Thoughts On Balloth Ekka Bae

By Jagath Asoka -October 1, 2013 |

Dr. Jagath Asoka

When a dog bites a man, there is no story to tell, but when a man bites a dog that story is worth telling. That was my sentiment after seeing the Sri Lankan play—Balloth Ekka Bae—in Staten Island, New York.

I saw something that I have never seen before. All of us have either seen or heard the stories about sleazy, venal politicians; impudent, presumptuous secretaries;   and impotent government officials; how the creator of this play chose to tell the story of our present Sri Lankan society, using a politician, his secretary, a government official, a prostitute, two Buddhist monks, and a make-up artist impressed me. Like all the actors of this play, the actor who played the role of the make-up artist did a wonderful job, but I think a better role would have been a spineless journalist who indirectly supports the current regime for perks, while giving the impression that he is criticizing the government. After seeing the play, one gets the impression that being a prostitute in Sri Lanka is much more honorable than being a politician, a government official, or an impious monk.

For nearly two hours, the actors could keep my attention. Usually, I am the first to leave a show—sometimes within ten minutes—if the show is not entertaining. I have done it several times; most people think that I am crazy to leave a show within ten minutes. I think to squander your time and money when you are unaware of what you are getting into is ignorance, but to continue on that path when you are convinced that the show is going to be bad, is stupidity. During this show, for nearly two hours, I even forgot about Freud’s thoughts about artists: One who desires intensely “honor, power, riches, fame, and the love of women,” but lacks the means to attain them; frustrated the artist becomes introverted and turn with unsatisfied longing from reality to fantasizing; however, the artist is gifted with a mysterious ability to reproduce his daydreams in such a way as to afford satisfaction to other frustrated souls. So, the artist earns the gratitude and admiration of other frustrated souls. Even though I agree with Freud to some extent, I could not help but admire the artists because they gave a wonderful performance.                                                                            Read More

My Dad Was A Man Who Loved Britain

October 1, 2013 |

By Ed Miliband MP, Leader of the Labour Party, writes in Tuesday’s edition of the Daily Mail:

It was June 1944 and the Allies were landing in Normandy. A 20-year old man, who had arrived in Britain as a refugee just four years earlier, was part of that fight. He was my father. Fighting the Nazis and fighting for his adopted country.
On Saturday, the Daily Mail chose to publish an article about him under the banner headline “The Man Who Hated Britain.”

It’s part of our job description as politicians to be criticised and attacked by newspapers, including the Daily Mail. It comes with the territory. The British people have great wisdom to sort the fair from the unfair. And I have other ways of answering back.

But my Dad is a different matter. He died in 1994. I loved him and he loved Britain. And there is no credible argument in the article or evidence from his life which can remotely justify the lurid headline and its accompanying claim that it would “disturb everyone who loves this country”.

Saturday’s article referred to a single diary entry by my father, written as a 17 year old, describing the suspicion he found of the Continent and the French when he arrived here. To ignore his service and work in Britain and build an entire case about him hating our country on an adolescent diary entry is, of course, absurd.

In fact, his story will make you understand why he loved Britain. Britain saved him from the Nazis. He arrived here as a 16 year-old boy – a Jew – having walked 100 kilometres with his Dad from Brussels to Ostend to catch one of the last boats out before the German soldiers arrived. Read More