Saturday 8 December 2012

The Prophecy


The Prophecy




The new moon will witness the death of blind woman
……… the blue sky will split and the satin will be torn
Stars will fall and the earth will mourn
……..as dark clouds gather and thunder roars

The red wolf will seek the power of jungle
……..when the boneless creeps under linen carpet
The Hammer of Heaven will strike the mountain
…….then lovers depart closing the curtain

Brotherly blood will stain the sword
……and the Greed will crown, beating the lord
The tear drop will bake in the flames of fire
……..for ten long years of suffering and torture




Friday 7 December 2012

The Broken Teak

The Broken Teak




I still remember the smiling face of late Prof. Osmund Jayaratne, giving his last official lecture at University of Colombo; behind the majestic looking Rangoon Teak table at the old Physics Lecture Theater....

As confident as the Rangoon Teak, the late professor delivered his silky speech (it was more than a lecture) on the last section of general physics, as he had done it for several decades in the same lecture theater.

"Physics is more beautiful than even the most beautiful ladies....", he ended up his long-cherished academic career with a tribute to his ever-so-loved subject........

...........and that marked the end of an era in Sri Lanka...

An era of academics who bowed out with happy hearts and smiling faces........

An era of academics who enjoyed their academic life despite many ups and downs........

An era during which, being a "university academic" was a sign of prestige irrespective of his or her political views.........

After 20+ years, today I see a different picture. Although, I am away from Sri Lanka I have regular contacts with many academics who are my long term friends...


For the last three months I am seeing extreme disappointment, disgust and loss of hope in the academic circle....... Among them are even few die-hard government supporters. 


And my estimation is that within next few months a large number of science and engineering academics who have no bonds to their respective universities will be flying away.... 

Many of them have already applied for positions at foreign universities. Coincidentally, several developed countries (which are popular destinations for our professionals for the last few decades) have brought up policy documents to invite high brains from South Asia. 


Of course, some people will be happy (check comments in many SL news websites)... They may say that it is good for the economy as a useless lot is leaving the country, easing the burden on the government pay roll.  And... the government will also be unaffected as many 100s of substandard Indian PhDs will be ready to serve at half the wage. 

India produces few 1000 excellent PhDs every year who readily find jobs with salaries 4-5 times higher than the best university academic salaries in Sri Lanka....


But.........................?


Only a few knows that how much a country should spend to bring up a good PhD. 

Only a few knows the real value of a good PhD. 

Only a few knows how much effort the developed countries and even newly developed states put in order to attract Academics from developing countries,

and ..................

Only a very few understand that the government and a good part of our society are inadvertently giving the fullest support to those countries to pull  the best of the brains out of Sri Lanka. 


....and within a couple of years the country will be a brain-desert and suddenly everyone will understand that we are left only with broken-teak...... A system with those wounded hearts that don't leave the country due to various reasons but not making any productive work as they are depressed and frustrated...

The whole picture unfolded in the last few months reminds me the story of Shrewd Peter................

Shrewd Peter caught Pneumonia after walking in the cold rain.  He knew that if the Doctor diagnose the real sickness he will be charged a lot as medicine for pneumonia  is expensive. Thus, Peter went to doctor and insisted that he has ordinary cough. Whatever the doctor said, he was very adamant on the fact that he has ordinary cough and insisted medicine for that. Finally, doctor also decided to give medicine for cough. 

Peter came home, proud and happy, as he has outsmarted the doctor...and lived happily for few days...until he went on his last journey. 

A shrewd minister can outsmart academics,
but for what......? and for how long.....?   

   






Thursday 6 December 2012

Origin of Ravana




King Ravana......!!!!!!




Are there any sources in Sri Lanka...... Ola leaf writing, rock carving, painting etc. etc. ......that mention about a King Ravana?

Has anyone in Sri Lanka stated about Ravana before Valmiki in India wrote Ramayanaya?

Why.......?



Monday 12 November 2012


Wonderful Vision and Disastrous Mission
 Sri Lanka Heading Towards ...................



