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ADDRESS BY HER EXCELLENCY CHRISTINE CARLA KANGALOO ORTT, PRESIDENT OF THE REPUBLIC OF TRINIDAD AND TOBAGO ![]()
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THE TOBAGO HOUSE OF ASSEMBLY![]()
— 27TH SEPTEMBER 2023![]()
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Madame Presiding Officer; Honourable Members of the Assembly…![]()
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I should like to begin by thanking Madame Presiding Officer for enabling me to be here, by extending to me the invitation to address you this morning. Permit me to thank, as well, the staff of the Assembly, for the courtesy and the kindness that have been shown to me throughout my visit. And permit me especially to thank all of our Honourable Assemblymen for their faithful and dedicated service to the people of Tobago and, by extension, to the entire country. ![]()
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On September 11, I had the similar honour of addressing the country’s Parliament on the occasion of the Ceremonial Opening of the Fourth Session of the 12th Parliament of the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago. In the course of my address on that occasion, I stated that there were a number of areas on which I hoped Parliament might see it fit to focus during this upcoming Session and I listed just five (5) of them. On the following day, it was reported in the Guardian Newspaper that the Chief Secretary had said “I think it’s about time and I’m hoping in this parliamentary session—although the President didn’t make that one of her wishes—I’m hoping that it will be the wish of the current parliament in the current session, for us to revive matters concerning the autonomy for Tobago.” ![]()
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Let me speak to this briefly. ![]()
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There are some matters which, as President, one adjudges are best first raised at fora especially - if not exclusively - created for their articulation and attention. The matter of autonomy for Tobago, I adjudged to be such a matter. It is not that I do not wish for autonomy for Tobago. There are few things that I wish for more. Rather, it was with care and deliberation, and with an abiding respect for the people of Tobago and for its democratic institutions, that I had determined, even then, that I would raise the matter of autonomy of Tobago, in Tobago first, with the people of Tobago, and in this place - created exclusively to treat with all matters Tobago. ![]()
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And so, let me put to rest any anxieties over what it might have been believed I was not wishing for, as I addressed the Parliament on September 11. Let me assure you that the matter of autonomy for Tobago, is one that I regard as absolutely critical to the proper development of our country. And, today, on September 27, 2023, let me say to the people of Tobago, in Tobago, and in this most esteemed forum, that, like the Chief Secretary, I, too, think it’s about time for us to revive matters concerning the autonomy of Tobago. And let me explain why.![]()
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The matter of autonomy for Tobago is not new. Every Chairman and Chief Secretary of the Assembly – from the revered Arthur Napoleon Raymond Robinson to our present dynamic and able Chief Secretary – has raised the matter. It is the most burning issue in the relationship between our two islands. And, it is not in the least bit surprising that this should be so. The issue emerged the moment that, and in the manner in which, our two islands were joined together – not by the instinctive and spontaneous will of a people, but by a tactical and strategic manoeuvre of a colonial power, who promulgated an Order in Council in 1898, and declared that our two islands should be joined with effect from January 1, 1899. Like so many unions at that time, ours was a union of socio-economic and political convenience. It was a union imposed upon our people from on high. ![]()
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To our credit, we have worked hard since then to make successful, a marriage that had been arranged for us by an imperial power that controlled us at the time. But, for that marriage to be a healthy and a successful marriage today, the parties to it must, as all successful marriages require, each develop their own independent identities and fulfil their individual potential. It is only when each partner is allowed to develop his or her own fullest potential, that each is then able to return to the other, larger than when first they came together, and strengthen and deepen their underlying union. It is idle to talk of a perfect marriage. But it is essential to work towards a marriage in which each partner feels that his or her individual identity and individual aspirations, are not only respected, but are supported. As Kahil Gibran put it in his famous poem on marriage: “Sing and dance together and be joyous, but let each one of you be alone, Even as the strings of a lute are alone, though they quiver with the same music”.![]()
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The question of autonomy for Tobago is the question of how to let each of us be alone, yet remain a part of the same, indivisible whole, and all the while quiver with the same music of a single national identity. ![]()
