This is a hot topic today, but as usual our complacent population by voting with their feet are permitting the government to do as they please without opposition. It appears that the opposition was caught flat footed yet again, and now scrambling to get this subject into open debate. There were 3000 young prospective entrants bussed in from some parts of the Island, at government expense so the President could give them a PEP talk. Looking at government tv this evening on this issue they carefully slected articulate students who endorsed this along with a parent or two who also approved of this to make a statement that there is no opposition to this.
Whilst I am in principle not opposed to some kind of pre university entrance orienteering course, which I believe should last at least 6months, where English and IT is also taught to all prospective undergrads, the surreptitious way in which the governemnt brought this procedure without debate in Parliament, so that the legality of this locally within our laws and any treaties which we are signitories to should all be looked at before implementation.
Technically it violates an International law, about forced military training. Now the govt. is saying this is not military training even going so far as saying this is leadership training.The Human Rights case is strong and why the govt does not stay a week to have some discussion does affect my belief that they wanted a surreptious start without allowing time for any oppisition to galvanize any support.
The climate of fear prevents students and parents opposing to speak for fear of retribution. The legal delays just shift the implementation focus a few weeks, but as the parent of the child who has been asked to come to training is apprehensive for fear their child will ot be permitted to enter his chosen field at university.
This creates a dilemma where as the really affected party the parents and kids who are hoping to go to Uni are reluctant to speak against this proposal. Unless those really affected and are truly opposed to this are permitted to voice their concerns the gov will maintain that it is the usual suspects complaining but the parents have been bought over.
To solve this problem the general public needs to be taught to evaluate the nuances of the issue and then make an inofrmed statement.
I am therefore primarily seeking comments of the readers to express thier side on this.
Monday, May 23, 2011
Friday, May 20, 2011
Cricket selectors - Are you worried when the England 2ndXI show lack of depth of our bowlers?
The current match in Derby for the SL team to acclimate to the English conditions just ended its first day. The English second string has posted a total of 394 /4 with the last partnership still going after 232 runs. The struggle of our bowlers to make any in roads in the whole of the final two sessions of the day are very worrying, and in my opinion the class of the bowling in the absence of Lasith Malinga leaves much to be desired. Apparently Morgan's 150 not out will not help his cause in getting a test spot. Isnt that a further cause for concern for the SL side?
Despite the confidence gained in winning the first match against a weak Middlesex bowling side this is more of a test of things to come under English conditions. SL won the toss and chose to bowl, and rightly so as it is our bowling strength that currently looks very mediocre. What is it that we can do in the short term to prevent a total disaster in the 3 test series? This is a baptism of fire for the new Test Captain Dilshan.
There is no question that we will be depending on our batsman to save the day, and bat through these 5 day matches having got used to 20 over batting at the IPL games. Lets hope we are not sending our Lions to slaughter especially today as it is ironic that we are facing the English Lions!!!
So lets will our boys along, and not face the ignominy due to the SLC incompetence of only wanting to manage the money and not the game after the financial pay off for losing the World Cup. Don't come with an argument saying even this game in Derby was hijacked by the betting fraternity so that the odds for a Sri Lankan win at the Test matches increases.
Some food for thought!!
Despite the confidence gained in winning the first match against a weak Middlesex bowling side this is more of a test of things to come under English conditions. SL won the toss and chose to bowl, and rightly so as it is our bowling strength that currently looks very mediocre. What is it that we can do in the short term to prevent a total disaster in the 3 test series? This is a baptism of fire for the new Test Captain Dilshan.
There is no question that we will be depending on our batsman to save the day, and bat through these 5 day matches having got used to 20 over batting at the IPL games. Lets hope we are not sending our Lions to slaughter especially today as it is ironic that we are facing the English Lions!!!
So lets will our boys along, and not face the ignominy due to the SLC incompetence of only wanting to manage the money and not the game after the financial pay off for losing the World Cup. Don't come with an argument saying even this game in Derby was hijacked by the betting fraternity so that the odds for a Sri Lankan win at the Test matches increases.
Some food for thought!!
Thursday, May 19, 2011
Young bloggers don't you have an opinion on the local version of the Hitler Youth Corps? It was announced today
The Ruling Regime's "tharuneyata hetak" aims to attract the less educated youth subtlety to be part of the UPFA's Youth Corps, whilst the latest "Boot Camp" for A level students aims to enslave them into taking thinking out of their psyche and accept authority and orders without question, in much the same way an Army is disciplined.
