When the media visited the home yesterday a relative said that Martinez’s mother was too distraught to speak and no one else would be able to do so.

A male resident of the community who asked not to be named said he was surprised at the incident as the male relative “loved children”.

He said, however, that the man had went through “too much pressure” and that Martinez had repeatedly disrespected him. He also claimed the two had a physical altercation recently, which may be the previous incident referred to by the police. Another male resident said Martinez and the male relative have been having problems “for years”.

Homicide is continuing investigations.

Last Tuesday, Morris-Julian, 40, was sworn in as the borough’s mayor for the next three years at the Arima Town Hall, Sorzano Street, Arima.

The Deputy Mayor and aldermen were also sworn-in.

With that being done, Morris-Julian became the first woman to be sworn in as mayor or chairman (of a regional corporation) in Trinidad and Tobago since 1996, when Rose Janneire left office (1992-1996) also as the Arima mayor. Morris-Julian also became the first woman mayor/councillor representing Arima Central.

Morris-Julian’s rise to mayorship came quickly as her political career only started in 2013, when she contested the Arima Central district in the local government election as a member of the People’s National Movement (PNM).

Who is Lisa Morris-Julian? is the first question Sunday Newsday asked.

Very quietly and with her head leant slightly to the right, Morris-Julian answered, “At one point I was a writer. I’m a teacher, a mother, a wife and daughter. All these things form who I am. Sister! I can’t forget that.

Big Sister! I have four sisters and two brothers. I am the eldest.” Morris-Julian stated that from a very young age, she had much responsibility, being the first-born.

“I’m accustomed to taking the lead.

When you go wrong, your siblings go wrong with you. So you always try to lead the right way. All my sisters are glad they don’t have the responsibility of being the big sister. Josanne loves to say I am the little one.” With the support from her husband Daniel, three children and extended family, Morris- Julian believes she would succeed because they all want success for each other.

In a solemn tone she reflected on her great-grandmother, who had doubts about her becoming a politician.

“My great grandmother (Leroy’s mother) who died on Boxing Day 2015 at age 100 didn’t want him (Leroy) to go into politics. And when I told her I was going into it, she started to cry. She said politics was too nasty and then she held my hand and said, ‘if there is anyone who can make it clean, it is you’. Her faith and support in me meant a lot. She was one of the first businesswomen in Arima; both her and former Mayor (George) Hadeed’s mother and the Kourys. They were strong female businesswomen.

That gene skipped me.” Since her grandfather’s demit from office, no one in her family has participated in electoral politics outside of being supporters of the party of their choice. Morris-Julian admitted her father, Raymond Morris, was approached a few times to be involved in electoral politics but he wasn’t interested. She did state he was her number one canvasser.

Morris-Julian has always a supporter of the PNM. “How could I not be.

Carmel Purcell, my grandmother on my mother’s side, she loves to say that she walked with Dr Eric Williams, George Chambers, Patrick Manning and now she is walking with me. She is one of the original PNM women. She was in the Women’s League since she was 16-years-old.” While her grandfather’s political legacy may have had some weight in her decision to serve the country, it was another factor that gave her the extra push.

“I couldn’t believe what the government at that time (the former People’s Partnership administration) was doing. I had a friend who told me that I was only talking and urged me to something about it and I said, okay. And I did. It is very easy to criticize when you’re on the bench or in the stands.” Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley’s influence also changed her perception about politics and she felt it was possible to express one’s views once you believe it to be correct. “I was always a sympathizer but he really inspired me. He wasn’t in love with office; that was obvious. His main purpose was to serve. Sometimes you can be quite jaded and then you see somebody that is different.

When I saw how he was leading, I wanted to follow. The same for Camille Robinson-Regis (Minister of Planning and Arouca/Maloney MP). She has been a very good mentor to me,” she said.

On her plans for the borough, Morris-Julian is looking at activities that made Arima famous.

“Arima was once the sporting capital of Trinidad and Tobago. The cyclist, the runners, the cricketers; we still have the talent, we still have the people. I would really like to work with the Minister of Sport and council to upgrade the facilities in Arima. My main focus would be sports and culture. We used to win Best Village (competition) all the time. I want to bring back the drama festival. I’m also a playwright. I want to encourage that. Foster that community; that cultural renaissance.

We have the people and talent but we lack the space and facilities.

We don’t have an APA (Arima Performing Arts).” On her detractors, some of whom criticised remarks she made years ago on social media about Ghassan Youseff, Arima mayor under the PP, to whom she has since apologised, Morris-Julian is “ignoring the noise”.

