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Wednesday 24 June 2020

Comments for the post !Are Asians 'third-class citizens' in the UK?"

I have received following comments in facebook for the article 

Are Asians 'third-class citizens' in the UK?


I will post them as a new blog post.

I don't know about citizens but can talk as one who has been travelling to uk whenever time and money allows since 2004. It is mostly the perception. Once I was with a SL guy in a pub and he suddenly said the white guys are laughing or mocking us. i looked up and saw some people having fun among themselves. In fact when i was alone they were quite friendly towards me. Of course i am interested in the culture, history (in fact when it comes to history of the british isles i found that i know more than most native brits i've come across) and small not normally noticed quaint British stuff. So, i talk to them whenever i can. Only instances of racial insult i ever had were by unemployed drunken Welsh youth in Swansea and a slight unpleasantness by Black brit in london. That type of Welsh resent the Engish people too. Thimgs like that happen when you walk im slum areas of colombo or by threewheeler guys cutting across you. Uncivilized louts of any country and of any colour are the same.
I have found both the educated and upperclass people everywhere and also villagers, farmers and everyone in rural villages in england and scotland unfailingly friendly, polite and helpful to visitors as SL village folk. (People who make money from tourists are anyway polite. I am talking of others. )
Anyway, i have felt more equal in UK than i have felt in SL when i get pushed to the side of the road by VIP motorcades!
P. S. As i said, i say this as a traveller in UK who has spent a combined total of about 6 months in scotland wales and england, not as a citizen. Also i am very interested in small and subtle things in UK. So i take trouble to analyse things and i have time as a tourist. But some ppl having to live and work there do not like it and resent the country but do it to earn a livelihood , so they resent everything and take even unintended things as insulting. It is more to do with human nature of individuals (both white and others) than any social, political or institutional problem.

When I visited Srilanka few years back one of my Sinhalese friend asked me whether I was treated as second class citizen in UK ðŸ‡¬ðŸ‡§ and my workplace. My answer to him is Britan is multicultural country and if I have talent and work hard I will be recognised and given right place and promotions. But in srilanka As a Tamil I will be treated as third class citizen . This happened to my father. When Sinhala only amendment introduced by late prime ministers Bandaranayaka many English educated Tamils migrated to UK ðŸ‡¬ðŸ‡§, Australia ðŸ‡¦ðŸ‡º, New Zealand ðŸ‡³ðŸ‡¿, and Canada ðŸ‡¨ðŸ‡¦, including my father’s relatives how ever my father stayed back and learned Sinhalese and started wishing in Sinhala majority areas in srilanka but he was not given promotion or recognition compared to his junior Sinhalese work colleges . When he retired from his work he mentioned that he made a big mistake the he didn’t fallow his Tamil colleagues and migrate from srilanka.
My answer to the question is better to be a second class citizen in a different country than be a third class citizen in your own country.

For a better discussion one should translate it to Sinhala from lingua franca of South Asia ..

UK is one of the most generous and diverse countries in the world,Unless you choose to live like a third class citizen, If you are hard working and want to get somewhere in life this is the country to be, How many Asian have you seen in top class jobs, you can be a third class citizen in your own country, depends on your mindset

Well described piece ! This will be a good answer for those who are eagerly waiting to see how England would be a poor country in the aftermath of Corona ! They have that morbid pleasure !

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