Reading these blogs over the years shames me! Its all about the wholesale destruction of Sri Lanka BY Sri Lankans for petty personal agendas

The Politicians have basically fooled this Country over 66 plus years of rule by our own kind! It is we who have allowed this wholesale victimization of the Citizen. So where MUST we start.

For starters DO NOT INVITE ANY POLITICIAN TO ANY EVENT. IF THERE ARE ANY POLITICIANS LEAVE! Only then will they at least attempt to gain the people’s trust.

I cannot think of another country that should be first world that does this. So for us to be first world in an instant, shunt our politicians to their desks to do work, not attend and be permitted to spout lies at functions.

Citizens, we marvel at meeting the President when he choppers in to open a culvert, but do you realize that just the fuel cost of his daily jaunts for these openings cold build at least 10 culverts a day! That simply is the sense of proportion we have lost. We are really impressed by the folly not by the honest desire to see a better future for our children. Are we so uneducated as to allow us to be misled so badly?

To think we take seriously a thug in robes that demands that the Pope apologize for what the Portuguese did 500 years ago, when we must ask all politicians to apologize for what they have done in the past 66 years which has been much worse.  

We should perhaps blame many in robes including the Satakayas for what they have done to Buddhism, where their examples of living have turned thousands from following the faith, and be drawn to other faiths due to bad examples of the practice of faith.

My very simple proposal above in not inviting the politicians and clergy to any events, will send a message to both factions, that they first need to put their own houses in order, before coming to pontificate over the people they rule and hold to ransom. It is time those who have ruined this country are able to accept blame and change their ways, rather than be allowed to further fool the nation by giving goodies bought with our money, after siphoning off some for themselves first and buying our votes, only to repeat this nonsense ad nauseam.

I TRUST COMMON SENSE WILL PREVAIL AND MOTHER LANKA BENEFITS FIRST     

How must we protect our own in foreign lands?

With 2 million Sri Lankans overseas, we must lay down what the obligations are of the state that is Sri Lanka towards them under different circumstances and where they seek help, how we deal with them.

Firstly it is the people who remit money back to Sri Lanka who have single handedly kept this economy afloat for the past 10 years. It is sad when the Sri Lankan Govt. takes credit for this when it is the sweat toil and suffering of Sri Lankans that have singularly lead to the strong economic growth over this period despite the war in the earlier period which was itself paid for by these foreign remittances. The estimated amount remitted to Sri Lanka during this period is a staggering US$60B.

Take an example of a case that happened just this week. A maid in Oman claimed she had been raped by her sponsor. (her employer I presume) She sought refuge in the Sri Lankan Embassy in Muscat, and was sent to a safe house that the Embassy uses. I don’t know if rape is a crime in Oman, of if it is only a crime if the perpetrator is NOT Omani. Further to be fair to all, if she had consensual sex with her employer, because the employer promised some pecuniary benefit and later reneged we don’t know. She could therefore to save face, or save her marriage back home have therefore claimed rape!

http://www.sundaytimes.lk/140727/news/ambassador-recalled-after-exposing-abortion-scandal-in-oman-108742.html

In any instant unless there is a hearing, and a legal process the truth will not even have a chance of being known.

What actually happened is that the staff member of the Bureau of Foreign Employment at the Embassy, responsible to Minister Dilan Perera, and NOT the Foreign Minister to whom the Ambassador reports to and is answerable to, got in contact with the sponsor and arranged for the maid to have an abortion. (I don’t know if any money passed between the sponsor and the labor officer as an inducement over and above the cost of the abortion procedure) The maid balked, Ambassador held an internal inquiry, the maid’s husband demanded that the maid be sent back, and Ambassador Ashoka Girihagama was promptly recalled (permanently) back to base, before his term expired.

I just picked on one incident so as to illustrate the problems faced, and these are NOT easily resolvable, solvable and an understanding between the host government and Sri Lanka also needs to be in place to amicably sort out a resolution. Are there procedures to deal with issues like this or is it Ad Hoc!!

Put yourself in the shoes of Ambassador Girihagama, what are his responsibilities? Was he out of his remit to initiate an inquiry? Why was he recalled? At whose behest was he recalled? Was it to save face by resolving the issue by making sure the maid has an abortion in Oman, and the responsibility falling to the Foreign Employment Bureau. Was there pressure exerted through a politician, by the husband of the victim?

These are all questions that remain unanswered, and cleverly not even addressed by the Sunday Times article, as our journalism is restricted to reportage and NOT investigative of facts behind the case!

DO our Citizens understand the dangers inherent in their trek to unknown lands? to find succor for their own, when their own Govt. fails to solve their basic needs, whilst  lining their pockets out of the fruits of their excruciating labor!

Should we warn our people seeking employment overseas of the dangers they must face and the options open to them if they are victimized, and that they may not be the same as that available to them in Sri Lanka?

