Street Legal

lanka citizenship

My Sri Lankan/Canadian Dual Citizenship. The light was bad so I put it on top of a lamp. Then it caught fire.

Alternate Caption: I got my citizenship tatooed on my back. My parents beat me with sticks.


I finally got my Dual Citizenship. With the influx of immigrants to these shores there’s a 10-month backlog. Three months for approval, and then seven months for, uh, can I call you back? I’ve been here on a 30 day visa and I’m quite pleased to get this (back-dated) document. Now I can finally get an ID, driver’s license, bank account and travel. As another benefit, I heard Queen B talking about a draft if war breaks out. No matter, it is a little nice to be Sri Lankan. The documents the bureaucracy produces are a fetish in themselves – obscure, type-written fonts on flecked paper. If you hold it up to the light you see large lion watermarks. They’re like artifacts from a perfectly preserved colonial administration.

The scanner was kicked over one too many times so I took a photo. I put it on top of the lamp and it turned out kinda funny. The watermarks and color come out well, and you can read the print on the opposite side. Can sorta read my parents names in reverse. What I like is that the undercarriage of the lamp forms a shadow nexus at my birthdate. There are two, almost three branches going in, and then a blank spot. Then two branches going back out into melty darkness. Maybe that’s the Liberal Arts talking.

Outlets and Vents has an interesting post on being Sri Lankan, btw.

RSS feed | Trackback URI

15 Comments »

2005-05-18 08:53:15

Welcome, countryman. I guess we can expect more local expletives now.

 
savi3
2005-05-18 15:47:44

wow 7 months 4 approval eh? i was hoping to get it done over the counter when i’m home end of the month.. dream on.. lol.. how much does it cost now btw?

 
2005-05-18 16:06:01

rs 200,000 (!). It took 10 months total, maybe cause I missed a few bribes or something.

 
savi3
2005-05-19 17:13:44

well done.. u got it done in under 1 yr without any bribes that is heartening .. lol.. didnt know u couldnt get a bank account without SL citizenship tho.. hmmm..

 
2005-05-19 17:48:38

I think you can get an account as a UK National or something, but I was trying to get one as a Sri Lankan. They were asking me for ID which I didn’t have.

 
2005-05-19 22:24:03

When you get your NIC, notice that the lines aren’t actually LINES, but lil writings saying ‘Sri Lanka’ :)

 
2005-05-20 09:22:44

hah! and WHO figured that out? i cant believe the nerve of this woman.

 
savi3
2005-05-20 19:03:55

does it really matter??

 
savi3
2005-05-24 15:51:36

so indi why did u decide to live in SL as opposed to living in canada or the US or anywhere else for that matter? apologies if the answer to that question is somewhere in the ‘about indi’ section… i must hv missed it..

 
2005-05-24 16:21:11

There’s so much that hasn’t been done here. You can do new things without moving fossilized crap out of the way. Don’t have to get a job. Like my family. I guess smaller pond would be the shorter answer, though I work on the Net as much as anything.

Also think the region is on a general uptick. Possible to make more money here than in the West.

 
savi3
2005-05-24 17:35:39

so u don’t hv a job? and yet make more money than u wud in the West.. how does that work m8?

 
2005-05-24 22:42:28

don’t make more money than in the West. Said it was possible to make more.

The first bet is what Wall Streeters would call a “layup.” Definitely go east. The best way to stack career odds in your favor is to hitch yourself to long-term growth trends (that way, even if you make boneheaded career mistakes, you’ll still be dragged along). (Slate on China, but China is sketchy)

I think India is coming up and Sri Lanka has to screw up way more than now to not be carried forward.

 
savi3
2005-05-25 01:49:16

hmm i wish i had the same confidence in SL as u seem to do… abt being carried fwd..

 
Jack Point
2005-06-02 10:20:44

tend to have the same concerns with SL as savi3. Good place to be (at least now), where we will go is another matter. As for making money, think more opportunity lies outside.

 
2005-06-06 17:19:54

dude,

All the Sri Lankans had to wait until the other passengers entered the gate.

cheers.

 
Name (required)
E-mail (required - never shown publicly)
URI
Your Comment (smaller size | larger size)
You may use <a href="" title=""> <abbr title=""> <acronym title=""> <b> <blockquote cite=""> <cite> <code> <del datetime=""> <em> <i> <q cite=""> <strike> <strong> in your comment.

email indi AT indi.ca.


Recent Comments


Nawam Maha Perahera Today (4)

AS: Firstly, I would like to say that there is no need for being so patronizing and using bad language to make a point. I think we are all adults and can have a discussion without resorting to swear words and etc. Really, the worst debaters I know...

Omr: Are you a vegetarian? If you are and you care about ALL animal life equally I can understand your sentiments. If not STFU, seriously. Parading elephants is evil but slaughtering thousands of cows, goats, chickens and fish on a daily basis is...

Trishaw Economics (4)

Firaz: Not all of them run with the dispatch guys. Most now run independently because they just get more hires off the road. People are more inclined to jump in a meter taxi these days. That’s what I hear.

Nawam Maha Perahera (Photos) (2)

Annonymouse: Poor elephants. Thank you for that sensitive portrayal of their plight in the service of Buddhism!

Omr: That first picture is brilliant.

Thanamalwila (Photos) (15)

Omr: Imagine if all the money spent on Mihin was spent on buses instead? Wouldn’t that have been a better investment for the people of Sri Lanka?

indi: indi.ca always was a photoblog, I just keep working cameras to death. I couldn’t afford to replace my last one for almost a year

Maldives President Resigns After Soft Coup (4)

Omr: Also, the lack of criticism among Maldivians about the rise of Islamic extremism in their islands is frightening. People actually want females to be flogged for having sex outside marriage? I mean really? People running about destroying...

Omr: Wonder whether he can come to Sri Lanka and get involved in SL politics? Seems to be quite forward thinking and classy.

the way of the dodo: Personally, I will never trust the people of a dry country to make reasonable decisions about anything.

Social Media


Twitter
Facebook