by Rajan Philips

A newspaper editorial suggested that the NPP government is facing its December term test and that its weaknesses are showing. In fact, there have been quite a few term tests set up by different pundit examiners and they are producing a mixed bag of results. Overall and objectively, if I may say so, the government has done a reasonably good job for the most part; with a few bads, mainly gaffes, including a Prime Ministerial gaffe involving the two ‘Chinas’; and one standout ugly – the pathetic “PhD in Biochemistry and BSc in Chemical Engineering” lies of Asoka Ranwala MP, and his deservedly quick fall from Speakership grace. The focus has been mostly on his PhD boast, but his claim to a degree in Chemical Engineering is itself an instant hoax. And the leap from Chemical Engineering in Moratuwa to Biochemistry in Japan is manifestly ignorant and creatively stupid.

The real tests have been on the government’s many critics including almost all media outlets – all of them outside parliament as there is no worthwhile opposition within parliament, and all of them wanting to rip a feather off the fledgling AKD presidency and NPP government. The Speaker fiasco has been the critics’ biggest reward so far but even they know that Mr. Ranwala’s stupid twin boasts are a damning indictment of the man’s character but not a fatal flaw of the government. There is no excuse for what this quack of an MP did but there is a limit to which the government can take the blame for it.

There is no question that the NPP government is being asked by numerous critics to show either results or its abilities to produce them almost instantly. Quite a rigorous treatment for a new government and so early in its term. A few of the critics have still not been able to come to terms with the reality that Sri Lanka now has a new JVP (NPP) government. Others are in it for the ride, and also because many of them do not have the same cordial access to the inner circles of the present government as they would have had to its (Ranil-Rajapaksa) predecessors.

All that said, the government with so many new MPs and Ministers is still on a long learning curve, and there are miles to go before it has its real ‘term test’ – the next general election, which one would hope will only be a parliamentary election without another presidential election. And miles to go in many directions involving different ministries and new initiatives.

This Sunday, it will be 90 days since the presidential election and 37 days after the parliamentary election. At the year end, President Dissanayake will be completing his first one hundred days in office, while his full government would have been in office for 47 days. So far, it is the President who has been the centre of all actions and attention. If the government is serious about transitioning to a parliamentary democracy, other cabinet ministers must and must be encouraged to step up and take responsibility for their portfolios in a very public manner as it used to be before 1977 and even until 1994.

People’s Pre-occupations

While President AKD’s first hundred days may not have been spectacular, they have been solid. He could be proud of his tone setting inaugural speech to parliament, his leadership in providing continuity on economic matters, the setting up of a compact cabinet, and the deft handling of his first official visit to India, the island’s preponderant neighbour. While these are commendable accomplishments, the people’s preoccupations are about the availability of essential goods and the affordability of their prices. The government has not found its stride on either front.

Rice and coconuts, among other essentials, have become thorny issues both in terms of rising prices and growing shortages. Fuel and electricity costs are added concerns, though there have been reductions in fuel prices. People and even critics are willing to give the new government some slack, but because so much was promised by the NPP during the election campaigns that order and fairness will be restored in the supply and sale of essential goods and services, the general public and critics have been expecting to see at least different approaches to these problems by the new government even if there are no immediate results arising from them.

Rice, Sri Lanka’s perennial political problem, is now the NPP government’s primary problem. There are both shortages and the uncertainty of prices, which will have to be addressed promptly to avoid facing the fury of the people. The usual quick fixes like price control and supplementary imports are creating more confusion than resolution. The paradox of high levels of rice consumption and the relative poverty of the farmers who produce rice is a longstanding structural problem. But if NPP were to be worth its salt it needs to get cracking on some of these structural problems.

The most notorious of them and where immediate action is needed is the stranglehold that of about six large rice millers have on the rice market. They virtually control the upstream purchase of paddy in large quantities, provide for intermediate processing and storage in massive capacities, and similarly control the downstream sale of rice to wholesalers and retailers in the distribution market. In addition, the rice millers who have benefited hugely from bank credit facilities to build up their milling industry have now become the primary lenders for the poor farmers and producers of paddy. They have taken advantage of the lack of regulatory oversight under successive governments and now become out of control monsters.

