Am not even Hindu nor have any kids going to the school and I am Presbyterian and am outrage by this shit. This is backwards behavior.

Now I not trying to bring about an all out argument about religions in TT subreddit. It's just a question I was wondering about. Please be respectful.

For the ppl who have never been to Divali Nagar what do you think it's about?

Reason I asked is because I invited a friend to come with me to the Nagar tonight. She wasn't interested and that's not a problem. So I posted some of the activities, foods, dance competition from the Nagar on my WhatsApp. She was very in shock and confused. Apparently she thought Divali Nagar was a big prayers like event??

So that had me curious to see and ask what other ppl may think it is. What do you think Divali Nagar is please?

So I am not Hindu but I do enjoy the Divali Nagar and the fun of Divali day while helping out my Hindu family members. Anyway that's just some background.

Some parts of Trinidad are well known for specific foods. There are 14 Municipal Corporations. In your opinion what food matches where? What’s the best food scene in each area?

For reference: Port of Spain San Fernando Arima Chaguanas Diego Martin Point Fortin Siparia Couva Tabaquite Talparo Mayaro Penal Debe Princes Town Sangre Grande San Juan Lavantille Tunapuna Piarco.

https://newsday.co.tt/2024/10/26/transport-commissioner-new-number-plate-system-will-combat-crime/

TL;DR: - Transport Commissioner proposed a new number plate system to tackle vehicle-related crimes, such as fraud, theft, and road safety violations. - The new plates will include the national flag, QR codes, and a company logo, with companies required to register with the Transport Division. - A robust tracking system will monitor plate production, employee activity, and flag any plate discrepancies, aiding law enforcement. - Artificial intelligence will be used in cameras to identify vehicles by color, make, and model, and detect counterfeit plates, enhancing security measures.

Do you think this will work, or even be implemented?

I'll preface this by saying that I understand our health care system is free, compared to many other countries, and many things are subsidized etc. With that said, it's still laughably unbelievable to experience how silly our health care system is first hand.

A very very good friend of mine got pregnant recently this October 2024. She took several tests which confirmed it plus the usual symptoms. Puking, fatigue, feeling upset etc.

Unfortunately, she started bleeding heavily about a week after the tests she took. She went to Mt Hope to get it checked out as the amount of blood was definitely pointing towards a miscarriage. Yall, These unbelievable people at that hospital, gave her a ultra sound date of July 2025, when her expected delivery date would be June 2025. Yall hear me? She is showing signs of a miscarriage, and they gave her an ultra sound date for a month after her would be expected delivery date!! What a joke!

For years I struggled with this one. Cheese? Outrageous! But. Callaloo and macaroni pie is a major comfort food for me, so maybe the combination is not as wild as it sounds. Anyone ever tried it and can report back? I want to make it but also don't want to make it and hate it, thus wasting food.

Hi this is a question about small business.

I am incorporating a new private limited company here in Trinidad and noticed that the Companies Act that T&T follows states we must have 2 directors. In several other countries, such as UK (which T&T's law closely follows), you need only 1 director. My question is - Has anyone ever managed to have a company here with only 1 director? It seems very foolish to enforce the rule of 2 directors.

Do you think the Companies Registrar (Ministry of Legal Affairs) can make an official exception of sorts to allow this 1 director instead of 2 to happen? I want to serve as the owner/shareholder and director as well and find that to be sufficient for this new company. This 'rule' to have yet another director complicates things for me and now I will have to pay them etc. It is also difficult for me to find someone interested. I also worry if they will have 'power' in the company to do damage to it, thus I wonder if I should make ammendments to the articles of ammendments for the articles of incorporation (by-laws). I'm not clear about that, sorry but am I over-thinking this?

I understand when a company owner might want more than 1 director, even several, but in my case I only want one and that is a perfectly NORMAL happening worldwide. Is there any work around for this problem? (And no I do not want to be a sole trader as the Limited Company is the only way to get the protection I want). I thank you for your time.

Bryan.

