Sri Lanka lifts unofficial ban on singing national anthem in Tamil

[Established_1965]

Let's follow Malaysia:

- Strip the Tamil language of official status
- Take the orange stripe off the Sri Lankan flag that represents Tamils
- Dump the Tamil language national anthem in the bin
- Deny any affirmative action for Tamils
- Disallow Tamil to be spoken in parliament
- Disallow Tamil universities
- Ban the propagation of Shaivism (religion followed by Tamils)
- No Tamil to be on Sri Lankan currency notes, postage stamps, aerogrammes, signboards, government buildings.
- No Tamil to be used for announcing on SriLankan Airlines

Yes, the Malaysians have no problems with the Tamils. We should follow their example.

Why don't you have ambition to follow Singapore which had accepted it's entire population as Singaporeans.

Singapore is more diverse than Sri Lanka when it comes to ethnicity. We have Chinese, Malay and Indians. 65% of the population are Chinese but our national anthem till now is Malay which is around 10% of the population. We might be small but we know 1 or 2 things about unity and staying together as a country.

Malaysia is not an ideal country to be regarded as model state. Indonesia is awesome when compared to Malaysia.

 

[Azizam]

Everyone should learn from Mandela on how to reconcialiate things instead of showing powers of dominance. If Madiba had followed the ways of Robert Mugabe, SA would have been like Zimbabwe now.

And Sri Lankans barking here should understand it does not promote seccenasim in any way.
And yes , even in TN we have a National Anthem in Tamil, we use it after singing our National Anthem. No need to be naive and stupid like this.

It's already turning into Zimbabwe where whites are being killed at sight in some places. Ever heard of white flight?

 

[Saradiel]

Does SL have its national anthem in two languages ?

You did not guess that right? yes SL has had a Tamil version of national anthem since 1948 and Tamil had the regional langauge status just like in india today. Every gover sign board in SL were in three languages since 1948. Those who talk about language policy in SL do not talk about this.

This was a request made by former ealamist mano ganeshan.
By encouraging these type of Tamil nationalism, Colombo will surely lose the control of Northern council.
Rather than promoting domestic languages, it is beneficial to promote a mutual understandable language.

To be honest I dont have any issue with tamil language anthem, one reason being we had a tamil language anthem since 1948. So it is not a new thing.
After all even after ban, tamil medium schools were using tamil anthem.

Thats not how he was born. I am quite sure, if he/they had understood the sensibilities the war would have never taken place. Tamils are living in Malaysia, Singapore, Mauritius, (and have official language status in these countries) and South Africa too, but there are no complaints from any other nations. Only Lankans have a complaint.

Go and study about tamils in Malaysia. The problem in SL is not due to any sensibilities, it is rather a debate on history. That is what it is and nothing else.

Let's follow Malaysia:

- Strip the Tamil language of official status
- Take the orange stripe off the Sri Lankan flag that represents Tamils
- Dump the Tamil language national anthem in the bin
- Deny any affirmative action for Tamils
- Disallow Tamil to be spoken in parliament
- Disallow Tamil universities
- Ban the propagation of Shaivism (religion followed by Tamils)
- No Tamil to be on Sri Lankan currency notes, postage stamps, aerogrammes, signboards, government buildings.
- No Tamil to be used for announcing on SriLankan Airlines

Yes, the Malaysians have no problems with the Tamils. We should follow their example.

I dont agree with samv but it is a good answer to @Rajaraja Chola 's ignorant comment.

I would be pissed if they started new one today, but if they always had, I dont see the problem.. besides the tamils who sing it are patriots unlike those who will probably refuse to sing it.

Yes we had one since 1948.

Why don't you have ambition to follow Singapore which had accepted it's entire population as Singaporeans.

Singapore is more diverse than Sri Lanka when it comes to ethnicity. We have Chinese, Malay and Indians. 65% of the population are Chinese but our national anthem till now is Malay which is around 10% of the population. We might be small but we know 1 or 2 things about unity and staying together as a country.

Malaysia is not an ideal country to be regarded as model state. Indonesia is awesome when compared to Malaysia.

Singapore and SL are fundamentally different. SL has had a civilisation with a unique identity for millenia. As far as I know Singapore does not. Singapore's chinese came from china, malays from malaysia and indians from india.
In SL muslims came from arab or india, tamils from india and sinhalese from Sri Lanka...SO i guess it is apparent.

Between dont you follow a policy in Singapore where gover takes action to prevent ethnic ghettos?

