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Morning Spice by Ginger
Rest houses for the weary travellerThe Rest Houses are still there and we thank providence for it. Some are as homely as they ever were while others have changed somewhat in the style of their operations and are a little more impersonal in the treatment of their clientele. Now take the City of Colombo. You never had Rest Houses there for the simple reason that they were meant for the weary traveller, who was on his way to more remote parts of the country. Now at times one wishes there were a few in Colombo as well. There are two reasons why there should be a few rest houses in the city too.
In the old days when there were no traffic snarls as there are these days it was possible for one to come home for lunch, have a small rest and get back to work. It did you a world of good at times and one's output was much better as a result of this break. Today one can't even think of it. So a homely place possibly a converted house in busy zones in the city may give the weary worker a chance to relax a couple of days in the month when both mind and body have taken a beating. It will also provide a less expensive way of entertaining a friend and having a relaxed chat which may not be possible in the more cramped and crowded restaurants you have today.
Japanese housewives
We thought that Japanese women make excellent wives and are an obedient and caring lot. That may be as long as the husband is away and working most of the time. The moment he retires and starts hanging around the place he is compared with the garbage around the place. The term the Japanese give a certain type of garbage is sodai gami.Sodai gami is not just any type of garbage. It refers to heavy garbage that is difficult to shift. They call them that because the Japanese house wife is not used to seeing her working husband for days and his being at home cramps her style. They are also called 'wet leaves' because they cling on to your shoes and are hard to shake off.
Air travel costs
Whatever the pundits may say about recession and the cut back on personal spending the airlines in Asia have been quietly upping the cost of travel. No body knows what their strategy is besides possibly a genuine increase in operational costs but the figures are more than a little interesting.Business class air ticket in Asia Pacific cost 14% more than it did three years ago and first class fares have gone up by almost as much as 12%. Economy class has gone up the least and registered less than a 10% increase during the same period.
Your editorial this morning (7.1.99) on lap-dog journalism brought to mind a poem included in an anthology in the 1930:
"I'll never be a lap dog licking dirty feet,
A sleek dog, a meek dog, cringing for my meat.
Not for me the fire-side the well-filled plate,
But shut door and sharp stone and cuff and kick and hate.
Not for me the other dogs running by my side,
Some have run a short while but none of them would bide,
Oh, mine is still the lone trail, the hard trail the best;
Wild wind wide stars and the hunger of the quest."I am quoting from memory so I may not have got all the words right, but after 62 years their tart mordancy makes the lines stay in the memory.
I detest lapdog journalism. Sycophancy of any kind is
Contemptible, People speak of the "Daily Noise".
The second word should really be an abbreviation of "Noisome"-foul smelling. I have never brought this foul smell into my home; not during U.N.P. times and not today.
The presidential form of government with its unbridled power corrupts, gradually but certainly, persons with normal decent tendencies and as Acton said 'absolute power corrupts absolutely.' No one can escape it; not unless one is an arahat. That is sobhadhamma. Lap dogs with their flattery and other knavish practices exacerbate the situation so that men and women, who are quite ordinary, suffer grandiose delusions.
They fail to see the reality so patently obvious to others free of the attentions of these fawning lick spittles. They become all-knowing. They pontificate and worse still, even lap dogs lecture us. "Alas for our time and customs" as the ancient tag went.
"Acts of tolerance and magnanimity," they rant. Utter bunkum! Let these lap dogs know, media freedom is ours by fundamental right. There is no call for gratitude. Those who deny us this right are violaters whatever political party they come from.
In the final analysis such violaters, by opening the door to grosser forms of thuggery and crime with consequent intimidation of honest law-enforcers and promotion of toadies, pave the way for the complete breakdown of society and its law maintaining institutions and processes. Let us not forget the stoning of the houses of supreme court judges and J. R. Jayawardene's infamous defence of this high handed thuggery.
In my book all these violaters, past and present, belong with murderers and rapists. They initiated the process that lends to such crimes, and must be counted responsible. A thug is a thug, whether the noxious reality is cloaked in comely perfumed elegance or sartorial designer finery.