It is the DUTY of the GOSL to address these very real issues, as this source of income is crucial to their survival, and if they have a survival instinct they would do well to have this matter amicably resolved. Whilst we need good diplomatic relations with the Governments that we send our unsuspecting citizens, we must do our utmost to protect their interests, in countries where they are MOST vulnerable to exploitation and abuse.

  



   

The level of human greed knows no bounds!

As if the Touchwood scam was not enough to make people understand that all get rich quick schemes are founded on the greed of human beings and the ease at which supposedly well educated people can be conned on theoretically plausible and practically impossible proposals to siphon money from hardworking people to con artists.

It was under this that I was visited by a person representing a well known company in the business of selling Agarwood plants that provide the same oil that the “Walla Patta” does and once sold at Rs1,400 per plant they promise that the value of the essence they will harvest in 8 years would be at least Rs50,000 which is the guaranteed buyback value of the tree.

One must remember that if one can get more than that you can sell to anyone else! So the company does not even tie you to them in that respect. Now why would one do that? Simply because they make enough from the initial sale to make sense of their business model, where the plant when sold has only cost them Rs 400 and now with a minimum sale of 20 plants for a customer guarantee their Rs20K up front, quite a multiple on cost!

This is the reality. Many professionals are fooled by these stories, as they are only looking at rate of return. Not about how realistic it is that they will be able to keep a plant growing at the said rate of growth and have one available for harvesting after 8 years.

These are the realistic possibilities, firstly that the company will not exist in 8 years to honor the promise, as there is NO insurance against the Company not being able to buy back. Secondly, it is most unlikely that in this era where there is NO enforcement of the law, that one will be able to protect one’s trees from theft. After all when break ins are not solved when people rob from a house, how can they solve one where a tree is cut within 10 minutes outside your home, and taken away. I was told to install CCTV! What a joke, as no thief will be apprehended by the Police, and if I apprehend one, the Police will release them as they will have more connections with the Law than I do. I cannot insure against theft of my tree.

Until there is the rule of law, and be seen to be enforced equally from the first citizen down, there is NO value in such get rich schemes, in an era of thugs and criminals and commission agents, who are the rulers, hand in glove with the security forces. It is time that honest people realize that such schemes are just TOO GOOD TO BE TRUE!  

Is it time to move to Moneragala? Hambantota no chance!

It appears that life expectancy is highest in Hambantota, and then the next best is the Moneragala district for the citizen’s longevity.

http://www.ft.lk/2014/07/23/want-long-life-head-to-monaragala-or-hambantota/

No automatic answer comes to mind, except to say that people who live in those areas, though they have the lowest GNP with the Moneragala District being the poorest District in the land, somehow have stress free, pollution free and an element of healthy living lives. I know the Moneragala District has now also received the CKDU, Kidney Disease curse that afflicts the North Central Province and therefore this number may take a slide.

It is interesting that the Colombo District with the highest GNP is also the lowest in life expectancy.

It is time to take stock of our development strategy and ask ourselves, what it is we are supposedly chasing? In an era when you only need Broadband Internet to get an education and not an access to Royal College, we must go back and prioritize life, to obtain maximum satisfaction from our lives, rather than the fatalistic attitude that much of the belief systems in Sri Lanka inculcate.

It is time to start a movement called, “fun times ahead” and encourage people to join it. The primary goal is to get people to think about what it is that is important to them, over and above showing off to their neighbors! Secondly it is to encourage people to take life decisions in pursuit of that goal, and do it in a way that does NOT destroy another person’s pursuit of that same goal. That is minimizing friction between people in the pursuit of one’s own selfish motives!

Sounds very greedy? Or altruistic? Surely cannot be both. I admit that life expectancy is but one marker of the success of a culture, community or Country and that may hide a whole host of other determinants of the quality of life index and the UNs Human Development Objectives, of better access to quality health care, nutrition, clean air, and water. I presume however, one must have a good mix of that for people to live longer.

That apart, I have recently travelled extensively in the Moneragala District, and it is the hidden gem of Sri Lanka, still unspoilt, with little local and foreign tourism, but a landscape of infinite beauty, and a land of unfathomable ancient sites, that are only partially discovered and documented. For how long can this secret be kept?

Any organization that threatens the GOSL Hegemony is fair game

When one is involved in illegal activity and any Organization or Individual who threatens that right is now attacked by the GOSL (Sri Lankan Govt.) as being some international conspiracy to destabilize the unity of the country and fair game for threats, sanctions and arrest!

Do they (GOSL) realize that if they had nothing to be ashamed of, then there would be no criticism of their activity? It is this need to hide their transgressions that appear to necessitate a complete control over what is being done by everyone and especially organizations that are loosely termed “civil society” that exist in any country to keep miscreants in the establishment in check. Sri Lanka is in dire need of this more than many other countries due to the lack of activism amongst people who are busy working and earning money to just survive and have NO time or energy to expend on matters that also affect their lives adversely, but for which they are really unable to organize resistance especially if such may also threaten their freedom.