In the words of the Minister of Higher Education today, he said this program is an essential requirement for University entry, so that this country can build future leaders and teach them something about discipline (aka taking orders from higher authority)
In reality this letter goes out to all those who have sat A levels and not just to entrants, as those who have received this letter do not as yet know what the marks are to enter university, nor do they know if they are even eligible for entry. In reality therefore it becomes compulsory for a far greater population than university entrants which will only account for 17,000 this year and the plan is to put 200.000 through this program. It is currently noted to be a in house 3 week course at an army camp and the actual program and plan has not been publicised in order that criticism is minimized. There is a list of stuff they have to bring to the camp, which if they did not already posses would cost about Rs20,000 to purchase. So far as I know they will only receive two free T shirts each and a certificate saying they have attended the course. Additionally based on the letters that have been received by the first batch who have been asked to report on Monday, the locations are as far away from home as possible. A Colombo student has been asked to attend a camp in Trincomalee, and a Kandy student has to go to Boosa in Galle.
It is not clear if the sexes will be mixed or together and bearing in mind they are between 17 and 20 many females are bound to be apprehensive not knowing the safety element.
Having stated the facts I have been able to glean, (if someone has more accurate information, especially the instruction schedule, please comment on this here.) I do not know what can be instilled in 3 weeks in a student other than a brainwashing session of sorts. How can you instill leadership qualities in this short period. So this captive audience can be taught whatever the Defence Secretary thinks fit. All I can think is that he wants them to stop thinking and "do as I say and don't ask questions!"
In Sri Lanka we have a severe problem with thinking, as we are not taught at school to think nor are students asked to enquire, hence the name of the blog, with a prime purpose of getting the reader to think. That is why I believe this insidious program is shrouded with ill intentions rather than the potential it can have of teaching students to be responsible people in society, something that is desperately needed for our youth.
Why is the govt, not elaborating on the program, with a work flow.? We do not know if they are going to be taught to use guns or face a firing squad, that is how in the dark everyone is on this program. This has not even been discussed at length in Parliament, when it is a significant change to current practice even though the Minister maintains that no new laws or regulations are required to enact this program.
Let me conclude by saying that whilst I am not trying to prevent a pre university training of entrants in taking responsibility as the chosen few to receive a free education at a huge cost to the state, I am suspicious of this program as it lacks transparency, has not been debated and is shrouded in secrecy, and appears to include at least 10 times the final university entrants.
We have entered a very frightening period in this country's history where the ruling elite can do almost anything they wish and do not face any opposition due to the lack of time for debate because of the surreptitious speed with which most actions are introduced. Democracy is dead!!!!
In the words of the Minister of Higher Education today, he said this program is an essential requirement for University entry, so that this country can build future leaders and teach them something about discipline (aka taking orders from higher authority)
In reality this letter goes out to all those who have sat A levels and not just to entrants, as those who have received this letter do not as yet know what the marks are to enter university, nor do they know if they are even eligible for entry. In reality therefore it becomes compulsory for a far greater population than university entrants which will only account for 17,000 this year and the plan is to put 200.000 through this program. It is currently noted to be a in house 3 week course at an army camp and the actual program and plan has not been publicised in order that criticism is minimized. There is a list of stuff they have to bring to the camp, which if they did not already posses would cost about Rs20,000 to purchase. So far as I know they will only receive two free T shirts each and a certificate saying they have attended the course. Additionally based on the letters that have been received by the first batch who have been asked to report on Monday, the locations are as far away from home as possible. A Colombo student has been asked to attend a camp in Trincomalee, and a Kandy student has to go to Boosa in Galle.
It is not clear if the sexes will be mixed or together and bearing in mind they are between 17 and 20 many females are bound to be apprehensive not knowing the safety element.
Having stated the facts I have been able to glean, (if someone has more accurate information, especially the instruction schedule, please comment on this here.) I do not know what can be instilled in 3 weeks in a student other than a brainwashing session of sorts. How can you instill leadership qualities in this short period. So this captive audience can be taught whatever the Defence Secretary thinks fit. All I can think is that he wants them to stop thinking and "do as I say and don't ask questions!"
In Sri Lanka we have a severe problem with thinking, as we are not taught at school to think nor are students asked to enquire, hence the name of the blog, with a prime purpose of getting the reader to think. That is why I believe this insidious program is shrouded with ill intentions rather than the potential it can have of teaching students to be responsible people in society, something that is desperately needed for our youth.
Why is the govt, not elaborating on the program, with a work flow.? We do not know if they are going to be taught to use guns or face a firing squad, that is how in the dark everyone is on this program. This has not even been discussed at length in Parliament, when it is a significant change to current practice even though the Minister maintains that no new laws or regulations are required to enact this program.
Let me conclude by saying that whilst I am not trying to prevent a pre university training of entrants in taking responsibility as the chosen few to receive a free education at a huge cost to the state, I am suspicious of this program as it lacks transparency, has not been debated and is shrouded in secrecy, and appears to include at least 10 times the final university entrants.
