Time for Change in Sri Lanka.

The much awaited presidential election in Sri Lanka is just a few days away but unfortunately we the migrant workers who are one of the highest foreign currency earners for the country’s coffer are left without a voice.
All successive previous regimes have plundered most of the remittances, we earned by working in 50 plus Celsius degrees by spending them on many white elephant projects but never even considered giving us a voice, in return for our magnanimous contribution.
We do not ask for permits to import luxury cars duty free to the country.
Even if we ask it, I do not see there is anything wrong with it because many of the unproductive public sector employees, celebrities, sportsmen and many more (the list is too long to mention here) have already been granted this facility.
The universal suffrage is something we Sri Lankans have been enjoying from early 1930s.
All what we have been asking is to give the migrant work force also the voice but hitherto it has fallen in to deaf ears and I am confident that the situation would change after the 26th of January 2010.
Although we have been made voiceless by purpose, there are other ways that our pleas and aspirations can be conveyed to those who need them to be heard.
The upcoming presidential election is one of them and I am sure none of us want to miss this opportunity presented unexpectedly to us goes begging.
We still have our roots there in Sri Lanka and through them that the voiceless can be transformed in to a considerable real silent force.
Usually In Sri Lankan politics, the majority is always silent unlike the minority who are very vocal, boisterous and noisy, but do not be intimidated by their behaviour or the noise they make.
Keys to Public offices are not a birthright of any and it should never have to be so in future too.
Those who seek public offices must first prove beyond any reasonable doubts of their leadership qualities and most importantly the farsightedness.
Digging up a few dilapidated tanks, siphoning public money, professing others to grow Manioc & lentils in their own back gardens and embark on wasteful white elephant projects to glorify one’s image would not usher any prosperity.
This is the time for a complete overhauling of the system.
This is the time for change.
Please do not waste this opportunity but tell those who are back home to cast their votes wisely.
My guess is as good as yours that the choice should be impeccably clean as the colour of White.
Sasanka De Silva blogging from Oman.

A UNIQUE AND ONCE IN A LIFETIME OPPORTUNITY BECKONING IN SRI LANKA.

Never in the history of any developing country has there been an opportunity to hand over the helm of the running of the country to a victorious and decorated soldier.

In many instances, men in uniforms have taken over running countries, but the process of taking over was not democratic, nor were they victorious and decorated for what they have achieved on the military front.

However, such instances can be found in the developed world (France & USA, to name a few).

General Sarath Fonseka has proven his mettle as a soldier serving the Sri Lankan Army for more than 40 years and led the country to victory on the military front over the terrorist group, The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam, a few months ago.

Now he has relinquished his uniforms and the privileges accompanied by the title and has entered the presidential fray to take over the helm of running the country in a democratic way, putting his life in danger once more for the economic salvation of the land.

Everybody agrees without much qualm that we need a change and a fresh approach towards the way the country has to run if we truly want to get out of this economic quagmire and prepare a peaceful and economically and politically stable country for our future generations.

The choice is obvious, and I am sure that no one wants to squander this rare and unique opportunity and regret it forever by letting it go by.

Desecration or destroying a place of worship of any religion is sacrilegious.

Desecration or destroying a place of worship of any religion is sacrilegious.

It is even more sacrilegious when a Cemetery is desecrated.

What happened in the Auschwitz concentration camp yesterday is despicable.

Whether it is a simple case of theft or politically motivated act, the authorities will have to find out soon.

Many restored to such acts when they have miserably failed to prove their own hypothesises with hard facts than fictional ones.

History cannot be obliterated or changed to propagate ones’ own political agendas by destroying or desecrating historical sites.

Some historical facts are very stubborn and hard to swallow to many but unless you have learn to live with those facts and take guidance from the lessons learnt, then only they would be able to move forward in pursuit of whatever.

But by opting to take the low road of vandalism, only exposes what you are really made of and the history would also not be very kind to such perpetrators too.

Sasanka De Silva Blogging from Oman.

Le Cheat

Knowing the truth very well, neither Bush nor Karzai flinched.

Maradona had the audacity to call it “Hand of God”.

History is littered with such incidents in every spheres of life.

So why call Thierry Henry as “Le Cheat”.

The moral of the incident is “You cheat You will” and if you do not, then you are a looser.

Stop calling people names.

It is our own individual choice to decide to which camp you wanted to be belonged to.

SRI LANKAN WAR CRIMINALS HIDING IN WEST

The life sentence handed down yesterday in Canada on Desire Munyaneza for the war crimes he committed in Rwanda would, I am sure send a clear messages to many.

After his killing spree, he went to Canada and sought political asylum and it was granted without any back ground checks.

This is not a new phenomenon in Canada or in the west.

