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It wasn’t that long ago when I myself was a student going from Iskandharu to Kalaafaanu to Aminiya and then finally CHSE. It was during those times that a lot of teachers from Sri Lanka worked in our schools and I am sure that most of the students owe a huge vote of thanks for those teachers who spent most of the year away from their family and loved ones in a foreign country trying their hardest to prepare a generation of Maldivians who would be able to take our country forward in its journey towards progress. It was a time when trained Maldivian teachers were few and far in between, and those that did graduate from various institutions as teachers were of better quality.

For reasons that remain unknown, which some say have something to do with the huge amounts of money that personnel dealing with the recruitment of foreign teachers can make on the side, teachers from Sri Lanka became a thing of the past and lo and behold their arrived the Indian teachers, most of them whom I have to say scores zilch in the quality of education that they can offer. I don’t mean to demean the work that these teachers carry out in our country, but apart from a very selective few most of these teachers have a much worse grasp of the English language than most of the students. No laughing matter I assure you. I still remember what our class had to go through when our Chemistry teacher left the country when I was doing my A’Levels during our final year. After days of no classes, they brought in an Indian teacher who was really clueless on how to deal with a bunch of students who would walk all over anyone if half the chance is given. And the most depressing factor was that no one could really understand the lessons that she was trying to convey to us, which led to Chemistry periods being a time where anyone could do as they pleased whilst she went on teaching to the white board. Students started complaining and at last the Ministry of Education decided to send her off to some island to teach secondary level students, which appalled me to no end when I realized that the unfortunate students in that school would have a very weak foundation of the subject, which in the end would cause a lot of distress to the students.

And how about the crop of teachers that are educated by our very own Faculty of Education? I mean them no disrespect but I have my share of nephews and nieces who need help in various subjects and I have seen the level to which our education system has fallen. Students do not really require a brain these days, they just pretty much have to learn by heart the series of passages and lessons that are outlined before the start of every semester or term exam. How will young minds ever learn the benefit of thinking, pondering and arriving at their own conclusions about various subject matter if the need never arises for them to put their brains to good use? Even a mathematics exam, which is supposed to make one do the dreaded task of thinking and analyzing is not as it should be. I have a friend who is a Mathematics teacher in one of the primary schools in Male’ and according to her students are so set in their ways that a mathematical equation or question that requires them to think out of the box causes unimaginable horrors even to fellow Mathematics teachers. I remember when I was such a student myself and feeling the joy of coming up with the answer of a ‘difficult’ question, i.e. something that the teacher had not spoon fed related to the subject matter at hand.

Furthermore, these students passing their GCE O’Level exams, barely scraping by are the ones who mostly choose to become teachers because teaching is the only profession that would enable them to earn a relatively good salary whilst working in their home island. How a teacher who herself has problems solving a simple simultaneous equation pass on that knowledge to her fellow students is just beyond me! I cringe at the thought of the quality of the educated professionals who would come to be in positions of power in our country in the near future. If the personnel responsible for hiring foreign teachers weren’t so money hungry in the first place, our students would have been getting the quality of education that they rightfully deserve rather than what we are left with today.

Even if I don’t the movements of the planets in the month of December will. According to this guy.

LTTE soldiers

The Times,December 7, 2009

New Tamil group People’s Liberation Army vows to start fresh war

A Marxist group of Tamil militants with connections to the Palestinian Liberation Organisation and Cuba is preparing to mount a new insurgency in Sri Lanka six months after the Government declared an end to the 26-year-old war there.

The People’s Liberation Army (PLA) was founded in eastern Sri Lanka four months ago and has vowed to launch attacks against government and military targets unless its demands for a separate Tamil homeland are met.

“This war isn’t over yet,” Commander Kones, head of the PLA’s Eastern District military command, told The Times during a night meeting in a safe house in the east of the country last week.

“There has been no solution for Tamils since the destruction of the LTTE [Tamil Tigers] in May. So we have built and organised the PLA and are ready to act soon. Our aim is a democratic socialist liberation of the northeast for a Tamil Eelam [the desired Tamil state].”Kones, a nom de guerre, claimed that the PLA had 300 active members and expected to recruit 5,000 volunteers from the 280,000 Tamil civilians recently freed from detention camps.

