4 December, 2024

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India Is Over The Moon, Ranil Wants Sri Lankan Children Taught Hindi & Chinese 

By Rajan Philips

Rajan Philips

On Wednesday, August 23, at 6:03 PM local time, India’s lunar spacecraft Chandrayaan-3 executed a perfect soft landing on the south side of the moon. India was literally over the moon. “This success belongs to all of humanity,” exulted Modi from South Africa. Quite a world apart from the South Africa that Mohandas Gandhi experienced in 1893. Hopefully, someone will remind Modi when he returns to Delhi that his humanity, like that of Mahatma Gandhi, should also include the Muslims of India. 

In New Delhi, Rahul Gandhi justifiably recalled the beginning of India’s space programme in 1962, and the tremendous strides that have been made since.  Although Mr. Gandhi did not drop any name, India’s Prime Minister in 1962 was Jawaharlal Nehru, Rahul Gandhi’s great grandfather and Narendra Modi’s existential bête noire. 

There is nothing to exaggerate about the scientific, technological, and most of all cost-efficient achievement that the success of Chandrayaan 3 represents, especially after the failure of its predecessor Chandrayaan 2 in 2019, and the crashlanding failure last week of Russia’s Lunar 25. That was Russia’s first mission to the Moon after 1976, and it was also aiming to land near the south pole of the moon. India is now the fourth country to execute a controlled soft landing on the moon, and it joins the elite lunar club alongside the US, Russia and China. It is also the first country to land near the south pole, bringing that region of the moon for the first time into scientific observatories.

Space Business

The space race of the 1960s was monopolised by the US and the then Soviet Union (USSR), as they took to outer space their ideological fight over controlling the planet. There is now talk of a different race driven by market forces and profit motives. Space is already big business with global revenues expected to rise to trillions of dollars (from less than half a trillion now) by mid-21st century. A major driving force is the reduction in launching and, now after Chandrayaan 3, landing costs. In addition to navigation and weather satellites, new enterprises will include manufacturing and mining of the moon and asteroids. 

Under Modi’s direction, India is privatising space launches and inviting foreign investment. The success of Chandrayaan 3 will surely be exploited to achieve the fivefold increase that the Modi government is targeting for foreign investment in the space industry. India is now more than a step ahead in the race for space capital after Russia’s failure this year (not to mention Putin’s war), as well as the 2019 failure of a privately funded moon landing initiative from Israel, and Japan’s failure earlier this year. 

From an overall economic standpoint, out of the five BRICS countries (Brazil, Russia, China, India and South Africa) India alone is being seen as the standout country with the “strongest macroeconomic promise” and the least social and political uncertainties. Chandrayaan 3 is a sure fillip to that promise and the prospect to emerge “as the world’s great economic power and foreign investment destination.” India’s broad economic promises are as much due to good political leadership, as they are in spite of bad political lapses. 

The Modi government has generated both in equal measure, but the great resilience of India’s federalised democracy is that it can survive a change in government and march on, as it did in 2004 (when a Congress alliance ousted the incumbent BJP government), and again in 2014 (when the BJP led by Narendra Modi turned the tables on the old Congress). It can happen again in 2024, and the country will be richer for it. 

A concerning social dimension to the success of Chandrayaan 3 is India’s challenge of prioritising between providing social protection for the poor and securing capital investment for luxury growth and space programmes. At a global level, prioritisation is also about investments in outer space sucking out much needed resources for dealing with problems at home on the planet. Especially climate change problems, and the recurring cycles of forest fires, heavy rains and prolonged droughts.  

India’s challenge is all the more critical given the widening disparities in income levels and consumption patterns in the country. A recent Oxfam study suggests that India’s top 1% own 40% of its wealth. The figures are being disputed, but the underlying disparities cannot be denied. Apart from income, less than 30% of working age (15-59 years) women are employed, in contrast to the employment rate of 80% among men. Unemployment is high in the cities, while rural workers on government employment programmes do not receive their wages on time. 

So-so Sri Lanka

Things are so-so in Sri Lanka, which is small enough to be beautiful, even if it has to navigate between the fading far away power of America and the far more proximate and emerging powers of India and China. After the tumults of 2022 and a full year of the Wickremesinghe caretaker presidency, there is an appearance of calm over underlying uneasiness. There are no breakthrough signs yet, unless you want to take President Wickremesinghe’s advice to school children to learn Hindi and Chinese, along with English, “in order to fit into the changing world,” as a sign of things to come under an extended Wickremesinghe presidency. 

This is old colonial thinking applied to new languages. Not even all the states in India are going to teach Hindi as an official language. But India is a modern polyglot country, like the old Hapsburg Empire, but that does not mean every person needs to know multiple languages. Many Indians learn and speak two or more languages, besides their mother tongue and including English, and oftentimes Hindi. China is a different story and not a babel tower. 

Will it be a brave new Sri Lanka, where Sinhalese and Tamil children in Sri Lanka can speak to one another in Hindi or Chinese before they go out to conquer the world?. Will it be a better world than the one where Sinhalese children may learn some reasonable Tamil, and Tamil children a bit of official Sinhalese. Already, Tamil children growing up in Europe speaking French or German are apparently not able to talk with their cousins stuck in post-Brexit English. 

But the really changing linguistic Sri Lankan landscape belongs to trilingual-fluent Muslims and hill country Tamils, who are also changing the island’s ethno- demographics. It is time anyway, as hill country Tamils mark the 200th anniversary of the arrival of their forefathers from South India to labour on British colonial plantations. It has been a long journey for them. 

There are also signs of constitutional lightness of being with parliamentarians led by the Sports Minister getting busy to adopt a new Constitution for “Sri Lanka Cricket” (SLC). That would give some much needed rest to the national constitution, which has been propositioned for change by too many people, too many times, with no outcome to write home about. Things may change if President Wickremesinghe were to decide that it is time for Sri Lankan voters to have an early election and formally (and finally) elect him as their default President.   