We have entered a very frightening period in this country's history where the ruling elite can do almost anything they wish and do not face any opposition due to the lack of time for debate because of the surreptitious speed with which most actions are introduced. Democracy is dead!!!!
Monday, May 2, 2011
Fingers point to.... for making SL the laughing stock of international diplomacy
The furor over the 'Report' has shown how duplicitous the Govt. and its spokesman are and while we may be able to fool the majority that matter to the elected in Sri Lanka, in the court of international opinion we are just mush! zilch! Even if one reads the opinions given by both the Russian and Chinese (Indians have remained strangely silent!) they are just supporting the President implicitly through their Ambassadors locally, but not a word from Beijing and Moscow who are careful to sit on the fence.
Why is it that if we did not accept the commissioning of the panel, we secretly had negotiations and then later openly the Attorney General and Diplomats to the UN have discussions with the Panelists? Was it that we wanted to placate the international fora, while keeping the local stance? The contents of the report are not at all surprising, as this is merely a regurgitation of past accusations, now formalized albeit only to the UNSG.
I believe the least we should have done after participating would be without sending mixed messages as given by the foreign minister, asked for time to take each of the points and present the SL side, so that the Report and the Govt. official response been released at the same time. It could easily have been done, but the arrogance of power prevented such a balance.
I cannot understand that, as this war was a JUST war to eliminate arguably the most fearsome and inhuman terror group, the Govt. was unable to come out with the facts as the Govt. saw it and defended their actions. It is easier at the point of winning to explain collateral damage, and in view of all the satellite imagery now available to all, explain how hospitals were shelled and why. As it was not deliberate policy, it could have been a mixture of isolated deliberate instances in the heat of the battle when shells were falling on the forces as well as inaccuracy on the part of the coordinates fed into the guns or quality of the firepower used.
I distinctly remember the time when we were told that at most 70,000 were holed in with the terrorists, and that they were the Maaviru families of the fighters and so were ostensibly part of the greater fighting force. If the Govt. believed that, then everyone in the misnamed no fire zone was fair game. The Govt. made a colossal mistake calling it the no fire zones as that was a call to the Tigers to group there, as otherwise why would they use Human Shields in the fire zones as everyone in the fire zones will be eliminated and not shielded! It may have been even called that deliberately so everyone would go there to be fired on.
It is also now claimed that India was complicit in the whole operation at the time, knowing full well what was going on and also approved of it as even they wanted the LTTE totally annihilated anyway and SL were doing a perfect job of it. Whatever the merits of this argument, when 350,000 emerged fleeing the fighting it must have taken everyone by surprise, as by that time it was a no brainer that people who were holed up were mainly innocent civilians, forced to be there from the LTTE retreat of the past few months unable to flee until the SL troops cleared a safe passage.
When one looks at this number and the shelling that occurred, then it is no wonder that 10,000+ innocents may have perished in the conflict. It is too late for the UN to have post mortems now. It was paramount that the local UN staff give the UNSG at that time, the true gravity of the situation, and pass the responsibility of action to him at that time. In my opinion therefore it was at that time, prior to the time that civilians were escaping the clutches of the terrorists, for the UN to demand a free passage complete with UN cover for a max of 5 days for civilians to flee and so then only the LTTE would have perished en mass. UNSG failed miserably, partly due to the failure of the UN system to protect the true innocents, possibly due to some partiality to the LTTE also or for reasons that I am not privy to.
The soldiers were tired of the war, wanted to finish it off, saw that it was possible, like in all end stages, allow the Govt. to lie publicly about what they were doing and then indulge in heavy weapon shelling. If you were the commander there, would you risk the lives of your tired troops for hand to hand combat when you have weapons at your disposal to finish the job with less casualties on your side? The morale of the Army was high, but based on absolute hatred of the enemy and the destruction it had caused to the country over a protracted period, and many having lost close friends. It is unlikely that civilians were intentionally targeted.
Of course there was ( and this is pure conjecture based on 15 years of living in Southern California, where the Sinhala and Tamil diaspora were at diametrically opposing poles ) the desire of the Defense Secretary coming after a long stint in Southern California being exposed to total hatred, of wanting to teach the Tamil Diaspora, that he had them by the balls!! the wish to finish it off before some power forced a ceasefire and a return to stalemate. So when the word from the front came that they were close to finishing it off, its easy to say take no prisoners and save our boys from potential suicide cadres.
Now why is it we are too chicken to tell the truth? It is the Sinhala gathiya to tell the truth only when we are beaten into pulp by the police as is done to this day in Sri Lanka. So if our leaders are unable to be truthful, ( I guess they are politicians so they are inbred to lie) we all have to suffer.
I know of one way to get to the truth, we can then save this country from its banal leaders, and get our respect back, until then we in Sri Lanka will suffer for the sins of our leaders. So don't just follow your leaders and believe everything they say, it is really only for their self preservation that they act and not yours or the country's.
