“I am a staunch Buddhist and believe the principals and philosophy that Lord Buddha taught us. Let me conclude that question my quoting a Buddhist teaching in Sinhalese ” Wairayen Wairaya no san si de, Awairayen wairaya, sansidey”, says Malaka Silva.

He made the remarks above in an interview with Ceylon Today. When asked whether he has plan to enter politics in the near future, he said; “I definitely have a plan of entering politics in the not too distant future. I want to help uplift the living standards of the poor people in my country. I have toured many places in the world and my dream is to do my utmost to help the country regain its rightful place in the world, and I think the only way I can do this is by entering politics and getting the peoples mandate.”

We publish below the Ceylon Today email in interview in full;

By: A Special Correspondent of Ceylon Today/ Mawbima

The controversial Malaka Silva, son of equally controversial  Minister of public relations and public affairs, Mervyn Silva is in the spotlight again. This time around,  the tables appear to have turned with Silva Jnr. being allegedly assaulted by a group of unidentified assailants at the parking area of a leading department store in Colombo and not the other way around. Only recently Silva was accused of allegedly assaulting an army major and although being subsequently acquitted with a ‘clean bill of health’ several politicians, media outlets and members of the public still hold the view that his acquittal is a reflection of a consistent trend of impunity Silva Junior appears to enjoy. Ceylon Today engaged in a dialogue with Malaka Silva on being assaulted recently and asked him about his assault, his quest to enter mainstream politics and his strained relations with the Sri Lankan media. Ceylon Today requested for a one-to-one interview with Silva , but he was reluctant to oblige and consented only to an email interview.

Where did you pursue your secondary education?

St. Thomas’s College Mt. Lavinia

Did you pass your Ordinary and Advanced Level examinations or are the reports that you failed both true?

You should ask that question from the person who gave you that inaccurate report to also find out my results since the person would have clearly seeing my results sheet! All I can say is I always passed the exams  I sat for

Did you attend university after secondary school and what are your educational qualifications?

I do not wish to answer this question and the next as I feel my opening answers regarding my education is sufficient. I am not applying to your establishment for a job and I do not think I need to give you my CV.

After ‘completing your studies ‘, did you seek employment  in any organization?

No comment

Reports indicate that you engage in a lot of business activity. What business ventures are you presently involved in?

Since I grew up loving cars, I am currently engaged in buying and selling vehicles and am in the process of getting down foreigners to meet local partners and help contribute in developing our country.

You have a reputation for your expensive tastes and reports indicate that you possess several   luxury cars, for instance Lamborghini’s and Ferrari’s. What are the luxury cars you own and what is the value of each of them?

Its funny how I am being portrayed of having cars that belong to luxury car brands such as Lamborghini and Ferrari when I have never owned either one of them! I do have other luxury vehicles and I do not intend on telling you the value of it as I need to sell them off one day

You admit to owning many luxury vehicles, who purchased these vehicles for you?

No one needs to buy me cars as I am quite capable of getting them myself.

Despite being from a remote village out of Colombo, your family seems to have miraculously accrued the financial means to purchase luxury cars as you do. How did you and your family accumulate the wealth you posses?

My family definitely has not amassed billions of assets like you say and I actually laugh to myself when people assume that we are billionaires. All I can say is that due to my business activities I make enough money to live a comfortable life.

Your father never did an executive job but only engaged in politics. So did your family make all this money through politics?

What money are you talking about? The last time I checked my family does not consist of millionaires or billionaires!

Some Opposition politicians assert that you and your father have accumulated your wealth via drug trafficking. What do you have to say to the Opposition politicians who are accusing you of these horrific crimes?

Let me give you a straight answer for this one. Not so long ago, my father was appointed by the former President madam Chandrika Bandaranaike to contest Colombo central. When you’re a politician, you can’t really pick and choose who should come and see you and who should not. Politicians are servants of the public and always strive to look after the needs of the community. People from all walks of life would have approached my father at the time and there would have been drug addicts or murderers etc, but just because they came to meet him, it doesn’t mean that he encouraged them to do anything illegal!

