| by Gajalakshmi Paramasivam
( December 7, 2012, Melbourne,
Sri Lanka Guardian)
Malaysian & Singapore Tamils are the elders of Tamil Diaspora of today.
Each time I am supported by Malaysian or Singapore Tamils in my work in Tamil
areas of Sri Lanka, I thank those elders who must have experienced difficulties
in their new home-countries and yet managed to include their home-town’s name
in responding to a global call. All western countries that take credit for
ending World War II owe Jaffna Tamils to help us during our time of need. That
is the true spirit of globalization. This is the true spirit of Oneness. We may
be small in position, but when we work in the consciousness of our home that gives us credit at the total /
whole level. Fighting at the physical level
needs to happen after we feel part of the whole through such home-contributions
and that too only in defence and not to attack. This is why I often say that
the Pariah (toilet cleaner/lowest class migrant) and the Vice Chancellor are
both equals in ownership of a University. Hence the mighty American Global Hawk
came through fellow Australian Tamil Colonel Ramanathan to support Jaffna
Plane.
I write in response to the Sri
Lanka Guardian article ‘A hundred years
of flight in Sri Lanka – time to take stock’ by Dr. Ruwantissa Abeyratne
At a time when many educated Sri
Lankans of Sinhalese origins are highly
critical of the Sri Lankan
President over alleged interference with Judicial Powers – I was surprised to
read the following by a legal expert Dr. Ruwantissa Abeyratne: ‘With such rapid
winds sweeping through the commercial aviation world, what should Sri Lanka
do? We should take an example from the visionary thoughts of the President of
Sri Lanka which he put forward at the launch of the space age of Sri Lanka
when Supreme SAT-1 was launched into
orbit. The President said in his
message: “The launch of this satellite will be the beginning of more such
ventures that will help promote Foreign Direct Investment, increase export
earnings to the country, and help greatly in the transfer of technology within
and outside this Region”.
I can see no reason why this same
proactive approach cannot be adopted in
the context of commercial aviation in Sri Lanka and its national carrier!!’
My feelings of ownership with Sri Lanka’s
national carrier – Airlanka / Sri Lankan Airlines – instantaneously rejected
the above suggestion by Dr. Abeyratne. I
was not going to respond at first but thought I owed it to Tamil investors in Airlanka to share my Truth in this issue.
As if to bless my efforts, I received an email from fellow Australian Tamil –
Colonel Ramanathan as follows: ‘This is a photo of the Global Hawk UAV that
recently returned from the war zone under its own power. ( Iraq to Edward's AFB
in CA) - Not transported via C5 or C17. .................................The
Global Hawk is controlled via satellite. It flew missions that went from
Edwards AFB, CA. and back nonstop. Basically, they come into the fight at a
high mach # using military thrust power, fire their AMRAAMS, and no one ever
sees them or paints with radar. There is practically no radio chatter because
all the guys in the flight are tied together electronically and can see who is
targeting who, and they have AWACS (Airborne Early Warning and Control Systems)
direct input, as well as 360 situational awareness from that and other sensors.
The enemy had a definite morale problem before it was all over. It is to air
superiority what the jet engine was to aviation. It can taxi out, take off, fly
a mission, return, land and taxi back on its own. There are no blackouts, pilot
fatigue, relief tubes, ejection seats, and best of all, no dead pilots, and no
POWs.’
The way I did when I applied for
the position of UN Secretary General when Dr. Jayantha Dhanapala was nominated,
I sought to present the investment of
Sri Lankan Tamils in Global Aviation to dilute the maya / delusion I saw
in the picture drawn by Dr. Abeyratne in relation to Aviation in Sri Lanka.
My work with Air Lanka happened
after a holy-man from Thiruketheeswaram temple said to me ‘Like Murugan you
will go around the globe on the
peacock’. I felt the greater
significance of this when I learnt later
that the logo of Air Lanka was the
peacock. The name of the Air Lanka staff
magazine was named ‘monara’ – meaning peacock. My first overseas job
happened due to Air Lanka. I believe that my natural way of attributing credit
to elders / seniors within family and at the workplace until I felt that the
total of my work through that relationship / position is common – helped me
become global through Singaporeans who trained us in Management of Aviation
activities at international standards. Mr. Colin Martinus, the best
Administrator known to me was part of this team headed by a Tamil Mr.