A harbour in the down south and a secondary airport elsewhere were needs of Sri Lanka for years. The government had the right vision and they decided to go ahead with both projects.

However, whereas, one is emerging a total failure, the other shows signs of becoming yet another white elephant...

Latest is the relaxation of taxes for racing cars... May be a good visionary goal, but ended up making the government a laughing stock even among the ardent supporters.

Why this Kolaveri Kolaveri Kolaveri Di?

I am not a political or economy analyst, however, keeping a close eye on what's happening around and having periscopes and bug-mics in inner circles of both sides, I think I get enough information to make a fair analysis on the situation. 

Since the war was over; The Mission Impossible was successfully accomplished; the government is proving again and again their inability to achieve apparently excellent vision through thriving mission.

Let's take one by one..


Hambantota Harbour













Positioned at a strategic location and being the hometown of the president Hambantota had all the signs of becoming a profitable harbour that may bring much needed foreign income to the country. 

However, "signs of prosperity" is not enough to achieve the goal in the modern context. One has to do proper homework as well. 

Even USA carry out many of their mega projects through loans. When you take a loan for an investment, the most important aspect to be focused is the "Return on Investment". You cannot wait indefinitely to recover your invested money as you need to pay installment which include interest as well. Thus, when you launch a project such as developing an international harbour there are many aspects of ROI that one has to workout at least 5 years prior to the borrowing of money.

Has Sri Lankan authorities;

a. thought of the need for such harbour and whom do they plan to cater?

b. discussed and negotiated with leading shippers for getting their vessels for service?

c. anticipated strategic and technical issues that may arise?

I am sure that the answer is a BIG "NO".

Otherwise they may not,

a. be waiting two years now for a ship to come to the harbour for a real need. So far the few vessels that have reached the harbour is either by invitation or by force, 

b. find a rock to be blasted few months after filling the premises and prepare harbour maps one year after opening it.

c. be running after Indians, begging for investment in the harbour premises more than one year after opening the harbour.

Now the project has added a huge burden on the nation's tiny economy. Each day passes-by, the harbour cost the country a fortune in terms of the operational cost, in addition to the accumulating interest of the loan. 

Being proud of having a harbour is not going to reduce the installment.....

"In many African and Latin American countries, Chinese Loans are termed "FIRE". Smartly used, fire can deliver many good things, however, wrongly used, it may destroy your entire wealth and take your life as well" 


Mihin Lanka













Losses for year 2011 alone is reaching a staggering figure of USD 18.6 million (as per the annual report of Civil Aviation Ministry), Mihin Lanka has become a living curse for the country.

Didn't we need a budget airline for the country? 

Is this a visionary defect?

Air Asia making huge profits and Sahara, Kingfisher, Deccan etc. going pretty well, the establishment of Mihin Lanka was well timed and well visioned. However, the project became a total blunder within few months since it is launched.

...... A Horrible Mission....

The government disappointingly failed in capitalizing on the needs of the region. 

Wrong people at the wrong place, unethical motivations, mismanagement, too much corruption and lack of strategic planing....to name a few reasons.


Norochcholei Power Plant














Thanks to late Mr. J R Jayawardena and late Mr. Gamini Dissanayake we are somewhat sufficient in power if rain falls timely and sufficiently. However, if weather gods go mad.....the country is in darkness. Hence the development of power plants driven by other reliable energy sources was/is  a concurrent need. 

Thus, investment on Norochcholei power plant was a need of the hour....But.....

Since it was established, it is more often out of order than operating at normal capacity? 

Wrong selection of components, wrong installation, bad timing of initiating operations,  bad maintenance, wrong decision by authorities.......

No one is responsible at the end.....!!! 

"Accountability" is another word for "foreign conspiracy" in Sri Lanka


 Mattala Airport...???












Can someone tell me the purpose of constructing an international airport in Hambantota District?

An Air Asia return ticket from Malaysia to Sri Lanka cost about Rs. 25,000 on average. Hiring of a comfortable air conditioned van between Mattala and Colombo will cost Rs. 50,000. 

From Malaysia to Sri Lanka, the air journey will take about three and a half hours.
From Mattala to Colombo, a van will take 5-6 hours.

