Rulers and resources

The rulers of a country would be expected to rule for the benefit of its people. Whether this happens or not is largely dependent on how far the rulers are held accountable.

The degree of accountability is dependent on the amount of information available to the public, the extent of the separation of powers (between legislature, executive and judiciary), the independence of its civil administration and the ability of the public to boot out bad rulers.

In a nutshell, how good a ruler is depends on how far he can be held in check, without proper control the ruler is likely to give into the temptation to enrich himself and his close associates rather than the population at large.

People used to think that wealth was dependent on resources. If one is lucky enough to be born in a resource rich nation, Australia for example, the original 'Lucky Country', then its people would prosper. Experience has taught us that unless a resource rich country has proper systems of governance its resources are likely to turn out to be a curse rather than a blessing; Nigeria, the Congo and Angola are examples of nations that have suffered the curse of natural resources.

All this is well known, but lets examine the plight of budding despot in a resource poor country. What is available for plunder?

The most obvious target is the treasury. Whatever taxes are collected from the people can be diverted to his own bank accounts. Even in poor countries this can amount to a fairly sizable sum, but this alone is unlikely to satisfy.

Looting funds received from aid agencies is possible but it is not easy because there is some attempt to assess the effectiveness of projects and nosy NGO workers asking too many questions are such a pain.

Far better then to borrow, either straightforward commercial loans or subsidised project finance, ostensibly for building infrastructure but divert the funds to the coffers of the ruler. With no particular obligation to account for the money other than repay it on time, this is an easier path to follow. Every so often debt default can be arranged, Argentina, Turkey and Russia have done so at various times which makes this even more lucrative in the long term. Ruling however is an expensive business and not even this will satiate appetites in the long term.

Once all these paths are exhausted the ruler is left with only one further option: land. Land has value and some poor countries have vast extents of it, but unlike other natural resources that can be exported to markets abroad land cannot be moved. Its value is dependent on what a developer can earn through its exploitation. Land can easily be expropriated and productive farmland or developed industrial land is a good place to start, but these will be quickly exhausted, which leaves only undeveloped land. This can also be exploited, but there is a catch.

Certain pieces of land, a location for a good harbour or airport, may derive a part of its value from its use to international trade but by and large it is the strength of the domestic economy or market that will determine the value of land, which is in turn dependent on the quality of governance. Also if the dictator has already expropriated farmland or industrial land, this is likely to give potential buyers pause for thought.

The colonial government in Hong Kong was able to balance its budget for years by selling off bits of bare land every so often to developers. Thanks to sound economic prospects, developers were quite willing to pay good prices for land. To an extent this happened in Singapore as well.

Therefore any ruler salivating at the prospect of getting rich through the sale of land would be advised to think again. The land will fetch some value but to command a premium, potential developers need to see some realistic prospect of recovering their investment, which is good news for its people, provided the despot understands the issue addresses the fundamental economic questions. Those who don't may well end up building another Burj Khalifa (Dubai, pictured above) a half mile high 'ghost' building, with many empty floors.

As for the ruled, its the governance, not the resources that count in the long run.

America's flawed democracy

I no longer spend any length of time attempting to analyse US policy. Not that there are no knotty issues: there are plenty from the high cost of healthcare, to gun control to Israel.

The issue is that it is impossible to hope for any kind of sensible action, the politicians being held hostage to various special interest groups. It is impossible to hope for proper reform of healthcare without reforming the tort laws, under which ridiculous levels of punitive damages are awarded. Medical malpractice is a favourite area, giving rise to the spectacle of ambulance chasers, lawyers who follow victims and persuade them to sue heavily in return for a share of the spoils.

My cousin is a doctor who practises in California. She pays a third of her salary as medical malpractice insurance, to ensure she is not driven bankrupt by an ambulance chaser. All doctors do this and the cost of the insurance eventually finds its way into the medical bills of patients by way of higher doctors fees.

This is just one aspect, there is a lot more but serves to illustrate the nature of the problem.

America's problems of terrorism and its alienation from the Muslim world are at least partly due to its support of Israel. Solving the problems in Palestine will go a long way easing the visceral dislike that the US tends to invoke amongst ordinary Muslims, which serves as a lightning rod for extremists. Can this ever be solved? No, as long as a minority, the Jewish lobby, controls the discussion, via influence wielded over the politicians.

The same sorry story is repeated ion the area of gun laws. The majority will support a tightening of laws but this is stymied by the power of the NRA, which is a minority.

Thus democracy in the US is not so much about the will of the people as the will of the lobby group, which often represent minority interests. The root of the rot is actually in money, the time honoured root of all evil. Special interest groups literally buy influence, by funding the election campaigns of politicians.

Therefore unless campaign funding is reformed we cannot hope for any sensible discussion. The type of reform needed is not transparency alone, what is needed to clean this Augean Stable is nothing less than a total ban on private campaign funding. Instead the State needs to allocate a fixed amount of funding to each candidate. Any overspending or raising private funding will be an automatic disqualification.

The taxpayers will need to pay for the campaign funding for each qualified candidate, but this will work out far cheaper in the long run than allowing the country to be held hostage to special interest groups.

If this ever happens the rest of the world will only applaud.

The consequences of America's gun and drug laws

An interesting comment in the Economist "As long as Latin American narco-lords find it easy to sell cocaine and buy guns in the United States, no government to south can eliminate them".

Are the real consequences of America's non-laws on gun ownership and a wrong headed drugs policy, the drug wars in Mexico?

I have argued before that the only sensible way to deal with drugs is legalise them. No drug cartel can ever hope to compete with a state that distributes the stuff free. Prohibition did not stop alcohol abuse in Chicago in the 1920's and spawned the Mafia.

Prohibition was apparently inspired by the 18th amendment to the US constitution which outlawed alcohol. Common sense eventually prevailed and the experiment was dropped in 1933. Time to revisit the second amendment?



Note: The second amendment protects the right of the people to keep and bear arms.

Just a Gigolo

Delilah's post on work reminded me of an incident that was narrated by a friend some years ago.

This was a fairly long time back, maybe about eight or nine years ago. I had a friend who was working for a certain bank at a salary of Rs.11,000 a month. He was not very junior, an assistant manager, I think, it was just that he was underpaid. Today Rs.11,000 will not buy anything but even back then it was very poor pay and he never had any money to spare.

He was looking around for another job when he met a friend of his who used to work for the Negombo branch of the same bank. The friend seemed to be doing very well, driving a new Montero. Remember, that at the time the Montero had only just been introduced to the market and it was about the most expensive vehicle around.

The rich friend knew all about the underpaid job at the bank (he had held one himself) and he told his friend that he too could get him set up in the new business, it was quite easy and he had all the contacts. He could bring along some friends as well if he liked, he would set them up as well.

The secret of his success? The rich friend had shacked up with an old German woman, in her fifties, who was semi resident in the country. She treated him very well, getting him a house as well as the Montero and paying him a very decent sum for living expenses. She was also very liberal. She was resident for around six months of the year and while she was away the friend was allowed to have a local girlfriend.

All in all a very satisfactory arrangement. He tried quite hard to convince my friend to join him, he did not succeed, but my friend did give the matter some thought before dropping the idea.

A couple of trainers from gyms I have visited in the past are rumoured to have followed a similar path.

Maybe the government should actively promote this; it provides much needed employment and pays much higher prices than those commanded by housemaids whose labour is one of the principal exports of this country.

Grass Roots development

According to the Sunday Times the government is to establish Jana Sabha's which will function under the Minister for Economic Development.

Provincial and local councils must seek approval for development work from the Jana Sabha's which will have powers to draw up their own budgets, development plans and seek financial allocations from the Central Government. This effectively renders all other bodies powerless.

We have just concluded the local government elections. If all provincial councils and local authorities need to seek the approval of the Jana Sabha before commencing any projects is there any point in these bodies?

Why not abolish the Provincial Councils and other local authorities and leave the work to be carried on by the Jana Sabha's? If nothing else we will save the cost elections and administration.

William Smith of Durham

Wedding season will be upon us shortly, so here is a suggestion for those looking for some beautiful responses to a church service.

William Smith was a 16th century organist and composer whose Preces and Responses have become well known and widely used in the United Kingdom. Their popularity is well deserved and may be included in a service, provided the choral director is willing. Listen to it here, its the second item (starts at 4'10" and end at 5'10"). Very lovely.