An NGO has legal resources often that the Individual cannot command himself, and acts on behalf of a group of people representing their collective interests. We do not deny that some are open to abuse, and there are some prima donnas who live off of the NGO gravy train. However they are few and far between and can easily be compromised when their misdeeds can be outed in a Govt. owned media establishment. It is more difficult to criticize the Govt. when they are engaged in worse activity on a daily basis in defrauding the public on a grand scale.  

This control of where funds come to for NGOs is an unnecessary act as anyone who wishes to circumvent them for their own benefit is able to do so, without much imagination, and unlikely to get caught. Therefore this is no deterrent to the truly questionable and the really circumspect ones will suffer for the sins of a few rotten apples who are unlikely to reform anyway.

I have therefore in my previous blog entry made the allegation that for these reasons stated above, the tightening of rules is merely a ruse to use this as a method of skimming a percentage for political patronage to prevent a witch hunt.

Further, it is violation of the Freedom of Speech and other liberties enshrined in our Constitution, which appear to be found wanting due to the flagrant violations of the Guarantees that are even deliberately misinterpreted by a partial Supreme Court. Let us pray that there is legal recourse to nullify these orders!           

Why another schizophrenic set of rules? When we are in an era of loosening controls? - Foreign Funds

The GOSL is completely mad! They have no clue about consistency, as each act appears to be directly at cross purposes with the stated objectives. First it was a mad rush to encourage FDIs, and then they passed a law of expropriation of private property! No sane person will invest in Sri Lanka with the possibility of his investment being taken over, and with no compensation, as the appropriated assets have yet to be compensated.

It is with this same thinking that the new rule of all NGOs of obtaining approval prior approval from the Ministry of Finance before receiving funds from foreign sources. In an era of relaxing foreign exchange regulations, and people and companies sending money abroad, and the crooks in Govt. sending money to Swiss Bank accounts, and possibly to foreign terrorist organizations and others with links with shady groups in Sri Lanka, the GOSL is trying to prevent the same occurring here! 

Don't forget the VVIP can now fly direct to Seychelles and put their money in an offshore account, which can redeposit through Swiss Banks, making it easier for money laundering and avoiding any local controls. Remember Seychelles has 140,000 companies for its 90,000 inhabitants, and the reason is just so that these unscrupulous elements can have a field day there. We have NO economic interest in Seychelles whatsoever and so direct flights are for that activity after all.

http://www.dailymirror.lk/news/50038-no-foreign-funds-without-approval-ministry.html?utm_source=twitterfeed&utm_medium=facebook 

Don’t they understand that there is a Law in Sri Lanka! If the law is enforced, then all lawbreakers can be punished to the full extent permitted by Law. So why prevent much needed foreign funding sources that are likely to be deterred by these new rules of unnecessary regulation and finger pointing.

Is it a tacit admission that Sri Lanka is a LAWLESS state and therefore they have to resort to these tactics to prevent foreign sources of funds, that may be coming in to do damage to the very existence of the GOSL, as that is obviously why this rule has been implemented.

The irony is that if they are trying to prevent covert CIA operations, then this rule will not prevent that, as they know how to circumvent any rule. After all the CIA funds directly through the GOSL top brass, as no one questions them, while they are selling their own mothers for their greed in commissions or payoffs.

This rule my dear readers is merely another form of graft for the GOSL, as now they will ask for protection money to permit funds to be disbursed to worthy causes in Sri Lanka! It is simply OUTRAGEOUS.

Further it is due to their inability to sort out our social problems that this money is coming in. For example I know some orphanages are dependent on foreign funding to feed their kids. The GOSL gives only Rs50 a child a day, so now that money is subject to a commission to the rulers, before being permitted in to feed them.  Pure Greed.

I just feel sick to my stomach that this Govt. has people who are, with NO scruples, willing to steal from the mouths of innocent and hungry people, just so that they can further fatten their already fat with looting personal wealth.

When will people of Sri Lanka understand that all the laws and rules being made are but for one purpose, NOT to safeguard and protect the Country from undesirable elements and influences, but to safeguard the status quo of those who are committed to daylight robbery from being caught with their hands in the till!

After this analysis, I must say that my first statement has to be contradicted, and the GOSL is NOT MAD, it is just indulging in mass extortion and daylight robbery from their own citizens instead.   

Israel! What if it was called Palestine instead?

I have embarked on a series of blog entries that are provocative in order to obtain some clarity both for myself and the readers in how we could see a way out of the mess, as the crisis has been a festering sore for as long as anyone can remember.

The reason I have also introduced some thoughts, is to see how we can learn from the Israeli experience in solving our own ethnic woes, so that we can have a lasting resolution, where all the Sri Lankans can live in harmony, proud of our heritage!

The answers to both the Sri Lanka and Israeli issue both seem to be the same. Taking Israel to start with, it seems that they mischievously and the world foolishly have blamed the crisis on Palestinians and their individual warring factions as being the problem, that they are unable to find commonality and settlement of their grievances.

Actually it is Israel’s problem all along. They call the shots, make all the running and blame the Palestinians for it. Therefore the solution lies completely with Israel, and the Palestinians do not even need to be consulted, it is that simple. The question is whether they will do it!  

