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Talk at the cafe spectator
View(s):C’wealth tree-planting at Mattala Airport
Sajin Vaas Gunawardena, Monitoring MP for the Ministry of External Affairs and master of ceremonies for the upcoming Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM), hosted a conducted tour of representatives of countries attending the summit in Colombo.
These were persons who would be associated with security arrangements for their respective heads of delegations including Presidents and Prime Ministers. They were taken on a tour of the Mattala Rajapaksa International Airport.
Speaking to them, Mr. de Vass Gunawardena said the land outside the airport building would be the venue for a tree planting ceremony by heads of delegations. They were even welcome to bring their own plants, he said. The idea, the confidant of President Rajapaksa said, was to create a garden similar to the Royal Botanical Gardens in Peradeniya.
One of the participants immediately caught the point. The live coverage of President Rajapaksa planting trees with the world’s leaders would capture the hearts of those in the outback of Ruhuna. They would literally stand shoulder to shoulder.
Another interesting episode came when Mr. de Vass Gunawardena escorted them to Water’s Edge, the retreat for Commonwealth Presidents and Prime Ministers. “Meygollanta bonna mokak hari dunnada (Did you give them something to drink),” he asked. The reply from a staffer there was “Ow Sir!! Soft drinks dunna (Yes sir, soft drinks were served). It was just 11 a.m.
“Eka nevei mang kiyanney. Hot mokuth denna berida? (That is not what I am saying. Can’t you serve them something hot?)”
Soon, Black Label Scotch Whisky arrived. Even if most of those present politely declined, representatives of a country on the outer fringes of Asia did not let go. They helped themselves liberally. It sure would have been a great change from the beer and wine which the fair dinkum people are used to drinking.
Ex-Tiger combatants garland Pillay
Last Monday, the visiting UN Human Rights Commissioner, Navanethem Pillay, flew to Jaffna to meet Government and civil society representatives. When she arrived at the residence of Northern Province Governor G.A Chandrasiri, she was welcomed by a group of youth offering her a garland.
“Do you know who they are?” Retired Maj.Gen. Chandrasiri asked Ms. Pillay who responded that she didn’t know. “They once took arms and now have been rehabilitated,” the Governor told Ms. Pillay.
It was only then Ms. Pillay realised that she was greeted by former LTTE cadres who were “rehabilitated” by the Government.
Tilvin offered ali banana
JVP General Secretary Tilvin Silva was having some biscuits and a banana for refreshments after addressing an election meeting in Rikillagaskada last week.
A person in the crowd approached him. “Obathuma mey kesel gediya kanna (Sir, please have this banana),” he told Mr Silva.
“Sahodaraya man ekak kanwane (Comrade, I am having one now),” the JVP General Secretary said. “Ne ne mekama kanna one (No, no you must eat this one),” he said.
Mr. Silva went quiet. Then the man who was asking him to eat the banana declared “Baya wenna deyak nehe sahodaraya. Mang Honda UNP karayek. Mang ada JVP ekata banduna. Eka shathika karannai me kehel gediya dunney (Don’t be afraid, comrade. I am a genuine UNPer. I decided to join the JVP today. That is why I am giving you this banana to strengthen my bond),” he told Mr. Silva.
Prime lesson in sport: No flag for politico
In Sri Lanka’s sports community, they were sworn enemies. One was a politico and the other a secretary to a ministry.
It was in Chinese soil that they kissed and made up.
And it all happened in an unexpected way. The politico walked into the VIP box at the Asian Youth Games in Nanjing to find there were no seats. The chivalrous Secretary rose, bowed somewhat and offered his seat. With the event over, there was camaraderie all the way. They were seen with each other’s arms across their shoulders. One of those who watched the new born love between the duo remarked, “it would be interesting to see how the two men’s supporters in Sri Lanka, still unaware of the peace in China, would react.”
The next Youth Games will be held in Hambantota in 2017. And who should claim the official flag, like the Olympic Torch, a symbol of the games for the next venue. It was a VIP politico. But the organisers were wary though the position the man held in the political hierarchy was prime. He had in fact led an official entourage.
The Chinese officials said the flag should be handed over to an official of the local Olympics Committee. So the dollars spent for the VIP and his entourage to travel to Nanjing turned out to be nothing more than a jaunt.
Syria: Time to cling to US tail
As US President Barack Obama struggles to build a “coalition of the willing” before his impending military attack on Syria, this may perhaps be the best chance for Sri Lanka to endear itself to the United States, some Sri Lankan expatriates say.
With the British House of Common rejecting a motion to join the US attack, the Americans have lost their key ally in Europe. And as the US is desperately searching for more allies to stand by Washington when it attacks Syria, this may be the right opportunity to declare our support for the US, they point out.
France, Australia, Canada and Turkey have all declared their support for the attack. But no developing nation has come forward so far. And under the current circumstances, the US may be willing to latch onto any ally, however horrendous its human rights record would be.
During the 2003 military attack on Iraq, the “coalition of the willing” included more than a dozen tiny nations such as the Marshall Islands, Palau, Mircronesia and Solomon Islands which provided moral (and immoral) support for that war, but no troops.
Police told to act impartially while Pillay was here
One of the tasks for President Mahinda Rajapaksa soon after his return from an official visit to Belarus was to order Police Chief N.K. Illangakoon to strictly enforce the law.
That is even on UPFA candidates contesting the September 21 Northern Provincial Council (NPC) elections. The move follows reports of mounting intra party clashes. What had angered President Rajapaksa is a shooting incident. Acting on the President’s orders, the Police in Jaffna arrested A. Ramanathan, father of the chief organiser of the Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP) for allegedly opening fire on the supporter of a rival candidate from the same party. He was produced in courts and remanded till September 14.
The fact that the incident took place when UN Human Rights High Commissioner Navi Pillay was in Sri Lanka has added to President Rajapaksa’s concerns. The cause for intra party clashes is said to be over preference votes.
CID gets Tippex on its face
By the time it came to a probe by the Criminal Investigation Department (CID), the issue has been settled. This is what United National Party (UNP) General Secretary Tissa Attanayake told a CID detective who turned up this week at Sirikotha, the party headquarters in Kotte.
The probe was over the use of Tippex to erase the contents of the UNP’s nomination list for the Moneragala District during the 2010 Parliamentary elections.
Attanayake said the matter had since been settled after an internal inquiry.
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