The National Anthem and Much Ado About Nothing - EDITORIAL

A journalistic colleague once said, “In politics, nothing ever happens by chance. It’s the art of distraction.” This was brought forcefully to mind a few days ago.
First, we were informed that the price of 92 octane petrol, the type of fuel used by the poorer sections of society, like three-wheel cabs and users of non-luxury vehicles, was being raised by 
Rs. 20/-.
Immediately following this, during the last couple of days, we were regaled by pseudo-patriotic politicians raising a ruckus over a female singer who had allegedly mispronounced a couple of words while singing the national anthem at the opening ceremony of the LPL series.
The singer is being shamed as being unpatriotic! So grievous was her crime that the Minister of Public Security later announced that the Criminal Investigations Department had commenced an investigation into the distorted singing of 
the anthem.
The alleged crime was that the singer mispronounced the word “matha” as “maha tha” in her rendition of the anthem.
The artiste has also been summoned to appear before an investigative team of the Ministry of Public Administration. Having recognized the “gravity” of her “crime,” the poor young thing has now issued an unqualified apology, but will have to attend the hearing anyway.
Wow! Will her actions bankrupt this nation? The answer is a big NO.
But our nation was in fact bankrupted by the actions of our politicians. The final straw which literally broke the economy’s back was presided over by our immediate past President. Yet, he continues to enjoy all the perks of office.
The CID is not investigating into what caused our bankruptcy, nor has an investigative team from the Ministry of Public Administration summoned our ex-President or any other political leaders to appear before them.
Yesterday, as the clouds which surrounded the ruckus cleared somewhat, the Water Supply and Drainage Board announced a 30 to 40 percent tariff increase.
The Water Board authorities were quick to rush in assuring all and sundry that low-income families would not be adversely affected by the tax.
According to calculations made by these officials, the less water one uses, the lower the burden of the tariff.
Does this not mean that the poorer sections of our society will from today be expected to consume less potable water than their more affluent brethren? Or could it be that poorer sections of society will have to get used to using less water for bathing and other ablutions?
Even before the price of 92 octane petrol was raised to Rs. 348 a litre, an increase of Rs 20 per litre, the average family could scarcely afford two nutritious meals a day.
We all know when fuel prices rise, its domino effect is the subsequent price rises of all other goods and services.
So in effect, it means we are facing another round of price rises in the not so distant future.
While these momentous events are taking place around us, we will be raising a hue and cry about a female artiste mispronouncing her words.
Come on, Sri Lanka, we can do better than this!
All around us, we see daylight robbery taking place. The media highlighted the ongoing rape of what used to be the KKS cement factory. Metal is being cleared out by some politician or his henchmen. Yet, no one apparently cares.
It is claimed the Chairperson of this body hardly visits its premises, and we wonder if even an audit of its remaining machinery has been undertaken.
Is not the rape of our national resources a bigger crime than the simple mispronunciation of a word in our National Anthem?
We cannot expect the President of this country to know of all the underhand dealings taking place in every nook and cranny of the country.
Rather than wasting time and money investigating sweet nothings, the so-called protectors of law and order should get their priorities right and weed out the wheat from the chaff.