More strength, Sir, to your elbow and the prayer comes from our hearts. The independent journalist and the independent supreme court are the last hope for this sad country fouled up by arrogant corrupt politicians and their servile toadies.
The proud splendid hunger of the quest that drives the honest journalist cannot be understood by obsequious flunkeys and grovelling lap dogs cringing for their meat.
Sepala Gunasekera,
Colombo 5.
The beginning of the new millennium
I refer to the article on the front page of your issue of Saturday 9th January, wherein it is stated that Dr. Arthur C. Clarke's contention that the new millennium will begin on 1st January 2001 and not on 1st January 2000, has been easily disproved by Mr. G. B. A. Fernando (former Sri Lanka Govt. University Scholar, former Director, Energy and Planning of the Ministry of Power and Energy etc.,). I would have been happy to see Dr. Arthur C. Clarke proved wrong for once, since the man has an irritating habit of being right most of the time, but unfortunately, he is right as usual and it is Mr. G. B. A. Fernando (former University Scholar, former Director, Energy & Planning etc.,) who is wrong.
Mr. Fernando has fallen into the grievous ( and in the case of a former University Scholar, quite unpardonable) error of considering the first year from the birth of Jesus Christ as year zero. There is no such thing as a zeroth year, any more than there is a zeroth mango in a pile of mangoes or a zeroth rupee in a handful of rupee coins. All his learned allusions to the Julian calendar, the Gregorian calendar etc., are of no relevance because this is not a matter of calendars but a matter of simple mathematics.
The first year of the Christian era, i.e. the year 0001 A.D., (not the year 0000, because there is no such thing) ended at midnight on 31st December, 0001. The first millennium ended, therefore, at midnight on 31st December, 1000 and not at midnight on 31st December, 0999. The second millennium will end, therefore, at midnight on 31st December 2000 and not at midnight on 31st December, 1999.
There is a great deal of confusion over this issue in the minds of many people because of the wide publicity given to the Millennium Bug (or Y2K) which is a problem that will affect early generation computers and old computer programs from midnight on 31st December, 1999. This has nothing to do with the end of the second millennium or the beginning of the third. It will happen simply because the year 2000 has two zeros at the end, unlike all the years that have gone before since computers were invented. Older computers and programs use only the last two digits of the year instead of all four, so when two zeros come up the computer will not know whether it is the year 2000 or any other year ending in two zeros, like 1900 or 3000.
L. S. de Alwis,
Mount Lavinia.
Retired Bank Pensioners Living Abroad
Bank Pensioners who have migrated are confronted with a pathetic and rather serious problem at present. Ten years back they were expected to sign on a one rupee stamp when submitting their monthly pension vouchers certified by a doctor, bank manager, attorney-at-law, of the Supreme Court, Notary public, or a Justice of Peace for payment to be effected, Subsequently it was increased to two rupees.
During the last one-year or so, they are called upon to sign their pension vouchers on a 5 rupee stamp on a government order. Signing on a 5 or 10 rupee stamp is no problem at all, but what is so strange and baffles one's comprehension is that these Sri Lankan stamps are not available in any part of the world unlike dollars or pounds even for gold or silver.
What is still more intriguing and puzzling is that in the case of all government servants irrespective of to which rank, class or grade they belong, the stamp duty is straight away deducted from the pension itself before payment, unlike bank pensioners and they are not required to sign on any stamps at all.
What is the difficulty, and why cannot the banks also adopt this praiseworthy procedure to help these poor bank pensioners living abroad.
Whatever law it is, it must be applicable to everybody equally. There should not be one law for bank-pensioners and another kind of law for government servants as this tantamounts to discrimination and a gross violation of democratic laws.
It is sincerely and earnestly hoped that the authorities concerned will wake up from their deep slumber to remedy these deplorable state of affairs.
M. R. Bunny,
AIB (London).
'When abortion is denied, megalomaniacs are born'
I attach hereto an abstract of an international research study performed in former Czechoslovakia by American and Czech researchers during the period 1961 - 1981.
This abstract appeared in the NEWSWEEK, magazine about 1 1/2 decades ago and proves that abortion is a necessary evil to prevent the destruction of countless millions of valuable innocent human lives and property by preventing the births of megalomaniacs.