I don't write more on that.........!!!!

Are there any mass scale business ventures in Hambantota at present that people regularly travel there by air?

Do you expect the pilgrims that go to Kataragama (who even take firewood for cooking in their vehicles) to buy Rs. 10,000 air ticket, go to Katunayake airport from home spending Rs. 2000, reach Mattala and spend another Rs. 2000 to go from there to Kataragama?

Airport statistics show that 95% of the local passengers that travel abroad comes from (or go to) places closer to Colombo than Hambantota (Actually over 75% of passengers come from Colombo, Kandy, Kurunegala, Galle and Ratnapura).

Is Katunayake airport fully utilized and the number of passengers and air crafts are too many?

If you can get the information about the rate of flight arrival/departure in Singapore and that in Colombo, you will definitely feel very awkward about having a second international airport in Sri Lanka.

A domestic airport in Kandy or Galle/Matara could have been somewhat justified, considered the heavy traffic in Kandy Road and Galle Road.


Tax on Milk food 














The recent budget increased taxes on milk powder citing the need of giving local dairy industry a good pricing. 

Apparently a local farmer-friendly vision.........!!!!

What is the price of 1 liter of milk today? It was Rs. 120 (in paper carton) three years ago. Now it may be at least Rs. 150.  Once you open the carton, you have to consume it within two-three days. And these milk cartons are available only at big super markets. 

Usually a government impose import tax on goods if those items are available in ample quantities in the country and the price has gone very low due to imports.

But in Sri Lanka.....fresh milk is a rarity.

Has the government estimated how many more cows are needed to bring the price of a liter of milk so that common people can afford it? At the first place do we have enough grasslands to cater the national needs?

How long will it take to develop the dairy industry to produce this quantity of need?

Do we have facilities and mechanism to distribute such products to the common people? If not how long will it take to develop such?

Without taking any such points into account when the government increase the common man's food price......??????


No tax on racing cars













The government gave a tax relief on racing cars citing that it will boost the tourism industry in the country. 

I think this is the joke of the year......!!!!!

Again the vision was perfectly correct. Development of tourism industry by boosting entertainment industry. 

However, will we get tourists when taxes on racing cars are relaxed? If they want to see racing cars they will go to any city in South of Europe....

The racing business in Asia is now dominated by Malaysia. Internationally reputed racing tracks, ample accommodation and entertainment facilities, travelling security, relatively low cost of goods and facilities and excellent infrastructure have made Malaysia, the number one destination in Asia for racing lovers. 

They have not achieved this status overnight. Almost a decade of development of racing infrastructure, integrated with other development schemes in the country made Malaysia reaching the heights.

Racing is rich man's sport. A racing fan does not come just to see the race. They come for many other comforts and entertainment as well. 

Being a paradise island with many nature's wonders to watch, Sri Lanka is ideally placed to give a good competition to Malaysia.

However, Sri Lanka first need to develop at least one international racing circuit which will take about 3-4 years minimum. Together with that we have to develop, casino industry, hotels in the area of the racing circuit, highway infrastructure, other entertainment industries etc. Above all, we need to reduce the crime rate and number of incidents of human right abusing. Incidents such as killing 27 prisoners or assault on legal system, journalists etc. are not going to help this cause at all (whatever logic put forward by government to justify their role).

Taxes on racing cars should be relaxed only after achieving such essential needs.

Now lets make a simple calculation. One Lamborghini or Bugatti will cost about Rs. 50 million minimum without any taxes. Importing 200 such cars will cost the nation Rs. 10000 million or Rs. 10 billion. Let's forget about the cost of developing racing circuits, infra structure etc., which will cost many times more than the cost of cars.

To earn Rs. 10 billion, how many additional tourists should be attracted? Don't forget that we have to compete with many other countries where the sport is well established. 

I'll let you complete the mathematics.












In present day context, no one throws borrowed money on something that will give dividends in 10-20 years. 

Cause after 20 years...............................