The economy is humming along, but not at all at the pace to start paying back our debts, or to be on the launchpad for the promised landing in 2048. Tourism and worker remittances have reportedly picked up and brought much needed foreign exchange. And so have agricultural exports. But the apparel sector is apparently in distress as it continues to lose market shares to other competitor countries, which seem to be focused on improving technical education and productivity rather than thinking about learning Hindi or Chinese. 

According to the World Bank’s country mission, Sri Lanka is still far short of its full potential as an investment destination. Although that should not be the only or even the primary consideration for planning economic growth, the mission’s assessment that Sri Lanka may have missed about USD 10 billion in foreign investment and a corresponding 142,500 jobs, is a metric that Sri Lanka’s aspiring political leaders may want take note of. President Wickremesinghe of course knows it all, but everyone is waiting for him to show it all in results. 

Latest comments

  • 9
    2

    Ranil’s wearing a young man’s tie; he feels young again …….. OC will be over the moon …….. 2048 moon-landing is a reality now …….


    “Children Taught Hindi & Chinese”

    Ah fads! They come and go ….. go as sure as they come …… Ranil’s father was wearing Oxford Bags ……. and they came around as Bell Bottoms for Ranil to wear ……. not long ago, it was the Japs heading to the moon and everyone wanted children to learn Japanese

    American CEOs were heading to Japan to learn their management-techniques …… calisthenics before work and all ….. Japanese economy tanked and everything Japanese was abandoned and forgotten…….. now it’s the turn of the Injuns and the Chinese (Chinks, anyone? ….. Native?)

    Promoted/encouraged by Ranil ………. in no time, Indian toilets will be in vogue in Lanka! ……… Oh boy! what a turnaround that’ll be!!!

    Indians will have the last laugh …….. through Native’s boo hoo-ing

    • 4
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      Praise be to Ranil’s 2048
      The Titanic sails at dawn
      And everybody’s shouting
      “Which Side Are You On?”
      And Old Codger and Sinhala_Man
      Fighting in the captain’s tower
      While Jaya Mangala Gatha singers laugh at them

      All these people that you mention
      Yes, I know them, they’re quite lame
      I had to rearrange their faces
      And give them all other names

      Now the bricks lay on Grand Street
      They all fall there so perfectly
      It all seems so well timed
      And here I sit so patiently
      Waiting to find out what price
      I have to pay to get out of
      Going through all these things twice

      • 7
        1

        “But the really changing linguistic Sri Lankan landscape belongs to trilingual-fluent Muslims and hill country Tamils, who are also changing the island’s ethno- demographics.”
        A very accurate observation. Many of the best English presenters on the media are Muslims, in contrast to clowns like Chamuditha . Supermarkets and other establishments nowadays are increasingly staffed by bilingual upcountry Tamils, who are known for consistent work attendance. Go to any visa office, and you get interviewed by a Tamil or Muslim.
        I wonder when the guardians of National Security will wake up to this existential threat?

        • 2
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          “I wonder when the guardians of National Security will wake up to this existential threat?”


          If people are forced to pay a high enough price for their folly/indiscretions then they try not to create “existential threats.”

          The “Sinhalese” could discriminate against the helpless/defenceless “Tamils” ……… until Prabakaran appeared and got them to pay a high price ……. the “Sinhalese” governments were totally free to go to town to discriminate against the “Tamils.” ……. Prabakaran, at the prime of his power created a bulwark: gave the “Tamils” their honour/self-esteem, to hold their head high. Irrespective of all Prbakaran’s eliminations of “Sinhala” pols, he was recognised as the sole rep of the “Tamils” and given equal treatment with the government in the South.

          Irrespective of what Buddha, Christ, all the other religions taught/teach ………. fear/terror created by unspeakable brutality is what forces people to “reluctantly” do good (get on the right path/track) ……. in primitive human-environs – if not most.

          • 1
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            continued

            After, Prabakaran’s demise in 2009 …… look how the “Sinhalese” have fared under “Sinhalese” governments! …….. If any “Sinhalese,” – who has not been bribed by Ranil or the Rajapakses – believe that they have fared better ……. just raise ye hand, I’ve just the investment opportunity of a lifetime for ye! ……. Native, how much money you’ve got? Wanna double?

      • 3
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        https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pfIvfK5pKGI

        The best way to protect the EPF is to convert it to dollars and take it out of the country. And invest in low-fee Index-funds and some in BRK.A/BRK.B.

        The long-term compounded annual depreciation of the rupee against the dollar is 9 – 10% ……… and the appreciation/performance of Index-funds is around 10.2% ……. and BRK is around 19.8%

        Many of the stakeholders would’ve been near dollar millionaires …….. and some millionaires.

    • 2
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      Unlike any politician/public-figure ever before ……….. Ranil is the biggest curse to the country ……….. much much more than even the Rajapakses.

      Without Ranil there wouldn’t have been Rajapakses.

      From the day he became the leader of the UNP, all what he did was make the UNP totally impotent, ineffective and unelectable. As a result any opposition to the SLFP-side of politics was removed.

      Some of the SLFP-side of politicians have been ministers throughout my entire adult life. That’s unheard of in Lanka’s entire post-independence history! And it is even worse than in some totalitarian regimes around the globe where the governments never change!

      Those voters who never voted for Ranil – and made him unelectable – were much wiser than us who were Ranil supporters. ……… Yes, even the 6.9 million! For them the choice was between Gota and Sajith with all of Ranil’s baggage …… and they voted for the lesser evil. What choice did they have?

      • 2
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        continued

        Mind is a great asset if one can change it. …….. Sorry, Ranil supporters, gotta abandon ship …… the iceberg is looming …….


        Like the good ol’ Confederate general said ……. “My dearest brave soldiers, don’t ever give up, fight to the bitter end ……… fight till the last bullet is spent; then, only then, make your retreat. …… Since I am lame, I’ll start my retreat now.”

        Native, …… see ya on the other side, if ya make it through ………..

