The everyday moments, often taken for granted, give meaning to existence.

These moments are what Lee Sing has given life to in her 30-piece collection entitled, Anonymous. The pieces were shown over two-days at the Art Society, Jamaica Blvd, Port-of-Spain on December 6 and 7.

Lee Sing’s drive to capture “life as is and not imagined” came from a visit to the doctor’s office. In a write up on the photo that became a painting, Lee Sing said, “Two years ago, I sat in a doctor’s waiting room, phone in hand, scrolling through social media sites to pass the time as I waited for my husband. I looked up and saw this couple…and I took their photo.

At the time, I did not feel any desire to speak with them or to invade their quiet. I simply wanted to capture that particular moment, the light in the room, her anxiety, his pain, their togetherness.” “This fleeting photograph has become a painting, which haunts me with its brooding reality.” The painting later became known as “Patience”.

For her, art’s connectedness allowed for her to give life to moments to which all walks and types of people could relate. In an interview with Newsday, she said, “The thing about art is connecting with people in the most unseen and incredible ways. The kinds of people I have met through in entire process and I say process because apart from painting and having a first exhibition – which I did not anticipate – my second exhibition was more planned. But what you cannot plan is the impact it would have on people.” Anonymous is Lee Sing’s second exhibition.

The first one was held when, “was learning to paint five years ago.” Its success was moderate.

Anonymous show a diversity of everyday events such as five friends who meet after work, the brothers who pray quietly, the retiree who can afford to buy new clothes but prefers to mend old clothes with his new sewing machine among others.

Draped in oils, watercolours, pastel and charcoals, Lee Sing’s images, “uses a layered technique, with clear lines and attention to details.” The content chosen “sparked her interest.” Each image captured with her cellphone’s camera when she saw them.“When you’re on the go, when you’re on a train, when you’re rounding a bend in Scarborough and you see something in a bus shelter or see something under the trees on the Promenade, as indeed the painting entitled “Five” is, or the painting entitled “Reflection” is about a bus shelter.

“You can capture it quickly, quickly, quickly, before the traffic moves..” “It is a moment that is lost and cannot be recaptured,” she said.

After capturing the moment on her cellphone camera, Lee Sing would then examine the photo, paying attention to the nuanced details.

“When I go back and review, I take time, I look at my photographs, I see all sorts of intriguing qualities. I would see that someone’s eye is damaged. I would see that someone has one breast higher than the other…” There were few “intriguing” moments that missed her eye. She recalled visiting friends at their beach house.

Her friend’s wife always played the piano with encouragement from him. His sister who had a stroke would play with her. “I found it interesting and I took a photograph with her husband with his Sunday beer in his hand. A year later as I was planning to prepare for the show. I selected a photo of them and I said I must capture this in painting, as I mentioned it to her husband, he said his sister passed away,” she said.

The painting became a surprise gift to his wife.

For Lee Sing these moments are the ones most people experience, which is why she feels it resonates so deeply.

“You and I have had those moments. We have an uncle we’ve visited on a Sunday afternoon because he’s not well. Many of us have had family and friends give us gifts like symbolic religious items that we keep and don’t discard.

“We have those moments in our lives.

So when you see it in a painting you would say ‘ahhhh I know that moment’ and that is what made me put it on canvas…I knew that along the way, someone can connect with one of these paintings in a special way,” she said, giving her impetus for the selections made.

She sold 30 percent of her work before the exhibition.

But Lee Sing’s ultimate aim is to make Anonymous accessible and affordable to most.

The focus for Lee Sing is always life.

“It is not hyper-realism.

It is what we see. It is life, focused,” she said.

The pieces range from $3,000 to $13,000.

His example has been a guiding block to Dr Oti, who is a general practitioner in a number of community clinics in Portof- Spain and a surgical officer at the Advanced Cardiovascular Institute, Surgical Therapies, Anna St, Woodbrook.

Esimaje, like his father, shares the view that it takes a village to raise a child and through the Esimaje Foundation jointly founded with Dr David Toby, has been doing work to build and develop TT ’s human capital and the country itself.

