Sunday 17 July 2016

පලුටාව HOW TO DEAL WITH PAIN

පලුටාව HOW TO DEAL WITH PAIN


මාතලේ දිස්ත්‍රික්කයේ සීගිරියට යාබද පලුටාව නම් ගමේ සිදුවූ ඛේදාන්තයක්. ඒ නිසාම චිත්‍රපටයේ නමත් "පලුටාව"
මානව ඉතිහාසයේ ගමන්මග අරගලවලින් පිරි එකකි.මිනිසා මිනිසාට එරෙහිව, තම වර්ගයාටම එරෙහිව නැගිසිටීම් වලින් ඉතිහාසය පිරීතිබේ. හැමවිටම සහාසිකත්වය සහ කෘරත්වය එකක් අනෙක පරයා යයි.එනිසයි අපි හැමවිටම කියන්නේ, 71' කට වඩා 86/90 කාලයේ භිෂණය සහාසිකයි කියලා. 71 අප්‍රේල් කැරල්ලේ මියගිය සංඛ්‍යාව හැටියට කියවෙන්නේ5000 විතර කියලයි. 86\90 අරගලයේ දි මෙම සංඛ්‍යාව 60,000 දක්වා ඉහල යනවා. පලමුවන ලෝක යුද්දයෙන් මිලියන17 ක් මිය ඇදෙනවා. දෙවන ලෝක යුද්දය වනවිට මෙම ගනන මිලියන 60 දක්වා වැඩි වෙනවා. දෙවෙනි ලෝක යුද්ධයට පෙර,ලෝක ඉතිහාසයේ ඉතා අමානුෂික හා අපකීර්තිමත්ම දේශපාලන සිරකඳවුර ලෙස වාර්තාවී තිබුනේ බ්‍රිතාන්‍ය අධිරාජ්‍ය යටතේ පාලනය වු දකුනු අප්‍රිකාවේ බුවර් යුද්ධයේ සිරකරුවන් රඳවා තිබු කඳවුරයි. එහෙත් හිට්ලර්ගේ නාසි යුද්ධයේ ම්ලේච්චත්වය, සහාසිකබව සහ කෘරත්වය මේ සියල්ල අභිබවා ගියේය.

Wednesday 11 May 2016

The DAO: a radical experiment that could be the future of decentralised governance

The DAO: a radical experiment that could be the future of decentralised governance



A Russian-Canadian, Vitalik Buterin is trying to replace managers and directors with technology. He is the co-creator of a platform, Ethereum, which aims to automate management through codified rules that determine what can be done within an organisation through smart contracts. Such a codified ‘organisation’ is called Distributed Autonomous Organisation (DAO). This cryptographic technology relies on multiparty secure computation to ensure no attacker can subvert it.

Saturday 7 May 2016

Confronting Injustice [1/2] - YouTube

Confronting Injustice [1/2] - YouTube



Confronting Injustice:
Social Activism in the Age of Individualism

A new generation of activists working for economic and environmental justice, and against war and poverty, confronts critical questions. Why is the world so unjust and crisis-prone? What kind of world should we fight for? How can we win? In this panoramic yet accessible book, Umair Muhammad engages with these and other urgent debates. He argues that individual solutions like "buying green" are dead ends and that hope for the future lies in a radical expansion of democracy and the transformation of the economy from one based on profit to one that can meet human needs. The scale of these problems should make it clear that individualist, lifestyle approaches to activism will not suffice. We need to change the structures of our social system, not our light bulbs. Confronting Injustice seeks to expose the structural roots of the injustices we must confront, and outlines an approach to activism that transcends the hopeless individualism of our time.