Why can’t Israel declare that whole area as one Country inhabited by all who currently live in this greater Palestine and call it Palestine as it was always called as a region? Like the integration of the two Germanys’ people of two different levels of income managed it, albeit they were one race and religion was not an issue. Taking a cue from the 2 million Christian and Muslim Arabs who live in Israel now, it is a matter of integrating another 8 million people! The Lebanese refugee camps will disappear too!  A multiethnic democracy is the answer, where an example will be shown how moderate Islam is practiced, and then all Islam fundamentalism will also disappear from the world as their whole basis for being falls apart.

Why not? Zionism! That concept is outdated and only if Israel can change out of that will it happen. 

In Sri Lanka the why not is Sinhala Buddhism, which has NO place in 2014 world either, but it is that concept that is preventing Sri Lanka from achieving a true and lasting peace, and instead has created a monster that threatens the very existence, stability and longevity of our state. 

It is time to buck the Nationalism based on me and my race, and bring back the US and WE are the world concepts back into this Country where 15% of citizens live and work overseas, immersed in a culture different to ours, and bankrolls our very existence. 

The Use of Disproportionate Force means but one thing!

Is there anyone here who is denying that the Israelis have engaged in the use of disproportionate force? to subjugate what is essentially a small show of resistance, by an exhausted and friendless bunch of people, extremists if you must, who are willing to sacrifice everything they have, which is just a motley collection of pathetic arms, that any self respecting guerilla organization would not be seen dead holding onto! In essence the Israeli Army (IDF) is using the weight of one of the most powerful forces in the world using US technology to attack an essentially civilian population.

Hamas has no friends and supporters left! The world’s attention is elsewhere, and the Israelis think that by this action they will prevent this nuisance of rockets coming streaming in to Israel, they must be sadly mistaken.

Let us be pragmatic. Every Palestinian wants Palestine, and how they express this desire is different. Whatever Israel does is going to increase this desire and NOT diminish it, and so everything they do is counter-productive. It is that latter point if understood, by the Zionists in Israel, which will change the status quo and NOT until then.

There is NO way you can tell them they have Gaza and can have a state there. You’ve got to be kidding. Israeli expansionism is rampant, and the wall built around their settlements in the West Bank a bizzare and insulting message to the Palestinians that they are just there to serve.

Remember Isreal has a huge Arab population within its boundaries they keep completely silenced, by indirect threat that their lives which are probably the most secure in the Arab world would be rendered Gazan if they get out of line, so they are a very meek segment of Israeli population, going about their daily lives, knowing they have No option if they want to live in their homelands!

It should be noted that due to Palestinian resistance this significant community have almost been lost to the world, and their leaders have been reduced to Uncle Toms for want of a better word to describe them.

The Arabs are their worst enemy as Israel is a super-efficient sophisticated society who know what they are about, and no one is going to upset that superiority however hard they try, and internecine wars in Arab lands is going to enhance that.

It is ONLY up to the NON ARAB world to point to Israel, that they cannot morally join the civilized world with their behavior and cannot hide behind Arab inhumanity, to look gleamingly civilized! 

Hamas

Hamas dominate Gaza. They hold power and openly operate out of the goodwill of the local people there. The Israelis have their spy network which is now so sophisticated they have live feed of ALL of Gaza where they wish to monitor in real time. They can hear and see everything in the area.

They have been looking for every opportunity to go in and take the positions they believe are a threat, OUT. So the killing of the Jewish kids and the resulting backlash provided the perfect opportunity for them to launch their surgical strikes killing 250 innocents thus far and more to come this week with the ground ops.

Hamas are willing on more killings in Gaza so they get more sympathy from the world. What is their end game? Are they making a calculated guess that one day the deaths become so gruesome, that even the US will have to lift its veto?

If that is NOT the end game they are so foolish willing to sacrifice countless lives, for a game they are NOT making any headway in deterring Israeli resolve to destroy Hamas at every instance. The Hamas rockets, and drones and ALL other armour are NO match for the Israeli defense system the DOME defense~

 http://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/hamas-is-playing-a-dangerous-game-with-gazan-lives/2014/07/15/cc5f101e-0c3b-11e4-8c9a-923ecc0c7d23_story.html

How much is the world going to report and become disgusted, but just look on at their self-destructive actions, as the Hamas want to show that they can fire rockets! Come on it is like the Indian firing arrows at the enemy armed with a different generation of both defense and attack weaponry, the sophistication of which even the Hamas commanders, relatively amateur compared to the Israeli professionals don’t realize they are up against.

The Palestinians will not fight Hamas as they are emotionally embroiled in the carnage with NO hope for a better future, even if there is peace, as they are hereded into a rotten piece of land that no one else wants! Israel MUST realize this is the state of play until they are able to destroy all humanity in that strip.

The tunnels the latest attempt by the Hamas to make a dent is just a waste of space as even the Egyptians will not permit weapons to come Gaza from Sinai, so why are they pursing a self-destructive path? Then only world sympathy to feed on! Is that going to dent the Israeli resolve for the status quo? Not a chance. 