Uncivil Society

Malinda Seneviratne raises an interesting question in his column in the Daily News. What exactly is civil society?

He goes on to say that the term has been hijacked by a narrow group of organisations, principally the National Peace Council, the Centre for Policy Alternatives and Transparency International who claim to represent civil society as a whole.

He is right that these are the most prominent of the organisations, they are certainly amongst the most vocal.

He implies that the organisations that should carry the mantle of civil society would be 'Dayaka Sabhava associated with a Buddhist temple, a maranaadhara samithiya (funeral donation society), or a community based organization such as the hundreds setup by Sarvodaya or the thousands by SANASA'.

While such organisations do fall into the broad definition of civil society, their aims and objectives are limited primarily to helping its constituents and as such tend to be inward looking. As their concerns are narrow and local, they work quietly and have little need to go to the media, which is probably why so little is heard of them.

Perhaps, like good children, civil society should be seen and not heard? And for those who are heard, Big Brother will be watching.

In a completely unrelated matter, the Minster for Public Relations and Public Affairs Mervyn Silva has discovered a plot by the Campaign for Free and Fair Elections (CaFFE) to undermine the UPFA victory at the upcoming local government polls.

“According to information received, a representative has been appointed to each of the Local Government body area and each of them are to be paid Rs 5,000 for the two days - March 17 and 18.”

The question of dubious funding of NGO has been raised time and again and the above only serves to underline the importance of this. Why do they need to pay such vast sums and to what end? Placing monitors is very suspicious and worse, they are planning on something more:

“This organization is planning to tarnish the Government through various international networks for which they are now holding discussions with several electronic media institutions and two newspapers."

Fortunately this has been caught in time and the Elections Commissioner has been asked to "act in this regard as this media conspiracy is to be launched under the pretext of election monitoring".

This however is not the end of the story. Mano Ratwatte, writing from the U.S. of A has uncovered yet more treachery. It appears that NGO's have received funding, large funding, which needs investigation and action on the lines of US authorities.

He says, in the US, the FBI will investigate any NGO with links to muslims or the Middle East and points out that there are 'Congressional hearings (akin to the McCarthy witch hunt against communists) on the "Radicalization of Muslims in America". A most interesting turn of phrase I must say, the government should apparently leave no stone unturned (or thrown) in its quest to eliminate such sorcery.

He highlights the brave American journalist Seymour Hersh to exposed the MyLai massacre. Hersh was labeled a traitor by many leading American politicians and harassed.

Does this ring any bells? Alarm or otherwise?

About the American motives, of course.

Superbrands: is the novelty fading?

I notice that companies don't use the 'Superbrands' logo/tag in their advertisements as widely as they used to. When the concept was launched it was everywhere and I was quite confused, thinking that a company called Superbrands had bought over a few local companies.

I don't watch a lot of television or listen to the radio so I'm not sure if the advertising has migrated to the electronic media, but in the printed press the use of the term seems to have diminished. The only one that I can recall recently is the 'No Limit' board in Dehiwala.

Has the novelty faded ?

The Superbrands Sri Lanka page has the list of brands up to 2009 but nothing after that. The media page carry lists of events in 2009 but nothing thereafter.

I have been a critic of the concept of Superbrands and it would be interesting to see what benefits it has brought to those who were awarded the status of Superbrand.

Note that I have no problems with brands per se, a well established concept that has evolved from the Victorian age. I do agree that brands have value and an open ranking of brands is a worthwhile exercise.

Any comments from the marketing folk out there?

Regulating bankers bonuses and the Hilton case

I received an SMS alert a little while ago which indicated that the Central Bank was thinking of regulating the bonuses of bankers. This morning, we woke up to the fact that the Government has tightened its ownership of the Colombo Hilton.

Does this indicate that the state getting rather too large?

There have been calls for the regulation of bankers bonuses in Europe and America but this follows a banking collapse and the revelation of the sheer size of bonuses - in my limited experience the sales staff at investment banks used to take home bonuses that were measured in terms of several years of pay.

The argument for regulation is that:

a) they provided the wrong incentives, tempting traders to take very risky bets at shareholders expense (traders get a mega bonus if it works, shareholders take the loss if it fails);

b) since a number of the banks have now been bailed out by the various governments, the profits being earned are effectively subsidised by the Government (an implicit state guarantee allows for cheap borrowing, while some banks enjoyed a direct infusion of cheap/free state funds).

There is definitely a problem with bankers bonuses in Europe and America. As Roger Moffat, a former derivatives trader wrote in a letter to the Economist, "Trading isn’t hard. Computers do much of the work, and unless we break the culture of paying ridiculous bonuses for being “lucky”, the banks will continue to laugh in the face of politicians and regulators. Japanese housewife traders have led the way in showing us that frankly, it isn’t rocket science."

The question is whether this problem is prevalent in Sri Lanka. Sri Lanka has not suffered a banking crisis (although we have suffered a Finance Company crisis)and no banks were bailed out. I don't think bankers here receive huge payouts either, certainly not in terms of years of salary.

I'm told that some of the treasury bonuses are large and since at least one local bank suffered a major loss as a result of a poorly designed foreign exchange traded product, there may be a case for investigating whether the incentive scheme was at the root of the problem. However I have not seen any investigation into this (I may be wrong here) and certainly very little publicity about the incident, which, in true Sri Lankan style has been carefully covered up.

Is there a real problem with bankers bonuses? Or does this look like a case of over-regulation?

In the case of the Hilton, the owning company is supposed to have defaulted on payments of the lease and that as a result the land has been acquired by the Government. Strangely enough, according to the news report the company is controlled by the Government anyway, so why they did not push for the payment of the lease in the first place is a question.

It is also unclear as to what process was followed prior to the re-acquisition: was it as per clauses specified in the lease agreement? Was due notice given? If so why was it that the company, a listed entity did not make an announcement to the stock exchange? The news broke after Minister of Economics Development Basil Rajapaksa informed parliament that the Hilton Hotel Colombo had been taken over by the government last week.

In a society that is supposed to be governed by laws there is always a process that needs to be followed so that everyone concerned knows how things work. When the process is unclear it creates uncertainty and uncertainty is another name for risk. Investors are conditioned to expect B to follow A and C to follow B. If events suddenly arrive at E straight from A and no one knows what went on in between, then the investor will be lost.

The Hilton is a relatively well known name and a sudden change in its status will be picked up in the news and give the jitters to potential investors.

Kottu over, time for Spaghetti?

There was a time when the Kottu Blogroll was really useful, with virtually every interesting blog being listed and some pretty radical ideas being discussed. Then the nutters, the stalkers and other assorted undesirables appeared, blog wars erupted and identities were exposed.

Many bloggers left Kottu, others gave up altogether leaving very little for the conscientious reader like myself. I was always more of a reader of blogs than a writer and it was that cocktail ideas that I found stimulating. The advantage with the aggregator is that one can read interesting posts from blogs that one does not normally follow.

I have discovered that there are still a few good blogs around, but the problem is in finding them. I've also lost track of a number of blogs that I used to read. We need another aggregator, but one that filters the participants, any takers for starting one?

I Shall Not Hate: A Gaza Doctor’s Journey on the Road to Peace and Human Dignity

I just came across a review of this book , although I have not read the book the story is too good not to share.

Dr Izzeldin Abuelaish is a Palestinian doctor, a man who dedicated his life to peace and medicine. He lost three daughters in the Israeli attack on Gaza in January 2009. An Israeli tank opened fire on their house, claiming that gun shots came from their building or nearby. A frantic phone call made by the doctor to a friend in Israel, Shlomi Eldar, a journalist who relayed the conversation on live television, took the story to the world. The anchor called on the Israeli Defense Forces to allow ambulances to get to the doctor’s family.

No ambulances ever reached Dr. Abuelaish’s home, which was surrounded by Israeli tanks. He and the surviving members of his family walked a quarter of a mile carrying the dead and wounded through the streets.

Amazingly, though shaken, this did not alter his philosophy. He now lives in Canada and travels widely, speaking to promote his vision.

An interview with Dr Abuelaish is available here, more on the story here.

Food for thought

When nations grow old, the arts grow cold and commerce settles on every tree.
-William Blake, poet, engraver, and painter (1757-1827)

I think Blake meant 'old' in terms of non-renewal, a situation where the flow of fresh ideas dwindled or even dried up completely. This may happen when the Establishment grows too conservative or strong, killing off ideas by scepticism, scorn or lack of support, so that artists (or scientists for that matter) have to literally starve, leading them to abandon their work and find more mundane ways of earning a living.