So much has been said for and against the liberalisation of abortion in Sri Lanka, and crime has now hit an 'all time high' that I think the time is now ripe to release this article for publication in your esteemed journal for the information of your readers and the Hon. Members of Parliament in the opposition who have opposed benevolent moves by the Government to change the antiquated 1861 abortion law.
The findings of this study, though performed in Czechoslovakia, are applicable to all situations the world over, including Sri Lanka, where even very early abortion (menstrual regulation) is denied to the poor people for religious and political reasons.
This is a tangible explanation for the rising tide of horrendous, inhuman crimes that are committed by suicide-bombers, and die-hard criminals and terrorists in the name of 'freedom-fighters'.
The only four affluent countries of the Royal Commonwealth, viz. Britain, Canada, Australia and New Zealand enacted liberal laws on abortion in 1969. The 50 odd other countries , which are desperately poor, still adhere to the outmoded 1861 abortion law.
Proposed changes in the antique British Colonial law of 1861 by philanthropic intellect Prof. G. L. Peiris is the Greatest Blessing to the poor mass of humanity in Sri Lanka, who cannot afford the luxury of a 'D & C in a private Nursing Home.
Misinformed people who are against liberalisation of abortion for religious reasons and political and private gain, must face social disintegration and destruction and learn to live in the 'killing fields' of Sri Lanka amidst terrorists, insurgents, murderers, rapists, arsonists, gangsters and hoodlums, although millions of poor innocent peace-loving people too, are forced to lead lives of uncertainty, fear and danger.
Dr. Alfred Perumadura,
Balapitiya.
First death anniversary of Fr. Marcelline Jayakody
By W. T. A. Leslie Fernando
The First Death Anniversary of Fr. Marcelline Jayakody, the well known Catholic priest, musician, lyricist, poet, author, journalist and patriot fell yesterday. After an eventful career replete with ups and downs, he passed away on January 15, 1998 at the ripe old age of 96 years.
Fr. Marcelline JayakodyFr. Marcelline Jayakody was born on June 03, 1902 at Dankotuwa on the outskirts of Maha Oya. His mother was a Buddhist converted to Christianity with her marriage. Nevertheless, while being a Catholic she had not given up her simple and serene way of life guided and moulded by Buddhism. His father was a native physician who was not bent on making money. He too, led a simple and contended life within his means akin to a Buddhist outlook. With such a background and upbringing it was natural for Fr. Marcelline Jayakody, even as a Catholic priest to be drawn to Buddhist culture, the Buddhist temple and Buddhist prelates and take pride of being called 'Pansale Piyatuma' (Catholic priest of the Buddhist temple).
Fr. Marcelline Jayakody had his early education at Madampe Sinhala School and secondary education at St. Joseph's College, Colombo. He entered St. Bernard's Seminary in 1920 and was ordained a Catholic priest on December 20, 1927 by Rt. Rev. Dr. Anthony Courdet, the then Archbishop of Colombo.
There was always the love from national culture in his veins. At the beginning of the 20th century slavishly imitating the west was the order of the day. At the same time there was a nationalist revival led by patriots like Anagarika Dharmapala, Walisinghe Harischandra, and Piyadasa Sirisena.
The Christians who believed in western culture were severely criticised by the well known novelist Piyadasa Sirisena. Fr. Marcelline Jayakody read the novels of Piyadasa Sirisena with interest and drew inspiration from his works.
As a young priest Fr. Marcelline Jayakody was criticised at the time for offering some lotus flowers at the sanctuary at the wedding Mass of one of his relatives. Since then much water was flowed under the bridges in Sri Lanka. Now national culture is given its due place in the Church. And Fr. Marcelline Jayakody was considered as an exponent of indigenous culture.
Fr. Marcelline Jayakody served as an assistant parish priest in Kotahena, Pamunugama, Kochchikade (Negombo) and Kandana. While serving as parish priest, he gave the altar a national aura bedecking it with gokkola and ralpalan.
As a parish priest Fr. Marcelline Jayakody has tamed tough characters, diffused caste issues and tactfully dealt with problems in the parishes. In one parish, the people who belonged to one caste had refused to accept Fr. Marcelline Jayakody who belonged to a different caste as the parish priest. Fr. Marcelline Jayakody was adamant and did not move out. Later, he won over the parishioners and served in that Parish without any difficulty.