  • 3
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    Dear Rajan Philips,
    .
    You usually write quite penetrating articles, but here you have given us an article that, especially towards the end, prognosticates prosperity for Lanka without suggesting any basis for so forecasting.
    .
    I think that rational thinking about the uses of language is very necessary. Most seem to under-estimate the effort that must necessarily go into the learning of languages. Being a now retired teacher of English, I made many points that I thought important towards the end of comments here:
    .
    https://www.colombotelegraph.com/index.php/the-republic-that-fears-the-independence-of-the-judiciary-even-more-than-terrorism/
    ..
    It is not yet clear what Ranil W. was incoherently saying, At Anula Vidayalaya about 8 days ago, it seemed that all was to buy time to settle Indian and Chinese pay back claims, I’d like to see tomorrow what is being said by others.

    • 5
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      SM,
      “Being a now retired teacher of English”
      “here you have given us an article that, especially towards the end, prognosticates prosperity for Lanka without suggesting any basis for so forecasting.”
      I would hardly think that a knowledge of English is a qualification to comment on economics.
      In that case I could do brain surgery……

      • 6
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        Dear Readers,
        .
        1
        our narrow-minded dominated nation dont take it serious anything. They ridicule out any good suggestions. Europeans learn chinese and hindi for such a long time now. I know whole lot of germans do it at the University of Heidelberg and several other univerities (Bonn, Stuttgart, Gottingen usw). All these were foreseen by late Minister Mangala Samaraweera. Today, his quotes have not been able to die down.
        https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FhGSvWMQSLA
        https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AyE9C8haNlk
        https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AyE9C8haNlk
        The japanese do the same. I have met japanese profs that have come to srialnka to improve their sinhala langague skills.
        It is perhaps not easy for a primitive nation who cant even respect trilingnulism is essential in today s context, let alone further langagues. Besides, our people dont think twice before going to comment on it. So called former English teachers too behave like street people being caught by AKDISM which is a doctrine to reject anything if it comes from non-JVP-NPP.

        tbc

        • 6
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          cont.
          2
          It is obvious that Langauges connect the people around the globe. Even if average indians dont have sound english skills, they 1400-millions make more effort to learn basic english unless otherwise, they would get stuck somewhere not being able to communicate each other. Youtuber-normads prove that our rural living people cant even ABC level of english, and that make them difficult to buy their daily needs from country side retail shops. This is more prevalent in sinhala-dominated areas than tamil and muslim dominated areas of the island.
          .
          Sadest reality in our hell, sinhalayas dont want to learn Tamil, tamils dont want to learn sinhala, and both reject English as a connecting langague. They love to stangnate like the flora and fauna in Baira Lake which is stinky like that of Wimal Weerawans’s mouth piece.
          .
          The biggest obstacle is that politicians do not provide facilities so that everyone can learn English.
          Now we are in an era where the poor African countries of the past are about to take over us economically. We are called Asia’s oldest democracy and are deluded by “self-aggrandizement and overestimation of our species”: they believe that we Sinhalese should be second to none.
          Rude head-shaven, uneducated men in robes misguide them anywhere, wild elephants dressed in jangis (underwears) to live out their hideous proclivities.

      • 1
        2

        I understand that the economy is in a bad way. I think that is obvious to anybody with common sense.
        .
        In your case you now say everything done by Ranil is wonderful.
        .
        Even in the comment that you criticise I have not pretended that my views on prosperity or the lack of it stem from a clear understanding of Economics.
        .
        Rajan Philips is a wonderful writer on politics and even occasionally Literature (strange when one knows him to be an electrical engineer), but this essay is really two separate essays published as one.

        • 2
          0

          SM,
          .
          Do you think anyone could do it better? I doubt, many like me remain doubtful. If yes, tell us how? assuming , had Dallas been elected as President, could he have done it better? Pigs can fly. He never took it serious, as a former journalist, to restructure lanken media chaos, let alone how could he perform better politics ? If he did it to LANKEN media, much of MEDIA mafia could have been crushed at its bud level.

          RW, as a senior politician who has lived with lanken-brutes all his life can do that, no one but Ranil can do that. It is similar, that I or the like got education out of srilanka can hardly work with srilanken professionals, because I have not worked with them before. We are more law-bound than any average srilankens, that is why I cant get on with anyone down there in University of Peradeniya and University of Colombo today.
          .
          Your god of the day, AKD can’t even balance his former colleagues who were front men (Peratugami), let alone deal with the heterodox thinkers and politicians in this country, pigs can fly if we put our hopes on them.
          Tactics of instant gratifiers like JVPs may woo political teenagers like you, but they cannot pierce our noses.

          tbc

      • 1
        3

        Since you want to bring praise for Ranil into every topic that we discuss, please provide again your defence of Ranil’s refusal to have the Local Government Elections. Is it still that there is no money?
        .
        Many silly people (not you!) imagine that Ranil’s taking over from Gota is similar to Rishi Sunak taking over from Boris Johnson (nobody now remembers the Liz Truss episode).
        .
        I checked only an hour ago and found that in the UK there have been three by-elections in July.
        .
        https://www.parliament.uk/business/news/2023/july-2023/new-mps-elected-at-july-by-elections/
        .
        The Conservatives have managed to narrowly hold on to Boris Johnson’s seat, but have lost the other two. One to Labour, and one to the Lib-Dems. The question of not holding elections was clearly never a possibility.
        .
        And now there’s going to be a fourth:
        .
        https://www.channel4.com/news/uk – Preparation for by-election after Nadine Dorries resignation.
        .
        Your hero, Ranil, is a criminal in my eyes; never mind the legal skullduggery.
        .
        Panini Edirisinhe (483111444V)

        • 2
          1

          Dear Readers,
          .
          don’t like repetition, but people of this country need to know why, how can ignorant people demand local government elections in a dangerous situation where more than 50% of the country is fighting for their basic needs. And as I read it somewhere, JVP is against “Pradeshiya Sabha Elections” in general: are they acting like MEDAMULANA dogs just to take advantage of the situation?

