Does Politics Play Too Big a Role in Sri Lanka?

"Parliament Complex - Sri Lanka" by Hafiz Issadeen is licensed under CC BY 2.0.

Sri Lankan politics plays a big role in its society. I feel that a case could be made that politics plays too big a role in Sri Lanka. A history of bad governance is an issue we unfortunately have experienced. I decided to write an article about this issue. I’ll begin with information on the current government.

Sri Lanka has had a National People’s Power (NPP) government over the last year which won both the presidential and parliamentary elections. I was concerned about the NPP prior to the 2024 Sri Lankan Presidential election. I had expressed my views in the articles “Displeased with All Sides” and “What I Wish to See Happen in Sri Lanka”. I was hoping that the NPP would not derail Sri Lanka’s economic recovery as their campaign rhetoric indicated they might. Thankfully that did not prove to be the case, with the NPP continuing Sri Lanka's economy on the right path.

The NPP is doing a better job than I expected. They are taking steps towards unity and are implementing the positive Clean Sri Lanka initiative. I will however add that I have not become an NPP supporter. I still have ideological differences with them. The leading party of the NPP, the Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP) started as a Marxist party. Some government members have views in that direction and I hope the JVP/NPP will move away from Marxism. I’m not someone who sees the NPP as the saviours or as the villains. My views are that of an independent citizen who isn’t aligned with any political party. In last year's presidential election, I was not enthusiastic about the three leading presidential candidates. While I did not back the NPP, I want them to do a good job. Sri Lanka can’t afford to suffer another political tragedy after all the political problems we’ve had in recent years.

While the NPP is the government in power right now, my article isn’t about them. I gave my views on the NPP to give context to the current state of Sri Lankan politics. Regardless of which party is in power, it’s important to have politics play a healthy role and not a too dominant one. When politics is so entrenched in society, that gives corrupt politicians a greater opportunity to do harm. Another negative of too much politics is creating division between people who support the government and those who don’t.

A bad practice which has been carried for a long time is frequently inviting politicians for events in roles such as the chief guest and/or a speaker. I don’t advocate inviting politicians as the default approach. This practice can result in someone inviting a politician they are against and may believe to be corrupt. I’m not referring to cases where you invite a politician you didn’t vote for as engaging with the relevant Minister can gain their support for just policies you advocate. I’m talking of cases where you invite a politician of the worst type going against the values you believe in. I think politicians should ideally only be invited when there’s a valid reason and their track record should also be taken into consideration.

When dealing with politicians, whether it’s simply having a conversation or working with them, I believe it’s important to be cautious. Don’t let them use you or get you involved in a corrupt scheme. Turn them down if they offer you money to be part of their corruption. Be careful what you say to them. If they request you pay a bribe, say no to them, pointing out that it is against Sri Lanka’s best interest. To go into more positive aspects of engaging with politicians, talking with them gives a great opportunity to share sound policy ideas and initiatives you have. If you are pleased with projects they and/or the government are involved with, it’s good to tell them that.

The Sri Lankan news stories are dominated by politics. The media have a need to report on political matters, but it seems to me that politics is overfocused on at the expense of other sectors. I think positive stories about Sri Lanka is a topic the Sri Lankan media should focus more on.

I think it’s relevant to mention another type of government individual who isn’t a politician that plays an essential role. These are independent public officials. They will meet with and work with politicians, but maintaining their independence is important for them to perform their roles effectively. A positive example of an individual is Central Bank Governor Dr. Nandalal Weerasinghe who played a major role in Sri Lanka’s ongoing economic recovery.

Based on my observations, it seems to me that politics does play too big a role in Sri Lanka. I will add that my views go more generally how it’s been over the years and I’m not criticising the current government in this regard. As I haven’t been to Sri Lanka in nearly six years, I am less familiar with what the situation is like right now. I’m interested to know, do you think politics plays too big a role in Sri Lanka?