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It is not that, as a people, we have not earnestly been trying to answer that conundrum. We have been trying to answer it for more than 100 years. The history of our attempts at answering it is well-recorded. In her book The Union of Trinidad and Tobago – A Historical Perspective, Dr. Rita Pemberton comments that since in the early 20th century, there was in Tobago discontent that the island was made a ward, or administrative district, of Trinidad. Many in Tobago felt that their views and needs would be largely overlooked by the government in Trinidad. ![]()
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By 1977, that discontent had risen to such a level that, in the House of Representatives in Port of Spain, Former President Arthur Napoleon Raymond Robinson, in his speech on Internal Self-Government for Tobago, was driven to tell the nation that:![]()
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“The purpose of this motion is to place a substantial part of the responsibility for the conduct of Tobago’s affairs fairly and squarely where it belongs; that is to say, in the hands of the residents of Tobago themselves…and let me make it absolutely clear, whatever the outcome of this motion, whether the members opposite vote for it or against it, the fact of the matter is that from today self-government for Tobago is on the national agenda and it will not be off the national agenda until it has been achieved.”![]()
I believe that, at this juncture of our country’s history, our task, the signal importance of which has escaped neither the Chief Secretary nor me, is to fight to keep the question of Tobago’s autonomy on the national agenda, and to strain every muscle in us to struggle for its advancement and attention, until it is achieved. ![]()
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In doing so, we need, I think, to build on our past attempts at legislative measures to secure Tobago’s autonomy. There have been many such attempts; but there need to be more. We have passed and repealed the Tobago House of Assembly Act, 1980, and have replaced it with the Tobago House of Assembly Act of 1996. These attempts at putting in place suitable arrangements for self-governance in Tobago, as welcome as they were, have not gone quite far enough. I believe that the time has come for there to be a new, and it is hoped, a final legislative push to secure autonomy for Tobago. ![]()
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That time is now; and history will not absolve us if we, those who sit where we do at this time in our nation’s history, do not do that which is required to secure Tobago’s autonomy, once and for all, by legislative means. Never, in our nation’s history, have the attempts to do so been more insistent, more consistent, and more feverish than in recent times. One has only to look at the recent history of these attempts, to recognize that the rhetorical questions of “If Not Now – When?”; and “If Not Us – Who?” have already begun to be answered. Permit me to share briefly, that recent history.![]()
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It was the Assembly itself, which, in 2007, restarted the discussion on the way forward towards internal self-government for Tobago. That discussion gave birth to a series of consultations, held over the period 2014 to 2016, led by a forum of the leaders of political parties in Tobago. ![]()
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Those consultations were followed by a debate in the Assembly on a Draft Bill To Amend the Constitution Of Trinidad And Tobago To Accord Self-Government To The Island Of Tobago Within The Unitary State Of The Republic Of Trinidad And Tobago. ![]()
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In 2016, a draft of that Bill was debated in the Assembly and transmitted to Cabinet. In consequence, in March of 2018, The Constitution (Amendment) Tobago Self Government Bill was introduced in the House of Representatives and referred to a Joint Select Committee. ![]()
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Between 2018 and 2020, the Joint Select Committee examined the Bill, clause-by-clause. During that period, the Committee received written submissions and held twenty (20) public hearings with stakeholders and local as well as international experts, sourced through the United Nations Development Programme. The Committee itself held fourteen (14) meetings during which the clause-by-clause review of the Bill was conducted with the assistance of the Office of the Chief Parliamentary Counsel, and draft legislative proposals were prepared.![]()
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In July of 2020, the life of the 11th Parliament, and with it, the Joint Select Committee, ended, but not before the Committee recommend that “the very significant work done to date … be used as the foundation for continued work in the Twelfth Parliament to accord Tobago self-government”. ![]()
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During one of its previous sessions, on October 14, 2020, the 12th Parliament introduced, and had read for a First Time in the House of Representatives, The Constitution (Amendment) (Tobago Self Government) Bill, 2020. Between May and June of 2021, a reconstituted Joint Select Committee recommended, and it was agreed that what was originally a single Bill should be separated into two (2) companion bills – namely, The Constitution (Amendment) (Tobago Self-Government) Bill, 2021 and The Tobago Island Government Bill, 2021. The 2 companion Bills are currently on the House of Representatives’ Order Paper at Committee Stage. ![]()
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We are therefore closer today than we have ever been as a nation, at according Tobago that to which no one can reasonably dispute Tobago is entitled – the autonomy to make its own decisions about its own individual identity and its own individual aspirations. That is why I have said that the time is now; and that history will not absolve us if, at this juncture of our country’s history, we fail to secure autonomy for Tobago by legislative means.![]()
