Features
Clara Heath meets Kewal Motwani in Kentucky
Excerpted from Goolbai Gunasekera’s Chosen Ground first published in 2006
(Continued from last week)
In Louisville, Kentucky, my mother, Clara Heath, was growing up meanwhile in what might be considered an unusually protected atmosphere for the average American child of her time. Her ambitious Southern reared mother was a kind of early 20th century Steel Magnolia, and intended that her daughters should have the finest education obtainable in the State of Kentucky.
Catholic schools in Louisville were believed to provide a better-than current education for girls, and though my poor grandfather was strongly against sending his two girls away (for one thing the family was not of the Catholic faith, and for another, he would miss them) what my grandmother said went!
Accordingly the two girls (eleven months apart, and treated virtually as twins) went to Presentation Academy in Louisville as boarders in a nun-run Catholic school.I wear Mother’s class ring to this very day. Boarding schools are not as common in the USA as they are in Britain and my grandmother’s decision to board her two daughters was unusual. Going to an American boarding school was the best thing that could have happened to Clara: without intending any such thing, my grandmother, Eva, was preparing her for a life in a more laid back country.
Mother loved the calm, unhurried life of the Convent, where her curricula included Latin, French and a smattering of Spanish. The gentle nuns were very much to her liking. Known only to God and the Fates, Mother was being well trained for her eventual career as Principal of a conservative Buddhist school in Ceylon. From the nuns at Presentation, Mother acquired a genuine love of study, a stern moral code, a strict sense of discipline and a lifelong abhorrence of a lady ever showing her knees.
When she became Principal of Visakha Vidyalaya in Colombo, one of the first things on her agenda was to make sure that hemlines were worn half way down the calf. Visakhians learnt, to their surprise, that no lady ever crossed her legs except at the ankle. Since the Queen of England was doing likewise on every Pathe Newsreel, they assumed that Mother knew what she was talking about.
Shortly after taking over the Principalship of Visakha, Mother was electrified by the newspaper picture of a girl from Bishop’s College (the secondary school to which I eventually went myself) taking a running jump over a high pole. Mother had a spasm at this ‘unladylike’ photograph which was, according to less biased accounts, an extremely modest one.
Nonetheless, Mother’s convent training had her banning athletics at Visakha and it was only after she left the school that Visakhians began winning honours in this line. Tennis, netball and table tennis were games that were acceptable to her Victorian code. Needless to say, while the girls of the fashionable missionary Schools wore `divided skirts’, Mother’s little Visakhians donned Greek robes and did Eurhythmics.
They were also encouraged to study Home Science — a subject introduced for the very first time into the curriculum of Ceylon’s schools. All this gave Visakhians a certain cachet. At last Buddhist girls’ education under Mother, and other school principals who had been trained in the West (such as Mrs. Hilda Kularatne in Panadura and Mrs. Doreen Wickremasinghe in Matara), began to give the older missionary schools a run for their money. Conservative Buddhist parents were well pleased with their young Principal from America — so highly qualified, so eminently tradition-minded, so totally sympathetic to the national aspirations of the Buddhist majority.
But more about Visakha later. As a schoolgirl herself, Mother’s life was delightfully serene and quite uneventful. She was a fine musician and took a Degree in music as well as Languages and Education. Her sister, my aunt Arline, was far more feisty, practical and pushy than the dreamy Clara. This polarization of personalities meant they got on very well together, although it also meant that Arline did all the housework while Mother drifted off to practise the piano for two to three hours every evening.
“Really,” Arline would explode, “Clara does NOTHING around the house, does she!”
Grandma Eva did not believe in household democracy. Each daughter did whatever she was good at doing, and Arline was a superlative cook and housekeeper. So gentle, so very appreciative was Clara each morning when she was handed perfectly laundered stockings and immaculately ironed clothes that Arline had so efficiently organized for her, that any words of protest from her sister died still-born.
Apparently Mother would get up feeling bright and perky, having completed all her homework the previous evening, to say nothing of those three hours of piano practice and say to her sister,
“Are my stockings on the bed or in my drawer, Arline?”
With a resigned air Arline would produce them neatly folded and ready to wear.