* the borrower will be totally exhausted paying installments  
   without any earning

* the global scenarios may be totally changed
                
            Ships and planes may be obsolete

            Car racing may be a forgotten game
                    
            Coal power plants may only be seen in museums


AND ALL OF US MAY BE IN HISTORY...............................
                 





   

Tuesday 6 November 2012

TRAITOROUS STORY




දේශ ද්‍රෝහී කතාවක් 





ශ්‍රී ලංකාවේ ඉතිහාසය ගැන අපි බොහෝ සෙයින් ආඩම්බර වෙමු. ඒ රජවරුන් කෙරවූ ගොඩනැගිලි, කළා නිර්මාණ  හා වැව් පොකුණු නිසාවෙනි.

මම පසුගිය දිනෙක වැඩකටයුතු වලින් ඉවත්වී පොඩි විවේකයක් ගැනීමට සිතා සිංහල රාජාවලිය කියවීමට පටන්ගතිමි. අවාසනාවකට මෙන් වසර ගණනාවක පුරුද්ද නිසා මට දැන් සමීකරණ සුත්‍ර වගු ආදියෙන් තොරව දිවිගෙවීම අතිශයින් දුෂ්කර වී ඇත.  මේ නිසාමදෝ මම අපේ රජවරු පිළිබඳව වගුවක් සැකසීමට පටන් ගතිමි. එහි වුයේ තීරු තුනකි. රජු, ඔහු රාජත්වයට පත්වුයේ කෙසේද සහ ඔහු රාජත්වයෙන් ඉවත් වුයේ කෙසේද යන්න ඒ තීරු තුනයි.

සාමාන්‍යයෙන් අපි හැමෝම බලාපොරොත්තු වන්නේ දෙවන තීරුව සඳහා "පිය රජුගේ හෝ සොහොයුරාගේ මරණය නිසා" සහ තෙවන තීරුව සඳහා "රජුගේ මරණය නිසා" යන්නය. සැකසු වගුව මේ බලාපොරොත්තුවට බොහෝ සෙයින් සමාන විය. එහෙත් අවසාන තීරු දෙක සඳහා පොඩි පොඩි වෙනස්කම් කිහිපයක් කල යුතු බව ටික දුරක් වැඩේ කර ගෙන යන විට මට හැඟුනි. 

බොහෝ රජවරුන් සඳහා මට ලිවීමට සිදු වුයේ දෙවන තීරුව සඳහා "පිය රජු, සොහොයුරා හෝ සොහොයුරන්, මාමල, බෑණලා, අරය, මෙයා මරාදැමීමෙන්" යන්නත් තුන්වන තීරුව සඳහා "සොහොයුරා, පුතා, නෑදෑය, අරය, මෙයා රජුව මරාදැමීම නිසා" යන්නත් ය. අපේ ඉතිහාස පොතේ මොන තරම් ලේ තැවරී ඇත්දැයි මට තේරුනේ වැඩේ භාගෙට කරගෙන යන විටය. පසුව මම වැඩේ අතරමග අත හැර දැමුයෙමි.

ලෝකයේ අනෙක් රටවල ඉතිහාසය ගැන මගේ දැනුම මද නිසා මෙම තත්වය ලංකාවට විතරක් සීමාවූ කරුණක්ද නැතහොත් සියලුම රටවල රාජාවලියට පොදු වූ කරුණක් දැයි නොදනිමි.

එහෙත් මා දුටු එක් වැදගත් ප්‍රවනතාවයක් නම් රජුට වඩා රජුගේ සොහොයුරන් රටේ ජනාදරයට පාත්‍ර වීම හෝ තුන්වන බලවේගයක් මගින් එසේ කරවීම රජුන්ට හා රටට එතරම් සුවදායක නොවූ බවයි. 





Saturday 13 October 2012

හියුගෝ චාවෙස්ගෙන් පාඩමක් Lesson from Chavez



හියුගෝ චාවේස් යනු ලංකාවේ වෙසෙන බොහෝ දෙනෙකුට දේශපාලන වීරයෙකි. අපේ සමහර ඇත්තන් චාවේස් යනු නුතන චේ ගවේරා යයි කියනුද මම අසා ඇත්තෙමි. 

