I have mused on the subject of gentlemen before. To the male of the species, this endlessly fascinating topic has more aspects to it than one, work being rather important.What one does plays a a role in defining ones place in society and as far as gentlemen are concerned the less work the better. You see, a gentleman is a ...
Growth does not depend on resources, it depends on policy and governance. Many countries rich in natural resources from Nigeria, to the Congo to Angola remain poor because of bad governance.The African continent seem to teem with ill-governed countries so it may come as surprise to learn that a country that seemed a basket case in 1994 is now progressing ...
Changing Perspectives has written something on political dynasties.This is my response:There was a 'ruling class' that used to dominate parliament, the judiciary, the civil service, the church, industry and other institutions in the UK. This was not a family but a section of society- a class. In Britain, the influence of that class has declined steadily since 1945 and for ...
Dino had written a post on this. My view is that the US attitude to, and involvement in, Latin America was dictated in part by the Monroe Doctrine. The perceived involvement of the USSR in affairs there drove US policy and interference. Sri Lanka is small, distant and has little strategic value unless the Chinese are indeed pursuing a "ring ...
Racism, which breeds on ignorance and fear, seems to be spreading with a rapidity that is leaving ordinary citizens bewildered and overwhelmed. In incident after incident, the authorities stand idle, while the hatred breeds further hatred. The poison is everywhere and seems to be rising towards a horrible crescendo. Fighting seems an almost impossible task, the hydra keeps growing new ...
Two Provincial council elections are around the corner and voters have a choice of actresses, singers and other sundry characters, mostly unsavoury to choose from. I am wondering if it is even worth voting at all.Should there be some sort of qualifying criteria for politicians? The problem with electoral democracy is that such a thing is not possible; it would ...
It appears that the Treasury believes in long term planning, which is not necessarily a bad thing. Speaking at a press briefing P B Jayasundera said "Under the first economic policy manifesto, called Mahinda Chintana, of President Mahinda Rajapaksa covering the period 2006 to 2010 we have doubled per capita income from around US$ 1,000 to US$ 2,400. Under his ...
There have been a number of articles on the urban redevelopment that is taking place at break-neck speed in Colombo. Many of these have focused on the human aspects: the plight of evicted residents, the loss of a certain way of life or the change in the character of the city.There are many positive things that can come from urban ...
Now look, you are supposed to be trying to sell your stupid guest house/bungalow/hotel, right?Why can't you have a website with your contact numbers? Surely you know that there are no telephone directories around now, how are people to know how to contact you? If you don't want to spend money, have a blog site, its free. Ok, you are ...
In a far off country a vegetable vendor, an unemployed university graduate, frustrated that the police would not allow him to trade set himself ablaze and unwittingly set off a chain of events that rocked the Near East.There have been subterranean rumblings for a while. The mysterious phenomenon of the 'Grease Yaka' seems to capture the tone of many incidents, ...
How many people bother to pick up and read a newspaper nowadays? I used to be an avid reader of the local press but my interest has waned in the last year or so.The problem is that there is very little that is in any way challenging or interesting. Even when a decent story emerges coverage tends to be superficial.I ...
The streets, pavements and parks of the capital are being repaired and refurbished. Colourful stones line the pavements, walls around old buildings have been broken down and the roads have been resurfaced.It must be said that much of the work is good. Some trees were felled unnecessarily and the size of some of the new pavements is a problem-roads that ...
The parallels between Sri Lanka and Burma mean that it is worth monitoring the developments there closely, to see what it leads to. The latest HRW report on the violence lays the blame squarely on the state. The violence was precluded by an organised campaign of hate:"For months, local Arakanese political party officials and senior Buddhist monks publicly vilified the ...
A friend of mine was narrating a rather amusing story today. It concerned his father and of an incident that took place in the early 1980's.My friend's grandmother was living alone at the time in her house in Angoda. As there were no telephones in the immediate vicinity and no way of calling for assistance my friend's father would sleep ...
It is almost four years since the fighting ended in May 2009, perhaps it is a good time to pause and to ask if the country is headed in the right direction.The future is never easy to foretell, but reflecting on recent events should tell us if the path ahead is rocky.On the Governance front In October 2010 we had ...
Radhika Coomaraswamy has written an excellent piece that should be read and digested by all Tamils, particularly the politicians and the diaspora. Unfortunately this has been misunderstood by many. Even more thoughtful commentors such as Charles Sarvan still view the argument from an academic or legal perspective- the very thing that Miss Coomaraswamy argues against.What is necessary is an assessment ...
Well, not yet, but soon. Very soon.The stars foretell it.In the boundless wisdom of the rulers, the clocks were set back by half an hour, at the auspicious time of 06.42am on the 15th of April 2006.Now we reap the benefit, the darkness will engulf us soon.
It is often remarked that the local media lacks something in terms of critical analysis. What nonsense!; is the reply, just see the stories in the Sunday Leader on Srilankan Airlines or the Sunday Times lead on the investment in Greek bonds by Sri Lanka's Central Bank.There is definitely still criticism but it is distinctly more muted than before, nothing ...
A friend of mine returned from a holiday in Malaysia with some sweets from Malacca that were called 'Dodol'.They were absolutely delicious and were similar to Kalu Dodol. The colour was slightly paler and the texture much stickier, it was like pulling on chewy toffee, a very pleasant mouthfeel, in the technical nomenclature of a chef.There were apparently several flavours, ...
I like travelling around the country and have organised many a journey with my friends. When planning a journey of more than two or three hours, there is one golden rule I think should always be followed: leave the city early.This is something that I learned first from my grandfather's travel arrangements, he would have departed a long time before ...