“My dear,” Auntie Arline said to me on one of my trips to the USA to see my American grandparents, “there are two kinds of people in the world. There are those for whom someone is ALWAYS on hand to smooth things out, and there are those like you and me who have to do the humdrum work themselves. I leave you to work out to which group your dear Mother belongs.”
“Didn’t you ever have an American boyfriend at any time?” we would ask Mother in Auntie Arline’s presence. Mother would look vague and Arline would snort:
“Of course she had lots of admirers, but your Mother simply never got the message.”
Apparently one smitten young man would drop by ostensibly to practice the violin while Mother played the piano accompaniment. Grandma would have milk and cookies ready for the couple to enjoy
at the end of their labours. Mother gave the poor young swain no chance. The minute the last note had been played she shut the piano, shook hands with her fellow musician in the accepted convent-taught manner and said ‘Goodnight!’
“And another romance,” Auntie would continue, while Mother looked apprehensive, “was that young Professor who kept offering her a lift home from University. Your mother – ” and Auntie accented the word – “took many a detour so that their paths did not cross.”
The Motwanis in Bandarawela
My sister and I screamed.
“I do wish you wouldn’t repeat these highly exaggerated tales, Arline,” Mother would tell Arline in exasperation.
“Well, what happened when the dear Professor phoned, please tell?”
“I really can’t remember,” said Mother.
But of course, Mother remembered very well her first meeting with her future husband … and their eventual marriage illustrates that truth can often be more romantic than fiction. The tale as told by Mother was factual and lacked Father’s teasing sidelines.Sir Jamshed Mehra had met my American grandmother at a Theosophical conference in the USA. Learning that Mrs Heath had two teenage daughters at home, he suggested that one of them might like to write to his young ward who was just finishing his B.A and was probably going on to England for postgraduate study.
My Aunt Arline was not in the slightest bit interested in Theosophy, so the task of writing to a young Indian ten years her senior fell to Mother. The correspondence flourished although, given Mother’s convent training, those letters must have been models of decorous writing. Su and I have never been given so much as a glance at them, although Father kept them stored away in the go-downs he owned in Karachi. Until the Partition of India, those go-downs gave Father a comfortable income situated, as they were, near the docks.
When Father decided to register at Yale (having hated Oxford) the correspondence speeded up and my grandmother realized that this lonely young Indian, so far from home, would be spending a summer vacation all on his own. Returning to India was out of the question since those were not days of convenient air travel. Accordingly, she invited him to spend the summer in their home. She probably regretted doing so for Father fell instantly in love with the 17-year-old girl to whom he had been writing.
Their romance was complicated by the fact that Mother lived in Kentucky and an Asian, however fair his skin might be, was practically a Black to her relatives who lived south of the Mason-Dixon line. To say that her aunts, uncles and cousins were unhappy would be an understatement. They were aghast.
This unlikely union, strangely enough, did not encounter opposition from my grandparents. They had met many Indians and did not share in the feelings of horror that so many of their friends experienced when they were told that Clara was marrying a non-Caucasian and one from a barbaric Asian nation at that.
My grandmother spent many irate hours explaining to her near and dear that the culture and civilization of India was superior by far to any in the West. When Father heard the family views he laughed as he usually did whenever he encountered ignorance of the East.
When Mother went to say goodbye to the nuns of her old school she took Father with her. They were quite charmed by him but Reverend Mother’s last words to Clara were a heartfelt: “I shall pray for you my dear.”
When Mother was packing to leave her home in Kentucky for India she stood helplessly by while Father sorted out the clothes she would need for the tropics, ruthlessly discarding winter apparel. Mother looked expectantly at her sister, who resignedly set about packing what she hoped would be the last bag she ever packed for Clara. In point of fact, she was to do it whenever Mother visited the USA on later occasions.
“I can’t think WHAT you are going to do aboard that ship,” Arline told Mother worriedly.
Mother’s response was predictable. “Oh, I’ll get the steward or someone to help,” she said vaguely.
Arline tch tched, and continued worrying. But she stopped this useless exercise after Mother’s happy letters home told her that Father was a whiz at getting a mountain of clothes into a tiny, tiny space. Later on two Sinhalese maids, Nimal and Cathleen, swam into Mother’s life. They took full charge of all household affairs — even to eventually regulating the day-to-day problem of looking after the physical needs of Clara’s two daughters. Cathleen remained with us all her life to become, not a maid but a friend.