In their 2022 research paper on Rice Milling Economics and Market Power, WAN Wijesooriya and IV Kuruppu, two Agrarian Researchers, recommend government initiatives for establishing a comprehensive database covering the rice milling industry in the country, and for encouraging the growth of medium scale millers to break the stranglehold of the largest rice mill holdings. If the NPP government wants to succeed where previous governments have not only failed but did not even try, it must make use of the agrarian expertise available in the country and spearhead a systematic approach to break the stranglehold of the large rice millers. Anything less will be fruitless tinkering with a longstanding problem. The government must also encourage its subject Ministers to take the lead on these matters rather than channelling any and all files all the way to the President’s desk.

Indian Visit

I am not sure whether Sri Lanka’s current rice crisis came up for discussion during the President’s otherwise successful official visit to India. I do not recall if the word rice being in any of the reports or statements on the visit. Rice may not be the only missing word. There have been no references to 13A, or its plus or minus. For the first time, according to one wordy observer, the word ‘Tamil’ has been missing in all the public pronouncements of the visit. During his first meeting with a Sri Lankan President (Mahinda Rajapaksa) in 2014, Prime Minister Narendra Modi famously reset the bilateral clock to 13A. Perhaps 13A was a bone of contention when the Rajapaksas were at the helm.

Not anymore, it would seem, with a different President, a new government, its tone and messaging, and most of all the topsy turvy election results in the North and East of Sri Lanka. The NPP government could not have hoped for a better start with India on, for want of a less offensive word to some ears, the ‘Tamil’ file; but it has quite a bit of homework to keep it going the way it has started. The objective should be not to ‘disappear Tamil’ as a bilateral subject, but to accommodate Sri Lanka’s Tamils, Muslims and the Tamils of recent Indian origin as equal citizens in law and fact, in a not too distant post-racial Sri Lanka.

For all the historical ties and the geographical proximity between India and Sri Lanka, the relationship between the two countries in the twenty first century is both seen in and defined by the backdrop of China. President AKD’s visit was seen both as a test and as a signal as to which way he might be leaning considering the fact that his two predecessors have been wildly inclined to one side or the other.

Ranil Wickremesinghe, as former president, has been egging President AKD to go all in with India and follow the vision statement he co-announced with Modi in India without any reference to anyone back home. On the other hand, Mahinda Rajapaksa since becoming President in 2005 tilted Sri Lanka significantly towards China without unduly disturbing India. Which way will the wind be blowing with President AKD, has been the question on the minds of all observers of the little Indian Ocean drama involving Sri Lanka.

To his credit, President AKD flew straight and was sincere and honest in his interactions in New Delhi, and he could be expected to be similarly straight, sincere and honest when he goes to Beijing. Enough has been said about the range of topics for co-operation between India and Sri Lanka that was covered by the two leaders and articulated in their joint statement. The areas of co-operation between Sri Lanka and China may not be so extensive on paper but have been quite substantial on the ground.

The challenge to the NPP government, in my view, would be to take a comprehensive review of the plethora of projects in Sri Lanka that have been and are slated to be undertaken by the two Asian giants, make an assessment of their costs and benefits, and to have an integrated internal plan to ensure that the country would maximize the benefits of these projects, while minimizing environmental impacts and avoiding waste and duplication of resources.

by Goolbai Gunsekara

Life can be exciting. Murky at times of course, but often happier than deserved. Elections are over and a systems change is in place, pleasing many of us mightily and most of us hopefully.

The oppressed, repressed and inevitably depressed populace necessitate –nay- demand a radical change in any country. The Gaza tragedy of a crumbling state, the unchecked, vulpine attitude of Israel, the appalling disasters climate change is inflicting on the world and the unchecked militarization of many nations is causing a miasmic cloud that is growing in intensity and spares no one. Sri Lanka is better off than most would you not agree?

Elections

I am no political analyst. I only know what I like and right now I feel the country is adopting a progressive stance which many of us favour. The hoped for and expected victory by the NPP is satisfying indeed and it is a matter of national pride to know that our new Prime Minister is the BEST qualified Prime Minister in the world at this moment

However, there is no doubt that the new Government of Sri Lanka MUST be aware that with its hoped for victory come responsibilities and consequences. Voters are being faced with a fascinating kaleidoscope of personalities. Many are unknown which can be a good thing. Academic qualifications are a great plus point for any candidate and many of the new politicians have them.