Why is it that if we did not accept the commissioning of the panel, we secretly had negotiations and then later openly the Attorney General and Diplomats to the UN have discussions with the Panelists? Was it that we wanted to placate the international fora, while keeping the local stance? The contents of the report are not at all surprising, as this is merely a regurgitation of past accusations, now formalized albeit only to the UNSG.
I believe the least we should have done after participating would be without sending mixed messages as given by the foreign minister, asked for time to take each of the points and present the SL side, so that the Report and the Govt. official response been released at the same time. It could easily have been done, but the arrogance of power prevented such a balance.
I cannot understand that, as this war was a JUST war to eliminate arguably the most fearsome and inhuman terror group, the Govt. was unable to come out with the facts as the Govt. saw it and defended their actions. It is easier at the point of winning to explain collateral damage, and in view of all the satellite imagery now available to all, explain how hospitals were shelled and why. As it was not deliberate policy, it could have been a mixture of isolated deliberate instances in the heat of the battle when shells were falling on the forces as well as inaccuracy on the part of the coordinates fed into the guns or quality of the firepower used.
I distinctly remember the time when we were told that at most 70,000 were holed in with the terrorists, and that they were the Maaviru families of the fighters and so were ostensibly part of the greater fighting force. If the Govt. believed that, then everyone in the misnamed no fire zone was fair game. The Govt. made a colossal mistake calling it the no fire zones as that was a call to the Tigers to group there, as otherwise why would they use Human Shields in the fire zones as everyone in the fire zones will be eliminated and not shielded! It may have been even called that deliberately so everyone would go there to be fired on.
It is also now claimed that India was complicit in the whole operation at the time, knowing full well what was going on and also approved of it as even they wanted the LTTE totally annihilated anyway and SL were doing a perfect job of it. Whatever the merits of this argument, when 350,000 emerged fleeing the fighting it must have taken everyone by surprise, as by that time it was a no brainer that people who were holed up were mainly innocent civilians, forced to be there from the LTTE retreat of the past few months unable to flee until the SL troops cleared a safe passage.
When one looks at this number and the shelling that occurred, then it is no wonder that 10,000+ innocents may have perished in the conflict. It is too late for the UN to have post mortems now. It was paramount that the local UN staff give the UNSG at that time, the true gravity of the situation, and pass the responsibility of action to him at that time. In my opinion therefore it was at that time, prior to the time that civilians were escaping the clutches of the terrorists, for the UN to demand a free passage complete with UN cover for a max of 5 days for civilians to flee and so then only the LTTE would have perished en mass. UNSG failed miserably, partly due to the failure of the UN system to protect the true innocents, possibly due to some partiality to the LTTE also or for reasons that I am not privy to.
The soldiers were tired of the war, wanted to finish it off, saw that it was possible, like in all end stages, allow the Govt. to lie publicly about what they were doing and then indulge in heavy weapon shelling. If you were the commander there, would you risk the lives of your tired troops for hand to hand combat when you have weapons at your disposal to finish the job with less casualties on your side? The morale of the Army was high, but based on absolute hatred of the enemy and the destruction it had caused to the country over a protracted period, and many having lost close friends. It is unlikely that civilians were intentionally targeted.
Of course there was ( and this is pure conjecture based on 15 years of living in Southern California, where the Sinhala and Tamil diaspora were at diametrically opposing poles ) the desire of the Defense Secretary coming after a long stint in Southern California being exposed to total hatred, of wanting to teach the Tamil Diaspora, that he had them by the balls!! the wish to finish it off before some power forced a ceasefire and a return to stalemate. So when the word from the front came that they were close to finishing it off, its easy to say take no prisoners and save our boys from potential suicide cadres.
Now why is it we are too chicken to tell the truth? It is the Sinhala gathiya to tell the truth only when we are beaten into pulp by the police as is done to this day in Sri Lanka. So if our leaders are unable to be truthful, ( I guess they are politicians so they are inbred to lie) we all have to suffer.
I know of one way to get to the truth, we can then save this country from its banal leaders, and get our respect back, until then we in Sri Lanka will suffer for the sins of our leaders. So don't just follow your leaders and believe everything they say, it is really only for their self preservation that they act and not yours or the country's.
Tuesday, April 19, 2011
The furor over the advisory panel's report to Ban Ki Moon - an opinion
We are back to this saga, which will not go away, as long as this issue is met with completely opposing views within the island. We can always pin point to US hypocrisy and ulterior motives and begin a Western conspiracy bashing harangue as seems to be the natural inclination of the government with a new added twist to ask the people of the country to rise up in support of the government’s stance. I just do not believe the size of the constituency behind the government will make an iota of difference to this unless the Tamil people living in this country are ALSO united in condemnation.