          When all the treating doctors become jokers and the mother of a family is confined in an intensive care unit, how will the mother’s relatives feel better? Likewise, in this extremely critical phase of this country, we should put aside all the changes and work together to keep our heads above water for these two years. Ranil is not my hero for the 100th time. Nor is he my enemy.So I don’t blame him. The MEDAMULANA dogs and their supporters created the mess.
          .
          However, many others with some brains believe that we have no choice in the dire economic situation the Rajapaksas have thrown us into. We have to pick ourselves up from where we fall. Oppositionmen may be like you, AKD seems to have no vision to see it right. Othern than accusations.what have they been doing for the last 57years ? In the meantime, the next hope, Puthano is turning fully like his father just to grab the votes, stay behind the PINGUTHTHARAYA community. I think we have no hope in this country. I am very pessimitic.

          tbc

        • 2
          0

          SM,
          “I checked only an hour ago and found that in the UK there have been three by-elections in July.”
          So? The UK isn’t bankrupt. Why don’t you check whether any elections were conducted during WW2?
          You know perfectly well that it was Gota and COVID that brought the country to this pass, not Ranil. Do you even know the results of bankruptcy in other countries? Try Haiti , Lebanon, or Zimbabwe. What the devil do you expect Ranil to do in the circumstances, and how? Not even your gods in the JVP have concrete answers.You are free to criticize, but then, if you don’t like what is being done now, let’s have alternatives. Not wooly and undefined ones. If you think taking more loans is bad, pray tell how petrol, gas, and electricity are to be funded?
          Having elections will most likely bring in the SJB. Why don’t you read THEIR economic policy before you blab ? There is only one way out.
          https://www.sundaytimes.lk/230827/columns/setback-for-sjbs-alliance-moves-as-dullas-woos-wimals-group-and-jvp-530767.html

    • 4
      1

      S M ,

      Hi S M ,

      Long time no see I thought ‘ Chandrayan ‘ took you for a ride !
      Joke aside , I got a bin bag ready for Products coming from
      Ranil . Some things worth opening the package and then to
      the bin and too many of them , you only have to read the
      sender name to hand it to the bin and immediately out of your
      way , and the best part is Ranil knows best , the quality of his
      products and his customer base . Now to the point , the first
      thing about languages in our country , Sinhalese don’t speak
      Sinhala , Tamils don’t speak Tamil and Muslims don’t speak
      any of these ! Surprised ? The leaders have taught them the
      language of Lie ! The language schools are Parliament and
      Religious places and the media ! Give a little time to your grey
      matter and you get the results . Seriously , you have one thing
      in your heart and utter a whole different thing from your lips ,
      how do you call it ? How do you call it when you say one thing
      do another ? What is the role of language there ? No language
      can help you . Let our country learn to speak one language
      meaningfully first of all and love that language and own it . The
      politicians of all hues have done a great job in discouraging their
      citizens of speaking any of their own languages with perfection .
      Check it with the developed world children to see the difference ,
      how precise they are with their words .

    • 3
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      Can any of ye esteemed learned gents/ladies name one country that has reached great “development” by speaking other languages?

      Japan? China? USA? ………. Bangladesh? Vietnam? …….. Ranil?

      In their greatest moments of need, great ideas fall into pols’ minds …….. like water ……

      What for the talking?

      • 4
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        Nimal,
        “name one country that has reached great “development” by speaking other languages?”
        So sorry to quibble, but Ramona will tell you that the residents of her Pittsburgh neighbourhood 500 years ago weren’t English speakers.

        • 2
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          Silly comparison. Out of context in time, place, origin, rhyme and reason.

          • 2
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            Ramona,
            Is it true or not?

            • 0
              0

              OC,

              You’ll find the answer ……. if you visit a Native American Indian reservation.

              Sure, they speak English ……… and sing and dance for the visitors ……… reached the peak of development!

            • 0
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              Codger,

              Untrue! The whole Native American Nation was invaded and replaced by Europeans. So, it is out of context to the Lankan situation. Lankan situ. is embarrassing……imagine OUR Nation running after Indians to learn Hindi? They haven’t even invaded us yet.

              Back to America. Still, the Native American accent flowed into English, making it the uniquely American English accent, together with a large no. of Native American words. That, plus the American Constitution stolen from the Native Americans. ( Some Americans would prefer to say it came was from ancient Greece and Rome, but how come they never utilized it before, for centuries and millennia since those times?)

              • 2
                0

                Ramona,
                “running after Indians to learn Hindi? They haven’t even invaded us yet.”
                No? Why not read the Mahavamsa?
                Be that as it may, were the Native Americans English speakers? You might believe that if you read a lot of Wild West comic books…..

                • 0
                  2

                  Codger,

                  Yawn…..answering your usual out-of-intellegent-debate retorts, for the heck of it. 2,500 years ago vs. 400 years ago. ( for Sri Lanka, mixtures after that back and forth, less than 5-10%. For America, it was 95% replacement.Yours is silly argument. Yawn. Goodnight.

                  • 0
                    0

                    10%-20% assimilation with Indians N & S vs. 95% White replacement of Native Americans.

                    • 0
                      0

                      Ramona,
                      Check your figures.

              • 0
                1

                “…the Native American accent flowed into English, making it the uniquely American English”
                A linguist should comment on this fascinating discovery (or is it invention?).
                If one says Negro dialects made a major impact there is a case to argue as they interacted.
                Indigenous Americans? What was the degree of community interaction?

                • 0
                  0

                  SJ,
                  Some people live in an alternate reality. Invent your own. You gotta go with the flow.

                • 0
                  0

                  “If one says Negro dialects made a major impact there is a case to argue as they interacted.”

                  “Negro dialects”
                  I suspect civilisation and political correctness have not some section of retired academic circle.
                  Perhaps his sense of superiority betrays his level of civilisation.