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Having arrived at where we are in this long and arduous struggle, what is now required is for us to push our representatives, both in the Assembly in Tobago and in the Parliament in Port of Spain, to take us over the finish line. That Government has seen it fit to save that Bill from the last Parliamentary Session, and put it on the Order Paper for this Parliamentary Session, is a step the significance of which should not be underrated. But, for the Bill to be passed, a special majority is required in the Parliament. And here, I want to join with Independent Senator Dr. Maria Dillon-Remy’s call, in her article printed in the Express Newspaper of Saturday, September 23, 2023, to the Chief Secretary and the people of Tobago, to intensify their advocacy for the required legislative interventions to be had. Those interventions should include suggested amendments to the current Bills, if necessary. ![]()
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Senator Dillon-Remy’s call is for efforts to be directed, not just towards the Government, but towards the Opposition as well. There are those quick to discount efforts at collaboration across the aisle in Parliament. But our Constitution would not have called for special majorities if its framers did not contemplate exactly such collaboration among Government and Opposition and Independent Senators, in the first place. As President, I echo the call of Senator Dillon-Remy. And today, I give you the assurance that I will continue to lend my own voice to the rising chorus of all who seek better constitutional arrangements for the people of Tobago, in which Tobago’s identity and individual aspirations are not only respected, but are supported. ![]()
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It is said that on his third voyage to the Americas, Christopher Columbus spotted and named this island Belaforme, because even from a distance, he could imagine how beautiful it was. If Columbus had had the opportunity to land here, his suspicions would have been confirmed, as Tobago was and remains one of the jewels in the crown of the Caribbean Sea. I believe that it is high time that we treat and respect Tobago for the jewel that it is.![]()
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In his address to the House of Representatives in 1977 to which I referred earlier, Former President Robinson lamented that “….[Tobago] is “the only island in the Caribbean where the masses of its people never had any say whatever in the determination of their destiny… Self-government, in a modern democratic sense, has been a thing unknown to Tobagonians. Everybody else has had a substantial say in the determination of the destiny of Tobago except the masses of the people who live on the island”.![]()
My hope and my prayer are that those descriptions of this jewel’s history and of its experience, will, soon and forever, be a thing of the past. As Former Chief Secretary Hochoy Charles, once said, “Of all the tributes we are paying, I think the greatest tribute that the country, the government, the parliament and the people can pay to Mr Robinson is to make sure that they … give us our internal self-government so that the people can get along with their lives”. And so, I call upon all of us gathered here today to make sure that the struggle begun by those before us, to accord autonomy to Tobago, is finally won.![]()
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I have spoken thus far of the required legislative interventions required to secure autonomy for Tobago. That is certainly an indispensable element of the struggle. But it is important to remember what it is that we are struggling for. We are not struggling to break each other down; and we are certainly not struggling to break our union apart. Quite the opposite - what we are struggling for is to make our union better. And in the end, what we must always remember is that we are struggling for a better Trinidad and Tobago. ![]()
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In closing, I hope that it is not later said that because I did not today mention matters such as the challenges with the sea and air bridge, and economic development in Tobago, that these have escaped my attention. Please believe nothing of the sort. Be assured that all of the matters that affect the lives of the people of Tobago are always at the forefront of my mind and are always in the centre of my heart. Because I have not mentioned these and other matters, one by one, does not mean that I do not care about them. I care about them all. It is only that today, I have chosen to focus on an overarching constitutional arrangement for Tobago, and on a legislative architecture, that will put into the hands of Tobagonians, the power to effect meaningful and direct changes where these, and all matters Tobago, are concerned. ![]()
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I thank you for kind attention and I wish you the very best, as together, we all continue to serve the people of Tobago.
Upon the invitation of the Presiding Officer of the Tobago House of Assembly Ms Abby Taylor, Her Excellency Christine Carla Kangaloo ORTT, President of the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago will address the Assembly at the Assembly Legislature, Jerningham Street, Scarborough, Tobago at 10am today Wednesday September 27.![]()
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Prior to her address, Her Excellency received the Honourable Farley Augustine, THA Chief Secretary at The Villas at Stonehaven.
