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Minding our business; Demming criticises name and tone of Dr Rowley’s address
Dennise Demming
Wednesday 9 January 2019
‘Mind your business’ is the theme of the recent address to the nation by Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley in his 40th month as our leader.
It was unfortunate in its naming, content and style. The fact that it is now popularly referred to as the Prime Minister’s ‘power point presentation’ is indicative of how it was received by some members of the population.
The name speaks loudly to the intention of the authors. The use of the possessive ‘your’ versus ‘our’ indicates the lack of interest in the well-being of the nation as a collective and attempts to say it is someone else’s fault.
Permit me to say, Mr Prime Minister, it is ‘our’ business which you sought our permission to preside over. You applied for the job, so it cannot now be ‘mind your business’. It is ‘our business’. The naming of any presentation is critical because it frames and contextualises the intentions of the authors. Until you demit office, ‘our business’ is your business.
At the end of this two-hour missed opportunity, the content is still out of the reach of the man in the street. Despite the literacy rates we boast of, the average person would have struggled with the graphs and their conclusions. Some may have been stumped by whether it was a line or a curve and the difference between a vertical and a horizontal bar chart.
My MBA colleagues would laughingly remember when one of my lecturers concluded that the graphs were a signal for Dennise to sleep during class. Graphics are important but this was an example of how not to use graphics as a communication tool.
The style of this presentation confirms the obliteration of the line between governance and politics. Framing an activity as an ‘Address to the Nation’ raises certain expectations both in terms of form and function.
Former US President Barack Obama used technology and aced his addresses on every occasion. Why can’t our leader engage us and speak heart to heart?
The function of an ‘Address to the Nation’ is to speak to the collective, not to the tribe. We will regret the day that this line was blurred.
As of 7 September 2015, Dr Keith Rowley became the Prime Minister of Trinidad and Tobago and not the Prime Minister of the PNM and its supporters. This address further alienated the approximately 340,000 persons who voted against the PNM.
Once again, the Prime Minister has failed to engage the hearts and minds of the population. As the curtain begins to close on this administration, I wonder what would be the lessons learned.
From my perspective, I have a greater resolve to focus on accountability, collaboration and transparency in an attempt to nurture a Trinbagonian identity despite our origins.
You forgot EliteautoDe Dragon wrote:^^^
In other words, JUHN Scarfy eh care 'bout no non-PNM, non-financing, non-family people. Only preaching to the already converted like many of the mindless sheep here like Redman and Tokesy.
De Dragon wrote:^^^
In other words, JUHN Scarfy eh care 'bout no non-PNM, non-financing, non-family people. Only preaching to the already converted like many of the mindless sheep here like Redman and Tokesy.
rspann wrote:De Dragon wrote:^^^
In other words, JUHN Scarfy eh care 'bout no non-PNM, non-financing, non-family people. Only preaching to the already converted like many of the mindless sheep here like Redman and Tokesy.
Dog, ent the man say to mind Yuh 4kin bizness?
The 1% carries out secret meetings with their boy when they are ready to call him.maj. tom wrote:PNM financiers does probably want as much distance from Rowley as possible. The man is an embarrassment to anyone who could read a CXC English paper and interpret histographs on a CXC Maths paper.
maj. tom wrote:PNM financiers does probably want as much distance from Rowley as possible. The man is an embarrassment to anyone who could read a CXC English paper and interpret histographs on a CXC Maths paper.
shogun wrote:toyota2nr wrote:Rovin's Audio wrote:how come not ah single man from d unc eh get charged though ?
cause they split it with thieves from d pnm since all of them teefing but blaming each other ? ...... hmmm
Because the PNM never had any evidence of such but knew that if they keep making empty allegations that some dotish person would believe them.
Riiiiight.
But wait, weren't you one of the many tuners who's favorite catchwords and names were "corruption" and "Calder Hart" during the Manning administration? So, you equally dotish then? What did Kams do when she got into office? Hell, I even gave her my vote because I was convinced she would deal with it.
I watched Kamla see video of one of her ministers in a hotel room with drugs and questionable characters and STILL tell the country with a straight face that she wasn't convinced. And it was only because of public pressure she finally did the right thing. You think Rowley could get away with that? Couple that with leaving Jack fricken Warner as acting PM in her absence alone and I know I could never trust her with my vote again.
I agree with Rovin though. If by the end of the PNM's term, no UNC minister, or UNC hanger-on isn't at least facing charges related to corruption in office, then it only proves the corruption only made a change of hands.
toyota2nr wrote:Given the last three years my catchword will remain corruption. This has been the most incompetent, dishonest, corrupt government in the history of T&T. As bad as you believe the last government was it was never as bad as it is now. This government has destroyed the economy and has brought everything to an almost standstill. At this point we are at a crossroads when it comes to our election. I will vote for anyone except PNM.
paid_influencer wrote:toyota2nr wrote:Given the last three years my catchword will remain corruption. This has been the most incompetent, dishonest, corrupt government in the history of T&T. As bad as you believe the last government was it was never as bad as it is now. This government has destroyed the economy and has brought everything to an almost standstill. At this point we are at a crossroads when it comes to our election. I will vote for anyone except PNM.