Gaza

How can we justify a conflict that does not want to end? There is NO end game, as Israel wants all rights to live in the areas they currently occupy and want more whilst at the same time the Palestinians cannot accept Israel’s right to exist.

For that reason the GAZA a tiny strip of humanity in the Israeli sea creates and will continue to create hate against Israel, which will NEVER stop, and using rudimentary weapons try to attack Israel in a David Goliath conflict, where the David here is Palestinian and Goliath is Israel. The world’s only Jewish state (parallels with SL!) is fully armed, well prepared, unparalleled espionage system with sophisticated listening devices, in every Palestinian Home, where they know which house to pin point, and have weapons of pin point accuracy ready to kill guilty and innocent at the same ferocity.

The Palestinians know they have NO chance, and Israel is already planning ground offensives, where Palestinians are ready to believe that they have won when one Israeli is killed for 100 Palestinians, and so unconscionable destruction results with the world just watching, knowing that nothing will change the status quo until the US has the courage to call a spade a spade, and insist first on proportionality, and secondly on a return to pre-1967 borders, none of which will be forthcoming.  

The US by this action HAS LOST credibility in the eyes of the rest of the world, and therefore cannot except by sheer economic power, and military power, exert their influence on the rest of us. As a result the US has NO moral authority left.

The fact that a few Zionists are able to hold the world to ransom, just shows how much power they wield! The Palestinians in the region are JUST CANON FODDER both for their own extremist groups but also for the attacking Israelis. They are the wretched expendables here, and they will continue to be expendable.

We will continue to demonstrate at the disgusting sights of Israeli military capability that gets even MORE sophisticated as it gets more lethal as well, but that will NOT change anything until OBAMA who has NO more election to face, has the Courage of his convictions for right and wrong, draws a line in the sand, and instructs his Government NOT to veto a future resolution against the Israelis at the UN Security Council and have Israel held punitively accountable for their actions.

He does not do it because he knows Netanyahu is a psychopath who is ready to destroy the world along with Israel, with his Nuclear Weapons in that instance! He is powerless to stop this self destruction and wants to see his grandkids one day! 

An interesting travel blog from the BBC - I like the word "Adrenaline Capital" describing Sri Lanka

Just follow the ling below, it is worth a read!

http://www.bbc.com/travel/feature/20140701-south-asias-new-adrenalin-capital

It speaks for itself!

Do we have to scavenge the depths of the great oceans to find an article that makes a Headline in the Daily FT?

Sri Lanka tipped as Asia’s new Island of growth is today’s top story in the Daily FT. (11^th July 2014) Was there NO news to write like the CSE rise!

http://www.ft.lk/2014/07/11/sri-lanka-tipped-as-asias-new-island-of-growth/

Whilst we must be proud of anyone who opines on this, we must look to the substance of the article and its source.

http://seekingalpha.com/article/2305515-sell-singapore-buy-sri-lanka

The link above is the reference to the complete article from which selective extracts have been taken, some out of context to make the point in the story. Both the blog from which it was taken Seekingalpha and the writer of the article Fraser Dinnis, whose spelling was atrociously mis spelt in the FT article are fringe publications and contrarian analysts. Therefore using the word “renowned investment banking and equity markets specialist” for him, is giving him a day in the sun, like he has never had before in his life. He would be most pleased, and no doubt would jump on the next plane to come and give a talk in something like the annual Chamber of Commerce Seminar to be held next month. I am sure he is angling for an all expenses paid invitation for the event including airfare!

Jokes apart he is comparing with Singapore. Which is the world’s most expensive city to live in, and they have made it to the top. There is nowhere for them to go! It is a no brainer there. Sure Sri Lanka has a lot of upside potential and can grow at a much higher rate than Singapore. He must to do justice explain why it is better than the comparative other Asian economies of South East Asia to get a better perspective of the relative investment climate.

I am also a person who believes that given a few different set of Governance fundamentals we can grow at double digits, and that the huge remittance pool from overseas can be put to far better use than at present, but that foundation is yet to be implemented.

I just hope that we don’t give misplaced adulation to people and articles that don’t deserve them, but be a little wary of taking anything that comes. We don’t want to be so desperate as to be bottom fishing. Just tell the Govt. to pay to plant an article like this in the WSJ and then there will be some believers other than locals.

This contrasts sharply with my earlier blog entry today on the daylight robbery taking place by the Govt. in power in contrast to Singapore's scrupulous morals! 

Is there no end to this excess? Why do Sri Lankans tolerate such brazen looting?

The 28 KM of the proposed single track railway extension from Matara to Beliatta is expected to cost US$278M, which works out at US$10M a KM!!! I guess the readers say so what it wrong?

http://www.ft.lk/2014/07/10/jvp-alleges-corruption-in-278-m-matara-beliatta-railway-track/

Simply put, you ask an experienced Railway hand who knows what it takes to build a railway line, and knowing the terrain there, and land costs which are much lower in these sparsely populated areas, he will tell you at most it would cost US$1M a KM.  That is actually more than the Rs100M a KM he estimated, but I let him have some more leeway for usurious interest rates from Chinese lenders to get to the easily remembered US$1M per km rate.