මේ ලාංකිකයන්ගෙන් කී දෙනෙක් වෙනිසියුලානු ජාතිකයෙකු හා කතා බස් කර ඇද්ද? පිළිතුර බොහෝ විට බින්දුවට ආසන්න වනු ඇත. 

එසේනම් ඔවුන්ට චාවේස් වීරයකු වුයේ කෙසේද.....? 

එය තනිකරම මාධ්‍ය හරහා ගොඩනැගුව  ප්‍රතිරූපයකි.  

මා පසුගිය වකවානුවේ, වැනිසියුලානු ජාතිකයන් බොහෝ දෙනෙකු හා සමීප කතා බහේ යෙදී ඇත. ඔවුන් අතරින් කීපදෙනෙක් පශ්චාත් උපාධිය හදාරන මගේ සිසු සිසුවියන්ය. අනෙක් අය මගේ වෘතීය මිතුරන්ය. ඔවුන් සියලුදෙනාම (සියලු දෙනාම යන්න මම නැවත අවධාරණය කරමි) දරණ එක් මතයක්  ඇත. එනම් හියුගෝ චාවේස් යනු වැනිසියුලාව විනාශ කරන්න පැමිණි යක්ෂයකු බවයි. චාවේස් රටේ ආර්ථිකය විනාශ කරන අයුරු ඔප්පු කිරීමට ඔවුන් නිදසුන් රාශියක් ලබාදෙයි. ඔවුන්ගේ තර්ක විතර්ක හා කරුණු කාරණා බොහෝ සෙයින් සාධාරණ යයි මට හැඟේ. 

එසේ නම් චාවේස් ජාත්‍යන්තරවද, රටේ සාමාන්‍ය ජනයා අතරද වීරයකු වුයේ කෙසේද?

වැනිසියුලාව ලෝකයේ සම්පත් අතින් පොහොසත්ම රටකි. ඔවුන් සතුව විශාල ඛනිජ තෙල් නිධි රාශියක් ඇත. මීට අමතරව නොයෙකුත් ලෝහ වර්ගද ඛනිජයන්ද එහි ඇත. චාවේස් සහ ඔහුගේ සහචර කණ්ඩායම මේ සම්පත් විකුණා රටට ලැබෙන මුදලින් බිලියන ගණනක් සොරා ගත්තෝය. අදටත් සොරා ගනිමින් සිටිති. 

රටේ පාලන අධිකාරිය බිලියනපතියන් වනවිට ඔවුන්ගේ පැවැත්ම වඩ වඩාත් තහවුරු වෙයි. මක්නිසාද යත් ඔවුන්ට සියලු දෙයම මුදලට ගත හැකි බැවිනි........... විරුද්ධ පක්ෂය, නීතිය, පොලිසිය, හමුදාව සහ මාධ්‍ය ඔවුන් ලෙහෙසියෙන්ම මුදලට ගනියි...... මෙයින් වඩාත්ම වැදගත් වන්නේ මාධ්‍යයයි. මගේ වෙනිසියුලානු මිතුරන් කියන්නේ මේ වනවිට CNN සහ BBC මාධ්‍ය ආයතන පවා චාවේස් ගේ සාක්කුවේ සිටින බවයි. 

චාවේස් ඇමරිකාවේ පරම හතුරා ලෙස හඳුන්වන්නේ මාධ්‍යයි. ඇමරිකාව ඇතුළු බටහිර රටවල් චාවේස් සහ වැනිසියුලාව විනාශ කිරීමට කැසකවන බව පෙන්වන්නේද මාධ්‍යයි. චාවේස් ඇමරිකාව ඇතුළු බටහිර ධනවාදයට විරුද්ධව සටන් කරන පතාක යෝධයකු ලෙස පුම්බන්නේද මාධ්‍යයි. 