When Fr. Marcelline Jayakody was the parish priest of Duwa, the Duwa Passion Play was performed with images of sacred personages based on centuries old Minie Sermons in the 'Dukprapthi Prasangaya' written by Fr. Jacome Gonsalvez. Fr. Marcelline Jayakody recasted the Duwa Passion Play based on Dorothy Saeyer's famous play 'Born to be a King' while maintaing the traditional outlook.
Fr. Marcelline Jayakody used human male actors for all the scenes except for Christ and Mary. He also composed all the hymns in addition to the traditional 'Passan'. At that time the Duwa Passion Play performed with over 250 villagers was considered as the greatest Passion show in Asia.
Fr. Marcelline Jayakody was invited to train the choir for the song 'Namo Namo Matha' for the first independence anniversary celebrations in 1949 as the composer of the song Ananda Samarakone had gone abroad. Fr. Marcelline Jayakody rose to the occasion, trained the students of Museaus College and presented it to be acclaimed by all. There is no doubt that this magnificent performance had paved the way to adopt 'Namo Namo Matha' later as the national anthem.
In late 1949, Fr. Marcelline Jayakody was appointed the editor of 'Gnanaratha Pradeepya' the Sinhala Catholic weekly. He increased the pages from 8 to 12 and introduced new features with an indigenous outlook. It was Fr. Marcelline Jayakody who designed the caption of 'Gnanartha Pradeepaya' in a national setting and this caption is still continued.
Fr. Marcelline Jayakody could not stay long in 'Gnanartha Pradeepaya'. The manager of the paper insisted that Fr. Marcelline Jayakody should closely follow the English weekly the 'Messenger'. Fr. Marcelline Jayakody refused. The manager took up the issue with the Archbishop and he ordered Fr. Marcelline Jayakody to present the news and articles in the 'Messenger' in Sinhala. Fr. Marcelline Jayakody bluntly refused explaining that it would amount to translation and not journalism. He then packed up and left 'Gnanartha Pradeepaya' for Shanthinikethan in India.
Today 'Gnanartha Pradeepaya' is far from being a translation of 'Messenger'. It has a distinct identity of its own and the stand of Fr. Marcelline Jayakody is vindicated.
Fr. Marcelline Jayakody underwent some training at Shanthinikethan, the famous oriental arts centre set up by Rabindranath Tagore. When Fr. Marcelline Jayakody returned to the island from Shanthinikethan he was sent to Tolagatty in Jaffna as a punishment for leaving the country without permission of church authoritiers. Later he served in the staff of St. Patrick's College, Jaffna.
At St. Patrick's Fr. Marcelline Jayakody presented a Passion Play with the students. He also made use of his stay in Jaffna to make a study of Hindu religion and culture. While in Jaffna he wrote a series of articles on the Hindu culture, simple and serene life of people and the beauty of Jaffna, to the 'Times' paper. Later these articles were released as a book named 'In Search of Ceylon'.
The greatest contribution Fr. Marcelline Jayakody has made to the church in Sri Lanka is in the sphere of Church music.
At that time the normal pattern was to dub Sinhala words to Latin and western tunes for the hymns. At the beginning Fr. Marcelline Jayakody too wrote several hymns adopting western melodies. However, in 1934 he composed the hymn 'Sapiri Soma Asiri Sama' and the Christmas Carol 'Raya Tharu Babalanawa' set to his own music. These hymns became very popular and are still sung in churches. And Fr. Marcelline Jayakody never looked back and began to compose hymns set to his own music.
In 1940s and 1950s specially around Independence there was a national renaissance at it had it effect on the church as well. Fr. Marcelline Jayakody too at this time began to produce Sinhala hymns with a national flavour. The outstanding hymns of Fr. Marcelline Jayakody like 'Ronata Vadina Bingu Obai', 'Nelum Pipeela Pethi Visireela' and 'Suvanda Jale Pipi Kumudiniye' with their superb lyrics, sweet music and local setting captivated the hearts of all.
