Brain Drain: Good for You. Bad for Your Country

Brain Drain: Good for You. Bad for Your Country

“Believe it or not you can find doubles in Houston.” That’s what my newfound friend, the waitress at Pappas Burgers, told me on the last night of my business trip. I was halfway through my first bite of their famous Peppercorn Ranch Burger, when I heard, “Hey are you from Trinidaaaad?”
Not only was I shocked because this 19-year-old Houstonian said that she can pick a Trini accent out of the crowd, but moreso because I wasn’t prepared for her incessant ranting about doubles for my entire meal. This wasn’t normal.
On the flight back, I was amused at this silly thought in my head that doubles had to be the top cultural export from Trinidad and Tobago, second only to steupsing. You can find doubles up the Caribbean, in London, Scotland, Miami, New York, Toronto, and, as I had just found out, in Houston. Of course, it is well documented that steupsing has more global reach.
My amusement soon gave way to a more sobering reflection into the real reason for doubles being accessible to Trinis like me in these far away lands. I realised that the availability of doubles in these far-flung places was because of the ready market for homesick Trinis who, seeking a taste of home, have given other migrants, who can stand the heat while making barra and channa, under winter conditions, the opportunity to sell doubles in a foreign currency.
I quickly began to wonder just how many Trinidad and Tobago nationals have left our shores, for whatever reason, and who now call another land home. Certainly there needed to be a critical mass to justify frying barra in the quantities required to make a good business.
My mind jumped immediately to Arthur, a Trini in Houston and a good schoolmate of mine who I made sure to meet up with for some drinks in Houston who, apart from being the tallest human in the world, is among one of the brightest. We chatted at length about things we hadn’t realised we had in common – about his intention of coming home to start up his foundation, about our desire to see Trinidad and Tobago soar, about how we think we can best make meaningful contributions, and about why we think our generation has to be the one that cleans up the mess. Yuh know nah? Small talk.
Arthur was the typical case and trust me, you know the type. A Trini writes SATs just after A-Levels, and leaves for a US university. While there, the Trini excels at any and everything and his academic excellence propels the Trini into a great graduate position at a Fortune 500 company. Eventually the Trini establishes roots and somehow ends up having a tonne of pictures on Facebook with them in uber-trendy, euro-design lounges, as they celebrate the victory of either their local baseball team or Obama’s election victory.
Arthur wasn’t without company. There were others like him who sat in the same class as me and who were now making a living outside of Trinidad after studying abroad. I thought of Sihle, Blain, Kali, Marlon, “Mitch”, Christopher, Kion, Brian, Kerry, Shane and so many others who would now be eating their doubles in the cold of winter.
Then I thought of Daryn who has this astounding intellect and a yearning to help Trinidad. Like Arthur he wanted to come back home, but instead went one step further. He came back home. His brilliance, however, could only land him a place in academia as a lecturer, which, to me, was incredulous. This brilliant mind couldn’t find a place in the private sector, and he couldn’t find a place to work that would leverage his field of study. Instead, he was frustrated into pursuing that ever so clichéd suggestion, “Why yuh doh go and teach?”
At the University of Trinidad and Tobago (UTT), he taught something that was neither challenging nor representative of his capacity and experience. It shouldn’t surprise you that he is back in the US now, and is working somewhere on Wall Street. Power to Daryn!
Arthur on the other hand says that we WILL be coming back home, regardless of what happens. Judging from Daryn’s experience though, and many others like him before, chances are he will face the same frustration that Daryn has and even if he doesn’t ‘re-repatriate’, because he knows his value in the US labour market, if his dreams don’t materialise in Trinidad, he may resent the decision to stay.
I often like to tell the story of how skimmed milk is created. You remove or ‘skim’ the cream from the top of the milk and what’s left you put in a red box and peddle as being the healthier choice.  Well the reality is we are witnessing the skimming of the cream off the top of our human resource in Trinidad and Tobago. These brilliant minds, the ones who should be competing to be our future leaders, CEOs, doctors, scholars and thinkers are being frustrated into looking elsewhere so that they can fulfil their personal and professional ambitions, and even though some seek an escape, others wish they didn’t have to choose, since their heart is in Trinidad and Tobago.
Of course, the conventional term for this plague is brain drain. The implications are far reaching in the long-term for Trinidad and Tobago, and while we can argue that it’s a globalised world, and people should be able to work where their talents and skills allow, we should look at what happened as a result of the fallout of the emigration of the professional class that took place in the late 80s.
We were stuck with second-grade leaders like Panday and Manning for two decades because the high-quality leaders who should have been here to compete with them for leadership roles were actually eating doubles out in the cold somewhere in the US or Europe.
I would hate for history to repeat itself. I would hate to be stuck with bad leadership because the leader that should have been is instead working somewhere on Wall Street because lecturing is the best job his brilliance could muster.
One thing is for sure, doubles sales abroad will continue to soar with each passing year. And while that’s a good thing for Chief Brand Products’ export sales, and their Sales Manager, as he buys his brand new, black BMW, it is sadly a bad outcome for Trinidad and Tobago. I’ll stay for as long as I can, and I hope you do too.