What I Wish to See Happen in Sri Lanka

As Sri Lanka is about to have a presidential election, I decided to write about what I wish to see happen in Sri Lanka going forward. It includes what I want to see discontinue and remain of the current happenings. Out of the three main presidential candidates, the one I’m most concerned about coming to power is Anura Kumara Dissanayake. He leads the Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP) and the National People’s Power (NPP) alliance. My issues with the JVP are their communist ideology and the two insurrections they were responsible for. I don’t think they have a viable plan.

I’m pleased with the interim President Ranil Wickremesinghe’s work on Sri Lanka’s economic recovery, but am displeased with his handling of human rights and the politics he’s playing. He is contesting the presidency as an independent candidate. I think Samagi Jana Balawegaya (SJB) candidate Sajith Premadasa has sensible views on human rights, but I do not like his embrace of populism & the politics he’s doing and have concerns about his economic policies. I am not endorsing any political party or individual. I had written an article a few months ago about the current situation called “Displeased with All Sides”.

Abolish the Executive Presidency

I am of the view that the executive presidency should be abolished. The amount of power corrupts the person holding office. Recent cases of presidential abuse of power include President Ranil Wickremesinghe delaying the local government elections last year. The Supreme Court last month declared this to be a violation of voters’ essential rights. It was distressing to hear the President say following this that he wasn’t sorry for postponing the election.

In February this year, the President appointed the controversial Deshabandu Tennakoon as Inspector General of Police (IGP). This appointment was made a few months after the Supreme Court ordered Deshabandu Tennakoon to pay compensation for violating a citizen's fundamental rights and appeared to be unconstitutional. In July, the Supreme Court gave an interim order preventing Deshabandu Tennakoon from functioning as the IGP. It’s disappointing to see a lack of commitment from Ranil Wickremesinghe to abolish the executive presidency. Sajith Premadasa and Anura Kumara Dissanayake have committed to abolish the executive presidency.

Sensible Government

I wish to see a sensible government elected with sound policies. This would be a transparent government that follows proper processes and good governance. They would rectify the bad human rights situation currently going on, bring good human rights policies and repeal the controversial Online Safety Act. This government would not be corrupt and be without scandals. System change which people have been calling for would be implemented. Unity is needed in Sri Lanka with it being important for the government unifying the country including winning the trust of the minorities.

No More SLPP

The Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP) is the party of the Rajapaksas which caused Sri Lanka to be in the mess that it’s in. There are members aligned with the Rajapaksas who have been part of the interim government and the SLPP independent group known as the Freedom People’s Congress (FPC) who are with the SJB. With the presidential election, some changes have been made. The SLPP decided to field their own candidate Namal Rajapaksa, yet most SLPP MPs chose to support Ranil Wickremesinghe. Two SLPP members who were in the interim government decided to contest this presidential election. I consider the SLPP to be a toxic party so I don’t wish to see any faction of them having a presence in the government.

Action Against Bribery and Corruption

Bribery and Corruption are major problems occurring in Sri Lanka. Action needs to be taken against politicians who’ve been engaging in these practices, especially those responsible for Sri Lanka’s economic crisis. We also need to work on bribery and corruption prevention. Sri Lanka is reported to have stolen assets stashed abroad, with serious allegations against the Rajapaksa political family. It’s essential to recover stolen assets utilising the Stolen Asset Recovery Initiative (StAR) of the United Nations Office of Drugs and Crime (UNODC) & the World Bank Group.

Reducing the Crime Rate

Sri Lanka unfortunately has a high crime rate. Criminal activity seems to have been growing over the last five years. It’s distressing to hear of shootings going on causing loss of life. This gun violence needs to stop. The government needs to take action to reduce the crime rate as this is a serious national security concern. It’s important to incorporate teaching against crime in the school curriculum. It’s imperative to establish the rule of law in Sri Lanka.