ගරිල්ලා මාකටින් යනු කලාවක් නම් චාවේස් එහි පිකාසෝය. මන්ද ඔහු බොහෝ විට මුදල් ගෙවන්නේ ඇමරිකානු සහ බටහිර හිතවත් මාධ්‍ය හරහා ඔහුට මඩ ගසා ගැනීමටයි. මෙය ඔහුට රට තුල ඉහල වීරත්වයක් ආරෝපණය වීමට ප්‍රධාන සාධකයක් වෙයි.

වැනිසියුලාව තුල චාවේස්ගේ පාලන තන්ත්‍රයට විරුද්ධව කවරකු හෝ නැගී එයි නම් චාවේස්ගේ සඟයන් එම බලවේගයන්ට නිර්දය ලෙස පහරදෙයි. ඒවා කුඩු පට්ටන් කොට විනාශ කර දමයි. මහපාරේ දෙනෝ දාහක් ඉදිරිපිට බෙල්ල මිරිකා මරාදමන මිනිසා ඊළඟ පැයේදී ගෙල වැළලාගෙන දිවි නසාගත්තෙකු බවට පත්වෙයි. දාමරිකයන් සියයක් වටවී අත් කකුල් කඩා දමන මිනිසා ඊළඟ දිනයේදී තමා තමාටම පහරදී ගත්තෙකු බවට පත්වෙයි. මේ සියල්ල රටේ ජනතාව පිළිගන්නා තැනට වැඩ සිදු කිරීම මාධ්‍යයේ කාර්ය භාරයයි. 

චාවේස්ගේ හෙන්චෙක් තම බිරිඳ දුෂණය කලවිට සැමියාට ටික දිනකින් එය අමතකවෙයි. එක්කෝ මරබිය, නැත්නම් මුදල මීට හේතුවෙයි. 

චාවේස් පාලනයට විරුද්ධව පෙළපාලි සංවිධානය කරන්නවුන් අතුරුදහන්  වෙයි. පසුව ඔවුන් ඇමරිකාවේ රැකවරණ ලබන බව මාධ්‍ය පවසයි. රටවැසියන්ට එය සත්‍යකි. මන්ද ඇමරිකාව හැමවිටම වැනිසියුලාවට වින කරන්න බලා සිටින බැවිනි. එය කියන්නේද මාධ්‍යයයි. මාධ්‍යයට මෙම සංකල්ප ලෙහෙසියෙන්ම ජනතාවට විකුණා ගත හැක්කේ ඇස් පනා පිට පෙනෙන බටහිර-ඇමරිකන් දුර්දාන්ත ක්‍රියාදමයන් නිසාය. බටහිර-ඇමරිකන් පාලකයන්ගේ අවලන්, නොමිනිස් ක්‍රියා පටිපාටියන් චාවේස් ට වෙස්වලාගත් ආශිර්වාදයකි. 

රටේ කොතනකින් කුමන වීරෝධයක් මතු වුනත්, මිනිසුන් පාන් ගෙඩියක් ඉල්ලා වැඩවර්ජන කලත් ටික දිනකින් මේ සියලු විරෝධ පාන්නන් සහ වර්ජකයන් ජනතා විරෝධි ගොඩකට බැර කිරීමට චාවේස්ගේ මාධ්‍ය යන්ත්‍රය සමත් වෙයි. 

බලයේ සිටීම සඳහා වූ චාවේස් ගේ ක්‍රමවේදය ඉතා සුක්ෂමය. ඔහු රටේ සුළුතරයක් වන බුද්ධිමතුන් සහ යමක් කලපනා කල හැක්කන් මර්දනය කරන අතරම රටේ බහුතරයක් වූ දුප්පත් ජනතාවට අල්ලස් ලබා දෙයි. එනම් රජයේ සහන දීමනා ලෙස නම් කරමින් බොහෝ අත්‍යවශ්‍ය ද්‍රව්‍ය නොමිලේ බෙදා දීමයි. මේ නිසා රටේ මුග්ධ ජනතාව අතර චාවේස් වීරයෙකි. මේ නිකන් දෙන දේ සඳහා ඔහු පෙට්‍රෝලියම් අපනයනයෙන් ලැබෙන ආදායමෙන් කොටසක් වැය කරයි. මේ "නිකන් කෑම" ජනතාව ඵලදායක ක්‍රියාවලියෙන් ඈත් කර රටට බරක් වන බේබන්දන් රැසක් බවට පත් කර ඇත. ඔවුන්ට දුප්පත් කම ආභරණයකි. මෙහි අහිතකර ඵල විපාක ඔවුන්ට ඉක්මනින්ම විඳගත හැකි වනු ඇත. 

