Vernon Khelawan

A nation of prayer warriors

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 […]

A time to share and care

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 […]

‘Foodemic’ in the pandemic

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, […]

Don’t touch, it’s just ‘wet paint’

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 […]

Support for the Church’s message on Marriage

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 […]

Factors, equations, and solutions to reduce crime

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 […]

Dad, watch your tie…

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; […]

Off to work on an inter-island seaplane

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 […]

The water wheel keeps turning…

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 […]

More than a village to raise a child today

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, […]

Going nowhere fast…

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 […]

Christmas present… and in the past

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 […]

Please bring back my mail person

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. […]

‘OB’ lived and breathed journalism

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 […]

Not a desired position…

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 […]

Making it work in Marriage

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 […]

From printer’s ink to planting pak choi

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, […]

Wait and see – life in the ‘new normal’

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 […]

The microbe, love, and hope

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 […]

Kareem was truly special

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, […]

Mas today nothing to see

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 […]

Buckled up for Flight #2020

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 […]

Messing around with million$

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 […]

When a ‘local’ seems like a ‘general’

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 […]

Party before country

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 […]

The more things change…

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 […]

Tobago students learn ‘It nah yours. Leffum’

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 […]

A society doing its own thing

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 […]

Matters of public affairs

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 […]

A Cuban visit

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 […]

Remembering a good ‘St Josephian’, Fr Hugh

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 […]

Virtues not in vogue

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 […]

It takes all kinds for parishes to live

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 […]

Dads, be there for your children

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) […]

Not seeing the light at Point Galera

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, […]

This, that, the other…

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 […]

A crackdown on corruption

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 […]

Those mothering moments

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 […]

What was far away, now seems close…

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 […]

Let’s inject love and change society

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 […]

Turning life around this Lent

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 […]

Simply maintaining a tradition…

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. […]

Connect. Restore. Change. It’s Lent.

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 […]

Show me your velvet…

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 […]

Seeking solutions

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, […]

A kaiso tent that takes you back…

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 […]

Justice and Health – Where are we going wrong?

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 […]

Peter was everything to everybody, but family first

“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 […]

Last-minute, and looking for a ‘bligh’

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, […]

Dare to be different

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. […]

What’s missing from Christmas today

Would you say Christmas celebrations – the habits, customs and traditions – have changed over the years? I certainly do. The reason for the season, the […]

The world is mine

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 […]

In the midst of uncertainty, make Advent real

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 […]

As our society strays

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. […]

Parenting ills

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 […]

Loving thy neighbour…

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. […]

Lighting up the past

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 […]

Real snaaaaail mail

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 […]

Changing our litter legacy

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 […]

Riding our wavy roads of potholes

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 […]

A tribute to our ‘Uncle Syd’

  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 […]

Fashion high

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 […]

Good family life must be at centre of special days

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, […]

An imbalance in the scales?

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 […]

An association working to better society

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 […]

Forgiveness – integral to life and society

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 […]

Shine your light, Madam President

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 […]

What our women’s groups should do

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 […]

More in the mortar…?

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 […]

Suffering children – are we for real?

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 […]

Show leadership, Mr PM

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 […]

Problematic is spelt ‘PH’

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 […]

Let’s talk prayer & forgiveness

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 […]

Year-round business

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 […]

Out of the blue…

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; […]

Total disorder

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 […]

My hopeful New Year promise

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. […]

Hoping for change in 2018

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 […]

Christmas–An opportunity for true forgiveness

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, […]

No escaping the issues

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 […]

Reaping the whirlwind

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 […]

A ‘revolution’ to counter the kicksin’

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 […]

MPs, it’s not about power, but service

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 […]

Floods brought out our best

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 […]

Disasters and the environment: is there a link?

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 […]

Captivated by ‘Cumac’

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 […]

Time for better service to seniors

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 […]

I support the PM’s call

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 […]

Where’s the development?

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 […]

Taking matters in hand

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 […]

Heal our broken land

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 […]

Leaders – born not made

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 […]

A matter of trust

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 […]

Are we watering down the brandy?

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 […]