The foundation recently launched its Cradle to Career pipeline initiative aimed at, “preparing children for a successful future where education is a priority from early childhood until well after secondary school.” This is a central part of the East Port-of-Spain initiative which also includes Resident Leadership Academy, the East Port-of-Spain Teachers Education, Cradle to Pipeline, Parental Educational Programmes for Fathers, First Teacher, the East Port-of-Spain Community Initiative Roundtable and Health First. The pipeline, an information package read, was designed to, “(build) a strong support system around the traditional education pipeline, ensuring no child slips through the cracks, guiding them from cradle to career.” The pipeline identifies schools in high needs communities, with specific interest being paid to the East Port-of- Spain community.

Building entrepreneurs Esimaje always helped those who came into the hospital but decided to “institutionalise” his help, particularly after his father died in 2004. Seeing many young men enter the hospital with gunshot wounds and assisting them as well was a driving factor in starting the foundation.

In 2006, the Esimaje Foundation was born.

Since its inception, the foundation has been steadily and quietly working toward building a better TT . Esimaje barely smiled during the interview but when he said he does this because he thinks about the future and about crafting a future where everyone has value, a wide smile lit his face.

Over the years, the foundation has done work in areas such as building entrepreneurship in high-risk areas through a programme called The E In Me (The Entrepreneur in Me) which is an entrepreneurial awareness and potential discovery workshop designed to help people discover their business/ entrepreneurial abilities.

The programme peers its participants with mentors in the same line of business and also areas where their businesses need strengthening. There is also Daddy please Don’t Go which is a parenting skills workshop for fathers which includes family programmes, sports, father and child bonding activities, motivational speeches, health and wellness management and career counselling.

The foundation partners with groups and ministries such as The Ministry of National Security (Citizen Security Programme) and the then Ministry of Gender, Youth and Child Development in the execution of the programmes.

“The East Port-of-Spain thrive initiative is a Cradle to Career pipeline. What it hopes to do is create a community of opportunity that is centred around strong schools, strong families and strong neighbourhoods. It is modelled after the Harlem’s Children Zone and promised neighbourhoods. A geographic area is identified amongst high risk or high needs communities and a blanket of services

Sylvester was a standin for Daniella Brooks who could not make the trip with Creole Soul and she delivered to the amazement of the Queen’s Hall audience.

But this is not about Creole Soul, it is about the Kaiso Blues Caf? concert, “Christmas With Llettesha”.

Sylvester’s singing left the audience speechless as she did variations on several Christmas classics.

Backed by “her” band of musicians Andre Jack (bass), Gerion Williams (drums) and Ron Clarke (keyboards) she started the evening with “Round Midnight” and then grooved into the Christmas feeling with “My Favourite Things”.

Reflecting on how things are going in the world, Sylvester then moved into the R&B classic “A Change is Gonna Come”. “Diamonds” followed and she was bright like a diamond as the chemistry between the singer and the musicians was magical. She glances over her shoulder towards Ron Clarke and he knows exactly what she is thinking.

Sylvester rounded off the first half with “What Christmas Means to Me” a song she says means a great deal to her. “For me Christmas is about love, peace and happiness.” Speaking with Sylvester shows how much she has grown and improved her craft. I remember just six years ago she was a frightened competitor in the National Music Festival at Queen’s Hall.

But with a few words of encouragement and constant support by family members, on each occasion she went on stage she proved to be a winner.

Her starring role in the musical Ma halia placed her over the top. She is clearly the best voice in TT right now.

The second half began with the musicians “showing off ” with Barry White’s “Love Theme” and continued with Ron’s Feature (keyboards and voice) as Sylvester sang “My Christmas List”. “Santa Baby” was her next choice.

With a fantastic rendition of “Somewhere Over the Rainbow” she pulled at everyone’s heartstrings with her voice.

She then introduced her special guest in Conrad Parris who delivered “You are My Heaven” with her.

The audience wanted more from Parris and he obliged with “Every Year Every Christmas” even though he had to sing the lyrics from his smart phone.

Parris is a good act and can hold an audience well.

Sylvester ended what she said was her final concert for the year (at Kaiso Blues) with “This Christmas”.

She thanked the management and staff, all her friends, family and fans who supported her throughout the year.

