“I have come that they may have life and have it more abundantly” – John 10:10 Last Sunday my son Bevan and I, basking in the euphoria that is Dubai, continued our travels to Singapore. We were confirmed in Business on Emirates for the Dubai to Singapore leg (seven hours flying). We stopped in Colombo, …

“I have come that they may have life and have it more abundantly” – John 10:10 When I checked in at the Air Jamaica counter in Barbados heading for New York, a week ago last Saturday, I was blessed to be upgraded to Executive Business Class, the airline’s recently rebranded product. The check-in service was …

“Give all your worries and cares to God, for he cares about what happens to you” – 1 Peter 5:6 We are confronted on a day to day basis with what we perceive to be one problem or another. Many get consumed with the negative emotion of worry to the extent that they cannot see …

“Be cheerful. Keep things in good repair. Keep your spirits up. Think in harmony. Be agreeable. Do all that and the God of love and peace will be with you for sure” 2 Corinthians 13:11. As a management consultant, a strategy consultant, a change-engine consultant, one is indeed an advisor to business about efficient management …

“May He give you what your heart desires and fulfill your whole purpose” – Psalm 20:4 We are now into the seventh week of the year; 42 days have gone galloping by. What are we doing this year that is different from last year in our quest for “Happiness – a way of mind and …

“Now I have come to explain to you what will happen to your people in the future, for the vision concerns a time yet to come” – Daniel 10:14 The Future Centre, under the aegis of Counterpart Caribbean, is being developed as an exhibition site to stimulate awareness of the need for holistic sustainable development …

“I am not telling you this because I need anything. I have learned to be satisfied with the things I have and with everything that happens. I know how to live when I am poor, and how to live when I have plenty. I have learned the secret of being happy at any time in …

“The man who had received the five talents brought the other five. ‘Master,’ he said, ‘you entrusted me with five talents. See, I have gained five more.’ His master replied, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Come and …

January 17, 2007 EDWARD HARRIS AT LARGE WILL VISAS REQUIREMENT AFFECT VISITOR ARRIVALS FOR CRICKET WORLD CUP 2007? Dr. Basil Springer writing in the Barbados Advocate Business Monday, dateline 8/1/07 was very critical about the impact of the Visa requirement for visitors from certain countries seeking to attend the ICC CWC 2007 games and he …

“Remember this: The person who sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and the person who sows generously will also reap generously” – 2 Corinthians 9:6 This weekend, we in Barbados celebrate the birthday of the late Rt. Excellent Errol Walton Barrow, national hero, acclaimed as the father of Barbados’ Independence. It is on occasions like …

“This is the day the Lord hath made, Let us rejoice and be glad in it” – Psalm 118:24 Many of us are still recovering from the Christmas celebrations which extend seamlessly into the New Year. It was a period of gift giving, reflection and thanksgiving for the past year, assessment of the present and …

“Happy is the person who finds wisdom and gains understanding” – Proverbs 3:13 In September 2000, in this column, I said that we are now in an information age where knowledge, including information, complements money, materials and manpower to become the fourth factor of production. In fact, we are forced to continually move along the …

“For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace” – Isaiah 9:6. Michael Rappaport (Business Editor, Daily Bulletin, Ontario, California), in September 2006, reported on a conversation with Ira …

“Whenever the rainbow appears in the clouds, I will see it and remember the everlasting covenant between God and all living creatures of every kind on the earth” – Genesis 9:16 The Bellairs Research Institute, McGill University, Barbados Field Study (BFS) Semester programme is a holistic, international, hands-on, in-the-field experience. According to www.mcgill.ca, the programme …

“Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves. Each of you should look not only to your own interests, but also to the interests of others” – Philippians 2:3-4. The Foreword of the 2006 UNDP Human Development Report (HDR) states “Human development is first and foremost …

“Where there is no vision, the people perish: but he that keepeth the law, happy is he” – Proverbs 29:18 Over the past week we reflected on and celebrated the achievements of Barbados over the first forty years as an Independent Nation. We were treated to a captivating play “The Redemption of Sister Dinah” put …

“We are bound to thank God always for you, brethren, as it is meet, because your faith groweth exceedingly, and the charity of every one of you all toward each other aboundeth” – 2 Thessalonians 1:3 Congratulations brethren on the fortieth anniversary of our political independence. On November 30, 1966 the Union Jack was lowered …