I agree with this, with the exception about the crossroads coming at the election. The PNM is massively unpopular even among their traditional base. The PNM will lose the election.
The crossroads will come midway through the next government. The new administration will have to deal with a country that is broken in every sense of the word. The segment of the population that would not riot under a PNM gov't, will riot under a UNC government.
That is the problem we all have to figure out.
ProtonPowder wrote:The UNC is too split and polarised to get back in power. It have unc, cop, pep, panday new party and whatever else in the pipeline.
There are no disenfranchised PNM ppl.The_Honourable wrote:ProtonPowder wrote:The UNC is too split and polarised to get back in power. It have unc, cop, pep, panday new party and whatever else in the pipeline.
Exactly, this is the big problem. Besides the unc split, once a charismatic afro-trini is absent in any new party, most afro-trinidadians will be skeptical and will either vote PNM or stay away from the polls.
PNM have most of the afro-vote on lock unless Rowley ultimately facks up between now and 2020. Many don't like him, but will vote for the party and not necessarily the leader. There is the possibility that disenfranchised pnm supporters may stay away from the polls as a "silent protest" against the party which puts them in a vulnerable position.
D Diesel Report wrote:One thing is for sure, Trinidad and Tobago went from the jewel of the Caribbean to the laughingstock of the Western Hemisphere.
Dat is achievement!
sMASH wrote:D Diesel Report wrote:One thing is for sure, Trinidad and Tobago went from the jewel of the Caribbean to the laughingstock of the Western Hemisphere.
Dat is achievement!
imagine, u have a son, and u want him get a job. so u buy a maxi and give it to some random fella to work it, so that he would employ ur son as a conductor. u not even charging the man a commission to operate the maxi, u tell the fella to fix up, jess give the boy a wuk.
sometimes the maxi driver could buy oil and filter from you, and u could make a small change, but really he will source his own materials from else where. and, is only sumtimes they hire ur son to conduct, many times they take on their own conductor.
substitute, 'maxi' for 'sandals'
D Diesel Report wrote:One thing is for sure, Trinidad and Tobago went from the jewel of the Caribbean to the laughingstock of the Western Hemisphere.
Dat is achievement!
sMASH wrote:D Diesel Report wrote:One thing is for sure, Trinidad and Tobago went from the jewel of the Caribbean to the laughingstock of the Western Hemisphere.
Dat is achievement!
imagine, u have a son, and u want him get a job. so u buy a maxi and give it to some random fella to work it, so that he would employ ur son as a conductor. u not even charging the man a commission to operate the maxi, u tell the fella to fix up, jess give the boy a wuk.
sometimes the maxi driver could buy oil and filter from you, and u could make a small change, but really he will source his own materials from else where. and, is only sumtimes they hire ur son to conduct, many times they take on their own conductor.
substitute, 'maxi' for 'sandals'
PM defends Venezuela strategy
Clint Chan Tack
THE Prime Minister yesterday defended his government's approach towards the ongoing political, economic, social and humanitarian crisis in Venezuela. Dr Rowley made no comment on TT being one of eight countries to abstain from the Organisation of American States (OAS) vote not to recognise the legitimacy of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro's new term in office.
But Dr Rowley rejected the Opposition Leader's claim that government strategy to deal with the Venezuela crisis was jeopardising TT's geo-political and economic future. He said he was aware of only three instances in recent times when "TT's interests were jeopardised on foreign and Caricom affairs."
All three instances happened under the former People's Partnership government. The first instance, Rowley said, was when then prime minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar told Caricom TT was not their "piggy bank." The second instance, Rowley continued, was when "we allowed the Caricom Single Market and Economy (CSME) to be dropped from the regional agenda in 2011."
Caricom leaders held a special meeting on CSME in Port of Spain last month. At that meeting, a decision was taken to expand the categories of workers who qualified under the CSME. Rowley identified the third instance as being when TT's former permanent ambassador to the United Nations Rodney Charles held a meeting with controversial French presidential candidate Marie Le Pen, when she visited New York.
He said TT was "shamed and severely embarrassed" when against all understanding and advice, Charles went to lunch with Le Pen. Rowley said Le Pen was shunned by every other country at that time, except TT"who sold out its self-respect for a meal in a restaurant."
Efforts to contact Foreign and Caricom Affairs Minister Dennis Moses for comment on TT's decision to abstain on the vote at the OAS last Thursday, were unsuccessful. On that day, 19 countries supported the resolution not to support the legitimacy of Maduro's presidency.
Moses attended Maduro's inauguration in Caracas last Thursday. At last Thursday's post-Cabinet news conference at the Diplomatic Centre in St Ann's, Communications Minister Stuart Young said it had long been TT’s policy to recognise the legitimacy of Maduro’s regime. He said Moses' presence at Maduro's inauguration, speaks for itself.
matr1x wrote:Vision 2030 is to make Trinidad like Somalia
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