At a ceremony held at The President's House yesterday, Her Excellency Christine Carla Kangaloo ORTT, President of the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago conferred National Awards on the following distinguished people:![]()
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Order of the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago (ORTT)![]()
Professor Emeritus Clement Imbert![]()
Professor John Agard![]()
Professor Pathmanathan Umaharan![]()
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Chaconia Medal GOLD ![]()
Dr. Bruce Paddington![]()
Dr. Jacqueline Sharpe![]()
Mr. Langston Roach![]()
Mr. Sieunarine Persad Coosal![]()
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Chaconia Medal SILVER ![]()
Mr. Ainsworth Mohammed![]()
Dr. Calvin Inalsingh (Posthumously)![]()
Mr. Carlos Hee Houng![]()
Ms Francine Edwards “Singing Francine” (Posthumously)![]()
Mr. George Leacock![]()
Dr. Radica Mahase![]()
Mr. Ray Funk ![]()
Mr. Rishi Lakhan![]()
Professor Surujpal Teelucksingh, M.O.M.![]()
Mr. Ray Funk![]()
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Hummingbird Medal GOLD ![]()
Mr. Azamuddin Khan![]()
Mr. Azim Bassarath![]()
Mrs. Carol Ann Birchwood James![]()
Shihan Marva John-Logan![]()
Mr. Reynold Howard![]()
Mr. Richard Escalante![]()
Mrs. Rukminee Holass Beepath![]()
Mr. Samuel Badree![]()
Mr. Wayne Bertrand (Posthumously)![]()
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Hummingbird Medal SILVER![]()
Mr. Ashton Ford![]()
Mr. Carl Birjah![]()
Dr. Daniel Parks![]()
Mr. Eric Mc Cree![]()
Mr. Harvey Borris![]()
Imam Imtiaz Ali (Posthumously)![]()
Mr. Jim Phillip![]()
Mr. Kenneth Ferguson![]()
Pastor Wilma Kelly![]()
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Hummingbird Medal BRONZE ![]()
Miss Rachel Bhagwandeen (Posthumously)![]()
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The Public Service Medal of Merit GOLD ![]()
Mr. Anthony Bartholomew![]()
Ms Beverly Khan![]()
Mrs. Enid Zephyrine![]()
Mrs. Gwendolyn Loobie-Snaggs![]()
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Mr. Leslie Reuben Hoyte![]()
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The Public Service Medal of Merit SILVER ![]()
Mr. John Lopez![]()
Mrs. Yasmin Rahaman-Singh
Message from Her Excellency Christine Carla Kangaloo ORTT, President of the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago on Republic Day 2023![]()
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Fellow citizens, on August 31, 1962, Trinidad and Tobago became an independent nation. Independence meant that the country was no longer subject to British rule. It meant that we now had the freedom and the legal power to dictate our own future. It was the biggest step that we had taken up to that time in our country’s journey towards full self-determinism. It was a defining moment in our country’s history. ![]()
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However, notwithstanding our independence, the nation remained a constitutional monarchy, recognising the British monarch as the country’s official head, who was represented locally in our governmental system by the office of Governor General. Securing independence had gained us legal sovereignty, but the aspiration to be a fully self-governed nation was yet to be fulfilled. ![]()
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Fourteen years later, on 1st August 1976, the people of Trinidad and Tobago finally attained full self-determinism and full sovereignty. We became a republic—a state in which supreme authority rested with the people and their representatives, and in which our constitutional head became our President, as opposed to the British monarch. ![]()
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At the time, we were only the second independent nation in the British West Indies to achieve republican status. Since then, Dominica and Barbados have been welcomed into the republican fold, with several others only recently signalling their desire to follow suit. Some would say – and not without justification - that our country has always led the way.![]()
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Assuming full command of our destiny was no mean feat. It required the architects of our struggle for republican status, as well as the people they represented, to draw heavily upon the values and qualities intrinsic to us as a people. Courage was required to complete the separation process from colonial power, and to well and truly go it alone. Another requirement was confidence—confidence in our ability as a people that, as our beloved and departed Black Stalin sung, “we can make it if we try”. We had to have vision for a brighter, bolder, better future, crafted by and for Trinbagonians. ![]()
47 years on, these qualities are still very much part and parcel of our process of nation-building. These qualities are relevant now, more than ever before, as we face challenges of various kinds. ![]()
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On this Republic Day, amid the hurly-burly of everyday life, let us pause and replenish our supply of courage, confidence and vision, and let us remind ourselves of the reasons that those who forged our liberty believed, not only that we would make it, but that we would thrive. ![]()
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We are still a courageous people. Our grit has enabled us to rise head and shoulders above the challenges and growing-pains that afflict us, whether they be political stalemates, economic crises, environmental disasters, infrastructural dysfunction, or institutional failures. To say that we do and will rise above these afflictions is not to say that we look at our difficulties through rose-coloured glasses. Not at all – it is rather to say that we acknowledge our difficulties for the extremely serious challenges that they are, but that we tackle and we overcome them, time and again, by reason of that unique Trinbagonian resolve that lives inside each of us. ![]()
Trinbagonians are an unquestionably confident and self-possessed people. We are found in every corner of the planet, making a name for ourselves and our nation by our intelligence, our talent, our humour, and our creativity. We have had horses in the most prestigious races, distinguishing ourselves time and again on the biggest stages of world sport, beauty, fashion, film, academia, arts and culture. ![]()
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47 years along our journey of full self-determinism, we may not be precisely where we want to be - but we know where we are going. We are a nation, young both in years and at heart, ‘small but overwhelming in worth’. Let us continue to work toward realising the full scope of our sovereignty, together. As another of our beloved and departed sons, Merchant, sang - “Come, let us build a nation together”. ![]()
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As we journey toward our 48th year of republican status, my hope and my prayer is that we do so with an enhanced sense of national pride and purpose. ![]()
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I extend to the people of the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago best wishes for a safe and enjoyable Republic Day.
