Serendib — Santulan Creative

Sri Lanka’s ancient name is seared into history as much by its alluring beauty as by the foreign conquerors who bestowed it on the island.

A place so special that it has also enriched the English language in a delightfully serendipitous way.

When my daughter asked me to write about Sri Lanka and its current troubles, I briefly hesitated. That was partly down to the extent to which the island nation had veered off course over the recent past, leaving those like myself at a loss to come to terms with a blistering blow to its very soul.

I was not quite ready to write some hard, gut-wrenching truths – it seemed too painful and visceral an experience. Yet I also knew it would be cathartic in some ways. And so here I am, carving out these words even as they jolt me like a thousand cuts.

Sri Lanka, the land of my birth, is my spiritual home. Some three decades later I moved to New Zealand, my adopted country and my daughter’s birthplace. Aotearoa - the Maori name for New Zealand meaning the Long White Cloud – has had a defining impact on me.

New Zealand is my compass to humanity, a balm to my withering past and a tonic for the present and future. Singapore, where I live and work now, is an oasis to the intellect and a light to the great possibilities of our species.

My identity is sandwiched between these two wonderful, inspiring countries.

As I write every word, I’ve had to pause from time to time to compose myself from a turbulent emotional reaction. It is tough not to feel for Sri Lanka and its catastrophic descent into turmoil. Its predicament is a lesson in human folly.

I slowly quiet my thoughts. I weep for my motherland.

Sri Lanka is facing its worst crisis since independence from the British in 1948. Its economy is in ruins and the future of the nation, held in a vice-like grip by an intransigent, egotistical and arrogant political class, hangs in the balance. Some believe, with a measure of justification, that the country - which is slightly bigger than the U.S. state of West Virginia in size - is beyond repair.

It is no exaggeration to say the past few decades in Sri Lanka, which has the oldest living Buddhist tradition today after its introduction to the country in the third century BCE, have unleashed dark and powerful forces.

How did such a proud nation, with a rich history spanning two thousand five hundred years, a land of breathtaking beauty, pristine beaches and friendly people, plunge into this vortex?

The short answer: abject failure of leadership.

Sri Lanka’s political class can easily be the poster child for bumbling idiots. How else could one explain a penchant for self-destructive behavior rooted in a toxic mix of unrestrained ego, racist politics, shocking corruption and arrogance.

Rather than unite a people rich in history, cultural diversity, the arts and languages, Sri Lanka’s short-sighted leaders set off on a path of division across ethnic, religious, language and cultural lines - with disastrous consequences.

I was born a Tamil Hindu. As a 13-year-old I witnessed first-hand the hate-filled bigotry that decimated our nation, including watching our house being burned down by thugs.

It was a shattering, wrenching and traumatising experience for me. My grandmother, a fearless woman, was the tower of strength during those chaotic and frightening moments when the gangsters fire-bombed and destroyed our house. She managed to hide us in a neighbor's toilet just meters away. Watching the mobsters unleash their hatred in such a violent manner, not knowing if our lives will be spared or not, I remember feeling intense sadness and blazing pain for my people whose only crime was being born a Tamil.

Most Sinhalese are warm-hearted and caring people, and so it came as no surprise for those who know me well that I ended up marrying one of them, a woman of exceptional grace and compassion.

In the agonising weeks that followed Black July, as the 1983 ethnic riots came to be known, some extraordinary Sinhalese helped us to regain a semblance of our dignity even as we struggled to come to terms with life that for us would never be the same again. The flaming memories continue to grip me in grief for the lost lives and livelihoods of the dark passage of 1983, and for many thousands more in the decades since.

The pain is mind-numbing. I weep for my motherland.

Sri Lanka's population is around 70% Sinhalese Buddhists, while Tamils (around 12% - mostly Hindus), Muslims and Burghers of European descent complete a wonderous fabric of cultural diversity.

As soon as the British left, a group of Sinhalese politicians set the nation on a steep dive of ethnic politics, targeting their ire against the Tamils, culminating in the violent programs in 1958, 1977 and 1983 to suppress their religion, language and identity. The subsequent war between the Tamil Tiger rebels and the Sri Lankan military lasted almost three decades, ending in the defeat of the separatists.

The triumphalism of the Sinhalese south and its government, which showed no commitment to win the peace and address decades of discrimination against the Tamil community or the grave human rights violations, sowed the seeds of its current deathly spiral. The Rajapaksa clan, led by Mahinda Rajapaksa and Gotabaya Rajapaksa, served up an ultra-nationalistic menu by wooing the Buddhist clergy to push the country down the path of fascism.

Of course, the trouble with rabid nationalists is that the center of gravity falls off, like the wheels coming off, and in Sri Lanka’s case, spectacularly. While there were honorable exceptions, many of our leaders made an art form of stealing from their own country, making the British imperialists look decidedly saintly.

The result is that today Sri Lanka has become a failed state.

I am unapologetically opposed to imperialism and colonialism. All the same, even as the British plundered our country of its wealth, I must admit they also bequeathed some sturdy institutions, including a political structure centered on pluralistic democracy (even accepting some shortcomings), a functioning judiciary and a robust educational set-up. And let’s not forget the roads and the railway system, some of which remains to this day.

Sri Lanka’s wealth of resources including its great natural harbors were the envy of discerning world leaders, none more so than the late great Singapore Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew, who is said to have gushed at the island’s beauty and wished Singapore would one day be like Sri Lanka!

With its highly educated workforce, strategically located sea-lanes, mineral riches such as gems, high quality graphite, world renowned spices, lush green tea plantations, rubber and coconut - the list goes on – Sri Lanka had many advantages to forge a proud destiny.

So, is there hope for Sri Lanka?

I have an abiding sense of optimism in today’s youth. They are a more self-aware lot, and most have a strong moral code which I believe will help bring the nation out of this crisis.

One’s ethnicity and cultural heritage are the sum of the whole that make up any nation’s DNA, and I am convinced that today’s youth of Sri Lanka see it as something to celebrate and embrace rather than fear and suppress.

My life’s journey has taught me how cultural differences can be congruent with human empowerment and progress.

As destiny or the stars would have it, I met my wife - a Sinhala Buddhist – almost 10 years to the day of that fateful Black July of 1983.

Together we have experienced the boundless power of diversity. We are comfortable in our own skins and are also very appreciative of the rich cultural and spiritual ethos. My daughter, the product of our union, represents the best of both our worlds – in ways that are profound and connected to our humanity. She is deeply appreciative and rooted in our cultural identities – but also feels empowered by learning and embracing other cultures. It is no accident that she has a searing sense of Sri Lanka and New Zealand in her.

For all of that and more, I am indebted to Sri Lanka for bestowing this graceful symmetry.

Serendipitous? I would like to think so.

SERENDIB - TEARS FOR MY MOTHERLAND