Comments on: A public apology to Michael Meyler

By: ethnichybrid

ethnichybrid — Mon, 06 Sep 2010 04:17:57 +0000

Malintha has a huge chip on his shoulder. And I agree that since the war is over, he seems quite directionless. He was at first gung ho about the President, almost shameless in his brown nosing in his articles. He must have influenced thousands of people by his unwavering and almost hero worshipping support of the President. Now however, he seems to be scared by a President who is running amok! Malintha, know that it is partly your irresponsible journalism that has brought us to this point in our own shameful history. As has been mentioned before, we can’t blame the British for everything. It is we Sinhalese who invited them to take us over. We were happy to be a colony for many years, we didn’t even fight for independence and got it on the back of India. So stop beating this colonial, oh we are so oppressed drum – and I am glad to see you engage in responsible journalism, though it might be a tad too late!

By: Veedhur

Veedhur — Sat, 14 Aug 2010 06:48:14 +0000

Hi Where can we buy a copy of Arjuna’s book that Malinda is referring to in Sri Lanka? and Can any one point me to stuff that Pradeep has written on the subject (has he written anything in Sinhala?)

By: Presi Dunce Bean

Presi Dunce Bean — Thu, 12 Aug 2010 08:26:17 +0000

When is Malinda’s Government going to compensate the Tamils for all the looting, the cultural genocide, rape of young girls and the massacre of thousands and thousands of women children and old people during the so called ‘Humanitarian Operation?’

By: Rukmankan Sivaloganathan

Rukmankan Sivaloganathan — Wed, 04 Aug 2010 06:12:51 +0000

longus – your riposte to SomewhatDisgusted is spot on, though I feel that may be exactly the point he/she was trying to get across. However, your assertion that Batticaloa and Jaffna were always part of a unified country is wrong. When the British came we had a number of separate kingdoms, including a Tamil one in Jaffna. Read about the Nallur Convention.

About Malinda…ever since the war ended he has seemed a bit directionless. The man needs issues to address, fights to fight etc. He’s trying his best to provoke Dayan Jayatilleka into a debate by constantly belittling him in his column but it doesn’t seem to be working. So it’s only natural he’d jump into this fray. I won’t comment on the debate itself as I haven’t really followed it.

By: niranjan

niranjan — Fri, 16 Jul 2010 06:36:55 +0000

Longus,

This country could have avoided a bloody history after independance if we had intelligent politicians. We still dont.

By: Romesh H

Romesh H — Wed, 14 Jul 2010 11:47:12 +0000

@ Ramzi,
Thanks for your comment. As I said in my original post, this is a suspicion more than a reality. However within the legal world in North America, there are numerous lawyers who speak variants of Indian-English, Pakistani-English, Guyanese-English and variants in between. This is not to mention the countless amount of university students speaking South American English, Ghanaian English, etc.

As for Critical Studies, the whole subject area is grounded on theories of power; theories which I suspect Mahinda agrees with (as per his first piece). The philosopher Jacques Derrida made a whole career talking about the importance of language while there is a whole field of literary theory devoted to the subject. (By the way, all this evidence is anecodotal and from what I have seen; in no way does this mean that you are guaranteed to get in)

As such, it really doesnt matter if you contribute to my theory that ” just because you believe that one cannot succeed using Sri Lankan English, does not make it so; in fact the contrary may be far more relevant than your musings”. The reality here in North America suggests otherwise.

The underlying problem is that you see the West as ethnically and linguistically homogeneous. The reality is that it isnt. All ‘Snooty English’ does is allow an individual to communicate more effectively in Western power dynamics in the language and grammar that people in power are accustomed to hear. If you effectively communicate the same ideas in Sri Lankan English (or any English-variant) then the same result will ensue.

One last thing. You state that “if you cannot speak proper English , just do not. Dont be the laughing stock of the rest of the world.” You do realize that nobody in the Western world wishes an opponent to” get pie smashed in your face.” By your own exacting standard, you may want to stop English.

Rather than argue the intricacies of English maybe we should focus on getting our youth to express themselves better? To me that is the underlying nature of the Sri Lankan English project.

By: ramzi

ramzi — Tue, 13 Jul 2010 22:46:07 +0000

Romesh H
Hard as I may try, I find it increasingly difficult to disagree with you on the traits exhibited by Malinda in his rebuttals. These are certainly not mere knee-jerk reactions of his to this specific issue. Long have I noticed this unsavoury trend in his other writings which to me appears to be a subconscience expression of an inner complex wrought by the writers fears, imagined or otherwise, of subjugation and domination where offense is looked upon as the best form of defence. The added danger in his case is that his reaction also smacks strongly of ideologies shaped by deep feelings of class and communalism, not to mention the oh-so evident ambiances of his political beliefs.However, I cannot agree with you when you assume that a world renowned post-graduate program in Critical Studies would actually appreciate a Sri Lankan English speaker more than a â€˜Snooty English’ speaker. Nor do I contribute to your theory that ” just because you believe that one cannot succeed using Sri Lankan English, does not make it so; in fact the contrary may be far more relevant than your musings”. Come on now, being a former file reader for a North American Law School, Im sure you know better than that. Try working out a lecture or even a mere discussion in Sri Lankan English to your law school associates and see if you dont get pie smashed in your face. There is nothing admirable about the so-called Lankan English and to that extent I think Malinda is fully justified in his crusade (pardon the pun) of ensuring that Michael’s project, however lucrative or prestigious Michael may seem to find it, is not given the seal of approval by our short-sighted officials. In short, if you cannot speak proper English , just do not. Dont be the laughing stock of the rest of the world.

By: longus

longus — Tue, 13 Jul 2010 18:31:58 +0000

idonicus

It’s a different story altogether when Britain occupied a foreign country and exercised all the ills of colonialism. That’s what Weera Puran Appu is reported to have said before his execution in 1848-“This is not your Queen’s land;this is our land that you are looting;you have no right to our land”

I don’t know how you can say the same thing about Baticaloa and Jaffna,when those places were part of a unitary state for the most part of our history.

In that case Britain should give back Scottland and Ireland back to those people from whom they plundered those territories. There shouldn’t be a “Britain” or a “British Prime Minister”!

By: longus

longus — Tue, 13 Jul 2010 18:19:12 +0000

niranjan

My argument still stands man,in spite of what you say! Besides it’s not only the history of ours that is bloody!

How can you say that I’m stereotyping Tamils and the British? It’s you who accuse me of it without valid reasons and thereby it’s you who stereotype me as anti-Tamil which is not true. I have a lot of Tamil friends and I always put my point across to them when it comes to ethnicity. Just because I voiced my point of view I was never called “anti-Tamil”. In that case everybody who speaks for Tamil rights must be called a racist too!

My counter- argument to what “somewhatDisgusted” said still stands unanswered.

By: longus

longus — Tue, 13 Jul 2010 15:51:56 +0000

niranjan

All countries do possess bloody histories.Are there any exceptions?