LankaBuzz

These days the CMC and other private organisations are playing a fine role in keeping our streets clean. Abans is one company I have noticed all over the place and I believe they also have recycling services.

It’s great then being there to keep our country beautiful, but I think we also could help them in their work. Have you seen some of the people who do these jobs ? They are simple folk, earning very small amounts, we probably bust up what they earn in a month at a fast food joint.

I’ve noticed on my way to work, people who don’t give a damn, just throwing the rubbish outside their houses. They don’t use bin bags, they just scatter it outside their houses. Some are smart, so as not for anyone to know they did it, they scatter it outside some other persons house or on the road side.

If you look at some of the houses or people who do these, they are people who are quite well off, I’ve seen some who keep their gates open, you see 2 BMW’s and on the side of their house garbage. I know some leave the gate open to show off their cars but what about their garbage ? Simple manners ? or just courtesy to those around ? or even a bit of support for those cleaning ? or one would expect some of those levels to even have these as standard practices.

Well we can’t blame the house owners, but then we would blame their staff, they don’t see the purpose of buying bags and throwing them away. I know this happens in my place also. We have to repeatedly tell them, so it’s our duty as responsible citizens to educate those who don’t see the importance of these practices.

Maybe the CMC and companies such as Abans should hand out flyers on simple practices, for making their work easier and more efficient. It’s an added cost, but I’m sure there are organisations willing to help.

As we blame house owners, we have to direct some at the organisations as well. They have to train their staff also to work in a manner which is not an inconvenience to the public. If you notice some of the streets in the morning, as it is they are packed, but to make it worse one of the cleaning carts(if that’s what they are termed) lies in the middle of the road.

This is a big hassle and as we know our roads don’t flow smoothly but we don’t need more reasons for blocks to occur. The people who do the cleaning also need a bit of training on how to do their work. They do a great job cleaning up, but it’s the little things.

This I mentioned as one time, one angry driver stopped his vehicle in front of the cart, as he couldn’t move forward without going around, got out and scolded the person cleaning. The cleaning person did get a big shock but for him it was news, he didn’t think he was blocking the road, as he had not been told where to park his cart. What I’m trying to get at is, like this cleaning person, there will be many who are shouted at, have things thrown at them, cursed and so on.

Let’s try and figure out a way to assist these organisations in doing their jobs. We as the public should be more responsible on how we dispose of our rubbish. The cleaning organisations should train their staff on small practices, as where to park their carts and if this goes well, things would flow more smoothly.

There is one more small thing for the cleaning truck, some of them spill half of their rubbish as they go along, how can this be stopped ?

Lets keep our country clean, and lets assist those who are doing such cleaning services for us.

Thanks

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© 2005 LankaBuzz

Your driving peacefully on the road, everyone’s driving in their usual Sri Lankan style, that we are all used to, you come up to a traffic light, you wait patiently like everyone else but what next ?

This was the scene of my incident, when suddenly one of our beloved Ministers speeds past in one of their overly large convoys. Peaceful street traffic is turned upside down, as they push their way through. Their guards, their escorts rudely MAKE everyone move out of the way. They horn, they flash their lights and when some lanes are so small, where to move to ?

Then you see their big shot guards who just like their bosses with their large ego’s bash on some vehicles to get out of the way. I only saw this done to a three wheeler. The guy couldn’t move so one of the guys got down and gave a good slap to the trishaw drivers vehicle and started shouting at him to get out of the way.

What is the big hurry ? Why didn’t they leave a half an hour earlier ? Are they worried about their security ? If they are when they take such large convoys they are just asking for more attention. Do they really need such large convoys ? I guess it seems they have authority to boss traffic around.

Don’t get me wrong, it’s not all convoys that behave in this manner, I have seen some, who patiently wait in traffic, those types you don’t mind even giving way for, but those who try to boss people around, I don’t think so.

Of all the ministers in the country, do they really need such large convoys ? So it’s sometimes a police vehicle in front, mainly for very important ones, then you got a BMW, of course there always has to be a Mitsubishi Montero/Pejero, a few land rover jeeps with over ten army or security personal and I think that would classify a small convoy.

This morning on the way to work, as usual a big shot was going so police stopped traffic from one side of the junction for their royal selves to pass at high speeds. There must have been 200 or more of us who were inconvenienced for more than twenty minutes, but who cares as long as they get to their destination on time.

As I have seen this a lot, so as most of you would have I like to make those unaware, AWARE. There was this one time I remember, it was maybe about a year ago, this car was coming out of a lane. The driver was at no fault he began turning on to the main road, and out of no where a convoy speeds by on the wrong side of the road knocking the front of his car. They couldn’t pass, so they got down, blasted the guy to get out of the way, as soon as he didn’t they jumped back into their vehicles and drove off. I didn’t see them giving him any contact details or nothing, he just stood on the road in shock wondering what just happened. I know this doesn’t happen too often but I didn’t get the chance to ask him what happened after that, did he get paid for the damage which was not his fault or was it just a forgotten incident.

It’s quite stupid also, I remember once in a traffic block a convoy was stuck in the middle, they were horning and flashing their lights. Lets say there were 50 vehicles around them, the amount of attention they drew was enormous. As their guards were walking all over the place to clear traffic. Most of the guards were dispersed. In the middle was the minister. What was the aim of all this, to get from one place to another securely. What was the case now ? Everyone knew they were there, there guards were all over the place, and if one wanted to make a hit it was very simple. If they had just blended in the crowd, waited patiently, not had hundreds of guards around, they would have had no attention. So it’s quite stupid, but I guess attention is what they seek.

Why not just get a vehicle with tinted glass, and another vehicle not a land rover with so many guards with guns, but a regular vehicle with no uniforms, in civilian clothes ? They will move smoothly amongst the public, they don’t create attention, and if problems arise their guards are behind.

