Monday 5th April, 2010 9 Learning English our way: A unique strategy

nal, with this little anec- Colonial Government, was com- stuck when it came to ‘About learning English Our Way. dote. This story was told to manded in English. How they Turn’. As you know, even edu- Another point. The other day, us trainee Police could hope to inspire local foot cated people are bemused ini- I read in your ‘World View’ Probationers in 1964 at soldiers to fight to save their tially by these movements, till pages that Lee Quan Yew, that the Police Training King’s empire by issuing com- they get used to it. One could visionary leader of Singapore College by one of mand in an alien language, is imagine how confusing it would who earlier advocated that all our Drill another matter. But that is how be to village folk to whom even Singaporeans should learn Bernard Shaw Instructors. it was. The British started to the concept of ‘right’ and ‘left’ English for many reasons These Drill recruit Ceylonese to their mili- was of little meaning in their including avoiding the catastro- Instructors, tary, when the WW II broke out. practical life. To them, the idea phe that befell Sri Lanka, is now English though they Many village lads turned up to of ‘About Turn’ would have been advising the Singapore Chinese are very join the Milteriya then, not so simply incomprehensible. community to start talking to without airs strict, and much for the love of the British Try as they might, the drill their children in Mandarin, as uncompro- Empire, but mainly to see the instructors failed to drive home Chinese was going to be the lan- n The Island of 27th mising on world at State expense. the idea that they should turn guage of the future world. Some March, P. S. Mahawatte the These recruits, who had per- about, while yet in standing people, I recall, wanted to turn Iwonders whether it was parade haps passed only the 4th stan- position. Then, one day, one of this country into a Singapore. in a film called Taming of ground, dard, did not know a word of the drill instructors came up Also, I read elsewhere earlier, the Shrew that Rex Harrison they English, not even their right with an ingenious method of that either in the US or UK high asks: “Why can’t the English had a and left, in that sense. Of course teaching English. So, they lined class families are already hiring speak English?” The rele- wide they knew their Bathkana Atha up the recruits on parade, facing Chinese nannies to talk to their vant context is as follows. reper- and the other hand which is the Beira lake where the usual children in Chinese. In 1912, George Bernard used for the other purpose. Now parade training was held. The In such circumstances, I Lee Quan Yew, now advising the Singapore Chinese community to Shaw wrote a play called the challenge to the military Instructor then yelled: Beireta wonder whether we Sri start talking to their children in Mandarin. Pygmalion. (According to drill instructors was to get this Puk! (arses to Beira) Lankans, a nation clever at legend, Pygmalion was a motley crowd of natives to Lo and behold! It worked. going by hindsight than fore- lease permit me to enter King of Cyprus who fell in toire of interesting stories to understand and obey their com- The entire squad turned about sight, have already missed the into this interesting ongo- relate, when relaxing. mands on parade. Various meth- swiftly!! bus? love with an ivory statue he Ping debate on ‘Learning had himself created). The There was a time the mili- ods were used, with some degree Thus, there is no limit to the English Our Way’ in your jour- tary of this country, under the of success. But they got really possibilities of the idea of Gamini Gunawardane play demonstrates that prop- er education can eliminate verbal class distinctions. A flower girl (Eliza) is made to arty leaders, these are get openly or whatever to cover Please advise voters not to pass off as a duchess by “Ladies, Gentlemen naive and optimistic com- the expenses- they must have vote for those whose posters Professor Higgins’ instruc- Pments from a private calculated a return on invest- and especially posters that are tions in phonetics. Based on individual (not a journalist), ment), tax the donors who also so big that all one can see are Shaw’s play Pygmalion in and those in between!” but please think on them even must have calculated a return the shoes/boots that one will 1956, Alan Jay Lerner wrote if you do not have the courage on investment in a candidate. have to lick afterwards. It was a musical play called My read with interest the pieces written ence consisting of men and women in or wisdom to publicly agree There must be so much black great that very recently some Fair Lady which was later by Gamini Gunawardena (GG) and that manner, the sort of slip-up even a and implement them. I do money that comes in to the of the leaders condemned vio- turned into a very popular IH. L. Seneviratne (HL) regarding the high school debater would not have believe you have the power to ‘open’ as a result of the posters. lence - but did not say the whip film. The English flower girl, above words attributed to the late S. W. made! As pointed out by HL, he began do so! Please try and set a trend Equally, the Central Bank would be withdrawn. Eliza Doolittle, speaks R. D. Bandaranaike when he his address with the words ‘Ladies and even at this late stage where should monitor big inflows to Withdraw the party whip addressed undergraduates at the gentlemen’ and when a heckler (whose elections begin to become ‘recipients’, not connected to from