THE MIDAS TOUCH AND MORAL VALUES
In these my twilight years, disabled and more of a recluse than I ever was , seeing the way our politicians and higher echelon bureaucrats behave I am rather disillusioned but more often amused that many of them appear to believe that they will continue in their path of glory . When one considers the various situations they create I wonder at the way the values and principles they once proclaimed can disappear when power and ambition become the guiding stones in life for as I said earlier, though I am often disillusioned I am also amused because life is not eternal and one’s destiny is never written on palm of one’s hand.
Politicians in and out of parliament make ponderous speeches of our wonderful culture when the kings were guided by the prelates : Almost every politician and highly placed bureaucrat visit the prelates of the Asgiriya and Malwatte Chapters seeking their blessings on what one assumes are their intentions to make better the lives of the people who vote them into power , but when one sees and hears their profundities in and out of Parliament one wonders what they intended to do when they paid obeisance to the prelates .
Did they really intend accepting the principles of Buddhism as enunciated by the Ven. Prelates or are they just pleased that a photograph will appear in the media showing them offering obeisance to the Ven. Mahanayake Theras?They also seek the blessing of the prelates of other religions and for a moment one wonders whether they will follow the advice given, since they are so prone to quote our ancient heritage and culture that the kings accepted the advice of the Ven. Monks?But the reality that becomes soon apparent is that to many of the politicians, religion is a mere cover for the hidden agendas and ambitions.
Then again is the issue of the crossover of politicians from one party to another which started in 1999, when a number of UNP stalwarts including Sarath Amunugama, Wijeyapala Mendis and Susil Moonesinghe broke away from the United National Party and joined the Sri Lanka Freedom Party. In 2007 another 17 prominent UNP members crossed over and since then many more have done so.
Often one time UNP’s like Keheliya Rambukwella and Mahinda Samarasinghe are considered spokesman for the government. Whether such crossovers were due to differences with the UNP party leader or because the perks and privileges offered by the government were greater is a matter of opinion, cynical minds will believe the later but today most of these holding top Ministerial posts are former UNP loyalists, their defections created a vacuum in the Opposition and a gain for the government.. The confusing factor is that many of them have won on the UNP ticket and blissfully crossed over to another political party without so much as asking their voters what they have to say about such actions. Smaller political parties hum and haw about their loyalties and then shift over to the winning side. In fact when one views the present scenario one tends to wonder whether its all just one set of politicians masquerading under different names bent on achieving their individual ambitions regardless of the voter to whom they promised the sky and the moon.
These are not the only scenarios that politicians act contrary to their proclaimed statements and the virtuous morality they proclaim. They claim to be so sanctimonious but one wonders how suddenly landscaped houses belong to them how they could educate their offspring abroad and as one politician claimed if his young son asked for a luxurious car he
Then again is the issue of the cross over of politicians from one party to another which started in 1999, when a number of UNP stalwarts including Sarath Amunugama, Wijeyapala Mendis and Susil Moonesinghe broke away from the United National Party and joined the Sri Lanka Freedom Party
will purchase one for him. From whence comes such wealth? Surely they would not have all won lotteries or have they got the Midas touch , perhaps it may be good for them to then to read of what happened to the mythical character that wanted all things gold!
In fact perhaps a lot of the moral confusion we have within the country may resolve itself , if the politicians practice what the proclaim for, after all as Shakespeare said ‘to thine ownself be true then thou can not be false to any man’. We have far too many politicians who are false to the promises they make to the people especially the marginalized and the fixed wage workers, and the voters they woo in the name of one political party and crossover merely as is often believed for the perks offered.