When you can do the job at one tenth of the proposed costs, what is going on? Daylight Robbery and no one seems to care. Are we populated by such undeveloped people, who permit their rulers to steal from their mouths before the food enters the mouth from their hand?

This is simply unacceptable, and those who comment on my posts even have the gall to commend this government for their sins. Yes the Chinese will give any amount in loans because the Govt. guarantees them. They are not going to look at the realistic value of the project or if it is grossly inflated, as it does not matter to them, and what matters is that we repay our borrowing!!!!

The English speaking people look at Colombo and its developments and feign any knowledge of indescribable looting of the Exchequer and future income of the Country into the hands of a few, because their minds have also been bought out by greed as they have also been offered some crumbs to keep their mouths shut.

Only when we can stop this culture of impunity, where NO one is accountable and every one pretends they don’t know, can we even begin to get a handle on this scandalous practice. How can we point out to our people that they have been taken for a ride of astronomic proportions? Why are we so frightened of exposing this unbridled looting of our wealth by a few we have placed in positions of authority.

To say that we are a democracy where we have elected these rogues to go on thieving is a direct indictment on all of us who have placed our cross in the ballot, as we have nailed our children forever to the cross, and they will be made to pay for our sins of commission as well as omission, so forgive me GOD.

The story is the same: It is all about mind games to transfer guilt from self

The scandalous episodes of pedophiliac sex abuse in high society Britain and the allegations of HR violations against a few in Sri Lankan high society today, have both lead to insinuations of collective guilt of nations.

In reality the guilty are an exclusive small group of privileged people in both instances, but the respective countries have been branded with this guilt especially amongst those who look in from outside both those shores.

I am sure that those who live within the shores know better, but it is hard to be able to present a clear picture of the guilty because the guilty themselves go to extremes to blame it on society as a whole, and not on the fallibility of the perpetrators of the crimes. In both instances, the guilty disown their guilt.

http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2014/jul/08/inquiries-child-sex-abuse-theresa-may-victims#start-of-comments

The link is to a journalistic masterpiece by Simon Jenkins of the Guardian, I wish we had similar perceptive opinion writers in Sri Lanka! It explains further what I am trying to say, as it wraps the allegations in knots to protect the guilty, who I believe are people in a position of power and influence able to do so, and therefore the nation is tainted by this scandal which will take many decades to erase from people’s collective consciences.      

In a similar vein Sri Lankans will have to live with this allegation of racism for decades, when only a few in a moment of triumphalism and omnipotence made decisions that continue to haunt us today, and have subjected, more like tortured our society to extricate themselves from their guilt.

This behavior on two different topics show the extent of domination of our lives by a few who attempt to hide behind this collective guilt, to appear clean. As Simon Jenkins said, we just need to name and shame the guilty, and at a stroke we will be free of the shackles of imprisonment that continue to destroy our sense of peace and prosperity.

It is time to round up the dogs and show them who is the master! We the people must exercise our rights over those who have fooled us with games and duplicitous behavior for so long, leading us down the garden path. We must just cage them.      

The tragedy of a false veneer in Education – leave it to the Educators

AND NOT TO INCOMPETENT POLITICIANS AND THEIR HENCHMEN AND MOST OF ALL THEIR SYCOPHANTS WHO KEEP IT GOING 

In a whole series of blog entries over the years, I have blogged on the desperate need for a few simple steps to improve the product that is manufactured from the Free Education system.

Put simply the Free Education system does not develop a child to his or her potential, and increasingly parents who are able to, try their utmost to send their kids to a private establishment, both at the secondary level and at tertiary level with the belief that at least there will be some relief to meet their future aspirations.

This latter group, generally those competent in English garner the best jobs available, and also are the most attractive to permanent migration to Countries as they are usually the skilled that skilled people importing Countries such as Australia, NZ, USA and Canada want.

The products of the Free Education system are therefore left to fend for themselves, polluting the Govt. service with incompetence, as they have received political appointments that further erode the quality of the public service.

No amount of gas chamber Mahindodayas is going to solve the problem as stated in my previous blog entry. It is not the Construction for all to see, misplaced for mind manipulation and self-glorification, but what you cannot see, namely the effort of GOOD teachers which will transform all our kids into stars and not sycophants!  We currently generate sycophants that cannot see, hear nor talk sense due to their limited capabilities as products of this education system.

The need of the hour is to divert the funds available, and trust me there are billions in the kitty, NOT TO pad the sycophants each time they defend their master, but instead to training the best Teachers in the world. We have good teachers from Sri Lanka teaching all over the world, because they are good, not because of going behind a politico for appointments.

When I see Mahinda Rajapakse give teaching appointments to Graduates who cannot teach, it just makes me throw up knowing the damage they WILL DO to the students. The UK has already begun a process of firing teachers if they don’t rise up to the mark, as NO TEACHER is better than a BAD TEACHER.