Economic Recovery

I am of the view that Sri Lanka’s economic recovery is one present initiative going in the right direction. It’s good that the IMF program was secured. Both the SJB and NPP have said they would renegotiate the IMF agreement if they come to power. My view on the issue is this. If the IMF is willing to renegotiate and the new government comes up with sensible modifications which are able to ease the burden on the people and better reach the targets, then I am for it. My concern is of the government playing politics with Sri Lanka’s recovery where their attempts at renegotiation results in the IMF agreement being withdrawn or it’s approved with changes which makes the situation worse. I think the SJB is more sensible than the NPP when it comes to the IMF agreement.

In April this year, the ADB forecasted Sri Lanka to reach 1.9% and 2.5% growth in 2024 and 2025 after two years of negative growth. I hope to see economic growth exceeding those numbers. A few years ago, the State Owned Enterprise Restructuring Unit (SOERU) was set up at the Ministry of Finance. Many State-Owned-Enterprises (SOEs) are a drain on the economy with their losses so this is an important move. Unfortunately, the restructuring unit has been facing delays and hasn’t restructured a single SOE so far. I hope that the SOERU would be strengthened enabling it to successfully restructure SOEs.

I’m writing this just before the presidential election has occurred. When you read this, the results of the election may have come out. I know that some of these topics I’ve written about are unrealistic. I see indications to some of them in different parties, but I don’t see one party having all of them. Our messed-up politics is causing so much damage and needs to transform into something new.

System Change in Sri Lanka

 

A key demand of the protests in Sri Lanka which kicked the Rajapaksas out of power last year is system change. This is something we have yet to see. In this article, I’ll be giving my thoughts on how system change can be carried out.

Constitution of Sri Lanka

One aspect relates to the Sri Lankan Constitution. Both Mahinda and Gotabaya Rajapaksa, during their presidencies introduced draconian undemocratic amendments to the Constitution strengthening the power of the President, doing harm to rule of law and independence of government institutions which were the 18th Amendment in 2010 and the 20th Amendment in 2020. Following these two Rajapaksa presidencies, there were restorative amendments to the Constitution passed which were the 19th Amendment in 2015 and the 21st Amendment in 2022.

We can’t keep going back and forth between authoritarian and restorative constitutional amendments. This cycle must end. What’s tragic is that many parliamentarians voted for the 18th, 19th, 20th and 21st Amendments. They didn’t see the dangers of draconian amendments and even if they did, their thirst for power prevented them from voting sensibly. Then with the 20th Amendment, they went back to voting for an authoritarian amendment again not learning their lesson.

Firstly, it’s important that we learn not to vote again for rulers who seek to strengthen their powers and engage in corruption. Secondly, we need to elect sensible parliamentarians who won’t vote for such authoritarian laws. In the Parliament we should have, the government and opposition members will have different ideologies and policies, but they would all believe in values such as rule of law, integrity, good governance and serving the country well. Both sides should be competing to perform better in these fronts which would be a healthy competition.

Unity

Unity is an issue Sri Lanka has had a problem with for many years with mistrust occurring among different communities. A positive factor of last year’s protests is that it was a rare case of Sri Lankans of different ethnicities being part of a common movement. While that was one moment which didn’t solve unity, it’s imperative that we don’t go back to the way we used to be. That can very easily happen.

We need to have a united Sri Lanka with a common Sri Lankan identity. We should use what happened last year as a stepping stone to overcome our divisions and make permanent unity. It’s important to reflect on how politicians divided Sri Lankans. Unity is a valuable subject to be taught in schools. This issue ties into my previous point of the need for common values across parliamentarians. Unity should be another common value across the political divide.

Abolishing the Executive Presidency

I am of the view that the Executive Presidency needs to be abolished. This concentrates too much power on one individual. I believe it has caused much damage to Sri Lanka and is a major factor which contributed to Sri Lanka’s present state. A President who gets elected on a reform mandate gets corrupted by the system resulting in him or her not performing as promised and infuriating much of Sri Lanka.

It’s worth noting that Gotabaya Rajapaksa got elected President when the 19th Amendment was in force. The 19th Amendment greatly reduced the powers of the President. A parliamentary system could make it less likely for an individual with no political experience to be elected Head of Government. I think that we should transition into having an Executive Prime Minister with a ceremonial President.