The only thing this debate shows is SL has had a tamil language anthem since 1948 whatever propaganda it faces against it.

 

[HeinzG]

Why don't you have ambition to follow Singapore which had accepted it's entire population as Singaporeans.

Singapore is more diverse than Sri Lanka when it comes to ethnicity. We have Chinese, Malay and Indians. 65% of the population are Chinese but our national anthem till now is Malay which is around 10% of the population. We might be small but we know 1 or 2 things about unity and staying together as a country.

Malaysia is not an ideal country to be regarded as model state. Indonesia is awesome when compared to Malaysia.

What? Do you think Tamils are a separate population in SL? Read more kiddo!

 

[Rajaraja Chola]

That's because Rabindranath Tagore wrote Indian national anthem in his native tongue. And the Indian leaders were grateful enough to ratify it. However Sri Lanka is not a small version of India to compare with. Sri Lanka don't have plethora of languages and communities like India. Therefore in Sri Lanka it is abundantly that clear who is the majority. And there is nothing to impose on any minority in Sri Lanka. I don't know if anything is imposed on minorities in India.



There is only complaints from Sri Lanka is that Sinhalese has allowed too much freedom to the Tamils to enjoy. We should have been as tough as the Malays.

You tried to. And what happened was 30 years of Civil war.

You did not guess that right? yes SL has had a Tamil version of national anthem since 1948 and Tamil had the regional langauge status just like in india today. Every gover sign board in SL were in three languages since 1948. Those who talk about language policy in SL do not talk about this.


To be honest I dont have any issue with tamil language anthem, one reason being we had a tamil language anthem since 1948. So it is not a new thing.
After all even after ban, tamil medium schools were using tamil anthem.

Go and study about tamils in Malaysia. The problem in SL is not due to any sensibilities, it is rather a debate on history. That is what it is and nothing else.




I dont agree with samv but it is a good answer to @Rajaraja Chola 's ignorant comment.


Yes we had one since 1948.



Singapore and SL are fundamentally different. SL has had a civilisation with a unique identity for millenia. As far as I know Singapore does not. Singapore's chinese came from china, malays from malaysia and indians from india.
In SL muslims came from arab or india, tamils from india and sinhalese from Sri Lanka...SO i guess it is apparent.

Between dont you follow a policy in Singapore where gover takes action to prevent ethnic ghettos?

The only thing this debate shows is SL has had a tamil language anthem since 1948 whatever propaganda it faces against it.

I have relatives in Malaysia. Its true Malaysia have just 7% of Tamil population. But even the Chinese and the minorities of Malaysia, where they belong 40% of the total population are denied rights under idiotic Bhumiputra laws. They are morons of the highest order, but they somehow they do maintain peace cos of development.

 

[samv]

Why don't you have ambition to follow Singapore which had accepted it's entire population as Singaporeans.

Singapore is more diverse than Sri Lanka when it comes to ethnicity. We have Chinese, Malay and Indians. 65% of the population are Chinese but our national anthem till now is Malay which is around 10% of the population. We might be small but we know 1 or 2 things about unity and staying together as a country.

Malaysia is not an ideal country to be regarded as model state. Indonesia is awesome when compared to Malaysia.

Singapore is not a democracy. Whereas Sri Lanka is one of Asia's oldest democracies.Singaporeans can't protest on the streets - there is a special "Speakers Corner"where people can protest -- with permission from the authorities only. Lew Kuan Yew set up a system that priviledges Chinese over everyone else. Immigration is carefully controlled to ensure a Chinese majority (from mainland China these days). He also set up housing estates whereby people were forced to mix - among a Chinese majority. Airport signboards have Chinese, Malay on them but no Tamil, despite Tamil being an official language. Singapore Airlines has Chinese language articles but nothing in Malay or Tamil. Singapore used to be part of Malaysia. But Sri Lanka has been an independent country on numerous occasions over the last 2000+ years of documented history. I'm sorry to say but Singaporean "unity" is enforced by an authoritarian regime, I see very little intermingling and brotherhood between the Chinese - Malays - Indians. Not to say that SL is superior in anyway.

 

[Rajaraja Chola]

You should ask the Malays and Chinese in Malaysia what they think of the Tamils and the Chinese in Singapore what they think of the Tamils. Problem in SL is that Tamils have too many priviledges. If Tamils in SL are unhappy, they are more than welcome to take the next boat/plane back to Tamil Nadu.

They are pretty happy with the performance of Tamils in Singapore and Malaysia. Problems faced by Malaysia and Singapore reg minorities are unique since they are indian settlers of recent past. But tamils are living in Lanka since 2000 years. You cannot simply call them outsiders.

