This letter was published in the Sunday Observer of 4 July 2010. In it Michael Meyler responds to Malinda Seneviratne’s recent articles in the Sunday Observer and the Lakbima.
Dear Sir,
I am writing in response to Malinda Seneviratne’s article “Language standards: whose version of our reality should we inhabit?” (Sunday Observer, 20 June 2010).
My own article, “A Snooty English Speaker’s reply”, was published on www.groundviews.org in response to Malinda Seneviratne’s article “Sri Lankan English: another snooty English speakers’ project?” (Sunday Oberver, 23 May 2010). My article subsequently appeared in the Sunday Observer of 6 June 2010. It was published without my consent, with a different heading, with numerous typographical errors, and with a key half-sentence missing in the final paragraph. Most importantly, it was published without acknowledging Groundviews as the source. I wonder how such an editorial oversight could have happened?
Aspects of Malinda Seneviratne’s subsequent replies, “Let’s dissect the ‘our’ of English ‘Our’ Way” (Lakbima, 13 June 2010) and “Language standards: whose version of our reality should we inhabit?” (Sunday Observer, 20 June 2010) are little more than a racist rant and an unwarranted personal attack on me. I believe in free speech, but I question the editorial wisdom of employing columnists to write this type of material in the name of informed opinion. By twisting the argument in this way Malinda is filling column inches while obscuring the fact that he has little coherent to say on the subject. Everybody knows what the three asterisks in “f***” stand for: this is abusive language which has no place in a respectable newspaper. Is there no editorial control over what he is allowed to write?
The only thing that Malinda has made abundantly clear is that he has absolutely nothing constructive to contribute to the Sri Lankan English debate. He implies that there is something mysterious about me and my “crusade” (his word). If he had read the introduction to my book or the profile on my website, he would know quite enough about who I am (and if he hasn’t, on what basis is he making such rash assumptions about my agenda?). For the record, I am neither an academic nor a consultant; no one invited me to write about Sri Lankan English, and no one is paying me to do so. I work for the British Council as an hourly-paid language teacher, but the time I spend on Sri Lankan English is entirely my own. My book was self-funded and self-published; proceeds from book sales are all I have to gain.
I am not aware that Malinda has any reason to hold a personal grudge against me. We have met briefly on one or two occasions. I do not recall treading on his toe or insulting his mother. So I can only conclude that the motive for his stance is pure racism. What right does a suddha have to come to our country and tell us how to speak English? There are of course Sri Lankans all over the world holding responsible positions and writing with authority on many subjects. In the same way, I do not see why anyone should question my right to write about a subject which I have researched for over 20 years, and on which I have published a book that has been endorsed by several respected members of the English language teaching field in Sri Lanka. Without such endorsement, I would never have published my book, and I would not be writing this. On what grounds Malinda considers himself better qualified to expound on this subject is not clear.
Malinda writes that “concerns have been raised on this subject in several newspapers”. True: Malinda Seneviratne has written about it in the Sunday Observer, Malinda Seneviratne has written about it in The Nation, and Malinda Seneviratne has written about it in the Lakbima. Dilshan Boange has also written about it in the Observer, but he’s the one who observed that “Shakespearean grammar would befuddle us today, but the words are pronounced the same,” so we may safely assume that he has little specialist knowledge of the subject.
Malinda writes “Meyler is enjoying our hospitality”. Let’s dissect the “our” in “our hospitality”. The Seneviratne’s never invited me round for tea. But I have enjoyed a great deal of Sri Lankan hospitality, and I am pleased to say that in 25 years I have never once encountered bigotry and racism of the sort purveyed by Malinda Seneviratne.
No doubt Malinda will find plenty of ammunition in this letter for a couple more columns. I hope you will exercise your editorial authority over the content of whatever he chooses to submit. Personally I shall continue to write about Sri Lankan English on the Groundviews website, but I hereby request you not to publish any more of my articles in the Sunday Observer.
Yours sincerely,
Michael Meyler