Saying what I want, when I want…
Five years have gone by since my entrance to the western hemisphere. Earlier inroads were always temporary; this time around it was reason to obtain citizenship. Which is done and dusted, the fat lady has sung. I am now supposedly a world citizen, no that’s not right, I don’t hold an UN passport, and sorry I digress. But please do try to read between the lines?
Recent Christmas holidays in my motherland, the Paradise Isle, and actually relaxing more than getting blind drunk enabled me to think a lot. Yes, I do occasionally think. Most of the thinking came from a question raised by a Paradisian of Dravidian descent on New Years Eve. Her question to me was if I were enjoying my newfound freedom of expression in the western world. I smiled and just nodded my head, as the Galle Face Hotel terrace was not the forum for it.
This week at lunchtime other than the usual Ham and Cheese sandy, I decided to give myself the occasional indulgence I have at lunch. So it was to Nandos for an olive, chicken and spicy rice takeaway. A short cut to get there is through a small parking lot. On my way back through this parking lot with a bag full of chicken and glowing heart, I suddenly spotted this old biddy tripping and falling on the kerb. Imagining as usual I was Sir Lancelot I dashed to help her. So there was this old biddy with blood pouring from her mouth, on the floor, looking up at me. So guess what happened?
Despite her bloody fall the old biddy took one look at my concerned face and screamed! Natural balance was restored after two City Caucasians of my similar age entered the situation. Recently, since 2010 actually I have been in high spirits, all this changed in that instant second. The old biddy despite her fall and all imagined that I was going to do a ‘carpe diem’ and steal her bag. Though I may not look or behave so, I was really hurt inside. I picked up my bag of chicken, smiled at the two City Caucasians who were ever so embarrassed about what just happened and hopped my way through. I did throw the bag away at the next bin I saw though. Stupid of me, yes. My dog would have enjoyed it.
So this freedom of expression is not all that is being all you can be, you know? If I do take a holiday in the two countries that end with the letter ‘TAN’, I may and can disappear for about a year and reappear without my fingernails. I may also gain some practical knowledge of the now most popular technique of human interrogation called ‘water boarding’. I speak, I write, but still if I use the words Taliban, Al Qaeda, and Freedom on the Internet my IP in all probability will be flagged.
So prejudice and fascisms prevail in good nick in this world, so does terrorism. Terrorism I left behind in my motherland. Of which my motherland in the history of the world beat – the terrorism I mean. Prejudice and fascism? It’s alive and well all over the world. The old biddy just served to remind me, what sometimes I forget.
As in my motherland, and in the west, the Police still do have the legal right to break my door down and enter my house early morning to question me as a terror connection. In the motherland freedom of media is long becoming unknown. But do the western media commit ‘Hara-kiri’ like the Paradisian media? Honestly, they don’t, because they will never ever write about the unspoken, not really. Not about the actual prejudice and fascism. Heaven forbid.
Wearing a thong bikini in Dubai, men dressing like nuns and going on pub-crawl in Colombo to having an UK personal plate that says TA11BAN, it’s all jokes.
So saying what I want? I just did.
Doing what I want? Not the way you think…
I am off to talk to my dog about it. You think about it very carefully, especially if you do visit the ballot box this April in the motherland. I will get my chance in UK sometime this June I am hoping.
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Well, I don’t blame the old woman. The level of dishonesty in the South of Sri Lanka – and some other regions in the country – is truly astonishing. What about the tourist sites that charge 10 rupees for locals and 1000 rupees for foreigners? What about the three-wheeler drivers who try to milk you for your money if they remotely detect you’re an expatriate? Now, the difference in the West is that if I go to a museum, I pay a flat fee, regardless of my background. The taxi fellow will charge me based on distance – calculated from a meter – as opposed to his *perception* that I have lived overseas.
So that is the cold hard bitter reality of SL… that there is a general climate of dishonesty which prevails. From where did it come? I do not know.
Heshan,
I agree with you on the unfairness of trishaw drivers making the assumption that just because you are from overseas you should be willing/able to pay extra. This type of thing doesn’t happen in the west so often because of their ability to license and regulate these businesses – even so it is still not unheard of for a newcomer in a particular city to be taken for a ride and get overcharged by unscrupulous taxi drivers.