all who terrorise the English her way. Professor Peradeniya campus in the mid-fifties identity was fairly well-known) yelled cleaner and more civilized the sender. Police, or tax authorities, into Higgins, (an expert in pho- (The Island, 22/25 aloud from one of the rather than the reverse, and If you, the party leaders, any form of politically biased netics) declares that by March). My recollec- back rows “What about the country can then develop to action. Withdraw the whip speaking English in her own tion, as a Peradeniya the others?”, SWRD its full potential. from anyone directly or indi- way, Eliza is guilty of “the undergraduate during paused until the laugh- This is a democracy and rectly responsible for or cold-blooded murder of the this period, is that the ter died down and you have a responsibility to Requests involved in post-election vio- English tongue”. He adds event took place in the added the words “and present clean choices to voters, lence. that Eliza is “condemned by early part of 1956 those in between” so that they do not feel they If the number of candidates every syllable she utters” when SWRD was not pointing his finger in to party have to resort to undemocratic left is less than the number of and blames the quality of yet the Prime Minister, the direction from methods to get the government MPs, fill parliament with her English on “the elemen- and was the Leader of which the question the country needs. Please leaders ‘cleaner’ persons after the elec- SWRD John tary education” received by the Opposition. Since came, making the heck- remember thanks to political tion based on the party results. the British population of with gathering age and ler not know where to hide his face! chicanery there have been two Advise the public to turn that time. It is in this con- fading memories I may myself be sub- I cannot help raising a question Sinhala insurrections and a off the TV when shouting text that he asks: “Why can’t ject to the “memory and recall” prob- regarding HL’s reference to Hilarian long Tamil vs. country one and excessive propaganda lems that HL has referred to, I checked Fernando, the President of the Union after 1970. This statement is is shown - the advertisers the English teach their chil- this with a few of my university contem- Society, ordering him to accompany NOT a defence of terrorism will then pull their ads dren how to speak?” The poraries and can confirm with some SWRD to his car after the speech, giv- but an attempt to understand and some of the state final sentence of the lyric is: degree of certainty that my recollection ing him the opportunity to ask the causes in the interests of pre- have any political authority, channels will lose significant “Why can’t the English is correct. Prime Minister what he studied at vention. Of course some of the decency, or honesty, withdraw income (we hope), unless the learn to speak?” I was in the audience myself that Oxford and probe into his “knowledge culprits – both terrorists and the party whip and support advertisers are also hoping for This is an era in which SWRD addressed, and do not remem- of politics”, etc. This seems hardly those who created a situations from law breakers the police some under the counter return we in Sri Lanka are encour- ber exclamations such as hey Banda credible as the Union Society at the which made people feel they are not needed for this. I afterwards in the forms of con- aged to speak English ‘our and ado Banda being made when time was dominated by the Trots with had to resort to terrorism- are believe the candidature can tract etc. way’. Since there is no gold SWRD made his appearance (as stat- Hilarian as President and, as confirmed trying to pretend they did noth- also be withdrawn. The poorer Advise your speakers at standard in this matter, the ed by HL), although there was some by a contemporary with whom I ing wrong. manape crowd will support meetings not to shout and advice is appropriate and amount of heckling as the proceedings checked, they had nothing to do with Please advise the Elections this. The party will not suffer if abuse others if they do not should be followed. But the commenced, largely orchestrated by organizing the event. Commissioner that talking the law breakers and thugs are have good arguments. irony of it is that in the TV the Trotskyites who were the more HL had also referred to the incident about rules and election cut- thrown out unless of course Finally, again on behalf of spot urging us to speak dominant group on campus at the time. where Sir John was hooted at. outs and posters may not help they end up with fewer candi- younger and future genera- English our own way, the The version GG had heard from a Contrary to what he has stated, this either the candidates, or some dates than there are seats avail- tions, please try and set a trend senior who was present at the meeting happened at the Convocation held in of their party leaders, nor the able - in which case good rid- even at this late stage where final sentence is uttered in is not quite correct in that SWRD did the latter half of 1955, resulting in a printers understand rules and dance. Withdraw the whip from elections begin to become an impeccable standard not commence his speech saying number of students being suspended. law. Ask Inland Revenue to tax those who misuse state cleaner and more civilized English accent. Listen to it, ‘Gentlemen’. The orator par excellence In the words of HL: “Here is my own all the printers who did the resources or who are of the rather than the reverse. if you don’t believe me. he