Its symptoms may be seen when the only voices heard in public discourse are those of businessmen and perhaps politicians. Has this fate overtaken us? Perhaps. Open a newspaper or watch a programme on television, or listen to one on the radio. Where are the voices of academia or of other independent minds?


DULLNESS

Dullness pervades our land,
The dunces are getting out of hand;
Alexander Pope saw it coming
The age of Chaos descending.

It is easier to love your enemy
Than consord with stupidity;
Wordsworth extolled the ordinary
And sank into inanity.

Don't traffic with the normal,
Chase the exceptional,
If you would soar into poetry,
Shun mediocrity.

Find your bedfellows
Away from the shallows;
Cultivate the eccentric virus
to nourish your genius.
This advice is not Christian;
But remember the ruffian
Who baited the dull Pharisee
In and out of Galilee.

-Guy Amirthanayagam-

Omar Musa

I enjoyed Omar Musa's poetry immensely at the Galle Literary Festival, particularly a piece called 'Airforce Ones', which I thought was not in his the book available for sale. Subsequently discovered that it was in his book, The Clocks. I was searching for it on the web, could not find it, but this was enjoyable. Just discovered another very moving one here.

Did finally manage to find the poem, the book is available at Barefoot.

Symphony Orchestra of Sri Lanka - New World Concert

I had been thinking about going to the SOSL concert, mainly to listen to Tharanga Goonetilleke, but had forgotten about it completely until a friend rang in the morning to offer me his tickets because he was unable to attend.

I did not know what the programme was, except for the fact that Tharanga was singing and she did sing very well, earning a standing ovation from the packed audience.

The opening piece of the concert was a flute concerto by a modern Brazilian composer, whose name I did not quite catch and whose identity remains unknown to me since all the programmes were sold out. It was an agreeable enough piece and reasonably short. I find the flute to be rather inexpressive instrument, so in my book concerti for the instrument should be kept fairly short if the listeners attention is to be held.

The real highlight of the day was however, the Dvořák ninth. It is a symphony I have heard several times (on recordings, not in a live concert) but I realised today that I had never listened to it closely enough. I have always heard the brass and strings (I used to think that symphony was actually dominated by these) but never paid enough attention to the woodwind passages, which are many and beautiful and which the SOSL played with great felicity. The brass played with great refinement and the string tone, warm and rich.

Although tempi were a little slow, the conductor used this to bring out the inner voices, especially in the woodwind parts. I would rank this particular performance by the SOSL the best I have ever heard, beating even the superb performance of the Dvořák eighth under James Ross a couple of years ago.

The Unravelling of Pakistan

All eyes seem to be focused on Egypt these days, but there are far more troubling developments in our own neighbourhood. Pakistan is seen by the rulers as a reliable friend in the region, unlike the double-dealing bully of the region, India. We are judged by the company we keep, so it is especially troubling when one hears of reports like this.

How can one arrest a 17 year old schoolboy for scribbling something in an exam paper, when no one is at liberty to disclose what it was that he wrote in the first place?

How did Jinnah's vision "equality of men, justice and fairly play to everybody. We are the inheritors of these glorious traditions and are fully alive to our responsibilities and obligations as framers of the future constitution of Pakistan. In any case Pakistan is not going to be a theocratic State -- to be ruled by priests with a divine mission. We have many non- Muslims -- Hindus, Christians, and Parsis -- but they are all Pakistanis. They will enjoy the same rights and privileges as any other citizens and will play their rightful part in the affairs of Pakistan" be reconciled with what goes on in that benighted land?

RSF's boycott of the Galle Literary Festival was damaging to free speech

Reporters sans frontières (RSF), an organisation that campaigns for freedom of the press called for a boycott of the Galle Literary Festival.

I think this is wrong.

In the first place, this is a privately organised festival for the celebration of literature. It not a State organised event and has nothing to do with the government. Two state owned entities, Sri Lankan Airlines and the Tourist Board are sponsors, on commercial terms but they are two of a list of many that includes several embassies, UNESCO as well as companies.

Why target individuals who have nothing to do with the crimes committed?

Second, the festival does provide a space, however small, for the sharing of ideas and shutting it down would only hurt the very cause that RSF trying to further. To give just two examples from this years festival, on the opening day the BBC Forum event; After Shock: The Lingering Legacy of Civil War, lead to some useful discussion while more thought provoking ideas were looked at the Farish Noor talk.

It is not just at the organised events that discussion takes place, the festival brings together some every interesting minds and chatting to people one meets in the cafes and street is just as productive.

Personally speaking, I find the festival refreshes the mind and sharpens thinking, which is precisely what RSF is trying to promote.

This is not to say that there is no serious problem of media freedom, as the attack on the the LankaeNews office yesterday demonstrates, it is just that this is the wrong way to go about promoting media freedom, something RSF chief editor Gilles Lordet admitted when he said that a boycott was "never a constructive solution".

Whether you like the literary festival or not, whether you support the government or not, if you feel that Reporters without Borders' boycott was damaging to the cause of free speech, please join this group, to prove that most people oppose the boycott.



Sunila Abeysekera, an award winning human rights activist also wrote against the boycott, see her letter here.

Declining standards

Once upon a time the Daily Mirror was a good newspaper. It was well written and had a lot of worthwhile content. Over the last few years it has been in steady decline, something that has hastened since it revamped its appearance with multicoloured columns and headlines. Next, the society pages started to grow and it now tends to resemble the Hi!! magazine more than anything else, as this headline confirms.

"Patrol Duty Reduced"

It has been corrected now.

The proposed ban on miniskirts

Sri Lanka is now contemplating a ban on miniskirts. The ban was proposed supposedly following complaints about women wearing skimpy clothing.

I naturally assumed that Sri Lanka, the first nation to defeat terrorism, was now proposing to be the first non-Islamic, non-communist, country to impose sartorial regulation on its people- but no; Uganda, Chile and surprisingly enough, a small town in Naples have beaten us in this race. Not all were successful in implementing the ban but they were all ahead of the race in proposing the ban.

Nevertheless, we can be confident that our ban will be the best of all and to this end I have a few suggestions to the authorities. For a start, what exactly should be the prescribed length of a skirt ? Given that women come in all shapes and sizes it is not possible to specify a fixed length, nor is it practical (however desirable) to subject every skirt to inspection. Therefore we need to have regulations that are flexible. We need to take a leaf from the book of one who has perfected the art of sartorial regulation and where better to start than a convent?

St Bridget's convent Colombo, specifies precisely the dress of its pupils:

* White uniform;
Pocket with the SBC monogram (available at the School Bookshop)
* Length : up to the back bend of the knee
* Pleats : 4 box pleats all of equal size
* Darts : 2 side darts only
* Waist : 3 inches lower than the usual waist
* Belt : Loosely with 6 loops. Belt must be sewn at the 2sides
* House Badge - to be worn daily (available at the School Bookshop)
* School Tie - to be worn for school functions only(available at the School Bookshop)

The length is specified as being an in lower than the back bend of the knee, a description that can be applied easily and readily to any woman, thus fulfilling the basic requirement of clarity and universality that must be met by all laws. The nuns further specify the position of the waist and the number of pleats, all carefully designed to give the girls a suitably frumpy look and ideas that the relevant ministry can also incorporate into the proposed dress code. After all, women my try to subvert the regulation by wearing exceptionally tight skirts with (horror of horrors) long slits that may send paragons of virtue to a state of cardiac arrest. An example of such an insidious design is attached, purely that the authorities can beware of the risk (and take a strong shot of arrack after reading the post).



Lets hope the authorities implement the uniform with no further delay, we will be the first in the world and dream come true for those who entertain fantasies involving school uniforms.

No more Ceylon

The Government information department has announced that the names of all public enterprises that begin as ‘Ceylon’ will be replaced with the word ‘Sri Lanka'.

Not something particularly startling, considering that the name of the country was officially changed thirty eight years ago. Indeed we may well ask why it took them so long.

Looking through old letters from overseas that my parents received in the 1970's the address ended with "Sri Lanka (Ceylon)" but this is no longer necessary. Sri Lanka is well known enough, perhaps too well known. The most ready associations with the name being terrorism, war and Prabakaran while Ceylon was associated with Tea, spices and tourism. The last observation was made by a gentleman from Denmark who has been living here since the 1970's. He also felt that Ceylon was a much nicer name, the shape of the letters that make up the name being round and curvy rather than the angular strokes that make up Sri Lanka.

