Weighing the Two Evils

Weighing the Two Evils

‘Life’s a stage’ – At least that’s what some believe – and even if that’s not true what is certain is that we are always before an audience, apart from God Almighty, someone is always watching... and what great performance we put on sometimes! This is especially so when situations are presented to us which inevitably reveals our strengths and weaknesses. A startling revelation of how gullible a people we have become.


TSTT is presenting ‘singing sensation’ Beyonce Knowles on a silver platter to this country and one would think she – as was the case with other artist - would have been received with open arms, but on the contrary this is not so. There has been mounting criticism from all corners levelled against TSTT for bringing the ‘international superstar’. Early objections came from the Communication Workers Union who at the moment is engaged in negotiations for better pay packages. Also expressing great concern


are the country’s’ promoters and entertainers, citing it as an insult to the various artforms, especially since TSTT took the decision not to sponsor some Carnival shows. Of course, there are those from amongst the general public who believe this is totally unacceptable and surely there are those who would stop at nothing to get a glimpse of the diva, as was evident on the opening day sale of tickets where all VVIP tickets priced at $1600.00 were sold out.


Now what exactly is the big deal? I think we will would all agree, that if a company other than TSTT was responsible for bringing this “international icon” these very same Communication Workers would have been scrambling for tickets and it would not have mattered to them weather 10 million was spent or 30 million. To add to the joke, these very same workers would either stay away from work or go into relax mode for Carnival thus causing a decrease in production, losing thousands of dollars in revenue. These very same workers would spend hundreds of dollars on Carnival tickets and alcohol and possibly drugs. It forces one to ask what positive use they would have put their money to if they had received that increase. Of course, when it comes to the promoters and entertainers it’s a totally different fight, but is it a fight for the art form or a fight for the hefty returns. Why is it only around Carnival time there is all this hullabaloo surrounding promoters and entertainers? Why not all year through? It is a well known fact that foreign content dominates the airwaves in this country, so why not make a fuss about this throughout the year? I guess the real big question here is who is insulting who?


To those who think that spending 10 to 30 million dollars to have a semi-nude woman entertain us is immoral and a total waste of time and money, hats off to you; but wait... are you not the same group of people in company of your children who would line the streets for Carnival and glue yourself to the television set to be immorally entertained?


Is it not a well known fact that Trinidad and Tobago Carnival is one of the worst immoral shows on earth; it attracts the most amount of drugs and lewd acts; spiralling the spread of communicable diseases and unwanted babies? It really amazes me how we think sometimes.


Now for the ones who think its ok; you are part of the reason why this country is in the mess it is today. You turn a blind eye to what would potentially affect us in the future. You eat, drink and merry yourselves at the expense of the less fortunate and vulnerable in society. You think a demoralized society is cool. What is so cool about a woman thinking the only way she can get people like you to appreciate her is to deliver her message in a semi-nude state? How sick can we ever become? Where is the voice of the women liberalising movement? It is clear by these accounts neither the coming of Beyonce nor Carnival would benefit our twin island state but would rather bankrupt our already dwindling sense of morality. Whatever good therein would be overpowered and drowned by evil. This is not a question of which is the lesser of the two evils but a question of what is right and wrong, what pleases God Almighty and what doesn’t. This type of negative behaviour breeds contempt of God's Law, which is an indication of how gullible our society have become; sick and unaware of the consequences... in reality, the natural course of our actions.


Umar Abdullah
Head of Waajihatul Islaamiyyah (The Islamic Front)


Tel: 1 (868) 787-0765/365-6253
Email: waajihatulislaamiyyah@gmail.com