For those who say this is only a Sinhala country, then I cannot have a rational discussion on this subject. For those who believe this is a country of all the races and creeds that live in it, then it is time we act in a UNITED voice and opinion. It is important therefore to address the grievances of the Tamil people, as represented by the TNA, In order to achieve this goal, so that we can have a hopeful and prosperous future for all who live in Sri Lanka. If the TNA is phony then who truly represents the Tamils?
It is so clear that the TNA completely accept the report and the Govt. reject it, polarizing the people yet again. The Govt. dare not label the TNA as unpatriotic as it may provoke a backlash against them, creating a crisis and instability and therefore have pretended that they have not even heard their support, and are perhaps saying to themselves they are still LTTE apologists, and that the true opinion of the Tamil people is not with them.
How can this be resolved? If the Tamil people believe the contents, while both parties to the conflict are equally implicated, only the victor remains to be held accountable. I do not know if the LLRC had evidence of people accusing the security forces of violations, but I would be risking my life if I had actually been a victim, witness or a partaker in any of these allegations. Personally I cannot accept zero collateral damage when human shields are used, so lets just tell the truth and clear the air.
I believe if we are to justify to the world that we can put behind this moment in history and move on, the victims of this conflict need closure, and this has not been addressed satisfactorily and I do not believe the Government is in any rush. I must add that Sri Lanka has the largest number of documented missing persons per capita in the world from all conflicts. This is not a case of any race, it is a case of the tragedy of the country that we have not been able to confront this and obtain closure for the families of the missing.
For those who say this is only a Sinhala country, then I cannot have a rational discussion on this subject. For those who believe this is a country of all the races and creeds that live in it, then it is time we act in a UNITED voice and opinion. It is important therefore to address the grievances of the Tamil people, as represented by the TNA, In order to achieve this goal, so that we can have a hopeful and prosperous future for all who live in Sri Lanka. If the TNA is phony then who truly represents the Tamils?
It is so clear that the TNA completely accept the report and the Govt. reject it, polarizing the people yet again. The Govt. dare not label the TNA as unpatriotic as it may provoke a backlash against them, creating a crisis and instability and therefore have pretended that they have not even heard their support, and are perhaps saying to themselves they are still LTTE apologists, and that the true opinion of the Tamil people is not with them.
How can this be resolved? If the Tamil people believe the contents, while both parties to the conflict are equally implicated, only the victor remains to be held accountable. I do not know if the LLRC had evidence of people accusing the security forces of violations, but I would be risking my life if I had actually been a victim, witness or a partaker in any of these allegations. Personally I cannot accept zero collateral damage when human shields are used, so lets just tell the truth and clear the air.
I believe if we are to justify to the world that we can put behind this moment in history and move on, the victims of this conflict need closure, and this has not been addressed satisfactorily and I do not believe the Government is in any rush. I must add that Sri Lanka has the largest number of documented missing persons per capita in the world from all conflicts. This is not a case of any race, it is a case of the tragedy of the country that we have not been able to confront this and obtain closure for the families of the missing.
Saturday, April 9, 2011
the games people play in order to gain favor
In my experience in working with staff in the villages, there is a lot of things said, which are sometimes true and sometimes not. It is hard to determine which is which especially when much of what is said is to make one look good with one's principal whilst stabbing a rival in the back.
One has to be very careful in these circumstances, as many tales are of people deceiving you and stealing from you, and unless one can corroborate such tales, one has to tread carefully before attaching blame and believing the story.
In the most recent instance it is one who is in my sister's employment who is making allegations against people in my employment, and if I repeat that allgation to the alleged culprit, they would know from whom that came and make life difficult for him. If it is totally unfounded, then it is even more of an issue that can blow out of control, where we are not on site to be able to see the wood from the trees and settle the dispute in a fair manner and prevent it getting nasty.
The art of the deal is to accept the statement from the person making the allegation and then just pretend nothing has happened and see if one can prove beyond reasonable doubt that the allegation has any merit. Otherwise it is a pure trouble in the jungle scenario with no way out.
The divide and rule concept worked well for the British as they had enough people within the island who would tell tales on the other, and it is difficult to get total silence from all as there are enough people who will sneak to gain favor. This way one can know everything that goes on and pretend one does not know and be able to come out with the truth when it can be proven or when one gets caught red handed or with his pants down as the expression goes.
While there is no smoke without fire, jealousies are such that bald face lies are now the norm in this game, so that ascertaining the truth prior to reacting become paramount.
One has to be very careful in these circumstances, as many tales are of people deceiving you and stealing from you, and unless one can corroborate such tales, one has to tread carefully before attaching blame and believing the story.
