CHIEF JUSTICE SPEAKS

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Chief Justice Ivor Archie is seeking one day to speak  his mind freely on matters.  This comes following  comments on him being under attack as a public official. The Chief Justice, a former student of the Bishop's High School in Tobago spoke over the weekend,  as the Bishop's High school  celebrated one hundred years, under the theme, 'Honouring the past, celebrating the present, charting the future by God's grace'.   Elizabeth Williams has more.

Transcript

00:00Chief Justice, rapidly, do you ever wish that you could speak more freely?

00:06Yes, and in due course I intend to.

00:10You have to be careful when you're in leadership positions

00:12that you don't let people dictate the narrative and dictate the agenda.

00:20And I know the politicians on the platform know that only too well,

00:24you know, that if you become responsive and all you're doing is responding to attack,

00:31then that's what occupies your energy.

00:35You cannot hold any position of authority or leadership for any significant time

00:41without coming under attack.

00:43Chief Justice Ivor Archie, as he spoke during the Men in Leadership Forum

00:48at the Bishop's High School in Tobago,

00:50moderated by Ira Mathur, Chief Secretary Fali Akustin, also a former student,

00:57spoke of him being suspended following a fight in school.

01:01And there is this student tormenting me again.

01:05And this time it got physical.

01:08And I got my first suspension from the lady who is now the principal of Bishop's High School.

01:14She was my former teacher then.

01:16And so I'm going home with this suspension.

01:20I think it was about two or three days.

01:22And in those days you have to carry the suspension home

01:24and your parents have to sign on the slip, you know,

01:30so that you can return to school.

01:33And, you know, stupid me, give it to my parents to sign.

01:36I could have just probably forged my parents' dignity and pretend it away.

01:39But I gave it to my parents.

01:42Of course, I went a whole notherly feel at home

01:45because your parents from country send you to tongue to fight

01:50and to be war-wish in class.

01:53So there was a whole nother story at home.

01:56And that was to me the only real testing moment.

02:01Former student and former Prime Minister Dr. Keith Rowley stated drama assisted him in public life,

02:10especially when at school he did not know what he wanted to become.

02:14Dr. Rowley also referenced Chief Secretary Farley-Augustin during his comments.

02:20At the time, I didn't know what I was going to become or what I would need to do.

02:24But I had to, and I loved it.

02:26I loved drama.

02:27I loved to speak to an audience.

02:29And in the end, it turned out that I did that for most of my adult life.

02:35And very well, too.

02:36So we have some things here which are extremely valuable,

02:41which at the time when they're being instilled, you take them for granted.

02:45That story that Farley spoke about being spoken to by people in the street,

02:50the same thing happened to me.

02:52When I passed to come to bishops,

02:54there were four of us in our village that was going to bishops.

02:57And I can't think of the number of adults who gave me a stand-and-stop-and-listen lecture in the road.

03:04You're going to black kids' school now.

03:07Don't go down there and la-la-la-la.

03:09We just, you've got to lecture from people.

03:11So when you thought of deviating or underperforming,

03:15you think of those people.

03:16Elizabeth Williams, TV6 News.

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