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Wimal – arms length with elephants
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Minister Wimal Weerawansa is vary when it comes to dealing with elephants, be it the political type in the form of the United National Party or friendly ones at a temple ceremony. Hence he feeds a pineapple to an elephant fully conscious it may stretch its trunk suddenly towards him. This is in his new role of donating elephants.
It is a far cry from donating houses to the needy. The National Freedom Front Leader and Construction, Engineering Services, Housing and Common Amenities’ Minister’s new role came this week. He donated “Kandula Weeraya,” an elephant to the Kaduwela Kothelawala Sanka Peeta Purana Viharaya.
Attanayake indicates presidential ambitions
Though he turned 51 on May 17 (Friday), for UNP General Secretary Tissa Attanayake it was just another day. He woke up and was doing his daily jog past 5 a.m. at the Independence Square.
His mobile phone rang. He was surprised to learn that it was President Mahinda Rajapaksa. He told Attanayake he had just returned from his trip to Uganda and was exhausted. Yet, he wanted to wish him ‘many happy returns’ before resting for a while.
President Rajapaksa was also to give Attanayake some encouraging advice. He said he should continue with patience in politics. Replied Attanayake “JR mathithumath janadhipathi vune avurudu 71dee.Obathumath oya thanathurata awe bohoma badaka meda. Mama aadrsheta ganney JR mathithumai obathumai. (the late JR(Jayewardene) became President at the age of 71. You also became the President after going through so much of difficulty. I take both of you as examples),” Attanayake told President Rajapaksa. So who says Attanayake does not have presidential ambitions. At least on his birthday, his ambitions came to light.
Ministers absent from Cabinet on strike day
The weekly Cabinet meeting was advanced to Tuesday this week instead of the regular Thursday morning. President Mahinda Rajapaksa who chaired the event quipped that the turnout of ministers was poor. He jokingly asked whether some of them had taken part in the ‘unsuccessful’ token strike by the Opposition that day. There was laughter.
Raging storm over Mahasen
What’s in a name? At least for some Sri Lankans, there is a lot more than a mere collection of letters. More so, when it comes to national figures of yore. It was just a week ago that UPFA leaders took exception to the recent cyclone being named ‘Mahasen’.
President Mahinda Rajapaksa who addressed the nation during the Victory Day celebrations said “It is those who betrayed the country with the ceasefire agreement ……. in 2003 who proposed to the World Meteorological Organisation that the name of our great king Mahasen who built 16 tanks should be used to name a great storm.
“All international media have mentioned cyclone Mahasen. Will those who sought to insult King Mahasen who was known as ‘Minneri Deviyo’ for building the Minneriya Wewa, allow your great service to the nation to be recorded in history? Are we ready to forget such action?….”
Now comes the news that a Sri Lankan elephant, now being moved from Baton Rouge to Washington DC has been named “Bozie.”
A National Broadcasting Corporation (NBC) report said that the 27-year-old pachyderm will be re-united with 38 year old Shanthi. The report added: “The two elephants lived in Sri Lanka briefly at the Elephant Orphanage, Department of Wildlife Conservation before being transported to North America. Bozie will be joining two other elephants at the National Zoo; Shanthi’s 11-year-old Kandula and 65-year-old Ambika.
“Social interaction is key to an elephant’s mental and physical well-being,” Don Moore, associate director of Animal Care Sciences, said. “We do everything we can to encourage these natural social bonds. I’m so jazzed for our herd and elephant team!”
CJ 44 left behind by escort vehicle
In terms of the precedence table, five VVIPs are entitled to travel in their escort cars up to the point of their seating area at an official function. In the order of priority, they are the President, the Prime Minister, the Speaker of Parliament, the Leader of the Opposition and the Chief Justice.
Others who are officially entitled to escort vehicles are turned away at a point ahead of the ceremonial area. On May 18 (Saturday) the Victory Day ceremony was held at the Galle Face Green. An escort vehicle arriving at the Galle Face Hotel junction with no car behind was directed to a parking lot. It was a few minutes later that Chief Justice 44, Mohan Peiris arrived. For some unexplainable reason, the escort vehicle had proceeded leaving the VIP vehicle far behind.