I’m sure I’m wrong about most things, as there are greater forces deciding these, but these would be a view from one of the public.

These days we have a hotline to alert the police about crazy bus drivers, maybe we need one to alert about crazy convoys.

This may not be an issue to most, but I don’t like to pushed around on the road by big shots who have no respect for those around them. I commend those who don’t show off in their large convoys, who don’t disrespect those around them on the road, and those who follow simple road rules.

I guess a minister who can follow simple road rules and laws, could be one who might follow other rules and laws as well and maybe one we could learn to respect.

Anyway this is my view, what do you say ?

Malaka R.

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(c) 2005 LankaBuzz

Back on the topic with cops, how come none of these little racers never get caught ?

Well for some of you who don’t know, these guys are those who are still stuck in the fast and the furious state. It’s great what most of these guys have done but they are a danger to most of us on the roads.

Well one thing we know, is most of them are rich kids. I know quite a few of them, I don’t race but some of the people I’ve met are so young. I’ve met guys in skylines, evolutions, and what nots, all modified and so on, but guess how old some of these guys are ? 15 !!! 16 !!!! 17 !!!! and so on.

What’s on the minds of their parents ? Is it a way of being the popular parents ? Cool parents ? Hip parents ? What is it ? Are these parents sending their kids to their death or to the take the lives of others ?

It’s fine if they are experience but do they have a license ? What happens if they have an accident ? Is it simply a bribe to who they knock into ? What about the cops ? What about insurance ? What about their image ?

Recently a friend of mine told me that one of these racers in their usual racers, which used to be near Vihara Maha Devi Park or close to the Alexandra place gas(fuel) stations, had knocked into a little boy. As I heard the little boy died, but what happened to these drivers ? This boy was a homeless child, with his mother.

My question was who was punished for this accident ?

Now back to cops, they catch people for drink driving, cutting lines on the road, speeding, or even using the phone, what about these little racers ? Are they being paid off, by one of the rich parents ? How come these people are never in the spot light ?

I know people who have been pushed off the road by these little racers, cops have been called and alerted but they seem to put a blind eye to it. When I say pushed off I don’t mean they on purpose they tried to push other drivers off the road, what I mean is when they are racing or in that powerful car, unknowing they scare innocent drivers off the road, they don’t think, they are YOUNG !!!!

Well this is just to make you aware of this racing craze and for parents to be more responsible of their kids. Just because you got money, putting a 4 million rupee racing car in the hands of your 16 year old son, only make you look the following

1. The people around him know he’s your kid

2. They know you are rich

3. They know you give cool gifts

4. You make them wish they were your kids

BUT what do others think of you and your kid ?

1. He’s a rich kid

2. He’s spoilt

3. The parents are ignorant for giving such a gift to a young kid

4. The parents are incompetent for giving such a gift to a kid who has no legal license to drive

5. The parents don’t respect the law

AND what do the cops think ?

1. Another rich brat on the roads

2. More money for the one who catches them speeding (bad cops)

3. More danger to those we try to protect (good cops)

4. Fear for cops who know if they catch a rich brat, they’ll be in big trouble when their parents tell on them to the higher up cop.

5. More damage to public property

6. More accidents

So who wins ? I’ve heard lot of these little racers have their racers in a safe way, they block roads, allow only one race at a time, and do everything by the racers book, I think they have even got radio scanners so they know when cops are on the way, but the big problem is, thee are minors running the show.

The story of the little kids being hit, how many more will come and go unpunished ?

PARENTS of these kids !!!! It’s time you’ll grew up, and showed some responsibility and some intelligence to those around you and your kids.

Jith & Nishi

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(c) 2005 LankaBuzz

Dear Friends,

Kindly take a couple of minutes to go thru this mail. If useful
may advise others also. Please pass this on to others This happened in
Colombo recently and may happen elsewhere also.

few weeks ago, in Savoy film hall,

a person felt something poking from her seat. When she got up
to see what it was, she found a needle sticking out of the seat with a
note attached saying “You have just been infected by HIV”. The

Disease Control Center (in Colombo) reports many similar events
in many other cities recently. All tested needles were HIV Positive.
The Center also reports that needles have been found in cash dispensers
at
public banking machines. We ask everyone to use extreme caution when
faced
with this kind of situation.

All public chairs/seats should be inspectedwith vigilance and caution
before use.

A careful visual inspection shouldbe enough. In addition,

they ask that each of you pass this message along to all members of your
family

and your friends of the potential danger.

Recently, one doctor has narrated a somewhat similar instance
that happened to one of his patients at the Contrast Cinema in Dalugama.

A young girl, engaged and about to be married in a couple of months, was
pricked while the movie was going on. The tag with the needle had the
message ” Welcome to the World of HIV family”. Though the doctors told
her family that it takes about 6 months before the virus grows strong
enought to start damaging the system and a healthy victim could survive

about 5-6years, the girl died in 4 months, perhaps more because of the
“Shock
thought”. We all have to be careful at public places, rest God help!
Just think about saving a life by forwarding this message. Please, take
a
seconds of your time to pass along.

Colombo, 21 June, (Asiantribune.com): The Post Tsunami Operational Structure (P-TOMS) is to change the landscape of Sri Lanka once it is put to operation no sooner after the signing between the Government of Sri Lanka and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam.

The so called relief mechanism structure is now imposed on the people and the Government of Sri Lanka by the donors and the international community on an unholy maneuverings by Norway.
“Asian Tribune” learns that signing of this instrument meant to be used for reconstruction and rehabilitation will take effect very shortly and the country would be taken by surprise at the speed by which P-TOMS comes into operation without any fanfare and advance notices.