Her Excellency Christine Carla Kangaloo ORTT, President of the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago addressed the 27th National Youth Awards—Celebrating the Excellence of Trinidad and Tobago’s Youth—21 September 2023![]()
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Good evening.![]()
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As you can imagine – and as I am learning – a President’s diary can get filled up by an innumerable number of engagements; and a President can get pulled in a million different directions. A President’s heart, however, is never as filled up as when she is invited to an engagement like the one we are having this evening – one which focuses on, and celebrates, our nation’s young people. In the case of an engagement such as this, a President is pulled in one direction, and in one direction only – towards the talented and enthusiastic young people whose achievements we have gathered here this evening, to honour. You have no idea how proud I am - as a Trinbagonian, and as a President – of all of you young people here this evening, and of how privileged I feel to have been asked to join in this celebration in recognition of youth excellence and achievement. ![]()
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As you can also imagine from what I have said, I am extremely grateful to Minister Foster Cummings for his kind invitation to address this 27th iteration of the National Youth Awards, as it gives me the opportunity to convey, personally and directly, my congratulations and gratitude to those young people who have distinguished themselves in service to the nation and, in so doing, have made their parents, their communities and the entire country proud. Each of you has put your shoulders to the wheel and achieved outstanding success. Each of you is a walking and living and breathing embodiment of the truism that ‘anything worth having, is worth working hard for’. Each and every one of you therefore fills me with tremendous hope and confidence for the future of our country. ![]()
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When I was growing up, a popular saying was that children ‘ought to be seen and not heard’. This evening, I can honestly say that I am happy that the young people here today either never heard that saying or, if they did, that they were wise enough to have ignored it completely. The young people whose successes we acknowledge today, have not achieved what they have by being shy wallflowers or shrinking violets. They have accomplished what they have by being a fearless and confident bunch of young people who made a conscious decision to pursue excellence and, having done so, have now emerged as beacons of light and inspiration for our entire nation. ![]()
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One of the things that pulled me immediately in the direction of being here this evening, is that this evening’s ceremony offers a welcome respite from the usual daily diet of negative reports about young people, and gives the country a timely and a much-needed glimpse into the wealth of talent and ingenuity that resides within our nation’s youth. This country’s National Youth Policy admonishes us to remember that ‘young people should be seen as engines of growth, rather than a problem to be addressed’. Established in 1985 to ‘award, celebrate and validate the outstanding contributions of Trinidad and Tobago’s, these National Youth Awards, are, I would imagine, a critical tool in advancing the National Youth Policy and, I am certain, in reframing the narrative about young people. ![]()
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I believe that a knock-on effect of celebrating the excellence of the young people we gather here to honour this evening, is that in celebrating them we will inspire other young persons to follow in their footsteps. I am confident that your accomplishments will encourage others of your age-group - some of whom have, sadly, found themselves involved in all forms of antisocial behaviour - to re-assess their life’s direction; abandon their present course; and, thanks to the example you have provided, to start their lives over. ![]()
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When I was growing up, another popular saying was “To whom much is given, much is expected”. This time, that is one of the sayings to which I hope our young people will actually listen. Growing up, I understood that saying to mean: “If you have done well, you should then try to do good”. You have all done extremely well; and so I believe that the challenge is now for you to emerge from this positive experience and to go out into the world and do good. That is why I was so pleased to learn that you have an opportunity, almost immediately, to do good in the world by becoming mentors in your own right. As the 2023 National Youth Awardees, you will be engaged immediately in a number of activities with the Ministry of Youth Development and National Service that will enable you to do good in your communities and across the entire country. You will have the opportunity to participate in various outreaches as spokespersons; to promote the work and strategic objectives of the Ministry via traditional and social media; and to attend various expos and events and give addresses on various platforms. In a word – you will have the chance to be role models. And, if there is one thing of which we can all be certain, it is that good youth role models are desperately required in our country today. In this age of social media, where online influencers and gurus spread unwholesome and sometimes toxic opinions and advice about how young people — especially young men — should think and conduct themselves, our this year’s awardees have, not just the opportunity, but, I believe, the responsibility, to speak another truth into the world about young people – the truth that you, and others whom you will inspire, are good, and decent, and brave and talented and gifted and able. In addition to the example you have set and the inspiration you have become by dint of your impressive achievements, you have the further opportunity, through the outreach work upon which you are about to embark, to change the narrative about young people – once and for all. I invite and exhort you to do so: it is the young people who, in the end, are the best advocates for themselves. ![]()
