Odds & Ends

Jumbo jet for jumbo

With the dawn of the New Year, President Mahinda Rajapaksa has been dealing with many a jumbo sized problem. First was his decision to accommodate the opposition UNP dissidents and the creation of a mega cabinet.

Now comes an elephantine problem of another sort. President Rajapaksa, who is due to travel to China on an official visit, is to gift Beijing with an elephant - not a UNPer but a real pachyderm.

How to get it to Beijing on time has become the issue now. Presidential staff are now arranging to airlift the elephant in a chartered jumbo jet. They say it will cost a neat packet - anything between Rs. 15 to Rs. 18 million for the cargo carrier.

Undisputed winner

If one's sense of patriotism is measured by the flags one could display, a new and powerful bureaucrat would be the undisputed winner.

During the Independence Day celebrations last week, he made sure his high walled and well secured house was surrounded by national flags. There were hundreds of flags planted on the wall some two feet apart.

Indifferent to politics?

Are the majority of Sri Lankans disgusted with politicians and indifferent to politics? Can that be true?

Even if opinion polls have not been conducted to find answers to this question, it is a very safe guess that the vast majority are not. They are backers of one party or the other barring a lesser number of exceptions.

Nor are the majority of Sri Lankans ‘indifferent’ to politics though there may be a lesser number. The latter can be gauged by the popularity of political talk on television and the political columns of newspapers, besides a multitude of other factors.

But the Media Centre for National Security (MCNS) thinks otherwise. The ‘MCNS Friday sum up’ this week headlined ‘Surprise! Surprise, what a Surprise!!!’ has this to say. ‘HE President's visit to Vakarai caught everyone by total surprise. As he toured Vakarai and then Sampur, he caught the attention and admiration of everyone in a country where the majority is disgusted with the politicians and is indifferent to politics....’

No doubt, President Rajapaksa was brave and broke tradition by boldly visiting Vakarai and Sampur. It was indeed a great morale booster for our troops. Bravo to him for this laudable deed.

But that does not mean the majority of Sri Lankans hate politicians. Does it? An extension of that argument would only mean the people are more disgusted with Government politicians. After all, they now form the majority. And thus, would the majority of Sri Lankans be ‘indifferent’ to their politics?

Or would all Sri Lankans simply believe the MCNS conclusion as the naked truth. If truth is a casualty in war, politicians and politics are victims at all times !!

Daughter ties the knot

The only daughter of UNP rebel and Special Projects Minister Mahinda Wijesekera will tie the knot with a naturalized American of Sri Lankan descent in July in Los Angeles.

While his two sons have been very much in the news in the past for brawling in Colombo night clubs, the daughter had met her future life partner while studying business and finance in USA.

Flying kisses

Parliament was a hot bed of activity last week with UNP members occupying Government seats displacing some already within the Government. As all the confusion was ensuing there were those without a care in this world and to name two are one of the few MPs without a ministerial post Nirupama Rajapakse on the Government side and her district colleague from the UNP Sajith Premadasa who chose to exchange flying kisses across the Well of the House. If all MPs behaved in this way, there would definitely be less bickering in the House and lot more kisses flying round.

You for us

The ‘Api wenuwen api’ campaign to boost support for the armed forces has become a catch phrase for politicians as well. When UNP MPs spoke in support of Government MPs displaced from their seats due to the UNP defectors coming into the Cabinet, Chief Opposition Whip Jeyraj Fernandopulle was quick to quip, “We though it was only api wenuwen api, but now it looks more like, api wenuwen thopi.”