He said that the PLA, commanded by a ten-man committee, was an entirely separate organisation from the LTTE, but said that former LTTE cadres would be able to join the organisation provided that they swore their allegiance to the PLA’s political aims.

“There are former LTTE members in the PLA now,” he said. “But the LTTE was an extremist organisation that fought only for itself rather than the people’s needs.

“It is totally destroyed now and I don’t worry about it. We are socialist ideologues and we are trying to draw different Tamil groups together for a people’s struggle, a people’s war.”

Although the PLA’s capabilities remain unclear, it includes in its ranks several experienced insurgents who fought against the government forces in Sri Lanka in the 1980s before falling foul of the LTTE and either leaving the country or becoming dormant.

Commander Kones, now in his forties, had himself been given guerrilla training at a camp in Uttar Pradesh, India, in 1983, where his trainers included fighters from the Palestinian Liberation Organisation (PLO).

“We still have a relationship with the PLO, as well as Cuba and Indian Maoist groups,” he said.  “They fight for their rights just as we do.”

During later action against government forces in eastern Sri Lanka he was imprisoned and tortured, before escaping from the country to live in Europe.

The threat of an aspiring new Tamil insurgent group comes at a complicated time for the Sri Lankan authorities.The unified image that accompanied their decisive victory over the Tamil Tigers in May has been eroded. The architect of that victory, General Sarath Fonseka, has become embroiled in a political scrap with the incumbent President Mahinda Rajapaksa as both men vie for a presidential election victory next month.

Their rivalry could split the vote of the Sinhalese majority, offering the swing vote to the country’s Tamil minority, who have yet to declare their political allegiance. A new round of violence during this period could have a dramatic reversal on efforts to stabilise the country.

“We are much more politically skilled than the LTTE ever were and know how to avoid the ‘terrorist’ label that they acquired,” Kones said.

“Our enemy is simply the Government here, and we fight just for Tamil rights. We are not against the international community,” he said. “Indeed, we want them to support us in pressurising the Sri Lankan Government.”

Kones said that he had no intention of trying to emulate the Tigers’ style of warfare, but suggested a more asymmetric strategy involving attacks by widely dispersed PLA cells. However, he added that his targets would include economic and administrative centres, as well as military forces.

Other PLA insiders said that one of their likely first fights would be with groups of former LTTE cadres led by the infamous Colonel Karuna. Karuna split from the LTTE ranks in 2004 and later joined the Government, but still holds influence in eastern Sri Lanka.

“We are getting stronger by the day, much stronger than any other group,” Kones said. “The day of action is close.”

A few nights after meeting Commander Kones, deep in a rural area, The Times encountered three young PLA recruits waiting for a guide to take them to one of the organisation’s jungle training camps.  Two were 15 years old, one was 16. “The PLA sound very interesting to us,” they said. “They are the only ones now doing something for the Tamil people.”

Theirs was not, however, a pervading sentiment. Shattered by their experiences in the war zones this year, depressed by their subsequent incarceration in detention camps, few Tamils expressed any great enthusiasm for a return to war.

“I’m not interested in Eelam,” Raja Muragaswaran, 31, who was released from a camp last month, said. “I lost everything that I had ever worked for in the name of Eelam. How many died for Eelam, and all for what? We just want peace.”

DNA India, December 6, 2009

11,000 Tamil ‘fighters’ held in secured Lankan camps

London: Over 11,000 Tamil ‘fighters’, including children, were held by Sri Lanka without charge in highly secured “rehabilitation centres”, despite claims by authorities it had lifted restrictions on the movement of all displaced persons, a news report has said.

According to The Times newspaper, more than 11,000 Tamil prisoners are being held without charge in closely guarded “rehabilitation centres”, even as the government claimed it had released all Tamil civilians from detention centres last week. It said children are among 11,000 Tamil ‘fighters’ held in rehabilitation.

According to the report, the prisoners, whose exact number has been unknown due to the government placed restitutions, is allegedly a “combatant category” that includes former LTTE fighters. However, the definition of “Tamil Tiger” is unclear. Apart from the hardcore LTTE cadres, many of those in the camps are thought to be Tamil youths, their family members and civil administrators, forcibly conscripted by the Tigers in the final stages of the war.According to media reports, the parents of Velupillai Prabhakaran, the Tamil Tiger leader killed this year, are being held in the notorious “4th Floor” detention complex in Colombo. They are in their seventies and had long been alienated from their son by his terrorist activities.

