Sunday, May 31, 2020

Thondamen Saga and the Full Cycle

This is posted by my cellphone and I will have a swipe at every possible corner of Ceylonese politics
 

First of all, I pay my gratitude to the British for many antecedents in history,  including how they treated the Estate Labour and finally, it was the BBC who highlighted the plight of the Estate sector.
 

1. Highest level of maternal death in the region.

2.Highest per capita consumption of alcohol.


3.Poor Education facilities.


4.Lowest paid sector in economy. 


5. Poorest of living quarters. 


None of which is resolved after 100 years of high output labour and an active labour union which succumbs to power politics in the deep south, if not Colombo.
 

I must state few words about Sir John Kotalawala as a prelude.
He saw that Labour imported from the India would be a political hotbed.
He drafted legislation even before the independence and he had seen to that the Indian people labour force was not given citizenship entitlement after six years of continued  stay in Ceylon.
With the help of Estate Superintendents they were dished out pure alcohol that (this is carried to present day by developers who give hard core drugs to casual labour in Colombo) their daily pay is returned to the capital with outstanding arrears.
 

Now come to Thoppi Thotan and Thonda.
 

Unlike his grandfather he died of short illness purported to be heart attack,  if not due to Coronavirus in relative young age.
He had become very lazy in Colombo, and just like his Sinhala counterparts who are absolutely lazy but inherently vociferous with racial rhetoric


In addition he became a carrier of Coronavirus back to estates where this infection will spread like wild fire with the high level of funeral he was accorded.
With the downturn of economy which came with Coronavirus, there will be no market for Ceylon Tea while cost of production would go up and the yield per estate would come down drastically due to poor replanting strategy.
They will fall from pan (tea dust) to the fire while a particular Muslim strategist is adulterating the tea bought from the auction (rejected tea mixed with tea dust used for manure).
Now coming to Sirima who was a pest, just like her husband in Ceylon politics succumbed to pressure by Indian Indira who helped creating the LTTE with the help of Raw ably helped by Sweden and Canada. 

 
I must refer to heroic Mr. Douglas Devananda who did not curry favour with LTTE and looked after his clan in Mannar diligently by looking at the problem holistically and survived many attempt at assassinations.
 

He was steadfast unlike Thonda.
 

I would wind up with a slur that Tamils will  never be emancipated unless they shed the hereditary Caste System that is despised by Lord Buddha.

General Elections 2020: A Defining Moment for Sri Lanka

 The corollary of this is called "Raja Una" (King's Fever) or the Coronavirus Syndrome (hiding behind the tiny virus of nano particles is possible in this country) that effects the rulers in power.

They want absolute power without checks and balances.

We must profusely thank British for removing our monarch and keeping their geriatric monarch and the expended but fracturing extension of the family.

Reproduction

General Elections 2020: A Defining Moment for Sri Lanka


Friday Forum



A headline in a newspaper of May 23rd quoted the Prime Minister as having said, "President and Cabinet can efficiently manage the country without parliament" (Daily Mirror May 23, 2020). The President has stated, and has been quoted many times in the media, as saying that he will not in any circumstances re-summon the dissolved 'old" Parliament. Both the President and the Prime Minister have indicated that they await the general elections 2020, and the summoning of the "new" Parliament.

Yet most candidates contesting the forthcoming general elections 2020 are those who have represented the people, for the past ten or more years. So why is there demonisation of the "old" and the faith in the "new"? Is it possible that there is an expectation that the much desired "new" Parliament will adopt and enact a Constitution that will do away with familiar institutions known as Parliament and the courts (the two other pillars of governance in a parliamentary democracy)?

We are known as the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka. It is perhaps because some small aspects of the "socialism" survived the onslaught of the market economy, that our public health system has delivered in the Covid-19 pandemic. Are we now living in times when we are going to eliminate the "democratic" part, just becoming the plain and simple Republic of Sri Lanka?

For 70 years one of the key pillars of governance in this country has been Parliament. For at least half that period, (and until as recently as 2019) all political parties at some point or other, promised the nation to abolish the Executive Presidency, and strengthen the institution known as Parliament. Yet today, political leaders in government and their assorted supporters, jurists, scholars, professionals, business leaders, and opinion makers, express views indicating that they want to bury Parliament- some for 6 months, some for 5 years, and others for all time. Meanwhile the electronic media idealize the armed forces in a new war- the war against Covid-19. These are the only "veerodara ranaviru" (a word now used to refer only to members of the armed forces). "Front line workers" in the public health response, members of the police and public service, do not share this honorific title.

As we go to the polls in 2020, we should ask ourselves "Whither Sri Lanka?" With so much information on the internet, and in diverse media, we should try to reflect on the experience of other countries on institutional arrangements for governance. What was the experience of World War 11 Germany, and what is the current experience of Hungary, Hong Kong and Myanmar? We can also turn the pages of our history in antiquity, and reflect on the conversation between Venerable Nagasena and King Milinda.