However, I think the price difference at museums and other tourist spots is OK – these places should be accessible to locals and therefore need to be affordable to them. At the same time the upkeep of these sites takes more money than can be earned from local entry fees alone, so they charge more affluent tourists extra. When the rupee-dollar rate is approx 100-1, it doesn’t seem so unreasonable that someone with an income in dollars should pay Rs. 1000 in comparision to Rs. 10 for a local visitor.
Just my 2 cents
@Lankan Thinker:
The thing in the West is that if you get taken for a ride, you have the option of resorting to legal recourse… of course there are individual cab drivers who may try to swindle you, but you can always challenge the cab companies in the Courts. The cab company will either settle with you in private or according to the legal judgment. In any event, the driver who swindled you will be dismissed.
I disagree about charging tourists and locals two different rates. That is just bad business practice. The tourist sites must be doing this intentionally – you will notice one billboard in Sinhala and one in English. Clearly, someone has something to hide. In any event, these tourist sites are not at the level of corporations; they do not need millions in revenue to stay afloat. They stay open regardless of fluctuations in tourist arrivals – which proves that a rather low profit margin is required to meet operating costs. And finally, I question where all the money is going. I doubt it is going back to the local community; last time I was in Polannaruwa, a small fellow was begging me for money to buy schoolbooks. What I think is really happening is that by overcharging tourists, the tourist sites make much more than is required to meet their operating costs. But most of the revenue is pocketed by government officials.
You wrote: “…. Paradisian of Dravidian descent …. ”
Did you think of a Tamil or a Sinhalese when you used the above term ?
In the fifties all trishaws had meters, so there was no bargaining. Tram fare was 5cents from borella to punchiborella, another 5 cents to technical college junction & another 5 cents to fort.A rice/chicken/crab/prawn meal was ten rupees. Petrol Rs 3.50 a gallon. About ‘freedom of expression’ – an american said “I can stand in front of the White House and shout ‘President Obama is an idiot’. Noone will be bothered” the sri lankan said “So what. i too can stand in front of Temple Trees and shout ‘President Obama is an idiot’. None will be bothered”.
.
Heshan,
What’s eating you, bud? The old biddy would’ve taken one look at you and done the same thing – screamed bloody murder!
Fair and Lovely aint gonna come to your rescue!
“a Paradisian of Dravidian descent?”
Clearly some old habits die hard!
Atheist:
Who needs fair and lovely when your earning potential is unlimited? Economics is the great leveler these days, not Jim Crow laws.
Regrets if you’re in SL and can’t understand that. I can’t teach “King” Mahinda’s supporters history or common-sense (or both).
Dear Dhammika,
Great piece and a necessary counterpoint, not a justification.
@ Heshan
Khedda Yanne – Malle Pol
The incident with the old biddy happened in London, where I work. When you live in a big city you can be hustled at anytime. When you think of Chennai, Mumbai, NY, LA, London, the chances of being hustled in Colombo is a very small margin.
@ Dayan
Thanks, glad that someone got it
Dhammika
Paradisian of Dravidian Descent
The question was asked by a friend who met her husband at Uni abroad and married him. She was born and bred in Chennai but now has SL citizenship.
@ Karu
Praba’s dead, there are no Tamil Tigers, the fat lady has sung, get over it.
As for my roots, all of us at sometime or another were primates. So maybe you should use this as an excuse to seek Eelam somewhere nice in the USA? They have lots of room you know?
to heshan
What about the tourist sites that charge 10 rupees for locals and 1000 rupees for foreigners?
you ask why we have different pricing – well what about uni cost for Sri lankan students in AUssie and UK – foreign student costs and resident student cost differ a lot?
so what are crying out about?
Saying waht you want is alright but do with accountability and responsibility.
In regionally diverse societies, representative democracy is modified and supplemented by Federalism.
But, the “Buddhist” monks, whose destiny is not political but spiritual, made the “Banda-Chelva Pact”; a political agreement, between the two nations in the of the “Dominion of Ceylon”, to be abroagated.
Subsequently, a monk shot dead SWRD Bandaranayake, a prime minister and a signatory to the agreement.
Since then, the ethno racism of the Sinhalese against the Tamils was constantly instigated and kept alive by the monks and the Sinhala politicos, holding hands tightly together.