Bribery and Corruption

Bribery and corruption unfortunately is very common in Sri Lanka including politics, the public and private sector. We need to have systems in place to deter individuals from engaging in these practices. There needs to be successful bribery and corruption prosecutions especially politicians.

We have been enabling bribery and corruption for a long time. This needs to change. Saying no to paying bribes including politicians will make a difference. If a politician asks for a bribe, when saying no there are important points to tell them. They are, this is causing damage to Sri Lanka, the need for system change and mention their election comments against bribery if they said it. Sri Lankan businesses should implement policies of not paying bribes to the government and for their staff not to solicit bribes from customers.

It’s important to teach school students the dangers of bribery and corruption including not participating in it and saying no to paying bribes. It would be useful for public servants and elected representatives to be instructed not to get involved in bribery and corruption when they start their roles. While this won’t prevent all public servants and elected representatives from engaging in these practices, it has the potential to noticeably reduce it.

Conclusion

I gave my perspective on four issues I think need to be fulfilled for system change in Sri Lanka. This is a small selection I gave with many more issues relating to system change needed. This process is an enormous challenge for us to undertake, but that shouldn’t deter us. We can accomplish system change. I’m interested in hearing your thoughts on this topic.

Sri Lanka's Role in the World's Most Populous Region

Tomas Pueyo recently wrote an article “Why Half of Humanity Lives in This Circle”. The circle he is referring to is known as the Valeriepieris circle as it was posted on the site Reddit by Ken Myers under the username valeriepieris. This circle is in much of Asia. I found it interesting as Sri Lanka is part of this circle. Sri Lanka is also part of the world’s most populated continent, Asia. I decided to write an article about Sri Lanka’s role in the circle which can also extend to Sri Lanka’s role in Asia. I’m presenting a positive fact about Sri Lanka with suggestions on how Sri Lanka can take advantage of this, especially during its current economic crisis.

Ken Myers’ Valeriepieris Circle from Reddit

Exports

This is a region that Sri Lanka can work on increasing its exports. Exporters of food should look for countries in this region who have a demand for agricultural items and packaged goods. Some packaged goods can be popular in regions nearby due to similarities in culture with Sri Lanka including neighbour India that is one of the world’s most populous countries. Items can be produced in Sri Lanka to support products manufactured in this region e.g. car parts. In the process of our export diversification, it’s important to look at how it can support this region.

FDI & Business Collaboration

Sri Lanka should try to seek foreign direct investment (FDI) from this region. We need to attract investment from successful industries in these countries to improve their counterparts in Sri Lanka. Companies from these countries can open offices in Sri Lanka to provide jobs with higher salaries than average. Sri Lankan businesses can seek business projects servicing clients in this region to cater to the majority of the world’s population.

Two years ago on this blog, I had mentioned an agreement signed between Sri Lanka’s Confederation of Micro, Small and Medium Industries (COSMI) and the European Association for Trade - Crafts - Industries (EIVHGI) in Vienna. Similar agreements can be signed with business organisations in this region.

Learn from Countries’ Successes

Countries in this circle have successes they are highly regarded for which Sri Lanka can learn from. I’ll give two countries’ successes. The South Korean economy went from an agricultural economy like Sri Lanka to one of the world’s leading economies. South Korea initiated policy reforms that led to significant growth in exports. Two important factors are the improvements they made in performing business and policies in support of innovation.

Singapore has taken strides in the fight against corruption. Their government agency responsible for investigating bribery and corruption is the Corrupt Practices Investigation Bureau (CPIB). When Singapore received self-governance in 1959, corruption was very prevalent in the government. Years later, following Singapore’s independence, laws were updated to strengthen the powers of CPIB officers and increase penalties for those guilty of corruption. It’s important to note that the CPIB’s powers to investigate corruption includes the private sector. These are a few positive changes initiated in these countries with many more successes to learn from. We can invite professionals from these countries to bring their expertise to help improve Sri Lanka.

