Whosoever Hath, We Shall Give All

By Ravi Perera –NOVEMBER 8, 2021

Ravi Perera

Hobbling about our Covid-19 devastated landscape are many a breadwinner, having lost their employment, now desperate to feed their families. Even among those lucky enough to retain their jobs, many are on reduced pay, the prices of daily essentials meanwhile have reached   stratospheric heights.

We now learn that there is another reality. There are a handful of our countrymen busy hiding their wealth, away from the country, the public eye and the tax man. Exhaustive work by outstanding investigative journalists have unravelled the names of the dubious of the world, hiding their filthy lucre in tax havens. Among these rich and infamous are a few names from sunny Sri Lanka, a country presently choking in the vice-like grip of foreign debt.

Interestingly, these are not the usual suspects, at least not the obvious ones. One would have thought that our so called captains of industry, those running near monopolies, or professionals extracting unconscionably exorbitant fees would be scrambling to hide their black money. They are not on this list. Here is a “B” list, lesser known names, not from the country’s top of the pops 10 richest. There are several with “Indian” family names, relatively new immigrants with a reputation for sharp business practices, names that one time ruled all trading in Colombo. Of the indigenous names exposed, most are new to money; the ‘nouveau riche’; steadily climbing the social ladder, buying influence, throwing their weight around; funders of politicians, sponsors of sports, patrons of good causes. Cynics, who know the cost of everything, but the value of nothing, leaving behind corrupted systems, a diminished public life and a broken country.

The list is not homogenous, black money can be made in many ways. A few on the list are said to be from old money. Explaining one particular account, a club member whispered knowingly, “They had money, his father was a top official in a British company in the old days, had a big house in Colombo 7”. Such trivia is expounded with a certain smugness, a world of private knowledge unknowable to the listener. Of course, this is tosh, for the “knowledgeable” club member the thrill is in the telling, not in the fidelity of his tale. There was no explanation how that inherited 20 odd Perches in Colombo 7, translated into millions of dollars in a Swiss bank.

On the list are no known industrialists, manufacturers or growers, a telling fact. The money in these secretive tax havens belong to tradesmen, importers, commission agents, facilitators, even social hangers on, a country exploited to the bone. Some of these black money holders do not even maintain an office in this country, employ very few and perhaps carry no personal tax file. Their own employment record will be hazy, in fact, many of them do not even have the educational qualifications to obtain a well-paying job. Obviously, they have other skills, we have a system that rewards such skills.

Apparently, there is even a retired public servant on the list; yes, the public servants are presently indulging in union action demanding a raise in their Rs. 30,000 something a month salary! An octogenarian domiciled overseas, a spectre that appears in a commanding position whenever the Ranil Wickremesinghe UNP forms a government, has huge amounts hidden in a tax haven. This is an illustration of the special kind of folly that accompanies that unfortunate leader. Forty years ago, when this man was employed in the public service, the world was very different, our economy was different, attitudes were different; the typewriter was advanced technology then, there were no three-wheelers, a mobile phone was something in science fiction; yet this geriatric is imposed on the country as a critical managerial asset.

The leader pronounces, “He knows how the public sector works and makes decisions”, thus invalidating  the millions who have come out of our schools since; for forty long years we have not produced a single other person capable of understanding the public service, or one inclined to make decisions like this eighty-year-old man!

This self-serving “Brahmanism”, the secrets of “Statecraft” possessed by only a select few in the elect order, is a necessary lie, like the raucously claimed elitism of our leading schools, like the loudly acclaimed benevolence of our political dynasties, a lie to be drilled into the heads of a pathetic nation. These elite schools produce world beaters, first class citizens, honest and skilled, while our leading families are worthy of emulation, deserving of veneration! When, after a life time of selfless service they depart this world, a grateful people name public institutions in their name, religious ceremonies are held to invoke more blessings on them, annual lectures are delivered by learned persons in their memory. Our society has prepared the people for that abasement, elite generated social mythology affirms these grateful practices.

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