Gajalakshmi Paramasivam

06 October   2021

 

Pandora Papers & Horoscopes

The Pandora papers brought to mind, my own contributions to identifying similar problems at the University of NSW. Soon after I left which was just before the head of Sports Medicine, Dr David Garlick passed away – the Bruce Hall matter surfaced. I learnt about it at the funeral of Dr David Garlick. I concluded that it was David who was updating me. The Sydney Morning Herald article – ‘Turbulence at UNSW’  was published on April 12, 2004. An excerpt is as follows:

[The university spent at least $1.5 million on an inquiry, headed by the former chief justice of Australia, Gerard Brennan. It concluded Professor Hall acted with "intent to deceive or in reckless disregard of the truth", had "seriously deviated" from reporting norms and had wilfully "stated a material or significant falsehood". Professor Hume says he was legally bound to consider the Brennan findings as accusations open to challenge and re-examination. He found Professor Hall guilty of academic (but not scientific) misconduct and censured him for mistakes Professor Hume said did not amount to hanging offences.]

On 08 July 1998, at the Research Office, I highlighted the need for transparency in matters relating to Research funding and reporting which was also the nucleus of the above mentioned Bruce Hall matter. The minutes recorded the following statement by me:

[At the moment we transfer any amounts over and above the NH&MRC approved scales to Materials when we report to NH&MRC. Can we not report exactly as it is recorded in the Ledger. (This is how it all  started – with me wanting to reflect a true and fair view and them wanting to continue with their habits – for better or for worse). As for Leave Loading and Contributory Superannuation can we not do this only for the purpose of the Invoice / Claim – based on Approved Salaries, as long as the amount claimed is not more than the amount paid? (This was my way of progressing towards Accrual Accounting so that the University did not lose due to its attachment to Cash Accounting. Under Cash Accounting,  leave payments would be recouped from NH&MRC only if the staff took leave during the period of the project. This in essence meant that the University was picking up the liability even though the NH&MRC was getting the credit for employing the staff.)]

Had my contribution been recognized – the Bruce Hall matter would have been settled internally through improved measures and the credibility of the University would have been protected.

The Sydney Morning Herald article was published in April 2004 when my battles were ongoing and were elevated to Vice Chancellor level. The fact that I was arrested on four occasions – in the years 2003 and 2004 seeking to implement the changes needed in the accounting system obviously was not picked up by the Sydney Morning Herald. Likewise, in the ICIJ article ‘Sri Lankan power couple piled up luxury homes, artworks and cash offshore as ruling family rose and rose’ – the following is in conflict with my ‘intelligence’:

 

[Civil war ravaged Sri Lanka for a quarter-century. The seeds of the conflict go back to 1948, when nationalists, led by Don Alwin Rajapaksa, granted certain citizenship privileges to the Sinhalese majority, alienating the country’s ethnic Tamil minority. Animosity boiled over into open conflict in 1983, when the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam, an insurgent group, killed 13 government soldiers.]

The above claim is false as per my corporate wisdom and hence the whole of the Sri Lankan part of the Pandora Papers report is to be dismissed.

Most Sri Lankans of my generation carry the intelligence that it was Mr Bandaranaike (SLFP) who began the separatist claim through Sinhala only policy in 1956 and that the 1983 conflict happened during the leadership of UNP’s JR Jayawardene who later confirmed this through the 1978 Constitution in which he brought forward the mutated form of this separatism – as ‘Buddhism Foremost’ article. This is now part of our horoscope which if invoked would lead to pandemics of various forms – explained by me as follows:

{To my mind the Western parallel of the ‘completed matter’ is the Pandora’s box.  In Hindu culture the picture of our karma at the time of birth is depicted by the horoscope drawn up on the basis of the science of Astrology. The horoscope is the Pandora’s box. If we activated that, we would unleash forces that we would have no control over.

The Silk Road was the horoscope of those who maintained global connections at that time. When this was opened we got the Covid-19 pandemic from that Pandora’s box. Wikipedia confirms the connection as follows:

[The Silk Road trade played a significant role in the development of the civilizations of China, Korea, Japan, the Indian subcontinent, Iran, Europe, the Horn of Africa and Arabia, opening long-distance political and economic relations between the civilizations. Though silk was the major trade item exported from China, many other goods and ideas were exchanged, including religions (especially Buddhism), syncretic philosophies, sciences, and technologies like paper and gunpowder. So in addition to economic trade, the Silk Road was a route for cultural trade among the civilizations along its network.  Diseases, most notably plague, also spread along the Silk Road.]

Each one of us would find our own connections for what happens to us as well as our ‘home environments’. The base is Belief. In belief mode we do not think right or wrong. Belief is part of us. That belief indicates from within. Hence Performance Indicators in Management. }

The authors of Pandora Papers need Corporate wisdom for their report to be of value to the reader. Otherwise it is merely a compilation of ‘what happened’ and would become a costly base for those who use it for current benefits.

Knowledge becomes intelligence when merged with the measure we believe in. I believe that I developed this intelligence by doing my work at the highest professional standards known to me. I did not measure as per the benefits I received. Hence  the natural development of corporate intelligence.

In Sri Lanka, the measure used was below the level of Democratic policies and hence the defeat of Tamil Tigers at that level. Given that the People rewarded the group that eliminated the Tamil Tigers – that lower standard has now become Sri Lanka’s new norm. Whether it is right or wrong to foreigners would depend on their own true measures. The outcome is for their own purposes and if we used them as they are – we would contribute to another war – that would keep both sides to the war in power – possibly through India and China.

Buddhism foremost article is also a Pandora’s box. Each time a citizen is conscious of Buddhism being foremost – Lord Buddha would leave that mind and the space would be filled by war-lord. If we seek Peace we need to be conscious that Buddha represents Peace and that Emperor Asoka was a war-lord before Buddha entered his mind.  

In the alternative – we could leave Buddhism foremost article out of the constitution – and thus use current merit basis and take the risk that Tamils and other Non-Buddhists would be better along the secular pathway. But through my experience I have realised that belief adds itself to what we do – provided we do not override it through relativity. The Pandora affair is therefore an opportunity for the Rajapaksa’s to become like Emperor Asoka – the Buddhist. Otherwise they have the option of converting to Hinduism which preaches the highest standards in armed war – so our Corporate Intelligence is heightened to receive wisdom at the highest level available within the Nation.

Every individual who acts as per her/his conscience, contributes naturally to the corporate intelligence of the family, institution, nation, and the world. Once this happens – the rest is automatic and all contributors would feel heightened intelligence and the courage to contribute to corporate governance – however small one’s position may be. This is the way Soul-Power works.