“I am focused on doing my absolute best. Trying to correct all the errors I would have made and still do what I must. My focus is on Arima and I am willing to work with anybody who has the same focus because Arima must come first.

I keep seeing a lot of posts (Facebook), ‘Make Arima Great Again’.

I don’t think that is accurate. It was always great. It’s simply making the pieces that don’t work, work, and improving on the pieces that do,” she declared. Being the “best mayor” is all the political aspiration, Morris-Julian has right now.

“I’m taking it one day at a time.

My council office days are still set aside for my burgesses. When I was just the councillor for my area, I helped everyone in their areas in different ways, especially through social media. I am well acquainted with how to juggle.” Her experience as a teacher has equipped her with the skills to manage challenges and to multitask.

“(Teaching) is not a job that ends when you hit home and you forget about it. It prepared me for local government. It wasn’t a coincidence that Dr Eric Williams, Prime Minster Rowley and even Kamla Persad-Bissessar (former PP prime minister) were all teachers at some point of their career. They (teachers) are the back bone of society.

Once you are in teaching you have an impact in society. It was a natural progression and extension”. Morris- Julian is on a leave of absence from her teaching job at Arima Central Secondary School (ACSS), formerly Arima Government Secondary, so she can give her new position the full attention it requires.

Although her last stint as a teacher before being elected was at ACSS, Morris-Julian gave praise to the students of Barataria South Secondary School where spent most of her career. “I loved that school, loved those children,” she said, smiling.

Morris-Julian is looking forward to continue collaborating with Arima Borough Corporation CEO, Cheryl Serju-Chung. “We have a good working relationship. She is very pro-worker and pro-Arima.

From the start of her tenure she always promised to work together with council. I think Arima is happy.

They haven’t seen a councillor/ mayor in a long time, since Elvin Edwards (1996-2003).” The importance of her appointment as only the second woman mayor in local history is not lost on Morris-Julian. “I feel very blessed to have the opportunity to serve, I look forward to the day when gender would not matter. I understand the significance of it and it is definitely a step in the right direction.”

Speaking last Friday at a political meeting in Plymouth heading into the January 23 Tobago House of Assembly election, Moore, an attorney, said Tobago currently tops the statistics with respect to robberies in the whole of Trinidad and Tobago.

“Tobago district leads the country in robberies. Orville (London) knew about all the other disrespect but this is the real disrespect. Plymouth just suffered the loss of their daughter as a result of crime. All over the island, business owners are frightened, people giving up businesses because of crime.

“Terry Baynes closed down this Play Whe shop in Bethel, (because of) crime. He has decided that his life is way more important than that, but nobody talking about that,” she said.

Moore, a former Minister of Justice, said that when Trinidad ignores Tobago, the result is crime.

“When all resources for solving crime, (when) all crime plans must be devised in Port-of-Spain, the Minister of National Security has his foot and his toe and his hand in everything for Tobago.

What this means is a Tobago that has been left behind because he in Port of Spain and we in Scarborough… “Has the Minister of National Security reached here yet. And he wouldn’t reach, never mind our brand is clean, green, safe and serene. You have branded us clean, green, safe and serene and you don’t care if we not safe. You have sold us to the international markets as clean, green, safe and serene but we lead the country in robberies.

“No Minister didn’t take a helicopter ride over here as yet, nobody ent take no plane and fly here yet, but more than that, our Chief Secretary has not flown to Trinidad on urgent business, the urgent business of Tobago’s crime situation. We have to talk about that,” she said.

Declaring that the Tobago Forwards was a serious party with a serious leader, addressing the island’s real problems and solutions, Moore said the island must have its own police service to see to the safety of Tobagonians.

“What does the Tobago Forwards say… cut the Police Service navel string, cut off the navel string in Port of Spain and let us mind our own business, we big enough. “We could call it anything, you choose the name, it does not matter, but the decisions that our police officers make here with respect to security must be made right here in Tobago, 100 percent,” she declared.

“Don’t call any man in Portof- Spain to see if you could buy a gun, don’t call any man in Toco to see if you could borrow their speed gun, don’t call no man in Port-of-Spain to find out of you could send 10 police officers north and send three in the west.

Make your decisions here, you are on the ground,” she contended, Moore said the reason why the Police Service was not responding to crime in Tobago was because “Port-of-Spain is not allowing them to respond, because Port of Spain busy with train line.” “We don’t have train line like Port-of-Spain so they not worried about us, we don’t have murders like Laventille so they not worried about you, but hear what, we don’t aspire to be train line, we don’t aspire to be Laventille, we do not want to be measured by that yardstick.