was from his Oxford University account. Perhaps there may be others posters on the basis of their psychology that might do so days, he could not have committed willing to share theirs” income, tax the candidates on when and if they come into Prof. A. P. R. Aluwihare Classless Jonnie such a faux pas as to address an audi- Eric J. de Silva their income that is what they Parliament. Ananda Samarakoon and the National Anthem xactly 48 years ago on April 5th, 1962, This song was composed by him with the country,as a music teacher during 1937- renderings. In his absence, in 1948, one of his Ananda Samarakoon, the composer his mother,who was a teacher,asked him to 1940. In 1938, he recorded his first two songs Just like most of his successful compo- early compositions Namo Namo Matha Eof our National Anthem died as a give her a song to be sung by a group of lit- Jana Soma Mana and Balanna Schoyuriye. sitions, in Endada Menike the poet and the (composed in 1940 and recorded in 1946), result of consuming a massive overdose of tle children, who were her pupils, at a He followed the Tagorean dictum that musicians are combined and are insepara- was nominated as the National Anthem sleeping tablets, the acclaimed musician, school function during this period, Ananda in creating a song, the musical composition ble. The critics and the fans were equally and was officially adopted by the state as lyrics, screen writer, dramatist, veteran Samarakoon lived mostly at the and the lyrics must be of equal importance. enthusiastic. Inspired by this success, the National Anthem in 1952. film director-cum dialogue writer, vocalist, Kalayathanaya of Chitrasena at He also used carefully cultivated vocal tech- Samarakoon went on to create a string of The National Flag and the National instrumentalist, painter, was 50. Kollupitiya. niques to give the Sinhala feeling in his successful songs in the early to the mid Anthem of any country symbolise the Immediately after Sri Lanka gained He was born to the family of Samuel 1940s- the period regarded as his golden patriotic and representation of its sover- independence, the new rulers, as well as Samarakoon and “Dominga Peiris of era. eignty and independence of the country. the inhabitants of the island began their Liyanwala, in Watareka, on January 13, Among his best known works are: When we were under the British rule, search for a National Flag and a National 1911. He received his primary education at Podimal Etano, Villay Malak Pipila, Poson although we were reluctant we had been Anthem, for the country. the Sinhalese School at Wewala in Pohoda, Assay Madura, Sunila Guvanay, compelled to fly their Union Jack and we In 1951, when Parliament accepted the Piliyandala and entered Christian College Punchi Suda, Nilvala Gange, Sumano, had to sing their National Anthem ‘God recommendation of the Flag Committee, at Kotte where he left after passing the Pudamu Kusum and Siri Sara Saara Ketay. Save The King (Queen)’ which we sang the Lion Flag used by the Sinhala Kings school- leaving examination (ESLC). At the In 1940, he separated from his wife and with great guesto for over a century. ,was taken as the National Flag. age of 23, he joined the staff of his alma married Caroline de Silva from Galle. It must be admitted that our National The song Namo Namo Matha written mater as the music and arts teacher, in the Cathrine bore him a son who died in the Anthem is closely influenced by Tagore’s and composed by Ananda Samarakoon same year that Rabindranath Tagore, the age of five due to an illness. Crushed by Jana gana mana adhinayake jayaho was officially accepted by the Government Indian poet, musician and thinker, and his this grief, he proceeded to India and which is India’s National Anthem. as the National Anthem of Sri Lanka, on ballet troupe of ‘Sap Mochan’ , created a roamed all over the country, between 1947 Ananda Samarakoon, after his return November 22, 1951. wave of musical interest in the island. and 1951. During this period he did not to his motherland, wrote musical plays Several eminent musicians of Sri Inspired by Tagorean ideals, in 1936, compose any songs. for the radio, children’s plays, stage Lanka did protest at the beginning, when Ananda Samarakoon left for India in a However, he displayed his genius as a plays, operas and ballets. However, his the composition of Ananda Samarakoon quest to study Rabindra Sangeeth. Prior to painter and held 11 art exhibitions in India, later work disclosed a considerable was accepted by the then Government. his departure, he married Chandra Malaysia and Singapore. His work as a falling off. His compositions suffered The music of Samarakoon was a new Seneviratne. She also accompanied him to painter drew very high critical acclaim. heavily at the hands of South Indian departure. He was not only a musician but India. He studied there for about six years His illustration for the song Endada artistes. Yet, few showed glimpses of his a poet of sorts as well. He wrote his own and returned with his wife in 1937. Menike drew the following remark from his talents. lyrics, basing his creations from observa- On his return, he changed his name contemporary,Sunil Santha: However, it is not difficult to surmise tion of simple village life and employing a George Wilfred Alwis, to Ananda ‘It is no easy task to discern whether that his was a case of suicide. homely idiom, not used by song-writers Samarakoon and embraced Buddhism. He Samarakoon was born as a musician or a Walter Wijenayake before. served in several schools in various parts of Ananda Samarakoon painter.’