News Releases

Raymond Choo Kong: An inspiration to The UWI arts community

For Release Upon Receipt - July 17, 2019

St. Augustine


The Faculty of Humanities and Education (FHE) at The University of the West Indies (The UWI) St. Augustine Campus joins with the national community in expressing deepest sympathies on the passing of the multitalented Mr. Raymond Choo Kong.

In response to the tragic news, Dean of the FHE, Dr. Heather Cateau said “His work was reflective of so much of our disciplines in the Humanities: the Creative and Festival Arts, Literature, History, Communication and Cultural Studies. It went way beyond the laughter as important as that was. We will use his work to inspire us all.”

Head of The UWI St. Augustine Department of Creative and Festival Arts (DCFA) and Coordinator of the Theatre Arts Programme in the FHE, Mr Louis McWilliams recalled Mr. Choo Kong as a guest at many student theatre productions, “The entire Department feels this loss because he developed a particular style of theatre in Trinidad and Tobago that we truly appreciate. He was always willing to share his knowledge and skills with our students especially in the field of acting and directing. May the memory, energy, wit and dynamism of this theatre stalwart remain with us continuously.” Mr. Jessel Murray, Deputy Dean for Distance and Outreach in the FHE, Senior Lecturer and Former Head of the DCFA said Mr. Choo Kong had regularly attended the Festival of Plays, a student directed production and remembers his participation and valuable feedback to the students.

The UWI St. Augustine Campus extends condolences to the family and friends of Mr. Choo Kong.

  

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About The UWI

For over 70 years The University of the West Indies (The UWI) has provided service and leadership to the Caribbean region and wider world. The UWI has evolved from a university college of London in Jamaica with 33 medical students in 1948 to an internationally respected, regional university with near 50,000 students and four campuses: Mona in Jamaica, St. Augustine in Trinidad and Tobago, Cave Hill in Barbados, and an Open Campus. As part of its robust globalization agenda, The UWI has established partnering centres with universities in North America, Latin America, Asia, and Africa including the State University of New York (SUNY)-UWI Center for Leadership and Sustainable Development; the Canada-Caribbean Studies Institute with Brock University; the Strategic Alliance for Hemispheric Development with Universidad de los Andes (UNIANDES); the UWI-China Institute of Information Technology, the University of Lagos (UNILAG)-UWI Institute of African and Diaspora Studies and the Institute for Global African Affairs with the University of Johannesburg (UJ). The UWI offers over 800 certificate, diploma, undergraduate and postgraduate degree options in Food & Agriculture, Engineering, Humanities & Education, Law, Medical Sciences, Science & Technology, Social Sciences and Sport. 

As the region’s premier research academy, The UWI’s foremost objective is driving the growth and development of the regional economy. Times Higher Education ranked The UWI among the top 1,258 universities in world for 2019, and the 40 best universities in its Latin America Rankings for 2018. The UWI was the only Caribbean-based university to make the prestigious lists.  For more, visit www.uwi.edu.

(Please note that the proper name of the university is The University of the West Indies, inclusive of the “The”, hence The UWI)

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