The hymns of Fr. Marcelline Jayakody are simple and close to people. They are appreciated even by non-Catholics. They contain both the Christian aspects and the national outlook. They are a striking example for cultural adaptation in its true perspective. Majority of the popular hymns sung today in churches are compositions of Fr. Marcelline Jayakody.
In 1953 Fr. Marcelline Jayakody was appointed to the staff of St. Peter's College, Colombo. At St. Peter's with the assistance of Heenbaba Dharmasiri he set up an oriental arts centre and introduced indigenous fine arts to their leading Catholic English school in the metropolis, Colombo.
The film 'Rekawa' directed and produced by Lester James Pieris and screened in 1956 was a landmark in Sinhala cinema. This was the first Sinhala film to be produced with a real indigenous outlook and it won several international awards. Lester James Pieris got Fr. Marcelline Jayakody to write lyrics for songs in 'Rekawa' and Sunil Santha to provide music for them.
At a pool conducted by 'Sunday Observer' Fr. Marcelline Jayakody was selected as the leading personality in the film world in 1956 for his magnificent lyrics for songs in 'Rekawa'. Dr. W. Dahanayake the then Minister of Education who presented the award said: 'If I could write a single song like this I consider it a great achievement than being a minister'.
In 1976 Thomas Cardinal Cooray resigned when he reached the age of 75. The post of Archbishop of Colombo could not be filled and remained vacant for nearly a year. Several priests contended for the post and there were various groups supporting one or the other. They stressed various qualifications and there was petitioning to the Holy See in the Vatican as well.
At this time Fr. Marcelline Jayakody was carrying a column in the 'Messenger'. He was writing it for 4 years and continued the column even from abroad. Fr. Marcelline Jayakody who watched the power struggle from a distance wrote in his column in the 'Messenger' that the best qualifications for a Bishop are found in the Gospel values preached and practised by Christ found in the Bible.
This created a ripple in the bastions of power in the Church. They discontinued the popular column of Fr. Marcelline Jayakody in the 'Messenger'. But Fr. Macelline Jayakody could not be thwarted in that manner. Instead he wrote a series of poems appreciating the Buddhist way of life and Sinhala culture to the 'Kaviya' magazine. His work 'Muthu' was a collection of those poems carried in 'Kaviya'.
'Muthu' won Fr. Marcelline Jayakody the Presidential award for the best poetry work in 1979 and the famous international award the Magsaysay prize in 1983.
That is not all. Fr. Marcelline Jayakody was the author of several works prose and poetry both in Sinhala and in English. He was an active member of 'Hela Havula' and for many years until his death he was the President of the Sinhala Poets', Association. He was honoured with the 'Kalasuri' title by the State and 'Kithu Nandana Pranamaya' by the Archbishop of Colombo for his outstanding contributions to arts and culture in Sri Lanka for more than six decades.
Recently, Ven. Ittapane Dhammalankara Thera released a book on the life of Fr. Marcelline Jayakody titled 'Malpale Upan Pansale Piyatuma'. This is the first book written by a Buddhist prelate on a Catholic priest in the whole world.
Fr. Marcelline Jayakody was a priest who practised what he preached. A share of the money he received from the Magsaysay award he used to set up an arts centre for the underprivileged called 'Kala Lanka'. He donated another share for the Sinhala Poets' Association. The balance he set apart for scholarships to poor students. He led a simple, serene and contended life with the barest of necessities.
No other Catholic priest in Sri lanka was so harassed, victimised and humiliated as Fr. Marcelline Jayakody. However, he was never shaken and faced everything with equanimity. He was stronger in defeat and all his defeats later turned out to be victories. Nevertheless, no other Catholic priest in Sri Lanka in the present century has touched the hearts and lives of the people of Sri Lanka than Fr. Marcelline Jayakody.
A legend of our times Fr. Marcelline Jayakody needs a fitting memorial in our country.
It was the wish of Fr. Marcelline Jayakody that his remains should be interred at the arts centre he set up - 'Kala Lanka'. For some reason or the other this was not done. The least that could be done is to set up a statue of Fr. Marcelline Jayakody in 'Kala Lanka' premises.
(The writer is a former High Court Judge)