වැනිසියුලාවේ මකරාක්ෂයා ගොඩනැගු ජනතාව අද මකරාක්ෂයාගේ ගොදුරු බවට පත්වෙමින් සිටියි. ඔවුන්ට ගැලවීමක් නැත. බිලියනපතියන් වූ යාන්ත්‍රණය එතරමටම බලවත්ය. 

චාවේස් සහ සහචරයන් හොරකම් කරන්නේ රටේ සම්පත් විකුණා ලැබෙන ධනයයි.

ගත් ණයෙහි පොලිය ගෙවීමට, පොලියට ණය ගන්නා රටක .........

පාලකයන් සොරාකන විට........!!!!!!!!!!!!!





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මේ 2018 වසරයි.

මේ ලිපිය මුලින්ම ලියන විට චාවේස් ඉතා ජනප්‍රිය, ඇමරිකන් විරෝධී පොඩි මිනිසාගේ නායකයෙකි. කිහිප දෙනෙක් මා පෞද්ගලිකව අමතමින් මේ ලිපිය කාගේ වුවමනාවට ලියුවාදැයි තර්ජනාත්මකව ඇසීය. 

වසර 6 කට පසු.........

අද චාවේස් නැත. ඛනිජ තෙල් සම්පතෙන් අනූන වූ වැනිසියුලාව වර්තමානයේ ලොව ඇති දරුණුම ලෙස ආර්ථික අහේනියෙන් පෙලෙන රටකි. නිකන්ම කන්න පුරුදු වී සිටි වැනිසියුලානු ජනතාව නත්තලට නිකන් දෙන ඌරුමස් ගාතය නොලැබුණා කියා ගිය වසරේදී රට පුර විශාල හර්තාලයක් දියත් කළේය. රජයට එවර එය නිකන් දෙන්න බැරිවුනේ ඌරු ගාත ආනයනය කිරීම සඳහා ස්පාඤ්ඤයට වසර ගණනාවක් තුල ගෙවා නොමැතිව එකතුවී ඇති නය මුදල පියවන තෙක් ඔවුන් වැනිසියුලාවට ඌරු ගාත සැපයීම නැවතූ බැවිනි.

පසුගිය මාස කිහිපය තිස්සේ වැනිසියුලානුවෝ ලක්‍ෂ ගණනින් යාබද කොලොම්බියාවට සරණාගතයන් ලෙස සංක්‍රමණය වෙමින් පවතී.  චාවේස් ගේ සමාජවාදය රජකළ වැනිසියුලාව සමග සසඳන විට  වසර ගණනාවක් මත්ද්‍රව්‍ය අධිරාජ්‍යයන්ගේ පීඩනයට ලක්ව ආර්ථික වශයෙන් බැටකා සිටින කොලොම්බියාවද සුරපුරක් වී ඇත. 











Tuesday 2 October 2012

Cheerleaders in Cricket



CHEERLEADERS AT T20



On a hot day in Sri Lanka, if you put few cats on a  takaran (tin) roof what do you expect? (For God's sake don't do that, I hate animal cruelty)

This is exactly how the performance of Sri Lankan cheerleaders for T20 WC was described by Indian media. 

This is no fault at all of the poor kids who try their best to make a good performance during the matches. It is something to do with the stinginess and lack of proper vision of ICC, as we hear now. 



American originated concept of Cheerleaders is totally mis-employed in Cricket from the right beginning, as I see. 

At the first place, cheerleaders are for boosting the spirit of a team and it's supporters in a tough contest. Crowed pulling, image building of a country, etc. are side benefits of employing cheer leaders in an international event. 

Here in Cricket, they dance and cheer when your hero hits a ball over the ropes; .............wonderful........... 