        • 1
          0

          OC,
          .
          Thanks. Codger; top answer.
          We need no other examples than the United States. Apart from that, Germans wouldn’t be a leading automotive nation if they didn’t have English language skills (Germany ranks 10th on the English Proficiency Index). Japan and South Korea, where they learn English as an official and business-oriented language. Most people who interact with businesses outside of China are fluent in English. Same goes for Indians.
          Without English language skills, Indians will not be able to migrate to Silicon Valley and become IT champions. And apart from various other sectors, huge says their software industry as one of the best foreign exchange earning sector in India. The situation is the same in the healthcare sector, if you don’t speak several languages, it is not easy to achieve their goals. Many pharmaceutical companies are completely dependent on different languages.

        • 0
          0

          “the residents of her Pittsburgh neighbourhood 500 years ago weren’t English speakers.”

          top answer —-> Out of context in time, place, origin, rhyme and reason. :)))


          Ranil is getting desperate, eh?

  • 3
    1

    first see that evry child in the country can speak and write and understand english.Some children can write and understand but never speak in englsh, i hve noticed when dealing with me.It is important that they are graded for speech too.Englishis the international business language.It is upto indians and chinese to learn it ,not for us to learn hindi and chinese.Let us teach english ranil,don’t just go overboard now.You are like a jack of all trades and master of none ,just trying to poke your nose into everything and achieving only the IMF loans so far,which is good,but a long way to go in a country hit by a 7.8% fecession in 2023.just focus on the economy and get us out of the recession first.

  • 2
    2

    India was very accurate in the report of 4/21 scheming of the Yahapalanaya Government, under Evil, staging Jihadism. Evil claimed he was not invited to the Security meetings, (but for only 6 months, and almost all cabinet ministers did know about the planning and an outsider like Sumanthiran MP. ) so he didn’t know the planning and the warning. Saharan was organized by the earlier Royal government and the script was handed over to Yahapalanaya. Saharan was prepared to be used only if anybody, especially UNHRC, brought forward anything on Old Rowdy for his unceasing crimes. The woman who was with 5 children, no parents were employed, protested that her husband was arrested falsely for the Tamil and a Sinhala police officers’ murder in Vaharai bridge. Police made her get up and by threatening to shoot her. Infect the police officers murdered too was handpicked by Appe Aanduwa. In another case, Judge Manikawasahar murder attempt, witnesses revealed the rebel who had left LTTE long before the war ended, did not point the gun at the judge and he only pointed at the bodyguard and killed the bodyguard. The instructions to the ex-rebel by Appe Aanduwa was to shoot the police bodyguard only, not to harm the Judge. So, without any consequences, the judge got out of the limousine and was helping the wounded police.

  • 3
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  • 1
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    Rear Admirable fooled though by saying the Sinhalese always save Tamils, like in Judge Manikavasakar’s shoot. Judge was not the target of that incident. This drama was enacted to kill a dedicated police officer by Appe Aanduwa only to convict a Tamils migrant, to Swiss. They know that Judge Manikawasahar would throw away such an empty case, so the bodyguard was eliminated to demonstrate to the judge how much of a captive he was of Appe Aanduwa though many Sinhala Buddhists praise the tough sentences he prescribes to criminals. Victim’s Tamil lawyers were dismissed, and The Evil sent, non-Tamils speaking, Sinhala only speaking Lawyers appeared in the case, under the exclusive instruction of the case by UNP. After processing for many years, DNA results of the rapists were never submitted to the court, though Appe Aanduwa released leader Prabhakaran’s DNA in 12 hours. If the DNA result was released the verdict of judge Manikavasar on the case might have pointed to the Kyats Rapist Navy camp criminals and Paramilitary as the rapists of that schoolgirl, not the Swiss man. Appe Aanduwa forcefully relocated the non-Sinhala speaking mother of the victim from her village to Vavunia’s Sinhala village, in order to keep her under the full control of Yahapalanaya Evil’s Aanduwa.

    • 3
      0

      ” Judge Manikavasakar’s shoot”
      Judge Who?
      Hmmmm…

      • 2
        1

        The judge has been Ilanchelian to everyone here all along.
        Western media try to be familiar with their subjects by calling people by first names which is the father’s name for most Tamils.
        (It is as silly as calling Amithalingam Appapillai)

        • 1
          0

          Sounds like, when they hear that the real rapists were paramilitary rowdies, it is hurting somebody. Attached to Rear Admirable, much more than Siri Ma O? By any chance, lived in Kaytes too, Heard about that case, possibly? How familiar is that place? Remember like it was yesterday, all the fences and crossings there?

          “The judge has been Ilanchelian to everyone here all along” Really? I didn’t know that.
          What language is the Western Media report in, and what is CT’s language?

          By the way who is the person called ” Amithalingam “. (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A._Amirthalingam) What Language did he speak? Cannot be one as bad as like Savasekaram, isn’t it?
          Does the Savasekaram know any language to reply to that question.

          Really Really a jobless Dumas. (Dumbass)

          • 2
            0

            To stop Italic

            • 0
              0

              I seem more or less to have achieved that, Mallaiyuran.
              .
              I went up to SJ’s comment above yours and typed in the comment asking Douglas not to make anything compulsory in education.
              .
              My guess is that this comment will also turn out to be in italics, although I have used any HTML symbols in this comment.

        • 0
          0

          In a comment way below this, my good friend Douglas has said, “To start it must be Sinhala; Tamil & English made COMPULSORY.”
          .
          I’m not happy with compulsion of anything in the curriculum.
          .
          Apart from that, in what sense do we make three languages compulsory in STATE schools? Compulsory to sit (even passively) in such a class? Compulsory to sit all three languages at the first Public Exam (O. Levels)? Compulsory to reach pass mark in all three languages at O. Levels?
          .
          Even if it is planned properly, it just will not be that the students would co-operate in learning the Third (or Link) Language in all schools.
          .
          I stand by my earlier observation that it is only the First Language that must be made compulsory – in the sense that any child who cannot even do that will have to be enrolled in Special Education Schools.