Anyone who manages to reach their boarders and claims that he or she is being prosecuted in his or her country, because of their ethnicity or any other reason, those countries are happy to oblige.

There are thousands and more who have either actively participated or have helped in various other ways in mass killings, genocides and other war crimes are still hiding behind in Canada and the West, milking their systems on the guise of seeking asylum.

The mass rallies held, hungers strikes and havocs caused in those countries during the latter part of the three decade old war in Sri Lanka, where a democratically elected government was fighting a bunch of terrorist is a very good example that those who have blood in their hands and in their consciences are still roaming freely in those countries.

The sentencing of Desire Munyaneza, I am hopeful would set a precedent and that the authorities in Canada and in the West would open their eye now and start dealing with those bogus asylum seekers the same way soon.

Kithsiri Sasanka De Silva,

Sultanate of Oman.

The grass is not so greener on the other side.

Boat loads of people are stranded in some parts of the world trying to reach countries which are economically prosperous.

If the figures reported in some of the press are correct, the people now stranded in Indonesia have promised to pay or have already paid the smugglers in excess of two million American Dollars for the passenger of 250 people.

This translates in to over a million Sri Lankan Rupees for each head, which is a very large sum of money for someone like me who is presently employed in the Gulf even.

Looking at the pictures it is evident that the average family cluster on that boat is about four per family.

I was wishing if I can raise that kind of money (Rupees 4 million), not to pay some slave trader but to start up something of my own back in Sri Lanka.

Some may try to take political advantage on the predicament of those people still stranded on those boats.

These people neither political nor economic asylum seekers but a bunch fools who always believe that the grass on the other side is much greener only.

I have travelled enough in those countries where some think the grass is much greener and have met, spoken and visited many of those who have thought so earlier and ended up there.

Many of them are living in appalling conditions in attics, go-downs etc and doing some works that they would not even think of doing in their own mother land, even if they do not have one square meal a day.

We have a Sinhala saying which goes “Even if you make a living by slaughtering cats, the money you get in return for that work will not mew when being spent”.

But when they return to their motherland for a short holiday or looking for a prospective life partner to take back along with them, they do not tell the whole truth.

Instead, they flaunt a little to impress the others.

A couple of designer ware, a rented out car and a few extravagance parties to impress their other family members, neighbours and friends send a wrong message.

“The grass is much greener on the other side”.

Many who are living in their native lands are unable to see through the false facade and willing to gamble on their health, wealth and most importantly the peace of mind looking for greener grass.

It is not even worth the try.

If you can raise that kind of money, (I am talking about four million Sri Lankan Rupees) as your start up capital, then you do not need go anywhere but start something of your own in your own country.

The stories are galore in medias of many (mostly from the south and the north) have come to cities from their tiny hamlets with only cloths on their backs and have made money and a name for them.

If that is not a dream then what about someone with a disposable four million Sri Lankan Rupees as a start up capital?

Unless we learn to ask the right questions and willing to change to looking glass, the stories of such boat people will be repeated.

The parable is “the grass is not so greener on the other side”.

Kithsiri Sasanka De Silva,

Sultanate of Oman.

Terrorism and Rules of Engagement

Ever since man decided that the only way to achieve a solution to a dispute between two of them is to take up arms, the rules of engagement have changed.

They have evolved in a much slower pace that one would be able to keep abreast with it and be prepared for any eventuality.

However, the 9/11 incident has changed the whole scenario.

What is going on around in many parts of the world today are sufficient ample examples of the changes that have taken place in the rules of engagement.

The conventional wisdom and the old school rules of engagement become lead weights, especially when a country where democracy prevails tries to fight off a terrorist outfit, threatening the stability of the country as well as in the region.

The terrorists have only one objective and that is to terrorize and they would go to any extent to achieve their objective.

Unless the democratically elected governments change their tactics and approach to the issue of how to deal with the terrorists, the hope of having a Win is a total impossibility.

The best and the most recent example is the Sri Lankan Armed forces victory over the one time most dreaded and feared terrorist group.

Had they been listening to the hypocrites’ and old school pundits, as they have done for more than two decades, the terrorist menace would have gone for many more decades.

They were ready to change their rules of engagement and the success came within a few years.

The conventional wisdom and old school rules of engagement have to be abandoned if to achieve success in war especially between a democratically elected government and a foreign-funded terrorist outfit.

The staunch old school guards and especially the hypocrites’ will try to place one obstacle after another to stop you from changing your stance but the sure recipe for success is to abandon the conventional wisdom and old rules of engagement.

Having a threat of isolation, sanctions and withdrawal of trading privileges’ etc are better than having to live in constant fear of a terrorist attack.

One has to be Free first to be able to enjoy the other social and economic benefits.

Kithsiri Sasanka De Silva,

Sultanate of Oman.