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| Sunday, 11 January 2004 |
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Unethical Services Unlimited by Lucien Rajakarunanayake While Wee Jay Moo with his fingers in Justice and the Buddha Sasana is kept busy with his 60-day magic of legislating against unethical conversions of Buddhists, Hindus and some Catholics too, by Bible toting "fundamentalist Christians", I thought it would be interesting to seek some opinions about unethical activity in others areas of social activity. I was soon able to track down Prof. Deshpal Sadarchar, from the Indian Institute of Fundamental Studies, doing research on the role of ethics in our political system. "I'm amazed at Sri Lanka's ability to lead the world in so many ways" he said. "Your record includes the world's first elected woman Prime Minister, the first elected woman Executive President, you often top the world in suicides, crime is not far behind and you have a regular high ratings in the consumption of alcohol. But all this pales in comparison to your record in unethical politics." "But what about India, isn't it also ........ "Of course we have our own levels of unethical politics, but we have over a billion people. I do not make excuses for the situation there. But over here, it is simply staggering. You have so few politicians compared to us, and given any measure of proportion to people and politicians the Sri Lankan level of unethical politics is far ahead of us. It must be well ahead of levels of unethical politics seen in George W. Bush Inc. in the US of A, from the fixing of elections to the awarding of contracts, and that's only two areas. I am seriously considering a recommendation that all democracies take Sri Lanka as a case study in the success of unethical behaviour in the business of politics. Your universities could profit by awarding doctorates in UP or Unethical Politics. It's a truly interesting area of study. A person with PhD UP (Sri Lanka) trailing after one's name could command considerable fees anywhere in the world, both in the State and private sectors". I next met our own Prof. Verbose Divadeka, who has a near unparalleled academic record in law. Some say his forked tongue when speaking of things political is due to his being fed with raw iguana (thalagoya) tongues in his childhood to improve in his studies, in keeping with local beliefs. I had barely outlined my question, when the academic in him emerged. "Ethics is something totally strange to us, especially politicians, and I'm glad about that too. There is not a single reference to ethics in our Constitution, either in the original 1978 version or in any of the 17 amendments that have followed. In fact the 17th Amendment was my own brainchild. I made sure there was not the least reference or inference to ethics in it. You see, one must understand that politicians, even those who have drifted from academia, should not be restrained in our activities on behalf of the people, due to considerations of ethics. Ethics can never lead to political long jumps. With ethics in place how could one buy over politicians, or how could one expect a politician who has any ethics to make a profit on the issue of various quotas. This is all nonsense. The business of politics is business, as you very well know, and it is one business where ethics has no say. I can state with full confidence that the lack of ethics, is the hallmark of success in politics. I next thought of seeking the views of a professional. That's how I met Dr. Vruththika Vanchaavansa, whose doctorate is in alternative medicine. He is a big name in Professionals Unethical, the umbrella organization of professionals. Inviting me for a drink at the Nugget Bar of the Pro Den, he explained the role of ethics among professionals in Sri Lanka. The Mission Statement of all professionals in Sri Lanka is that of making the biggest profit from or charging the highest fee for any services rendered. "You will agree that being ethical is in sharp contrast to such an overriding mission," he explained. "Have you no concern for the problems it causes the people or clients?"' "How can people who don't care a damn about ethics in their dealings with each other, ask us professionals whether, doctors, lawyers, architects or those in other professions to be ethical in our practices? It's all nonsense. Our problem today is how we can convert some of our professionals who still believe in the ethics of their professions, whether it is the Hippocratic Oath or anything else, into our way of thinking. We may have to use unethical means to convert them to our way of professional thinking." He added they will soon be launching an awareness programme on "The Importance of being Unethical". There will be seminars and workshops, to show the effectiveness of unethical practice. The costs will be high, but there were many organizations, especially pharmaceutical companies, ready to help defray costs. "We will have professionals from the former Enron, Westcom, and Arthur Andersen to be guest speakers. There will be one from Pharmadat of Italy too, after their recent exposure. What we want to show is that but for a few hiccups here and there, it is unethical practice, especially among professionals, that is making globalization such a success", he said with great satisfaction. This was too much for me; I needed some break from all this trust in the value of being unethical. I thought of some other area to study and struck on Administration. I was able to meet Kootawansa Paripalaka, a retired senior member of the Sri Lanka Administrative Service. I had hardly posed my question about the importance of ethics in administration, when he broke out in a loud laugh. "You must be joking,' he said. "Why, what's the joke", I asked him. "The whole idea is a joke. In all my years in administration, and I rose to very high levels, I was never bothered with anything called ethics. I know of some sad guys who used to mutter about ethics, but they never went up the ladder. They never took an official car home with their pension. They never got extensions. As you rise in administration you realize that the more unethical you are, the greater the chances of a good extension. The lazy old days of politicians who were there for service and not for business are long gone. Don't forget that the administrator is manipulated by the politician, as much as we can manipulate them too. So, when the politician is unethical, as you must know very well, what chance do we have if we remain ethical? Similarly, we soon learn to take politicians in unethical directions, for our own benefit as well as their own, and they don't complain. They become our patrons. Today, ethics will be the death knell of success in administration. We are all drawn towards the unethical, by a force stronger than even gravity. So how could we remain ethical? Unethical it has to be. Unethical administration has something very special about." "What's so special?" "It is a symbiotic relationship between the politician and the administrator. Being unethical is the survival factor for both." I went to what passes off as a Press Club today, and ordered my favourite spirits from the coconut flower just to steady my nerves. That's when I bumped into, Kurutugedera Liyanage, a guy well known to be a Media Mafiosi. I asked him about ethics and the media. He insisted I buy him a drink before he spoke. When he had downed his 100ml shot in one gulp, he put his glass down and said, "Thanks a lot, that's the spirit". I told him I wanted his idea of ethics in the media and not his opinion on spirits. "That's right. Exactly like what I said. It's all swallowed up. There is nothing left. Don't waste time looking for a needle in a haystack. Media and ethics began parting company many years ago." I was in no mood to give up. I spotted Pandu Kreedaloka, a sports writer, nearby, enjoying his own special poison. So I asked him about ethics in sports. The sporty guy that he was, he ordered two drinks, one for him and one for me too. He finished his first drink and told me, "take my advice, and don't go about asking unethical questions. Over here there is no ethics in sports. There are only sellouts, buyouts and kick outs and kick backs. It's always a case of 'umpire hora', if you raise any questions about ethics. And I tell you, it's the same with every sport. He was in the mood to give me details, but I had to leave him to his poison to catch the deadline for this copy. |
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