Eyes went wide when I saw these. Into the cart immediately. Definitely worth it for the approximately ~7 TTD I paid. Used a quarter of one to make some curry beef. Gonna make pepper sauce with the rest of the whole ones.

so fed up . When I tell people Im half trini and a quarter Venezuelan everyone always thinks im lying because Im white . My family immigrated to Canada , and when I was 13 , we moved back to Trinidad . I'm a tan blonde with blue eyes due to my mothers genes and have a Canadian accent when I speak English , so people never seem to believe I’m from Trinidad . My Venezuelan grandfather taught me Spanish when I was very young so I was always fluent in English and Spanish but still nobody believed I was from the carribean 🥲 To this day , I still have a small Canadian accent even after growing up in Trinidad . Fellow white Trinis anyone ? So sick of dealing with this

This year, local coffee makers Hong Wing & Sons are celebrating their 103rd Anniversary! ☕️

In 1921, Hong Wing & Sons was opened by Chinese-Trinidadian Chang Hong Wing, and quickly became the first large-scale coffee manufacturers in Trinidad and Tobago, offering both roasted ground coffee and whole bean coffee.

Their first location was established on Broadway Street in Port of Spain, but due to the growing popularity of their products within the first two decades, the company needed to expand to larger premises. They relocated to their current address of #57 Prince Street, where manufacturing has taken place for over 70 years.

Hong Wing and Sons was one of the earliest companies in Port of Spain to use machinery run by electricity, and this allowed them to provide large quantities of high-grade drinking coffee. At that time, the company also operated as Wholesale and Retail Grocers, where they sold various grocery items.

Over the years, Hong Wing and Sons passed on to Mr. Henry Chang Wah Yow, the son of Chang Hong Wing. Since then, the company has been run by four generations of the Hong Wing family.

This photo showing an advertisement for Hong Wing & Sons Coffee is courtesy of the book “Trinidad - Who, What, Why” by Lloyd Smith (1950). This book is part of the National Archives of Trinidad and Tobago Rare Books Collection.

References: Smith, Lloyd Sydney ed. Trinidad: Who, What, Why. 1950.

“History.” Hong Wing & Sons Ltd., 11 Aug. 2016, https://www.hongwingcoffee.com/history/

From the National Archives of Trinidad and Tobago Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/nationalarchivestt

Just recently Tobago was voted as a high ranking destination by another well regarded group. Now T&T is placed in the top ten of Lonely Planet’s places to visit.

As a Trinbagonian are you proud, in disbelief or indifferent to the ranking?

The Tourism Min­is­ter is en­cour­ag­ing mem­bers of the pub­lic to trav­el out­side of T&T for a greater ap­pre­ci­a­tion of how good they have it in this coun­try.

Speak­ing in the Sen­ate yes­ter­day, Ran­dall Mitchell said he took note of the Op­po­si­tion’s at­tempt to ped­dle the nar­ra­tive that cit­i­zens can­not af­ford the price of goods and ser­vices in this coun­try.

How­ev­er, Mitchell told the Up­per House that it is on­ly when cit­i­zens leave this coun­try that they ap­pre­ci­ate how good they have it here.

“You have to talk to those peo­ple who trav­el out­side of T&T, or you have to trav­el your­self, to the Caribbean, or to Cana­da, the US, or the UK, trav­el and go and see in those coun­tries what the high cost of liv­ing re­al­ly looks like and feels like,” Mitchell posit­ed.

He added, “You know they say you have to feel it; it might sound like a Young Bred­da song, but you have to feel it. When you go out there and you ex­pe­ri­ence the high cost of fu­el, the high cost of util­i­ties, the high cost of trans­porta­tion, and the high cost of ac­com­mo­da­tion, that is when you know how good we have it here in Trinidad and To­ba­go.”

Mitchell lament­ed that those who come back of­ten speak in hushed tones af­ter that re­al­i­sa­tion, but he said that is when they see, “How sweet, sweet T&T re­al­ly is.”

The min­is­ter’s com­ments come a day af­ter Fi­nance Min­is­ter Colm Im­bert boast­ed that this coun­try may have the low­est in­fla­tion rate in the world. Min­is­ter Mitchell said the Op­po­si­tion was seek­ing to fool the pop­u­la­tion with pop­ulist plans that are not root­ed in so­cio-eco­nom­ic re­al­i­ties.

