Refusing to change

So change is in the air in Trinidad, political change.

For well over eight years, the ruling party here has stifled many of its own citizens while fattening their own pockets. We're listed very high on the corruption index, no wonder.

And now, on the eve of a no confidence vote in parliament, a snap election is called. This is something so many of us have been waiting for - a chance to get these wicked, egomaniacs out of power. We go to polls in a month's time.

This is a gonna be a fight to the finish. Most of us seemed anxious to get the government out of office.

But sadly there are many who will still vote the ruling party back in power. The reason - race. Politics in Trinidad is of the tribal kind, based on race. The ruling PNM is mainly black (or Afro-Trinidadian for the sake of political correctness), and the opposition UNC is mostly east Indian (Indo-Trinidadian). Some stupidly myopic citizens have been quoted as saying they will vote PNM again just because 'indians are for indians' so they must be for their 'own kind'.

To that I ask how small minded can you be? For a party that has engaged in blatant misuse of public funds, unapologetic corruption and for their absolute incompetence in fighting rising crime levels; for all of this our current government needs to be flushed out of power.

Change comes whether we want it or not. For those who are unwilling to smell the change that is coming (because it's not hard to miss really), for those who insist on sticking by a party that only serves a select few, even neglecting their 'own poor black people'; for those persons there is no hope. You are putting race before country and shame on you for being so racist. In such a multi-cultural society as ours, shame on you for not seeing the truth about this government. It is plain to see, anyone who has a brain can see the rotten and hateful job this government is doing to ALL of us!

The current PNM administration is the worst government this country has ever seen. But have no fear, change is coming and hopefully the good guys will win a landslide victory this time. You can feel it in the atmosphere.

God knows we need change. We need to save our land from the vultures that hold office.

May 24th is our liberation day from our bondage.

A year and a half over in 20 minutes

I just spent the last year and a half of my life studying for my music exam, Grade 6 to be precise, with the Associate Board of the Royal Schools of Music, London. I sat Grade 5 back in 1998, so I had a lot of revising to do to get to this level.

I practiced daily the three pieces I would play, along with the scales and arpeggios. I sight read constantly (which was a thorough pain in the arse for me as my sight reading is absolutely horrid), and to top it all off, I took aural ear-training lessons weekly. Before all of this, I had no idea what the word 'aural' even meant.

I'm glad to say that for the most part the exam was okay, although my sight reading was bad. I did try my best, but still, there's tons of room for improvement.

But what amazes me is how we can spend so much time preparing for something and when that moment comes, it passes so quickly in comparison to all the time spent in anticipation.

The exam was over in 20 minutes, that was it!

I'm glad it wasn't longer, but the ratio is 1 & 1/2 year(s): 20 minutes

I remember when I graduated from university a few years ago, and as we all walked on and off stage to collect our scrolls I thought 'Is that it? Four years of studying for exams and mid-terms which we all acknowledge now by walking to collect a certificate in public. The certificate collection process took less than a minute for each of us.

It's strange but the public display of any procedure (whatever it may be) could never truly reflect all the preparation that it took to get to that point. What we see as the end product, as great as it may be is only a glimpse of all the hard work that it took to get to that stage. But still, it's noble to acknowledge persons and certain events in public.

The end is not the goal, it's the journey that's the true lesson, the true joy. At the end of it all, we all wonder 'Now what?'

Anyways, I'm glad the exam is over and now, I gotta start getting ready for Grade 7. Oh boy!