What's sending him home?

Now Dr. Jayawardena is due to return to Colombo end of this month leading to the inevitable speculation, rumour and whispers. Of course it is a well-known Sri Lankan pastime entered into with great gusto. Everybody has his or her own little story to tell. That is supposed to prove that they are in the know, that they know somebody who knows somebody else who knows some high-up in Colombo who has heard from a highly knowledgeable source what it is all about.

The government should let the censors loose on those who love to spin the kind of conspiratorial yarn that would make John Le Carre, Len Deighton and Frederick Forsyth seem like amateurs.

Governments are largely to blame for the rumour- mongering. When there are over 100,000 persons of Sri Lankan origin residing in this country and of varying political pigmentations and shades too, it is not surprising that stories and rumours proliferate faster than political hangers-on after elections.

The version in general circulation is that Dr. Jayawardena, who was President Chandrika Kumaratunga's economic adviser, is going back home because of ill-health. It is true that Lal Jayawardena has not been altogether well. Recently he underwent surgery for a hernia. He has been troubled by other health problems too and does take quite a number of pills each day.

He is no hypochondriac. He does have his share of problems. But when a person of Lal Jayawardena's calibre has to leave one of the most important posts in Colombo's diplomatic pecking order, and the government does not even take the trouble to say why the High Commissioner is going so soon, it inevitably creates an unfortunate hiatus where rumour takes over and thrives.

This is not to say that every time there is a diplomatic change-over the government has to say why. Every country shuffles its diplomatic pack, makes political appointments sending their close supporters, advisers and kith and kin to lie abroad, apparently for the good of the country.

This is to be expected. In almost 40 years in the media where moving among diplomats was an essential part of one's professional work, one takes such things for granted.

There was a time when Sri Lanka's Foreign Ministry had sent a person to one of our missions as a translator. To translate one must surely be acquainted with at least two languages. No wonder this person could not perform the task. He hardly knew one language.

Some years ago the High Commission in London had a first secretary whose credentials were questioned in parliament by the opposition. The then minister put up a great defence over the appointment in neo-Churchillian oratory. Finally, to nail the canard that the person in question had no educational qualifications to hold that post, he suddenly delved into his briefcase and pulled out incontrovertible proof- the person's SSC certificate!

Those were the days when diplomatic appointments to our missions provided hilarious moments. But these comic operas were certainly not received with the same relish and hilarity by the host countries to which they were posted. How many times I have heard complaints and mutterings from diplomats of those countries, even when I met them much later elsewhere.

But now that such appointments are few and far between, it is all the more reason that the image that Sri Lanka is trying to create is not sullied by rumours and gossip, often the work of persons who have axes to grind or pretend to be in the know.

This is not to say that all rumour is false or without an iota of truth. That is why it is so important that if there is an official version which is not compromised by spin doctoring, the government should tell it early enough and clearly enough before rumour and gossip take their toll, because it is not only Sri Lankans who are interested.

On several occasions I have been asked by foreign and local journalists here precisely why High Commissioner Jayawardena is returning home so soon. Some of them who know Sri Lanka well or have worked there don't buy the story that ill-health is sending him back.

While I don't intend to reveal the details of what I've heard, it is important for official circles to know that some journalists here have other explanations. One even suggests that Lal Jayawardena is being recalled at the instance of President Kumaratunga, while another states that Mangala Moonesinghe is being posted here because of his past involvement in trying to find a solution to Sri Lanka's seemingly intractable national problem and London is important in this regard. 

It is of course true that Mangala Moonesinghe has made a very good impression in New Delhi, both in the South Block and Indian academic circles and among Delhi-based diplomats.

I learnt this first hand when I visited India for the country's Golden Jubilee anniversary in 1997 and met Indian diplomats and others. Certainly the quiet and affable politician-turned-diplomat would be an asset. He is expected to take up his appointment some time next month.

Meanwhile as far as the stories are concerned you can take your pick. I have my own version .

Subject for sociological study

Whoever wants to undertake the task I dare say there is sufficient material for a study in contrasts.

The other day I was dragged to a gathering of Sri Lankan expatriates. It was said to be a dance ( sorry, no dinner) with the local band "Gypsies" airlifted all the way from Colombo courtesy Air Lanka, oops sorry, Sri Lankan Airlines.

This is the second such occasion I have attended here. The first was a dinner-dance( buth packet and all) organised by some doctors' association or other and this by an umbrella organisation called Sri Lankan OBAs' (Old Boys' Associations) Festival of Cricket. It was called the Dance of the Millennium.

I must admit I've never seen anything like it. Held at the Harrow Leisure Centre (the doctors' dance was also at a similar venue), besides having little children running all over the place and manoeuvring between dancing couples, trios and what have you, young girls with cigarettes on their lips and glasses of beer held over their heads were gyrating on the dance floor. Not to be outdone, youth with cigarettes and shirt tails hanging were also gyrating with glasses of beer instead of partners.

Having come from Hong Kong where the Sri Lankan community also had an annual dinner-dance, one is naturally struck by the tremendous difference in the events.

In Hong Kong it was always held at a major hotel- generally the Sheraton Hotel where it will be held again on May 27. A superb Asian-Western buffet dinner was laid out thanks to Ananda Arawwawela, the first Asian General Manager of the Hong Kong Sheraton, complemented with desserts numbering a dozen or more. The tickets were usually limited to about 375-400, everybody was dressed in business suit at least and each table of 10 was provided with Black Label whisky, two bottles of wine, almost unlimited beer and soft drinks. The occasion attracted not only Sri Lankans but other expats and local Chinese, all invited as guests. The dance was usually opened by Sri Lanka's Honorary Consul Thomas Cheung, a popular businessman. The tickets were priced at around 32 Sterling Pounds whereas here for 20 Pounds all one got were the Gypsies determined to blow out our ear drums in a building which resembled an airport hanger.

What makes the difference? Is it that the Sri Lankan community in Hong Kong is made up largely of professionals-doctors, lawyers, engineers, accountants, journalists, architects and academics- all doing well. Most have maids, usually Filipinos, so that children stayed where they should- at home. 

It was a society which favoured discipline, law and order, frowned upon bad conduct, where nobody was above the law and the opportunities for a good life were available for anyone with the capacity and the talent to exploit.

Any takers for a study? Meanwhile if this was the dance of the millennium, it won't last long- not the dance, the millennium.

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