After an inquiry, a police officer responsible for escort duty has been placed under interdiction. Usually officers in charge of escort vehicles are required to maintain regular radio contact with the VIP vehicle which would follow in close proximity.
At UN, Lankan mission goes international for Vesak
There were no Vesak koodos or Vesak pandals anywhere in the neighbourhood when the United Nations celebrated the Buddhist festival on Friday — and for the 14th consecutive year. While the Government’s celebrations in Sri Lanka were primarily domestic, the Sri Lanka Mission to the UN went international.
A special event to commemorate Vesak at the UN was attended by ambassadors and diplomats from Buddhist countries such as Japan, Myanmar, Thailand, Laos, Vietnam and Bhutan, along with ambassadors from India, Pakistan, Nepal, Malaysia, South Korea and the Philippines.
The speeches were preceded by video clips focusing either on Vesak celebrations in the respective countries or on historical sites like Lumbini, the birthplace of the Buddha,
Pakistan’s Ambassador Masood Khan complimented Sri Lanka for the “fantastic event” and underlined the message of peace and compassion, as enunciated in Buddhism. But he lamented the rising intolerance worldwide where “people are being killed in the name of religion.” He appealed to the world at large for love, guidance, tolerance and religious harmony.
While all of the speakers were shuffling papers and reading out their speeches, Ambassador Khan went high tech. He was the only ambassador to read his speech from an i-pad. The evening’s programme concluded with a multinational dinner, jointly hosted by several of the participating countries. It was followed by a cultural show.
Sri Lanka, incidentally, has continued to take the lead role in the UN event since 1999 when the General Assembly declared an International Day of Observance for Vesak, a move that was successfully piloted by the then Foreign Minister Lakshman Kadirgamar.
Know-all Silva decides who’s a journalist
Public Relations Minister Mervyn Silva this week set new ground rules for journalists attending news conferences. He said they should be seated to raise questions and cameramen could not ask questions. The new “decree” came at a news conference organised by the Minister and held at the Media Ministry last Wednesday.
A journalist raised a question from the Minister. This he did while he was handling the camera as well. His employers had decided that he should play the role of cameraman as well as reporter. The journalist asked, “As the Minister of Public Relations what do you think about the electricity tariff hike?”
Minister Silva questioned whether he was a reporter or a cameraman. He responded saying he was a journalist.”Then leave the camera and come and sit in that chair,” he said pointing at a vacant one. The journalist tried to explain himself, but the minister cut him short saying that he is not interested in his qualifications .
But, journalists present at the news conference were not happy about Minister Mervyn Silva deciding the role of the journalists when it is a common practice where a journalist could act as cameraman-cum producer, and that many reporters carry their own cameras as well.
Young Namal gets a lecture from Prof. Maithree
A chauffeur attached to her for years once spoke of her simplicity and unassuming character. Though she was the wife of the then Prime Minister, when driven to work, she would ask him to stop by at a wayside stall and buy her two buns or maalu paans (stuffed buns with fish). She would eat them en route to office.
The chauffeur was referring to Maithree Wickremesinghe, wife of the head of the United National Party (UNP) and Opposition Leader Ranil Wickremesinghe. Though in the shadow of her husband, she has shunned politics and won the hearts of the student community by her abiding interest in them.
Professor Wickremesinghe is the head of the Department of English and Director of Gender Studies at the University of Kelaniya.
Just after Tuesday’s abortive general strike, Government politicians and sections of the media, particularly State run, claimed that not even Prof. Wickremesinghe had heeded her husband’s call to go on strike. It was even front page news and newsworthy material for some media, both print and electronic, both private and State. It turned out to be a canard.
Her first response came in a rather unusual way. UNP Parliamentarian John Ameratunga was celebrating his 73rd birthday at the ‘Peach Valley’ restaurant down Sir Ernest de Silva Mawatha, in residential Colombo 7. The restaurant is located in the ancestral home of the ever so popular late George Rajapaksa, MP and Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP) Minister.