  • 3
    4

    Appe Aanduwa’s murder of Vaharai policemen and Judge Manikawasakar’s Bodyguard clearly demonstrate how the Evil is going to handle the 13A after the IMF releases the loan. Those who are waiting for him to present the 13A on a silver plate draped in silk cloth are not going to be disappointed either because they too know who he is. If there was one single cell of honesty in his body, would he have questioned India’s help, in London, while he was going to the Paris club meeting? After he returned to Langkang from India, he indicated that he was about recall Milinda Moragoḍa. India has already recalled Global Bag Lay, its ambassador to Langkang, who was overshadowing the Indian FAM in the Langkang negotiation. Whether Gopal Bag Lay or FAM was responsible, India could not achieve anything diplomatically, in Langkang, using the debt restructuring request. The question is can in those disastrous failures in diplomatic maneuvers, India get the 13A implemented. It seems to be, though Evil Administration denying Indian report about restarting the annual pogrom, Evil had indicated to India that if India forced to implement 13A that will turn into a pogrom. That leaves India with no other choices but bring back its forces. Because at this time that move from India is impossible, 13A implementation is standing ahead of impossible.

  • 4
    3

    Here is the summary of the whole talk Evil on 13A these days: “I will be following the Don Stepen’s path exactly.” Don said, “Brothers let’s rule together, help us to get rid of the foreigners’. Once it was done, he pushed Tamils in the Palk Strait. Before Evil Go back to India, he said to Sinhalese, the 13A is in the constitution. If it’s there he has to implement; if Sinhala Buddhists didn’t want the implementation, they need to remove it by a resolution in the parliament. Then he invited TNA for a meeting and yelled at them ‘If you don’t like to listen to me, get up go; you are all divided and talking different things, you come back united then we can give something’. Then he went to India and said that TNA is ready for nothing. When Evil came from India, he had another meeting with TNA, he asked them all to send their requirements separately and direct to him. Evil is the Master King in wedging, dividing, whipping and having his fields plowed by his enemies, without effort. Thus, he made the foreign countries believe that he was giving the 13A on a plate and TNA was not taking. Now setting up the Sinhalese to go for a pogrom. Made Tamils wait like the parrot which wanted to eat Kapok fruit.

  • 4
    3

    Then we both can prosper; we both can protect ourselves. We do not have to implement Indian 13A in both of our plots because we signed a pact with India that we will be protecting India, with destroying each other by violating each other’s freedom. For this simple thing, why do we have to transfuse our human blood with lion blood and see that it is transfused with Ravana Blood. My dear fellow Modayas, why do you think that having a demon’s blood is more advantageous than having the wild animal’s blood?”
    Why didn’t Evil take that route? Isn’t it because he is evil & there is no one cell of honesty in him?

  • 4
    3

    West is explaining prosecuting Old Rowdy is not possible because Russia and China will not cooperate. But, even before the Ukraine-Russian war was over, President Putin was accused of War Crimes and he stopped traveling to international meetings. Immediately after Evil & Modi’s talk, both countries recalled and replaced the ambassadors? What is it telling of the chance of the Evil administration implementing the 13A? The talk of implementing the 13A is making India to warn Langkang about another July 83? What is going to be the result of implementing 13A. Simple wipe out of Tamils and West explaining that China and Russia don’t like any action over the Evil Administration so Tamils should not bother the West? Without waiting for slaughtering of Tamils another round like it was in Emergency 58, which was for Tamils making a pact with Solomon, TNA should drop this unwanted risk to Tamils and concentrate on the IC investigation. If there is an investigation on war crimes only Evil and his Nova Cyril Mathews like Mervyn Modaya, Real Admirable, Ganapathi Pillai etc. can be cured. If Tamils fail on that, because there are many reports already released by the UN, UNHRC and other democratic counties, the defeat of Tamils will write another history of the justice of the world in parallel to Langkang.

    • 2
      2

      “…not possible because Russia and China will not cooperate.”
      Interesting
      They did not have that cooperation to persecute Milosevic and several others, or to kill Gaddafi ans Saddam Hussein. But they did not even wait.
      The reason is simple. The West has its priorities that its local stooges will never understand.

  • 4
    2

    Still, if the 13A has to be implemented for the needs of the International Community, not for any Tamils’ use, India can go ahead and get it implemented. But this time India should bring its army and protect the Tamils, unlike last time, when Rajiv Gandhi protected the Rapist Army, without even one soldier’s skin scratched off. Before any talk starts on 13A, the Indian Army must come and protect every Tamil man in his homeland. Global Bag Lay, the biggest obstacle from the Indian side, is gone now. No longer should it be anything difficult for India.

    Is there any use for the shadow, which appears after the daylight faded?
    Any heck on coming or going to the justice which abstained from us, when it was pleaded and begged for?

  • 2
    1

    How many languages do we need?
    A combination of Sinhala, Tamil, and English is more than adequate.
    It is our preoccupation preferences that has earned us our misery.

    • 3
      3

      Exactly, Nathan.
      .
      Languages are used by individuals to communicate. Some have nothing of value to communicate. There’s no point punishing those people for not learning a language, when that is not what they need.
      .
      There are far too many people telling others what to do. You’re quite right when you say that it is the duty of those bringing up children should allow a child growing up in Lanka to know that those are the three languages that matter for us. One of those languages must be mastered properly. With it must go the ability to think.
      .
      For other objectives, such as interacting with society for economic purposes another language may be advisable.
      .
      Third, given the socio-political situation in this country, now, and for many decades to come, it is essential for those who want to talk about where the country is going, to know what other groups of people in the country to think. The vital need at this moment, especially given our system of selecting who governs us, it is crucial that we develop that ability.
      .
      Once those basics are understood, set about bringing up your kids. Let the State noto interfere.

      .