Lee Kuan Yew observed that the change of Ceylon's name did little to improve the lot of its people and that Ceylon Tea continued to be sold as Ceylon Tea. The latest decision will not apply to the marketing of tea, which will remain Ceylon Tea. Then why bother with this?

I generally view the changing of names with suspicion for the motive behind this is little more than garnering some cheap publicity for the politician or official responsible for the act, while sowing confusion in the mind of the public. I have no problem with local names being given to public works or buildings but I think it is a prerequisite that the official concerned earns the right confer his chosen name (and thus bask in the reflected glory) by actually constructing whatever is being named.

Renaming existing roads or works is little more than a distraction, a trick to divert the attention of the public from more pressing matters. To add insult to injury, the new names are long and unwieldy and include honours and qualifications which are quite unnecessary. Why must it be "Dr Lester James Peiris Mawatha" (Dickman's Rd to the uninitiated) and not simply Peiris Mawatha? Why Sir Chittapalam A Gardiner Mawatha (Parsons Rd) and not Gardiner Mawatha?

This disease is not confined to local politicians, Bombay and Calcutta are cities built by the British whatever the local politicians may say. It would have been far better to have spent some effort in clearing slums, improving drainage, sanitation or any number of the problems in Bombay rather than confining their efforts to removing the last traces of the British, sixty years after their departure.

After all, what's in a name?

Smoke, drink, pay

This was the headline on a story in today's Daily Mirror.

Like many of the policies that are enunciated from time to time, it seems designed to garner as much attention as possible for its creator. Rather less thought seems to have gone into the impact on the intended beneficiaries of the policy.

For a start, how is it to be implemented? How does a doctor know that someone is a user of alcohol or a tobacco?

Heavy smokers will carry some evidence of their habit, in the form of discoloured teeth, fingernails and blackened lips. Moderate users of alcohol are much harder to detect, unless they actually enter hospital drunk and only the real dipsomaniacs can be identified as such on sight.

The doctors could pose the question to the patient, in which case the patient is likely to lie. The doctor will then have to judge whether the patient is telling the truth, which may mean that moderate users will probably get away with the lie, which means the policy will be rendered less effective, although the doctors diagnosis may be impaired by the fact that information is withheld.

According to the Ministry official "non-communicable diseases (NCD) such as diabetes, strokes, heart attacks, kidney failure, cancer and high blood pressure are often due to the excessive consumption of alcohol and cigarettes.He said the ministry has decided to take these measures to encourage a drop in people’s consumption of alcohol and cigarettes."

Is it only for treatment of the diseases commonly associated with alcohol and tobacco use that are to be charged for, or will they be required to pay for all public health services? For example for injuries caused by a fall or an accident? What if hypertension or diabetes is due to hereditary factors, or possibly due to excessive consumption of sugar, something that Sri Lankan's are well know for?


It is true that valuable hospital resources are tied up by people suffering from lifestyle diseases but I believe the focus should be on prevention, which means education.

Paying something for health services may also not be a bad thing, especially if the funds are used to improve facilities, especially since the health budget is minuscule compared to the rest of Government spending but this needs to be based on sound principles.

A Groomsmen's duties

A Groomsman's duties are many and varied and although I have now served in that capacity for four weddings I have never quite worked out what they should be.

For a start I always thought the groomsman had to look after horses. How he came to look after prospective husbands-to-be beats me, I suppose the poor fellow marching down the aisle needs what support he can get.

Anyway to cut the long story short, I was asked last week whether I possessed a black suit. I said I did. I was then asked, "you know you are one of the groomsmen, right?" A week is rather short notice but my week was relatively clear, so ok.

My first major duty was to ferry an old aunt around but due to various other things cropping up I was relieved of that and instead sent off to the estate to pick up some coconuts. Groomsmen are useful that way.

Driving 30km in the afternoon was not exactly my idea of a good time, but though the traffic was heavy, it was not impossible and I was rather pleased that my airconditioning (fixed at great expense) was working well, and by and by I reached my destination.

I alighted and spoke to the caretaker and got him to start loading the jeep and took in the scenery. Looking down at the old garage/barn in the first picture my mood improved dramatically, there is something about a lot of greenery that can release stress. Drinking a sweet king coconut, taking in the ducks, chickens and guinea fowl gathering around hoping that the owner had returned to feed them, all was at peace and I hardly felt the drive back.

Since then I've bought cocktail mixture (for the reception), shirts (for the groom, best man and groomsmen) and agreed to coordinate some cars.

Ho hum, not exactly earth shattering stuff, but given my reluctance to get involved in overly complicated affairs I think I've come off quite well.

Looking for something traditional this Christmas?

If you like the traditional carols, sung in classic arrangements by David Willcocks, Harold Darke and the like, drop in to St Andrew's at Galle Face (opposite Inn on the Green) at 7pm on the 12th of December.

A good way, as any, to start the Season.

Entrance free, all are welcome.

Writing letters

Can anybody tell me if it is correct to capitalise the first letter of the first word, immediately after the salutation on a letter?

My understanding is it is not. For example:

Dear Sir,

Re: PROJECT XYX

further to our discussion, we attach herewith a detailed proposal.


MS Word will usually capitalise the "F" in "further". I don't think this is right because the sentence starts with "Dear Sir" and ends with "proposal". It does not start with "Further"

Does anyone have an opinion?

Just had to redo about seven letters because of the perceived error.

Rushed off my feet

It has been a terrible weekend. It was only a few days ago that I was rejoicing in an unexpected extra holiday this month. There I was, anticipating time to catch up with my reading, sleep and generally unwinding by doing nothing at all.

Was my small wish too difficult for the gods?

I think it was because I have been rushed off my feet - running around like a mad thing since Friday afternoon, no proper afternoon nap on either Friday or Saturday (did sneak in a couple of hours here and there), slept little in the nights due to the damned cold weather, drove about 80-100 kilometres just running errands in Colombo and had the rain to deal with yesterday and today.

I have ended up having less time than a normal weekend. Either the gods have wicked sense of humour or some sorcery is afoot, and I think I know who's responsible......

Holiday!!!

I have been rather overworked these days and my last weekend was quite stressful, hardly had time to relax. I was anxiously scanning the calendar to find out when the poya holiday was falling and was bitterly disappointed to find out it was on a Sunday.

Imagine my delight this morning to discover an email from our HR department telling us that we would be on holiday on Friday.

The message starts off like this:

"Dear Operational Team Members,


We have received a request form the Honorable Minister of the Labour Relations and Productivity Promotion to grant a holiday on Friday, 19th November 2010 to organizations located in areas of Colombo 1,2,3 and 4.


The Employers’ Federation in their circular to the employers have advised that appropriate action be initiated by such employers considering the practical difficulties the employees may encounter in terms of movement/road closers etc"

Oh, the irony of a Minister for productivity promotion declaring a holiday.

I however, am quite delighted.

Once an accident, twice a coincidence, but thrice?

Kottu is pretty boring these days, mostly made up of posts on sports and fashion. Not that I mind those, but it is hard to have a conversation on these.

Instead of Kottu, I now trawl through Lady D's blogroll instead, and what did I find today?

Purple Socks says: I want to

The Drummer replies: I don't do, I don't do.

Ramblings says: One night in Bangkok

The Rose states: Why A Woman is a Better Wingman


Are these just a coincidence or is the blogosphere hotting up?

One for the Girls

A college girl from Duke University, published her college learning, the circulation of which reached "viral" proportions.

Its not hard to see why, thought it was worth sharing, may inspire others to follow the same route, there are many fine writers and sharp analytical minds in the local blogosphere.

Its that time of the year again...

when the slaving subjects like myself pay our tribute to our lords (aka the Income tax department).

Having a long weekend on hand is ideal for this purpose since one has ample time to trawl through bank statements, salary slips, cursing all the missing pieces of paper, which need to be tracked down.

A couple of years back I hit on the bright idea of setting up a worksheet with all the calculations, so that all I need to do is plug in the figures. This has been a major labour saver and since not a lot changes from year to year my calculation comes out on a jiffy. I've also improved my filing system - previously I used to shove everything into a box and then have to scratch my head to find the various bits and pieces. Now I have envelopes labeled with each tax year for each type of document (bank statements, dividend slips, salary slips etc) and I keep filing the things every month or two. Thus things have become pretty streamlined.