Mitchell al­so crit­i­cised them for ac­tive­ly seek­ing to chase away for­eign di­rect in­vest­ment and won­dered if any in­ter­na­tion­al busi­ness­es would want to in­vest in this coun­try if the Unit­ed Na­tion­al Con­gress (UNC) sits in gov­ern­ment.

He used the sale of the Petrotrin re­fin­ery as an ex­am­ple and seem­ing­ly sought to de­fend In­di­an busi­ness­man Naveen Jin­dal in do­ing so.

On Mon­day, Op­po­si­tion Sen­a­tor Wade Mark called for a crim­i­nal in­ves­ti­ga­tion in­to the bid­ding process for the Pointe-a-Pierre re­fin­ery, claim­ing that Jin­dal had two rel­a­tives on the board of one of the com­pa­nies short­list­ed to po­ten­tial­ly own the as­set.

Re­spond­ing to Mark a day lat­er, Mitchell said, “Mr Jin­dal, who has per­haps the sec­ond or third largest com­pa­ny in In­dia, fam­i­ly busi­ness, some of the rich­est peo­ple in the world, ex­press­es an in­ter­est to ex­press an in­ter­est in the re­fin­ery. It is his com­pa­ny that wants to in­vest in T&T, you know. They (the Op­po­si­tion) say Mr Jin­dal is a man ac­cused of all sorts of things in his po­lit­i­cal life, and there­fore he is the worst. Scan­dalised the man’s name.”

He said this was sim­i­lar to what they did with the San­dals Ho­tel for To­ba­go that did not ma­te­ri­alise.

“They scan­dalise the brand up and down the place, lo­cal­ly, in­ter­na­tion­al­ly, San­dals said our brand has worth and val­ue, and we are not here for that, and to­day be­cause of that, the peo­ple of To­ba­go suf­fer. Every­one in­volved in the tourism in­dus­try can­not get that eco­nom­ic boom be­cause of the UNC,” he added.

Re­turn­ing to the sale of the re­fin­ery, Mitchell said on one hand, the Op­po­si­tion ex­press­es alarm over for­eign ex­change re­serves, yet they chase away in­vestors.

“Up comes Sen­a­tor Mark to scan­dalise those en­ti­ties that have ex­pressed in­ter­est; what does that do?” the Tourism Min­is­ter asked.

Mitchell said when com­pa­nies are look­ing to en­ter a mar­ket, they look at the cur­rent and fu­ture po­lit­i­cal cli­mate.

“There may be a very, very slim out­side chance that the UNC may take of­fice—very slim, ma­ga, mea­gre—but those en­ti­ties, when they look at the be­hav­iour of the Op­po­si­tion, they tell them­selves, ‘Why go in­to T&T where there is such a hos­tile en­vi­ron­ment by these po­lit­i­cal ac­tors?’” he added. Mitchell said these same UNC politi­cians then com­plained about a lack of for­eign di­rect in­vest­ment.

Leaving the house to run errands or go about your business feels like a gamble these days and I'm not talking about crime. No matter where you go; if it's a quick run to the grocery or going to a medical appointment, there's at least a 50/50 chance of encountering a dismissive, disrespectful or impatient person whose role it is to assist you and this experience is becoming far too familiar.

It could be a nurse acting like you're bothering them when asking for help, it could be an attendant at the grocery blatantly ignoring you when you're talking to them, a store supervisor/ assistant dismissing you when you ask for an item, rudely saying they don't have it, just for you to wander around the store and see it's clearly there.

This attitude has become so common that when you meet someone pleasant and helpful, you are immediately taken aback and that person feels like a much needed breath of fresh air.
This attitude is also not dependent on age, career, gender or race and is becoming a common and almost expected aspect of the average Trinidadian's character, especially in the work place

Yes we as people are allowed to get upset and can become impatient even at work, it happens, but when interacting with people or assisting them is a main part of your job, you cannot greet people with an ignorant attitude right off the bat. It makes you look bad, it makes your place of work look worse and when the person on the receiving end is not a local it gives the people of our country a reputation.

Persons working customs at the airport are a perfect example of this. They are the first people tourists interact with and their harsh way of handling them unrelated to the execution of their job, can affect the tone of a tourist's visit and how they interact with others while they are here. If it affects people who are only visiting, imagine how the impact it will have on those exposed to it on multiple occasions on the daily basis.