Though P-TOMS look innocuous as Jayantha Dhanapala, Secretary General of the Government Peace Secretariat and S.Paramu Tamilselvan, the political head of the Tamil rebels’ organization have explained.

Both of them explained that P-TOMS is only a mechanism aimed at planning to share US $3.0 billion aid given by the foreign donors’ with the Tamil Tigers and the Sri Lanka Government to work out ways and means to rehabilitate and resettle millions in the country who are affected by the tsunami.
Earlier, the same interpretation was given when Ranil Wickremasinghe and V.Prabaharan when they signed the cessation of hostilities agreement in other words the Ceasefire Agreement.
Now it becomes clear that though CFA was signed, though the sophisticated weapons remain silence except for the pistols, but it has virtually divided the nation into two separate states and the clauses in the agreement has gradually put the cleared areas such as Jaffna peninsula, Vavuniya, Trincomalee and Batticaloa almost under the control of the Tamil rebels.

Though Government claims that Jaffna is a cleared area and under the control of the Sri Lankan armed forces, but CFA has surrendered Jaffna to clutches of the LTTE and nothing can move without the permission of the so called LTTE political Viceroy who is in charge of the political office in Jaffna.

Even Sri Lankan Government Ministers were unable to enter Jaffna district despite of all those Sri Lanka Armed Forces providing security shield and the of those sophisticated weapons they carry.
Recently when the Government Ministers visited Jaffna they were pelted with stones and splashed with water mixed with feces.

Tamil rebels who were unable to recapture the Jaffna Peninsula were able to take over the district through their Norway connection and with their superior diplomatic maneuverings.
Similarly it is learnt that the PTOMS would provide them with a legitimate opportunity to take part in the rehabilitation and reconstruction activities within 200 meters coastal belt of the tsunami affected North and Eastern province thus giving the necessary foothold they needed and to be in control of the coastal belt which is nearly two third portion of Sri Lanka thus giving them the most sought opportunity to challenge the Sri Lankan Navy as well as Sri Lanka’s suzerainty over territorial waters of the country.

Providing an opportunity to set their feet in the 200 meter coastal belt of Sri Lanka, especially in the North and East, it might grow into a major threat in the days to come even to the security of Sri Lanka’s neighboring country - India, especially Tamil Nadu where already separatist forces are at work in a small scale, but expected to grow when the control of the Sri Lankam international waters falls into the hands of the Tigers.

Though P-TOMS is a wanted and a necessary mechanism to restore and rebuild the tsunami affected regions with aid money provided by the foreign donors, but it is time that Government has to take a fresh look at its proposal to see whether they have the necessary precautionary inbuilt clauses in their mechanism and must also consult with Indian counterparts before coming forward with a mechanism where threats and challenges undoubtedly lurks.

- Asian Tribune -

These days police our out and about trying to catch their quota of drink drivers. It’s great, they keep the streets safe and accidents at a low rate, but do they go over the limit ?

It’s fine getting caught when you are over the limit, not that I like to get caught, but what is the limit ? 1 beer ? what is one beer ? A pint, a big bottle, a small bottle, what is the exact definition ? 1 shot, is it a 25ml, a 50ml or a 100ml ?

These questions are on many of our minds and as we are unsure of this, so are most of the police.

With them being given this quota system, police have sort of become a treat to innocent drivers. Many times I’ve been stopped, when I haven’t been drinking, and those around me have or when my vehicle was smelling of those who I had just dropped before, or maybe if I had had one small draught beer. It’s fine being stopped as many are, but when they hassle you, that’s the worst. Most times, I’m willing to take the breathalyzer as they say, I know your drunk or have had too many to drink, when I know I clearly haven’t but the amount they keep going on about it makes you just want to do the breathalyzer.

But when you suddenly agree to go with them, then a bit of panic strikes them, as if they are wrong, they waste a Rs.2000 breathalyzer and I guess they are penalised for it ? What happens then is they tell you the trouble you would have to go through, like you might have to spend the night I jail(yes of course), will have to go to court, it will be a long process, the officer I charge may not come tomorrow so you may have to stay an additional day(rubbish) and so on but do you know what they are leading upto ? A bribe ?

I must admit I know many of us who have given and many of them who have asked or just taken. Is this fine ? What’s the point of having police on the road then ?

The reason why this is a good deal for them is, if they catch a person, they are given a commission as I have heard, but to get that there is a lot of paperwork. But if you give the bribe they get the commission in one shot and no paperwork.

This idea of having commissions for police is ridiculous. They are not running a shop ? Of course they do deserve rewards but this scheme causes them to indirectly harass innocent drivers.

Let’s think about this and please comment, there should be away for them to be rewarded but at the same time punish those who break the law. I have a lot of friends who are in the police I too have told them about these but it’s just normal.

If I’m wrong, it’s fine take me to jail, but if there is no definition of limits, right or wrong, what do I do then ?

I look forward to your comments

Jith

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(c) 2005 LankaBuzz

Can the sweeping powers of a VISA officer decide the

future of Sri Lankan scientific programs?

- Dr. Thrishantha Nanayakkara

I believe many Sri Lankans have already read about the

mobile robot MURALI (Moratuwa University Robot for Anti-Landmine Intelligence) that was developed by the local researchers to detect landmines. It was a dream of my research group who developed the mobile robot MURALI to present the work in the world’s largest robotics conference known as the IEEE International Conference of Robotics and Automation (ICRA). It is a dream of any researcher in the field of robotics to attend to this conference, because there one gets the opportunity to meet all the leaders in the field and to start strong scientific collaborations with researchers sharing similar interests.