The King: Reverend Sir, will you discuss with me again

Ven.Nagasena: If your Majesty will discuss as a scholar well; but if you will discuss as a king, no...........

The King: And how do kings discuss?

Ven. Nagasena: 
When a king, your Majesty, discusses a matter and he advances a point, if anyone differs from him on that point, he is apt to fine him, saying: "Inflict such and such a punishment upon that fellow".

Thus, your Majesty, do kings discuss.

[The Questions of King Milinda, Vol 35 part 1, reprint 1977, p.46].

It is important to remember that in 2018, a Full Bench of our Supreme Court held that this country has not had a monarch since 1972, and the President under our Constitution has not "inherited that mantle"

Constitutions restrain the exercise of powers, and those who take oaths of office to respect the Constitution, in doing so, agree not to take on the mantle of kingship.

Prof. Savitri Goonesekere Prof. Arjuna Aluwihare on behalf of:

Mr. Priyantha Gamage, 
Mr. Chandra Jayaratne, 
Mr. Faiz-Ur Rahman, 
Bishop Duleep de Chickera, 
Rev. Dr. Jayasiri Peiris, 
Dr. A.C.Visvalingam, 
Mr. Tissa Jayatilaka, 
Prof. Arjuna Aluwihare, 
Mr. Pulasthi Hewamanna, 
Prof. Ranjini Obeyesekere, 
Prof. Camena Guneratne, 
Prof. Gananath Obeyesekere, 
Prof. Gameela Samarasinghe, 
Dr. Usvatte-Aratchi, 
Dr. Radhika Coomaraswamy, 
Ms. Manouri Muttetuwegama and 
Mr. Dhammapala Wijayanandana.


Linux in Schools


An Old Piece-Reproduction
Linux in Schools
I had to delay writing this article for various reasons. 
It was mainly because, we Ceylonese have many other obsessions than to ponder for academic interests at large. In any case, IT obsession has been in the forefront for years, many have failed to understand the economic down side of its proliferation. My interest in Linux dates back for some years, ever since, I detected, a quite innocuous looking virus in my Window box. 
However, the credit should go to our own Sanath Jayasuriya. 
I was watching, Sanath playing a wonderful innings and there was some break in between in his innings. Being a cricket fanatic, I could not wait till the break ends, I decided to fiddle with an audio program, I installed in my son’s Window box the previous night. To my surprise I felt something amiss in the computer. I could not fathom what was wrong but felt it could be a virus. However, before I could diagnose the virus ailment and its treatment, the match started and I was temporarily engrossed in Sanath’s heroics and his century, 
I did not feel the headaches (pain) of the flu the Window was suffering. It took three months for me to find were the virus was residing and further three months to come to term with it. Many years gone by, nobody has found a cure for this script kiddies boot virus.
However, Linux could do the honours and erase the boot partition. 
Ever since, hesitantly and courageously, I tread on the pathway where Linux has laid for computer enthusiasts, I have many good things and bad things to talk about Linux. 
Good thing about Linux is that one does not have to be rich to own a Linux box. It comes free, open source and there are many flavours of it. Bad thing about Linux is that there are no experts to tell, how you get about with it. 
I had to do my own way, the hard way. 
It has paid it dividends just in two years for me.
While I was doing my initial research on Linux, how much, I need to spend learning from an expert (for that matter any computer course), I found it was not worth even contemplating a tutor. I could buy all the books (three versions in a time spell of one year) and all the CDs for a fraction of the money I should spend for a course. In addition Linux has a comprehensive manual (man page with the package) and online service. 
Not only it is cheap it is academically comprehensive. 
Importance of Linux for schools has been an interest of mine for some time but I am yet to find a teacher (government schools) who advocates it for school use. The learning curve (not for kids) for teachers is so sharp that the teachers are more inclined to discourage it than to embark on it. Our education system is so primitive that we still do not offer computer science as a subject for “O” level leave alone “A” level. Time has come for a giant step in education. 
The answer is Linux for its versatility and open source nature.
Reading from Linux magazines, the Linux phenomenon has come to schools in Nepal. 
With some foreign inputs it has taken a root in Nepal. 
Ethiopians have put their alphabet into Red Hat Fedora. 
Both Mandrake 10 and Red Hat Fedora could use Sinhala font now.

Why there is no enthusiasm in Ceylon?