In the intelligence contest, a very humble and shy Rooparine spoke about educating children on peer pressures. “These young impressible minds can easily be led astray and this is why we have to pay attention to the behaviour of kids in our homes and our communities,” she said.

Rooparine is a member of the UWI Peer Counselling Association and visits the Cyril Ross Home to spend time with the children every week. She is a member of Habitat for Humanity group at UWI and is in her final year of pursuing a double major in management studies and communication studies at St Augustine.

When asked what are her goals she replied, “To be a better person than I was yesterday. I really want to work with children and the elderly.

For the kids I want to help them to see their full potential and achieve their own goals. I also want to use this opportunity that Mastana Bahar has given me to partner with NGO’s and help others who may not be as fortunate as many of us are.” On a personal note she would like to travel Miss Naturally Fair 2016 Reshma Roopnarine.

the world and experience different cultures and lifestyles. “There is so much more to life than a nine to five over and over again,” she said.

About her experience on the Mastana queen show, Roopnarine said it was challenging as it required hard work and sacrifice.

“It was all about getting the proper outfit and getting it altered to suit my shape. It was about attending rehearsals and then there was the regimes of hairstyle and make-up that took quite a long time,” she said. The glam, she says, doesn’t happen overnight as it is behind the scenes is where the magic occurs.

Entering this competition has opened her eyes to a world of new possibilities, she said. This pageant was her first attempt at any queen show. She was encouraged to enter by her parents, Haimawatee and Rajendra Roopnarine.

Her proudest moment was definitely hearing the results of the competition. “The other seven girls were equally beautiful and talented and I knew the results could have gone in any direction. Hearing my name and receiving the crown was such a proud moment for my family and I,” she stated.

Roopnarine said she gives credit to God for presenting her with a plethora of opportunities.

She believes that not enough attention is placed on arts, sports and other extra-curricular activities among students.

“These activities build persons’ confidence and provide opportunities or interaction with peers who share similar backgrounds that they do,” she said, adding that this can help an individual to develop skills that can assist in other aspects of their lives.

Roopnarine is convinced that in order to make the communities and the country better, we must first start with the children and the youths. Her message to the youths is that “things don’t always go as planned but there are brighter days ahead. If you fail, pick yourself up and try again,” she advises. There are several avenues, she says, for the youths to express themselves and make a difference and these should be taken advantage of. She cited those as youth groups, non-profit organisations, community clubs, competitions such as Mastana Bahar and Best Village as avenues for youth to express themselves culturally.

She is immensely grateful to the Mastana Bahar team for keeping the culture alive for over 45 years in TT. “I entered this competition not knowing much about the contestants and I’ve not only made great friends during this experience but I would say family,” she said

Happily, I was also the official cake taster. We ate ham once a year and the smell of black cake, freshly baked bread and sorrel filled the tiny apartment and made me feel safe. I only discovered late in life that we were not well off; I was happy, so for me my life was normal.

One of my friends shared memories of her own rituals this week.

“We went outside to play, we got dirty…we ate snowcone from the snowcone man & shopped at Soo Ting shop for almost everything.

We bought chilli bibbi, fudge, sweetie, sweet drinks, corn curls etc!” There was a rhythm to life and in a real sense we celebrated the ordinary, the small things.

Life has changed as it must, but I think my friend was lamenting the loss of the sense of communal living, captured beautifully in the writings of local authors such as Merle Hodge, VS Naipaul or Michael Anthony. Something happened to that sense of ritual, community bonding where we enjoyed simple pleasures of hideand- seek, football or cricket in the street.

We must be more watchful now, whether it is reporting a car shaking in an abandoned lot because of an illicit sexual encounter between a pastor and a child, or trying to come to terms with the disappearance and eventual murder of a young woman, just 20 years old.

Our rituals are not just trivial or temporary. They document our lives and place the passing of time in context.

Tadjahs, the large mosque-like structures constructed for Hosay, are still solemnly cast into the water at the end of the festival.

Members of the Ifa/Orisa community pay homage during their yearly festivals to the gods and the forces of the earth, as they seek to strengthen the knowledge and togetherness of this community.

Hindu weddings are a display of colour and tradition over days, or they make pilgrimage to the river where rituals are done for married couples or children.

