Plus

Plus

TIMES POSTCARD
In Sri Lanka we do as Americans do
By Rajpal Abeynayake
President George. W. Bush has appointed his private lawyer to fill a Supreme Court vacancy. This has raised hailstorm of protest from among his conservative base. Conservatives are of the opinion that he might next appoint his chauffer to head NASA for instance, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration that is in charge of sending rockets to space.
Personally, I wonder what the fuss is all about.

America functions on the basis of personal relationships — it’s all about father to son (George Bush to George. W. Bush) from husband to wife (from Bill Clinton probably to Hilary Clinton) and so on — and therefore from client to lawyers feels like the least of the Americans’ problems. American people elected President George W. Bush because he was his father’s son — even though other reasons might have come to play, such as Bush Jr.’s ability to snatch victory from jaws of certain defeat. (Bush versus
Gore 2005.)

Sri Lankan Presidents never appointed their private lawyers to the Supreme Court. But they didn’t have to, because loyalty-wise appointees have done much for various Presidents who appointed them.

The rub is — what kind of people should Presidents appoint for various posts, such as judicial posts and diplomatic posts? Sri Lankans are running hard against America in this department, by appointing personal friends and relations as diplomats and key state functionaries.

Those days, that practice used to be called nepotism.
These days that practice is called efficiency.
The message that this sends school going kids from Washington to Walapane, is that the best way to make it big in any country is to be the President’s brother in law or the President’s chauffer.

Apparently, the new Presidential appointee to the United States Supreme Court does not have any knowledge of constitutional law, and has never written any opinions on such matters that have any bearing on constitutional jurisprudence. Her main qualification is that she has intervened in some of the American President’s private land disputes.

By this sort of criteria, Mahinda Rajapakse’s or Ranil Wickremesinghe’s cook appu should eminently qualify to be Sri Lanka’s next Minister of Finance, because budgets are essentially the art of cooking up something to balance the deficit.

Apparently President Bush said that Harriet Miers, his private lawyer, was the “best person I could find’’ for the job of a Supreme Court judge.
So we now have it on authority that America is a land of constitutional law morons. Didn’t we always say that Harvard Law school was not what it was cracked up to be? Turns out that Harvard law school was more like a place where law students understudy to property lawyers in small towns. This sort of university moronism is definitely the trend in Sri Lanka as well, judging by a great many appointments of chauffer and brother in law types to diplomatic posts in the past for example.

The real issue that needs a complete overhaul in this country is the system of education. The one who should positively listen up is Tara De Mel.
She goes around d acting as if education is the only asset that children should be presented with. Children, she says, should above all else be prepared for life by having a good education.

Now, a lot of children may not be educated yet, but being un-educated and un-regimented, they are still able to retain some of their smartness.
So, one hell of a smart kid is bound to say to Tara De Mel one of these days that she has got it all screwed on wrong in the first place, this thing about education. Getting on in life has nothing to do with education, because in Sri Lanka as in America, and in Sri Lanka more than in America, it’s not what you learn that gets you places, but what you do. Chauffeuring counts, and being brother in law or flat-mate more than counts, but you have to do it for the right person.

Tara De Mel is bound to pooh-pooh this one hell of a smart child.
“Kid’’ she will say “get educated before you get smart.”
“How is it that you are qualified to give me all this advise?’’ the smart kid is bound to ask. Aren’t you like George W. Bush’s Supreme Court nominee too — known very well to the President?”

Tara De Mel would say she learnt tomes, and she is a woman of letters, that’s what counts.
Yeah right, says the kid. “Being the president’s pal, he asks, doesn’t that count for anything in your getting this job?’’ “What’s it now,’’ the kid blurts out, aren’t you the President’s classmate?’’
“That’s coincidence,’’ says Tara de Mel. “Urm, not in America, but over here it is definitely coincidence.’’

Back to Plus