    • 2
      2

      “How many languages do we need?
      Nathan,
      You appear to have made that question easily. But the Langkang experience to answer that question seems to have been in the hundreds of billion dollars. In 1948, Langkang wanted to have used Tamils to get rid of the relationships with the West and have English washed off through the drain, in favor of Sinhala Only. They started with “Come on brothers let us rule together”. Then they got rid of English as well British businesses established in Ceylon. Then they got rid of Tamils with the Slogan “Sinhala Only”. When, recently (after the war) UNHRC started to tighten on its past resolution, they invited China & Arabian as their new colonial masters and brought Chinese and Arabic education. Now the trees in the Eastern Province are Dates, sign boards are in Arabic, and there was a Hisbulla Arabic university too. Until the 4/21 Jihadi operation was unleashed, 4000 Arabic-Islamic teachers were licensed to teach to Ceylonese kids. English is a different story. Even if many languages already have science and business in advanced form, for many in the world, English is the only language to start external communication.

    • 1
      1

      If you want to have many pants, like 50-60 hanging in your wardrobe, you buy them in all various colors and shapes. If you are a regular guy and lead a normal life, you buy and keep a few pants that are in common colors. It is not just the cost, even your other aspects of life (weather, custom, religions) afford only that kind (Common Color) of clothes. But if you have started your life as a jester, you need all sorts of pants and shorts to perform on the stage. Your pants are no longer body covering clothes, they are you bread earners. For education, employment, and business matters, what you can achieve with English is unlimited – cost of becoming an English speaker is minimal. But if you decide to make your life by washing the butt of other people, you will have to learn the languages of the people whosoever butts you service. One time, wannabe Northern London Mappillaies, take some English tuition, get a British visa and fly. Then come back as “London Mappillai” to collect their dowries. Now the housewives are washing and arranging their pots and pans in their empty kitchens, leaving to servicing countries. Japan, Korea, China, Middle East all are demanding that you be know their languages if you want to be registered at their foreign offices for jobs.

    • 1
      1

      What is going to be the cost of learning English for a Ceylon Islander ( Cost is nothing if the kid can pick it within the normal governmental schooling time) and what is the worth of that Language and what is going to be the cost of learning Korean or Arabic for the Ceylonese and what is going to be the worth of it? What is the suffering the poor people endure from this new government encouraged path,i.e, seeking cooli jobs by learning unwanted languages? (Even the ISRO engineers mainly use English within them.) How many housewives are rescued each year these days from Middle East employment? Where is the human dignity of job seeking by learning these unusable languages, which are unusable other than in their mother countries? Care of another important thing; UNESCO said 85% of Ceylonese kids have not come out through their classes with the needed skill. You saw in the media how the Korean officials were trying to teach Air Lanka how to fly the planes, while Old Rowdy Terrorist Royals Fired Peter Hill on the spot. They looked down at Peter Hill, one time and another time, they were forced to dance for all the rules the Korean officials started passing. If you don’t want to be the boss of Peter Hill, speaking English, then be the Koreans’ coolie, speaking Korean Language.

    • 1
      1

      The Evil Rascal is blinding the Modayas’ eyes by saying that all languages in the world are at the same level, and you study all these languages to lead a less than human life in Langkang. They pulled out so quickly from English one time. Soon they will be telling you to learn Bengali, Botswana, Ethiopian languages because some of these countries are the only ones going to give out manual Cooli jobs. Others will be gone into high-tech, handheld AI interpreters.

    • 2
      2

      How many Languages these Colombo Plutarchy- Kleptarchy political elites can speak while their deposits are all over in the banks of the world. How many of them can speak Arabic while much of their money’s destination is Dubai? Why are Dubai Banks not insisting on its clients speaking Arabic before they accept the deposits? There the difference comes into existence; of what skill you need to run a country and what a criminal you have to be to loot and do money laundering secretly. When the Modaya crowd is told to go and cut the heads of the Tamils in Kurundhi Malai, they leave in buses in time. But when Koreans order to speak Korean and come and stand in line in time for their Cooli jobs, these Modayas suffer not being able to handle it. It is up to Evil to decide whether to open the economy and tell the investors to come and interact with locals in their languages or save the Royal Rowdies and study Chinese and Hindi and incur more loans, so the Modayas can stand on the kerosene oil…. food lines for longer. The Evil Emperor, in the same line as the Old Rowdy King, New King, Hitler King thinking that he is the smartest and he can fool the entire world by showing the mirage as water.

    • 2
      1

      But that game doesn’t work beyond Modayas’ 2500 old stagnant Civilization. It only adds more suffering to Modayas’ beggar-like, filthy, inferior life and less benefits. Estate workers fought for more than 5 years for an increase to 1,000 Rs from 750 Rs. But when they got it, the media rated the value of that new salary as equal only to old Rs 400. Sinhala Buddhist Elites are more successful in hobnobbing with the international richest people, but the poor are wrenched to bone, more and more. Even though Evil appears to be highly successful in distracting the people locally and making them all believe that they are now better off, and inflation and food lines are of the past, this trick has no effect externally, and the new gloomy phenomena is not going anywhere any sooner. No dollar investor is going to come any sooner, to find relief in the exchange rate. It appears that he had almost broken up with India, in his last visit by his standoff attitude on everything. His next trip is to America, probably, looking for his old Pals like US Secretary Kerry, because he broke up with India. Nowadays, India knows exactly who these hells are. But the West still needs more time to understand Sinhala Appa Diplomacy and Evil Magician’s Black Hat, called 13A.

