Vernon Khelawan
By Vernon Khelawan =, vkmoose@gmail.com As I start this column, I want to ask my few readers a single question. Where do they think our society […]
by Vernon Khelawan, vkmoose@gmail.com We are now within days of celebrating Christmas 2021. Like the holiday season of 2020, we remain in the throes of the […]
By Vernon Khelawan, vkmoose@gmail.com Several months ago, almost at the onset of the vicious Covid-19 pandemic last year, I told my wife that shopping, for whatever, […]
By Vernon Khelawan, vkmoose@gmail.com It is not only in Trinidad and Tobago that devices (cellphones etc.) rule the world. They are global. In many instances they […]
By Vernon Khelawan, vkmoose@gmail.com Last Sunday, my charming and lovely wife Joan and I celebrated 56 years, as they say, of “wedded bliss”, a misnomer if […]
By Vernon Khelawan, vkmoose@gmail.com The ages of our criminals today seem to be getting younger and younger. And the reasons being proffered by qualified and unqualified […]
By Vernon Khelawan vkmoose@gmail.com In decades past and more recently during the Covid pandemic, the population seems to have become immune to bad news – murders; […]
By Vernon Khelawa, vkmoose@gmail.com With the Easter celebrations 2021 short circuited by the various COVID-19 regulations, as they were, is now history, we turn our attention […]
By Vernon Khelawan, vkmoose@gmail.com Remember those elementary school days when we used the refrain ‘Water, water everywhere and not a drop to drink’? This came back […]
By Vernon Khelawan, vkmoose@gmail.com What is our society, that of Trinidad and Tobago coming to? I ask this question because of what is happening here today, […]
By Vernon Khelawan, vkmoose@gmail.com Everyone is looking to 2021 with great hope and optimism. The hope first and foremost, is the opening of the economy and […]
By Vernon Khelawan, vkmoose@gmail.com We are fast approaching Christmas 2020 and for sure it’s going to be very different, thanks to the global pandemic— COVID-19. Our […]
By Vernon Khelawan, vkmoose@gmail.com It has gotten worse. I am speaking about our mail delivery system. The reason: I don’t know and I cannot explain why. […]
By Vernon Khelawan, vkmoose@gmail.com The world of local journalism and I daresay foreign, has lost yet another giant. Owen Baptiste or ‘OB’ as he was more […]
By Vernon Khelawan, vkmoose@gmail.com Here we are in the middle of another compulsory lockdown as the authorities try to fight off a second and more dangerous […]
By Vernon Khelawan, vkmoose@gmail.com In less than a week my dear wife Joan and myself will celebrate 55 years of (they say) wedded bliss. I put […]
By Vernon Khelawan, vkmoose@gmail.com The COVID-19 three-month lockdown has had a number of diverse and strange results. Imagine me, a journalist of more than 60 years, […]
By Vernon Khelawan, vkmoose@gmail.com Scientists and thousands of medical professionals are still puzzled over the speed of infections by this devastating coronavirus, fully cognisant that a […]
By Vernon Khelawan, vkmoose@gmail.com Life, as we know it, in Trinidad and Tobago today or even yesterday, has been turned upside down; inside out and probably […]
By Vernon Khelawan, vkmoose@gmail.com This column is a tribute to my younger sister, Barbara, of whom I am very proud, for the love, care, dedication, courage, […]
In one week, Trinidad and Tobago will go crazy, literally. The streets will be filled with almost naked women, topless men all dancing, gyrating and doing […]
Recently I came across a news item in a daily paper of a report prepared by the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) highlighting the most corrupt countries […]
For the life of me I cannot wrap my head around the situation surrounding the gasoline problem which affected thousands of motorists. The news reports say […]
Before I start pounding on my keyboard to write this column, I want to make it abundantly clear that I hold no brief for any political […]
By Vernon Khelawan vkmoose@gmail.com Well we really reach. Now we have seen everything. Nakedness, almost, in a church and a Cathedral at that. Scantily clad […]
What is it about our politicians that they cannot understand how to be completely honest with the people? I refer particularly to Finance Minister Colm Imbert […]
The motivation of the Integrity Commission (IC) to adopt the cultural Tobago tradition Speech Band, became clear recently at the competition’s finals at the Magdalena Grand […]
By Vernon Khelawan vkmoose@gmail.com Gerry Pemberton, a regular reader of this column, responded to the Morality in Public Affairs matter I wrote about two weeks ago […]
Remember a long time ago when our Chief Minister and first leader of the People’s National Movement (PNM) at the time, Dr Eric Williams gave this […]
When Ian Corbie, my travel consultant first spoke about a trip to Cuba, I was hesitant. It was a poor, communist Caribbean country populated mostly with […]
