The dazzle fizzles
out
With
the project 'Light up Colombo' starting on a dim note, the question
is how feasible is it
By Marisa de Silva & Ruwanthi Herat Gunaratne
Colombo, another Singapore? A city blazing with lights,
street hawkers crowding the pavements, selling their wares, children
laughing and having fun in parks and playgrounds. A dream metropolis
on par with other South Asian
capitals such as Kuala Lumpur and Bangkok.
This is the
vision of Colombo Mayor Prasanna Gunawardena and Minister of Commerce
and Consumer Affairs, Ravi Karunanayake.
Initiated at
7.30 p.m. on Tuesday, September 3, 'Light up Colombo ' was mooted
in a bid to revive economic activity and boost the city's night
entertainment, providing more opportunities for families to enjoy
themselves. Security would be of little worry for those eager to
taste the capital's night sights as with more lighting there would
now be no dark corners where crime would thrive, the Police said.
Does
it work?
How effective is the "open 24-hours-a-day" concept
in this country? Sathosa (Cooperative Wholesale Establishments)
is one of the few retail outlets open all day through, since
February this year. But the move does not seem to be attracting
the desired results. According to members of the staff of one
of the many Sathosa outlets, very few customers venture in between
the hours of midnight and dawn. When they do, their purchases
are limited. At best, it is a quick visit for a pack of biscuits
as a light snack, for all those "night shifters".
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Weekend street
bazaars, high-rise buildings alight, the Colombo Municipal Council
grounds reserved for children as a children's park daily from 6-10
p.m. and opportunities for self-employment for youth. These were
hailed as some of the positive results of this venture.
But back to
reality - how feasible is this all? A drive down the supposedly
'lit-up' streets of Colombo last Wednesday night proved a sad disappointment.
The much-vaunted lights were not to be seen. In the heart of the
Pettah, Sea Street and Main Street, which should ideally have been
bustling with the newly introduced "Night Economy", we
only saw garbage collection being done. Nowhere had the aforesaid
lighting come into play. Only small eating houses were adequately
illuminated and seemingly patronised by their usual clientele.
On then, to
Galle Face Green. Dark and dismal it remained. Only the faint glimmer
of lights from the 'food huts' scattered on the Green, seeped through.
Business was understandably not booming, as it was a weekday, said
one of the vendors. No clear knowledge of this 'vision' was apparent
amongst them. However, when questioned on the pros and cons of such
a project, they agreed that it would increase sales and be a tremendous
boost for the economy if it could be properly promoted. The owner
of the popular 'Nana's' food chain, who has been in the business
since 1972, says that nothing can be achieved until we have peace,
as only then would the public have freedom of movement.
A family relaxing
on the 'Green', said that it would be lovely if such a project could
be effectively implemented as that would permit them to shop at
their own leisure. But shops and shopping malls in Colombo, save
for supermarkets which stay open till nine or 10 at night, at present
close their doors by seven p.m. and have no immediate plans of extending
their business hours. Establishments, The Sunday Times spoke to
said they had not been contacted to make any changes.
Our final stop
took us to Kotte and the Parliament grounds, which evidently had
'fused out' since Tuesday night. Around 11 p.m., a few cars were
parked by the side of the road, but the 'Food Court' was suffering
from a severe lack of light and patrons.
Coincidentally,
on September 3, an islandwide blackout was experienced just as the
'Light up Colombo' programme was launched, prompting fears among
Colombo residents that the programme would drain precious electricity,
especially with another drought period seemingly on the horizon.
Ceylon Electricity
Board (CEB) officials however were quick to deny any connection
between the two. This power fluctuation was a regular one, which
was due to a technical fault at the Wimalasurendra Power Station,
they said. It is with the full approval of the CEB that 'Light up
Colombo' was initiated.
One plus point
of this venture is the starting up of night entertainment such as
'late night movies'. Ceylon Theatres confirmed that the Regal Cinema
would begin its night shows on Fridays and Saturdays with tickets
at a flat concessionary rate of Rs. 80/=. The first movie to be
screened is 'Mage Vam Atha'.
'Sellamahal',
a theatre in Kotahena, has been screening 'late night movies' for
the past two years with a good response. Majestic Cinema too introduced
this concept recently and has drawn good crowds.
Mayor Prasanna
Gunawardena maintains that the 'Light up Colombo' concept will be
implemented step by step and then handed over to private developers.
But while sounding good on paper, there was little outward benefit
to be seen last week, with even the CMC's children's park being
dark and deserted. Should not the support infrastructure such as
better public transport for citizens venturing out at night, proper
venues for hawkers and more shops being open at night have first
been planned? Colombo waits...