“What we want is autonomy over the integrity of our people, what we want is autonomy over the safety of our people. Trinidad cannot tell us how to police us, they have no clue, so they send across their Trinidad ideas over,” she said.

Gomez was born on Charlotte Street, Port-of-Spain, on June 11, 1931, in the area known as Mongoose Yard. His parents, who were influential in his life, were Venezuelan. At this time, the steel band movement and masquerading at Carnival were not yet widely accepted. In his youth, Gomez met Buree Thomas, who introduced him to sailor mas.

“My parents were Venezuelans and they were never really much into mas’ because they were Catholics,” Gomez once recalled.

“To run away sometimes I had to put on my sister’s dress.

Sometimes when my father came home, he would know we were out and he would wait and then say what he had to say.” Thomas would give the young Gomez more responsibility until one day, Gomez made a helicopter out of wire on his own steam.

Thomas was impressed.

“I made it so good he couldn’t believe it,” Gomez said. “From there it was no turning back, and then one day Harold Saldenah came.” The mas man was impressed. The rest was history.

Gomez become synonymous with wire-bending skill. His contribution has been such that he has been likened to the late great wire-bender Cito Velasquez and sailor mas legend Jason Griffith, who is still today an active presence in the Belmont community.

Gomez played sailor mas with BOSS of Belmont. He also produced bands internationally, spending some time at New York where be brought out the band Undersea Kingdom as well as others with Errol Payne.

Some of this work has been documented.

Upon his return to Trinidad, Gomez worked with Stephen Lee Heung, then returned to Saldenah.

Throughout his career, Gomez never stopped engaging with the community. For example, he gave classes in mas making at the Belmont Community Centre and participated in one of the recent mentoring with the masters programmes of the Culture Ministry.

“I am a community man,” Gomez once said. “The Lord sends everybody to do something.” In his own way, Gomez has played a part in telling the story of our nation’s history through the medium of the Fancy Sailor.

It is a medium that underlines our ties to global events and that nurtures resourcefulness within communities.

Gomez has also noted the influence of mas man Peter Minshall.

“We have to give that fella Minshall credit; they could say what they want,” Gomez once said. “Most of the people who talk about him do the same thing: the same approaches for the Carnival, the same movements and so on. He came up with the ideas before them….I also give him credit too because he always talked about behind the bridge. Carnival is bigger than all of us.” Through it all Gomez was a family man who balanced his passion with his personal responsibilities.

“There is a lot of room for improvement and you never stop learning,” he once said. “Everyday is something new.” May he rest in peace.

Referring precisely to the horrific murders of Dana Seetahal and Shannon Banfield, he added: “Justice lies trampled in the streets.The death penalty is still the law of this land. Therefore, let it be implemented expeditiously.” His Archbishop, Fr Joseph Harris, chastised Fr Taylor by saying: “What was said goes totally against what the church stands for. How do we deal with these serious crimes. Number one, you have to find the criminals.” (Guardian, Dec 13) Anglican Bishop Claude Berkley said hanging would not solve our crime problem and that “we have to look at parenting and social conditions and return to our brother’s keeper.” But that is part of the church’s work too.

In the middle of this long-standing issue, is Attorney General Faris Al-Rawi who, pressed to respond to Fr Taylor’s appeal for “the State to protect citizens”, said: “The current law of TT is to be applied for murder and we certainly intend to apply the law. There are 32 people now on Death Row. I have been tracking them since I came into office. None are now in a position to meet the hangman.” (Newsday, Dec 13) But the spirit of Fr Taylor’s intervention is beyond the death penalty. It is fundamentally about bringing law and order as the rule and not the exception.

Well-known is the population’s short memory. After each horrific murder or child killing there is the wailing, funeral tears and recrimination.

Until next time. Fr Taylor’s sermon is driven by a strong, persuasive, public interest context.

That is, the seemingly unstoppable blood flowing on the streets, homes and bars. Let me remind you of a few examples of what has been happening during the year – reflective of Fr Taylor’s great worry.