She worked with us for 62 years — 30 of them in the USA, where (after bringing us up) she went to look after our Grandmother Eva. Auntie Arline was in the American Foreign Service. She never married, and so when Grandmother died Cathleen simply stayed on with Auntie Arline as a highly efficient maid. Cathleen also got to globe-trot with my aunt who was an inveterate travel bug. Whenever Auntie got a posting abroad Cathleen kept house for her in exotic places like Amman, Jaipur and South America.
Auntie Arline died in 2004, just after Khulsum (my daughter) and I had visited her in Arizona where she had retired. Cathleen died a few months later, following her return to Sri Lanka.
(To be continued)
by Dr Gotabhya Ranasinghe
Senior Consultant Cardiologist
National Hospital Sri Lanka
When we sought a meeting with Hon Dr. Ramesh Pathirana, Minister of Health, he graciously cleared his busy schedule to accommodate us. Renowned for his attentive listening and deep understanding, Minister Pathirana is dedicated to advancing the health sector. His openness and transparency exemplify the qualities of an exemplary politician and minister.
Dr. Palitha Mahipala, the current Health Secretary, demonstrates both commendable enthusiasm and unwavering support. This combination of attributes makes him a highly compatible colleague for the esteemed Minister of Health.
Our discussion centered on a project that has been in the works for the past 30 years, one that no other minister had managed to advance.
Minister Pathirana, however, recognized the project’s significance and its potential to revolutionize care for heart patients.
The project involves the construction of a state-of-the-art facility at the premises of the National Hospital Colombo. The project’s location within the premises of the National Hospital underscores its importance and relevance to the healthcare infrastructure of the nation.
This facility will include a cardiology building and a tertiary care center, equipped with the latest technology to handle and treat all types of heart-related conditions and surgeries.
Securing funding was a major milestone for this initiative. Minister Pathirana successfully obtained approval for a $40 billion loan from the Asian Development Bank. With the funding in place, the foundation stone is scheduled to be laid in September this year, and construction will begin in January 2025.
This project guarantees a consistent and uninterrupted supply of stents and related medications for heart patients. As a result, patients will have timely access to essential medical supplies during their treatment and recovery. By securing these critical resources, the project aims to enhance patient outcomes, minimize treatment delays, and maintain the highest standards of cardiac care.
Upon its fruition, this monumental building will serve as a beacon of hope and healing, symbolizing the unwavering dedication to improving patient outcomes and fostering a healthier society.We anticipate a future marked by significant progress and positive outcomes in Sri Lanka’s cardiovascular treatment landscape within the foreseeable timeframe.
by Fr. Emmanuel Fernando, OMI
Jesuit Fr. Aloysius Pieris (affectionately called Fr. Aloy) celebrated his 90th birthday on April 9, 2024 and I, as the editor of our Oblate Journal, THE MISSIONARY OBLATE had gone to press by that time. Immediately I decided to publish an article, appreciating the untiring selfless services he continues to offer for inter-Faith dialogue, the renewal of the Catholic Church, his concern for the poor and the suffering Sri Lankan masses and to me, the present writer.
It was in 1988, when I was appointed Director of the Oblate Scholastics at Ampitiya by the then Oblate Provincial Fr. Anselm Silva, that I came to know Fr. Aloy more closely. Knowing well his expertise in matters spiritual, theological, Indological and pastoral, and with the collaborative spirit of my companion-formators, our Oblate Scholastics were sent to Tulana, the Research and Encounter Centre, Kelaniya, of which he is the Founder-Director, for ‘exposure-programmes’ on matters spiritual, biblical, theological and pastoral. Some of these dimensions according to my view and that of my companion-formators, were not available at the National Seminary, Ampitiya.