Within the older parties there is no doubt that their days of supremacy are ended. Most of the former uneducated bunch we have been forced to put up with earlier will fade into the sunset (we hope). In short, most of us have a rare feeling of anticipation despite some surprising entries to Parliament on the National List.

Political opinions

Personal loyalties are certainly meant to be sacrosanct but political loyalties need constant re-assessing. The follies of formerly ‘Good’ politicians have quite stunned me (and others) of late. To remain unchanged in one’s political opinions smacks of a lazy and unthinking mind. Early opinions MUST change as better as abler people will constantly become available for public office.

The Opposition

I admired Mr. Premadasa Snr’s ability in getting work done. He was a hardworking and achieving leader and expected those working for him to be ready and available whenever he called. He had a plan for the country and the ability to inspire those who came within his purview. I am not touching on his faults here.

But his son does not have his drive nor his leadership qualities.

Sajith Premadasa speaks well in both Sinhala and English but is unnecessarily critical and does not seem to realize the an Opposition leader is not meant to voice his opposition ALL the time. We are now in a state where we hope for success in bringing Sri Lanka back to prosperity. Criticizing the Government before it has time to even turn round and breathe, reflects poorly on the critic.

The vital need for English

We need English.(Again my opinion which is not always popular,) What little we have now is inadequate. Here are Lee Kwan Yew’s three Guidelines for his outstanding success in making the undeveloped little State he inherited into mega achieving one it is today.

· He chose English for the new state of Singapore over the impassioned demands of nationalists for a language of their own.

· He employed the best intellectuals available including the British from whom Singapore had only recently gained independence.

· And finally he made incorruptibility almost a religion.

Is it not sad to remember that he made Sri Lanka of 1947 his model to emulate?

A financial sideline

Perhaps the Govt. can make life a little easier for themselves and the Govt. Schools by requesting that those who can afford to pay something towards education should do so. This need not infringe on the Free Education Act. Those who need Free Education should be provided with it but we find it a little unfair that often millionaire offspring are educated in Govt. schools. A system COULD be devised to temporarily help with the enormous cost of bringing English to all and yet retain the national Languages as has India.

Religion in schools

Let me make my usual impassioned plea that religion should NOT be taught in schools as an exam subject. The high crime rate of Sri Lanka is mute testimony of the failure of this religious teaching.

Here is the alternative I suggest that will RAISE understanding and suppress the antisocial elements raising their heads among school children…. suicide being one of them. Religion is a parent’s responsibility. It is not the responsibility of some uncaring and untrained teacher who is trying to complete a syllabus and prepare a student for an exam rather than stressing on the moral side of religion.

These teachers of religion in Government schools are regarded as Archangel Gabriels trumpeting out the syllabuses touted by our Dept. of Education. How can this inconsequential and impersonal religious training take the place of parental teaching of the tenets of their OWN religion to their OWN children? Are parents too lazy to do so? It is so easy to pass on the responsibility to the school and most schools care only for exam results not for the mental health of the child.

Let us rather teach VALUE EDUCATION as an alternative to religion in schools. ALL Sri Lankan students will thus be united in schools at least. As a Principal of Asian International school some years ago, this is a system I tried with much success and parental popularity before the Government insisted that even International Schools must teach ONLY the student’s religion to him/her. Immediately classes were divided into four and students of International Schools were separated by religion. Is national unity even possible under such ridiculous educational systems?

Society and social life

To those who criticize big weddings, lavish parties, fashion pictures and public social interaction I would ask what harm all this’ hoo-haa’ does? Basically we are social beings. Everybody needs friends around. Whether the number is just one or one thousand the principle of interaction is the same.

Those who can afford to splurge are circulating money after all. Hotels benefit, caterers benefit, shops benefit, tailors and fashion designers benefit and the ripple effect ensures that money circulates. Any objections?

Teaching English (a few further thoughts.)

One hopes that our new government will make English accessible to all AS QUICKLY AS POSSIBLE. The expense of any system change will be horrendous. Perhaps parents could be given options? Diehard chauvinists could study in Sinhala if they wish but those who want English should have the right to chose it as their medium of instruction.

There is no doubt that the sheer numbers of those choosing an English education will stun the chauvinistic nationalists who equate language with patriotism. The problems involving all this change boggles the mind. Where are the teachers? Where is the money?

