Saturday, February 22, 2020

Circular No 955







Newsletter for alumni of The Abbey School, Mt. St. Benedict, Trinidad and Tobago, W.I.
Caracas, 22 February 2020 No. 955
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Dear Friends,
This issue includes news from Christopher Crocker.
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Chris Crocker <chriscrocker@waitrose.com>
Feb 3 at 7:24 PM
Hello Laszlo,
Thanks for an interesting couple of pictures.  
Looking at the Choir picture, I would say that no 28 could be me - but ..........!   
20 is  ? Herrera?  and 36 is Christopher Date.
19 is Alex de Verteuil.
Don't recognise any of the cricket team.
The pics I sent you are as follows - sorry you had to ask.
All taken in 1957/8
Have a good day.
God Bless
Chris Crocker
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Chris Crocker <chriscrocker@waitrose.com>
Jan 31 at 1:25 PM
Hi Laszlo,
Sorry to have taken so long to get back to you with the half a dozen photos I found in an old album. 
They are from my time at the Mount in the late fifties.
I left at the end of 58, I think! 
I must have been there three/four years having come from Mrs Jackson's prep school in Cascade, POS.
After completing my schooling, I went to The Savoy in London as a trainee.
I opened my first couple of restaurants in Sydney Australia and then came back to the UK and opened a series of crêperies/pancake restaurants which I sold.
In 1978 my wife and I set off from England in a sailing boat and went to Brazil where we stayed for nearly ten years - continuing in the restaurant business.
My wife Ursula wrote a slim volume on our trip which took us via Africa which is available as an Amazon Kindle ebook, and also as an audio book and I think a cd from Amazon US and Amazon UK    
It is called: "Spero" by Ursula Westmacott. 
Hurry, Hurry, while stocks last!!
We have lived in Sussex UK for the last 30 years and one of my major interests/hobbies is Brazilian music and I do a podcast on same. Check it out.
Will forward three more pictures by separate email.
Cheers
Chris Crocker
Ps:  I heard from George (Pud) Laquis the other day which was delightful!
Pps:  I am one of the lads in the photo in Circular 125  (March 2004) - 3rd from left.
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laszlo kertesz <kertesz11@yahoo.com>
Apr 6, 2019 at 11:29 AM
Hi Chris 
Circular No. 905 is out and would like to send it to you.
I am the photo archivist of the Circular, and its EDITOR.
Please could you have them scanned in the 500kb size or better.
Also, if there are names to be included.
The newsletter needs photos and articles
God bless,
Ladislao Kertesz, Class 1960
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Mon 21/01/2019 10:55
Hi there,
I was at the Mount in the fifties in a class with among others:
Brian Goddard,
The Johnson bros. (Castries),
Pud (?),
The Galt bros.
I think and at least one de Verteiul........
Look forward to hearing from you
Chris Crocker.
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Hi there Ladislao,
In Chichester in the south of England the other day I met Laurence Scott - a cousin of Rowena Tindall's (née Scott) a lifelong friend of mine.
Laurence, who was at the MSB seminary in the early sixties, told me about the Abbey School circulars etc.
I found them on the internet and lo and behold...... see attachment.
[I need more information so as to make corrections to the photo. Ed]
I am no. 4. 
How nice to see those photos and to recall all those guys from the dim distant past.
I must have left the Mount in late 58 or early 59. 
Brian Goddard was in touch some years ago when I lived in London but lost contact when I moved to Brazil.
I took my family to Trinidad in 2000ish but haven't been back since.
Good work.
Cheers
Chris Crocker
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Anthony Vieira
Jan 26 at 1:47 PM
Commentary:  2020 elections
Good evening, ladies and gentlemen.  This first commentary seeks to explain why I have decided to re-enter the political fray in 2020.
I am going to try to do at least 10 more of these comments before Elections.
The commentaries will be aired on the TV channels in Guyana. 
First of all, I want to inform the public that I was never a member of the Peoples National Congress political party, nor am I now, a member of the PPP Party.
In 2006 Stanley Ming invited me to join him on the one Guyana platform of the PNC/Reform, and I accepted.
As a result, Mr. Robert Corbin selected me as a member of parliament, and I went there as a front bencher shadowing Robert Persaud as Minister of Agriculture. 
At the end of 2009, I resigned from Parliament since I had encountered difficulties and I have already explained it to the Guyanese public in a commentary I did in 2011, and in several letters to the newspapers.
I returned to Guyana in 2011 and went into Congress place to inform Mr. Corbin that I had returned.