Maestro
of Lanka's avant-garde culture
When one thinks of "serious," "classical",
contemporary music in Sri Lanka, one name
inevitably comes to mind - Premasiri Khemadasa. He is the leading
composer of this genre. He writes for "western" instruments
and familiar western configurations such as the string trio and
chamber orchestra and choir. But, his musical style is a unique
blend of cross-cultural musical expression, using unmistakably indigenous
sounds and cadences. The result is a universally accessible "global"
sound.
Khemadasa takes
his rightful place among such contemporary international composers
as - Chin Un-Suk of Korea, the late Takemitsu of Japan, and China's
Tan Dun. All of these composers have showcased their cultural heritage
using a broadly accessible musical language never descending into
fleeting trendiness. It would be erroneous to describe Khemadasa's
music as an evolution of Sri Lanka's traditional folk music and
percussive rhythms. His music is separate and distinct from those
venerable art forms.
While he obviously
admires and acknowledges their importance, he does not purport to
embellish or build on those traditions. Rather, his is a singular
effort to musically express the ever-evolving contemporary social,
economic and political reality of Sri Lanka as well as its diversity.
And this, he clearly feels, can best be done by embracing a wider
tonal palette and less ethnocentric sound than that of Sri Lanka's
traditional music. Recognition of Khemadasa's music as a legitimate
art form in Sri Lanka has been a long time coming. I recall a time
when the official custodians of culture in this country were unaware
or unwilling to acknowledge its existence.
Just two decades
ago, as a student in a music theory and form class at the Julliard
Prep in New York, I worked on an assignment that starkly brought
home this point.
My colleagues
and I were expected to analyze and discuss a piece of serious, "non-traditional"
music that sought to portray contemporary societal conditions in
our respective countries.
The Japanese
student brought in a recording of Takemitsu's 'Requiem for String
Orchestra', the Korean student discussed Chin Un-Suk's 'Akrostichon
Wortspiel' and the Chinese student analyzed the music of Tan Dun.
My exhaustive search turned up only a few poorly recorded examples
of bera-pada and kavi, unchanged from the way they likely sounded
centuries ago.
The local pundits
assured me that the Bera Pada and Kavi were the only representative
music of Sri Lanka.
Once I was
introduced to Khemadasa's music, it became clear to me that innovative
music such as his had been dismissed as merely a bastardization
of 'pure' Sri Lankan music. Even worse, certain of his works were
actually banned as being too politically incendiary and provocative.
Premasiri Khemadasa was embracing a new medium to portray this country's
rich and ancient heritage to a receptive contemporary audience.
In doing so, he was defying accepted norms and he was disparaged
and dismissed for his courage. When he wrote his symphony for chamber
orchestra, "Mother of My Time", there was a chorus of
disapproval. He was denounced for attempting to destroy the country's
heritage because, among other things, he used a French Horn in his
musical score. But, the pundits missed the point - Khemadasa was
neither writing 'western' music nor trying to improve on Sri Lanka's
traditional music. His was, and is, an innovative, constantly evolving
expression of the modern day experience of Sri Lanka set in a global
context. It is accessible to anyone capable of appreciating music
regardless of ethnic, social or political affiliation.
During the
last thirty-five years, Khemadasa's output has been prolific and
diverse. He has written music for an award winning BBC documentary.
His large-scale operas have been some of the most commercially successful
ventures in the history of 'serious' music making in this country,
Doramadala, his second opera, making over 3.7 million rupees on
its opening night alone. Manasavila, his first opera has seen over
150 performances and is still in demand. He has written music for
over 125 films, including some of the most ground breaking and memorable
scores conceived in Sri Lanka. He has composed experimental music
for German Television 'fusing' a soulful Flugle Horn and a raga-playing
Viola, long before 'fusion' music became the darling of the Colombo
intelligentsia.
He has conducted
his music in Beijing, Paris, Prague and Vienna. And, most gratifying
of all, he has won innumerable awards for his contribution to the
music of his country. As if being a gifted composer and performer
were not enough, Khemadasa is also a philanthropist and educator.
He is responsible for the establishment of the Khemadasa Foundation,
through which young adults are trained and nurtured into serious
performers. These students study free of charge - something of critical
importance because it gives young people who are not affluent an
opportunity they would not otherwise have. For many of them an education
of this quality would be out of reach if they had to pay for it.
Another vitally important aspect of the Khemadasa Foundation is
that it gives the students a ready-made framework through which
to perform and showcase their talents. The hope is that, through
the right combination of training, nurturing and exposure, these
young people will have the chance to blossom into serious performers
and artistes in their own right.
In a country
littered with self marketed cultural dilettantes and desperados,
Premasiri Khemadasa stands out with his remarkable talent, uncompromising
artistic integrity and undeniable 'relevance' to the cultural avant-garde
of Sri Lanka. Today, he is deservedly hailed as a national icon.
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