BUT a start must be made. How and where this can be done I have no idea. But I know it is possible. Nakedly displayed authority is usually anathema, but here is one time it may be necessary in order to upgrade our education. Obviously it will have to be done in stages and those left out of the first stage are going to feel by-passed. Governments may have to close their ears to such laments and explain the progressive plan of new syllabuses to critics who abound in Sri Lanka… alas!

The police

Until recently we regarded the Police with a jaundiced eye. We accepted nothing could be done without influence or bribery. Policeman were polite enough over minor infractions but no one really expected a follow through of any complaint unless backed (as said earlier) by higher authority.

I give a composite example. A poor woman (lets call her Mani) has three children. Her husband starts an affair with a younger woman and abandons her to live with his paramour. Mani goes to the Police who actually advise her to put up with it. In several other cases I know of, the Police have taken no special action. Is the police empowered to act I wonder? Husband abuse their wives physically. Police action is as undependable as the monsoons.

But there is a sudden change. Mani tells me that her latest complaint (yesterday) was heeded by a polite policeman who actually wrote down her complaint and promised to act. And why did she go again yesterday? She had been told, that of late, the police are running scared themselves. One can see with great satisfaction, that the formerly inexorable lines of authority of the police are being challenged, AT LAST, by a strong President.

Garbage

I live in Kotte. Between the garbage collectors and myself there exists a guarded neutrality…a kind of semi-cordial one. The lorry comes down my way ONCE a week. Is this acceptable? Does my local municipality condone this? Garbage is stored in polythene and if these bags are not waiting at the gate for the Lordships of the garbage truck, the house is simply by-passed. If the bags ARE sitting at the gate they are torn open by every passing stray dog so every Monday morning the whole household is on alert for the shout that tells us of the is approach of our weekly saviour!! Surely there MUST be a better method?

Yet every so often there arrives an unannounced health inspector to check on the state of our garbage and puddles of water collection. A few months ago my birdbath was full of water. (Why else would I have a bird bath) .The inspector claimed this was illegal as the bottom of the bird bath was slimy. In his opinion this attracted the dengue mosquito. As he was about to slap a Rs.25,000 fine on us I remembered a VIP who could help. He did – but what would I have done if he did not?. The birdbath still provides water for thirsty birds. For the record the birdbath was NOT slimy.

Security

One read of the enormous amount of security that used to be provided to undeserving ex VIPs. Most of our ex-Presidents including, the Rajapaksas, are not exactly that unpopular and I fail to understand why they need all this protection. Once they lose power no one wants to hurt them. To what end after all?

Customs

Customs officers have been making millions we were told . So it seems a just punishment if they are made to pay back some of the loot, Deterrents to corruption are vital.

Dr. Shafi

It was also great to read that poor Dr Shafi of Kurunegala has been cleared at last. To have put ANYONE through that long legal nightmare did not speak well for a modern state.

To conclude

Let us give time and opportunity to our brand new Government and a brand new system that is trying to make Sri Lanka a better place for all of us, and attempt to put our criticisms on hold for at least a year.

Her is some relevant humour which is so vital to any Government.

“Politicians must be able to foretell what will happen tomorrow, next month, or next year – and then plausibly explain why it didn’t happen.”

“The time God allots to us is like a beautiful piece of tissue which we embroider as best we can,” (Anatole France) Let us use our time to embroider the ‘Tissue of State’ as skillfully as possible. May Sri Lanka be spared the ignominy of trailing in the rear of these New Worlds that beckon so invitingly . May we be one of the nations that makes this attainment a brilliant success.

by Jayantha Perera

I retired from ADB in April 2011. ADB appointed me as a staff consultant without waiting for the mandatory ‘cooling off’ 12-month period expired. A memo signed by the President, a Vice President, and two Directors Generals of ADB stated why I should be re-recruited immediately. It stated, “Mr. Perera’s experience as a senior and highly respected member of ADB as a safeguard specialist makes him ideal for this position … He is a well-respected ADB staff and was one of ADB’s leading experts in the environment, involuntary resettlement, and indigenous people’s development issues; he was the only international staff member at ADB who had technical knowledge and expertise in all three safeguard areas……..”

One of my major assignments as a consultant was to conduct training in 10 Pacific countries for senior government officials on how to address social and environmental issues to meet ADB’s safeguard policy standards. Fiji, Samoa, Pohnpei, Tonga, Cook Islands and Marshall Islands were among the countries chosen. Each country offered its rich culture, natural beauty, and the opportunity to meet people with vivid personalities and experience paranormal encounters. Pohnpei, an island state in the Pacific, etched a dazzling world I will never forget.