In addition to your lavish taste for luxury vehicles you seem to enjoy indulging in Colombo’s nightlife and appear to always frequent nightclubs and pubs. Do you like to go for many parties?

I am just like any other guy. I’m still a bachelor and like any other guy my age, I also like to go out and have a good time.

Do you consume alcohol at these parties?

I drink in moderation and I have used that principal in many other aspects in my life as well. I don’t go extreme in anything and act compulsively

Does your father encourage you to drink and visit nightclubs as you do?

I am not a child anymore to ask my father to go for parties! At a certain age he gave me the freedom to make the choices that I want in life.

You seem to have a lot of foreign acquaintances, particularly females on your nights out. Does your father allow you to bring girls home?

I have many friends and girlfriends and almost all of them are welcome at my house anytime.  I do not think that there is anything wrong with entertaining my friends at home. I don’t do it with any bad intentions so I don’t see anything unusual about that.

You and your ‘friends ‘seem to be always getting into brawls at these clubs and have been accused of assaulting revelers several times. Does your father like the group of friends you associate with?

I always take responsibility for my actions. I don’t have the right to answer on behalf of my friends because they have minds of their own and are not robots!  I am planning on getting into politics sometime in the future and I can’t pick and choose who to associate. I associate people from all walks in life and see no wrong in doing it. My father has always given me the option to choose my friends and associate them the way I see fit

You seem to be a bit of a ‘play boy’ with so many foreign ladies and actresses at your side. Do these people only associate with you because of your money?

People call me a playboy but I sometimes wonder why? Like I told you before I associate people from all walks in life. Some might be actresses or foreigners .I am a very friendly person and thats just the way I was bought up.

But do you have many genuine friends or do you only associate with people for the sake of your political ambitions and monetary interests?

I already answered that

Do you have a permanent girl friend?

That’s for me to know and for the world to find out.

Recently you were allegedly assaulted at the car park of a leading department store. Who assaulted you?

I cannot answer that question as the matter is already being investigated by the police. I have utmost confidence in the police department and I know they will do their best to find out who the assailants were.

Why were you assaulted in the first place?

I don’t know the exact reason

Reports indicate that you had irritated the assailants in some way earlier and that is why they assaulted you. Do you maintain that you were randomly assaulted or did you indeed initiate the brawl yourself?

From this pattern of questioning I can only assume that you know more about this attack than what I know. So let me make you a kind request, please go to the relevant police station and help them conclude their investigation. I will be very happy if you would do that as a special favour for me.

 Your father reportedly told the media recently that he “will deal with your attackers in your own way”. What does he mean by this?

If my father did make that comment, I think you should ask that question from him and not me.

You seem to have a tendency for violent and retaliatory behavior. So are you going to retaliate against your attackers and attack them in return?

I am a staunch Buddhist and believe the principals and philosophy that Lord Buddha taught us. Let me conclude that question my quoting a Buddhist teaching in Sinhalese ” Wairayen Wairaya no san si de, Awairayen wairaya, sansidey”.

What were the injuries you sustained as a consequence of the attack?

Even if I tell you what my injuries were, are you going to come and help me recover faster?

You appear to be always surrounded by a sea of  bodyguards and protectors. Where were your bodyguards at the time of the incident?

I don’t take my body guards everywhere I go. I love my freedom. Some people assume that I always intimidate people by taking body guards wherever I go, but this proved that it is not the case.

But reports indicate that you are always surrounded by many body guards attached to the ministerial security division despite you not being a Minister, let alone a politician. Are you denying these reports?

I have already answered that

You have been accused of regularly assaulting random civilians for no logical reason. Isn’t it fair to say, given the amount of times you have reportedly attacked people, the attack on you is a case of ‘tit for tat’?

The only times that people accuse me of attacking individuals is after what they read in the media. In any society, a person is innocent until proven guilty. I was remanded on a couple of occasions and have had several court cases. I always respect the law of the land and I was not found guilty of any wrong doings. So what right do some people have to accuse me when I have being cleared by authorities?