Three weeks ago, we buried one of our favourite, homegrown priests. Fr Hugh Joyeau was born in Trinidad’s first capital of St Joseph almost 70 years […]
How you treat your senior citizens is a reflection of the society in which you live. The criminal element has generally lost all respect or sympathy […]
There is still a strong belief among Roman Catholics in Trinidad and Tobago that you can buy your way into heaven. But God doesn’t deal in […]
Today is Father’s Day and it’s celebrated in much the same vein as Mother’s Day. Family gatherings and luncheons with the requisite drinks (alcoholic and non-alcoholic) […]
It did not take too much encouragement from this group to spend a do-nothing weekend in Rampanalgas (near Toco). There was no television and no newspapers, […]
Usually I do not comment on political happenings in the country. And this is simply because politicians, of whatever ilk, hardly if ever, put the welfare […]
Remember when ‘morality in public affairs’ was a phrase used very often by almost everyone in the country? More than 50 years after our independence, can […]
Decades ago, more than six at least, ‘Mother’s Day’ meant very little to myself and many other children of that time. We knew it was a […]
Please forgive me for returning to one of the biggest problems in Trinidad and Tobago…PROPER PARENTING. Imagine a 14-year-old student was killed during what reports describe […]
So now we have come to the end of another Lenten season. Praise God! We did our denials or maybe we paid greater attention to the […]
This society, in which we Catholics form an integral part and play a major role, has become very angry. It is reflected on our roads. It […]
I had planned to write some more on the season of Lent, which should create increased holiness and spirituality that this penitential season brings to us. […]
Catholics are people of great faith and activities such as pilgrimages and attendance at night missions or special prayer services are not expected to suffer from […]
YEAR after year, as a true born-and-bred Trinbagonian, I long for those days when Carnival truly displayed our ingenuity by producing good Calypso (humourous, satirical and […]
What a bloody start to 2019, which we thought would have been different. What was once a peaceful and beautiful country has turned into a nightmare, […]
My faith in the Calypso artform was restored following my visit to Trinidad and Tobago’s newest calypso tent ‘Back to Basics’ Kaiso Tent last weekend. Now […]
I start the column this week by posing two serious questions. Are you satisfied with the pace of our justice system? And secondly are you comfortable […]
“Dad’s first name is Peter and he lived up to his Catholic name because he was the rock on which our family was built.” So said […]
I gave a small chuckle when I read there were thousands of motorists lining up to have their vehicles inspected for mechanical suitability and roadworthiness and, […]
Let me begin by apologising to my readers and others for not wishing them a season full of hope, love and expectations full of spiritual fulfilment. […]
Would you say Christmas celebrations – the habits, customs and traditions – have changed over the years? I certainly do. The reason for the season, the […]
Soon we will all be caught up in pre-Christmas activities, shopping for gifts for children, loved ones, family and friends. Parties of all sorts will crowd […]
Today is the second day of the last month of 2018. It is the start of the Advent season leading up to the birth of Jesus […]
Many people living in Trinidad and Tobago are holding their heads and bawling or wringing their hands in apparent surrender to the criminal and gang element. […]
With increasing regularity, we get news that schoolchildren, primary and secondary, are engaging in fights, bullying and truly violent behaviour in many of the government schools […]
Towards the end of last month, Trinidad and Tobago experienced a flooding disaster unparalleled in recent history. We were spared any deaths but experienced great trauma. […]
Recently, on my annual trip to the cemetery to clean the graves of my deceased parents, grandparents, in laws and other family, I found myself in […]
Remember the Pony Express delivering mail decades ago? That was slow. However, in 2018, with all the various improvements and technological advances, mail in a developed […]
While everyone else is thinking about or analysing the recently read 2018–19 budget and looking at the different ways it will affect them, I prefer to […]
Trinidad, I am not too sure about Tobago, is in line for a world award—the world’s bumpiest roads. It takes the greatest toll on suspensions, shocks […]
As a boy I have always known ‘Uncle Syd’ to have a big heart, especially when it came to his many nieces and nephews. He […]
I remember when a few decades ago, as a little boy, you were embarrassed to wear a pair of trousers which had a hole somewhere, or […]