Kulesegaram who honored me by asking Mr. Martinus to second me from Commercial Administration
to Financial Administration. Mr. Kulesegaram honored us by worshipping with his
family, at the Ganesh temple (New
Kathiresan temple) at the Colombo suburb of
Bambalapitiya. These are natural connections that invoke the invisible
forces. They continue to influence me from within to share my current work with
the needy at Air Lanka / Sri Lankan Airlines – even today. The medium are those
who have faith in me. Mrs. Yasmin
Pakeerally Majeed whose first job started at Airlanka, and who
continues to work at Sri Lankan Airlines in a senior position, for example
feels free to contact me anytime she needs advice in relation to work issues. I
am always introduced by Yasmin to others as her first boss and mentor. The sharing through such faith is the
strongest foundation known to me. Based on such strength, the current
merit-based work needed for fulfillment through such positions is very little.
Those lacking in faith have to do the work from zero base. This is the basis
for Equal Opportunity laws.
Dr. Abeyratne states ‘In 1996,
pursuant to an initiative by the International Civil Aviation Organization,
which was robustly assisted by the Canadian Government, the United Nations
General Assembly, by resolution officially recognized 7 December as International
Civil Aviation Day and listed it as an official UN day. The purpose of the
global celebration is to generate and reinforce worldwide awareness of the
importance of international civil aviation in the social and economic
development of States, and of the role of ICAO in promoting the safety,
efficiency and regularity of international air transport. Each year on this day, ICAO celebrates this
global dedication with a theme. In 2012
the ICAO theme is “Aviation – Your Reliable Connection to the World”.’
One who celebrates International
Values needs to stay close to Truth or use facts that apply to the whole
institution whose status is being used towards such valuation – in this instance - the UN with all member states of the UN.
When using the investment of Sri Lanka particularly, credit needs to be
attributed from the root – when we use time basis – such as 100 years. The UN
itself is not as old. Hence the credit taken is very local. UN is the
personification of the values of migration towards globalization. When we migrate to other countries – it is
like rebirth – which means we take only the essence of our investments in our
countries of origin and leave behind the form and its merits in our old society.
Likewise, when countries join the UN.
Our true investments in the old time-based vertical hierarchical systems
would convert themselves into space-based horizontal systems and take current
values. In Accounting we have a special section for ‘current cost accounting’
as opposed to ‘historic cost accounting’ . Dr. Abeyratne states ‘Sri Lanka remains highly respected
within the aviation community’ If Sri Lankan aviation goodwill is taken as an
Asset – was the above measured through current cost or historic cost? To take both is duplication and therefore is
misleading.
In his article ‘Ceylon’s first
flights’ published in the Sunday Times on 02 December 2012, Roger Theideman
states ‘This month the Civil Aviation Authority of Sri Lanka (CAASL) is
commemorating 100 years of aviation in Ceylon/Sri Lanka. But the first flight
of an aeroplane in Ceylon took place on December 25, 1911. That’s right – 101
years ago. So why are Sri Lankan ‘aerocrats’ celebrating the centenary in 2012?
Are they living up to that unkind tag bestowed on SriLankan Airlines and its
predecessor Air Lanka: ‘UL’ (Usually Late)?’
Mr. Roger Theideman wrote in the
Sunday Times on 01 August 1999 an article entitled ‘How Ceylon Tamils sent
plane named 'Jaffna'’
Mr. Roger Theideman states in
this article ‘Today there are communities of Sri Lanka-born families scattered
around the world. The Australian cities of Melbourne and Sydney, for instance,
are home to two of the largest populations of Sri Lankans outside Sri Lanka.
London, England is another example, as is Toronto in Canada.
