Cat's Eye

Hi! Remember me from last Sunday? I am Menika from Yatinuwara, a division of the Kandé-uda-pasrata. I was brought up conservative - to be meek, mild and subservient. No strong personal opinions; no talking freely to males; no expressing personal views. But I changed with circumstances changing.

I spread my wings and fly free and while doing so cast my curious eye all around. I even express ideas as I did last Sunday. I am full of views to share with you; some catty but most reasonably commented on. So here goes:

Enemies in every bush and building

The most surprising event of the week to this fat cat is a statement of the ex Prez read out at the rally in Ratnapura, the third in the series to gather votes or whatever to elect Mahinda Rajapaksa as the next Prime Minister. God forbid!

The Devas protect us since just behind MR as PM will be WW - yes of course Wimal Weerawansa. That is the purpose of this entire rallying round and paying and feeding and transporting people to swell the crowd in the new Foursome's bid to bring MR back, not just into active politics but as the executive prime minister.

Needless to mew we had enough of him as executive president, mostly because of his extended, extravagant family and suspect hangers-on. But to have him back in power will be disastrous for us all, murder to quite a few and so much of his revenge to be expiated.

Daring to contest him in the 2009 presidential elections had General Sarath Fonseka de-ranked, de-decorated, de-pensioned and detained for three solid years. We were told very sanely, very unemotionally by Mairthipala Sirisena that he and his family would have been exterminated if MR had won this time's presidential election.

Anyways, usually trusting and not given at all to thinking ill of people, our present Prez went into hiding with family soon after the election results were announced. This cat presumed that the Maithri person would not have thought of protecting himself by escaping to a safe home.

But those concerned about him and knowing the gravity of the risk he ran by contesting the King, would have whisked him away until claws and fangs were declawed and defanged by making the King accept defeat and move out.

Now what is the statement from Mahinda Rajapaksa that so perturbed Menika. "Let's show our unity to the enemies of the nation" was the title of the page 1 news item. He called upon the people to stand united against enemies of the nation as the separatists were still active. To quote: "Sinister forces had emerged stronger since January 8.

The time has come for us to tell them in no uncertain terms that though they have engineered electoral losses, we are strong in politics. We must make it very clear to them that they cannot rob us of our courage to fight back." In addition to perturbing Menika, what the Ex-Prez said confused and confounded her.

He said that enemies of the nation are separatists still active. OK, Menika surmised, the enemy is the LTTE, still being seen all over, though long decimated. But then MR says that they engineered electoral losses and are trying to rob him of his courage to fight back. That surely can't be the LTTE as they had no hand in the elections of January 8. So MR must definitely be referring to those who beat him at the polls. Leading his perceived enemies who are attempting to emasculate him (appears to be no easy task) is Maithripala Sirisena who contested and defeated him. Just behind must be Ranil W and Chandrika C and also Dr Rajitha S. Far-fetched and neurotic conclusion to come to and make public by the ex-Prez since the election was the right thing, but at the wrong time - chosen by him with those astrologers advising.

Menika nearly choked laughing her guts out at MR's next observation read to the crowds who braving the rainstorm stayed to listen to what he had to say. "Projects we launched to help the country to be on par with the developed world have been suspended." Thank the good sense of yahapalanas who are considering whether to continue with the port city and have suspended the Uma Oya project, also as noted at a press conference on Wednesday, the circular sky road to ring Colombo will be built at much less cost.

'Help the country' must be rewritten as: 'help ourselves'. A pleasure island made to rise from the sea; a harbor where no ships call unless compelled to; an airport avoided by airways and water guzzling cricket stadium and wonder garden in Ham Ban Tot are projects to elevate our standing in the world!? Tell that to the pigtailed Chinaman, Sir, to Chinamen who loved your spending ways.

This is evidence of a common trait of Sri Lankans. Have yourself getting your due desserts and it is the fault of other people. A person is never willing to admit faults. The powerful consider justice meted out as calculated moves by others to bring him down.

Jaffna visit

It was good to see the Prime Minister with her Excellency, the ex-Prez visiting Jaffna. Why oh why didn't the Chief Minister welcome the duo? Land has been given back to rightful owners; the national anthem can be sung in Tamil; top civil servant cum diplomat replaced the military governor of the Northern Province; and there definitely is good will moving northwards, a trickle-down effect of maithriness and a general feeling of peace and willingness to love thy neighbour as thyself.

Perceived chinks

The pot of money sent in the wrong direction and even having the Guv of the Central Bank admitting his mistake keeps boiling over with a protest lodged that he, the Guv is enjoying a long paid holiday. Yes, and yes again; things should move faster.

Even laid back Menika, who kept making excuses for yahapalanaya and saying things in the country are improving very much after 9 January, now feels the wheels of justice against those who soorala keva monies that belonged to us the public and went buying hotels et al and investing billions in foreign banks are still living free and being given time to camouflage their misdeeds.

Not everything is hunky dory. Chinks are showing up. The President has more than his fair share of work since he has to stay neutral and in charge among contending forces and people.

We sympathise with him on the loss of one of his brothers. The brother may have been different to him and inclined to business ventures but to be axed to death is a most heinous way to die, leaving three young children.

What struck Menika was that this death was just another death through unleashed criminality. No fuss was made; no blocking of traffic in Colombo and sure there were no pile-ups in Polonnaruwa. Menika remembers being traffic jammed while taking her monthly dané to a temple down Baudhaloka Mavata on the early morning of the day of the previous First Lady's mama's funeral.

The three wheeler chappie was succinct in his comment: "Looks as if the mother-in-law shared the throne. Otherwise why all this fuss?" The present President when he travels does so lightly in the way of waving gloved arms and screeching escort vehicles with an ambulance coming last of all. He travels with minimum escort to the Katunayake airport, boards a commercial flight with minimum accompanying him.

What a money saver he is and pleasing to the eye of the common man who hated to hear (surreptitiously) of the 100 or so taken on joy rides and holidays paid for by the burdened taxpayer in the last decade.

An e-mail arrived in Menika's inbox, prefaced by the comment: "This is nothing compared to the profligacy of MR and company." It was to say that the Minister of Foreign Affairs stayed in a suite at the Four Seasons in Washington DC (we suppose) when he went to meet Kerry, and had two more rooms booked, less in price, for the Sri Lankan Ambassador to the US and another man.

Yes, nothing compared to the booking of two whole floors in the Waldorf by the previous regime. But to Menika's cautious nature care must be taken on how one lives and acts in public during these formative years of the yahapalana government.

Menika rests her case.

Menika