Despite the fact the you were attacked the media has been largely unsympathetic towards you, with many media outlets holding the view that your assault was retribution of sorts for your past deeds. Do you think the media is treating you unfairly in relation to your assault?

I am deeply saddened by the way the media repeatedly attacks me. The media only mentions my name when I get into trouble but they hardly talk about the good that I do, but now I realize that this is an aspect in life that I have to get used to. I would like to make one kind request to all my media friends, please write the truth and do your utmost to find out the truth.

Several media outlets and newspapers have consistently referred to you as a “ministerial-brat”. Do you think this is a fair assertion?

No matter what some people say about Sri Lanka not having enough media freedom. There is plenty of media freedom which allows journalist to write or say what ever they want. And the best example can be taken out of this particular interview where you accused me of many things that I did not even do. So I hope that answers your question.

Do you think the media treats you unfairly because your father is a controversial Minister?

I think that if I was just an ordinary guy, none of this would happen

Looking back at the negative publicity you have received on several occasions do to your alleged violent behavior do you wish your father had not taken to politics?

It has always being my fathers dream to be with the people and to listen to their heartbeat, and I as a son have always done my best to support him in whatever way I can.

Only recently you were accused of assaulting an Army Major but you eventually got off scot-free. Can you share with us the ‘ Silva Secret’ for getting out of difficult situations like this?

I believe strongly in the judiciary and respect what ever decision that they make. Just because you disrespect the judiciary by asking me such questions I am not willing to do that.

Don’t you feel sorry for the people and the families you have reportedly beaten and threatened in the past?

The way in which you structured your question has already made me look like the villain! As a responsible newspaper that has a wide circulation among the general public, please ask questions that have some sort of depth to it, and not scandalous lies that make me look nothing short of despicable.

While you may brand the reports linking you to criminal behavior as “scandalous lies” many politicians and members of the public strongly believe that in the previous assault you intimidated the Army Major to ultimately change his story. Is this true?

I think you should ask that question from the relevant politicians who make such comments. I would never intimidate anyone let alone an army officer. I have nothing but absolute respect and admiration for the brave sons and daughters who sacrificed their today for our tomorrow.

Do you plan to enter politics in the near future?

I definitely have a plan of entering politics in the not too distant future. I want to help uplift the living standards of the poor people in my country. I have toured many places in the world and my dream is to do my utmost to help the country regain its rightful place in the world, and I think the only way I can do this is by entering politics and getting the peoples mandate.

Do you think after all the criminal activity you have been accused of you will be able to convince the people to vote for you?

I do not wish to answer that. All I can say is that I leave that choice to the voters. Let them decide if I’m worthy or not. Please don’t forget that the world changes every second, and that what you see now is not what you will see in the future. That’s the way the world works.

Reports indicate that you once opined that it is your dream to be Education Minister of Sri Lanka. Do you think this dream can become a reality?

Yet again this was a big misunderstanding and the media also sensationalized it as usual! It was a comment made by my lawyer and it did not have my consent. The lawyer later explained to us that he made the comment in a lighter vein and did not mean any harm.

You have failed to answer our earlier question pertaining to your university qualifications. In light of the ambiguity in your replies in relation to your ‘educational qualifications’ do you really think you have the qualifications to become Education Minister?

Like I said before, I never made that comment, and I do not wish to think of my suitability as I never said anything of the sort!

So assuming your fortunes do change and you become the Education Minister what is the ‘Silva Solution‘ to the perceived crisis faced by  the education sector of this country today?

I would like to repeat yet again that I did not make a comment about aspiring to be a future education minister

Your father is a controversial figure and so are you. Is this a generic scourge of the entire Silva family?

If you say that we are a controversial family then I guess it’s obviously something to do with our family name right?

You attribute your unsavory public image to the “ sensationalist tendencies of the media”. If this is the case who is the real Malaka Silva behind this apparent cloak of ‘ media sensationalism’?

Malaka Silva is not as bad as what the media has portrayed him to be. I am just another citizen of this country that wants to live life and be happy. I keep a cool head and I strive to achieve things that are true to my potential. I hope the country will be able to see the good I do and realize that I am a completely different human being to what the media has portrayed me to be.