Imagine therefore my horror, when I plugged my figures in and found out that I had to PAY few lakhs as taxes. I don't even have that kind of money in the bank, so spent the entire morning trying to reconcile income and PAYE taxes before discovering that it was merely a problem with the spreadsheet - the Inland Revenue has changed the format of the tax table and I had not amended my worksheet.

Anyway, I now have to pay a sum total of Rs.262 as taxes, so I'm smiling now.

Just hope the large refunds that I claimed last year and the year before were not due to a similar error.......(and no they have not paid, but this might explain the letters they keep sending, asking for more details...).

Anyway will check on that NEXT weekend, I've spent enough of this one calculating taxes. Luckily, I've also learned another trick that comes in handy when dealing with the tax man - take photocopies of EVERYTHING you ever give them - then when they ask for details later you know EXACTLY what to say, HA!.

The Saga

In the beginning there was the sore throat. The sore throat refused to respond so it was dosed with saltwater rinses.

The sore throat duly disappeared, but a cough appeared it its place. And what a cough it was! All day, all night, dry, hacking and persistent.

Finally the cough receded but did not disappear and soon after it started to recede, on came the cold. Sneezing merrily, this went on for two more days. Finally the cold began to recede and the cough returned.

Vitamin c, panadol, saltwater gargles, honey, nothing worked.

Finally went to the doctor, who prescribed a cocktail of drugs. Having read this post decided I would do some research on what I had been prescribed.

Item No. 1: Clavamox. Do google search and get following result "Canine broad-spectrum antibiotic in oral dosage form: oral tablets."

eh?

Approved Uses

CLAVAMOX® (amoxicillin trihydrate/clavulanate potassium) TABLETS are approved for treatment of the following canine infections:

* Skin and soft-tissue infections such as wounds, abscesses, cellulitis, and superficial/juvenile and deep pyoderma due to susceptible strains of the following organisms: β-lactamase-producing Staphylococcus aureus, non-β-lactamase-producing Staphylococcus aureus, Staphylococcus spp., Streptococcus spp. and E. coli.


* Periodontal infections due to susceptible strains of both aerobic and anaerobic bacteria.

Hang on a minute, that does not look like what I was suffering from and I'm not a dog.

Lets take a look at the rest

No. 2 Lorid

Search result: Lorid is NOT known to be marketed in the USA. Lorid may be available in the countries listed below.

This looks worrying.

Could it be this?

Loratadine

Introduction


Loratadine is an oral non-sedating H 1-blocker that is similar in structure to cyproheptadine and azatadine, other H 1-blockers.

.....This competitive antagonism blocks the effects of histamine on H1-receptors in the GI tract, uterus, large blood vessels, and bronchial muscle. It does not readily cross the blood-brain barrier...

eerr ok, presumably stops the blocked nose. Lets hope it does'nt do anything else. The blood brain business is worrying, especially since I feel so tired and I can't afford to lose any more brain cells, I'm already short on gray matter.

No. 3 DERIPHYLLIN TAB® [tab]

Belongs to the class of other systemic drugs used in the treatment of obstructive airway diseases, xanthines.

Ok, something else for a blocked nose?

Bricanyl

Main use: Asthma

Yes, But I don't HAVE asthma and never experienced any difficulties in breathing. The doctor asked me this question and I said no, so why this drug?

Anyway the symptoms have eased greatly, feeling much better (one day into the dosage), except for low energy (tackling that by eating chocolate and sweets) and occasional chills, for which I've started panadol again. Hope THAT does not react with this cocktail.

Menagerie

I seem to encounter three types of people with distressing frequency: fools, knaves and thieves.

Definition of FOOL

: a person lacking in judgment or prudence
: a harmlessly deranged person or one lacking in common powers of understanding

A knave

: a tricky deceitful fellow

A thief


One who steals, especially by stealth.


I don't suffer fools gladly, what have I done to be surrounded by them and the even more insidious thieves and knaves?

The search for intelligent life

Having found intelligent life to be sadly lacking in the beloved motherland and since I am in constant need of regular mental stimulation, have decided to look for intelligent life- in outer space.

Imagine my surprise then, when I discover that I have been beaten in this novel quest. The search for extraterrestrial intelligence, or SETI to the cognoscenti is already well established.

The UN has established an Office for Outer Space Affairs which is headed by Mazlan Othman a Malaysian astrophysicist, a lady that one newspaper has apparently dubbed the "alien ambassador".

Ok, ET, here I come.

Do you read me? Over. Do you read me? Over.

A gift to the world

Its been hectic at work. I have just had a chance to look at Monday's papers when a front page story caught my
eye.

"Buddhism, biggest gift of SL to world" read the headline.

Yes, but I thought it came from India?

Women's rights

A friend of a friend complained thus:

"I'm off to the police tomorrow...I'm just sick of getting ripped off, screwed over and hit on incessantly...this really isn't a good place for any single white Western woman to be living."

Says a lot about the society we live in. For all the pious crackdown on vice: porn, alcohol, 'indecent' hoardings, dress codes being imposed in universities there are some fundamental views on women that are distinctly neolithic.

I suppose that like the Victorian values, on which the new morality is based, it goes with the same Victorian hypocrisy.

Oh dear

A visit to the tea country is something I usually enjoy. Rolling hills, clothed in greenery, the fresh mountain air, charming old buildings and usually tasty cooking to go with it.

Unfortunately this visit was lacking in most of the ingredients. Visited two estates owned by the JEDB and was greeted by acre upon acre of decrepit fields. A friend once told me that tea should look like a velvet carpet. These carpets were looking distinctly tatty with many holes, the few tea bushes present in an unruly state, weeds and undergrowth everywhere. Many a field seemed to have been taken over completely by thick grass.

A good testament to the follies of the state engaging in business.

It will take years of work and lots of money to restore these to good health. The contrast when we crossed over to the privately managed estate next-door was welcome. There were still gaps in the fields but they were smaller, the bushes had been pruned and plucked. There was tea everywhere and some sense of order being imposed on nature, instead of the untidy growth.

Going back to a question I have posed before: how did the people benefit from the nationalisation of what was then the most important industry in the country?

Were the state coffers filled with the treasure that the foreign owners were pocketing? No. The estates have been losing money almost continuously for years. Increased market share worldwide? No, it has been declining. More value addition? Yes, but entirely from the private sector, the best work being done before they were allowed back ownership.

More or better employment? Don't know but the workers on these estates were complaining about not enough work and that their EPF and ETF had not been paid for years.

Anyway, got a few pictures of the nicer bits of scenery, not great photographs but hope you like them.

Vive Le Roi!

There is not much more to be said. If you can't beat 'em join 'em and perhaps we should all join in and sing this?

Brilliant

The radio commercials for DSI tyres featuring various animals. The bull on his way to the China shop (running the red light in the process), the donkey who is overtakes on the wrong lane and another one or two creatures.

Traffic safety message and an advertisement rolled into one.

Very entertaining. Wonder who produced them? Were they locally done?

Sinister

Has anyone noticed a truly sinister sight on the streets of Colombo?

Policemen wearing sunglasses. I'm not sure where they pick up these cheap sunglasses from, but they are truly hideous. The policemen all sport them with pride, strutting around on their beat or leaning languidly against something. They seem to think they resemble the cops from popular American television shows.

It is a sight that gives me the shivers and given the state of the local police, probably an appropriate reaction.


ps. I'm no photographer so would a few reader oblige by posting a few pictures?

Strange feelings

I've recently experienced some slightly unusual emotions when dealing with friends and associates in matters involving money.

For example when I've been toying around with the idea of selling my car, when people I know have offered prices significantly below my own expectations, I experience feelings of annoyance and irritation. It is almost like an insult.

When total strangers offer lower prices they can simply be dismissed with no further emotional involvement.

Is it that when dealing with known parties one is unconsciously letting ones guard down hence the susceptibility to feel insulted?

If friends approach the subject of a lower bid gently and in a roundabout way then the propensity to feel insulted is far less, its the sudden let down that seems to bruise the ego.

The problem is worse when dealing with someone who is much richer - there is almost a feeling of attempted exploitation. Why does he need to worry so much about money? He has so much, why is he trying to deprive me of what is due? are the thoughts that tend to spring to mind, mixed with feelings of anger and annoyance.