In the most recent instance it is one who is in my sister's employment who is making allegations against people in my employment, and if I repeat that allgation to the alleged culprit, they would know from whom that came and make life difficult for him. If it is totally unfounded, then it is even more of an issue that can blow out of control, where we are not on site to be able to see the wood from the trees and settle the dispute in a fair manner and prevent it getting nasty.
The art of the deal is to accept the statement from the person making the allegation and then just pretend nothing has happened and see if one can prove beyond reasonable doubt that the allegation has any merit. Otherwise it is a pure trouble in the jungle scenario with no way out.
The divide and rule concept worked well for the British as they had enough people within the island who would tell tales on the other, and it is difficult to get total silence from all as there are enough people who will sneak to gain favor. This way one can know everything that goes on and pretend one does not know and be able to come out with the truth when it can be proven or when one gets caught red handed or with his pants down as the expression goes.
While there is no smoke without fire, jealousies are such that bald face lies are now the norm in this game, so that ascertaining the truth prior to reacting become paramount.
Monday, April 4, 2011
we can't stop speculating as to what really happened
It is interesting today to note that everyone I speak to has his or her own theory as to what happened and why it was that Sri Lanka lost!!
These post mortems will go on for years and speculation will never cease, there are as many theories as there are people giving their own version. No one can accept that we lost fair and square to a better side!! While it was the better side on the day, even that is open to opinion! it is other behind the scenes goings on that constituted the final composition that keeps propping up time and time again.
Sanga was not his normal self!, was he sick or sick of the whole farce? Him praising the President in his speech means something very different to non Sri Lankan ears than it does to Sri Lankan. The mass audience listening was non Sri Lankan, so to them it meant if you don't praise the dictator you don't have a future so be sure to get in some words that were completely inappropriate under the circumstances. To the Sri Lankan it meant praise the leader who both won the war and assisted the Sri Lankan team with all the means at his disposal to get there.
You the reader take your pick of the choices, just know that there are differing opinions even on this inclusion.
To me it was simple, I thought we had the game in the bag when the second Indian wicket fell, but from that point I did not see the normal excitement and intensity to finish it off, but a complete change in attitude, and the zeal that Sanga shows in directing the team from the behind the stumps was not there. Of course I was shattered that we did not make it, as I really felt the score in the end was a defendable one.
I wonder why? was he not totally happy with the 4 changes to the team? these are all questions we have for which we may never get the true answer.
Then I see the papers replete with Murali taking the blame for the loss saying he was not up to his usual level. Is he really to blame or those who insisted on including him? I don't know the answer to that either, so I wonder.
After all is said and done, I really feel the team should be congratulated for their performance, win or lose as they did the country credit and as it sometimes happens it was not our day on Saturday, and I really hope we can make it to the finals in Australia in 4 years and win it. Thanks guys for the superb entertainment and the credit to the country, you did us proud. No one will now underestimate the strength and depth of Sri Lanka cricket.
These post mortems will go on for years and speculation will never cease, there are as many theories as there are people giving their own version. No one can accept that we lost fair and square to a better side!! While it was the better side on the day, even that is open to opinion! it is other behind the scenes goings on that constituted the final composition that keeps propping up time and time again.
Sanga was not his normal self!, was he sick or sick of the whole farce? Him praising the President in his speech means something very different to non Sri Lankan ears than it does to Sri Lankan. The mass audience listening was non Sri Lankan, so to them it meant if you don't praise the dictator you don't have a future so be sure to get in some words that were completely inappropriate under the circumstances. To the Sri Lankan it meant praise the leader who both won the war and assisted the Sri Lankan team with all the means at his disposal to get there.
You the reader take your pick of the choices, just know that there are differing opinions even on this inclusion.
To me it was simple, I thought we had the game in the bag when the second Indian wicket fell, but from that point I did not see the normal excitement and intensity to finish it off, but a complete change in attitude, and the zeal that Sanga shows in directing the team from the behind the stumps was not there. Of course I was shattered that we did not make it, as I really felt the score in the end was a defendable one.
I wonder why? was he not totally happy with the 4 changes to the team? these are all questions we have for which we may never get the true answer.
Then I see the papers replete with Murali taking the blame for the loss saying he was not up to his usual level. Is he really to blame or those who insisted on including him? I don't know the answer to that either, so I wonder.
After all is said and done, I really feel the team should be congratulated for their performance, win or lose as they did the country credit and as it sometimes happens it was not our day on Saturday, and I really hope we can make it to the finals in Australia in 4 years and win it. Thanks guys for the superb entertainment and the credit to the country, you did us proud. No one will now underestimate the strength and depth of Sri Lanka cricket.