Movement

This idea goes beyond Sri Lanka with the potential for a movement that can invite people from all these countries to have a voice on the world stage. This should be carried out by ordinary people and not involve politicians due to issues of bribery, corruption and bad character being unfortunately present among politicians in Asia. A focus on this movement should be on common improvements people in this circle wish to see.

This was a simple exercise I carried out. Sri Lanka being part of the world’s most populous region is a little-known positive fact for Sri Lankans to enjoy. I invite others to contribute on this topic. I’m keen to see what others can come up with using an in-depth analysis for Sri Lanka and other countries in the Valeriepieris circle. If you enjoyed reading this, you may be interested in my blog posts “Virtually Exploring Five Asian Cities” or “Sri Lankan Private Sector Development Proposal”.

Thoughts on Gotabaya Rajapaksa's Resignation & Aftermath

 

As Sri Lanka is currently going through an unbearable economic crisis, starting in March there was a massive call for Gotabaya Rajapaksa to resign from the presidency and the ruling Rajapaksa family as a whole to vacate their government posts. Gotabaya was adamantly against resigning, but the protests resulted in him eventually resigning on the 14th of July following him leaving Sri Lanka to the Maldives and then Singapore. Gotabaya Rajapaksa was the most incompetent unqualified leader Sri Lanka ever had who ruined the country and its economy. I am going to give my personal views on Gotabaya Rajapaksa’s resignation and its aftermath.

I wanted Gotabaya to resign and I didn’t think he would do it when the protests began. Throughout the protests, Gotabaya kept deciding to do things that went against his nature such as talking of restoring the 19th Amendment and admitting his organic fertiliser policy was a mistake. I saw these statements as desperate attempts by him to stay in power. It seemed to me that eventually he would have nowhere to go except by resigning. There was the whole fiasco of him leaving Sri Lanka to the Maldives & Singapore and taking time to send his resignation letter. These protests made the impossible possible as Gotabaya Rajapaksa finally resigned as President.  

Opposition politician Ranil Wickremesinghe had become Prime Minister in May following the resignation of Gotabaya's brother Mahinda as Prime Minister. He had been the Acting President since Gotabaya left Sri Lanka. Soon after this, the process of electing a new President occurred in Parliament. The Presidential candidates were expected to be Ranil Wickremesinghe, leader of the United National Party (UNP), Anura Kumara Dissanayake, leader of the Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP), Sajith Premadasa, leader of the UNP breakaway party Samagi Jana Balawegaya (SJB) and Dullas Alahapperuma of the Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP). 

While I’m not a fan of Opposition Leader Sajith Premadasa, I was hopeful he would do the right thing to secure the Presidency for Sri Lanka during this difficult time. I’m so displeased with him for backing out of the Presidential race to support SLPP candidate Dullas Alahapperuma. In my view, the negative qualities of Ranil does not make Dullas a good candidate. SLPP is the party of the Rajapaksas and Dullas has been staunchly pro-Rajapaksas. He once held the lion only flag at a political protest in 2015 which implies racism. Incidentally, this protest was against the summoning of Gotabaya Rajapaksa by the Bribery Commission. 

The JVP candidate Anura Kumara Dissanayake has made good critiques of the Rajapaksas, but I disagree with the communist ideology of his party the JVP. I don’t think the JVP would be a suitable party to be in government due to their inward looking economic policies including criticism of the International Monetary Fund (IMF). The JVP’s violent past is also concerning. 

Ranil Wickremesinghe is very hated in Sri Lanka. I personally do not think Ranil is of the same league as the Rajapaksas. I think he is neither terrible as most people believe nor brilliant as his small minority of supporters believe. My view is that he is somewhere in between. I think Ranil does have a desire to improve Sri Lanka. I do think the other candidate Dullas Alahapperuma is in the same league as the Rajapaksas. Ranil Wickremesinghe ended up being elected President by Parliament. Even though most people don’t want him, I think he is the least objectionable of the three candidates. 