And the scale of political and human tragedy, brought about by those strange bed fellows, on the citizens, have caused untold bleeding, death and destruction.
But now, the JHU monks, with a brain of a mushroom in politics, have committed war crimes and genocide, by rousing up anti-Tamilism and by being in a genocidal government. This is disgraceful.
Buddha left politics to follow the “eight fold noble path”. Buddha confined himself to the more important spiritual need of mankind and wanted his followers to do the same.
Surely, during the time of Buddha there were political problems too.
Now the monks in SL are empty onion peels. There is a fair trading watchdog but no spiritual watchdog, that can prevent the monks become demons, keep them in robes and abstain from politics and ethnoracism against Tamils
To Pradeepan:
I am a young man that goes to university of western ontario in Canada. So I can only speak on the behalf of canadian university and govt but i would think that uk australia and all of these countries would have a simialr policiy as canada. The REASON why not only Sri Lankan or any international student pays $10 000 more is tuition than somebody like me( who has graduated from an canadian high school) is because the canadian goverment gives a grant of $10 000 to the university on behalf of each canadian student that the university accepts. That money is necessary to run a university because our (local students) tuition of $ 5000 is not enough to operate an internationally competitive university on that money. In return for the govt money, one of its citizen is better educated hence will have a better job hence will be able to pay higher taxes and these higher taxes are pretty much payback on that $10 000. But when sri lankan or any other international student studys here, they leave and they dont pay taxes nor give anything to the local community and the country. So you see it would be unfair for the canadian government to pay $ 10 000 for a lankan student when he will be useless in canada. Therefore they are expected to pay $15 000 each year in tuition because that is the real cost of an years education in canada. ALSO in canada we only have public universities so the govt is payin behalf of each and every canadian student at a canadian school. DONT get this confused with private universities which rely more on private funding than the govt pockets.. PRADEEPAN i hope i have cleared up misconception about matters in the outside world.
Talking about levels of dishonesty in sri lanka, we have just had the case of a diplomat who has just returned from a posting in Japan bringing with him his ex-landlords belongings including a piano. Now thats not music to MY ears.
1. Why can’t Dhammika call the lady he met at Galle Face Tamil.
2. One old woman did not like your looks or colour, so what? At least you are moving freely eating chicken from Nandos in the open air talking to your dog without constantly being asked to produce your ID.
3. Your reference to UN passport is actually the Travel Document refugees are given and which gives them as much rights as a British citizen. Obviously you do not hold British citizenship since you have only been here five years. Why envy the Tamils their hard work and social mobility which they never had in Sri Lanka.
Come come old boy, lighten up and get friendly with these Tamil refugees; they in all probability would find you some work at the Petrol Station or their Sri Lankan restaurants so you could go to pubs more frequently and lambast everybody on sight.
Hehsan, my understanding is this happened to Dhammika in his Western country he is residing in now. So how is “The level of dishonesty in the South of Sri Lanka – and some other regions in the country” related to this incident?? Then it is just racist! Screaming because a black man came to her aide.
Btw have you been to India or Pakistan buddy? I wouldn’t limit that remark just to South of Sri Lanka. That is you showing your blatant bias and inner hatred towards the Sinhalese race!
Dhammika, a word of advise. Racism is everywhere unfortunately, these days it is in more politically correct forms. Some people are just prejudiced. You have to feel sorry for them but end of the day it is how you deal with it. Not everyone in this world will like you for who you are.
Heshan get these guys membership.
http://bnp.org.uk/
This is a stunned group of people who are flabbergasted of the “level of dishonesty in” people of darker skin colour and religion other than christianity. Now that they recently changed their policy of allowing coloured people to get membership due to a human rights petition, you are in buddy!
I can’t teach “King” Mahinda’s supporters history or common-sense (or both).
Then do the world a favor teach the supporters of this royalty then… not to be RACIST! at least differentiate that not all brown skinned coloured British are not dirty Pakis…
http://www.librarising.com/astrology/celebs/images2/QR/queenelizabethii.jpg
Diversity of opinions among Sri Lankan living overseas is well reflected from most of above comments. Some people compare and want Sri Lanka to become one of the countries he/she now lives in. They expect our taxi drivers, bus conductors, doctors to treat them in the same standards of other countries. However, they do not expect their father, mother, brothers and sisters to have the behavioral patterns of other countries. First 3-5 years they talk about lack of transparency, dust, poor disciplines, lack of law and order in Sri Lanka. (Type “Peter Madoff” and find out what happened outside Sri Lanka. You may say your legal system sent him to jail for 150 years). Anyway, after 15-20 years of living in other countries and when their children leave them, the same people are forced to open their eyes to see the reality.