Our First Peoples still perform their smoke ceremonies, continuing the ritual traditions of their ancestors. As they hold the smoking vessel with incense and special herbs, and move their arms from earth to sky, they seek to reinforce that link between humans and the universe. Carnival is our cathartic ritual, grounded in cultural resistance, despite capitalist emphasis on the flesh.

Our TT Christmas allows us to briefly span culture and religion through the parang music, the ritual of visiting different homes and the explosion of celebratory events that lift the soul.

But how can we use the richness of these separate cultural and religious traditions to institute national rituals of reading to our children before bedtime, of teaching boys how to become men and girls to understand what it means to be feminine? How can we benefit from our combined stories, practices and traditions to create new social rituals that teach important values and help to knit us together? The earth shook this week to remind us not just of our collective responsibility to the planet, but to each other. As we bow our heads, ring the bell, bathe in cool river waters, or peer into the smoke for answers, it strikes me that we already know what needs to be done.

I understand the yearning of my friend for a ritual that is more inclusive, of which the entire society can feel a part. Unfortunately, we have operated separately for so long, it will take more than ritual to reclaim our sense of community.

Dara Healy is a perform a n c e artist and f o u n d – er of the NGO, the I n d i g e – nous Creative Arts Network – ICAN

His appointment was announced at the TT FA media conference at the Marriott Hotel, Mucurapo on Wednesday.

Shabazz served as coach of Guyana in three separate stints over a 10-year period and is a former TT women’s team coach as well as a former joint coach of the TT men’s team.

In explaining his role, he stated, “my role is not really as an active coach but it is to coordinate projects and programmes initiated by the technical director (Muhammad Isa) and the TT FA and get it up and running; and also to see if I can cut through the red tape and bureaucracy. For instance we need to get the women’s programme up and running. We have started by appointing Carolina Morace and it’s to now to get the programme on the move.” Shabazz will also oversee the TT FA’s Elite Youth Development Programme during his three-year appointment. “I will be focusing on the elite youth development programme sponsored by NLCB (National Lotteries Control Board), overseeing it and ensuring it is managed properly. I will also be involved in coach education and setting up courses and ensuring they are run properly throughout the length and breath of the country.

“The intention is to helps to develop our coaches and provide opportunities not just on courses but also by enabling them to travel overseas and spend time with a club. We have spoken about this in past administrations and now my job is to walk the talk,” he added.

He also intends to engage more football stalwarts in the country who were not being utilised sufficiently. “We also intend to engage a lot more with these persons.

There are a lot of minds in Trinidad and Tobago that are being under-utilised in football and they have so much to offer based on their experience. The Corneal family comes up, persons like Keith Look Loy and Everald “Gally” Cummings and others.

There are so many people who have made their mark and can contribute and we can find some niche for them to be able contribute.

“We are also going to consider the young coaches. And we have the next generation of coaches who need opportunity after they have given yeoman service in local football at the club and school level. This type of engagement could provide some employment opportunities as well.” Shabazz added that one of his projects would be to set up a programme for the Under-17 team to prepare for the next FIFA Under- 20 World Cup qualification under coach Russell Latapy.

“One of the projects on my agenda is to kickstart Latapy’s Under-17 team to have it become the next Under-20 team and Russell has already initiated plans for them to start (training) in January.

There may have been players he may have missed when he just came into the programme, but certainly he is now going to start the new Under-20 team which will be Under-18s for 2017 and he will have two years with that team and there will be some longevity there.

“Russell Latapy is an icon. As a player he has stepped of the field and he is now into coaching. He is very qualified. He can still go out there and demonstrate and excite the kids and show them how it’s done I think he has a major role to play in youth development and it also helps him with his future role to possibly take up the national senior team one day again,” Shabazz added.

Shabazz will also serve as a Technical Adviser in the TT FA.

“Part of my responsibility is to advise people in the TT FA and those who have technical responsibilities, coaching the national teams. For instance Carolina (Morace) is coming to Trinidad and Tobago as a very experienced coach in the world but will little knowledge of this country. I have had 20 years experience in women’s football and I would be able to advise her.

“Now I am very happy to live this new life to help other coaches and to open up other opportunities.