Even as the government allowed nearly 1.30 lakh Tamil civilians housed in refugees camps in northern Sri Lanka to visit their relatives this week, there is concern over the fate of the 11,000 still being held, the report said.

The London-based daily pointed out reports suggesting a new round of arrests over the past few weeks among civilians on the verge of being released from camps. ”I’ve got between 30 and 40 cases in which families have been released here from the detention centres, only to have their menfolk taken away at the final moment to a so-called rehabilitation centre,” Father V. Yogeswaran, director of the Centre for the Promotion and Protection of Human Rights, in Trincomalee, was quoted as saying.

“As for ’secret’ detention camps? I wouldn’t openly say that they exist for sure, but I tend to think they do. Some men have been taken away and never accounted for,” he said.

Last week the government allowed nearly 1.30 lakh Tamil civilians housed in refugees camps in northern Sri Lanka to visit their relatives as authorities lifted restrictions on their movement.

Some 3 lakh Tamils were housed in the refugees camps after the final stage of the government’s military operations that defeated the Tamil Tiger rebels in May. Risath Bathiyutheen, the Minister of Resettlement and Disaster Relief Services, told the media that there will be no restrictions imposed on the duration of their absence from the villages.

The government has declared that civilians will be free to leave the villages once they have given their personal details to the authorities concerned. All civilians of the Vavuniya welfare village from Jaffna Peninsula and Eastern Province have already been resettled, an official statement said. The government has said all efforts would be made to resettle all displaced people by January 31.

Land fraud is a topic generating much discussion in the local scene. Owners, especially those who have been living abroad for long periods of time upon their return home, find to their utter dismay properties held by them for decades fraudulently sold to third parties!

One may ask, how can this be possible? It can be possible through the involvement of people who have access to the owner’s land records, either at the Land Registry or at the local government office (i.e. Pradeshiya Sabha). Unless there is a secure registration and document preservation system in place, where only authorized persons have access to official records, land fraud is bound to take place.

It should also be the duty of all Notaries to check the back ground of a seller seeking full disclosure, before taking upon an assignment to execute and notarize a transaction.

Unless measures to protect land title are put in place by the Authorities, owners need to take steps to safeguard their own land titles. Following are some steps that help to prevent ‘land fraud’ -

1. If you are an owner living abroad and your house remains closed and land unattended, periodically have your lawyer check the registration status of your land at the relevant Land Registry. Has someone already fraudulently acquired the land? The registration details will reveal this. If that has happened, immediately have it reported to the police and to the Land Registrar.

2. A method to be alerted of any unauthorized transaction relating to your property is to register a Caveat on your land. A Caveat is a notice registered at the relevant Land Registry which has a record of your land. As long as the Caveat is in place, the Land Registrar is duty bound to inform the person who registers the Caveat, when he receives any document for registration relating to the said land. This can be a sale, mortgage, lease, etc.

But unfortunately, a Caveat cannot prevent the registration of a document relating to your land if it appears to be genuine. If the fraudster impersonates your signature in a sales transaction and the Registrar accepts it for registration, without receiving any objection from you as the actual owner in spite of the notice served on you or your registered representative, then the only remedy left is to file action to invalidate the fraudulent land transaction through the courts of law.

3. It is in the interest of owners to periodically get someone to check their land and keep it in a properly maintained condition. Neglected land, especially of owners living abroad, have been the target of fraudsters.

By Michael MacLeod

CRIME writer Ian Rankin has revealed his plans for a world tour in 2010 – and dropped another hint that his hit Detective Rebus could return.

The Edinburgh author was hoping for a year-off between books, but instead will find himself taking his book tour global.

Stops will include readings and literary festivals in India, Sri Lanka, Barcelona, Germany, France and Italy.

Rankin, 49, joked: “It will be great for my air miles, but meaning a lot of carbon offsetting.”

He put the pen down after finishing his most recent best-seller – The Complaints – which topped bookshop charts in September.