“Believe it or not you can find doubles in Houston.” That’s what my newfound friend, the waitress at Pappas Burgers, told me on the last night of my business trip. I was halfway through my first bite of their famous Peppercorn Ranch Burger, when I heard, “Hey are you from Trinidaaaad?”

Not only was I shocked because this 19-year-old Houstonian said that she can pick a Trini accent out of the crowd, but moreso because I wasn’t prepared for her incessant ranting about doubles for my entire meal. This wasn’t normal.

On the flight back, I was amused at this silly thought in my head that doubles had to be the top cultural export from Trinidad and Tobago, second only to steupsing. You can find doubles up the Caribbean, in London, Scotland, Miami, New York, Toronto, and, as I had just found out, in Houston. Of course, it is well documented that steupsing has more global reach.

My amusement soon gave way to a more sobering reflection into the real reason for doubles being accessible to Trinis like me in these far away lands. I realised that the availability of doubles in these far-flung places was because of the ready market for homesick Trinis who, seeking a taste of home, have given other migrants, who can stand the heat while making barra and channa, under winter conditions, the opportunity to sell doubles in a foreign currency.

I quickly began to wonder just how many Trinidad and Tobago nationals have left our shores, for whatever reason, and who now call another land home. Certainly there needed to be a critical mass to justify frying barra in the quantities required to make a good business.

My mind jumped immediately to Arthur, a Trini in Houston and a good schoolmate of mine who I made sure to meet up with for some drinks in Houston who, apart from being the tallest human in the world, is among one of the brightest. We chatted at length about things we hadn’t realised we had in common – about his intention of coming home to start up his foundation, about our desire to see Trinidad and Tobago soar, about how we think we can best make meaningful contributions, and about why we think our generation has to be the one that cleans up the mess. Yuh know nah? Small talk.

“Like Arthur he wanted to come back home, but instead went one step further. He came back home.”

Arthur was the typical case and trust me, you know the type. A Trini writes SATs just after A-Levels, and leaves for a US university. While there, the Trini excels at any and everything and his academic excellence propels the Trini into a great graduate position at a Fortune 500 company. Eventually the Trini establishes roots and somehow ends up having a tonne of pictures on Facebook with them in uber-trendy, euro-design lounges, as they celebrate the victory of either their local baseball team or Obama’s election victory.

Arthur wasn’t without company. There were others like him who sat in the same class as me and who were now making a living outside of Trinidad after studying abroad. I thought of Sihle, Blain, Kali, Marlon, “Mitch”, Christopher, Kion, Brian, Kerry, Shane and so many others who would now be eating their doubles in the cold of winter.

Then I thought of Daryn who has this astounding intellect and a yearning to help Trinidad. Like Arthur he wanted to come back home, but instead went one step further. He came back home. His brilliance, however, could only land him a place in academia as a lecturer, which, to me, was incredulous. This brilliant mind couldn’t find a place in the private sector, and he couldn’t find a place to work that would leverage his field of study. Instead, he was frustrated into pursuing that ever so clichéd suggestion, “Why yuh doh go and teach?”