My research paper that I submitted jointly with some

other scientists in the Robotics Institute of the

Carnegie Mellon University, USA, which is a leader in

robotics in the world, was accepted to be presented at

the ICRA2005 conference held in Barcelona Spain from

18th - 22nd April, 2005. While I was a graduate

student, I presented research papers in over twenty international conferences. But this time it was different due to two reasons. One was that this time I represent my own country as a senior lecturer of a State University, and present something that was done on Sri Lankan soil. The other was that I was supposed to present an advanced robotics application in a real world application of faster and safer landmine detection to change the lives of many those who suffer in the North and the East of my country.

The National Science Foundation of Sri Lanka that

funded the research project extended their support by allocating funds to cover my travel to Barcelona. The University of Moratuwa granted me leave and allocated funds to support the conference registration fees. I reserved air-tickets and lodging in Barcelona. It was only a matter of securing Schengen VISA to fly to Barcelona, Spain. I called the Spanish high commission to see how I can proceed with the VISA application. They recommended me to go through the French embassy because that should logically be the easiest way since the French embassy issues Schengen VISA for France, Spain, and Portugal, whereas, the Spanish high commission has to send my passport to India to get the VISA issued. Therefore, I had to go through the French embassy. I had all the documents required such as the invitation letters from the conference organizers, letters from the University approving my visit, travel insurance, bank statements, hotel reservation documents, and the fund approval letters from the National Science Foundation of Sri Lanka to attend the conference. While in Japan and the US as a graduate student and a postdoctoral research fellow, securing VISA to attend international conferences was not an issue to worry about, because the officers in those embassies are well educated about the importance of such visits. But I knew that while in Sri Lanka, the case could be different because different embassies treat brown people in different ways due to the ignorance of the VISA officers who are employed in some embassies in Asian countries. But the following story showed me that the process is more than a tough process but one that can end up in a nightmare ruining your future.

I started the process of applying for VISA a little

more than one month before I was supposed to leave.

Once I went to the French embassy located in the

Rosmeid Place around 7 o’clock in the morning. The

line was already full. I was told that only fifteen applications are taken everyday. To get into that first fifteen, people have to come early in the morning and wait till 9.30 in the morning. Therefore, the first day was not for me. It reminded me how fair the American embassy was. People could submit applications on arrival and they were issued numbers so that everybody gets an opportunity to submit their applications well ahead in advance.Â

Next day, I came at 4 o’clock in the morning. Somebody

in the line said the first fifteen are already there.

This time, I decided to wait till the first fifteen

are taken. Around 7 o’clock in the morning the real

applicants started to arrive. Most of those who were

in the line were a gang that organized to reserve the

place at a fee. Being a researcher in a Government

University, I did not feel like paying them to keep a

place for me. Instead, I suggested an officer in the

embassy to issue numbers to those who were in the line

with a legitimate passport. This was not an original

idea. That was my experience in the American Embassy.

People are not harassed, and the whole process looked

far more civilized. Obviously, I had little time to

waste in such lines. Waking up in the mid-night and

driving to the embassy just to wait in a line of only

fifteen to submit the VISA application form at 9.30 in

the morning was an utter waste of time. Yet, the

officer reminded me that French do not listen to what

Sri Lankans suggest. But I never wanted to argue. I

just made a suggestion a solution to some apparent

problem that was the normal practice in the daily life

of many of the civilized countries I have been to.Â

While I was in the embassy, some Europeans came to get

some other work done. There was a sharp difference

between the way the officers in the embassy treated

and talked to them compared to how I was treated.

There was a great sense of respect and gentleness in

the conversation. It quickly explained me many things.

The officers had a racist, discriminative attitude

towards Sri Lankans. No matter how busy the Sri

Lankans maybe, they did not seem to care about the

pain and their time. They just let them waiting in the

line in the hot sun when they could think of a better

system. For the officers, those Sri Lankans waiting in

the hot sun were no different to the slaves in their

colonies. Yet, nobody dared to speak due to the

extreme powers the VISA office had to decide one’s

future. The bad track record of the French embassy

escalated the fear and suspicion that they would abuse

their sweeping powers to discriminate people.

Consequently, I had to try this painful waiting game

three times. On the third day, an officer told us that

he would issue numbers the next day, and that he would

come at 9 o’clock and make sure people get the due

opportunity. On the fourth day, we decided to come as

early as possible in the morning. Now I had few

friends who faced the same agony several times. We

waited in the line. This time, I was within the first

17 people. The officer who promised to come at 9

o’clock, never turned up. No numbers were issued to

the people in the line. He had lied us. Anyway, I was

taken in around 10 o’clock in the morning and

interviewed. The VISA office was very different from

the ones I had seen before. Somebody interviewed me

while chatting with about four people who seemed to

have paid casual visits to the room. They were just

chatting, laughing, and walking around. I was

wondering how a VISA officer could concentrate in such

an environment. One of them took my passport from the

table and browsed through the pages and told something

in French to others that made all of them laugh. Then,

one asked me whether I had really visited US and

Japan. It was not a question to be asked because my

student VISA was on the passport. Then, the only

person who seemed to be official asked me what the

conference was. Then I answered that it is the

International Conference of Robotics and Automation

2005. Then she asked me what I was going to present. I

said it is about a mobile robot that can walk in a

field of landmines to detect them. People in the room

treated me with a sarcastic look, as if they did not

believe that Sri Lankans could do such research

especially while working in Sri Lanka. Once again,

somebody said something in French. Everybody laughed.

I was the subject of a big joke. I must compare this

situation with the graceful interviews in the American

and Japanese embassies that I have experienced. In

those embassies, only one officer interviews you in a

much focused conversation. You are never laughed at.