But he says fans loved his new star character, Malcom Fox, so much that he is pondering pairing him up with Inspector Rebus.

Fans’ feedback

Rankin “retired” the popular fictional Lothian and Borders Police sleuth from his books in 2007.

But the grizzled detective lives on in a successful television series played by John Hannah and Ken Stott.

Rankin said: “There were good reviews, along with plenty of positive feedback from fans.

“So maybe we’ll be seeing DI Malcolm Fox again.

“I certainly enjoyed getting to know him, and wouldn’t mind spending some more time with him.

“Maybe I could even introduce him to John Rebus. I’m sure Rebus would be thrilled to be talking to someone from Internal Affairs: no skeletons in his closet.”

In an internet message to fans, Rankin also revealed film crews are keen to recreate The Complaints and his previous story, Doors Open.

Film script “getting close”

But before they can take place, he has silver-screen plans of his own.

Having just returned home after working in four Greek cities in five days, Rankin is knuckling down to scripting James Hogg’s 19th Century novel, ‘Memoirs and Confessions of a Justified Sinner.’

He said: “My screenwriting friend James Mavor and I have been working on this project for a while.

“Many have tried before us to create a workable script from what can often seem an un-filmable novel.

“We feel we’re getting close, but that may be the drink talking.

“In most of the interviews I’ve done recently, I’ve been saying that I’m taking a sabbatical in 2010. This is because I’m moving from one book a year to one book every two years.

“But looking at my diary I can’t put my feet up.

“I’ve already agreed to a tour in India and a literary festival in Sri Lanka in January, an event in Barcelona in February, a German tour in March, events in Lyon and Paris in April, plus the Cuirt Festival in Galway.

“I’ll be at the Harrogate Crime Festival in July and the Mantua Festival in Italy in September.

“Great for my air miles, but meaning a lot of carbon offsetting.”

See more of our pictures at our Flickr site and videos at our dedicated channel,  Deadline TV.

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09th December 2009

Following is a message received from Brother Riyazi Farook.

Quote:

Assalamualaikum w w,

The article* below is an extended version of the original one published in the ‘Business Islamica’ magazine this month (No.1 rated Business Magazine from GCC  http://www.islamica-me.com ).

The article briefly highlights on how to prevent such recent failures in the future in Sri Lanka and a call for regulatory reform to take Sri Lanka’s Islamic finance industry into a new level.

*The comments expressed in this article are my own personal opinions (Except cited) based upon my current knowledge and do not necessarily reflect the positions or opinions of any affiliates. Neither the information nor any opinion expressed constitutes a solicitation.

Wassalam,
Riyazi

Unquote

Islamic finance in Sri Lanka needs good corporate governance Please click here to download the article.

Cyprus-based Louis Cruise Lines, the world’s fifth largest cruise liner, began calling in Colombo this week offering pleasure trips to Indian tourists.

Louis Cruise’s “Aquamarine” which can carry 1,200 passengers, will sail weekly between Cochin, Colombo and Maldives, making it Sri Lanka’s first regular fixed-day cruise in recent times.

Just emerging after decades of ethnic conflict, the threat of terrorism attacks on Sri Lankan ports and merchant ships have eased off. However, London-based insurance underwriters continue to slap a war-risk premium on Sri Lankan ports

Louis Cruise pays about 10,000 euros as war-risk premium, each time it calls on Colombo, its managing director, Oneil Khosa said. The charges are not passed onto passengers who now pay an introductary price of 100 dollars a night for a cruise to Colombo.

I am a 40 years old Sri lankan lady who teaches English as a second language in Sri lanka. I work in a school about 200 km away from City of Colombo.

I am married and my husband is working attached to the Sri Lankan Army. I have one kid – a son.

My one and only hope is to be content being a sucessful teacher.