Ever since that time, our Oblate formators/ accompaniers at the Oblate Scholasticate, Ampitiya , have continued to send our Oblate Scholastics to Tulana Centre for deepening their insights and convictions regarding matters needed to serve the people in today’s context. Fr. Aloy also had tried very enthusiastically with the Oblate team headed by Frs. Oswald Firth and Clement Waidyasekara to begin a Theologate, directed by the Religious Congregations in Sri Lanka, for the contextual formation/ accompaniment of their members. It should very well be a desired goal of the Leaders / Provincials of the Religious Congregations.
Besides being a formator/accompanier at the Oblate Scholasticate, I was entrusted also with the task of editing and publishing our Oblate journal, ‘The Missionary Oblate’. To maintain the quality of the journal I continue to depend on Fr. Aloy for his thought-provoking and stimulating articles on Biblical Spirituality, Biblical Theology and Ecclesiology. I am very grateful to him for his generous assistance. Of late, his writings on renewal of the Church, initiated by Pope St. John XX111 and continued by Pope Francis through the Synodal path, published in our Oblate journal, enable our readers to focus their attention also on the needed renewal in the Catholic Church in Sri Lanka. Fr. Aloy appreciated very much the Synodal path adopted by the Jesuit Pope Francis for the renewal of the Church, rooted very much on prayerful discernment. In my Religious and presbyteral life, Fr.Aloy continues to be my spiritual animator / guide and ongoing formator / acccompanier.
Fr. Aloysius Pieris, BA Hons (Lond), LPh (SHC, India), STL (PFT, Naples), PhD (SLU/VC), ThD (Tilburg), D.Ltt (KU), has been one of the eminent Asian theologians well recognized internationally and one who has lectured and held visiting chairs in many universities both in the West and in the East. Many members of Religious Congregations from Asian countries have benefited from his lectures and guidance in the East Asian Pastoral Institute (EAPI) in Manila, Philippines. He had been a Theologian consulted by the Federation of Asian Bishops’ Conferences for many years. During his professorship at the Gregorian University in Rome, he was called to be a member of a special group of advisers on other religions consulted by Pope Paul VI.
Fr. Aloy is the author of more than 30 books and well over 500 Research Papers. Some of his books and articles have been translated and published in several countries. Among those books, one can find the following: 1) The Genesis of an Asian Theology of Liberation (An Autobiographical Excursus on the Art of Theologising in Asia, 2) An Asian Theology of Liberation, 3) Providential Timeliness of Vatican 11 (a long-overdue halt to a scandalous millennium, 4) Give Vatican 11 a chance, 5) Leadership in the Church, 6) Relishing our faith in working for justice (Themes for study and discussion), 7) A Message meant mainly, not exclusively for Jesuits (Background information necessary for helping Francis renew the Church), 8) Lent in Lanka (Reflections and Resolutions, 9) Love meets wisdom (A Christian Experience of Buddhism, 10) Fire and Water 11) God’s Reign for God’s poor, 12) Our Unhiddden Agenda (How we Jesuits work, pray and form our men). He is also the Editor of two journals, Vagdevi, Journal of Religious Reflection and Dialogue, New Series.
Fr. Aloy has a BA in Pali and Sanskrit from the University of London and a Ph.D in Buddhist Philosophy from the University of Sri Lankan, Vidyodaya Campus. On Nov. 23, 2019, he was awarded the prestigious honorary Doctorate of Literature (D.Litt) by the Chancellor of the University of Kelaniya, the Most Venerable Welamitiyawe Dharmakirthi Sri Kusala Dhamma Thera.
Fr. Aloy continues to be a promoter of Gospel values and virtues. Justice as a constitutive dimension of love and social concern for the downtrodden masses are very much noted in his life and work. He had very much appreciated the commitment of the late Fr. Joseph (Joe) Fernando, the National Director of the Social and Economic Centre (SEDEC) for the poor.
In Sri Lanka, a few religious Congregations – the Good Shepherd Sisters, the Christian Brothers, the Marist Brothers and the Oblates – have invited him to animate their members especially during their Provincial Congresses, Chapters and International Conferences. The mainline Christian Churches also have sought his advice and followed his seminars. I, for one, regret very much, that the Sri Lankan authorities of the Catholic Church –today’s Hierarchy—- have not sought Fr.
