Saturday, 11 December 2021

 

 

Gajalakshmi Paramasivam

11 December   2021

 

 

WHAT DO WE WANT – COCA-COLA OR FLOWERS?

[Democracy is not like Coca-Cola which has one formula and tastes the same around the world, Ambassador of China to Sri Lanka Qi Zhenhong said in an opinion column published in the daily newspaper The Island.

"Democracy and human rights have been frequently manipulated by a few countries to exercise interference and hegemony, disturbing and disordering the world," Ambassador Qi said.

Qi said that democracy should be like flowers blooming in the garden, all beautiful but different and with their own features. He added that roads to democracy are different and that democracy is not an ornamental decoration but a way to solve people's problems.

"Whether a country is a democracy or not depends on whether its people are really the masters of the country. If the people are awakened only for voting but have no say after the election, such a democracy is not a true democracy," Qi said.]

 

The above could be stated also about Autocracy (Coca-Cola) and Democracy (garden flowers). The question is which one is the better fit for a particular group? That depends on the level of freedom of expression – the most junior group is entitled to.

In discussions regarding caste based discrimination, a Tamil Diaspora leader the pen is mightier than the sword’

I responded as follows:

[Yes, largely because it does not physically damage another. But the real value as per my experience is that when we write the Truth – it spreads Itself. That is all we carry with us into our next life. Blaming or Praising others through blind copying and merely through apparent suffering is not Truth. But in most parts of our Diaspora that is what happens. Most do not believe in the Equal Opportunity Principles but demand equality on the basis of diversity coupled with apparent  damage. The pen that writes the Truth is blessed with absolute  power of Truth. I rarely get space in official media and email groups that have official status. I did get upset from time to time but each time I got upset – I asked Swami and Swami helped me identify with the reason. The pain was necessary for me to ‘free’ myself from attachment to ‘status’. In terms of money – that renunciation happened in my twenties.]

Me asking my spiritual Guru is as per the hierarchical system of autocracy. I use this pathway when I know that I do not know enough about something. The leader wrote also:

 

 [This recognition and efforts to uplift the 'lower' castes to having better education, dignity, jobs not dependent on caste - such as corporations for each industry in the North East - Clothes washing, toddy tapping, labour, fishing, farming,etc. - with salaried workers of all castes - could go far in destroying the very root of caste-ism - type of work. The local corporations could be started by any one with business knowledge and finances - particularly from abroad.]

 

My response to this was:

 

[The cooperative structures for toddy, milk and paddy are already there. But again they do not flow down to the individual self-employed trader. We need to lift them through Due Processes common to all.

 

This is the Business Unit model that I was recognised for here in Australian Public Service. This particularises the investments we make by showing the outcomes more quickly than in program which has less visible returns. The attached example is the latest in such effort.]

 

This is based on Democracy. To use the language of the Ambassador – each project / electorate produces its own representative. To the extent this is belief based that person is governor with the natural powers of belief  which are natural and cannot be overridden by law or scientifically calculated merit.  Others from other projects/electorates would need to use the written law and exercise it within the authority of their portfolio.

 

On 02 & 03 October I wrote that the Independent Commission Against Corruption (ICAC) – was exceeding its moral authority. The second article was under the title ‘Dismiss the ICAC’  - https://austms.blogspot.com/2021/10/gajalakshmiparamasivam-03october-2021.html

 

I heard our Prime Minister state about 6 weeks later, in relation to the inquiry into Ms Gladys Berejiklian – the NSW Premier - that the ICAC was a Kangaroo Court.

 

This meant to me that my true feelings also empowered the Prime Minister to uphold the dignity of that person and the position – known through their own commonness. Such empowerment from apparent juniors is the power of democracy. To receive that power one has to be humble.

My experience based feelings about ICAC is that they did not have the moral authority to inquire into the way the Parliament worked. The Judiciary is independent as per the Constitution of NSW. But the Parliament does not have the power to delegate that which it alone has the responsibility to know through its own Due Processes. These Due Processes are the Energies of past leaders . To the extent they have withstood the test of time – they are positive Energy . To the extent they have been neglected they convert themselves into negative Energy – known as sins.