Moderated by Paul Gray. Presentations by:
  • Ama Amponsah: is a long-time resident of Jane and Finch. She organizes with Jane Finch Action Against Poverty (JFAAP) and is a former member of CUPE Ontario's Racial Justice Committee.
  • Stefan Kipfer: is an Associate Professor in the Faculty of Environmental Studies at York University. His research interests include urban politics, social theory, and ecological socialism.
  • Sadia Khan: is a community organizer in the East end, and has worked with new immigrant communities in various capacities for over 8 years. She is currently pursuing her masters in Social and Political Thought at York University.
  • Umair Muhammad: is a researcher who focuses on the political economy of climate change. He is studying for his Ph.D. at York University.

Friday 29 January 2016

MIGRATION AND CANBERRA: MULTICULTURAL MEMORIES AND IMPRESSIONS - A talk delivered in September 2003, at Canberra & District Historical Society in the ACT

This talk appeared in Canberra Historical Journal September 2003 : 37-39, under the Title: Maintaining Sri Lankan Traditions

MIGRATION AND CANBERRA: MULTICULTURAL MEMORIES AND IMPRESSIONS

First, let me acknowledge the land of the Ngunnawal people where we stand.
The Sri Lankan community in Australia seems comparatively older than what we believe.  The Veddahs of Sri Lanka and the Aborigines of Australia had originated apparently from a common family when the continents of Asia, Africa and Australia formed one land mass.  According to Al Grassby, there had been a Ceylonese among the first fleet arrivals in Sydney.  Nevertheless, the first squadron of ‘Ceylonese’ immigrants landed in 1882 to work in Broome, Western Australia, in Thursday Island, Bundaberg and Mackay and later in the gold-mining regions of New South Wales.  Bruce Moore in the book ‘Lanyon Saga’ gives an interesting account of a Sri Lankan, one David Simon Samara Singha, who had lived in Queanbeyan in the early 20th century.  One James Cunningham had employed him on his Tuggeranong estate and moved him to the Lanyon estate in 1915.  John Cann in his book “Snakes Alive” refers to an ‘Abdul Carim’ from Colombo who had brought with him five cobras to Australia.
Tensions in multi-ethnic Australia, after European settlement, were seen in violent confrontations between Anti-Coolie Leaguers and ‘Cingalese’ labourers from Ceylon when the Leaguers blockaded North Queensland wharves to prevent coolies from landing.  According to historical records these coolies had ‘great fluency in English and a competent knowledge of mental arithmetic and were considered a threat.  This whole multiethnic story is deeply interesting because it shows complex, contradictory, convoluted and conflictual interactions between diverse social and ethnic groups locked in a shared environment, represented by trade unionism of the Leaguers in an environment of economic protectionism and racist attitudes prevalent at all social levels.
Sri Lankan immigrants preferred to come to Australia due to its favourable climatic conditions and the degree of freedom that prevails and still prevailing compared to other countries.  This was a pull factor affecting immigration towards Australia.  Many found that in the eighties, it was not too hard to settle down because of the support of the community and the Government offices designated to look after the interests of migrants.  Many felt at ease after a while, calling Australia their second home.  My impression is that diverse Australian people do share and blend their cultures, exercise tolerance and respect for one another, try to understand each other and work together in peace and harmony unless chauvinistic sentiments and fears of insecurity are aroused within them.
The total number of overseas born residents in Canberra is 66,732 (21.6%), of which 1400 are persons born in Sri Lanka.  In Canberra, Sinhalese and Tamils seem to be equal in numbers, about 250 families.  There are about ten Sri Lankan Muslim families; Burghers and others of Sri Lankan origin comprise the rest.  The second and third generations of these families would easily number a couple of hundreds.
Sri Lankans have been settling down in the ACT since mid 1950s and early 1960s, but it was during the 1980s and 1990s that they arrived in larger numbers.  The Burghers were dependents from mixed marriages between the locals and the Portuguese, the Dutch or the English.  To migrate to Australia under the White Australia policy, they had to show that their blood had not less than 75% European ancestry.  Some still had problems at immigration because their skin colour was not pure white.  Because of their English language proficiency, employability, middle class background and familiarity with western culture, they would have been able to integrate easily into the Australian society.