Just look at a few media headlines and editorials: Six bullets for mourner who went to the wake of a dead man long missing (Dec 5), Injustices in our justice system (Sean Annan, Express, Dec 1), Granny beaten to death with brick for $1,000, home ransacked, set on fire (Dec 19), Killing spree (Nov 6), Two men gunned down in Arima, it was Bap! Bap! over and over (Nov 3), Man killed with garden fork (Oct 30), Couple throat slit (Oct 10), Anger as bandits kill hardware owner’s daughter (Sept 16), Victims must speak out (Sept 18), Cutlass-man kills 1, wounds policeman in daylight chopping spree (May 25), Sleeping ‘Santa’ killed (May 23), Woman stabbed to death more than 20 times (May 13), Bullet goes through 3-year-old (April 1), Retiree beaten, killed at home (Mar 31), Woman butchered, head missing, stuffed in barrel (Mar 17), Nurse slashed, killed (Mar 6), Girl, 14, gang-raped, shot, dumped in well (Jan 11). Etc, etc, etc. Heartless, vicious disregard for the sanctity of life. To helplessly appeal for “God to give justice” is to deny the powerful fact that this country has a constitution and an oath-driven Parliament compelled to “make laws for the peace, order and good government” of the country. (Section 53) As much as some may prefer, this country is not run on the Bible or any holy text, but on a constitution to be operationalised by a freely and fairly elected government – until it is similarly changed. Dr Eric Williams recognised that – preamble notwithstanding. That is the point also made by former AG Ramesh Maharaj when he said: “If we don’t want a law, then go to parliament and change it.” (Guardian, Dec 15).

A view recently shared by lawyer Larry Lalla and criminologist Danielle Francois. (The Bible and objections to the death penalty, next week.)

The service took place at the location on Brick Road, Oropouche, where Darian’s charred and dismembered remains were found among the ruins of a wooden house on March 20, 2015.

Christlyn shed tears for her son whom she described as a very helpful boy.

Pastor Winston Mahabir from the Jesus Deliverance Church conducted the service, and the small group of mourners, that one should not judge a person and say someone lived the life of a thief and died like a thief. He said, “Jesus is the one who can judge us and at the last moment the soul can call on Jesus and he or she will be saved and they can enter unto paradise.” He called on Jesus to look over the Nedd family and protect them from any evil that they come their way.

Linda Mahabir sung the hymns, ‘God’s Not Dead’ and ‘Ten Thousand Reasons’. Linda said Darian used to attend the Sunday morning service at the Jesus Deliverance Church on Mon Desir Road, Oropouche.

At the funeral, there were several youths who wore pink and white T-shirts bearing the words, ‘No Fear’.

Shane Singh, who was among them, said Darian belonged to a team of young people who wanted to do the right things for their community.

“No Fear means that we were fearless and we intend to see that everything goes the right way in the neighbourhood,” he said. Darian’s sister, Christine Nedd, said her younger brother went into hiding as he was afraid of certain persons in his neighborhood. “He returned to Red Brick Road, to prepare for end of term exams at the Siparia West Secondary School,” Christine said.

The Nedd family lived in a squatting area at the end of Red Brick Road, at the back of SM Jaleel Factory.

Police investigators had reported that Darian’s right foot and left hand were missing. Christlyn who sells oysters at Otaheite Junction, was not at home when the fire started. The grieving mother had publicly criticised the refusal of officers from the Oropouche Police Station to respond to her reports that she believed her son was a target.

She reportedly said, “I knew he was a target and I begged the police to help him but they did not listen to me,” she said in 2015. She has since rebuilt the house with plyboards for her five other children.

The boy’s body had been kept at the Forensic Science Centre, St James ever since as an autopsy revealed that there was no conclusive cause of death.

A DNA sample was taken from Christlyn for tests to confirm Darian’s identity the results of which determined a positive match as was revealed over a week ago. The boy’s body was released to the family this past week. A neighbour has since been charged for Darian’s murder.

According to a police report, at about 3 pm on Friday, Denesh Rampersad, 16, and Shastri Rampersad, 17,who attend Chaguanas North Secondary School and Penal Secondary School respectively, were at Saith Park in Chaguanas where two persons accosted them.

One the attackers, according to the report, was armed with a knife and snatched Shastri’s silver chain from around his neck and also took a cellular phone and $50 from him. During the ordeal a struggle ensured and Shastri was stabbed in the chest and back. The report also stated that the other man snatched Denesh’s gold chain, however, he was not wounded. Both suspects fled the scene.

Police officers who were on patrol nearby responded and detained one of the suspects who, the report stated, is from Munroe Road in Cunupia. Shastri was taken to the Chaguanas Health Centre where he was treated and subsequently discharged.

Up to yesterday, police were searching for the other accomplice.