Learning amidst tradition and modernity
Sunday Times.lk
Across the road from the main pirivena, is a Buddhist Art Centre, where Buddha statues are made on order. A pre-school and week-end ‘Daham Pasala’ are also …

A couple of days ago we stopped off in a tiny seaside village called Midigama. To call it a village is pretty generous—there’s not much to this place apart from a few guesthouses, a tuk-tuk stand, and a heap of cows either parked up on the beach or aimlessly wandering along the road and train tracks. We stayed at the Subodinee Guesthouse, situated one road back from the beach, and in the heart of the village (so… right next to the tuk-tuk stand, with its abundance of creepy, leering drivers). The first person we met at Subodinee was Yannick, a Frenchman who runs a surf school out of the guesthouse. He’s been living in Sri Lanka for the past 8 years, alternating between here and the Maldives. According to the Lonely Planet, he did a lot of work to help rebuild Midigama after the tsunami (not to detract from this in any way because it really is an amazing thing that he’s done, but I’m still sort of wondering what was actually rebuilt considering there’s literally nothing there!)

Having spent so much time in Sri Lanka and learning about Sinhalese culture from a Western perspective, Yannick was a great source of information about local customs and traditions. I thoroughly enjoyed the stories he pulled out because they really gave us an insight into the Sinhalese/Buddhist way of life.

We were sitting around chatting after dinner one evening and the conversation turned into a discussion about local customs. We started off on the subject of beggars. Regardless of how poor they themselves are, the culture dictates that the Sinhalese will always help a beggar and give them what they can. They can’t fathom the idea that a Western tourist, even one on a shoestring, will refuse to help someone in need. I felt terrible about this when we boarded a train to the Hill Country with absolutely no cash, and had to tell the steady stream of disfigured beggars that approached us that we had nothing to give them.

The second point Yannick made was that a lot of people in Sri Lanka think that Westerners are rude because they don’t smile and say hello like the Sri Lankans do. Literally, every person on the street will smile, wave, greet you, and try to strike up a conversation. Obviously, we never purposefully tried to be rude, but it’s such a London thing to just ignore people on the streets. Once we were conscious of the fact that people could be offended by this, we plastered grins on our faces every time we left the guesthouse and said hello to every person we passed. I’ll definitely need to kick this habit by the time I get back to London… you could probably get punched in the face for smiling at someone on the Underground.

As interesting as these anecdotes were, I really loved what Yannick told us about the cows. First, it’s worth explaining that the Sinhalese are Buddhists, and as such, their culture opposes cruelty to animals. A lot of Sinhalese are vegetarian, and even those that don’t really follow vegetarianism usually refrain from eating meat on the full moon days. Every full moon (or poya day) is a public holiday in Sri Lanka, and is observed by going to temple, and abstaining from alcohol and meat. When we asked Yannick what the deal was with all the cows wandering around Midigama (and in Sri Lanka in general), we found out that most of these cows don’t actually belong to anyone. On poya days, some Sinhalese go to the slaughterhouse to buy some cows and set them free, thereby saving them from slaughter. These cows are then branded with a symbol to show that they have been liberated, and they are free to rove around the beaches and the countryside, or to plop down in the middle of the highway.

Another example of this compassionate attitude towards animals happened recently at the Midigama market. A farmer was selling one of his cows, and all the village people at the market chipped in and raised enough money to buy the cow and set it free. This cow was also branded with its “Free Cow Tattoo” and left to its own devices. I think it’s probably currently hanging out on Midigama beach… quite an upgrade from the slaughterhouse! There were many other stories that Yannick had for us, but the one about the cows really stuck in my mind as a prime example of what a gentle and humane culture exists in Sri Lanka. I’d say about 95% of the people we came across were kind-hearted, smiling, good people. Unfortunately, the other 5% is made up of repulsive men who lurk in the bushes by the beach and pop out to surprise solo female travelers with a bit of a flash or an offer to have sex. Lovely. How is possible that these 2 extremes have originated in the same place?! Luckily for Jackie and me, the sight of 6ft3 Steve was enough to send these revolting little fuckers sprinting down the beach in fear.

Although there were a few incidents that left an unpleasant taste in my mouth (certainly nothing to do with the curry), Sri Lanka was one of the best places I have ever been. We just arrived in the Philippines last night after a 2-day stint in Singapore and from first impressions of the region of Palawan, I’d say the Sri Lankans are going to face some tough competition!