The relaxation of racial barriers of Australian immigration policies in 1973 allowed professionally qualified Asians to migrate.  Sinhalese and Tamils who had travelled overseas for higher studies in the 60s and 70s, mostly who were in the UK, had the opportunity to migrate to Australia because they were distinguished, highly qualified and/or sponsored by their families.  With family re-union allowed in the early 1980s, many were able to sponsor their immediate relatives to join them.  In mid 1980s, the Tamils immigrated to Australia in large numbers affected by the ensuing civil war.  The First Muslims came to Australia under Colombo Plan scholarships to study agriculture and nursing.  Some students had stayed back after completing their studies.  Some Muslims also have migrated because of family re-union.
Many of the Sri Lankan migrants were attracted to Canberra because of the secure employment opportunities offered by the Commonwealth Public Service, the CSIRO and the tertiary educational institutions.  Some of them came from interstate due to a variety of reasons, at the end of 1980s and early 1990s.  Soon after independence of Sri Lanka in 1948, the Sri Lankan High Commission was established in Canberra.  Many High Commissioners and staff members of the High Commission opted to become Australian residents later and also opted to stay on in Canberra.
After 1979, when adoption of children by non-nationals was allowed in Sri Lanka, Australians have adopted many hundreds of them. There are many adopted children in Canberra.
The unfortunate circumstances in 1983 led many Sri Lankans, in particular, Tamils to flee Sri Lanka.  Some of them needed various forms of assistance.  During that period, the governments both Federal and ACT provided funding for assisting those who were in need.  The ACT government has always been supportive of maintaining this friendly and supportive environment.  The Migrant Resource Centre (MRC) of Canberra and Queanbeyan Inc. and the Queanbeyan Multilingual Centre had always been of assistance with language classes, with employment, with housing, with study assistance and with aged care.  TRANSACT (now, the Companion House Assisting Survivors of Torture and Trauma) helped those who came from countries at war, from refugee camps and from situations where they have experienced trauma.  The counsellors and doctors helped such people on their first arrival with counselling, medical care and other services.  I held the position of chair of TRANSACT for three years and was member of its executive for ten years since 1991.
I will now provide an overview of the associations and community formations that have been in place to support socio-cultural interaction among Sri Lankans and between the Sri Lankans and the wider Australian community.  Before the formation of associations in Canberra, all persons of Sri Lankan origin used to meet at the Sri Lankan High Commission or at private residences.  In 1968, Sri Lankan post-graduate students at the ANU and several residents in Canberra took the initiative of forming the Brotherhood Association, at the Graduate House of the ANU.  Professor A L Basham was its first patron.  This was the pre-cursor organisation to the Australia Sri Lanka Association, the oldest Sri Lankan Association in Canberra.  I was President and member of the management committee of this association for several years.
The second largest association is the Canberra Tamil Association (CTA), which had been formed originally with about fifteen families in August 1983, a reflection of the unfortunate developments of the conflict back at home.  The CTA conducts many events, inviting famous musicians and dancing troupes from India and interstate.  The Australian Tamil Foundation and Sinhala Cultural Association reflect the fragmentation of the community along diverse perspectives.  All these associations hold social get-togethers to celebrate Sinhala and Tamil New Year, Christmas, Deepavali and Thaipongal.  The Muslims celebrate Ramadan, Hajj and Prophet Mohamed’s Birthday.  The Friends for Peace in Sri Lanka is the first association in Australia and seemingly in the world that was initiated in 1994, by concerned Sinhalese and Tamils in Canberra, for promoting dialogue and negotiation as a means of achieving tolerance and harmony within the fragmented community.  I was a founding president of this association.  It conducts public forums, workshops, meetings where people of all Sri Lankan ethnic origins have taken part.  The Tamil Senior Citizens and The Fellowship Group of Senior Sri Lankans care for the aged people within the community.