WE MUST change this thinking of tom foolery into a serious investment in training teachers in the numerous teacher training colleges that are understaffed without sufficiently good teacher trainers to train the all important teachers. This is where the money must first be spent.

Go to any newly opened Mahindodaya and see for yourself how many working machines there are, how many qualified teachers are assigned to the unit, and how many students obtain the necessary technical skills therefrom, and grade it between 1 and 10 with 10 being excellent. You will find the level hovering at around 3 or 4 as an average.

IN SHORT That is money misspent! With more into the pockets of the people getting the building contracts and contracts to supply overpriced equipment for them.

So the BUZZ word is GOOD TEACHERS PLEASE FIRST, it wont win you votes but it will be patriotic to do so.         

The Mahindodaya Technology Laboratories – another farcical veneer to fool the masses! and gas the students!

If you live in Sri Lanka you won’t fail to notice the number of new buildings that are being constructed at many schools, as close to the road as possible and often completely at ODDS with the architectural conformity of the school. It is the same design and color used at every school and I will attempt to add a photo of it if I can find one on the net to include in this blog.

I have already blogged on this before, but felt it needed another entry because of a new perspective that my tailor gave to me yesterday. 

http://www.kalpanakaranna.blogspot.com/2014/07/education-spending-govt-and-world-bank.html

The tailor shop is bang next door to the Panagoda Army Camp, and he was listening to Bana on the radio when I walked in.  In addition to tailoring a new pair of black trousers, and white shirt, I also asked him to darn a well worn (20yr+) shirt that is a pattern that I particularly like and is now not available anywhere!  

He appears to be a pious Buddhist with simple tastes and a very unruffled and calm personality. So when I was talking with him about education and the pathetic state of it in Sri Lanka today, he came out with the fact (completely unsolicited) that these Labs are constructed as near as possible to the main roads, so that people can see when they are being driven in a bus, and he noted one instance where a whole embankment was cut in order to construct this in front of the school, when the school had so much property in the back where this could be constructed, taking into account a well balanced quiet location with trees and shade. He was was also concerned that the embankment thus cut into could collapse in heavy rain damaging the building and/or injuring the students. 

He further pointed out the fact that, being so close to the main road, the noise of the traffic and the pollution from fumes would be disturbing, and a health hazard   to the students trying to study in them[u1] . He said obviously that they have been put there for show, to give a veneer to the unthinking public that this Govt. is doing something for the schools! This comment coming from a man, who I would consider the present Government’s poster boys of average pious citizens of Sri Lanka, is telling, as he has really thought how ridiculous it is.

Therefore using the word Mahindodaya will come to haunt the Mahinda Rajapakse legacy after his demise, as it will be known as Mahinda’s Gas Chambers where innocent children were killed, when they had NO option but to breathe poisonous fumes emitted by the belching buses of the state institutions which he has not regulated, along with other state vehicles which don’t even appear to be regulated.

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 [u1]

Is the Defense Ministry led by mental deviants?

The latest news that NGOs are NOT allowed to talk to the press and hold workshops, makes a mockery of what an NGO is. It is better to ban all NGOs. Clearly this is aimed at stifling the increasing crescendo of criticism of Govt. by Civil Society, but effectively it prevents even the Friday Forum from writing to the Press. What pray does that mean? Nothing of substance to read in Sri Lanka! Is there a point in anyone but "fools to live in this Paradise?"

DO THEY MEAN INGOs? As, if they enforce this to local NGOs then ALL types of charity that NGOs do will have to stop, as they will not be able to garner publicity for their activities and therefore be prevented from fund raising! That is why I said that the Defense Secretary peed in his pants and didn’t realize it until someone pointed it out. He will find a way of saving face from embarrassment. Most NGOs perform yeoman service in Sri Lanka. Don’t forget that.

The Defense Secretary is obviously getting his knickers seriously caught in a twist as the consequences of his actions are widespread and will definitely be reversed once his slow at comprehending brother understands what he is up to.

This kind of behavior is even tolerated in Sri Lanka because the rich and powerful are just rats holding on to dear life of the coat tails of the Regime to greedily lick all the crumbs thrown their way, having sold their soul a long time ago to the devil.

It is time we get to grips with the fact that the Govt. has actually lost its head and the ASYLUM is the only place for these Cukoos brandishing as national leaders. What a free place with liberty and consistency and sanity this Country will be with the Regime’s principal proponents safely locked away in an Asylum that will permit the public to view them with a one way mirror.

As Bertrand Russell said, Governments can exist without laws, but Laws cannot exist without Government, so we can continue to carry on for a period in this lawless state where laws are not made by Parliament, but effectively by a few who need to be committed to the Loony Bin. Remember we tolerate it to such a degree that we continue to permit this excess, due to our singular inability to appreciate the seriousness of the direction this state has taken, and inability to hold our leaders accountable for their insanity.

