Media colleagues remember the late Yussuff Ali
Yussuff Ali passed on on the night of October 30, 2022. Dominic Kalipersad and Neil Giuseppi both posted remembrances of the veteran broadcaster and gave MATT permission to reproduce their work. The photos of Mr Ali were shared by Dominic Kalipersad.
Yusuff Ali was best known in T&T as a television news presenter during the early years of Trinidad and Tobago Television (TTT).
His rich voice, charming smile, and piercing interview style endeared him to viewers of Panorama, the flagship evening news programme of the-then lone television station.
A former teacher at Five Rivers TIA School, Ali’s entry to media, however, began in radio. He was among those who opened 610 Radio (Radio Guardian) in September 1957. It was there that he learned the craft of radio broadcasting, newswriting, and broadcast journalism.
Under the guidance of media heavyweights like Larry Heywood, Frank Hughes, and Ed Fung, he worked alongside great radio personalities such as Desmond Bourne, Freddie Wharwood, and Ashton Chambers as well as ace reporters John Babb and Geoff Lewis.
Eventually, he became Chief Editor at the station. Together they pioneered hourly news bulletins.
After four years at 610 Radio, Yusuff left to take up an announcer position at Barbados Rediffusion and, later, as an international fonctionnaire at a United Nations specialised agency in Geneva.
In the late sixties, he returned to Trinidad in the post of News Director/Panorama Producer. He built a news team that started the journalistic careers of Dale Kolasingh, Neil Giuseppi, and Jai Parasram. He is also credited with developing the TV career of Bobby Thomas, the pilot-cum-broadcaster.
An avid golfer, Yusuff also dabbled in acting and played a role in Harbance Kumar’s “The Right & The Wrong” (1970), the first full-length feature film to be produced in T&T.
Yusuff left TTT in 1975 for a position at the Commonwealth Secretariat at Marlborough House in London.
For 25 years he wrote a newspaper column, first with the Sunday Guardian then with Newsday.
Yusuff died last evening, at hospital in London, aged 85.
YUSUFF ALI, one of the greatest television news personalities this country has known, died last night in a hospital in London.
When I joined Trinidad and Tobago Television (ttt) in July, 1971, Yusuff was the News Director and on that day began a friendship that I have always treasured.
I became part of a team that day that comprised Yusuff, Ed Fung and Dale Kolasingh, all of whom have now passed to the Great Beyond.
Yusuff was the consummate professional who insisted on standards of excellence at all times.
“There’s a time for work and a time for play,” he would say, “and when it’s time for work, I don’t want to hear about play.” And he lived that philosophy to the hilt.
He was also one of the best television newscasters that ever graced the screens of ttt.
Yusuff left ttt in 1975 to take up a position at the Commonwealth Secretariat in London and spent the rest of his days in that city.
We remained in touch over the years and we spent many happy moments together whenever he returned.
On behalf of the entire ttt family, I would like to extend condolences to his wife, Diana and his children Faiz and Lisa.
Yusuff, my friend and mentor, you have left an indelible mark on the news media in Trinidad and Tobago and this country will always owe you a debt of gratitude.
May you forever Rest in Peace.
– Neil Giuseppi