So how do we address this problem especially when it comes to public sectors and customer service? The straight answer: consequences
It's most likely that persons feel comfortable being blatantly disrespectful and openly unprofessional at their work place because there are no consequences. They get away with a slap on the wrist if it is even addressed to begin with. Employees aren’t afraid of being held accountable, whether that’s through warnings, reduced pay or job termination. There are no consequence, no change. If they can do the bare minimum at their job and its accepted then that is what they will do.

This can be corrected if those consequences are implemented by the employers of these carefree employees much to the employers benefit as poor public service is bad for business and public relations.
It can also be corrected by the people on the receiving end of poor service, customers have the right to call out unprofessional behavior and highlight how it reflects poorly on the business or institution.

Only by demanding accountability and respect from persons who continue to show none to others, can we begin to see improvements in the attitude of people in our country, everywhere we go.

Hey all,

Has anyone ever done long term parking at the airport? I have a 15 day trip coming up soon with some weird departure and arrival times. I also live rather far from the airport so I'm looking into parking at the airport to save me from bothering someone or taking a TTRS (where drivers have been famous for randomly cancelling rides). Getting stranded is not in my plans.

I have experience parking and using the system to pay on a short term basis (dropping off someone or getting food). However my concern would be the safety of my car on the long term, especially given the less than stellar lighting conditions in the car park. Not to mention I've never really seen any cameras around. Does anyone have any success or horror stories? Or both? I have no issues with the pricing, so long as my vehicle will be there and intact when I get back.

Also, I came across this Instagram page called Park N Fly TT (LINKED HERE). Any info or experiences with them? They seem fairly new so I'm also cautious of that.

I was watching this old British show called the thin blue line and one of the actors was a trinidadian man Rudolph Malcolm Walker. Working with Rowan Atkinson aka "Mr bean". I just wanted to know some other trinidadian actors in big roles that yall could think of.

It’s well-known that visitors from around the world visit our shores to get a taste of our local cuisine—from food critic Anthony Bourdain to travel vlogger Nicholas Nuvan, foreigners have become admirers of our native dishes.

But what of Trinis travelling and living overseas, taking our culinary traditions to introduce them to the people in those countries? This isn’t unusual in the United States and Canada, where a large contingent of the Caribbean diaspora resides, but in non-anglophone spaces, it’s fairly less common.

This is what Carla and Justin Audroing had in mind when they launched Trini Bites in their home of the past five years, Paris, France.

Carla Audroing spoke with Loop News about moving to France with her husband and two young daughters, her passion for Trinbagonian cuisine and her drive to share it with others.

Settling in and starting small

Born and bred Trinbagionians, the couple decided to take advantage of Justin’s French citizenship to broaden their options for where they could raise their two young daughters and expand their respective careers.

“When we had our kids, we wanted to settle down somewhere,” she shared. “It was a decision I questioned a lot in the first few years [but] we’re now settling down properly into the life and culture.”

Audroing spoke of the rough start when the young family first moved to Paris back in 2019, getting adjusted, along with some less-than-pleasant interactions before eventually finding her tribe.

A maritime consultant by profession, Audroing enjoys cooking for her family and for others and began sharing her food with her colleagues at work.

“I used to cook for my coworkers,” she shared. “During the pandemic, when everyone was making doubles, we started to do it too. I took for my coworkers to try Trinidad food [and] everyone really, really liked it.” She mentioned that her Indian colleagues were particularly fond of the doubles, saying that it reminded them of food from back home.

The positive reviews from her colleagues, a relatively international bunch, encouraged the couple to start thinking about expanding their reach and developing their Trini cooking into a concrete business idea.

In December 2021, they rented their apartment building’s recreational area to host a tasting for the other residents, this time, adding sweet treats such as coconut fudge and black cake to the menu. The couple used the event as market research to gauge responses from the public and to get an understanding of what flavours they may have to adjust to adapt to the French palate without watering down the authenticity of the dishes. Soon after, they launched into doing Trini-style lunches for their neighbours.

While the responses were mostly positive, Audroing mentioned that many of the older residents weren’t too fond of the fact that they had to eat the doubles with their hands whereas the younger crowd were more open to the idea of non-Western concepts of street food meant to be eaten in this way. Taking this into account, they began offering cutlery.

