The only way forward is for someone who understands the position of Sri Lanka in the world and embraces it’s position with tolerance to any individual regardless of race, colour or religion. Leading Sri Lanka also requires someone who is honest and just. The rule of law should be maintained regardless of repercussions internally or externally. In Sri Lanka, a country of many races, the law must take a hard line towards race related matters. Any tolerance in this respect would bring the whole country back to square one.

Victor Ivan has made an accurate analysis of the current political situation in our blessed (cursed) country. With the political structure as unfair as it is, the corrupt government looks likely to stay it’s term rather than be ousted by any political moves by anyone. There are not many solutions to such situations, and the few that remain require a lot more courage to implement than any Lankan has displayed in the history of this tiny island.

Well kbob the above is an interview that Lee Kwan Yew gave on August 24, 2007, called “We saw Sri Lanka: Lee Kwan Yew says it again” which appeared in the Sunday Times International on Sunday September 2, 2007. Lee was interviewed by Leonard M. Apcar, deputy managing editor of the International Herald Tribune, Wayne Arnold, a Singapore correspondent, and Seth Mydans, Southeast Asia bureau chief.

I will quote just two paragraphs from his interview.

” To begin with we don’t have the ingredients of a nation, the elementary factors, a homogenous population, common language, common culture and common destiny. We are migrants from southern China, southern India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, before it was divided, Ceylon and the archipelago. So, the problem was, can we keep these peoples together? The basis of a nation just was not there. But the advantage we had was that we became independent late. In 1965, we had 20 years of examples of failed states. So, we knew what to avoid — racial conflict, linguistic strife, religious conflict. We saw Ceylon. Thereafter, we knew that if we embarked on any of these romantic ideas, to revive a mythical past of greatness and culture, we’d be damned. So, there’s no return to nativism. We have left our moorings. We’re all stranded here to make a better or worse living than in our own original countries.”

IHT (International Herald Tribune): Let me connect one more thought here that I am not clear about. In this more open, interconnected world where the educated and the elites are traveling and easily moving all over the world, what does this do to Asian values? Does it inevitably dilute them?

Lee Kuan Yew: It’s already diluted and we can see it in the difference between the generations. It’s inevitable. One of the things we did which we knew would call for a big price was to switch from our own languages into English. We had Chinese, Malay, Indian schools — separate language medium schools. The British ran a small English school sector to produce clerks, storekeepers, teachers for the British. Had we chosen Chinese, which was our majority language, we would have perished, economically and politically.

Riots — we’ve seen Sri Lanka, when they switched from English to Sinhala and disenfranchised the Tamils and so strife ever after. We chose — we didn’t say it was our national language — we said it was our working language, that everybody learns English whatever language medium school you go to. Which means nobody needs interpretation to read English.

So kbob…either do in Sri Lanka what Lee Kwan Yew did in Singapore…or bring back the British, or get Lee Kwan Yew to manage Sri Lanka as a Lifetime Executive President!

My view is that reason for us becoming a “failed state”(Which i don’t believe it is) is ppl’s mind set.India too is a failed nation for the majority of there population because they live way below the poverty line. But have you ever heard they blaming country for that.Yes they blame politician’s, economy but they never talk about bringing back British.They are proud for who they are and thats what drives them towards success.and we keep talking about bringing back the people destroyed our land by politically dividing our people.So how could we think about a future.

In Tagore’s famous novel “Gora”, when someone speaks ill of the Indian nation Gora says this.

“what right do you have to criticize your country,What have you done for your country,You should be ashamed of your self, ”

Yes,we all should be ashamed…….

ps: I was born in Sri Lanka…but I don’t consider myself a Sri Lankan….I prefer to go with what Socrates said…”I’m neither an Athenean, neither a Greek…i’m a citizen of the world!”