Sri Lanka News Updates with Discussions

ENGLISH LANGUAGE AND WESTERM CULTURAL NORMS
During the British colonial era (1796-1948) and a good part of the
post-independence period, the promotion of the English language and
Western cultural norms was the order of the day as far as the
political establishment of the country was concerned.

The same was
true in regard to most professionals at decision-making levels in the
public and private sectors and big businesses. Their attitudes and
actions either directly or indirectly had the effect of denigrating
Sinhala language and Sinhala cultural norms and the simple Buddhist
way of life to an inferior state.

The influence and authority of the
village temple was reduced to a level of parasite owing to the willful
neglect and undermining of these traditional institutions by the
rulers. The study of history was dropped from school curriculum
thereby preventing children from being exposed to their history and
cultural heritage.

The urban English education system had much to do with this
undesirable development. School educational services during this time
were basically the monopoly of Catholic and Christian missions and
English was the medium of instruction in these schools. European
cultural norms were promoted vigorously by these schools.

Under the
circumstances, the social status and recognition were based on one s
exposure to western culture and especially one s ability to
communicate effectively in the English language and familiarity with
and often the observance of western cultural norms. Opportunities for
advancement in fields such as education and professions were almost
exclusively the monopoly of people with such exposure.

I say that Sinhala language was originated in Sri Lanka and by that we have a more right to our land than You illegals..

It is not the question that Sinhala language is a made up of another language, but the beauty is we have managed to create a language to suit our requirments and our culture!

Same way how the world has come this far..say for example in technology .. and Einstein's therories led to many discoveries.. but Einstine doesn't claim the rights for those developed using his theories!

Can you say where Sinhala was born ?

Higher learning at this time was basically bifurcated the rural
masses and bhikkhus studied Sinhala and other oriental languages
whereas in the urban areas English was the medium of instruction and
communication. Opportunities for advancement were highly limited to
the former. They were low-paid and distant from the government whereas
the latter were better paid and enjoyed more benefits from government.
It is simply a miracle that Sinhala language was able to survive this
tragic situation for over four and a half centuries.

It was the
dedication of the Sinhala scholars, especially our Buddhist scholar
Bhikkhus, and the inherent strength of the Sinhala language that may
be cited as main reasons. Among the most prominent who contributed to
that miracle were the Venerables Velivitiye Saranankara Mahathera,
Hikkaduve Sri Sumangala Nayaka Thera (early 20th century) who was the
founder of the Vidyodaya Pirivena, Venerable Waskaduwe Sri Subhuti
Nayaka Thera (early 20th century), Ven. Kahave Sri Ratanasara Nayaka
Thera, Ven. Baddegama Sri Piyaratana Nayaka Thera, Ven. Velivitiye Sri
Sorata Nayaka Thera and Ven. Panangala Sri Piyaratana Nayaka Thera

RISE OF A NEW COSMOPILITAN URBAN ELITE

These people formed a class of their own with undue privileges which
were not available to the large majority of those without similar
exposure. It was a new elite that developed on the basis of its
member s knowledge of the English language and was associated with the
Greater Colombo region

A wider more cosmopolitan outlook
differentiated this urban elite from the more old fashioned
predominantly Buddhist, Sinhala speaking rural folk. What developed
here was a form of sub-culture which was referred to by some
Sinhalayas as Thuppahi culture which accorded a highly step-motherly
treatment to Sinhala language and culture. This had a strong negative
impact of undermining and decimating the commonly spoken indigenous
language of the nation to an inferior position.

The step-motherly
treatment of the Sinhala language by the government and the urban
elite running affairs of the economy, business and private sector
activities, and the Catholic and Christian missionary education
establishment, continued even after the country attained political
independence in 1948.

There are many aspects of western culture which are commendable and
helpful to enrich one s life. But most of these outer-oriented urban
elite which included the so called Sri Lankan political leaders, held
to half-baked foreign values, superficialities and strange ways of
living. They were barely conversant with the plight of the majority of
people - the ordinary Sinhala people in particular. They were not
representative of the large mass of people, but became the trusted
servants of the British administration. Almost all of the qualified
professionals belonged to or subscribed to this sub-culture. The
British left no room for the leadership to emerge from the truly
indigenous people.

BUDDHIST RESURGENCE OF LATE 19TH CENTURY

In late 19th century, a series of public debates took place in
Panadura between Anglican Christian clergymen of Sri Lanka and
Buddhist bhikkhus led by the fearless Migettuwatte Gunananda Thera,
culminating in the defeat of the Christians. There were some fearless
Bhikkhus who openly spoke out against British rule and the colonial
mentality of our so-called leaders. The Buddhist revival that followed
was aided by the Theosophists led by American Col. Henry Steele
Olcott. When Olcott visited this island, the Sinhala Buddhists,
although formed the majority in the country were a highly
underprivileged group in their land of birth. To the 802 Christian
schools that had come up there were only four Buddhist schools. Nor
was Sinhala taught at a privileged school like Royal College even at
the beginning of the 20th century

Olcott was instrumental in
establishing Buddhist schools in Colombo and other important urban
centres in the country. Among these national schools were Ananda
College, Colombo established in 1886, Dharmaraja College Mahanuwara,
Maliyadeva College Kurunegala, Mahinda College Galle and Meuse us
College Colombo as a Private Girls' school founded in 1895 by the
Buddhist Theosophical Society managed by a Board of Trustees. It was
during the late19th century that one notices a surge in secular
Sinhala literature. The Sinhala novel had its beginnings during this
period. Piyadasa Sirisena, Sagara Palansuriya, Munidasa Kumaratunga,
Hemapala Munidasa, W.A. Silva and J.H. Perera were prominent among the
Sinhala scholars of this period.

Yako think of a way such that how can we communicate using different languages and that might help You to get rid of your racism!

LOL! Malli LOL!

In late 19th and early 20th centuries, Anagarika Dharmapala(1864-1933)
was a leading figure of Buddhism in Sri Lanka. He spearheaded a
movement to revive Buddhism and Buddhist culture in Sri Lanka. He
spoke of the superficiality of the lives of those of the Colombo sub
culture who have joined up with the colonialists to run the country.
Then there was another outstanding patriot - Dr. Ananda Coomaraswamy
who urged our people to develop a sense of their own traditions and
national culture. He challenged the intrusion on eastern values by the
expansion of western society.

CHANGES STARTNG IN MID 20TH CENTURY
In the middle of the 20th century, Mr. W. W. Kannangara and a few
others led a movement which made Sinhala the medium of instruction for
all Sinhala children up to Grade V in all government schools.

Subsequently, Sinhala and Tamil became the languages of government and
higher education. In the 20th century, there were many Sinhala
patriots who helped to enrich and save our language and culture. The
late fifties and sixties in particular was a period when we saw the
emergence of outstanding personalities and cultural pursuits

Among
them, W. F. Gunewardena Martin Wickramasinghe, Senarath Paranawithana,
Munidasa Kumaratungha, L.H. Mettananda, G. Malalasekera, Ediriweera
Sarathchandra, Mahagama Sekera, Madawala S. Ratnayake, Gunadasa
Amarasekera, K. Jayatilaka, Amaradeva, Premasiri Khemadasa, Chitrasena
and Vajira, Solias Mendis, Lester James Pieris and a few others
including their students.