At the University of Trinidad and Tobago (UTT), he taught something that was neither challenging nor representative of his capacity and experience. It shouldn’t surprise you that he is back in the US now, and is working somewhere on Wall Street. Power to Daryn!

Arthur on the other hand says that we WILL be coming back home, regardless of what happens. Judging from Daryn’s experience though, and many others like him before, chances are he will face the same frustration that Daryn has and even if he doesn’t ‘re-repatriate’, because he knows his value in the US labour market, if his dreams don’t materialise in Trinidad, he may resent the decision to stay.

“We should look at what happened as a result of the fallout of the emigration of the professional class that took place in the late 80s.”

I often like to tell the story of how skimmed milk is created. You remove or ‘skim’ the cream from the top of the milk and what’s left you put in a red box and peddle as being the healthier choice. Well, the reality is we are witnessing the skimming of the cream off the top of our human resource in Trinidad and Tobago. These brilliant minds, the ones who should be competing to be our future leaders, CEOs, doctors, scholars and thinkers are being frustrated into looking elsewhere so that they can fulfil their personal and professional ambitions, and even though some seek an escape, others wish they didn’t have to choose, since their heart is in Trinidad and Tobago.

Of course, the conventional term for this plague is brain drain. The implications are far reaching in the long-term for Trinidad and Tobago, and while we can argue that it’s a globalised world, and people should be able to work where their talents and skills allow, we should look at what happened as a result of the fallout of the emigration of the professional class that took place in the late 80s.

We were stuck with second-grade leaders like Panday and Manning for two decades because the high-quality leaders who should have been here to compete with them for leadership roles were actually eating doubles out in the cold somewhere in the US or Europe.

I would hate for history to repeat itself. I would hate to be stuck with bad leadership because the leader that should have been is instead working somewhere on Wall Street because lecturing is the best job his brilliance could muster. One thing is for sure, doubles sales abroad will continue to soar with each passing year. And while that’s a good thing for Chief Brand Products’ export sales, and their Sales Manager, as he buys his brand new, black BMW, it is sadly a bad outcome for Trinidad and Tobago. I’ll stay for as long as I can, and I hope you do too.

 

About Ryan Chaitram
Ryan Chaitram is an oil and gas professional by day and the perpetual student and dreamer at night. He began writing and blogging as a way to gather his many thoughts while living in Scotland, and while he does not consider himself to be a journalist that doesn’t stop him from expressing his point of view. He has reconnected with his love for music and film and his audiovisual work can be found at http://vimeo.com/user3003028 and at http://www.youtube.com/user/itchywow. He recently established The Love Tree Foundation to catalogue and promote the history and heritage of Trinidad and Tobago, and is working on some video projects, which, with some luck, he believes can find their way into the T&T Film Festival. You can follow him on twitter @ryanchaitram.

4 Comments
  • RJ
    Posted at 11:54h, 17 January Reply

    This article captured the frustration of many young professionals who return from abroad hoping and working to see Trinidad moving forward, all the while fighting against traditionalists and those who wish to maintain status quo, who keep pushing the country backward.

    • kestontnt
      Posted at 13:51h, 24 October Reply

      SPot on RJ!

  • come on people
    Posted at 09:11h, 21 January Reply

    I had a passing thought of living in trinidad, since my husband is from there. I really enjoy going there. however, i just wonder how would i be able to do what i do in the US, as a planner in a manufacturing company. It seems that most of the women are in traditionally female jobs. that is totally not for me. I look at the want ads in the paper and the ads, a lot of times, specify what type of person they are looking for as far as male/female. this seemed to be very disheartening.

  • Danielle
    Posted at 05:34h, 07 February Reply

    No amount of carnival and good food can make up for the poor standard of living in Trinidad. I’m talking about bad customer service in every facet of society, not knowing whether you can get water or lights even though you are paying for it, the abysmal traffic and murderous driving etc etc etc.

    I had an argument with a fellow trini living in trini still who said that I must come back to make changes…I can get that on an intellectual level, but when I am scared to take a taxi because of bad drivers with road road on unpaved roads I dont see the point.

    I know my post is kinda negative but thats how I feel

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