The whole environment looks far more civilized. Then,

she asked me whether there is any relevance of my

presentation in this conference. I thought it was

obvious, because the conference had decided to include

my paper in the list of presentations. But I patiently explained the relevance of my work to this conference to this senseless lady. I was asked to submit few missing documents like detailed bank statements for the last three months by 12.30 on the following Monday (11th, April). In the guidelines for VISA applicants, it mentions about documents to prove assets in Sri Lanka. It is only in the interview I was told that I am required to submit detailed bank statements for three months. My documents of land deeds were not what French meant by assets. However, I made sure to submit these documents before the deadline. I was asked to come to collect my passport on the 13th of April. I had purchased tickets to leave on 15th of April. By this time, I had spent more than a month collecting documents and waiting in the world’s most amazing line to get within the first fifteen. My head of department in the University knows the nightmare I underwent, because I had to cancel lectures, meetings, and other official duties many times during this month. However, that is what any researcher had to face if he/she decided to return back to Sri Lanka to contribute to the country’s image in the world of science. I am aware that the Sri Lankan authorities are doing their best to change this situation.

On 13th April, I went to the French embassy to find

that my VISA had been rejected. Amidst all

international recognition of the work we had done,

amidst all official documents from the University and

the National Science Foundation, amidst all invitation

letters that quoted web-sites where my name was

displayed among the list of invitees, a racist VISA

officer could block the massive opportunity for our

country and my career. If one wishes to check, please

visit the web-site: www.icra2005.org

I asked for the reason why they did not allow me to

attend the conference. They refused to explain the

reason why my VISA was rejected despite my submission

of all those official documents. Now what happens to

all those plans to start new collaborations? What

happens to all those opportunities to build new

contacts and bring credibility to my country? I was

clueless. I called the Dean of the faculty of

Engineering, University of Moratuwa to seek help. As

usual, he responded quickly. The best he could do was

to make a request from the consulate general to

educate us as to what was wrong in the application, so

that we can try again. He had told the consulate

general that this conference is of utmost importance

to the scientific research program in the University.

Yet, the consulate general had refused to give the

reason.Â

The end result of this whole affair of returning to

Sri Lanka, carrying out some relevant research,

achieving results amidst hardships, getting research

papers accepted in recognized international

conferences, and securing state sponsorship to attend

the conference, was finding myself at a dead end

decided by a VISA officer who does not give a reason

for rejecting my VISA. If there is nobody in this

country who can at least get me the reason why my VISA

was rejected, does that mean that the most important

decision regarding our scientific programs can be

taken by some racist VISA officer? Who is going to pay compensation for the damage they caused to the value of my passport without giving any reason why they did it? Do I have to bear that for trying to work for the country?

Against this racist discriminations and harassments to

local scientists who go abroad to popularize local

inventions, what can we do? Can we trust the famous international human rights organizations to stand by us? Never! Yet, there are few things that we can do in a peaceful but powerful framework.

First, all scientists in Sri Lanka, let us make this a

point to make a new-year resolution to get together to

achieve our common dream of making our beautiful, warm

country, a prosperous country, by venturing more into

advanced research projects that can make a tangible

difference in the economy. We should understand that

most foreigners will like us to stay dependant, export

raw material and slaves, while buying their finished

products. Donors will give us fish but never a fishing

rod that will make us independent. They know that the

way out from this vicious cycle for countries like

ours is local research and development that was

vibrant in the pre-colonial era. Few civilized

countries will support it, but this experience is good

evidence that there are foreigners who will use their

extreme powers at the point of issuing VISA to block

such advancements in a systematic manner.Â

Second, our Sri Lankan authorities should try their

best to support Sri Lankan researchers to organize international research conferences in Sri Lanka, so that our researchers do not have to face harassments from racist embassies. The purpose of hosting more international scientific conferences in Sri Lanka is only to provide enhanced opportunities for local researchers to get an opportunity to mix with other researchers. An example is the International Conference of Information and Automation ( www.icia2005.mrt.ac.lk ) I am organizing together with the IEEE Sri Lanka section to be held in Sri Lanka in December, 2005. Amidst all the enthusiasm shown by the Sri Lankan researchers, I am yet to secure a decent sponsorship to host the conference in Sri Lanka. The Ministries that have a mandate to foster scientific advancement in the country should pay serious attention to supporting this kind of efforts.

Third, we can stimulate a phenomenal rate of regional

growth if South Asian researchers come together around

common goals. Through a scientific forum like a future

“SAARC forum for regional scientific cooperation”, we

could exchange scientific ideas, collaborate, organize

regional scientific conferences, and work together to

realize common regional dreams. My colleagues in India

used to say that the recent scientific advancements in

the region has at least made sure that the future

colonialists will think twice before attacking the

peace loving people in South Asia. There are many

common causes around which we can get together, an

elaboration of which is beyond the focus of this

article. If the region revives its innovative culture

lost during the colonial suppression, our scientists

will not have to face any racist discrimination like

what I faced at the French Embassy in Sri Lanka.

Therefore, I request the foreign ministry to start a

dialogue with the SAARC countries to start such a

forum. If any of the Excellencies in the SAARC foreign

missions reads this article, I humbly request you to

take the initiative through your respective

Governments.

Finally, I wish to emphasize that I have no intention

to disgrace the people in France or the Government of

France. I just wanted to raise a voice against

apparent abusing of power at the point of issuing VISA

to impede the advancement of local research projects.

Had the embassy have the slightest desire to help Sri

Lanka’s scientific advancement, they had ample

evidence to check the validity of my application,

advice me as to the chances of being rejected before

stamping VISA refusal stamp on my passport, because

the University and the National Science Foundation,

having gone through the relevant documents carefully,

had issued me letters recommending the VISA office to

issue me VISA. I just have a remote hope that the

supreme Sri Lankan authorities will at least make an

effort to get me a clarification as to why my VISA

application was rejected. I hope I have the right to

know that. I hope somebody will do it in the name of

Sri Lankan science.

