Sunday Times 2
Bliss it was when public shows were for the family
View(s):There has been much hype generated in the media over The Enrique bra Incident at a public concert. The publicity is not really due to the bra incident itself but due to the puerile pretension of President Sirisena to show himself as an ‘Upasaka’. If not for President Sirisena’s exuberant outburst, the bra incident would have been soon forgotten. In any case the organisers of the concert cannot be held responsible for the exuberant behaviour of a spectator.
Sir John's name was coupled with Indian Film Star Nargis (above) in press cartoons and parodied songs
What is of more importance are, the complaint of the Municipal Commissioner that the CMC has been defrauded by the millions on taxes and, the deprivation of the public to reserved seats for which they had paid dearly and adding inconvenience and hazards due to bad planning.
Far more important for the President’s attention are the spate of killings, robberies, corruption throughout the country, lack of law and order and the rising cost of living. An attempt to throw a ‘red herring’ is showing.
My mind goes back to the early fifties when that master show-man Donovan Andre’ brought down to Colombo public shows that were drawing raging crowds in the US and Europe at that time. ‘Holiday on Ice’ and ‘Dancing Waters’ were two such shows I remember. These were shows for the family and even children from girls schools were taken for the shows as ticket prices were affordable and crowd behavior was not offensive.
On the opening day of ‘Holiday on Ice’ there was a delay to start the show as the ice on the large stage had not yet formed. Showman Donovan Andre sent rounds of scotch, wines and soft drinks ‘on the house’ to keep the crowd entertained till the show could start. “Entertainment is my business” was Donovan’s policy. It was well known that Donovan spent much more on these shows than the collection at the gates and that the costs for the shows were replenished with earnings from his ‘bookie’ business.
About this period there used to be a contest, ‘Personality of the Year’, conducted by the Ceylon Observer if I remember right. Among the contestants along with Donovan Andre were Prime Minister Sir John Kotalawela, M Sathasivam, Duncan White and such likes. Donovan won and Sir John was runner up.
Talking of Sir John, there was a Mr. Ceylon contest for body-builders where Prime Minister Sir John was the chief guest. Dougie Roberts, Koomaraswamy (Kum) and Ronnie Steinwall, were a top draw among the lot. Kum won the coveted trophy that year. Sir John before presenting the award, referring to muscle control by Kum, said it was the best muscle control he had seen in the whole world. A spectator from the audience yelled out, “What about Nargis?” This was a time when Sir John’s name was coupled with Indian Film Star Nargis who had recently toured Ceylon, in press cartoons and parodied songs. Sir John turning towards the hollerer asked who it was who asked the question and followed up with the words “Thank you – she was better”. Sir John received a roaring cheer. Nobody felt offended.
It must also be said here that Sir John brooked no nonsense from criminals or bullies. If I may digress a bit I wish to recount an incident that was my good fortune to witness when I was about five years old. In the early 1940′s we had taken a house on Watarappola Road in Mount Lavinia for purpose of schooling. In the evenings a servant would take us for walks to the park. One evening we witnessed a melee involving two constables armed with batons trying to bring a toughie under control, but the tough young man was getting the better of the constables. A passing car screeched to a halt and a well built gentleman got off the car. The gentleman held the toughie in a grip with ease – put him in his rear seat and the two constables on either side of the thug and drove off, presumably to the police station. Later we heard that the gentleman was Kotalawela Mahattaya. That was community policing at its best. Incidentally, Sir John’s father had been an Inspector of Police. Such were political leaders of the past. Neither they nor their relatives made ill-gotten gains from politics but gave for public welfare from their own endowments.
In those good old days there were also private shows for adults at night clubs where cabarets were performed by popular artistes. Aloma Dender who married Air Force Commander Rohan Ameresekere and now going as Mrs Aloma Ameresekere; Elizabeth Perera who married famous diver and film producer Mike Wilson; Ayesha Weerakoon, a beauty queen and film star who married a rare and honest politician – Harold Herath – , and now famously known as Gwen Herath who is in the forefront of many a social welfare undertaking; Jelian Thorne, a cousin of another versatile artiste Oosha Saravanamuttu famous for her Oosha Garten School of Ballet; were crowd pullers. Nobody was offended by these shows.
What is of concern today is the malaise that prevents innocent law abiding families from going to sports clubs, hotels, concerts and other public places of leisure. There are an irresponsible dangerous few who are the progeny of politicians, new rich narcotic dealers and casino magnates etc. and often politicians themselves who indulge in drunken sex orgies, who are a veritable threat to innocent citizens, frequenting these places meant for public leisure.
There are more compelling public concerns that HE the President should turn his attention to, and use all the forces at his command to give the innocent public who voted him to power, a fair deal without pampering to the irresponsible dangerous few.
(Tassie Seneviratne is a Retired Senior Superintendant of Police)