Typically the bimbos who live in Sri Lanka are tongue tied! Don’t they realize the seriousness of the attempt? It will have to be reversed, but the fact that NO ONE has actually come out and publicly and said that this is INSANE, which leads me to doubt that this Country has any intelligent people who have some spine! 

The Rest of the world must look at us as a real basket case with a population that is comatose, and therefore can easily be exterminated by their leaders. Sri Lankans rise up and defend your country if there is any patriotism left in you, otherwise don't even bother finding excuses for your incapacity in this need of the hour.

LTTE terrorism pales in comparison with the Rajapakse terrorism!    

In a tech savvy world, adults must improvise if their message is to be heard by youth.

Whatever young people think, they are usually unable to organize a piss up in a brewery, unless they have received a better education than the state sector currently provides. It is therefore the duty of the adults to take charge of the projects that benefit the youth, but make the youth feel that it is them that are running the show.

This is an important point. Left to the youth, nothing will ever get done! Adult supervision, encouragement and participation is necessary to give that added sense of urgency to the task. The education system has NOT taught the necessary discipline and self-motivation in organizing and carrying out projects and tasks successfully.

It is how adults communicate with young people that is at stake. Often young people are VERY suspicious when dealing with adult promises to help. Therefore the intentions must be clearly laid out. Some psychological knowledge in dealing with this aspect is helpful, so as to gain maximum impact especially in a program designed to help the youth.

The psychology of the youth of today also must be understood, so that the adults designing workshops such as leadership development programs, understand the fluid nature of acceptances to attend. Whilst my word may be my bond and if I say I will attend, I mean it. A young person in Sri Lanka on the other hand, may acknowledge that they will come, but in the end, if there is a more enticing offer, this promise will be conveniently forgotten.

It is therefore important that the invitation itself is sufficiently enticing to require their presence at “a must be at event!” These are all considerations that must be taken account of when planning any youth related event.

Of course there are the set piece events that will generate automatic interest, such as musicals, as the people are starved for entertainment of this nature, but when that is not the objective, why indulge in extravagance, when a different approach at far less expense may achieve the same or a more focused objective.

The youth will engage in something if direct and perceived benefit. The Nil Balakaya is making promises of employment if one is with them in the long haul, and that is a good enough reason for people to be with them, as long as that promise still holds true! That is what I mean about a direct benefit of belonging! 

What hope can the opposition promise for the disgruntled youth of today?

If the survey I referred to in my last blog entry is anything to go by, the youth of Sri Lanka do not see a future for them in the island. Offered a chance they will leave at the first instance, and therefore have voted with their feet, and they are also disgruntled with the political process having lost faith.

Young people are idealistic and that is a defining quality of Youth. Therefore it is important that this enthusiasm is not stifled, and turned into despair instead. A responsible opposition should seize this opportunity and prepare Youth for a better future with a believable set of policies that the opposition agrees to put forward to actually attract the youth vote.

The main issues that concern youth are improving their employment prospects, improving the quality of education, and matching the skills to the vacancies and carry out programs to reduce this void between, jobs available and skills to fill them. As a matter of policy, the opposition has undertaken to double education spending at National Level, and most of that will go to the Free Education sector, from Montessori all the way to Tertiary Level. Instead of building construction, where there is a lot of leakage due to kickbacks, the attention MUST be in retraining teachers to the required levels as 75% of teachers in the state sector WILL NOT pass a competency test today for the subjects they teach. If the quality of the education system improves, then some of the required skills will be available just as result of a better educated and motivated student who is able to think clearly and apply their attention to specific areas of employment.

In my line of work, I interview dozens of youth monthly and none of them without exception are able to clearly define what they want. I guess those who really know what they want, don’t come to me! How can I say politely that those who then come to me are the no hopers! Actually they really need my help in find their focus first. Once they know what it is they want, then that is half the battle, they are almost there in their march for success.

We must have leadership programs to empower youth in finding their jobs for themselves AND NOT be dependent on others! Aspects of this will include how they should go about planning their lives, so that they will obtain a relative level of satisfaction and NOT success and we must encourage them to put satisfaction over income level.

We then map out best as we can what the future would look like and provide appropriate training in the fields where the needs are expected to be the greatest, both locally and overseas, where we permit people the opportunity to explore the world and return with qualifications, and experience in fields of benefit to Sri Lanka.  

It must offer every emigrant a desire to return once their short term aspirations are met.

Of course just employment is NOT the answer, but a living wage where basic aspirations can be fulfilled. Most wages today, do not permit the young person to live on their own, outside of their parent's home leading to much disillusionment. 

Making promises to fill this is a tall order, and it is most important that they are not mere promises and are followed with deeds. It is this believable platform, that must be introduced, for renewed interest in the political process and for the main opposition as a matter of priority. Giving the message that connects with the target group is the 64,000 dollar question.  

The youth vote is a critical element in winning an election, and it is now clear that the Govt. campaign is just smoke and mirrors, which may try and confuse some of its merits, but the vast majority is likely to view it cynically, and choose NOT to exercise their franchise, unless the opposition can justify the reason for voting, in their best interests.