Open your mind, watch your gate
It is reported that a ‘Copper Mafia’, operating mainly from Pettah in Colombo, is illegally exporting more than 4 billion rupees worth of copper scrap every year, hoodwinking the Customs Department and...
View ArticleWho is afraid of Colombo Telegraph?
The news/views website, Colombo Telegraph is blocked by certain internet providers in Sri Lanka. This is not the first occasion this has happened. Colombo Telegraph is not the first website that has...
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The Nail Soup Theoretician
On Friday the 23rd of August 2013, around 20 people gathered at a restaurant in Nugegoda, ‘Sanhinda’, to celebrate the 50thbirthday of a man called Mohan Silva. Mohan Silva is a Chartered Architect....
View ArticleAn advertising agent comes clean
[In a parallel universe called Humility...] I was really upset when I heard on Gold FM that Fonterra suspended operations in Sri Lanka. I was convinced that although this must be a dream come true for...
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Lelum Ratnayake : A voice that seeks out good-heartedness
It was in the early years of this millennium that my brother first dragged me to R&B. I am not a music person. The band X-it was playing but the name didn’t mean anything to me. I didn’t know...
View ArticleTaking stock of Navi Pillai’s ‘Worst’
The lady came. She saw. She was honest enough to say that although this is her longest visit to any country as head of UNHRC, she didn’t see much. That’s her problem though and she can’t complain,...
View ArticleDue diligence on all fronts
There are rules forced on countries through covenants signed or arm-twisted into signing. There are rules forced on rulers through constitutions. There are rules forced on people by laws enacted by...
View ArticleLet us resolve to detox right now
Roll back the years. Say 20 years. Those of you who were, say, over 10 years old, try to remember if you knew about something called ‘Chronic Kidney Disease’. Try to remember how many times you...
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Gamini Abeykoon: Inscriber of ‘exquisite’ into the humble line
[Published in The Nation, September 1, 2013] Pic by Sandra MackI first met Gamini Abeykoon in the year 2004. Courteous he was, spoke very little, and had the kindest eyes. There was nothing fake in...
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The disabled judiciary
Some say that the judiciary was disabled by the 1978 Constitution. Some say that this is why Shirani B lost out to Mahinda R in the impeachment saga. But everyone knows that when a judge takes his or...
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CHOGM and beggars
It is reported that in view of the forthcoming CHOGM, beggars are being arrested left and right. That's probably to give the impression that Sri Lanka is beggar-free or that this eye-sore is an...
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Some pills ok, some pills not
The Police Narcotic Bureau has thwarted attempts to smuggle in Viagra and abortion pills, it is reported. If Viagra and abortion pills are narcotics, then the alert officers of the PNB can do the...
View ArticleThe glorification of the inglorious
The High Commissioner of the UNHRC Navi Pillay came and went. She brought words with her, gathered some words during her visit, and generated some words before she left. She is not done yet, since she...
View ArticleThe TNA’s ‘hardline’ manifesto
There is a time-tested formula to obtain the optimum in any engagement. It was proposed first by the All-Knowing and All-Seeing, the Buddha Siddhartha Gauthama. The doctrine is contained in two...
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C.V. Wigneswaran chit-chats with a ghost
[IN A PARALLEL UNIVERSE CALLED ‘HUMILITY’…]Illustration by Asanga IndunilCanagasabapathy Viswalingam Wigneswaran, retired-judge of the Supreme Court, burdened by the unfamiliar rigors of politicking,...
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The most popular brand
It seems that no brand is as popular as 'Ekthara'. Whenever a brand or product gets soiled and indeed too soiled for the media not to pick up the story, Chief Editors and News Editors re-brand it....
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Even terrorism pays (but only in Sri Lanka)!
It is reported that ex-LTTE combatants are set to secure IT/BPO jobs. They are able to apply and get such jobs because while they were in custody, the Government spared no pains to give them...
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The politics of hope
President Mahinda Rajapaksa has pointed that each and every candidate contesting the forthcoming provincial council elections wants to be the Chief Minister of the respective province. The problem of...
View ArticleBritain's incurable addiction
Britain has been named the European capital of drug addiction. This is about 'legal highs', such as alcohol and chemical substances. There are other 'legal highs' though, which are not mentioned in...
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Sunila Abeysekera and the prerogatives of the displaced
Sunila Abeysekera, 61, passed away a few days ago. As in the case of all deaths, she is mourned by those who knew her best, friends and family. But Sunila was not just ‘friend’ and ‘family’. She was...
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