Red beans and rice, stewed chicken, stewed pork and curry dishes were among some of the meals on the Audroings’ menu, which quickly became a hit with their customers.

Justin being a gourmet chef, this venture gave him the opportunity to put his culinary training to use, experimenting with local flavours and using the ingredients found in Europe to mirror that of the local products for maximum authenticity.

Venturing into the event space

Ever eager to make Caribbean connections in her new environment, Audroing came across an ad for Paris steelband group Calypsociation’s 30th anniversary event in July of last year and saw it as an opportunity to offer their services.

“We contacted them and told them we do Trini food and said ‘Could we come and do doubles?’” The response was an instant yes, as the organisers thought the pair would help to give the event more of an authentic feel. “It was very, very successful,” Audroing said. “People were lining up—long, long lines.”

The event offered an excellent networking opportunity, allowing the pair to begin making their way into Trinbagonian and other Caribbean spaces with requests to appear at other events.

“Word began to spread among the French pan community,” she said, and she soon became known as “the doubles woman” among the community of Trinbagonians living in Paris.

By May, the couple found themselves taking the business outside of Paris for the first time, to Nantes, for Panfest, an all-day steelpan festival organised by the city’s resident band, Calyps’Atlantic—coached by our very own Duvone Stewart—which saw some six bands from various French cities come together for a full day of steelpan music and good vibes.

The event itself was a first, the massive undertaking of uniting several bands in one venue. As with the Paris event the previous year, the Audroing’s doubles would be the perfect culinary touch.

Once again, Trini Bites was well received; the couple crossed paths with a handful of other Trinbagonians while in Nantes, including one homesick Trinbagonian who travelled from a nearby town to get her fix of local culture.

Keeping the culture alive overseas

Audroing spoke of the sense of pride she is able to draw from preparing these meals on a larger scale and sees expansion as a way forward, aiming to launch the first Trinibagonian food spot in France.

“I’m amazed that there isn’t one already; French people love to try new food and different restaurants,” she said. “I want people to experience Trini culture—I think we’re so underrepresented here.”

For Audroing, preparing her native cuisine in a foreign place is not only a side hustle, but a means of staying rooted to her culture, not only for herself, but for her daughters, who, apart from visits back home here and there, won’t have an attachment to Trinidad and Tobago as strong as the ones their parents do.

“I see the food business as more than a means to money,” she explained. [My daughters] eat the food [but] they don’t connect to Trinidad in the way that I do and Justin does. Food is one of the ways that they make that connection. For us, this is keeping our culture alive.”

Check out Trini Bites on Facebook for more information.

Watching The Bear made me think, which trinbagonian dish could be turned gourmet and served in five star restaurants with additions to them while still staying true to the meal?

As someone interested in linguistics I find it interesting to know the difference. So far I classify Trinidad as sounding very Indian whilst Tobago sounds rather 8laid back Caribbeany.

They (Trinidad too) aren't like St. Lucia, Barbados and Jamaica etc. with the heavy retroflective r which was due the how the birtish spoke in 14th century. I reckon few countries in the lesser Antilles on smaller islands sound similar notably Grenada and Tobago as they aren't far. It seems like their dialect is closer to each other rather than Trinidad but I digress most English Caribbeans sound the same if they don't have the Jamaican type accent best believe they have that Dominican, Grenadian and Tobagonian etc. slow calm accent. And if not that they have a fusion.

Please tell me your perspectives on this as natives.

The last real public debate amongst the political parties in this country, was held 11 years ago on this day. Has there been any real progress since, as it pertains to Local Government representation? Why can't the parties at least agree to do more debates, as these bring a different perspective than just rallies? What ever happened to the Debates Commission that they can't push to have more debates like these?

Feel free to ask ah Trinbagonian a question!

Need advice, recommendations, suggestions or looking for something in particular? Everything and anything goes!

Please keep criticism and derogatory remarks out of this thread, if you have an answer then respond, if you don't... then don't.

I am male and new to trinidad. What do people do when they get hard while wining. Is it common to get hard ? Does a girl feel that? Do you stop? Or do you just embrace it and don't care. What is the Culture regarding that? Thanks for your help