The power and glory of Jayalath Jayawardena

by Carlo Fonseka

(January 13, Colombo, Sri Lanka Guardian) Let me come right out and declare it: the fact that I totally disagree with my former pupil Dr. Jayalath Jayawardena MP’s politics does not prevent me from celebrating his entry into the Guinness Book of World Records. He combines in high degree amiability, power and glory. Even like me, the vast majority of my former pupils have found satisfaction in comfortable existence, responsible parenting and conscientious discharge of assigned duty. The behaviour of only a very few among us has been strongly motivated by those insatiable human desires – the love of power and glory. That is undoubtedly why we have not had much influence on the major socio-political events of our time. Love of power and its attendant glory is an essential attribute of men and women who are happening people and change agents. For good or ill, among all my former pupils, Dr. JJ has emerged as a historically significant personality. He has achieved a degree of political power and a measure of glory. Just what makes him tick? That is the question that I propose to explore in this congratulatory piece written to celebrate his recent entry into the Guinness Book of World Records.

Emotional Intelligence

A highly gregarious, outgoing and charitable person, Dr. JJ is one of the most amiable of my former pupils. His amiability is palpably genuine and cannot fail to win friends even among his political opponents like me. That is why he has been chosen five times to represent the people of the Gampaha District in parliament during the past 16 years. His amiability derives from his high emotional intelligence. What on earth you may ask is that? Well, it may be defined as the ability to observe one’s own and others’ feelings sensitively and to guide one’s behaviour accordingly. The bottom line is to take care not to hurt other peoples’ feelings. Notwithstanding the ruthlessness that the determined pursuit of political power demands, Dr. JJ has managed by and large to preserve his emotional intelligence intact. He connects easily with people and this is evidenced not only by the number of preferential votes he gains but also in the esteem in which he is held by his professional colleagues despite his fiercely partisan politics. His amiability surely is the ultimate source of his political power.

Guinness Record

In general, to acquire power is to be on the royal road to glory. But in Dr. JJ’s case, he did not take the royal road, that is to say, the easy road to glory. Using the opportunities that political power offered him, he employed the power of medical knowledge to win the minds and hearts of television viewers of all political hues. The weekly medical talk show he conducts is ‘the longest ongoing television medical program in the world’. It has been widely watched by political friend and foe and has won for him a well deserved glory. By a letter dated 9th of December 2010, he was informed by the relevant authorities that he had "set the new Guinness World Record for ‘Longest-running TV medical show’ ". (The sceptical can go to www.guinnessworldrecords.com and select claim 288827 for confirmation)

Unsurpassable

Dr. JJ’s achievement sets a record in another sense too. In independent Sri Lanka’s parliamentary history from 1947 to date, no parliamentarian had merited a place in the Guinness Book of World Records. Dr JJ has now done it. For a tired and retired old teacher, there is no greater joy than to bask in the reflected glory of his past pupils. When news came of Dr. JJ’s record, I was one of the first to hear about it from him. I was truly delighted because Jayalath has always been very close to me. He invited me to his TV medical show, acknowledged me as his teacher and even allowed me the liberty of joking about the political party to which he belongs. Endowed with an admirable independence of mind, there is one thing that he will not learn from me. And that is politics. Although he will not say it to my face, I know that he regards me as an old dog incapable of learning new (political) tricks. As it happens, Jayalath was certainly not the quickest learner I have ever taught in medical school. Even so somewhere down the line I hope to teach him that he should learn to appreciate the fact that in our parliamentary history, President Mahinda Rajapaksa’s liquidation of the most sanguinary and murderous terrorist group in living memory is the one unsurpassable record.