Aloy’s expertise for the renewal of the Catholic Church in Sri Lanka and thus have not benefited from the immense store of wisdom and insight that he can offer to our local Church while the Sri Lankan bishops who governed the Catholic church in the immediate aftermath of the Second Vatican Council (Edmund Fernando OMI, Anthony de Saram, Leo Nanayakkara OSB, Frank Marcus Fernando, Paul Perera,) visited him and consulted him on many matters. Among the Tamil Bishops, Bishop Rayappu Joseph was keeping close contact with him and Bishop J. Deogupillai hosted him and his team visiting him after the horrible Black July massacre of Tamils.
Sri Lanka-Singapore Free Trade Agreement
By Gomi Senadhira
senadhiragomi@gmail.com
“You might tell fairy tales, but the progress of a country cannot be achieved through such narratives. A country cannot be developed by making false promises. The country moved backward because of the electoral promises made by political parties throughout time. We have witnessed that the ultimate result of this is the country becoming bankrupt. Unfortunately, many segments of the population have not come to realize this yet.” – President Ranil Wickremesinghe, 2024 Budget speech
Any Sri Lankan would agree with the above words of President Wickremesinghe on the false promises our politicians and officials make and the fairy tales they narrate which bankrupted this country. So, to understand this, let’s look at one such fairy tale with lots of false promises; Ranil Wickremesinghe’s greatest achievement in the area of international trade and investment promotion during the Yahapalana period, Sri Lanka-Singapore Free Trade Agreement (SLSFTA).
It is appropriate and timely to do it now as Finance Minister Wickremesinghe has just presented to parliament a bill on the National Policy on Economic Transformation which includes the establishment of an Office for International Trade and the Sri Lanka Institute of Economics and International Trade.
Was SLSFTA a “Cleverly negotiated Free Trade Agreement” as stated by the (former) Minister of Development Strategies and International Trade Malik Samarawickrama during the Parliamentary Debate on the SLSFTA in July 2018, or a colossal blunder covered up with lies, false promises, and fairy tales? After SLSFTA was signed there were a number of fairy tales published on this agreement by the Ministry of Development Strategies and International, Institute of Policy Studies, and others.
However, for this article, I would like to limit my comments to the speech by Minister Samarawickrama during the Parliamentary Debate, and the two most important areas in the agreement which were covered up with lies, fairy tales, and false promises, namely: revenue loss for Sri Lanka and Investment from Singapore. On the other important area, “Waste products dumping” I do not want to comment here as I have written extensively on the issue.
1. The revenue loss
During the Parliamentary Debate in July 2018, Minister Samarawickrama stated “…. let me reiterate that this FTA with Singapore has been very cleverly negotiated by us…. The liberalisation programme under this FTA has been carefully designed to have the least impact on domestic industry and revenue collection. We have included all revenue sensitive items in the negative list of items which will not be subject to removal of tariff. Therefore, 97.8% revenue from Customs duty is protected. Our tariff liberalisation will take place over a period of 12-15 years! In fact, the revenue earned through tariffs on goods imported from Singapore last year was Rs. 35 billion.
The revenue loss for over the next 15 years due to the FTA is only Rs. 733 million– which when annualised, on average, is just Rs. 51 million. That is just 0.14% per year! So anyone who claims the Singapore FTA causes revenue loss to the Government cannot do basic arithmetic! Mr. Speaker, in conclusion, I call on my fellow members of this House – don’t mislead the public with baseless criticism that is not grounded in facts. Don’t look at petty politics and use these issues for your own political survival.”
I was surprised to read the minister’s speech because an article published in January 2018 in “The Straits Times“, based on information released by the Singaporean Negotiators stated, “…. With the FTA, tariff savings for Singapore exports are estimated to hit $10 million annually“.
As the annual tariff savings (that is the revenue loss for Sri Lanka) calculated by the Singaporean Negotiators, Singaporean $ 10 million (Sri Lankan rupees 1,200 million in 2018) was way above the rupees’ 733 million revenue loss for 15 years estimated by the Sri Lankan negotiators, it was clear to any observer that one of the parties to the agreement had not done the basic arithmetic!