Wednesday, March 30, 2011
Sri Lanka per capita Income US$2400 for 2010
The department of census and statistics has estimated that the 2010 GNP per head is Rs275,000. By any stretch this is a fantastic figure, which when taken in the context of numbers we assume fall well below this level, mean that there are a lot of very very wealthy people to be able to get to this average.
I cannot see any proposals currently of improving the lot of those who are below Rs100,000 who I would assume fall into the poverty line. I am willing to wager that much of the increase in the past 6 years is as a result of those above the GNP average increasing their share, rather than those at the lower end coming up. I would like to be proved wrong in my assumptions, but I believe this period has seen such a windfall for the wealthy so as to take them to stratospheric levels to increase the GNP average.
The Divi Neguma program I am sure is aimed at helping 1,000,000 households which could average 5,000,000 people (25%) of the population to be able to increase their income levels, but is it structured correctly to achieve this result? I don't believe this good idea has been converted into a great action plan with the emphasis and funds as well as the direction that is required.
In my area in Polonnaruwa I was asking some neighbors about this and all they said is that they were given about Rs100 of seeds to plant in their home gardens.
It is a shame that there is no consistent approach to tackle the serious issues of the day and that everything is converted into an election slogan to hoodwink the electorate that there is something very positive for them, when billions are robbed as part of the daylight robbery that is taking place from the people and the country beautifully disguised in the name of projects and promises.
I cannot see any proposals currently of improving the lot of those who are below Rs100,000 who I would assume fall into the poverty line. I am willing to wager that much of the increase in the past 6 years is as a result of those above the GNP average increasing their share, rather than those at the lower end coming up. I would like to be proved wrong in my assumptions, but I believe this period has seen such a windfall for the wealthy so as to take them to stratospheric levels to increase the GNP average.
The Divi Neguma program I am sure is aimed at helping 1,000,000 households which could average 5,000,000 people (25%) of the population to be able to increase their income levels, but is it structured correctly to achieve this result? I don't believe this good idea has been converted into a great action plan with the emphasis and funds as well as the direction that is required.
In my area in Polonnaruwa I was asking some neighbors about this and all they said is that they were given about Rs100 of seeds to plant in their home gardens.
It is a shame that there is no consistent approach to tackle the serious issues of the day and that everything is converted into an election slogan to hoodwink the electorate that there is something very positive for them, when billions are robbed as part of the daylight robbery that is taking place from the people and the country beautifully disguised in the name of projects and promises.
Tuesday, March 29, 2011
Union Bank - first day of share trading - Interesting to note sour grapes act of Sampath Bank
Today was the first day the shares of Union Bank began trading. The Rs25/- shares briefly touched Rs 45/- for a few moments before settling down around Rs38/- Don't forget that the 15,000,000 shares that were offered at Rs25/- were oversubscribed over 250 times, and 99.9% of the applicants only got 100 shares each. Even if you sent in a cheque for Rs1M subscribing for 40,000 shares all you would get is 200 shares, and the balance Rs995K would be returned to you. So to sell your 100 shares and make Rs1,300 is what I would hardly call a killing!!(before brokerage)
What is more perturbing and smacks of sour grapes, and being self destructive was Sampath Bank who announced in the papers today of all days that it intends to sell their stake amounting to 26,338,000 shares amounting to 7.9% of the Bank. Nothing hangs like a cloud over a new issue than this kind of public disclosure.
I am willing to guess that at least Rs5 per share was wiped out of the subscribers first day sales as a result of this announcement. After all 30Million shares changed hands on the first day, double the number of shares issued. This potential sale by Sampath exceeds the new issue by nearly twice as much and therefore can be considered a material disclosure. So technically I cannot fault Sampath for making this disclosure at this stage, if it truly intended to sell its stake now, but I cannot see any earthly reason for them to rush to a sale, where they can choose a more opportune moment at a more favorable price in the future.
In the interest of the Sampath Bank shareholders, to get maximum value out of this sale, I would not have made this announcement, but waited for the prices to settle and find a buyer for this significant stake at a more favorable price through negotiation at some date in the future. This announcement therefore as shown above does not help either of the Bank's shareholders, and more permanently affects the new Union Bank's shareholders who must be frothing mad at this act.
These are the happenings in Serendipity these days!!!! (Union with a higher PE ratio than Sampath is unpalatable to the latter, is that why? how petty can you get?)
What is more perturbing and smacks of sour grapes, and being self destructive was Sampath Bank who announced in the papers today of all days that it intends to sell their stake amounting to 26,338,000 shares amounting to 7.9% of the Bank. Nothing hangs like a cloud over a new issue than this kind of public disclosure.
I am willing to guess that at least Rs5 per share was wiped out of the subscribers first day sales as a result of this announcement. After all 30Million shares changed hands on the first day, double the number of shares issued. This potential sale by Sampath exceeds the new issue by nearly twice as much and therefore can be considered a material disclosure. So technically I cannot fault Sampath for making this disclosure at this stage, if it truly intended to sell its stake now, but I cannot see any earthly reason for them to rush to a sale, where they can choose a more opportune moment at a more favorable price in the future.