Mind you, this is just for an open offer, with no obligation to take it. I'm free to refuse at anytime and have done so many times, but it still leaves some rather unpleasant emotions for a while.

Has anyone else experienced anything similar or am I just hypersensitive ?

Lipton's Circus

This post, where the author confessed that he did not know why Lipton's Circus was so-called, set me off on a long comment. It went on so long that I decided to turn it to a post on my much-neglected blog.

What an interesting piece of history you have missed.

Lipton's Circus is called that because the Head office of Lipton & Co used to be there (it was in the building that now houses United Motors/Standard Chartered Bank). The wall you see in the second photograph carried a large advertisement, I believe it said "Lipton Means Good Tea" with a picture of woman raising a cup of tea. I think roundabout had a statue on it, possibly of Lipton. Anyway, the whole area was unmistakably Lipton's, a bit like Piccadilly Circus in London I suppose.

The Liptons office moved to Brook Bond building Union Place (the Building next to JAIC/NTB) after the acquisition of Brooke Bond by Unilver (Unilever bought Lipton's tea business in 1972). The JAIC and Cargills Staples Street outlet occupy what used to be the tea warehouses and part of the office complex of Brooke Bond.

Brooke Bonds and Lipton's were two of the great names in tea, they owned plantations and were big sellers of tea from Ceylon. They lost their estates in the nationalisation in 1960's and 1970's and switched to marketing, diversifying their supply of teas to those from Africa (mostly set up by the planters who left Ceylon post-nationalisation).

The tea industry in Kenya, now a larger exporter than Sri Lanka, owes much of its fortunes to Mrs Bandaranaike, whose policies of nationalisation drove planters from Ceylon to start afresh in Africa.

At the time of the nationalisation, the economy was dominated by agriculture, the key products being tea, rubber and coconuts. Most of the tea and rubber plantations were owned by foreigners (some were even quoted on the London Stock Exchange, I believe). In order to prevent the exploitation of the country's wealth by greedy foreigners the plantations were nationalised, their ownership being transferred to the Janatha Estates Development Board (the people estates development board)-one can almost see the bright hope that the designers of that policy must have had for the future of the people in their choice of name- and the State Plantations Corporation.

The result was disastrous. Driving out the greedy, exploitive foreigner did little to improve the lot of the people and lead to the decline of the industry, although a revival of sorts has taken place under the aegis of private management since 1992.

As the late Joan Robinson, a Cambridge economist, once wrote, “the misery of being exploited by capitalists is nothing compared to the misery of not being exploited at all”, a quip, written in 1962, inspired by underemployment in South-East Asia.

For more information on the history of Ceylon Tea see here

Something information on African tea is to be found here. The two countries that benefited the most from the local exodus were Kenya and Tanzania.

A new Amazon based scam

The scammers of the world keep coming up with more innovative ways to trick people. I received a number of emails today the contents of which were similar to this:

Amazon.com logo your account

Thanks for your order, xxx@yyyyy-yyyy.com

Did you know you can view and edit your orders online, 24 hours a day? Visit Your Account.

Order Information:

E-mail Address: xxx@yyyyy-yyyy.com
Order Grand Total: $ 41.99

Earn 3% rewards on your Amazon.com orders with the Amazon Visa Card. Learn More

Order Summary:
Details:
Order #: D25-6587444-2958008
Subtotal of items: $ 66.99
------
Total before tax: $ 32.99
Sales Tax: $ 0.00
------
Total for this Order: $ 75.99

The following item was ordered:
Click here and see items, Price: $ 80.99
By: Click here
Sold by: Amazon Digital Services, Inc.

The charge for this order will appear on your credit card statement from the merchant 'AMZN Payment Services.'

You can review your orders in Your Account. If you've explored the links on that page but still have a question, please visit our online Help Department.

Please note: This e-mail was sent from a notification-only address that cannot accept incoming e-mail. Please do not reply to this message.

Thanks again for shopping with us.

Amazon.com
Earth's Biggest Selection

unsubscribe icon Prefer not to receive HTML mail? Click here

It looks quite genuine when it appears on the email. Even the senders address "(digital-no-reply@amazon.com)" looks quite genuine.

What set me on alert was the fact that the email I received it on is not the account I have registered with Amazon. A closer look at the numbers shows they don't add up - whether this was a part of scam - to get people to follow the links to correct the "wrong" order or simply a slip-up is uncertain.

I did go and check my Amazon accounts just in case (they were clear, with no unknown orders), but it could trap the unwary, so beware.


ps This site gives a good image of the spam mail and a more technical explanation.

Responding to the loss of GSP+

The EU has temporarily suspended the GSP+ concessions. The Government response has been to promise measures to counter this, hinting at a possible devaluation of the currency and to suggest that the factories concerned look to improving productivity.

There is however a fairly simple measure that can help reduce production cost while raising employee satisfaction. What is this measure? A suspension of EPF and ETF payments for a specified period of time.

Employers are required to contribute 12% of salaries paid to the EPF and a further 3% to the ETF, a total of 15% of salaries. Employees are required to contribute 8% towards EPF.

My suggestion is that the Government suspend EPF and ETF payments for a fixed period of time, perhaps a year, until the EU concessions can be renegotiated. Under the arrangement that I propose the company would not have to contribute the 15% while the 8% would no longer be deducted from the salaries of employees. Thus there is an immediate saving of 15% on the ages bill, which is very significant, while the employees get a bonus in the form of an 8% pay hike. The GSP+ concessions reportedly worked out to a 10% saving on cost, I'm not sure how much a 15% saving on payroll costs translates to conversion cost but it is significant.

Food for thought, perhaps?

Some excitement at last

I don't follow sport so all the excitement surrounding the football world cup, the tennis at Wimbledon and even the racing at Ascot has not touched me.

Life was looking rather boring, with a full 22 working days this month and a further 17 days slog next month before the next long weekend. Very boring, that is until Comrade Wimal spiced it up for me with this.

He had originally called for the UN to be surrounded and the staff taken hostage, so we shall await further developments.

Ban Ki Moon should have known who he was dealing with.

All along we thought the Comrade had 'gone native', joined the government and tempered his revolutionary ways. Luckily we find that he has not lost it at all, but given us something that we can proud of. Let the Yankees beware.

Budget blues

The opposition is attacking the 'policy budget' presented by the Government for all the wrong reasons. In an attempt to cater to the average man, the budget is being condemned as an "IMF budget", a cunning plot to stimulate exports of countries that fund the IMF or a market fundamentalist budget.

In terms of policy, what has been unveiled is prudent and necessary. The biggest problem was the fiscal deficit and serious attempts to contain this at 8% is commendable. The problem in practice is slippage: revenues tend to be overestimated and expenditure underestimated, so we need to see how things actually turn out, but there is no problem with the targets themselves.

The measures aimed at reducing the deficit: consumption based taxes, on dry rations, milk, gas, wheat and the like are also positive as further taxes on industry are likely to be counterproductive, leading to a further contraction in growth. The reduction of duties on vehicles and consumer durables is a revenue generating measure (demand grows as the taxes are reduced and the government will collect a greater absolute amount of duties, although the duty percentage has fallen) For example government revenue from vehicle duties had fallen from Rs.18bn to Rs.3bn over the last three years. The duty reduction will also stimulate trade and finance as people start buying more of these and use a certain amount of debt (more affordable due to lower interest rates) to finance these.

What then, is the problem? Fundamentally, nothing; except the size of the government expenditure. I am a believer in a minimal or 'Nightwatchman' state, the current state apparatus is huge and shows every sign of growing larger.

The deficit can equally well be controlled by reducing state expenditure which in turn may be achieved by scaling back the size of the state (privatisations for instance), efficiency improvements or administrative restructuring (simple measures such as moving the clocks forward by an hour is a painless method of achieving significant savings in power consumption; combining the ETF and ETF into one body (under the ETF, the smaller of the two)will immediately eliminate the cost of running the EPF). The lack of transparency ensures that a lot of waste and inefficiency goes unnoticed. Publishing monthly statistics on the CEB: the units of power generated, the units billed, the debts outstanding by sectors, the cost of generation by the various types of (power hydro, oil etc) will put the management of the CEB under a lot of pressure as people will begin to ask why they need to pay so much. The other problem is corruption, something that is again helped by the lack of transparency, the cost of which is ultimately visited upon the people in the form of taxes.