“Know also that wisdom is sweet to your soul; if you find it, there is a future hope for you, and your hope will not be cut off” – Proverbs 24:14 Last week, I listened to a Sanjay Manjrekar compered discussion on the Internet. The question was asked of the panel – who, in the …

“In frenzied excitement he eats up the ground; he cannot stand still when the trumpet sounds.” – Job 39:24 After an interlude to reflect on my Tobago intervention on Service Excellence, I now return to conclude the series of exciting experiences, this time in the areas of Renewable Energy, Low Waste Lifestyles à la Japanese …

“A prudent man sees danger and takes refuge, but the simple keep going and suffer for it” – Proverbs 22:3 I was invited by the Division of Tourism & Transportation in Tobago to be the guest speaker, last Thursday, at their Tourism Week Awards Ceremony at the Tobago Hilton. Many categories of service provider were …

“In frenzied excitement he eats up the ground; he cannot stand still when the trumpet sounds.” – Job 39:24 Last week I began to recall exciting experiences which serve to motivate me on a weekly basis. I got as far as recounting the CMEx IX in St .Lucia, about which raving reviews continue to be …

“In frenzied excitement he eats up the ground; he cannot stand still when the trumpet sounds.” – Job 39:24 In my last two columns, I reviewed the progress of our Nation over the last 60 years and looked at the opportunities for growing the economy. The prospective economic sectors for the future, sustainable development generally, …

“Your beginnings will seem humble, so prosperous will your future be” – Job 8:7 Last week I reviewed our progress over the last 60 years. What are the opportunities for growing the economy? We often talk about the services economy of the future. Well, the future is here and now. We must focus on the …

“Your beginnings will seem humble, so prosperous will your future be” – Job 8:7 Barbados, a relatively small island with a population of 270,000 and a paucity of natural resources, has had a proud run of success over the last 60 years as it evolved from a colony, through adult sufferage, internal self government to …

“…and I have filled him with the Spirit of God, with skill, ability and knowledge in all kinds of crafts…” – Exodus 31:3 Man is a creature of his environment. In the thrust for sustainable development, one is continually influenced by cultural, social, physical and economic factors that tend to mold you into a shape, …

“Say to him: ‘Long life to you! Good health to you and your household! And good health to all that is yours!” 1 Samuel 25:6 According to www.bidc.org, the Barbados Investment and Development Corporation (BIDC), now 50 years old, is the industrial development agency of the Barbados Government. It has special responsibility for promoting and …

“For a just man falleth seven times, and riseth up again: but the wicked shall fall into mischief” – Proverbs 24:16 Last Tuesday it was reported on the West Indies Cricket Board web site, after Game One of the DLF Cup in Kuala Lumpur, that “It was a heartbreaking end after Chanderpaul blistered the Aussie …

“Say to him: ‘Long life to you! Good health to you and your household! And good health to all that is yours!” 1 Samuel 25:6 There is a generic vision that fits any country in the world. This vision is holistic sustainability in the context of the spiritual, economic, social, cultural and physical environments. As …

“Where there is no vision, the people perish: but he that keepeth the law, happy is he” – Proverbs 29:18 The Jamaica Information Service reported on Wednesday, August 23, 2006 that Minister of State in the Ministry of Industry, Technology, Energy and Commerce, Senator Kern Spencer, has said that Jamaicans needed to explore all the …

“Now we know that whatever the law says, it says to those who are under the law, so that every mouth may be silenced and the whole world held accountable to God” Romans 3:19 The CBET Enterprise Development activity brings me into contact weekly with younger entrepreneurs across a wide spectrum of business activity. It …

“A cheerful heart is good medicine, but a crushed spirit dries up the bones.” (Proverbs 17:22) I have had occasion recently to interact professionally with the relatively new CEO at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Barbados, Mr. Winston Collymore, a Barbadian. He brings substantial top level leadership and management experience in health, and the public …

“As long as the earth endures, seedtime and harvest, cold and heat, summer and winter, day and night will never cease” – Genesis 8:22 I understood from a news clip last Friday night on CBC TV that the Prime Minister of Barbados was encouraging the private sector to be more creative about engaging in businesses …

“And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds” – Hebrews 10:24 Trinidad and Tobago’s business conglomerate, Ansa McAl Group, in the last year, announced its first Anthony N. Sabga Caribbean Awards for Excellence. The Awards Programme is this year divided into three categories: Arts and Letters; Science …

“And Jesus sat over against the treasury, and beheld how the people cast money into the treasury: and many that were rich cast in much” – Mark 12:41 I was on an early flight from Barbados to Trinidad last Friday with stops in St. Vincent and Grenada. On the first leg of the journey it …

