Features
Prof FLOTUS
Jill Biden, first full-time employed US First Lady
by Sajitha Premathunga
There’s a lot of pressure on FLOTUS, specially since she has to live up to a 231-year tradition and measure up to the legacies of former First Ladies, the likes of Jacqueline Kennedy and Michelle Obama. This might not prove to be difficult for a first lady with four degrees; Bachelor of Arts, in English, from the University of Delaware in 1975; Master of Education from West Chester State College in 1981; Master of Arts in English from Villanova University, in 1987 and doctoral degree in education from the University of Delaware in 2007.
Breaking tradition, Jill will be doing double duty as FLOTUS and college English professor, after Joe Biden is sworn in, while also being actively involved in education policy. According to first-lady historian, professor at Ohio University, Katherine Jellison, quoted in USA Today, no previous FLOTUS has been ‘allowed’ to be like most modern American women, with both a work life and a family life. This is not the first time she had broken tradition, Jill was the first person to hold a non-political, non-legal, outside-the-Beltway job while serving as the second lady. She taught at Northern Virginia Community College during her husband’s tenure as vice president for Obama. She famously asked her Secret Service security detail to dress like students and carry laptops in order to blend in.
In fact, she delivered her national convention speech while standing in the empty classroom where she taught English at Delaware’s Brandywine High School in the early 1990s. Her illustrious teaching career, in which she taught at a community college, at a public high school and even at a psychiatric hospital for adolescents, is evidence enough for her versatility as an educator. She also served on the education taskforce for the Biden campaign and helped develop policy proposals. “Teaching is not what I do. It’s who I am,” she is supposed to have tweeted once.
Although Joe Biden had been a US senator for almost four decades and spent two terms as vice president to Barack Obama, Jill had kept a relatively low profile. Although, she made fast friends with Michelle Obama. In fact, Michelle Obama, in a statement to USA Today, has given Jill her personal recommendation saying, “She is going to be a terrific First Lady.”
Philanthropist
Jill worked on the Joining Forces military families project together with Michelle Obama. The programme involved helping military veterans and their families gain access to education and employment resources as well as health and wellness services. Jill was also involved with the nonprofit organization Delaware Boots on the Ground, which helped families whose members have been deployed. Her passion for advocating military families may have been inspired by her exposure as a military family member. Her father, Donald Carl Jacobs, was a US Navy signalman during World War II and Beau was a Major in the Judge Advocate General’s Corps with a year-long stint in Iraq.
Because Jill is an educator, most observe that Education would take top priority in the country’s agenda, along with military families and cancer awareness advocacy, since Joe Biden’s son from his first marriage, Beau, a former attorney general of Delaware and a rising Democratic party member died of brain cancer in 2015 and both Jill Biden’s parents died of cancer. After four of her friends were also diagnosed with breast cancer, she started the Biden Breast Health Initiative in Delaware in 1993, which educated over 10,000 high school girls on the importance of early detection. The Biden Cancer Initiative is an organization that brings together cancer researchers, health care providers, and patients to develop clinical trials, detection, care, and treatment plans. The Bidens are also Honorary Co-Chairs for the Global Race for the Cure in Washington, D.C. The Biden Foundation, co-chaired by the couple is a non-profit that champions causes such as support for military families, advancement in community colleges and support for LGBTQ equality.
In other philanthropic work, Jill has played an active but under the radar, role in advocating of girls’ and women’s rights and welfare in Zambia, the Democratic Republic of Congo and Sierra Leone and also focused on women’s educational opportunities in a tour of Asia that took her to Japan, Korea and Vietnam.
In addition to being an educator and a ‘military mom’, Jill is also a published author. She wrote the children’s book ‘Don’t Forget, God Bless Our Troops’, based on her granddaughter, Natalie’s experience of her father, Beau’s deployment in Iraq. Her ‘Joey: The Story of Joe Biden’, about her husband’s formative years, that laid the groundwork for his political career, is peppered with interesting anecdotes about Joe’s childhood. Older readers will find quite interesting Jill’s 2019 memoir, ‘Where the Light Enters: Building a Family, Discovering Myself’. She also co-founded the Book Buddies program.
Jill is known for her empathy, often keeping in touch with people dealing with personal loss or those undergoing chemo, she had met on the campaign trail. According to White House experts she has demonstrated qualities that would allow her to achieve what’s assumed to be the first lady’s number one goal: humanizing her husband and promoting his agenda.
White House experts opine that she would make a smooth transition, aided by the many years of experience. Their 40-plus years of marriage has exposed her to US politics as no FLOTUS before her. Eight years plus the president-elect’s 36 years in the US Senate, makes her uniquely qualified to handle the job of FLOTUS, says Kate Andersen Brower, author of books about the White House, including ‘First Women’, about modern first ladies, quoted in USA Today. Jill was instrumental in Biden’s race for presidency. “What Jill is best at helping me do is figure out who the people around me would be most compatible with me,” said Bidden in their CBS Sunday Morning profile.
How they met their mother
Born Jill Tracy Jacobs on June 3, 1951 in the state of New Jersey, Jill was the oldest of five sisters and grew up in Willow Grove, Pennsylvania. It is interesting to know that she is not all American, as far as her, Sicilian paternal grandparents are concerned. She is a good sport, literally. Jill Biden is an infamous prankster with a penchant for running. Her daily exercise regime includes a five mile run five days a week, along with weight training for good measure, according to Runner’s World in 2010. Jill finished the 1998 Marine Corps Marathon and has done several half-marathons and 10-mile races, according to Women’s Health magazine.
The Bidens have been married since 1977. As the story goes that Jill had been in the process of getting a divorce from her highschool sweetheart, when she met Joe in 1975. According to reports, Jill used to do a bit of local modeling and Joe, nine years her senior and widowed at the time with two young sons, had seen a picture of her in an advert, of all places, on a bus shelter and became smitten. “…I had been dating guys in jeans and clogs and T-shirts, he came to the door and he had a sport coat and loafers,” she told Vogue about their first meet. “When we came home…he shook my hand good night…I went upstairs and called my mother at 1:00 a.m. and said, ‘Mom, I finally met a gentleman.’”
He was a senator at the time and she was still in college. It was Joe’s sons, Beau and Hunter, at the ages of 7 and 6, respectively, who urged him to marry Jill. It took five proposals from Joe for Jill to accept him.
Joe Biden’s first marriage to Neilia Hunter ended in tragedy, when Neilia and Naomi ‘Amy’ Biden, their one-year-old child, were killed in a car crash in 1972, only days after Joe Biden was first elected to the US Senate. Their two sons, Hunter and Beau, were also seriously injured. The couple had daughter Ashley in 1981 and raised the children in Wilmington, Delaware. As a senator, Joe famously commuted to and from Washington to Wilmington daily so he could spend time with Jill and the children. “She gave me back my life,” Biden said in his 2007 memoir ‘Promises to Keep’. “She made me start to think my family might be whole again.”
She helped put the broken Biden family together, after the death of Joe Biden’s first wife and daughter, when she raised Beau and Hunter as her own. But can she help Biden put together a country broken with racial and political division. “How do you make a broken family whole?” she asked. “The same way you make a nation whole. With love and understanding, and with small acts of kindness. With bravery. With unwavering faith,” she said in one of her campaign videos.
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 . )
US sports envoys to Lanka to champion youth development
Rahuman questions sudden cancellation of leave of CEB employees