In the interest of the Sampath Bank shareholders, to get maximum value out of this sale, I would not have made this announcement, but waited for the prices to settle and find a buyer for this significant stake at a more favorable price through negotiation at some date in the future. This announcement therefore as shown above does not help either of the Bank's shareholders, and more permanently affects the new Union Bank's shareholders who must be frothing mad at this act.
These are the happenings in Serendipity these days!!!! (Union with a higher PE ratio than Sampath is unpalatable to the latter, is that why? how petty can you get?)
Friday, March 25, 2011
Did you see the 500 Dimo Battas on Galle Face a few days ago?
I noticed the Dimo Battas on Galle Face on my way to the office a few days ago and looked into what this was all about. Of course the Daily News said it was a donation from Dimo, but as always that is stretching not just the truth it is stretching a lie.
Either way I went on to investigate the ramifications of it and I would like any reader who is privy to a more accurate level of knowledge than I who has only gleaned it from various News articles come up with the following points.
They distributed to member of the Self Employed Entrepreneurs Federation, as part of the DIVI NEGUMA program of the Ministry of Economic Development (the Basil and PB show) This was ostensibly for these entrepreneurs to use the vehicle to transport and sell the POSHANA MALLA being a selection of nutritious food items from Lak Sathosa.
Be that as it may, these people have to pay the People's Bank that is giving them the lease (Peoples Bank would have bought it from DIMO at a concessionary 500K)55 monthly payments of Rs 22,135 for a total payment over four and half years of Rs 1,217,425. I would hardly call this concessionary!!!
I can only hope that these people are sufficiently motivated enough to work hard to earn enough to make this monthly lease and then pay for the products that they are distributing, which if they have a reasonable margin at Lak Sathosa rates! can earn a living ( a net profit after lease payment of minimum Rs20,000) I have worked out that before making payments for insurance, repairs and maintenance but after paying for diesel they require a monthly gross profit of Rs50,000 in order to arrive at this basic living wage.
This assuming only one person does everything, that is drive the vehicle (needs a clean driving license) and also sell the produce. Once this becomes a two person enterprise, then it is just Rs10,000 per person making the proposition dubious. In practice rarely in Sri Lanka, have I seen the one person delivery/sales process.
Under the latter alternative of two persons People's Bank earns more in interest per month on the deal than the human being is in monthly earnings, a complete win win for the Bank and lose lose for the Entrepreneur.
The question is then asked, how many fail to pay the lease, and in order to realistically look into the feasibility of such a business venture, I would suggest that the IPS (Institute of Policy Studies) use this as a case study and with help from People's Bank follow the progress of these recipients over the period of the lease and work out the pros and cons of this project.
Either way I went on to investigate the ramifications of it and I would like any reader who is privy to a more accurate level of knowledge than I who has only gleaned it from various News articles come up with the following points.
They distributed to member of the Self Employed Entrepreneurs Federation, as part of the DIVI NEGUMA program of the Ministry of Economic Development (the Basil and PB show) This was ostensibly for these entrepreneurs to use the vehicle to transport and sell the POSHANA MALLA being a selection of nutritious food items from Lak Sathosa.
Be that as it may, these people have to pay the People's Bank that is giving them the lease (Peoples Bank would have bought it from DIMO at a concessionary 500K)55 monthly payments of Rs 22,135 for a total payment over four and half years of Rs 1,217,425. I would hardly call this concessionary!!!
I can only hope that these people are sufficiently motivated enough to work hard to earn enough to make this monthly lease and then pay for the products that they are distributing, which if they have a reasonable margin at Lak Sathosa rates! can earn a living ( a net profit after lease payment of minimum Rs20,000) I have worked out that before making payments for insurance, repairs and maintenance but after paying for diesel they require a monthly gross profit of Rs50,000 in order to arrive at this basic living wage.
This assuming only one person does everything, that is drive the vehicle (needs a clean driving license) and also sell the produce. Once this becomes a two person enterprise, then it is just Rs10,000 per person making the proposition dubious. In practice rarely in Sri Lanka, have I seen the one person delivery/sales process.
Under the latter alternative of two persons People's Bank earns more in interest per month on the deal than the human being is in monthly earnings, a complete win win for the Bank and lose lose for the Entrepreneur.
The question is then asked, how many fail to pay the lease, and in order to realistically look into the feasibility of such a business venture, I would suggest that the IPS (Institute of Policy Studies) use this as a case study and with help from People's Bank follow the progress of these recipients over the period of the lease and work out the pros and cons of this project.
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