I know also about doors being closed, being discriminated against and be denied opportunities.

For me now it’s an enthusiasm to create opportunities for everyone.”

CEPEP General Manager, Keith Eddy, replied that on major projects CEPEP provides portable toilet facilities on a truck but it was the responsibility of the individual contractors to ensure toilet facilities for their gangs of workers. However Gopeesingh, who was backed up by former House Speaker Wade Mark, the chairman of the committee, rejected that explanation and said the responsibility belonged with CEPEP to ensure that its contractors were providing the facilities to the workers.

Committee member Shamfa Cudjoe said that earlier in the year it had been discovered that more than 80 percent of the CEPEP contractors were behind on making statutory payments including payments to the National Insurance Board (NIB) on behalf of the workers.

She asked whether that situation had been corrected.

Eddy said some of the contractors were still owing significant sums of money. He said the contract between CEPEP and the contractors stated that if they missed three consecutive payments they were deemed to be non-compliant and their management fees would be withheld. He said when the current management came into office some five months ago it found the situation, adding that if the previous management had followed the contract, the offending contractors would have been removed from the programme.

However, he said CEPEP had held talks with the NIB and about half the offending contractors were now compliant.

Mark asked if the contractors paid tax, but CEPEP’s Finance Manager, Jody David said the payment of tax was outside of CEPEP’s arrangement with the contractors and they were responsible for this. However, Mark asked Eddy to look into the issue of whether the contractors are paying tax as they are supposed to, saying he wanted to know if they were fulfilling their responsibilities.

He also asked Eddy what he planned to do about the approximately 70 “rogue” contractors who remained non-compliant in terms of their statutory payments, asking whether their contracts should be terminated. Eddy said the company has sought legal advice on the issue.

Eddy said CEPEP is being returned to its original mandate to build entrepreneurs, and contractors would be “graduated” from the programme after three years. He added that CEPEP’s mandate is to ensure that the contractors are trained and become business people at the end of their three-year stint in the programme although he admitted that the company has not yet officially informed the “core” contractors that it is going back to its original mandate – the “core” contractors were identified as those who had been in CEPEP for more than the intended three years.

Hosted by the Trinbago Unified Calypsonians’ Organisation (Tuco) in collaboration with Western Credit Union (WESCU), the final was staged at the Vas Lounge in St Clair, lending that upscale atmosphere to the competition.

Cagan won the $20,000 title with Singing Sandra’s (Sandra Des Vignes-Millington) “Ancient Rhythms”. She had her own drummers provide her with a rhythm. She nailed the performance and was given the most thunderous applause.

Second was Takeisha Melville (East Zone) who sang another Singing Sandra piece, “Dignity”.

Dressed like Sandra, Melville delivered a sound performance, akin to her mentor. She received $10,000. Meguella Simon (North Zone) also rendered a compelling version of Sandra’s “Dignity” that earned her third place and thus gave Sandra’s songs a clean sweep of the top three positions. Simon got the $5,000 prize.

Earning fourth spot was Lornette Nedd (Tobago Zone) who brought on dancers and delivered a spirited rendition of “People”, while Franklyn Garcia (South Zone) got the crowd in the Christmas mood with his delivery of “Leroy”, and earned fifth spot.

In sixth and seventh place were Vemell Wilson (South Zone) and Mark Eastman (North Zone) with “Hammer” and “Mae Mae” respectively, however, Allison Charles (East Zone) who sang “Raze” and had fans in the audience giving her total support could only muster eighth place.

Leno Ford (East Zone) singing “Feeling to Party” and Shay John (South Zone) with “Pump Me Up” placed ninth and tenth respectively.

Outside the top three, all other finalists each received $500.

Judges were fashion designer Ecliff Eli, news presenter Samantha John, and calypso/soca artistes Explainer (Winston Henry), Devon Seale, Karene Asche and Fay Ann Lyons-Alvarez. MC was Damian Melville.

The Trinidad and Tobago Police Service issued a press release last night identifying two men – Matthew Maharaj and Dale Seecharan – as being ‘persons of interest’ in the investigations into the murder of 20-year-old Banfield. Last night, police sources said that two men, one from El Socorro and the other from San Juan surrendered to police.