In the next over he is bowled and those girls are up on their feet again.  

Isn't it ridiculous .........................? 

It doesn't matter whether they are in skimpy bikinis or in colourful Malaysian hijab. If they dance lively at the right time and cheer for a focused cause, it will serve the purpose.  

Thus, let each team decide what type of cheerleaders they want in the ground, and let them cheer for boosting only the spirit of that team, not alternatively both teams. 

If your cheerleaders want to perform when your team is down as well, let them sing “Don’t worry…. Be Happy”. 

Isn't that meaningful........................?


Monday 1 October 2012

Danger of Silence


Danger of Silence



They burnt Basoga Village; I kept silent
'cause Basogas were our enemies

They hacked families in the town; I kept silent
'cause those were not known to me

They raped daughters of Sylvester in my next door; I kept silent 
'casue they were not my daughters

And one day,.......
I heard that deadly knock on my door.............

- An Ugandan who lost his limbs and family during Idi Amin regime

















Sunday 30 September 2012

Open Letter to Sri Lankan Academics





Dear Sri Lankan Academics,

I thought of writing you this to tell a different side that I see in this lecturers' strike. You are very much invited to comment if I am wrong.

I am not in agreement with many things that the present government does and the way things are done. However, in this particular issue I have some questions with respect to lecturers' action.

SB may be an utter fool who destroy our higher education......keep it a side for a while.

As lecturers themselves painted, now this strike is in full swing going towards 6% GDP issue. Even in the march everyone could see mostly this slogan...in banners, vocals and even T-shirts.

Now there are few question marks ????????

At the first place have lecturers got a mandate to strike for a national policy issue?
Don't forget that university lecturers are only a part of the huge machine that we call "National Education".

They may strike for salary hike, improvement of university facilities or even demanding for air-conditioning the university toilets...........of course they have all the rights to do that, irrespective of whether the demands are fair or not.

But going on strike, demanding to allocate 6% GDP on education..................................?

Isn't this a decision that should be taken collectively at higher level?

If a lecturer really wants to get this done, he should have joined a political organization in the capacity of a Sri Lanka citizen and demand for that or even work towards toppling the government if they don't fulfill what is desired?

There is an ethical issue that also comes with this demand. When you demand for a chunk of 6% (about 4.2% increment) for education and if the government accommodate such, then they have to cut down the same percentage from another sector to fulfill your requirement. There is no percentage for contingencies from GDP.

Now from which sector you expect the government to cut down.........Medicine, Security, Social welfare......!!!!!!

Some people say that this can be done by cutting down corruption. That is ridicules. There is no allocation for corruption in the GDP. It is everywhere... When you cut down that from one sector, it escalates in another sector, as far as you don't change the entire system...

Don't forget that if you have a right to demand for an increment in % of GDP on education, then all other sectors have the same right for a demand. Doesn't that make the whole country a joke? Such as 150% of GDP divided among the sectors......!!!!!!!

Now, we are coming to a very crucial point. When you show the table of the % of GDP of education in several countries, you forget an important point.  In those countries with somewhat higher percentage, the education is not free even in the state sector. Thus, a considerable percentage of the money allocated by the government for education is gained back in the form of school, university and other tuition fees levied from kindergarten onward. However, in Sri Lanka the expenditure is an absolute value.

Some times ago Minister Wimal Weerawansha brought forward another valid point but no government proxy could capitalize on that. As he showed, the expenditure on education does not reflect only by the money allocated for education and higher education ministries which is taken by the % calculation. Even certain amounts of funds allocated for other ministries such as S&T, Construction, Engineering services, Social welfare etc. are also spent on uplifting education either directly or indirectly.

Now this whole union action has become a village pickle. You may not see the reality due to the curtains raised by the crowds that gathered in the march and the rally. But those will vanish in no-time when they see that they have no gains in joining you. If they stay, they will make sure that you will be fighting for their war instead of your own struggle.

In this context I kindly appeal you to re-think about your objectives, strategies and approaches, before it is too late.

I see a dark cloud ahead.

                             
                                                                                                                                 -Chandima Gomes