Man about the house

Savithri RODRIGO

PROFILE: Despite being aided by a walking stick, the tall and stately Sam Wijesinha commands a certain awe when he walks into the room. As he speaks candidly about his life and times, it is clear that here stands a man who is guided by the principle that in being straight, just and forthright, the truth will ultimately triumph.

The youngest in a family of six, Wijesinha grew up in a "fairly substantial village" in the Hambantota district. Although his siblings all schooled away from home, his mother (Sophia) reluctant to send her youngest away, insisted that he study at the village school in Getamanna; and his landed-proprietor father (D.A.S. Wijesinha) ruled that he should walk to school with the village boys.

At nine, he was transferred to Rahula College Matara - and after a year, to Ananda College; his final years of schooling were at S. Thomas' College, Mount Lavinia. Wijesingha says: "I had the best of both worlds when it came to education". He was awarded colours in rifle shooting at S. Thomas', appointed a prefect and became editor of the college magazine.

Wijesinha entered University College in 1941, commuting from Brodie Hostel (now the site of Asha Central hospital) at Horton Place. He also functioned as sub-ward of the hostel until 1948.

He abandoned reading for a degree in history (due to a change in the syllabus) but later qualified externally as a BA from the London University. Subsequently, he earned an LLM from McGill University Canada with a specialisation in civil aviation.

After passing out as a barrister-at-law, he became a crown counsel in 1948 together with Neville Samarakoon, who went on to become chief justice. This was the beginning of a 15-year career at the Attorney General's Department.

In 1948, he married the lovely Mukta, only daughter of C. L. Wickremesinghe (the first Sri Lankan civil servant to be made a government agent).

The newlywed couple set up home at Wijesinha's residence at Alfred House Road, Colombo 3, where they live to this day.

In 1964, Wijesinha was singled out to replace Ralph Deraniyagala as the clerk of parliament. This post was subsequently renamed twice: in 1972, it was changed to Secretary To The National State Assembly; and in 1977, Secretary General Of Parliament.

Wijesinha remarks: "Same scope of work and same salary - only a name change!" He laughingly recalls a remark made by an MP at that time who, while congratulating him, had said that having prosecuted criminals thus far, Wijesinha had come to live with them!

His contribution to the media perhaps began when he recommended Tarzie Vittachchi to his brother-in-law Esmond Wickremesinghe (then head of Lake House), for the role of editor of The Observer.

Vittachchi's first action as editor was to coerce Wijesinha into penning a weekly column about the goings-on at Hulftsdorp, which he did with glee under the pseudonym 'Junior Counsel'.

From the time he was a crown counsel, Wijesinha has been in contact with journalists and avers: "Journalists are poorly paid and therefore are always trying to earn some money.

How can they be independent? There's prejudice always. In fact, during my days in court, one lawyer was complaining to another that even though he tackled high-profile cases, he never got a mention in the papers.

The other advised him to take the journalist to the club of an evening and ply him with drinks! So as you see, they are a thirsty bunch!

There's nothing called 'free media' - not only here, but anywhere in the world." Wijesinha recalls that Lake House was a monopoly then and that many people blamed D. R. Wijewardene for that monopoly.

"But actually, he was one of the earliest pioneers of the media-reform movement. When he bought over two papers and started the Daily News in Maradana, I recall him saying that lots of people tried to choke his efforts. He is one person who garnered the skills of many people to make the voice of the press heard."

Commenting on the role of the media in the present day, Wijesinha believes that it plays a much more important role than it did when he was young. "I remember the Washington Post exposing the scandals of Watergate and the Pentagon Papers.

There was a tremendous organised attack on the heads of that paper, but it was so high-profile that it created real recognition of the importance of the media. When Kennedy was contesting the presidency, his marshalling of the press was a huge factor in his victory.

Leaders such as Tony Blair study the handling of the media in the US. In England, it was the newspapers that were responsible for the evolution of the Labour Party. Today, unless you get the media on your side, you cannot expect victory".

He states that even in Sri Lanka, Lake House was nationalised because it was hostile to the head of state: "The intention is to eliminate any negative press and only keep the positive angle going. Even now, if you analyse the headlines of the various newspapers, you can easily say whom they slant towards - there's nothing without prejudice."

In fact, as chairman of the Press Complaints Commission, the first of its kind in developing countries and second in the world after Britain Wijesinha says: "It was no use establishing such a commission prior to other countries, if justice was not done for the complainants and the persons who were being charged. The fundamental objective of the commission is to ensure a free and responsible press in Sri Lanka."

Candid as always, Wijesinha states that media ethics are mythical. "Just as an example: why are there 'independent commission'? There's nothing called a 'dependent commission', is there? Why are they called 'independent judges'? Does that mean the judiciary is dependent, otherwise?

Newspapers depend on advertisements and nobody wants to rile someone who will bring in the rewards at the end of the day. Independence is rare, and very few are not dependent on anything or anyone," he opines.

As a highly respected former Secretary General Of Parliament, he is often invited to speak to new MPs. Never a person to mince his words, a question he always asks them is: "Why are you in politics?" After a pregnant silence, some hesitatingly say they came to work for the country.

In his no-nonsense style, Wijesinha raps them on the knuckles, responding: "Don't talk rubbish. You came here to get a place in society, to earn some money, and to try and stay here forever!"

A strong proponent of the Gandhi - an attitude to life, Wijesinha is totally against labelled religions, violence of any sort and capital punishment.

When he was appointed the first Parliamentary Commissioner (later Ombudsman) in 1981 and then as chairman of the Human Rights Commission - both lasting 10 years each - he upheld the principle that only dialogue could solve any issue, no matter how complex.

He strongly believes that such an approach is the only way to solve the ethnic crisis today. "We will not be having these problems if everyone follows the five precepts of Buddhism, because it is philosophy - and anyone from any religion can follow the tenets of Buddhism," he avers.

Now retired, Wijesinha has a constant stream of visitors to his home, where animated discussions on various topics take place around the huge dining table over leisurely lunches.

"During my years in Parliament, I've travelled to over 80 countries, visited 100 parliaments and hosted over 6,000 lunches. That's why there's nothing I like better now than staying at home," he declares.

As a tribute to his long years in public life and in memory of their mother, Wijesinha's children - Sanjiva, Anila and Rajiva - compiled a collection of his writings in a book titled All Experience on his 80th birthday.

The tome aptly documents Wijesingha's thoughts and reflections on people and events that he, perhaps better than anyone else of the past century, understood - a fitting homage to a 'public officer and a gentleman' par excellence!

Courtesy Lanka Monthly digest