- Dr. Thrishantha Nanayakkara

send a petition to

Jean-Bernard De Vaivre

Ambassador of France

Embassy of France

89 Rosmead Place

Colombo 7

Sri Lanka

DR TUN MAHATHIR BEN MOHAMAD, FORMER PRIME MINISTER OF MALAYSIA’S SPEECH DELIVERED BY HIM ON 26/5/2005 AT THE BUSINESS FORUM HELD AT THE CONTINENTAL HOTEL

The Hon. Anura Bandaranaike M.P, Minister of Industry,Tourism & Investment Promotion, the Hon,. Minister of Finance, Mr Saliya Wickramasuriya, Mr Keith Perera, Hon. Ministers, Ladies & Gentlemen,

Thank you very much for the kind remarks about my person. I have been asked to talk about “Beyond Existing Frontiers”. Now I would not really know about the frontiers of Sri Lanka but I am much more familiar with the frontiers of Malaysia. Actually, Malaysia started off as a nation and their people with an inferiority complex. We were under colonial rule or under foreign influence or hegemony for 450 years. The Portuguese conquered Malaica in 1511 and after the Portuguese came, the Dutch and then the British and throughout this period we sanked lower and lower in our own estimation. We believe that there was nothing we could do. We believed that only the Europeans could rule our country, that we have no capacity to rule our own country far less to developing and we gained independence in 1957, this mind-set was still there that we would not be able to achieve what the former colonial masters had achieved. We could not better them but the first leaders of Malaysia Tuk Raman Razak, they felt that in order to justify our demand for independence we must give the people something that we can be proud of. We must demonstrate the independents government must demonstrate to the people that we can do better than the colonial masters. That was easy to say but is not easy to convince people that they can do better than their former Colonial Masters and so we set out to convince them, we set out to reassure them that they can do what others can do and probably do better than the others. For a long time we looked at Europe as a motto. Now Europe has been developed over a long period of time. Their early days of development was 200 years over 200 years old. 200 years ago they began their development towards a developed country status. They have forgotten the difficulties that they faced. We could not learn much from them simply because they keep on saying ‘why can’t you do this, why can’t you do this the way we do. They have forgotten how difficult it was for them to reach their present state and so we decided not to look only at Europe but to look East. Because in the East after the second world war we see a number of countries which have literally pooled themselves up by their good strengths. They have been able to develop their country, to acquire technology and industrial capacities that over a short period of time exceeded those of Europe and these countries were Japan and South Korea. Japan grew by libs and bounds after the destruction of their country during world war two including two atom bombs dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Korea on the other hand, was occupied by the Japanese for a long period of time and the peoples’ confidence in themselves was also destroyed. Yet, we see first Japan recovering and beating actually the skills and the technologies of the European countries and of America. Very quickly Japan became the second biggest economic power in the world