Six years later, according to a report published by “The Morning” newspaper, speaking at the Committee on Public Finance (COPF) on 7th May 2024, Mr Samarawickrama’s chief trade negotiator K.J. Weerasinghehad had admitted “…. that forecasted revenue loss for the Government of Sri Lanka through the Singapore FTA is Rs. 450 million in 2023 and Rs. 1.3 billion in 2024.”
If these numbers are correct, as tariff liberalisation under the SLSFTA has just started, we will pass Rs 2 billion very soon. Then, the question is how Sri Lanka’s trade negotiators made such a colossal blunder. Didn’t they do their basic arithmetic? If they didn’t know how to do basic arithmetic they should have at least done their basic readings. For example, the headline of the article published in The Straits Times in January 2018 was “Singapore, Sri Lanka sign FTA, annual savings of $10m expected”.
Anyway, as Sri Lanka’s chief negotiator reiterated at the COPF meeting that “…. since 99% of the tariffs in Singapore have zero rates of duty, Sri Lanka has agreed on 80% tariff liberalisation over a period of 15 years while expecting Singapore investments to address the imbalance in trade,” let’s turn towards investment.
Investment from Singapore
In July 2018, speaking during the Parliamentary Debate on the FTA this is what Minister Malik Samarawickrama stated on investment from Singapore, “Already, thanks to this FTA, in just the past two-and-a-half months since the agreement came into effect we have received a proposal from Singapore for investment amounting to $ 14.8 billion in an oil refinery for export of petroleum products. In addition, we have proposals for a steel manufacturing plant for exports ($ 1 billion investment), flour milling plant ($ 50 million), sugar refinery ($ 200 million). This adds up to more than $ 16.05 billion in the pipeline on these projects alone.
And all of these projects will create thousands of more jobs for our people. In principle approval has already been granted by the BOI and the investors are awaiting the release of land the environmental approvals to commence the project.
I request the Opposition and those with vested interests to change their narrow-minded thinking and join us to develop our country. We must always look at what is best for the whole community, not just the few who may oppose. We owe it to our people to courageously take decisions that will change their lives for the better.”
According to the media report I quoted earlier, speaking at the Committee on Public Finance (COPF) Chief Negotiator Weerasinghe has admitted that Sri Lanka was not happy with overall Singapore investments that have come in the past few years in return for the trade liberalisation under the Singapore-Sri Lanka Free Trade Agreement. He has added that between 2021 and 2023 the total investment from Singapore had been around $162 million!
What happened to those projects worth $16 billion negotiated, thanks to the SLSFTA, in just the two-and-a-half months after the agreement came into effect and approved by the BOI? I do not know about the steel manufacturing plant for exports ($ 1 billion investment), flour milling plant ($ 50 million) and sugar refinery ($ 200 million).
However, story of the multibillion-dollar investment in the Petroleum Refinery unfolded in a manner that would qualify it as the best fairy tale with false promises presented by our politicians and the officials, prior to 2019 elections.
Though many Sri Lankans got to know, through the media which repeatedly highlighted a plethora of issues surrounding the project and the questionable credentials of the Singaporean investor, the construction work on the Mirrijiwela Oil Refinery along with the cement factory began on the24th of March 2019 with a bang and Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe and his ministers along with the foreign and local dignitaries laid the foundation stones.
That was few months before the 2019 Presidential elections. Inaugurating the construction work Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe said the projects will create thousands of job opportunities in the area and surrounding districts.
The oil refinery, which was to be built over 200 acres of land, with the capacity to refine 200,000 barrels of crude oil per day, was to generate US$7 billion of exports and create 1,500 direct and 3,000 indirect jobs. The construction of the refinery was to be completed in 44 months. Four years later, in August 2023 the Cabinet of Ministers approved the proposal presented by President Ranil Wickremesinghe to cancel the agreement with the investors of the refinery as the project has not been implemented! Can they explain to the country how much money was wasted to produce that fairy tale?
It is obvious that the President, ministers, and officials had made huge blunders and had deliberately misled the public and the parliament on the revenue loss and potential investment from SLSFTA with fairy tales and false promises.
As the president himself said, a country cannot be developed by making false promises or with fairy tales and these false promises and fairy tales had bankrupted the country. “Unfortunately, many segments of the population have not come to realize this yet”.
(The writer, a specialist and an activist on trade and development issues . )
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