In a nation, that prides itself in relation to sexual diversity – this inquiry crossed the line between Auditor and Management. As explained in my response to the Auditor General (Appendix) :

[You are seeking the short path because your staff are not trained to find out from the client staff what is going on. Staff often ‘hide’ information from you because you are third party. So they should. That way your staff would improve their skills. Using client-staff’s work-in-progress deters your staff from thinking through their own specialty = AUDIT on the basis of existing LAW. Then we would become a uniform society instead of a diverse society challenging each other – you within the existing law and the operational staff towards tomorrow’s laws. Challenging leads to creativity – as you can see from me. Gandhi also said that the night he was thrown out of the first class compartment of the South African RAILWAYS was his most creative experience.]

In the inquiry into our then Premier the ICAC was using the law to force out the confidential workings of the Parliament – based on belief. The one principle I registered from the expressions of our former PM Mr John Howard is that overregulation is bad for business. In Sri Lanka, the LTTE which ‘freed’ itself from the system of law – was very successful in Vanni where Farmer Land Lords often had ‘mistresses’.  They were not accountable and hence felt ‘free’ to make money at lower level. Likewise those from LTTE leader’s area through smuggling activities. Someone in a parallel area said to me once about a guy who was killed – that he was a smart smuggler. It is belief that renders us the moral authority to bring someone under out law. Without that  believe we have zero authority to discipline and/or punish.  That is the Coca-Cola choice in war and love.

 


 

 

Appendix

Mr. Sendt wrote on 20 November 2003 in response to my Public demand for him to pay his Dues as an Accountant::

Ms Param, I fully understand that auditors are not to participate in the management of the entities they audit. That is basic. What I said in my report is that external financial reports only give a partial view of the performance of many public entities. Such entities are not established to earn a profit or a return on assets, but to provide services to the public. So to give a true and fair view of how well they are providing services, they also produce non-financial performance indicators. If financial reports are required to be audited – to give the public confidence in their accuracy – then so too should the performance indicators. I fail to see how you can state that this is participating in the management of the entity.

Bob Sendt

NSW Auditor General

 

My response to the above indicates the deep wisdom I have in Audit and Compliance, largely based on my Sri Lankan training:

Thank you Mr. Sendt for  the prompt response. Most progressive organizations produce both – Financial and Non-Financial Performance Indicators. They  are both for MANAGEMENT purposes and reflect the THINKING and WORK_IN_PROGRESS. If you use Performance Indicators – then you are thinking with them. This is like the Executive Government participating in the Judicial process. Your Non-Financial Reports are the Legal records that these organizations are required to maintain – such as the Recruitment and Employee Assessment records. Where there is a big gap between Law and Practice – it requires YOUR staff to do the additional work. Taking the Performance Indicators distracts you away from this work. It is in breach of the Doctrine of Separation of  Powers. These organizations must be allowed to confidentially do the cooking and it’s up to your staff to do the spy work from the finished product to the LAW and not to their dreams and goals. You are seeking the short path because your staff are not trained to find out from the client staff what is going on. Staff often ‘hide’ information from you because you are third party. So they should. That way your staff would improve their skills. Using client-staff’s work-in-progress deters your staff from thinking through their own specialty = AUDIT on the basis of existing LAW. Then we would become a uniform society instead of a diverse society challenging each other – you within the existing law and the operational staff towards tomorrow’s laws. Challenging leads to creativity – as you can see from me. Gandhi also said that the night he was thrown out of the first class compartment of the South African RAILWAYS was his most creative experience.

You need to get the client organization to publish their non-financial reports that are mandatorily maintained. Public service organizations primarily make goodwill. This can also be positive or negative – profits or losses. They are collected together and are balanced with the total costs through Common Funds. It will be useful for you to develop a standard dollar value for these legal requirements so the People can SEE and know the Truth. Your role is not to help them make a profit but to report whether they are and how much. How about doing one on UNSW? Or State Rail?

Thank you again for responding. It has helped deeply.

Regards,

Gaja ( effectively in custody)

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