Currently there are many Buddhist, Hindu, Christian and Muslim religious organizations in Canberra.  The Sri Lankan Buddhists in Canberra, together with Buddhists from other backgrounds formed the ACT Buddhist Society in the 1980s.  The Australia Sri Lanka Buddhist Association (ASLBA) came into being in the early 1990s, in a process of differentiation between Buddhists of diverse backgrounds.  With the assistance of many Canberrans and the ACT government, the Sri Lankan Buddhist Vihara in Kambah, catering mainly to the Sinhala Buddhists in the ACT, was completed in 1996.  Many Sinhala Buddhists in Canberra also contribute to the plethora of Buddhist associationa and temples in Canerra numbering more than a dozen including Vietnam, Thai, Japanese, Tibetan, Burmese and Lao traditions.  The first Satya Sai religious event in Canberra, involving many Sri Lankan born Hindus had occurred in mid 1980s with Sri Satya Sai Bajans.   In a similar manner, The Canberra Saiva Samaya Murugan Bajan commenced in 1987 and the Hindu Murugan Temple commenced building in 1995 in Torrens with the assistance of the ACT Government, mainly to cater to the Hindus of Sri Lankan Tamil origin in the ACT.  The Hindus of Sri Lankan origin also contribute to the Vishnu Siva Mandir Temple in Mawson, which commenced in 1996 and to the Florey Hindu Temple in Florey, which was the first Hindu worship Hall built in Canberra and was predominated by North and Fiji Indians.  Muslims in Canberra are associated with associations like ASLA and with Muslim associations.  All Christians associate and identify themselves with the existing Australian churches.
In order to familiarise those interested in Sri Lankan traditions of linguistics and performing arts, the Sri Lankan community maintains its own educational, dancing and music schools.  Languages Sinhala and Tamil are retained within the community through people continuing to speak them within families, passing them on to the next generation and conducting language classes with the assistance of the ACT Ethnic School’s Association.
The Rebels, The Lions Cricket Club and The Tamil Cricket Club provided opportunities to practise and to play cricket matches among Sri Lankans and others in Canberra.  Of course, cricketing relationship between Australia and Sri Lanka runs back to 1884 when Australian teams played in Colombo, one off games on their way to England.
In 1991 when I arrived in Canberra, it was a friendly, quiet and supportive place with almost no traffic except at the beginning and the end of the working day.  In spite of feelings of loneliness, being away from family, friends and people back at home, there was a sense of freedom from curtailment of freedom.  With time, Canberra has grown to be a busier place with more traffic, more drivers in a mad rush.  The Crime rate has grown and also racial vilification.  Within the Sri Lankan expatriate community, tensions have increased due to the ongoing conflict at home.
Sri Lankan born people in Canberra, had higher educational or occupational qualifications and higher employment rates on a comparative basis.  They have made valuable contributions in many spheres of activity in Canberra.  There are many academics, medical specialists and practitioners, dental surgeons, lawyers, engineers, architects, public servants, entrepreneurs, performing artistes both in dancing and music, writers, creative artists sculptors, painters and poets and community and social workers in the Sri Lankan community in Canberra.
Personally, Canberra has provided me a better place to bring up family, with children having opportunities for a better education.  Death threats on my life made me leave Sri Lanka in 1989, as a result of advocating social justice for every Sri Lankan, irrespective of their socio-economic, national, linguistic, religious or political backgrounds.  I was working in Tokyo expecting to go back to Sri Lanka when tensions subsided, instead matters grew worse and my family members too were threatened.  When my visa in Japan expired I left to Seoul in South Korea.  The future was so uncertain.  To cut a long story short, I was on my way to Switzerland via Singapore when I was allowed to come to Australia.  I first arrived in Brisbane and within three days I was able to gain employment as a management consultant with MIDAS Consulting Services in Brisbane.  Later I was selected to work for the Commonwealth Public Service and here I am.
I am grateful to all those who contributed to develop the accommodating, caring and sharing multi-cultural Australia.  I believe the fundamental democratic and human rights we enjoy here need to be a goodwill symbol for those who are suffering back at home.

Thank you.