Wrote a piece for today’s Sunday Leader called Cowards of Colombo. It’s about the choking apathy of this city, and how we need to wake up. Actually, apathy I don’t even mind, it’s about this city which complains yet does not act. I think we need to put our money and our time where our mouths are, if we want to be taken seriously as human beings. The website is still a bit hacked up and they’re breaking my article in weird places. I’d recommend picking up the Sunday Leader from the stands. The new editor Frederica Jansz has got the biggest balls in this country and it remains ‘unbowed and unafraid’.
UPDATE – Here’s an excerpt:
The people that can pronounce democracy don’t vote. We just complain over cocktails and hope that the storm will pass us by. We worry about the tragedy in the north and don’t donate a single sanitary napkin to the IDPs. We complain about the quality of our politicians and don’t write a cheque for anyone good. We worry about corruption and dutifully pay bribes to drive drunk. We are a city of cowards and you need to wake up.
You can read the whole thing online here, but I’d recommend picking up a copy from the stands.
He he… Aiding the sales of the paper now, are we?
The choice some make to be ignorant, and especially those from Colombo, who have the capacity to influence, is disheartening.
and colombians =?
if you are accusing citizens of colombo in general of not lifting a finger then you are misinformed
because there is a relatively high voter turnout in colombo (and suburbs)
if you watch the political debates on TV there are quite a number of callers from colombo
people are quite vocal and strongly opinionated about politics
they read newspapers, watch tv, listen to political debates and discuss issues during lunch etc.
at least that’s the case with the colombians i know of
“it’s about this city which complains yet does not act”
derana sarana has been collecting rations, clothes, sanitary napkins etc for a few weeks now
they’ve had a good response
people donate stuff despite economic hardships
and that’s just one example
perhaps colombians = the reader demographic of the sunday leader?
i agree with you on one thing though – about the new sunday leader editor – in fact she is one of the few journalists i have respect for in this country. eventually, the sunday leader can add “unbiased” to the their slogan.
By Colombians I mean those who live or work in Colombo, 1 thru 9 or 10. Not really the slum dwellers, but those who own property and businesses in Colombo proper.
The suburbs are entirely different.
Bit of a rant no? Not sure the style is authentic.
There’s some truth in what Shehal is saying about the Sunday Leader reader demographic. Also, are you guys trying to create some kind of cult around Lasantha? He was great man in many ways, but seeing so many pictures of him over a few minutes of surfing is slightly unsettling.
Having said that, I want to thank you for a superb article Indi, more powerful in that it suggests some solid courses of action rather than just whingeing. I’ll admit I needed that. I am writing a cheque to the ICRC right now.
i’m not part of anything related to lasantha (for the record)
definition of colombians = those who live or work in Colombo, 1 thru 9 or 10; excluding the slum dwellers; those who own property and businesses in Colombo proper
” SLRC-IDP Contributions, Bank of Ceylon, Hyde Park Branch, Colombo 10.”
yes, pls include colombo 10 to the list.
colombo proper = Colombo, 1 thru 9 or 10? or 3-7?
offices almost all the relief agencies are in colombo proper.
so how can you say that people working in colombo are not doing anything?
“They say that evil triumphs when good men do nothing. Well, better men than you or I have died for this very paper.”
colombians = the reader demographic of the sunday leader?
“it’s about this city which complains yet does not act”
perhaps most of the colombians you know of and obviously the colombian demographic of the sunday leader might not be. it’s unfair to say that the city is not acting when there are several thousands of citizens who have been actively contributing to derana sarana and other IDP aid programs. and yes citizens of colombo proper. 1-9 or whatever you want to define colombo proper as.
“The people that can pronounce democracy don’t vote.”
yeah ‘cos you have to be above 18 years of age and be a sri lankan citizen to vote.
a 6 year old who can pronounce democracy can’t go and vote!
that was why the UNP faced an embarrassing situation during the last local govt elections.
they had people who were not registered voters are contesters.
“If you can’t stand the politics in this country, support better politicians. It’s actually quite simple. Just find a politician without a record of murder, assault or rape and support them. The bar is low. And offer more support than words, because they put their lives on the line for you. Write them a cheque.”
it’s simple on paper. but we need a person with good leadership skills who doesn’t adopt a policy or a history of murder, rape, corruption etc. i don’t know how simple that is.
“Dear [sunday leader readers of] Colombo, you are cowards and you are fools” says indi
Colombo is obviously a big diverse place. It’s a rhetorical article generally addressing the reader directly. Shehal, I think it’s nitpicking to go over precisely what ‘Colombian’ means. It actually means a citizen of Colombo, I used that phrasing as a joke, because we don’t actually have a name for ourselves, let alone a definition.
I repeat that Colombian isn’t even a real word for Colombo people. I made it up. Arguing over the definition of it is a bit pointless. Insomuch as it exists, it means whatever I chose it to mean. Yes the article is meant for a specific audience, and generally meant to address the people reading it. It doesn’t mean that they are the sum or the average or any particular slice of all Colombians, they just are people who live in Colombo who happen to read those words. I’m trying to talk to and address them.
I don’t think it’s a huge limb to go out on to say that most people with power and influence in Colombo aren’t doing enough with it.
I also don’t think it’s a rant at all, the point, as Rajiv said was to ‘suggest some solid courses of action rather than just whingeing’.
And yes I’m trying to sell papers, if only because the Sunday Leader website sucks and reading it in print is much better presentation.