On the upper floor of the same restaurant, Namal Rajapaksa MP was entertaining some young SLFP Parliamentarians to dinner. During a meal of fried rice and various accompaniments, the young MPs complained to Rajapaksa about problems they faced in the education sector. He immediately telephoned Education Minister Bandula Gunawardena. A surprise entry was External Affairs Minister G.L. Peiris. He briefed the young MPs on the upcoming Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM). It was thereafter the MPs learnt the birthday bash of Ameratunga was going on in a room on the ground floor. Some of them wanted to wish the UNP Parliamentarian on their way out.
Udith Lokubandara, Tharanath Basnayake and a few others in the group turned up to say “happy birthday”. The presence of young Rajapaksa was to surprise Wickremesinghe. The UNP leader was the only other MP present at the Amaratunga birthday party. He had arrived there after a dinner hosted by diplomats in the Japanese embassy.
Namal Rajapaksa asked Wickremesinghe “Sir, Maithree madam campus giya kiyala aranchi. Warjaneyta sahabagee une nedda? (Sir, Madam Maithree had gone to campus. Didn’t she participate in the strike?).”
Wickremesinghe pointing his finger in the direction of his wife who was in another room said “Nehe. Eya giyey shishyek hambuwenna. Ehe vedata giye nehe. Onaa num ahalama balanna. Enna Enna. (She went there — to the Kelaniya University — to meet a student. You can check with her if you so wish. Come, come.)” and escorted the young MP to his wife.
Hubby Wickremesinghe told his wife what the young MP was alleging. Prof. Wickremesinghe told Rajapaksa; “What nonsense” and explained to him that she had not reported to work, but only gone to the campus for 15 minutes. She had explained the difference between going to one’s workplace – and working. The young MP received two professorial lectures that night for the price of one.
“Eye vunaata wedey asarthakai nedha (Even then wasn’t the strike unsuccessful?),” joked the young MP. The UNP leader told the other UPFA MPs present “Ada kaaley rehearsal ekak. Passey welawaka balaganna ko. (Nowadays it’s a rehearsal. See what happens in the days to come).”
That was not all. Prof. Wickremesinghe wrote a strongly-worded letter to the Federation of University Teachers Associations (FUTA) and the University of Kelaniya Teachers’ Association. This is what she said:
“I refer to TV reports of 21st May 2013 and newspaper reports of 22nd May 2013 in the private and State media alleging that I conducted lectures when FUTA/UKTA had called on its membership to participate in a one-day general strike.
“I am writing to state for the record that I did not carry out any lectures on the 21st instance; nor did I discharge any administrative work as the Head of the Department of English or as the Director of the Centre for Gender Studies at the University of Kelaniya.
“While I consider it a futile exercise to respond to these blatantly false, politically motivated reports aimed at denigrating my character each time they are carried in the media, I would like to assure FUTA/UKTA that I unequivocally support FUTA/UKTA trade union action as my legal right.
“I would be most grateful if you would please apprise the FUTA/UKTA membership of these facts.” Also on the subject of the failed strike on Tuesday, there was some media criticism that not even a handful of members of the UNP-controlled Jathika Sevaka Sangamaya (JSS) at the ‘Buhari’ Hotel in Maradana had taken part.
This hotel which specialises in serving biriyani was taken over by a previous government after its owner had failed to pay taxes.
Defending the non-closure was UNP trade union boss Sirinal de Mel. He said they wanted the hotel to be kept open since it was a “public utility”. As one of his colleagues, an apparent critic pointed out “the unions tried unsuccessfully to cripple the electricity sector. That was also a public utility.” He asked rather sarcastically “how many people can now afford the luxury of a biriyani at Buhari Hotel nowadays.”
It’s akin to Marie Antoinette, consort to France’s King Louis XV1 and target of the French revolution, asking people to eat cake when there was no bread, said the trade unionist, sarcastically.
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