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  • 10 months ago
Academic and Historian Professor Selwyn Cudjoe feels that there should have been the widest possible consultation before deciding to put the steelpan on the country's coat of arms.

Tv6's Nicole M Romany tells us more.
Transcript
00:00Professor Kujo has some concerns over the plans for the new Coat of Arms.
00:06Despite the unanimous support in Parliament,
00:09Professor Kujo described it as an arbitrary move that goes against democracy.
00:14He says there should have been a national discussion before a final decision was made.
00:30We don't have a committee or a competition.
00:32Why everything is so much in haste?
00:34You're going to die tomorrow morning, is that it?
00:36You're not going to die tomorrow, so you've got to do it in a week rather than a year.
00:40We do not think through changes.
00:43And everybody's just over here, applaud or shake hands or praise us.
00:46We do not think through and that's going to be oversteering.
00:49Professor Kujo says everyone keeps talking about moving away from colonialism.
00:55However, he tells TV6,
00:57the way this decision was undertaken for the country's highest national emblem
01:02does not resemble democracy.
01:04The emblem that represents us,
01:07it seems to me there should be input of all of the symbols, of all of the citizens.
01:12That's the non-colonial way of doing it.
01:15In this case, what we are repeating is the colonialist way,
01:19the strongman, the governor, the colonel secretary.
01:24Professor Kujo also suggests that if changes are to be made,
01:28those changes should reflect the multicultural aspect of Trinidad and Tobago.
01:34There are three major blocs in the country, that is to say,
01:37the African bloc, the Indian bloc,
01:41and of course the other cultures, the Chinese, Portuguese, etc.
01:47It seems to me if the coat of arms is a symbol of the nation,
01:53it should involve all of these elements of these three dimensions of our people.
02:00Now, the steel band, I guess it comes from behind the bridge,
02:04but it's really an African tradition.
02:06It comes out of the tambo-bambo.
02:08He says, while he's proud, the pan is now recognised as the national instrument, he believes.
02:15Consideration for having three elements is more important than simply having one symbol.
02:22Nicole M Romany, TV6 News.
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