The best way I can describe people who are outspoken about issues in developing countries but yet go silent on issues impacting where they live, often first world countries, can be summarized using a famous Sinhalese poem;
උස් තැන් දැක හැකිලෙන්නේ, මිටි තැන් දැක පුප්පන්නේ
නිවටුන් බව සිතමින්නේ මගේ, පුතා නිදියනේ
ඉටු කොට කලයුතු යුතුකම්, ලැබුණත් ලෝකෙන් ගැරහුම්
ඉවසන්නට පුළුවන් නම්, ඔබයි මගේ පුතා උතුම්
It would roughly translate as follows:
When you are in front of strong powerful entities (like a first world country), if you become weak (like a lapdog)
But when you are in front of a weak entity (such as a third word country), if you become strong (like a lion)
Son, remember you become a feeble man or a weak man with no ethics
Even if the world goes against you, stand on your own feet
Patience is a virtue when the world doesn’t understand this…
This poem comes into my mind every time I speak to someone from our South Asian communities that always complain about South Asia but never say much about out in the open about issues we are facing in Canada. It is a very strong philosophical analysis on how people have selective criticism of social, political and cultural issues. This is one of the reason why I have somewhat isolated myself from “ethnic” community events and programs.
That’s it for today but I will try to post more content later in the year.
