What is happening to Our Island SL – By Des Kelly.
The latest e’mail from my good friend Charles Schokman, bearing the photograph of the Malaysian Prime Minister, Dr.Mahathia Mohamad, quoting a solid “chunk” of common-sense on how not to lose solid “chunks” of one’s own Country. How sensible is this ?. Seems to me that Malaysia is IN the right hands. Dr Mahathia has hit the nail on the head, with his quoted statement shown clearly & signed by him. However, what is happening to Our Island, S.L.?, asks Charles of me, and I am sad about it, but have to answer. To begin with, it is “Our Island Silly Lanka”, now.
The resplendent(Sri) prefix has been altered hereforth by me, for obvious reasons.
What used to be a natural, beautiful Paradise of a place, STILL IS !!, except that, FIRSTLY, part of it now belongs to China. Soon, the Trincomalee Town & harbour will be next on the agenda, when China comes calling for more money owed to them (China) for EXTENSIONS to what was the BIGGEST NATURAL HARBOUR IN ALL THE WORLD !.
Xi Jinping will then be “jumping” at the chance to bite off another chunk of the delicious pumpkin which could now be renamed “Chi Lanka” if total debts cannot be paid. This is how silly it has all become.
Secondly, China has done a terrific job, using extremely low-paid workers, in enhancing the Island for tourism. Sure, as a leading English Newspaper recently said, ” Aussies are NOT now frequenting Thailand & Bali for their holidays, as much, because NOW, they have found a little tear-shaped Island, hanging off the Southern tip of India, for a cheap, yet fascinating way to spend their hard-earned money. GOOD !!,
I am very happy indeed, with that sort of advertising, still,
“Outward Show, Inward Woe”, “All that Glitters is not Gold”,
“All these things I do know”, “Now, you have all been told”.
I believe that Lanka still looks like the tourist paradise it is supposed to be. Beautiful 5 star tourist hotels, superbly “carpeted” roads, to get to them, top class service, while tourists use them, air-conditioned vehicles to transport them to wherever they want to go, delicious food, fruit, wines & Ceylon Tea, a-plenty, still beautiful flora and fauna to see, spotless beaches, everything, the tourist looks for,
BUT, LOOK AGAIN!!. Behind all the glamour, is the clamour.
What the tourist doesn’t see (especially, recently), is all the filthy rubbish strewn beachside at places like Negombo,
“Pot-holed Streets & Pariah-dogs” outside Colombo, Beggars, once again, tapping at the panes of vehicles, begging for money, Urban Councils of many smaller areas off the beaten track, simply not doing their job of keeping the Island CLEAN!. Okay, I say. today’s tourists will quite possibly not notice all the rotting garbage, but they will not be totally blind forever, and when they wake up, another little, CLEANER Island will be found & Chi-Lanka forgotten.
Won’t that be rotton ?.
Thirdly, & finally, Lanka needs TOUGH LEADERSHIP.
This leadership may well end up in a KINGSHIP, as of old, where someone, perhaps a direct descendant of the great Dhutu-Gemunu could take hold of My Lovely Island Home & steer the SHIP like Vijaya, into the “Trinco-harbour” before the Chinese take THAT, over, and CHANGE CHI-LANKA back into the SRI-LANKA, it should ALWAYS BE. Take it from me, & I’m sure you’ll agree.
Desmond Kelly
Star of eLanka
(Editor-in-Chief).