Remember, 20 million people (including your parents, relatives and friends) never left Sri Lanka no matter what happened around them and how bad the politicians/terrorist leaders were. Last 30 yeas were the worst in our recent history. They stayed behind and made teledramas, wrote songs, made Sri Lanka the world cricket champions and won the terrible war. Sri Lanka is Sri Lanka and please do not try to make it another European/Western/African country. Let it remain as our lovely country and you remain where you are. Still enjoy the Western freedom of expression and continue to write about Sri Lanka. Good luck.
Heshan,
With your pots of money, YOU must be living like a king in the US of A!
Are you the ex Sri-Lankan living next-door to Donald Trump? So, I wonder why you visit Sri-Lanka every chance you get. Perhaps, you are really bored, eh?
Your “unlimited earning potential” reminds me of those three wheeler guys who enjoy “unlimited earning potential” by targeting expatriates like you!
@ Pearl
The majority my life has been spent in the US and UK.
I am a Sri Lankan professional with an UK passport. The only reason being that our daughter attends one of the top ten secondary schools in London.
We however were never asylum seekers or petrol shed owners at the mercy of the LTTE in London.
The lady I met at Galle Face doesn’t call herself Tamil BTW!
Dhammika
For your information all my best friends are not Sinhalese. I am also one of the few Sri Lankans who really know what happened with the LTTE and UNP in early 2001/2. Emil Kanthan/Anthony is well known to our family.
Get a life Pearl, that chip on your shoulder will soon get too heavy for you to carry.
@ Pearl
1. She prefers that she’s called Indian from Dravidian descent now living in SL.
2. Moving freely? Like taking the 138 to Maharagama and feeling confident that the Tamil woman sitting next to you is not a suicide bomber I guess?
3. I am a British subject purely because our kid goes to one of the top ten schools in London and we want her to have the best education possible. Yes, Sri Lanka does not boast of an Imperial College or Oxbridge.
Tamil Refugees and petrol stations in the UK – I for one am never at the mercy of the now defunct LTTE, so I don’t need employment in a petrol shed.
For your kind information, my spouse and I won our own consultancy.
I do understand your apathy and dismay as the LTTE leadership have sold out all Tamil aspirations. During the CFA I met many LTTE senior cadre’s who came to Colombo in rubber slippers. A taste of living in the Hilton Residencies, East European escorts, SUV’s and holidays in Singapore soon changed all the brainwashing done by Praba.
I live in a world of bigots, fascists and people like you old girl. That’s what I said in this post. Find a man, lose some weight, exercise, maybe that’ll help you get over your insecurity.
@ Jayamini – Agreed. Respect.
FYI my father studied fine arts in Italy in 1964 with his own money and not scholarships. I hate having to say this. And I came to UK in 1976 and awarded a Fellowship at UC Berkeley in 1993.
I am so glad you are sending your children to school in UK.
Has not UK been munificent in treating them equally.
I will not say I am a professional. I am a humble but honest journalist and one who had to leave SL amidst death threats and arrest in 1995.
Many Tamils were professionls in SL but your government could not stand our achievements or hard work.
There are many Sinhalese who practice Buddhism and some of whom I am eternally grateful for when I lived and worked in Colombo.
But there are also others who do not understand what it is like to be Tamil in the South.
The rest is history.
I did not mean to humiliate you and I aready knew you are a professional. But in UK there is no clear distinction between professionals and blue collar workers. The class system exists but is fastly eroding. It’s money that counts in the West and among emerging economies like India and China.
When I suggested you take up a job in the petrol station nobody would be able detect whether you have PhD from Harvard or MSc fromThames Valley University. I was simply humouring you.
So let’s ger rid of our hang-ups.
@Atheist:
I make enough, I could probably make more if I really wanted to, but the point is I make far more than I ever could if I lived in SL. I can say the same thing about my career – the avenues for career advancement are far greater here (more than the $$$, this is the reason why I left). And those 3-wheeler guys – I have learned to avoid them. Much easier to rent a car. I don’t quite approve of their driving either; weaving between two buses in a narrow lane can lead to *unpleasant* consequences.