I took a very active part in the 2011 campaign, I did numerous TV informercials, I recorded 22 commentaries and got them aired, I also raised more than 15 million dollars for the PNC and Gap.
They did not see it fit to ask me if I would like to be on their APNU list and I did not make a big fuss about it.
In 2015 I again helped out, 15 infomercials and 5 commentaries, but again I was not invited to be on the APNU list and I had no intention of begging, if people don’t respect your talents, you should not force them to, they however knew I was available but no one thought that I could make any contribution.  
But from 2015 to the current date I observed, in total disbelief, the shenanigans being perpetrated by a party which I helped to get elected, as they committed act after act of incompetence, outright theft, total corruption and a complete disregard for our rule of law, I don’t have to go over these transgressions again now, or try to prove anything, the work of Mr. Christopher Ram, the Kaieteur and Stabroek newspapers, including Freddie Kissoon are there as my evidence.
I have children and Grandchildren who are still Guyanese, how can anyone or any party believe that they can make an oil deal like the one negotiated by Trotman and condemned by the entire world, and still hope to get re-elected?
I will be visiting this most important sector in one of the commentaries I will do soon.
Anyone remember Trotman telling the Public that he is equipped to negotiate with EXXON because he spent a month at Harvard learning how to debate? ONE MONTH??
But the nonsense did not end there, during most of 2019 I looked on in astonishment at the total disregard for our laws and even our constitution which were being violated almost daily with the most insipid and unbelievably stupid excuses.
This also I will plan to recap in one of my comments. 
In 2020 on the day before nomination day, I received a call from Dr. Irfan Ali who invited me to join his list as a civic member, and I accepted.
When I was in parliament between 2006 to 2010 Winston Murray and I worked very cordially with Dr Ali, and Komal Chand and Mr. Seeraj in the economics services and the Public Accounts committees.
You can be in opposition to people without being objectionable.
And, I have to practice what I preach; we don’t need to have all of this animosity in our politics which we currently do.
It is not necessary. 
So, the people who are saying that I am a traitor who jumped ship, can go to hell. 
I have now studied the PPP manifesto and I am convinced that I made the right choice.
Guyana will go nowhere with the current incompetent and corrupt crew.
They have abused our loyalty and support, spent all our money on themselves, and have given us nothing in return, except more vat and other taxes and a systematic destruction of the business community with taxes and a mountain of red tape to get anything done.  It is as if Desmond Hoyte never lived or taught us anything.  And all the way up the line to get any business started, there are numerous people with their hand stretched out in front of you for bribes as lubrication to help your application along.
Without a vibrant private sector, it’s the good old days of the 70’s and long lines again.
It is easy to say that oil is coming and all will be well, but too many countries suffer because their populations listen to this nonsense and blindly support their corrupt political leaders, and end up poorer than before they found their resource, which should have made them wealthy.
In a future commentary I will deal with some of the reasons why I have decided to accept the PPP’s invitation, but in our case I am sorry to tell you that all the ingredients to have a dictatorship feeding itself at our expense is already in place, due to the enormous power vested in the president and therefore the executive through the 1980 constitution.  And we can rely on no support from our weak and corrupt institutions which cannot function to serve us.  All of this is happening because of the racism which still plagues us and makes it easy to divide us and control us.
Anyone among you who thinks that it will be easy to overcome these difficulties for a rich future, will have to think again.
And so tonight I am asking you that for the next few weeks, listen to what I will be trying to say, and you decide if what I am telling you is true.
I have never lied to you before and I have no intention of starting now.
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EDITED by Ladislao Kertesz,  kertesz11@yahoo.com,  if you would like to be in the circular’s mailing list please contact the Circular
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Photos:
57CC0082CCR, Christopher Crocker
17LK1712FBRFA, Richard Farah
15LK3996FBIHA, Ian Haynes
17LK4186FBSBU, Stephen Bushe






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