by Vernon Khelawan Today we celebrate Father’s Day and as good Catholics, do we really honour our fathers on their special day for who they are, […]
by Vernon Khelawan From where I stand, it would seem that the administration of the law is somewhat skewed: it is not equally or fairly applied […]
by Vernon Khelawan Ever heard of the word ‘Traffickliters’? It’s a small group of ex-employees of the Traffic Department of the former national carrier British West […]
by Vernon Khelawan Trinidad and Tobago, in more ways than one, is standing on the edge of a very deep precipice. And many of us are […]
by Vernon Khelawan Trinidad and Tobago has had five Presidents— all male until now. The sixth is Her Excellency Paula-Mae Weekes. This column takes great pleasure […]
by Vernon Khelawan I am almost sure to incur the wrath of the women’s groups that exist in Trinidad and Tobago. I write this following the […]
by Vernon Khelawan Before I begin this week’s column I want to make pellucidly clear that I belong to no political party. My interest as a […]
by Vernon Khelawan Years ago, we were disciplined by a few strokes on the hand with a leather strap and sometimes on other parts of the […]
by Vernon Khelawan The leader of Trinidad and Tobago, Prime Minister Dr Keith Christopher Rowley seems to be abdicating his responsibility. As I write this column […]
by Vernon Khelawan So many times you hear the question being asked, “Why is Trinidad and Tobago so lawless?” One doesn’t have to look very far […]
by Vernon Khelawan In just a few hours many Trinidadians and Tobagonians will succumb to the gay abandon that is our Carnival—a time of the year […]
by Vernon Khelawan Is it a lack of entrepreneurial acumen or the dependency syndrome of the ‘gimme-gimme’ culture which has finally caught up with two of […]
by Vernon Khelawan Forgive me for not understanding this new ferry issue. How is this government, which is always crying broke; no drugs in the hospitals; […]
by Vernon Khelawan People many times wonder why Trinidad and Tobago continues to be a lawless country. You just have to look around, listen and observe […]
by Vernon Khelawan First, I want to sincerely congratulate Archbishop Charles Jason Gordon on his ascension to the leadership of the Archdiocese of Port of Spain. […]
by Vernon Khelawan Today we stand on the cusp of a brand new year. What is in store for us in 2018 is anybody’s guess because […]
by Vernon Khelawan This is not the season to bother about the childish games being played out in our Parliament. The ‘kicksin’ is not funny anymore, […]
by Vernon Khelawan Weeks ago, I had decided to stay far away from the various political situations in our beloved country, but with each passing week […]
by Vernon Khelawan The recent incident at the Beetham was certainly a wake-up call for many. Protests are normal, but when advantage is taken of the […]
by Vernon Khelawan Many people are asking: What is happening to our beautiful country? They also ask where is it headed? The answer to these questions […]
by Vernon Khelawan When politicians come to you at election time, they come for one, single purpose – seeking your vote. At that time, they make […]
by Vernon Khelawan It would seem that Trinidad is making a concerted effort to turn around its thinking and bring to bear the Christian principles of […]
by Vernon Khelawan In recent times the number of natural disasters that are occurring around the world seem to be either increasing or our communications modes […]
by Vernon Khelawan It began with a small advertisement in the Catholic News titled ‘Captivating Cumaca’. As a little boy I was always fascinated by the […]
Vernon Khelawan We listened intently to the 2017–18 budget presentation in Parliament by the Finance Minister Colm Imbert but it sounded like we had heard similar […]
Two major hurricanes moved through the northern Caribbean within just days of each other, causing widespread damage, decimating several islands, even making some uninhabitable. Electricity went […]
by Vernon Khelawan Ten years ago, our government halted the operations of the more than 60-year-old airline British West Indian Airways (BWIA) because it was a […]
by Vernon Khelawan, vkmoose@gmail.com Just ten days ago we celebrated, as an independent nation, our 55th birthday. And now that all the various forms of celebrations […]
by Vernon Khelawan Three days ago, in celebratory mood, we observed the 55th anniversary of our nation’s independence. Some folks went to the beach, others partied […]
by Vernon Khelawan It was not long ago, in this very column I said what this country needs now more than anything, was proper leadership. I […]
by Vernon Khelawan Every week when you think Trinidad and Tobago can sink no lower up comes something to make things worse and so good citizens […]
by Vernon Khelawan, vkmoose@gmail.com I have long believed that the biggest problem we have in Trinidad and Tobago is one of proper management of our financial […]