An iron lady with nerves of steel

Helen Bhagwansingh

“What’s in a name? That which we call a rose by any other name would smell as sweet.”
– Shakespeare circa 1600.

This is a 400-year-old and still prevailing wisdom. A simple man from South Trinidad, however, dared challenge this dogma. He named his firstborn Helen, for he understood that with this name came strength of character and the will to survive and excel. He predicted greatness in his daughter, who, like Helens in history, have overcome many obstacles on their way to greatness. If the persona of Helen of Troy could have launched 1,000 ships, then this one would launch 1,000 businesses. If Helen Keller endured existing prejudices to overcome deafness and blindness and not just survived but excelled… what path might this Helen have to cut?

Short of open warfare, we are told that business is the most aggressively competitive environment. Helen would have had to endure and overcome conventional chauvinism when she dared enter the battlefield of business.

In 1969, the seeds of a small mom and pop hardware business were planted in apparently infertile conditions in East Port of Spain, at the edge of the Caroni swamp and some still say at the very edge of civilization – in Sea Lots. We have heard the old dictum: no risk, no return. Well, to the ordinary man this venture seemed all adventure… one with all risk and no return. But Chancellor, we were not dealing with an ordinary man… we are here dealing with an extraordinary woman.

With that humble, high-risk strategy 50 years ago, the seeds were sown. And how has that small acorn grown into a giant empire! We can today count megastores across the country providing service to thousands of customers and providing bread on the tables for 1,200 employees. Her business interests include hardware, steel, aluminium, construction, manufacturing and distribution.

At the turn of the last century, she was proclaimed “Woman of the Millennium” by the Trinidad and Tobago Energy Chamber. Earlier this year she was inducted into the Business Hall of Fame of the Chamber of Industry and Commerce of Trinidad and Tobago and in its long history, this was the first woman to have ever been so inducted. On Independence Day this year, Helen received our nation’s highest honour: The Order of Trinidad and Tobago.

Chancellor, Helen fully understands that it takes more than bricks, mortar and even steel to build a nation. She understands that hearts and minds and souls are far more important. It is for this reason that she has contributed towards the establishment of The Diabetes Education Research and Prevention Institute at The University of The West Indies. Her grant will exist in perpetuity and the proceeds therefrom will be used to ensure that each successive generation will have a start better than the one before. Work from this institution has already been formulated into policy and is already influencing practice.

Chancellor, you will agree that there is much to a name. Here stands before you, Helen Bhagwansingh, a woman of substance, an entrepreneur and a philanthropist. She is an iron lady with nerves of steel, a mind of high speed silicon and a heart of gold. She has a soul and a spirit capable of compassion, sacrifice and endurance.

Where a great woman has led, many can go afterwards, but the honour is hers who has found and cut the path.

So, Chancellor, I invite you to receive her and to confer upon her the title of Doctor of Law, honoris causa.