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I was also extremely pleased to learn that the awards given this evening go well beyond the usual but important spheres of endeavour such as academia and sport, and extend into diverse developmental fields such as Environmental Sustainability and Preservation; Youth Service and Humanitarianism; Leadership and Advocacy; and Health and Wellness. And here, I want especially to congratulate the Ministry of Youth Development and National Service, for recognizing and for understanding that, in order for our young people to be made ready and to be better prepared for all of the challenges of the modern world than we adults were, youth excellence has to be expanded beyond the traditional spheres that those of our generation knew, and has now to embrace those categories of endeavour that are being recognized and rewarded this evening. Unprecedented and ever-evolving challenges such as the climate crisis, increasing crime and conflict, global health crises, social media and the effect of technology on jobs and the world of work – such as Artificial Intelligence - will require young people to think differently and creatively and to draw upon new skills, in order successfully to navigate the new realities they are facing. Very soon, our present generation will have to give way to our young people; they will be in the driver’s seat sooner than we realize, and it is up to us to ensure that they are suitably equipped, trained and mobilised to take the wheel and steer us all into a better tomorrow. How fortunate we, as a country are, therefore, and how deeply grateful our nation ought to be, for the Ministry’s insightfulness and progressive thinking in identifying and immersing our young people, now, in areas in which they will be required to act in the future.![]()
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This focus on excellence in matters and things beyond the traditional, is, I believe, vital to our young people’s and to our country’s well-being. I believe that what our country needs, and what our young people are being called upon to guide us towards, is the recognition that excellence is more than being outstanding at a particular or in a single endeavour. True excellence encompasses our being the best, al-round human beings that we can be, in everything we do - no matter how small, and no matter how large. It calls on us to excel, not just at accomplishing things, but at developing better attitudes, mindsets and habits, and to live better lives, day in and day out. To round off your journey in excellence, you, our young people, now need to ensure that along with your warranted accolades and your deserved successes, you work towards growing your character, sharpening your moral compass and increasing your commitment to civic duty. Accomplishments, as important as they are, are only a part of the wider cosmic picture that you are being called upon to paint. And so, I encourage you to build upon your successes and to sow the seeds of selflessness, generosity, and compassion toward your countrymen. Become a contributor, rather than a consumer. Find ways to give back to the communities that have raised you. Get involved in a charity, for example. Or, get involved with a non-governmental organisation, or with any other form of community or national service. Let your motto be three words: “Give; give; and give”. Remember what I was told as a child: “To whom much is given, much is expected”.![]()
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Parents, mentors, counsellors, and teachers, I also want to congratulate and thank you. Your support was undoubtedly critical to our young people’s success. Providing a loving, supportive, forgiving, and a caring environment for young people is among the most important things an adult can do – that you have done so, and done so well, is written all over the faces of the capable, well-adjusted and talented young persons whom we honour this evening. On behalf of a grateful nation, I say thank you.![]()
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And so, my dear young people, I encourage you to keep at your passions; never settle, and never believe that you are too young, or too insignificant, to achieve. Never believe that lie. Believe, instead, the truth that tonight is just one big step in your journey to huge success. I am proud to witness your moment in the spotlight. Stay the course, even when the going gets rough. Three days from now, on Republic Day, I will be bestowing national awards on a number of persons who have given outstanding and meritorious service to our country. Perhaps in a few years, you too will be recipients of our nation’s highest awards if you keep up the good work. ![]()
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I pray that each and every one of you will achieve your greatest potential. It will be the privilege of my life to witness all of you doing so.![]()
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Congratulations once again, and good evening.![]()
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I thank you.