At first of course there was a lot of doubt about Japanese products because before the war Japanese products were regarded as very inferior, very cheap but very inferior and not long lasting. But after the war the Japanese adopted a different approach towards their industries. They were determined to produce products which are better and best in the world. I remember reading about the first Japanese cars which were exported to America. The Americans insisted that before they could sell Japanese cars in America they must set up numerous service stations and repair stations, repair work shops because the Americans were convinced that Japanese cars would break-down every now and again but then suddenly the Americans realized that those workshops were no use at all because of the high quality of Japanese cars. After that Japanese cars and Japanese products began to be accepted as not only good products but bench marking world class. Then came the Koreans and indeed Time Magazine once again were alarmed, when he reported ‘here comes the Koreans’. Again they see a new country in the east being able to acquire the skills, the technology and the knowledge of the advanced countries of the west and to master them to the point where they could compete with the European countries and with America. Today we know how far they have developed. Today they are no longer people who copy the technologies of the west, they are actually people who innovate and invent new products based on their own understanding of modern technology. Today it is common for us to use NTT telephones or to use Samsung telephones names which before were unknown and of course there are many other products which come out of Japan and come out of Korea which are accepted as world standard. Why have Japan and Korea achieved this. It is because they took to challenge to challenge their own perception, their own estimation of things. They think they decided that they could do what others could do and they set out to learn, to acquire technology, to improve on them and over time, they succeeded. Now this is what we learn from Japan and Korea. Under a policy which will call look East we have been looking west for a long time, we decided to look east. To see Japan and Korea and even Taiwan and what we learn from them is that if you really apply yourselves seriously to doing anything you can master it as the Japanese and the Koreans mastered all the skills of the West. Once we realize that we too can learn we too can adopt their approach one can say almost that half the battle was won. So Malaysia decided to look east to learn from the Japanese not so much the technology of the Japanese but the work ethics of the Japanese which is far more important than anything else. The work ethics of the Japanese, the work ethics of the Koreans they really work, apply themselves diligently to whatever that they are doing and they work very hard. You know that if you do anything repeatedly, invariably you develop skills, invariably you master the skills and eventually you would improve on the skills. So we decided that our people should learn assiduously, diligently how to do things. Now Malaysia when it became independent had lot of unemployment. Our problem was to create jobs for our people. Now if we continue with agriculture we will find not enough jobs being created because on an acre of land you can only support one farmer or even less but on one acre of land devoted to industry you can create employment for 500 people. For that reason initially, and for that reason only we decided that the best way to solve our employment problem was to industrialize. But we knew nothing about the industry, we had no technology, we had no capital, we had no management–know-how and we did not know the market so how do we industrialize. At a time when newly independent countries were nationalizing foreign holdings we went in the opposite direction. We decided to invite more foreigners to our country to set up new industries particularly, labour intensive industries because our intention was not to make money for the government, not to collect taxes but instead to get them to come in to start industries which will employ our unemployed people and this policy was so successful that eventually Malaysians had full employment and had actually to bring in foreign workers. Now what that thought asked was, is it possible for the sons and daughters of farmers to learn how to work in assembling plants to do intricate work. to be able to assemble very mining circuits and the like. Obviously our people can do the work that was thought impossible for them that the sons of farmers and fishermen, the daughters of farmers and fishermen could actually manufacture world class products. Now once we realize that the next thing of course was to decide that we should truly industrialize not because we need jobs anymore because all our people were already employed but we wanted to industrialize in order to add more value to our products and to earn more foreign exchange. This of course would and reach our people earning foreign exchange is one way of and reaching our people. We were a small country, our market is far too small, we have to choose the world as our market and remarkably we succeeded. Today for example, Malaysia’s trade is two times the size of its GDP. Now I will be taking into consideration Japan whose trade is huge but still constitutes less than 20% of its GDP. You will understand how trade dependent Malaysia has become because it’s economy is based on trade under export and import of goods and the trade has now reached almost 200 Bn. US$ a year. This has enabled us to move forward but we still need to overcome some league of confidence in our people so we urge them, we encourage them to undertake dangerous and challenging. tasks. We encourage Malaysians to do what most people would not do. From a tropical country we encourage them to climb on Everest. Not many people would climb on Everest come from the tropics usually come from the temp. countries. Malaysia has got no snow, the lowest temperature is 20 degree centigrades but they learn how to climatize themselves to the snows of Mount Everest. They drop by parachute over the North Pole, they sail one man sail alone around the world, one man swam across the English channel and a lady decided to ski 1,100 km from the South Pole to one of the stations in the South Pole. This shows that if you want to do something it can be done but you must put your heart and soul into it so now we have lastly overcome our league of confidence, our inferiority complex and with this confidence we are able to challenge to break the envelopes of this speech. The glass ceiling has been broken many many times because we now have confidence. So if we want to go beyond existing frontiers, I am sure you will appreciate the need to be willing to challenge things, to tell yourself that you can do what you thought before as impossible. With that idea, with that feeling, that confidence Malaysia has prospered greatly. It is all due to hard work and incidentally if I may say so, it is also due to the political stability of Malaysia. Now this is not so easily achieved because in Malaysia we have three different races. We have the Muslim Malays, the Hindu Indians and the Buddhist Chinese. They speak different languages, they have different cultures, they have different value systems and economically they are not evenly developed. To get these three races to work together, to live in relative harmony and to contribute towards the stability of the country, was something of our challenge for us. But, we are fortunate because the leaders the first founding fathers of Malaysia set the pattern of inter-racial co-operation together they had asked for independence from the British so that the British could not use their excuse that if Malaysia became independent then the Malays would oppress the Chinese and the Indians and that attitude of inter-racial co-operation has persisted excepting for 1969 when there were race riots and more than a 100 people died, many shops were burnt, vehicles burnt etc but we learnt, we learnt from that incident that the race riots was due to economic disparities between the races and so we launched a new economic policy and affirmative action policy to equalize or to reduce the disparities in the economic wealth of the different races. Initially, all the shops in the towns and the buildings in the towns belonging to the Chinese, so in 1969 when there were riots the Malays went into the towns and started burning the buildings and the vehicles there, knowing that they belonging to the Chinese but the new Economic Policies has enabled the Malays and the Indians to have valuable buildings in the towns and to own vehicles including luxury vehicles. Today if there are race riots and the Malays go into the towns to burn the buildings or to burn the vehicles, they may be burning vehicles belonging to their own race. So, that is a deterrent against their running amok in the towns. But then of course there are very many things that we have to do in order to break through the barriers, the barriers the mental barriers and the other barriers which were erected during the colonial days. Today most of the barriers are down. Today our barriers are outside the country. Now we have to face challenges from abroad. We have to understand what globalization is about and we have to formulate strategies in order to overcome the challenges. Countries which have the same background I believe, can work together so that we can prosper together because one of the slogans that we have adopted in Malaysia is to prosper thy neighbour not beggar thy neighbour but to prosper thy neighbour because we have found that when neighbours face a lot of trouble invariably the trouble spills over into our country. This happened when Vietnam was facing a lot of problems after the defeat of the Americans, a lot of their people ran away and their stop over was Malaysia. Many were resettled in third countries but some would not be accepted by any country. Some 10,000 of them were not acceptable to any country, we could not find jobs for them, we could not send them back so what we did was to work with Vietnam in order to prosper it and today because Vietnam is one of the fastest growing country in South East Asia and is relatively prosperous, all those refugees who had stopped over in Malaysia have now returned to Vietnam It is quite clear that when you prosper your neighbour you solve your problem and beyond that because Vietnam is prosperous it is now a good market for the products of Malaysia, so prospering your neighbour is a good policy and I hope that this kind of understanding will also develop within Sri Lanka, a friend of many centuries and Malaysia. We have very many things in common and quite a few Sri Lankans live in Malaysia, they are Malaysians now of course, and I think if we decide to work together closely we can really go beyond Existing Frontiers.

I thank you

John Pilger
Monday 21st February 2005

In our schools, children learn that the US fought the Vietnam war against a “communist threat” to “us”. Is it any wonder that so many don’t understand the truth about Iraq? By John Pilger

How does thought control work in societies that call themselves free? Why are famous journalists so eager, almost as a reflex, to minimise the culpability of a prime minister who shares responsibility for the unprovoked attack on a defenceless people, for laying waste to their land and for killing at least 100,000 people, most of them civilians, having sought to justify this epic crime with demonstrable lies? What made the BBC’s Mark Mardell describe the invasion of Iraq as “a vindication for him”? Why have broadcasters never associated the British or American state with terrorism? Why have such privileged communicators, with unlimited access to the facts, lined up to describe an unobserved, unverified, illegitimate, cynically manipulated election, held under a brutal occupation, as “democratic”, with the pristine aim of being “free and fair”? That quotation belongs to Helen Boaden, the director of BBC News.

