China Town

I live in the West End and just figured out that China Town was right behind me. Oh what a late evening stroll can do.

Meeting of Young Minds at Jamaican High Commission

Last Friday, December 7 the Jamaican High Commissioner, His Excellency Burchell Whiteman and Joline hosted a pre-Christmas dinner for 'young minds' - not quite sure what that is! It was a wonderful evening. I got the opportunity to link up with some of my colleagues and meet new friends.

The food was wonderful and the vibe was just right.

Dinner is served - my gosh I forgot the menu!! Had chicken, ham, rice n' peas and the good sorrel

Me, Carla, Marcus and Adenike

With the High Commissioner himself

Carla and Marcus indulging in 'pork pie' (hahahha, I am kidding it is fruit salad as you know Rastas don't eat pork and Carla is an Adventist)!!

Migration Lecture with Home Secretary, Jacqui Smith

Today I attended a special lecture on Migration. The speaker was UK Home Secretary, Jacqui Smith. Her presentation entitled 'Shared Protection, Shared Values: next steps on migration' outlined how the government plans to deal with migration. She noted that at present the government is conducting consultations across the UK to garner views on migration. The Home Secretary also stressed the importance of immigrants to speak the english language as this will make their integration smoother.

Issues of importance

1. Immigrants contributed £6b to GDP growth last Fiscal Year
2. Applicants for visas will be required to take fingerprints as of April next year
3. In the next few months, starting March persons applying for permanent residency will be classified as follows:

• Tier 1 for investors and new business persons
• Tier 2 for highly skilled migrants to fill existing shortage
• Tier 3 for low skills
• Tier 4 for students
• Tier 5 for temporary workers

You can listen to the entire presentation by clicking the following link.

http://www.lse.ac.uk/resources/podcasts/publicLecturesAndEvents.htm