    • 1
      1

      Dear Rajan Philips,
      .
      You are right when you imply (or do you state it explicitly?) that Ranil Wickremasinghe is full of stratagems to ensure what he hopes will be his greatness as virtual monarch of this island. Never mind all that!
      .
      I made many comments on Ranil’s “Hindi and Chinese” speech as long ago as 20/08/2023, in some comments towards the end of this serious Basil Fernando article:
      .
      https://www.colombotelegraph.com/index.php/the-republic-that-fears-the-independence-of-the-judiciary-even-more-than-terrorism/
      .
      The speech was made at Anula Vidyalaya, Nugegoda, and it so happened that I was able to reveal a surprising amount of first-hand information about the “gorgeous” Principal of the school – more to come in a couple of days. I hope that nimal fernando, and old codger, the two notorious lady-killers on this forum, will follow.
      .
      I also made many comments here,
      .
      https://www.colombotelegraph.com/index.php/naked-king-the-crumbling-state-seven-decades-of-fake-saviours/
      .
      only some of which may be of lasting value:
      .
      https://www.colombotelegraph.com/index.php/naked-king-the-crumbling-state-seven-decades-of-fake-saviours/
      .
      However, I must hurry across to Dr Ameer Ali’s latest article:
      .
      https://www.colombotelegraph.com/index.php/the-economy-politics-a-reality-check/
      .
      I had stumbled on the fact that despite all the faith which he has – although not a Marxist – in the NPP to get us out of the mess that we are in, how tardy that Party had been in responding because of a surprising language problem.
      .
      Ameer’s previous article,
      .
      https://www.colombotelegraph.com/index.php/diaspora-tamils-13a/
      .
      shows us his breadth of vision, but I was unable to respond at all.
      .
      Panini

  • 2
    1

    Congratulations to India on their brilliance! 🚀🛸🌒✨

    Clever of America to hand over Indian scientists to their native land to work for reduced costs whilst investing in space venturism. It will of course be an elite enterprise of which the Indian Masses will get none ; job creation for the Indian Masses, minimal. Still, it’s exciting to see South Asia go that way. Hopefully our scientists from Sri Lanka can join also them. Quite different from the Ranilian drive to chase off people from their hard-earned lands and livelihoods (with little or no compensation given), so India can garner the extras for the Indian Moon-Walk. What a silly fellow.

  • 2
    0

    India Is Over The Moon, Ranil Wants Sri Lankan Children Taught Hindi & Chinese

    Why is Ranil saying we will also try to go to the moon with the support of India and China?
    Japan, China, and Russia are not asking to learn English but they end up with their language.

    Presently all the learners are not going to India and China because these two countries have manpower in all feild

    If you learn English you can move around the world.

    • 4
      0

      You can move around the world all right.
      But if you want to see goods, speak the customer’s language.
      It helps.

      • 4
        0

        But if you want to sell goods, speak the customer’s language.

  • 6
    4

    Sri Lankans can learn lots of international languages but you can’t teach humanity to Sri Lankans. As noted by someone India has joined exploring the other side of the planets but Sri Lanka is exploring racism and fundamentalism under the world. Former President exploring the archelogy of North East Sri Lanka brought bankgruptcy but Ranil is investing on building Dagoba’s based on the secret findings of Gota’s Monks fake archeology.

    • 2
      0

      ajith
      “As noted by someone India has joined exploring the other side of the planets “

      don’t try to put down sri lanka.We are also exploring difficult facts like ravana genes.

    • 2
      0

      “…but you can’t teach humanity to Sri Lankans.”
      Only them?
      Look outside the walls of your little well.

  • 2
    1

    Our President has mixed up his priorities. But saying that I am not against anyone learning as many languages as possible. We had identified such scholars with the title “Shad Basha Parameshwara” – Scholars of Six Languages.

    The President must give priority to teaching all children FIRST the THREE languages viz. Sinhala; Tamil and English. That is a MUST in Sri Lanka.

    • 4
      0

      D
      Learning languages requires motivation.
      Many Muslims and literate Hill Country Tamils are tri-lingual.
      Even the LTTE’s suicide squad had people who were very fluent in Sinhala.
      They all had a purpose. (India still does most business in English. China develops products via native dialects/languages but packages them in English for marketing.)
      BTW
      “Shad Basha Parameshwara” means Scholars of Seven Languages.

      • 1
        0

        SJ: Thank you for the correction of “Shad” to Seven.

        I agree. Our “PURPOSE” must be publicized by the Educational Authorities to the general public and start from the elementary levels in schools. To start it must be Sinhala; Tamil & English made COMPULSORY.

  • 1
    0

    Sri Lanka has three languages, let’s first teach in all schools and in all grades these three languages. Once we have achieved 100% of this target then let’s talk about introducing Chinese and Hindi.

    There is no point in spending money on teaching Chinese and Hindi now when our schools have leaking roofs, no toilets, no running water, no labs, no sports facilities above all no teachers to teach the three official languages, although in the long term, it will be useful.

    • 1
      0

      Well,
      despite Ranil’s or anybody,s advice advice, people will learn a language only if the utility value of learning a language is clearly established .Preaching is not going to help

  • 4
    2

    This is my soul sister in Mumbai Singing the male and female parts of a popular Hindi song. Everyone, please learn Hindi and go to heaven dressing and singing like this. SJ Thaahta hope you enjoy this. Bohut Danyawat.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c9cctG5REdg

    • 2
      0

      A valiant effort to strangle Hindi.

  • 1
    4

    old codger

    “I wonder when the guardians of National Security will wake up to this existential threat?”

    They have. They’ve started with the Mullaitivu Kurundi ancient temple, claimed to have been visited by Lord Buddha during his 2nd visit to Lanka.

    Once the fire starts there, the existential threat will be extinguished throughout Lanka and peace-loving Buddhism established throughout the land. Have patience.

  • 1
    0

    Generations of serious leaders , good or bad , ended with JRJ . Now it is jokers’
    interval . To talk rubbish , you don’t need leadership talent , all you need is ,
    experience in Talking Nonsense in Public with a Swollen Head to disrespect
    the audience . In a developed country , if a doctor has to do a surgery on a
    patient , he explains to the patient the whole process and side effects , not
    because the patient is intelligent enough to understand it or interested in
    knowing it But Because It Is Doctor’s Responsibility To Make The Patient
    Aware of The Pros and Cons before he agrees to the surgery . Our jokers have
    taken the public for voiceless dumbs and utter any rubbish without any
    Due Respect . Back to the point , Indian Central Government has two official
    languages , Hindi and English . It doesn’t have a national language . The
    state governments can have their own languages for official use and Hindi
    or English to communicate with the central government . Such is the case
    in India itself but a man like Ranil with Beggars Mentality is doing some
    cheap talks in public and that too in the presence of school children and
    teachers . Shameless creatures !

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