The Island editorial (28/12) titled ‘Muck, bucks and impunity’ made me sad and even angry. Sad because this little land of ours cannot take it anymore. It is being battered from all sides: deforestation, serene beaches are turned into hotels, rivers are losing their precious sand, wildlife is threatened by encroachments into their natural habitats for the sake of development, and garbage and rubbish is dumped almost everywhere with absolutely no concern for the environment and, on and on.
How can a human being stoop so low: importing foreign waste and dumping it in his country? Now, we all know who (or the majority of them) can be behind these ugly deals, don’t we, anyway?
By Gamini Weerakoon
DoublespeakView(s):
Wishing you ‘A Very Wishful New Year’ was our greeting to all Sri Lankans for 2020. There was a very good reason for it because 2019 was an extremely ‘Promising Year’, with Gotabaya Rajapaksa and Sajith Premadasa trying to outbid each other with promises to people that would have truly made their life in Lanka a Heaven on Earth.
The knowledgeable masses truly believed in the promises made and supporters of both candidates went into ecstasies and finally to the polls in their thousands. We as observers of the passing scene could only wish the promises made and wishes hoped for would come true.
2021: Wishing you a Miracle Year
Sri Lanka Guardian
11:03 PM
To every unanswerable question, there is always a stupid answer and the latest we have heard is that the Covid 19 is mutating and the new miracle vaccines may not work against it. That is why Sri Lankans in their wisdom have not yet decided on the issue, is the reply.
by Gamini Weerakoon
Wishing you ‘A Very Wishful New Year’ was our greeting to all Sri Lankans for 2020. There was a very good reason for it because 2019 was an extremely ‘Promising Year’, with Gotabaya Rajapaksa and Sajith Premadasa trying to outbid each other with promises to people that would have truly made their life in Lanka a Heaven on Earth.
(Pic by Jeevan Chandimal/PMD)
By Shamindra Ferdinando
Last Monday’s briefing at the Presidential Secretariat (old parliament) on the status of the war-winning armed forces revealed the pathetic state of affairs during the yahapalana administration. President Gotabaya Rajapaksa chaired the Defence Ministry review which lasted several hours. After Defence Secretary Maj. Gen. Kamal Gunaratne addressed the gathering, respective service chiefs explained the crisis experienced by the armed forces during the 2015 to 2019 period.
Navy Chief VA Nishantha Ulugetenne and Airforce Chief AVM Sudarshana Pathirana explained how they were deprived of the required support to maintain available assets. There hadn’t been a similar meeting since the change of government in Nov 2019. The then government allowed the armed forces to deteriorate. The rapid deterioration had been all part of the yahapalana strategy meant to undermine the armed forces. Downsizing the Army had been one crucial aspect a
By Prof. Wimal Dissanayake
The Venerable Tirikiunamale Ananda Maha Nayaka Thera has written a reverential commemorative poem, titled
Guru Dev Samara, celebrating the life and times of his teacher the Reverend Ampitiye Rahula Maha Thera. It is a poem that deserves the critical attention of discerning readers primarily because of the dexterity with which the author has handled his chosen poetic meter and commanded it to perform a number of functions related to the vitality of the poetic text
Guru Dev Samara consists of 130 stanzas written in conformity to the
drutha vilambitha meter. As I will explain later, the choice of this meter is indeed a happy one. It serves to enhance the willed intensity of the poetic text.