Unfortunately, if most of the key Sri Lankan political figures became President, you could list major reasons why they shouldn’t be leading the country. This is an example of what’s wrong with Sri Lankan politics. I wish that Parliament was able to elect a President who wasn’t so deeply unpopular & controversial, of a better quality and didn’t harbour Presidential ambitions. I would have liked it if Dr. Harsha de Silva of the SJB could have been elected President by Parliament. 

It’s sad that the SLPP are involved in the two leading candidates as Dullas is SLPP, Ranil consists of SLPP support with Dinesh Gunawardena as the new Prime Minister. Dinesh is the leader of the party Mahajana Eksath Peramuna (MEP) which is part of the SLPP alliance, so he is de facto SLPP. The SLPP damaged Sri Lanka with their inward looking nationalism. I would prefer a UNP-SJB combination instead of an UNP-SLPP or SLPP-SJB combination. It’s a pity Ranil & Sajith couldn’t come together for the sake of the country.

I am greatly distressed by the violence carried out by the military and police against protesters and journalists on early morning Friday 22nd July at Galle Face. I fully condemn this inappropriate conduct. Ranil is wrong to have used the security forces in this way. The State of Emergency he declared needs to be revoked and the crackdown on protesters must stop. The protesters in fact agreed to withdraw from the area on that Friday afternoon. Ranil must not continue down this path. It’s imperative that he does not be the terrible President most people believe him to be. Gotabaya had been militarising governance which was disrespectful to the traditions of governance. Ranil should demilitarise governance and work on restoring the state of law in Sri Lanka.

I am of the view that the Executive Presidency needs to be abolished as I believe it contributed to much of Sri Lanka’s problems. I am especially concerned as the Executive Presidency currently consists of the strengthened powers brought in by the draconian 20th Amendment during Gotabaya Rajapaksa’s presidency. I think that the Executive Presidency should be replaced by a ceremonial apolitical President. Sri Lankan parliamentarians are sadly of such a bad quality right now. A general election needs to be held over the next year to elect suitable representatives for Sri Lanka and the right leaders. We need to change Parliament for the better. It’s disheartening to see all the corruption, bribery, lies and deceit that goes on. 

It’s an impressive achievement that the protests and activism was able to get Mahinda Rajapaksa and Gotabaya Rajapaksa to resign as Prime Minister and President as well as the Rajapaksas no longer being part of the government. It’s unfortunate that we were unable to transfer to suitable leadership that people have confidence in. Getting rid of the Rajapksas was the easy part. The more difficult task ahead is ending the queues, getting the economy functioning properly without the suffering & hardship, securing the IMF program, abolishing the Executive Presidency and holding a General Election. 

I don’t know what’s going to happen going forward. There’s a risk of things getting worse. I however choose not to be cynical about Sri Lanka and its future. I believe we can go forward. We need to push Parliament to abolish the Executive Presidency. This government definitely won’t be the good government we need, but the current activism can help make that dream a reality one day. May Gotabaya’s resignation be the start of a path to better things for Sri Lanka.

Sad for Sri Lanka

 

Unfortunately, Sri Lanka is in a dark place right now. Besides the COVID-19 pandemic that is ongoing in both Sri Lanka and throughout the world, there are power cuts, rising food prices, foreign reserves falling to low levels with the risk of it running out, exploding gas cylinders among other issues. The biggest problem facing Sri Lanka is a majoritarian, incompetent government causing damage to the country and concentrating power in one political family. I believe the bad governance is the root cause of much of the bad news coming out of Sri Lanka. The pandemic has exacerbated the bad governance problems facing Sri Lanka making the negative results come faster. 

It appears to me that there is a growing number of long-time supporters of the Rajapaksas who are dissatisfied with the current government’s performance. As Sri Lanka is disunited right now, we can use the common dissatisfaction as one reason to be united. A bad political tactic which is common in Sri Lanka is to divide the communities by rulers as a means to be in power. By uniting together for the country, we will be defying this strategy of the politicians. We will have our differences due to being from different communities or social groups, but we can focus on the type of society we want based on our common goals. 