Therefore, there is no problem per se with the policy targets, the only problem lies in the expenditure. The people must remember that there is no such thing as a free lunch. If they clamour for state sector jobs (and 300,000 new staff have been recruited to the state in the last five years) the bill needs to be paid; if they do not support greater transparency in public affairs, then waste and corruption will thrive.

Guardians of virtue

Two news reports caught my eye today. The first was about couples engaged in indecent behaviour who were produced in court. The other was on the removal of indecent hoardings.

Decency, it seems, is being enforced, although by who is not immediately clear.

Under what section of the penal code were the couples engaged in indecent behaviour charged? What laws govern what is displayed on public hoardings?

The news reports do not make clear, nor is it certain as to who ordered the crackdown - in both cases the police have acted but under whose instructions?

The matters themselves seem trivial and the action even laudable but an important principle: the rule of law; may have been compromised.

In societies ruled by laws, as distinct from societies ruled by men, due process is critical. Arbitrary or selective application of the law is to be abhorred. Vague or ambiguous laws whose interpretation lies within the hands of officials are to be avoided at all costs. This is to ensure that the system is clear to all and it is this clarity that gives confidence in the system.

Rather like Humpty Dumpty, once the system breaks down, all the Kings horses and all the Kings men will not be able to put it together again. As little drops of rain gather to make the mighty ocean, so every little step taken on that barren path will lead a little closer towards darkness.

The importance of engagement and wedding rings

This year seems a bit of a bad one, my friends are falling like nine-pins. Two wedding and one engagement within the space of 45 days.

These friends, like me, wear no jewellery, except for a watch or cuff links. Therefore the business of wearing an engagement or wedding ring is a new and uncomfortable experience. I, like my friends, always thought that the ring was worn for the wedding or engagement ceremony and thereafter only on special occasions, like someone else's wedding or perhaps a grand party.

Apparently this is not the view of the fairer sex, who seem to insist on the rings being worn constantly. My father never wears his ring in normal daily life and I can't seem to think of anyone else who does either. Women wear jewellery anyway so its perfectly normal for them to wear a ring but is it expected that men should wear their rings as well?

If so, is this a new fashion or something that has been going on for a long time?

Backbone

To have a backbone is a popular, if slightly awkward, expression these days. I personally tend to find the term spineless a better way to describe a person with no backbone, but this is mere sementics.

All politicians and bureaucrats are expected have a backbone and a good display of the said bone is on view in the refusal of Akon's visa.

Akon hails from Senegal, in West Africa and as the election in Sri Lanka draws nearer another, worthy example of backbone is to be found on the other side of the African continent, in Sudan.

Sudanese President Omar Hassan al-Bashir threatened on Monday to expel international election monitors after they said that April's vote may have to be delayed.

"We brought these organisations from outside to monitor the elections, but if they ask for them to be delayed, we will throw them out," Bashir said in comments broadcast on State television.

"We wanted them to see the free and fair elections, but if they interfere in our affairs, we will cut their fingers off, put them under our shoes, and throw them out," Bashir added.

Truly inspiring leadership. Story taken from here.

Me and my laptop

I've finally chucked out the old clunker that I was using and have replaced it with a spanking new laptop, complete with inbuilt camera and all sorts of other extras.

The only thing is, I don't like the laptop mouse so I use a normal mouse plugged into the laptop.

The laptop keyboard is even worse than the mouse (how on earth can anyone work without the numeric keypad?) and teh keys are far too fiddly anyway, so I've plugged in my normal keyboard into the laptop.

Oh, yes, I'm not too happy with the screen size so I've connected my flat screen monitor to the laptop.

I'm pretty happy with the performance in general, apart from all the little caveats above. The laptop even came with a nice new case that I've stored away on a shelf. I hope it does'nt catch too much dust because I don't use the case. I don't actually carry the laptop around much and I never take it home. After all a proper work -life balance is essential, right? And how can I possibly get this if I take work home.

Oh, the wonders of modern technology, makes life really simple does'nt it? Does anyone remeber the clunky old fixed PC's that we had to use in the old days?

An Inspired Swan Lake

Just returned from the opening night's performance, and what a show it was.

The lighting, the costumes, the movement especially by the crippled dancers, was amazing.

Don't miss it, its on two more nights, Saturday 6th March and Sunday 7th March, 7.30pm at the Lionel Wendt.

Facebook Page, but be warned, the still photographs don't do the show any justice.

Discrimination against Non-Western laws

Today's Daily News has published a very interesting article on its op-ed page. The article, titled 'Discrimination against Non-Western laws' is taken from Pravda and deals with something that has become a hot topic in Sri Lanka these days.

The article opens with Google's complaints of censorship in China and the prosecution a woman for having illicit sex in Dubai.

According to the article, "This widespread Western neo-colonial discrimination has its inhumane consequence for the world" and provides much food for thought.

The Daily News is serialising the piece but readers impatient to wait for the next installment can access it in full on the Pravda website.

A case for Freud

Sigmund Freud is rather discredited these days. As my brother put it, much of it was pseudo science and the little science was contributed by others.

Still, he made a lasting impact on society and we must summon his ghost to solve a mystery that plagues the country.

A problem of prominent public figures attacking themselves, sometimes even murdering themselves. It takes schizophrenia to a whole new level. The latest to fall victim was identified by Wimal W.

Hysteria and the so called split personality may be the cause, to the extent that some are split right down the middle.

Land reform

This is just a question that has been bothering me for a while.

Did the land reform policies of the 1960's and 1970's assist in uplifting the standard of living of rural farmers?

As far as the key agricultural sector-tea was concerned, it was an unmitigated disaster with the net result of overall output dropping and the creation of a powerful new competitor - Kenya. Planters who were driven out of Ceylon played a pivotal role in building Kenya's tea industry.

Quite apart from this, it also sent a very poor message to investors, but this is by the way.

How did rural farmers benefit?, assuming that is, that they were the intended beneficiary.

Does anyone have a view?

Insurance fraud

I just realised that I have forgotten to pay my life insurance. I was going through some old files on the computer when I found a spreadsheet where I had noted a previous payment and realised that it was probably overdue.

I bought this policy long years ago in my careless youth. It combined medical (including hospital charges), life and had a lump sum payment at the end. The policy was that you pay for 15 years, enjoy the full benefits of the policy for 15 years, collect a lump sum at the end of the 15 years and then enjoy a free life cover (no medical) for a further 10 years.

They sold it rather well, you need to get it when you are very young, otherwise the premium keeps increasing, once you get married you need to consider your dependents, should something happen to you, you get a lump sum at the end in any case (guaranteed!) so its really a saving plus its tax deductible too.

I bought into the story and bought the biggest policy I could afford.

After the first year, the insurance salesman was back, telling me that I needed to enhance the policy-the costs of hospitalisation had gone up, my lifestyle would surely have improved therefore I would need more money at the end of the period etc etc. This time I resisted and although I paid the premium, left the policy as it was.

The following year it was the same story all over again, more enhancements or perhaps, another new policy? I resisted again but paid the premium on the existing policy.

They tried to fish once more I believe. I think they also reminded me to pay for a couple of years after that. After that they gave up on me. No further attempts to sell me anything else and no further reminders to pay.

The last few years it has been a case of almost forgetting to pay and by some accident remembering and ringing them up, getting the details and paying.

I was cursing them again yesterday, why cant they remind people to pay up, surely its to their advantage to collect? Then I realised that its not.

You see, if you fail to pay, the policy lapses. They have guaranteed a minimum payout at the end of the 15 years (and they promised even more). Further, the longer the policy runs, the greater the likelihood that I'll fall sick some day and claim on the medical.

Therefore, the best thing the insurer can do is collect a few years of premium and then hope the policyholder forgets and quietly allow the policy to lapse.

They basically pocket the premium paid and as the policy lapses they have no liability to pay.

Therefore you have something that smells a whole lot like an advance fee fraud. Promise to deliver and collect a few small upfront payments to cover costs, the basic principle on which the good old Nigerian scam works.

They also get the salesman to collect the names of at least a couple of your friends when they sell the policy and each time they come back to sell you enhancements so they use you as a springboard for further sales.

This from subsidiary of a foreign insurer, contrast this with the behaviour of the Sri Lanka Insurance Corporation (ok I was young and a sucker for all things insurance). I had a couple of much smaller life polices with SLIC, I decided I could'nt afford to maintain all these insurance policies and did not pay the premia. For a few years (about three I think) after I last paid, they kept sending reminders.