@Pradeepan:
Okay, just explain to me why the tourist sites have the signs written in two different languages. The sign for locals, written in Sinhala, says 10 rupees. And the sign for tourists, written in English, says 1000. Why not inform the tourists that they are paying 9990 rupees extra compared to the locals?
If its not a big deal, like you claim, then why this discrepancy?
A university is not like a tourist site. So your analogy in this regard is entirely inappropriate.
At DD:
“When you think of Chennai, Mumbai, NY, LA, London, the chances of being hustled in Colombo is a very small margin.”
Of course, in every big city, there are bad neighborhoods. I am talking about the general atmosphere that prevails in SL. It is pathetic to see how the business establishments treat tourists like royalty, but locals are given less-than-human treatment. The difference between LA, NY, and Colombo is that in Colombo they are unabashed when it comes to trying to swindle you – in Colombo, they don’t think twice about dishonesty. That’s what I’m talking about, the attitude.
In regards to the rest of your article, yes, you can become the victim of some human rights violation in the West, but the avenues for redress are also far greater than in SL. I would say that that’s actually just as important as the violation itself. At some level, you cannot prevent abuses – they are going to occur regardless. What you can do is minimize the impact. In this regard, SL does not hold a candle to the West.
We harp on abut 2,500 years of civilisation but where did that get us? Heshan is right Sri Lankans just like Asians wuold fleece anyone they could if they can get away with it.
Yes, there are racists in the West. Yes, we are victimised. But when it comes to law and justice UK is the best place to be. Despite tha fact you are a foreigner you have equal opportunity. You do not pay bribe nor do you have to venerate at the feet of powers-tha- be to get your position.
Honesty is alien to us.
It is only Sri Lankans who are domiciled in Britain who would deride the British and talk about their ancestry and caste while benefiting from their generosity in the name of free health care, unemployment and housing benefits etc.
The British are dumbfounded by all this nonsense. They just get on with their lives and do not pay heed to these narrow-minded Asians who claim they are Kandyans, Aryans, Walauwa owners, Buddhists, Brahmins and Hindu Vellalas. it is time we forward ourselves into the 21st century.
So suddenly this goes from a racist incident in London to trishaw guys and tourists in Lanka?
” in Colombo, they don’t think twice about dishonesty.”
hahahaha you make me laugh! What do you have to say about the conduct of AIG, Citigroup execs? Not only dishonesty but FRAUD in the scale of billions. Which the US gov turned a blind eye to after a little show and slap at a congressional hearing. Whooptydoo! This is from people who already have MORE THAN ENOUGH.
Cut some slack for a poor man who’s trying to get few extra rupees from someone they think can afford it so MAYBE he can buy some extra nutritious food for his little brothers and sisters who depend on him. Or buy some expensive medicine for his sick mother. Pick on guys like Sakvithi who are nothing more than a Sl version of Madoff. That’s fair picking.
Hello Pearl,
As you are an honest journalist we all believe whatever you write or say. You are so transparent. The latest talk amongst Sri Lankans living around the world as well as those in Sri Lanka is that you are no longer in England. Our friends from Down Under say that you have gone to work in Jaffna. Pearl, we really admire you. Now that you’ve gotten used to life in London, you must be so brave as to venture into uncharted territory.
Someone at our church gathering mentioned that, you, being a Tamil, should take extra precaution and take on a Sinhala name. I told her that only a coward would assume a Sinhala identity in order to avoid government harassment. I know that you are honest at all times – you would never resort to cheap masquerades.
Another person mentioned that he spotted you at Marks and Spencer only a little while ago. I don’t believe him; I know you are slaving away in Jaffna.
Please post a video of the work you are engaged in.
Dhammika,
“I am also one of the few Sri Lankans who really know what happened with the LTTE and UNP in early 2001/2. Emil Kanthan/Anthony is well known to our family.”
What happened?
Heshan should stop being so racist towards Sri Lankans.
Dear Heshan,
“…So that is the cold hard bitter reality of SL… that there is a general climate of dishonesty which prevails. From where did it come? I do not know….”