With so many computer experts in Ceylon, it cannot be ignorance. It could only be the arrogance and vested interests of the multinationals. I come to believe on the latter, since the Intellectual Property Act has come to legislative enactment, few years ago without any debate in the Parliament, it is proof of the pudding.
With our foreign reserve going down we have no other option than to turn to Linux. We should make a concerted effort to make a version of Linux in Sinhala. Few of the bright and enthusiastic Linux fans in Colombo have done it. It is available online and it would have teething problems to begin with but with concentrated effort it would evolve into something substantial.
In tribute to the open source software foundation, the first project would be to develop a proper Linux in Sinhala Installation. 
Open source of course was created with a traditional Buddhist outlook of Sabbha Dhanam Dhamma Dhanam Jinathi and it is not difficult for someone to comprehend Sabbha Dhanam Linux Dhanum Jinathi Concepts
Linux converts (disciples) should preach this to the masses.
I am reproducing this, since I contacted the only teacher who was interested in Kandy, say Hi, due to Coronavirus respite.
He is now into video conferencing (he wanted to introduce in schools many moons ago and was stymied by the system that prevent innovation.).
In fact he was transferred out of his post and I advised him to take leave and go abroad an update his talents abroad.

Forming a New Party
Thought of forming a new party for the coming year was an idea I conceived from the Party of the Loonies from Great Britain. Unlike Great Britain we have a credible lineage of political loonies and my effort would not go waste in this country of politically blinds.
Party name is L.L.(“A”).P. 
It stands for Linux Lovers (“Addict”) Party. Initially I thought of L.L.P. but had to give into the enthusiastic supporter’s view who claimed that not only we are politically blind but we also inherit a strong sense of political addiction. Even though I was very keen in analyzing the statistical significance for the above bone of contention (conviction), I was over-ruled by the minority of the enthusiastic supporters (a political tradition of our own). I should confess I tried hard for the original name for the sake of brevity and easy pronunciation. However, to preserve the authorship of LLP for myself (in Linux tradition), using standard computer convention, I included “A” with double quotes and brackets so that it stands out prominent for the loyalists but in computer sense there is no operating leverage; only a comment. By the time of the annual convention the verified name would be put into a democratic voting, preferably an electronic method devised by the Linux Local Community. 
For parties opposing us can use any other interpretation's, like Lankan Loonies, Lankawatama Lights, Lanu (Dirappu) Lunu or l-Nunu l-Nunu (l-silent of course) Party. We encourage all these contradictory views since we believe in any form of advertising including negative to build our image in the first year. In case one needs to reassert the party image they can use Dr. Che Guerra type of attitude and say it is Linux Liberation and not anti-american (American citizens are entitled to their own interpretation and obsessions)
First of all this party is dedicated to late Prof: Senaka Bibile for his untiring effort in the UNTARD for developing the generic system of drug labeling as opposed to the proprietary system of labeling of drugs so that the addicts of the party could obtain a cheaper version (dose) of the party manifesto. 
Late Dr.Reily Fernando who is in heaven now is the Godly Patron. The lifelong patron is going to be Linus Torvalds.
The first wave of the promotion would be done with the reciting of “Linux Saranam Gachchami”, three times a day religiously when one start the day at office. This promotion should be used in tandem and it should be tempered with “Wi(n)dows Saranam Vinasayam” liberally when ever an opportunity comes across in the office and in front of All Wi(n)dow's Boxes. 
All e-mail communications should end with a greeting similar to “A linux a day keeps the bugs away”.
In tribute to the open source software foundation, the first project would be to develop a Linux in Sinhala Installation, well in advance of the Microshaft Cronies would have a chance to add a Sinhala Version to X-XPs for a pricey sum (for our village boys eating Kentucky Chicken). 
Colombook Cronies who a itching to make a fast buck once the Microshaft Edition of Sinhala comes into operation in our remote village (schools / tutories) corners (shops) may have heart attacks with the thought of our project. 
We recommend them that they should get their blood cholesterol checked until such time the Microshaft version is built in America.
For the young Buddhist monks (English Literate) we request for the sake of preserving Pali Stanzas in its originality, take an active interest in this project (Sinhala Script) instead of appearing at TV Talk Shows and spending sojourns in London Vihara. 
Open source of course was created with a traditional Buddhist outlook of Sabbha Dhanam Dhamma Dhanam Jinathi and it is not difficult for someone to comprehend Sabbha Dhanam Linux Dhanum Jinathi Concepts
Linux converts (disciples) may preach as they please.
This is for free distribution without any claim for originality in the true spirit of GPL agreement. Users should bear any consequences that may result and endanger their health status. This can be improved (Linux addicts) or defaced (Microshaft weaklings) as long as the original authorship is accepted as L.L.(¨A¨).P. Head Quarters, Peradeniya (Kandy), Ceylon.
P.S. As a proactive precaution (my e-mail may get ¨choker blocked¨) I have disabled my e-mail indefinitely so even I cannot access it. 
However, personal and paper communications are welcome.