But long before this trend (which
began with the exodus of the Burghers after World War Two) there was another
migratory flow from Ceylon that has largely gone unnoticed and, therefore,
received little publicity over the years. Nowadays, visitors to Singapore and
Malaysia (formerly Malaya), would notice the strong influence of Tamil names
and people throughout all strata of business and public life in those
countries…
A feature of Baker's
'fund-a-fighter-plane' campaign was that each aircraft donated to the Royal
Flying Corps bore a name significant to its donors. For example, some of the
names given to the planes were: "Alma Baker"; "Malacca
Chinese"; "Wi Cheng Kim", and ''Kuala Kuangsar".
But one of the more interesting
donations resulted from a brainwave of Mr. M. Subramaniam, a native of
Mallakam, Jaffna, then working in the Survey Department at Kuala Lumpur.
Inspired by Mr. Alma Baker's untiring efforts, he enlisted the support of other
expatriate Jaffna Tamils towards raising money for a fighter plane that they
could call their own.
The undertaking was a great
success. Contributions came pouring in from Ceylon Tamils and their families
living and working in all parts of the Malay States: Penang, Kuala Lumpur,
Taiping, Pahang, Selangor, etc. Within five months of launching the appeal, the
handsome sum of Pounds Sterling £2250 was raised, enabling the Ceylon Tamils of
Malaya to contribute a brand-new fighter plane to help the British combat the
dreaded 'Hun'.
The aircraft was a F.E.2b, built
by the Royal Aircraft Factory of Britain. Like most other airplanes of its day,
it was a flimsy biplane (two pairs of wings, one mounted above the other), and
could be used both as a fighter plane and a night bomber. It carried a pilot
and one passenger, the latter to fire the guns or drop bombs. Unusually, the
plane's single 120-horsepower engine was mounted behind the pilot with the
propeller facing backwards, an installation called a 'pusher powerplant'.
This F.E.2b was presented to the
British Government on December 22, 1915. The justifiable pride of the Tamils
who had helped to purchase the plane was embodied in the name they bestowed on
their gift. In honour of their hometown in Ceylon, the fighter plane was dubbed
"Jaffna".
One wonders, as the aerial
battles raged over Europe, how much death and destruction rained down on the
Germans from a frail little fighter plane with the innocuous name
"Jaffna", far away from the city of the same name?
Little would anyone have imagined
that, several decades later, the town of Jaffna would play a pivotal role in
another theatre of war back in Sri Lanka itself.
Nothing is known of the fate of
the F.E.2b plane called "Jaffna". But the story of the Ceylon Tamils
of Malaya, uniting in a spirit of patriotism, gratitude and generosity to gift
an airplane to the British Empire, will long live in the annals of Malaysian
and Singaporean history’
Malaysian & Singapore Tamils
are the elders of Tamil Diaspora of today. Each time I am supported by
Malaysian or Singapore Tamils in my work in Tamil areas of Sri Lanka, I thank
those elders who must have experienced difficulties in their new home-countries
and yet managed to include their home-town’s name in responding to a global
call. All western countries that take credit for ending World War II owe Jaffna
Tamils to help us during our time of need. That is the true spirit of
globalization. This is the true spirit of Oneness. We may be small in position,
but when we work in the consciousness of
our home that gives us credit at the total / whole level. Fighting at the physical level needs to
happen after we feel part of the whole through such home-contributions and that
too only in defence and not to attack. This is why I often say that the Pariah
(toilet cleaner/lowest class migrant) and the Vice Chancellor are both equals in
ownership of a University. Hence the mighty American Global Hawk came through fellow Australian Tamil Colonel
Ramanathan to support Jaffna Plane.
My maternal great-grandfather who
was blessed by Jaffna Saint Yoga Swami’s Guru’s Guru – Kadayit Swami is one of
those who went overseas and sent money to support education of Jaffna Tamils.
Another is my husband’s father Mr. Nallathamby Subramaniam who also worked in
Malaysia during the time of World War II and later settled down in Vattukottai
where the pride and valuation in being Ceylon Tamil is strong and hence
Vattukottai Resolution towards independent Tamil state. To the extent Tamils carry these ancestral
values forward – we would continue to be
supported by global powers. Lest we forget Jaffna Tamils who sacrificed themselves so we may live in
freedom from poverty and ignorance.