“Say to him: ‘Long life to you! Good health to you and your household! And good health to all that is yours!” 1 Samuel 25:6 About six months ago, in this column, the penultimate paragraph was: “What is the purpose of life? In my ‘book’, it is to create happiness and avoid pain for oneself …

“How good and pleasant it is when brothers live together in unity!” – Psalm 133:1 As I write this column, I am engaged in deep introspection. My 92 year old mother Rita, normally the paragon of good health, experienced a stroke last Wednesday which caused her to be hospitalized. Indeed, she was such a stranger …

“And they brought their cattle unto Joseph: and Joseph gave them bread in exchange for horses, and for the flocks, and for the cattle of the herds, and for the asses: and he fed them with bread for all their cattle for that year” – Genesis 47:17. Web definitions of “Barter” include – “an equal …

“Then they made fifty gold clasps and used them to fasten the two sets of curtains together so that the tabernacle was a unit” – Exodus 36:13 Last week a few people took the time to respond to my article entitled “Lessons from the OECS”. Fentey Scott, an old school colleague who is now Professor …

“Then they made fifty gold clasps and used them to fasten the two sets of curtains together so that the tabernacle was a unit” – Exodus 36:13 It was reported on May 30 2006, in the St. Lucia media, that St. Lucian hotelier and graduate economist Allen Chastanet, with significant Caribbean experience, is standing by …

“From him the whole body, joined and held together by every supporting ligament, grows and builds itself up in love, as each part does its work” – Ephesians 4:16 Two weeks ago I was concerned about the return on the investment by the tax payers of the region in ICC CWC 2007. Indeed I commented …

How good and pleasant it is when brothers live together in unity! – Psalm 133:1 What is the Caribbean? In the context of the Caribbean Development Bank, there are seventeen borrowing member countries. In the context of The Caribbean Community there are 14 members. If we include all the English, Spanish, French and Dutch countries …

“From him the whole body, joined and held together by every supporting ligament, grows and builds itself up in love, as each part does its work” – Ephesians 4:16 It was reported in the news recently that THE CARIBBEAN has received another passing grade from International Cricket Council’s (ICC) CEO Malcolm Speed and President Ehsan …

“Your statutes are my heritage forever, they are the joy of my heart” – Psalm 119:111 Just after I wrote last week’s column, I started my journey to Japan, under the auspices of the RUM (an acronym for “Re-Use Motorization”) Alliance to participate in the First International Conference on Automobile Recycling. In the same way …

“Your statutes are my heritage forever, they are the joy of my heart” – Psalm 119:111 Heritage – Heroes and History! Heritage (Practices that are handed down from the past by tradition); Heroes (Men and women distinguished by exceptional courage, nobility and strength); History (The aggregate of past events). Sustainable development is “development that meets …

“Choose my instruction instead of silver, knowledge rather than choice gold, for wisdom is more precious than rubies, and nothing you desire can compare with her. I, wisdom, dwell together with prudence; I possess knowledge and discretion” – Proverbs 8: 10-12. The week before last, just after this newspaper column deadline, I set out from …

“When they had all had enough to eat, he said to his disciples, Gather the pieces that are left over. Let nothing be wasted” – John 6:12 Even though the above text comes from the parable of the feeding of the five thousand, the principle of “let nothing be wasted” is very instructive. It may …

“Come, let us build ourselves a city, with a tower that reaches to the heavens, so that we may make a name for ourselves and not be scattered over the face of the whole earth” – Genesis 11: 4. It was indeed, an honour for me to be invited to give the 26th anniversary lecture …

“Everything that lives and moves will be food for you. Just as I gave you the green plants, I now give you everything” – Genesis 9:3 The Barbados Society of Technologists in Agriculture, formerly the Barbados Sugar Technologists’ Association, has been in existence for over 68 years. Its members, from both the public and private …

“Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking. It is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil, but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, …

“A good name is more desirable than great riches; to be esteemed is better than silver or gold” – Proverbs 22 Last week my son Kevin, knowing of my interest in entrepreneurship as the way forward, drew to my attention an article in the Jamaica Gleaner of March 15 entitled ‘Michael Lee Chin… Man on …

A generous man will himself be blessed, for he shares his food with the poor – Proverbs 22:9 The economic system that is practised in many small emerging nations is one where it is easy for the rich to get richer and the poor to get poorer. Money maketh money. This exacerbates the wealth divide …