indi.ca

Malaka Silva, having fun. Via Gossip9.

---

Malaka Silva and his bestie Rehan Wijeratne seem on their way to getting away with assault, again, this time of an Army Major. Malaka has a history here and his dad is a bigger thug and resiliently unembarassable. Rehan Wijeratne, however, is from a more reputable family, one still seemingly capable of feeling shame. His brother, Sachine Jayawickreme, has written something in the Island chastising his brother for the errant path he’s taken. As Malaka looks set to get away with assault (again), let’s hope that there’s hope for the other fellow.

We used to go out, get drunk, walk home for miles or 15 of us pack into a three wheeler and scrounge around to collect Rs. 200 so we can go to the beach and buy another bottle. We also used to take the bus to school, go to the shop for a plain tea and a bun and (try and sneak a cigarette before school).

Later on after finishing school, most of us got jobs. Wore a tie and a shirt and went in the bus to work (I got a job as a salesperson at Janashakthi Insurance for a year). We could not afford to go to clubs every week and run high tabs. We did not have armed guards following us around everywhere and we certainly did not even know what cocaine looked like.

Change of political culture: Once upon a time in Sri Lanka, politicians were educated, had university degrees, were great public speakers, did community work before they got into mainstream politics and instilled those same values in their off-spring. Fast forward to now and the landscape has changed. Sometimes you wonder if you are watching a scene out of a mafia movie. When I came back to Sri Lanka before getting married, I went to a couple of clubs with my friends.

What I saw both surprised me and saddened me at the same time it also educated me on how lucky I am to have parents and family who would have never condoned this type of behaviour and the things that went around in the clubs.

To this day I can confidently walk into any night club or night spot alone and not worry for my safety. Unfortunately I cannot say the same about my brother or the company he keeps. (The Island)

Jayawickreme is essentially saying that the family is not to blame (as is definitely the case with Malaka Silva) but rather the friends, in this case, Malaka Silva. Which seems probable. Malaka is a code word for trouble and shame among most Sri Lankans, but he still has a lot of friends. There are enough sycophants and hangers-on that he and his ilk can inhabit a bubble where they’re somehow OK people, even liked. I mean, I was going through some Malaka photos on the gossip sites. With no visible income and family in the ‘public service’, these wannabe princelings are getting drunk and partying like it’s their job. And they party with people, there are plenty of people around to share drugs and booze and women.

Malaka Silva with Dhiren Nirmalalingam. Via Gossip9.

But it remains shameful, not drugs or booze or women per se, but the violence and abuse and lack of connection to reality and consequences that accompanies it. As Jayawickreme says, you can go out and be OK as long as you’re conscious that you’re settling your bill with finite money, that you’re with friends and in a friendly spirit, that there are consequences to your actions. Children (now men) who grow up spoiled by their fathers and the government, however, don’t have these checks on their behavior. They’re simply in a world of corrupt and seemingly infinite money, corrupt people that aren’t really friends, and laws that don’t apply to them. That plus drugs and alcohol is a terribly combination, for everyone involved, bystanders included. Malaka Silva will keep getting off for assault after assault, and he’s now in his thirties. It doesn’t look like it’ll stop until he kills someone. I mean, after assaulting police and Army, what checks are there, really? For political sons, assault and violence is now about as troubling as a parking fine.

Sachine Jayawickreme seems to think there’s some hope for his brother to pull out of this cycle, one which leads only to suffering, which is suffering, self-medicating and hurting all the way down. I sincerely hope so, because this Sri Lankan administration is to corrupt to even discipline its own children.