It's already turning into Zimbabwe where whites are being killed at sight in some places. Ever heard of white flight?

Nope. But still a lot better than Zimbabwe. Crime rates are highest, rapes topping the charts but hardly any news come out of them.

 

[Established_1965]

What? Do you think Tamils are a separate population in SL? Read more kiddo!

Where did I say they are separate population. I have just said Sri Lanka needs to be inclusive and it shouldn't follow Malaysian model to suffer later.

Read properly before quoting!

 

[samv]

They are pretty happy with the performance of Tamils in Singapore and Malaysia. Problems faced by Malaysia and Singapore reg minorities are unique since they are indian settlers of recent past. But tamils are living in Lanka since 2000 years. You cannot simply call them outsiders.

Vast majority of Tamils in Sri Lanka are descendents of Indian Tamils brought down to work in tobacco plantations by the Dutch, not to mention the million + Indian Tamils brought down by the British to work on tea plantations as well as remnants of past invasions.

Tamils historically have been invaders to Sri Lanka. The island is not their homeland. Their homeland is Tamil Nadu.

This:

vs this:

 

[HeinzG]

Where did I say they are separate population. I have just said Sri Lanka needs to be inclusive and it shouldn't follow Malaysian model to suffer later.

Read properly before quoting!

Sri Lanka is inclusive. You seem to have lack of understanding about Sri Lanka.

And SL has no intention to follow Mayalasian model.

You tried to. And what happened was 30 years of Civil war.

When? Did we go as far as the Malays? SL Tamils have every right as his/her Indian counterpart enjoy. There are no barriers for them in Sri Lanka.

I have relatives in Malaysia. Its true Malaysia have just 7% of Tamil population. But even the Chinese and the minorities of Malaysia, where they belong 40% of the total population are denied rights under idiotic Bhumiputra laws. They are morons of the highest order, but they somehow they do maintain peace cos of development.

It seems that Tamils in Malaysia suffer more than the Tamils in Sri Lanka. But interestingly Malaysian Tamils do not seek Independence or any other kind of freedom from the Malays.

Why they do it in Sri Lanka? Because we are soft in treating them? Do Tamils feel we are an easy target?

 

[Established_1965]

Singapore is not a democracy. Whereas Sri Lanka is one of Asia's oldest democracies.Singaporeans can't protest on the streets - there is a special "Speakers Corner"where people can protest -- with permission from the authorities only. Lew Kuan Yew set up a system that priviledges Chinese over everyone else. Immigration is carefully controlled to ensure a Chinese majority (from mainland China these days). He also set up housing estates whereby people were forced to mix - among a Chinese majority. Airport signboards have Chinese, Malay on them but no Tamil, despite Tamil being an official language. Singapore Airlines has Chinese language articles but nothing in Malay or Tamil. Singapore used to be part of Malaysia.

It doesn't matter if ur country is the oldest democracy if ur not following ur own law and constitution. Singapore is a democratic country where we elect our leaders let him be a Chinese, Malay, Singh , Tamil or whatever ethnicity it may be.

You are totally wrong when it comes to Chinese thingy, do you know like few years back Chinese dialects were not taught in schools actually it was discouraged to teach Chinese dialects in Singaporean schools . Don't post without knowing facts. All school children must learn 2 language.

It's a good thing that he forced people to fix and we are happy about it,

Tamil happens to be one of the official languages of Singapore in lines of Chinese, Malay and Tamil signs are displayed all over the country whereas in Changi airport you will find Japanese( they come in huge numbers), Chinese, Malay and English because they make up huge percentage of foreign travellers. Why the hell we will include Japanese instead of tamil, if you see it through prism of business everything will be clear.

Again, Singapore airlines is a business like Changi airport, we need to take care of our customers.

Protesting in Singapore without permission is illegal like all other country in this world but we just follow our rules to the bone.

PS: In Singapore airlines, they do provide papers in Malay and tamil if you request them . I had seen people requesting for it and they did get it

 

[manlion]

Vast majority of Tamils in Sri Lanka are descendents of Indian Tamils brought down to work in tobacco plantations by the Dutch, not to mention the million + Indian Tamils brought down by the British to work on tea plantations as well as remnants of past invasions.