Heshan, we need to redefine the honesty.
The act of walking away with some thing (which is NOT yours) is NOT stealing.
The act of getting 10% on a contract is NOT corruption. It is an accepted norm. If you don’t know it is your fault.
I understand your anguish because we are on the same boat.
@ wijayapala
It’s history now. When Ranil signed the CFA, many LTTE cadre who had never ever been out of the north and east got the opportunity to visit Colombo. They were all young men in their 20′s. They believed that the Sinhalese were given everything by the government.
What they saw amazed them. As any human being they started to wonder what the hell they were fighting for in the north and east.
That’s when the corruption of the LTTE began. And their downfall. The capture and death of one of the most elusive men in the world after Bin Laden was Praba. His downfall was the fact that those closest to him sold him out.
@ pearl
I like the sudden loss of ‘sarcasm’ from you. However your tone still does not hide your bitterness and apathy of living in the west as a third citizen. Nor your jealousy of seeing other people enjoy living in the west with access to WONDERFUL Sri Lanka. Unlike you I am here by choice, not as an asylum seeker. Nor do I depend on anyone for my daily pittance. Unlike you, I in my 40 something enjoy life.
I strongly suggest you get one too.
@ pearl
Further if you were a journalist, I would suggest you learn to write like one too.
I was out with my friends last night and stopped to get a takeaway after the bars closed. Two Sri Lankan Tamils were working there and this really drunk guy came into get some chicken. The two boys were flinching and stepping back every time the drunkard talked to them. They were visibly scared of him and obviously have taken some type of abuse before and expected the same. After we got our take away I politely thanked them and said goodbye in Tamil.
I thought of you immediately.
DD,
“His downfall was the fact that those closest to him sold him out.”
Who sold him out?
Answer to London Dole:
I would love to go Jaffna and I will. I am still in Harrow and I do go to M&S. But today I went to church and I did not go to M&S. Please google Exiled Journalists Network and my name so you will get a picture of what I am up to.
My learned mentor HLD Mahindapala is Down Under but some may have got the wrong end the stick and assumed I was in Jaffna. But then standing on their heads London may look like Jaffna.
Answer to DD:
It’s a bit late for me to `learn’ thy kind of journalism. I learnt under Manik De Silva, late Ivor Milhueisen, late Darryl de Silva, Prof. S.B. Dissanayake, and in the US intrepid journalists from Wall Street Journal, Washington, prize-winning journalists at UC Berkeley and of course BBC, Reuters and Guardian in the UK
Best of all from late Bonny Fernando, who often told us in journalism class to, `murder your darlings’, meaning to drop pompous sounding words and instead use plain English. He also introduced Plain English by Sir Ernest Gowers to us who thought we should use words like paradigm and polity if we are to be taken seriously.
I enjoy a full life and I work with exiled journalists the network of which I am the founder member. There are at least 200 members from 40 countries.
Please DD, feel sorry for those who are ignorant.
Pearl Thevanayagam,
I am so glad that you are a church going journalist. We have helped quite a number of asylum seekers from Sri-Lanka, many of them journalists. Out of those journalists, the only ones who were ashamed to be affiliated with any religion were the Sinhala Buddhists. Their reasoning was that, in going to temple, they would automatically be branded as Sinhala racists/nationalists by Tamils. How pathetic can they be?
We just heard it through the grapevine that somebody has mistaken you for some LTTE supporter who is pretending to be reporting from Jaffna under a Sinhala name. This bogus journalist is probably making lots of money just sitting in a comfy place. Our church frowns upon such deceit.
Anyway, Pearl, I don’t have time to do a Google search on The Drama Queens’ Club – aka Exiled Journalists Network.
Googling ‘Tamil diaspora who conned Praba’ will bring the best results old girl.
Warning – Chips carried on shoulder will lead to obesity.
I am sorry for you old girl.
Indefinite leave to remain, secretary for a recruitment consultancy and living in the wonderful (shivers) environs of Harrow. I am sorry old girl I did not know it was bad as this. My apologies, far cry from the WONDERFUL PARADISE, SRI LANKA, isn’t it?
No wonder your so angry.
I genuinely apologise.
Pent up anger and frustraion run through DD and London Dole not to mention sarcasm, the lowest form of wit.
I love you too old girl! Now shoo…