We can look at the type of government we should be having. We need leaders who will give equal treatment to all communities, take a firm stand against bribery & corruption, have honesty & integrity, work to take Sri Lanka out of the economic mess it’s in into a strong stable economy among other needed changes. 

We Sri Lankans can work to reduce the indecent values and behaviour which stem from the top. Those of us who live in Sri Lanka can strive to take the country in the direction to where it should be. Civil society has an important role to play in this. Business leaders can work to strengthen the quality, ethics and services of their businesses. It’s important to give a good image of the country to the outside world, especially online. 

I’m conflicted as I don’t want to sound very bleak about Sri Lanka’s future, yet I see more bad things headed for Sri Lanka including the potential for ones that are catastrophic. We can do our part to try to prevent potential bad occurrences from happening. While the awful politics is wreaking havoc in our country, we are not defined by it. We are a beautiful island nation with diverse cultures and communities. We offer a lot of interesting different places in a small country. Sri Lanka is a special country and an important part of Asia. Let’s work to make the society we need a reality one day. 

Humorous & Interesting AI Talk on Sri Lanka

There is an Artificial Intelligence (AI) website Talk to Transformer which had been in existence until it got discontinued this week. Despite the sad news, this blog post is paying tribute to this bot. The user types in some text and presses the ‘Complete Text’ button which generates additional material. The button changes to ‘Generate Another’ once it has been generated. It gets its content ideas from going through the Internet. It is created by Canadian machine learning engineer Adam King. The material it gives is often funny and sometimes even true. I decided to post a collection of Talk to Transformer content that I initiated relating to my country Sri Lanka. As my hometown is Colombo, I did make many references to the city. I will give my thoughts alongside them.

The Country

I’m starting with topics about the country itself. The first one relates to Colombo, Sri Lanka with it

giving a fictional account of Colombo & Sri Lanka from someone married to a Sri Lankan. I’d like to

point out that I didn’t specify the wife's perspective. It came up with that on its own.

This one relates to the issue of bribery & corruption with a fictional person talking about it.

This one is about Colombo. It obviously doesn’t contain 25% of the world’s urban population. The

city names for Colombo aren’t real. I really like “The City of Night” as I think Colombo looks its best

at nighttime. I don’t think the statistics in the second paragraph are accurate.

Here’s something positive about Sri Lanka from an imaginary traveller. The places mentioned don’t

really exist in Sri Lanka.

Music

This section deals with music. I’m going to feature content about two types of Sri Lankan music,

being the Portuguese influenced baila and sinhala pop. These are false, and as a result of it, it’s

quite funny. 

My favourite instrument is piano. So I put in a question about piano in Sri Lankan music. I’m pleased

that it mentioned rock music, as I like piano in rock music. A Sri Lankan classic rock song I love is

“Api Kawruda” by Senaka Batagoda. I wrote a blog post about it. It features great piano by Janath

Kulathilake. 

Sci-Fi/The Future

I’m beginning this section featuring Sri Lanka involved in sci-fi hollywood films. It’s imagining

Christopher Nolan shooting a sci-fi action film in Sri Lanka, which I’d like to see. When it comes to

his sci-fi action films, I love “Inception” and am looking forward to his upcoming film “Tenet”. It seems

that in this fiction below, he’s trying to attract politicians with the reference to luxury vehicles. 

I’m now featuring Sri Lankan sci-fi content. The following two topics deal with points I mentioned in

my article “The Potential of Sri Lankan English Comics”, with this one dealing with time travel. I

wonder what it means how this time traveller “warps”. 

Here’s a story of aliens landing in Sri Lanka in Viharamahadevi Park.

The last one is asking what Sri Lanka will be like in 2050. It’s false, with it giving a contradictory

argument about size and population. The figure it mentions of 8 million square kilometres is roughly

the size of Brazil which is in stark contrast to Sri Lanka’s 65, 610 square kilometres. A population of

4 million people in 8 million square kilometres is the exact opposite of density. This one is so funny.

I hope you enjoyed this. I’d be interested to hear people’s interpretations of content featured here

and/or expansions of them. This is an example of the funny side of AI.