The search continued late last night for a third suspect. Assistant Commissioner of Police (Crime) Irving Hackshaw told Newsday that a manhunt was launched for all persons involved in the murder and he assured, “no stone would be left unturned” in the pursuit of suspects.

Police sources revealed that the two men who are among 14 persons employed at the warehouse and store, failed to show up for work on Tuesday and also failed to contact owner of the company Ishmael Ali as to the reason for their no-show. Officers spent several hours interviewing staff members of the store hours after a foul odour led to the discovery of Banfield’s bloated corpse on the third floor.

Rumours that she was stuffed in a freezer, were dismissed by investigators.

Banfield was last seen alive shopping at Pennywise and IAM and Co Ltd on Monday afternoon after leaving work at Republic Bank’s Independence Square, Port-of- Spain branch. According to police, at about 1 pm yesterday, a security guard employed with IAM & Co went in search of the source of a foul stench which was believed to be caused by a dead rat. He later discovered Banfield’s swollen body on a shelf, beneath a pile of boxes and bags littered around her. She was clad in her bank uniform. Near the body were her lunch bag and Pennywise bags containing items she purchased on Monday.

Relatives including Banfield’s step-father who is a police officer went to the scene and positively identified her body. At about seven o’clock last night, Banfield’s body was removed to the Forensic Science Centre in St James where an autopsy will be done today. While police were at the scene, Charlotte Street had to be cordoned off to keep back onlookers, most of whom appeared stunned as news of the discovery of Banfield’s body being found reached them.

In the southland, dozens of equally shocked persons could be seen standing on the pavement on High Street in San Fernando listening to news alerts on television sets and radios inside several businesses which reported on the discovery of the body. Businessmen along Charlotte Street said they noticed a foul stench permeating the area since Tuesday but they thought nothing of it believing it to be some dead animal stuck in drains beneath the pavement.

Reacting to news of the discovery yesterday, a close relative of Banfield told Newsday that CCTV footage showed Banfield entering the IAM & Co branch on Frederick St and made her way north towards Pennywise on Monday evening. “The footage shows she went to Iam first and then to Pennywise. I was on the phone with Shannon at 4.50 pm on Monday and I asked her if she got everything and she answered, ‘yes’.” Banfield told her relative that she was now heading towards the San Juan taxi stand en route to their home in Santa Cruz. The relative described Shannon as a loving person and that the entire family was left stunned on the news that she was found dead as they had been praying day and night for Banfield’s safe return to her McCarthy Street, Cantaro Village, Santa Cruz home.

(Additional reporting by Marlene Augustine)

Relatives said that 54-year-old Cheryl Aberdeen Cooper said she had no chance whatsoever at surviving the attack as she was shot several times in the head and chest. Her husband, who was also shot, remains warded at hospital.

Cooper who worked in the Community-based Environmental Protection and Enhancement Programme (CEPEP) was seated in her husband Carl Edmund’s car at about seven o’clock yesterday morning in the yard of their home.

The couple was about to pull out of the yard in the vehicle when a man, clad in white, approached the left side of the car, pointed a gun at Cooper and fired repeatedly.

As she slumped in the seat, the gunman turned his gun on Edmund and shot him. The gunman then walked off.

A report was made to police and Edmund was taken to the San Fernando General Hospital where he underwent emergency surgery for gunshot wounds to his arm. Up to press time, the killer was still at large. Cooper’s body was viewed by a district medical officer who ordered it removed to the Forensic Science Centre for an autopsy. Relatives yesterday were in a state of shock as they struggled to process what had taken place.

“I learned about it from one of my sisters, who called me around 8 am and told me that they shot and killed her (Cooper).

We are all just struggling to come to terms with the loss.

She was a very loving, caring, hard-working person and did not deserve to leave this world in this manner,” said a relative who asked not to be identified. While police said they had no evidence that Cooper’s murder was as a result of the land dispute that is before the courts, her relatives insist that there is a link.

Relatives have also claimed that Cooper had received numerous threats in the weeks prior to her being killed yesterday.

Officers of the Marabella Police Station and detectives from the Southern Division Homicide Investigations Bureau are continuing investigations.