Tamils historically have been invaders to Sri Lanka. The island is not their homeland. Their homeland is Tamil Nadu.

there you go again with your fabricated version of history that will never add up. Thug Vijaya was banished from Bangladesh, Sinhala history begins with him. he later imported Pandya women from Tamilnadu, after usurping the kingdom from Yakka native queen - Kuveni. The Nagas and other tribes are the natives of Lanka and they were Tamils , so was Ravana.

 

[Established_1965]

Sri Lanka is inclusive. You seem to have lack of understanding about Sri Lanka.

And SL has no intention to follow Mayalasian model.



When? Did we go as far as the Malays? SL Tamils have every right as his/her Indian counterpart enjoy. There are no barriers for them in Sri Lanka.



It seems that Tamils in Malaysia suffer more than the Tamils in Sri Lanka. But interestingly Malaysian Tamils do not seek Independence or any other kind of freedom from the Malays.

Why they do it in Sri Lanka? Because we are soft in treating them? Do Tamils feel we are an easy target?

OMG!! I was just quoting another guy who said Sri Lanka needs to follow Malaysian Model. I just rebuked him saying Singapore model is far better than malaysian model. Where did i support Sri Lanka to follow malaysian model

Hope you understand that i was supporting for a inclusive Sri Lanka

 

[HeinzG]

They are pretty happy with the performance of Tamils in Singapore and Malaysia. Problems faced by Malaysia and Singapore reg minorities are unique since they are indian settlers of recent past. But tamils are living in Lanka since 2000 years. You cannot simply call them outsiders.

WTF? A day will come when Tamils in Malaysia will date their history back 2000 years. Do they become eligible for separate state then? Does the date of settlement is the factor to choose the nationhood?

Tamils are here around 2000 years or may be even earlier time. But Tamils have not developed a civilization in Sri Lanka. What they have brought to Sri Lanka is what they have developed in Tamilnadu. In contrast Sinhalese have not imported their civilization from anywhere. It is invented in the very island they called their home land.

Nation belongs to the one who has developed their own civilization. Not to the immigrants.

 

[samv]

It doesn't matter if ur country is the oldest democracy if ur not following ur own law and constitution. Singapore is a democratic country where we elect our leaders let him be a Chinese, Malay, Singh , Tamil or whatever ethnicity it may be.

Singapore is not a democracy it is an authoritarian regime. Singapore has no real tradition of democracy, despite the fact that Lee Kuan Yew liked to ape the British. No British manners either - so much so they had to run campaigns teaching Singaporeans how to be polite and smile.

You are totally wrong when it comes to Chinese thingy, do you know like few years back Chinese dialects were not taught in schools actually it was discouraged to teach Chinese dialects in Singaporean schools . Don't post without knowing facts. All school children must learn 2 language.

Lee Kuan Yew was a racist. He still is a racist. He was always disdainful of the Malays and the Indians who he saw as inferior races compared to the Chinese. Lee Kuan Yew placed ethnic Chinese in positions of power. Basically the Indians and the Malays are subservient to the Chinese and live in a Chinese dominated milieu. Immigration is allowed as long as the Chinese majority is kept as the majority through immigration from mainland China. Singaporean papers have "learn Chinese vocabulary" sections but nothing for the Tamil language.

It's a good thing that he forced people to fix and we are happy about it

Yes forcing people to live together dominated by ethnic Chinese is an excellent policy. It worked for Singapore. Maybe Sri Lanka should follow Singapore's example there when it comes to housing estates.

Tamil happens to be one of the official languages of Singapore in lines of Chinese, Malay and Tamil signs are displayed all over the country whereas in Changi airport you will find Japanese( they come in huge numbers), Chinese, Malay and English because they make up huge percentage of foreign travellers. Why the hell we will include Japanese instead of tamil, if you see it through prism of business everything will be clear.

Thanks for agreeing that Tamil has a secondary status in Singapore and business interests are placed over the language rights of Tamil Singaporeans. Maybe Sri Lanka can learn from Singapore there too.

Again, Singapore airlines is a business like Changi airport, we need to take care of our customers.

I'm sure you do. Just like the ethnic Chinesse airhostesses on Singapore Airlines who treat Subcontinental folks with disdain on subcontinental flights.

Protesting in Singapore without permission is illegal like all other country in this world but we just follow our rules to the bone.

Uh huh. Because most democracies have a "speakers corner" in some random park which is the only place in the entire country where people can publicly protest.

PS: In Singapore airlines, they do provide papers in Malay and tamil if you request them . I had seen people requesting for it and they did get it

But only Chinese language articles in the official Singapore Airlines magazine. Tamil and Malay are not really equal to Chinese in Singapore are they?