Indian Ocean

“As Western countries became increasingly critical of the Sri Lankan Government’s handling of the war and human rights record, the Rajapaksa leadership cultivated ties with such countries as Burma, China, Iran, and Libya. The Chinese have invested billions of dollars in Sri Lanka through military loans, infrastructure loans, and port development, with none of the strings attached by Western nations. While the United States shares with the Indians and the Chinese a common interest in securing maritime trade routes through the Indian Ocean, the U.S. Government has invested relatively little in the economy or the security sector in Sri Lanka, instead focusing more on IDPs [Internally Displaced Persons] and civil society. As a result, Sri Lanka has grown politically and economically isolated from the West,” states the US Senate report.

The report’s writers make a case for a shift in US policy by emphasizing the geostrategic importance of the island: “Sri Lanka is located at the nexus of crucial maritime trading routes in the Indian Ocean connecting Europe and the Middle East to China and the rest of Asia.

“[...]A more multifaceted U.S. strategy would capitalize on the economic, trade, and security aspects of the relationship. This approach in turn could catalyze much-needed political reforms that will ultimately help secure longer term U.S. strategic interests in the Indian Ocean. U.S. strategy should also invest in Sinhalese parts of the country, instead of just focusing aid on the Tamil-dominated North and East.”

About 80 percent of China’s oil passes through the waterways near Sri Lanka, most of India’s imports of oil pass through the Indian Ocean, and “three-quarters of all Japan’s oil needs pass through [the Straight of Hormuz],” one of the chokepoints into the region’s open seas.

Robert D. Kaplan has written a noted article in the Foreign Affairs journal indicating that “India’s and China’s great-power aspirations, as well as their quests for energy security, have compelled the two countries ‘to redirect their gazes from land to the seas,’ according to James Holmes and Toshi Yoshihara, associate professors of strategy at the U.S. Naval War College. And the very fact that they are focusing on their sea power indicates how much more self-confident they feel on land. And so a map of the Indian Ocean exposes the contours of power politics in the twenty-first century.” Furthermore, “Already the world’s preeminent energy and trade interstate seaway, the Indian Ocean will matter even more in the future. One reason is that India and China, major trading partners locked in an uncomfortable embrace, are entering into a dynamic great-power rivalry in these waters—a competition that the United States, although now a declining hegemon, can keep in check by using its navy to act as a sea-based balancer.”

India continues to secure its naval presence by increasing its surveillance capability. A new listening post has reportedly begun to operate in Madagascar, linked with two other similar listening posts off of India’s west coast. The system will allow for surveillance of navies in large swaths of ocean from Africa’s east coast to India’s west coast. New Delhi considers the security of these lanes as vital to its economic health. Asia Times reports that “most of India’s trade is by sea,” and that, “nearly 89% of India’s oil imports arrive by sea.”

Another report released by the US, this one by Naval Intelligence, reviews Iran’s naval history and strategy: “Iran uses its naval forces for political ends such as naval diplomacy and strategic messaging. Most of all, Iranian naval forces are equipped to defend against perceived external threats. Public statements by Iranian leaders indicate that they would consider closing or controlling the Strait of Hormuz if provoked, thereby cutting off almost 30 percent of the world’s oil supply.” The document is titled ‘Iran’s Naval Forces‘.

Rent: $5,750
Security: 1 months
Details
Size: Three Bedroom
Ownership: Rental Property
R/B/B: 5/3/2
Availability: Immediate
Term: 12 – 24 Months
Neighborhood: Flatiron District
Apartment Features
Kitchen: Dishwasher; Window: Oversized Windows; High Ceiling; Abundant Closets;
Building Description
Cross Streets: Fifth Avenue and Sixth Avenue.
Concierge; Elevator; Post-war; Built 2008; Loft; 20 Floors; 100 Apartments.
Building Amenities
Bicycle Room; Fitness Room; Rooftop Deck; Common Storage Room;
Building Policies
Pets Allowed.

R.S.V.P. for a tour:
Jamie Knuckles
NestSeekers International
Direct: 646-443-3760
Cell: 347-323-8671
Email: sanguinejamie@gmail.com
Amenities
Brand New Building Same developers as 75 Wall Street. Condo Finishes at Rental Prices. Penthouse Great layout Small rooms but great outdoor space. Nice Amenities, but location is the selling point.

* Doorman
* Concierge
* Health Club
* Elevator