Therefore my friends, remember the old maxim caveat emptor and that everything you hear about insurance salesmen is true, just extend it to the companies as well.

Outdoing Bawa

Geoffrey Bawa was undoubtedly a genius and it is only to be expected that he will have many followers. Unfortunately it seems to me that some of his ideas are becoming rather overused.

I have just seen some pictures of the former Villa Mohotti and they have left me rather uneasy. The Villa had been redone and it was perfect, needing nothing more than a little maintenance. I believe it was a ruin that was restored by Bawa himself.

However the new owners have gone and added new buildings and crammed the place with furniture, leaving it looking rather overcrowded.

None of the buildings can be described as ugly but I think it is important to retain a certain amount of empty space-both within and without a building.

The same mistake is evident in the other property recently renovated by the same owners - Tintagel on Rosmead Place. The building looks very nice from the outside, but step inside and one finds the place chock-a-block with ultra modern furniture that simply does not go with the main building. Step outside into the terrace (it used to be a lawn) and one meets another concrete jungle of paving stones and concrete tables under umbrellas with scarcely any space to move.

I have once visited Tintagel in its previous state and rather liked the lawn and the blue cement floors, both of which have now gone. I think the lawn at the back was sacrificed for part of the swimming pool, which I think was unnecessary.

Fitting in the maximum number of tables in a given space might sound sensible from a business point of view but it takes away from atmosphere of the place, which is what true boutique hotels are all about.

Presumably the new owners are awaiting a huge tourism boom and have added enough capacity to make the most of it but they may have inadvertently ended up taking their properties downmarket, rather than upmarket.

I don't see myself visiting either of the places.

Questions, questions.

The Christmas season has been surprisingly busy and despite my having done very little real work, find myself quite run down. The season had been a series of large noisy gatherings with very little meaningful conversation until I met a friend for dinner yesterday. We were discussing a few questions and I thought I would share these.

1. For those familiar with Maslow's hierarchy of needs, where does sex fit in? I thought it would not be static but vary with age. My friend suggested its relative position would be in inverse proportion to the likelihood of it occurring.

2. Women and grooming. What is it that really drives a woman to look after their general appearance (dress, accessories, makeup etc). We were rather distressed by the way in which some very good looking women were ruining there appearance by overly heavy makeup.

I thought it was driven by insecurity, which would increase with age .I knew of a classic case of a really good looking woman in her mid 30's making a hideous mess of her face. My friend, on the other hand, knew someone who made the same mistake as a young university undergraduate and he put a different perspective on it.

He suggested that women groom themselves not to impress men but to impress other women. Thus it is not a case of the peacock displaying a beautiful tail to impress the opposite sex but rather a case of establishing a position within the social hierarchy of a tribe.

I do know that men who work out are always checking out the physiques of other men in a gym and there is always a subtle level of competition that goes on with the amount of weight being lifted.

3. Why is it that a few television serials tend to be evergreen, endlessly reinventing themselves while others fade out after a few programmes? The classic is Dr Who which is still seemingly evergreen after many decades and after a succession of doctors.

Ordering books

Thanks to the internet people need not confine themselves to the selection of books available at the local shops. True, there is the added cost of shipping plus the possibility of theft but quite a few people do order books online.

There is however, a new hazard. Big Brother is Watching.

A friend of mine related an incident that happened last week to someone he knew rather well. This chap had ordered some books, perfectly harmless books, a Terry Pratchett children's book, another on diet and a few others. The books arrived and he went over to the post office to collect them.

The people at the post office opened all the parcels and started reading through the books. When asked why, they replied that they were looking to see if there was any anti-government material being brought in.

He was so taken aback that he did not have the presence of mind to inquire as to the penalty for such a crime, which would presumably, be suitably hideous.

Sunday musing

Woke up this morning almost shivering with cold. Spent a good part of the morning sneezing and sniffling, not something that would bother me much normally, but given the exotic types of influenza going around, dosed myself with piriton to stop the sneezing. It eased the problem but did not stop it. Took another late in the afternoon and followed it up with two panadols for good measure, but it seems to have helped only a little, which means something slightly more serious is creeping around my system.

So, falling back on an old remedy - eat like a pig to give the body the energy to fight back. No chocolate is available but there is a blancmange, which I'm eating as type, in between the odd sneeze or sniffle. My overall mood is thus, slightly grumpy, which may explain what follows.

Returned from the SOSL Christmas concert slightly disappointed despite a good performance by the orchestra. The issue was in the programme, not the performance. The second half of the concert was supposed to be Christmas Carols, some with audience participation. The carols that were played were all in jazz arrangements which I found unappealing.

The Grammy Award winning re-arrangement of the Handel's Hallelujah chorus was particularly distasteful. The programme note claims it to be a "gospel style reinterpretation", to me it was strongly reminiscent of the saccharine stuff that passes for music in the modern evangelical movement. Fortunately, Handel, being dead for 250 years, was in no position to object.

Shall take another does of panadols and piriton in another half hour and hope for the best, good night all and have a good week.

Chinese aid not working?

I have been wondering why the many infrastructure projects have seemingly had so little impact on the lives of the population. Despite all the money being spent incomes and employment don't seem to have improved.

I assumed that since most of the projects were outstation the impact must have been felt in the regions. A report in today's Sunday Times offers another explanation - that there is in fact very little impact.

The problem is that most of the material and labour are imported from China. Typically infrastructure projects generate a lot of employment and use some local resources such as transport, even if the bulk of the material is imported. According to the Sunday Times even the labour is imported.

I was discussing this with another friend of mine who worked for many years in Botswana. He had seen similar things in Africa, with Chinese projects running almost entirely on imported labour, down to the cooks and cleaners. Difficulties in communicating with local labour is one reason why Chinese contractors use their own labour but it is also apparently a method by which the Chinese government creates employment for their people.

This means that all the recipient country is left with is the physical infrastructure (roads, ports or whatever else was built). Infrastructure is necessary and will deliver benefits provided it is properly planned. Bridges to nowhere, most notoriously built in Japan, and gold plated infrastructure of the type seen in Nigeria will bring little or no benefit to the population. They are however enormously profitable to the contractors and the people involved arranging the deal.

Had the projects been done on concessionary terms, the benefits would be much greater (in terms of costs against benefits) but it appears that the projects are being done on commercial terms and at many times the actual cost due to various fingers being stuck in the pie.

The criticism being leveled at 'Western NGO's' and the development agencies is that there is too little local component in the projects being offered. In the case of Chinese aid the situation appears to be even worse, especially given that the donor agencies offer loans at lower interest terms while much of the Government financed or Chinese financed infrastructure is on commercial terms.

Why not simply use the development agencies or the NGO's to finance projects instead? The problem is that these projects come with a lot of strings - read oversight, which makes it a bit more difficult to cream something off. Commercial borrowings are free of strings, but they must be repaid at commercial rates, by taxpayers.

NGO's responsible for high rate of accidents

This news item brought a smile to my face this morning.

Not only are they corrupt, ineffective and responsible for undermining the sovereignty of the country they are also causing accidents.

And here I was, blaming the speeding VIP convoys for many accidents. It is only now that we learn the truth.

I have been told that one of the causes for accidents are the lousy brakes on the Land Rovers. Land Rovers, being typical British cars, have a reputation for mechanical problems and on top of that the brakes are supposed to be pretty bad which makes for a lethal combination.

Why these vehicles are so popular is a bit of a mystery but they are reputed to be good performers-chiefly due to the light aluminium body which gives and excellent weight/power ratio. Indeed the rugged body is one of the main strengths of the vehicle.

The rest is largely due its reputation which is bolstered by the cinema. As for me, give me the Toyota Landcruiser or Nissan Patrol anyday.

Julie Andrews to sing again

Julie Andrews lost her voice in a botched operation in 1997 to remove some non malignant nodules from her vocal chords.

She will sing again in May, although we have been forewarned that her voice will only remain a shadow of its former self.

It is hard to imagine a more untimely blow of fate. To an average person losing their singing voice is to say the least a very unhappy experience. For someone who had such a gorgeous voice and reveled in what she did, it must have been catastrophic. The only other personal disaster that I can think of this magnitude is Jonah Lomu's kidney disease which reduced one of the most devastating players on the rugger field to a cripple.

The only consolation is that the accident happened to Julie Andrews towards the end of her career although Lomu was not so fortunate.

Go for it Julie, we are all with you.

Listen to the 12 year old Julie Andrews sing God Save the King here.