Trinis and Public Names

One interesting cultural quirk that I have noticed that is a real point of different between Trinidadians and Jamaicans is that Trinis like to name all sorts of famous places after living heroes.

 

There is the Hasely Crawford Stadium, the Brian Lara Promenade, The Brian Lara Stadium, the Wendy Fitz-William Highway and others.

 

I think this shows a tremendous faith in people.  It shows that you trust them not the screw their lives up royally after their named has been used as a label.  It shows that you believe that they have arrived, and are unliekly to depart from some high pedestal on which they sit.

 

In Jamaica, it seems that we don't trust them until they are good and dead.  At least, then, you can limit the embarrassment that might occur.

It just seems to be a safer bet to use dead people rather than live ones. Some people argue that Lara was never the same after he broke the world record the first time, and they named half of downtown in his honour.he as only in his twenties, and he had already arrived.

What if he runs for prime minister and does an excellent job, saving the country from ruin?  Would they rename Port of Spain to "Brian Lara City?"