:)
details matter in journalism
looking fwd to see what you write next
cheers
Erm, I don’t agree very much with the ‘even cricketers’ died for you bit but the article was a reality check. So thank you.
But there is always something unnnerving about egging someone to do anything that might put thier lives in danger. Even if that person thought it a worthy cause, you’d always be left wondering if anything ever is. Maybe thats why… But keep up the good work!
i think if you read the article and it resonated with you, you’re probably a ‘Colombian’. It did with me, and i dont even live in colombo. the point is that we dont do anything and we should, because we have the means, we just dont have the balls. that said, when you keep bringing Lasantha up in everything you write, that’s just kinda creepy.
Great to have you putting out articles like this Indi !
I hope you will reach more people with your reason…
I m also strongly of the optinion that Colombians/or Sri Lankans in general should by now know what they can and what they can expect from their politicians, be it government or opposition. So we/they should not be so afraid and reluctant to start taking things into our own hands.
The government looks as if its winning the war but its up to the people to make peace !
You are pretty much underestimating power of Colombo. As far as I can remember, all our democratic leaders were cultured inside a tiny quarter call Colombo 3. JR, Ranil from Royal, Mahinda from Thurstan, CBK and her mother, brother and also Premadasa from walking distance from Colombo 3. Colombo may not act fast as you want, but it act pretty much the speed any other human society responds. You cannot use steroids on this process. Can we?
Humm..so Indi, I presume that you are also standing for office, since all the politicians are corrupt etc?Nice article nontheless!!
to indi and all:
why do ppl think colombo is so important!?when elections are on, what % do the colombian voters represent? (10-20%?) what does the rest of the country represent? (80/90%?). do you really think policies are decided by the colombians? maybe they are decided IN colombo, but not by the weight of colombian votes. colombo can pass stuff in parliament through (economic) lobbying maybe, but that again happens becasue of selfish interests.
the main businesses are in the hands of the rich and uneducated, who are normally extremely selfish anywhere in the world, driving a pajero doesnt make you suddenly cultured nad understnding, . what did this lot give for the tsunami you mentioned in the article? inflated cement and food prices? jokes about it? a few trips with useless shit to distribute at the weekend? lets go and see the peraliya train? what are you talking bout when you say that the country united as one for tsuami? the non existent IMMEDIATE relief (be it army/navy/fire brigade/etc) that didnt appear for days/weeks?!? the ridiculous squabble over aid distribution to n&e? or the innumerable cases of corruption by officials? or the rotting shit which was still at the airport a few months ago?!!??! get real.
you also forget that the average joe nowadays goes around with flags even in his underpants to show the size of his dick and is happy that the ltte are finally cornered (quite rightly too, before the prickniks start) and says, hurray, blow them all up! regrdless of who exactly he’s expecting to blow up. idps, he doesnt know what it means and doesnt give too hoots, all he wants is to open his zipper and show…his flag, lol!
the rest is ok for me, the kick up the arse is good for 2 reasons, to raise awareness to the selfishness of colombo and to waken them up from their lethargic state. but to do that you need to send the remaining 80% of the ppulation to a proper school so that they can really understand what u r saying, slum dwellers dwellers included.
you know, indi, even moronic bloggers like…… you know who….. unfortunately exactly represent the average joe’s views, that is the mainstream, you can hear the same conversations at every street corner, outside colombo, so before any of the stuff you write becomes reality, you have to change the entire nation…. for example, how many ppl in galle do you think care about lasantha?!? i can tell you maybe 1% of galle…. and idps? another 1% probably. i dont see them organise truckloads or trainloads of items to be sent to idp camps (lagers?) from galle railway station, right? ok, i know the article was about colombo… but colombo always has to deal with the burden of carrying places like galle on its back, evrytime it tries to move forward, politically (votes), economically and culturally….
see ya!
gb
“Well, better men than you or I have died for this very paper”
“Lasantha died for you”
You must be kidding me! Its sadly a not so well guarded secret that Lasantha was a journalist who prostituted so called media freedom for his own agendas. Was he a man of honour? No. His death as a human being is mourned but he most certainly did not die for “us”.
To all of you who respond to indi’s article. What have you done this month to either help the wounded soldiers or those who are internally displaced?
Have you taken any of your hard-earned money and donated it? And no that does not include paying taxes (even if you paid it all truthfully).
So here’s a challenge to everyone who comments on indi’s blog. Before your next comment why don’t you donate money, (i.e. cold hard cash) to either the Ranaviru Fund to help the soldiers or to the ICRC for the internally displaced.
Don’t give your old clothes or talk about someone in your family or what you’ve seen on derana.. Also don’t stop there, keep giving each month, help those who are suffering because of this war
Now that’s the action that indi is talking about (IMO).
To this end, indi, have you considered having your writing (this blog, your newspaper articles) translated into sinhalese? Am I wrong in assuming that your perspective / ideas would be more original to monolingual sinhalese than they are to the english speaking (presumably) elites? I’m not speaking of this article, which is clearly aimed at a group that can read it, but some of your other writing on Sri Lanka seems like it could serve a greater role if it reached beyond people who can read english.
That Sunday Leader article of yours made me comment on your blog for the first time. To let you know, there are people who are fuming about things but don’t act… who need a little push to spring into action… your article did it to me.
Keep up the good work indi
Hope more people would be inspired to act.