Have she and the others read no history? Or is the history they know, or choose to know, subject to such amnesia and omission that it produces a world-view as seen only through a one-way moral mirror? There is no suggestion of conspiracy. This one-way mirror ensures that most of humanity is regarded in terms of its usefulness to “us”, its desirability or expendability, its worthiness or unworthiness: for example, the notion of “good” Kurds in Iraq and “bad” Kurds in Turkey. The unerring assumption is that “we” in the dominant west have moral standards superior to “theirs”. One of “their” dictators (often a former client of ours, such as Saddam Hussein) kills thousands of people and he is declared a monster, a second Hitler. When one of our leaders does the same he is viewed, at worst, like Blair, in Shakespearean terms. Those who kill people with car bombs are “terrorists”; those who kill far more people with cluster bombs are the noble occupants of a “quagmire”.

Historical amnesia can spread quickly. Only ten years after the Vietnam war, which I reported, an opinion poll in the United States found that a third of Americans could not remember which side their government had supported. This demonstrated the insidious power of the dominant propaganda, that the war was essentially a conflict of “good” Vietnamese against “bad” Vietnamese, in which the Americans became “involved”, bringing democracy to the people of southern Vietnam faced with a “communist threat”. Such a false and dishonest assumption permeated the media coverage, with honourable exceptions. The truth is that the longest war of the 20th century was a war waged against Vietnam, north and south, communist and non-communist, by America. It was an unprovoked invasion of the people’s homeland and their lives, just like the invasion of Iraq. Amnesia ensures that, while the relatively few deaths of the invaders are constantly acknowledged, the deaths of up to five million Vietnamese are consigned to oblivion.

What are the roots of this? Certainly, “popular culture”, especially Hollywood movies, can decide what and how little we remember. Selective education at a tender age performs the same task. I have been sent a widely used revision guide for GCSE modern world history, on Vietnam and the cold war. This is learned by 14- to-16-year-olds in our schools. It informs their understanding of a pivotal period in history, which must influence how they make sense of today’s news from Iraq and elsewhere.

It is shocking. It says that under the 1954 Geneva Accord: “Vietnam was partitioned into communist north and democratic south.” In one sentence, truth is despatched. The final declaration of the Geneva conference divided Vietnam “temporarily” until free national elections were held on 26 July 1956. There was little doubt that Ho Chi Minh would win and form Vietnam’s first democratically elected government. Certainly, President Eisenhower was in no doubt of this. “I have never talked with a person knowledgeable in Indo-Chinese affairs,” he wrote, “who did not agree that . . . 80 per cent of the population would have voted for the communist Ho Chi Minh as their leader.”

Not only did the United States refuse to allow the UN to administer the agreed elections two years later, but the “democratic” regime in the south was an invention. One of the inventors, the CIA official Ralph McGehee, describes in his masterly book Deadly Deceits how a brutal expatriate mandarin, Ngo Dinh Diem, was imported from New Jersey to be “president” and a fake government was put in place. “The CIA,” he wrote, “was ordered to sustain that illusion through propaganda [placed in the media].”

Phoney elections were arranged, hailed in the west as “free and fair”, with American officials fabricating “an 83 per cent turnout despite Vietcong terror”. The GCSE guide alludes to none of this, nor that “the terrorists”, whom the Americans called the Vietcong, were also southern Vietnamese defending their homeland against the American invasion and whose resistance was popular. For Vietnam, read Iraq.

The tone of this tract is from the point of view of “us”. There is no sense that a national liberation movement existed in Vietnam, merely “a communist threat”, merely the propaganda that “the USA was terrified that many other countries might become communist and help the USSR - they didn’t want to be outnumbered”, merely that President Lyndon B Johnson “was determined to keep South Vietnam communist-free” (emphasis as in the original). This proceeds quickly to the Tet Offensive of 1968, which “ended in the loss of thousands of American lives - 14,000 in 1969 - most were young men”. There is no mention of the millions of Vietnamese lives also lost in the offensive. And America merely began “a bombing campaign”: there is no mention of the greatest tonnage of bombs dropped in the history of warfare, of a military strategy that was deliberately designed to force millions of people to abandon their homes, and of chemicals used in a manner that profoundly changed the environment and the genetic order, leaving a once-bountiful land all but ruined.

This guide is from a private publisher, but its bias and omissions reflect that of the official syllabuses, such as the syllabus from Oxford and Cambridge, whose cold war section refers to Soviet “expansionism” and the “spread” of communism; there is not a word about the “spread” of rapacious America. One of its “key questions” is: “How effectively did the USA contain the spread of communism?” Good versus evil for untutored minds.

“Phew, loads for you to learn here . . .” say the authors of the revision guide, “so get it learned right now.” Phew, the British empire did not happen; there is nothing about the atrocious colonial wars that were models for the successor power, America, in Indonesia, Vietnam, Chile, El Salvador, Nicaragua, to name but a few along modern history’s imperial trail of blood of which Iraq is the latest.

And now Iran? The drumbeat has already begun. How many more innocent people have to die before those who filter the past and the present wake up to their moral responsibility to protect our memory and the lives of human beings?

This article first appeared in the New Statesman. For the latest in current and cultural affairs subscribe to the New Statesman print edition.

Email: Editor - New Statesman letters@newstatesman.co.uk