Pohnpei and three island states form the Federated States of Micronesia (FSM) in the western Pacific Ocean. Pohnpei is the largest island in FSM, with a land area of 335 sq. kilometres. The other three states are Yap, Chuuk, and Kosrae. Pohnpei State also owns several small islands in the vast Pacific Ocean.

Pohnpei means ‘stone altar.’ Presumably, it refers to a large stone platform on the island. The island’s population is about 37,000. Its terrain is mountainous and jungle-covered. It is one of the wettest places on Earth, with an annual rainfall exceeding 7,600 mm. A circular, tarred, narrow road connects dispersed towns. Access to the interior, especially to hilly areas, is challenging.

The people are proud of their history and boast about Nan Madol, an ancient city-kingdom. Its civilisation flourished for 700 years, from the 10th century to the 17th century. Its downfall began with the arrival of Spanish sailors in the early 19th century, followed by whalers, traders, missionaries, educators, and colonisers. After the Spaniards, the Germans occupied it. During the Second World War, the Japanese captured it, and the USA took it from the Japanese in the late 1940s.

Locals suffered severely when colonisers plundered their treasures and destroyed cultural artefacts. Spaniards brought cholera and smallpox to Pohnpei, nearly annihilating the local population. The Japanese not only looted local treasures but also enslaved people. During the Second World War, Japanese warlords used local slaves to move heavy cannons to strategic mountaintops. Most of the workers died because of starvation and illnesses.

In 1986, Pohnpei became an independent state within FSM. The five traditional small kingdoms on the island constitute independent Pohnpei, and the Pohnpei State Council represents them. Kolonia is the capital of Pohnpei State, and Palikir is the capital of FSM. The two cities are adjacent to each other. The local kingdoms occasionally clash with the State Council on matters of development. About 10 years ago, for example, the State Council tried establishing a casino complex in the territory of a traditional kingdom. Its king opposed the proposal and took his protest to an international forum for arbitration.

English is the official language, and people consider themselves non-immigrant citizens of the United States. In other words, the USA guarantees they can become US citizens whenever they want. The currency in the country is the US dollar. Postage is paid in US$, and postal stamps are US postal stamps. A taxi charges one dollar to travel within Kolonia.

Fortunately, I got a seat on United Airlines from Honolulu to Kolonia. The Filipino hotel manager told me to wait a few hours before occupying my room. When I asked him why, he said hotel guests who had left in the morning might return if their flight was cancelled. The hotel’s policy is to accommodate such stranded travellers on a priority basis in the rooms they had occupied earlier.

I was tired, hungry, and sleepy. The manager gave me a hot tuna sandwich and coffee at the restaurant. He told me he could give me a room with a door facing the jungle behind the hotel. I feared small insects and reptiles might creep into my room after sunset. The incessant rain added a gloomy atmosphere to my fear. I could hear water gushing down a drain. Rainwater trickled down from the eves of the roof, flooding the narrow corridor in front of the room and making it slippery.

I moved into the room and slept several hours. When I woke up, it was dark and still raining. I did not know how to go to the restaurant. There was no telephone in my room. I was nervous about going to the bathroom. When I opened the tap in the bathroom, it took about five minutes to see clear water. I was reluctant to pull the shower curtain. When I pulled it, a six-legged, black, long, gecko-like creature was in the bathtub. The bathtub was cracked and dirty and covered with dead leaves. The room’s light bulb was weak, and the bathroom was not lit up to see what else was waiting there to meet me. I regretted my decision to occupy an outer room.

The manager came to take me to dinner. He had a strong flashlight and a large umbrella. I asked him about possibly moving to a room inside the hotel. But by then, the hotel was fully occupied. The manager told a Filipina woman to clean my room again and to keep a heater in it. I insisted that the bedsheets and pillows should also be changed. When I returned to my room after supper, it looked neat and smelled good. The gecko-like creatures had disappeared.

I had a free weekend in Pohnpei before leaving for Honolulu. The hotel manager suggested I hire his four-wheel drive Jeep and travel around the island. He charged me $100 for the trip, which included a driver-cum-guide, a lunch box, snacks, and soft drinks. He advised me to carry one-dollar bills with me to pay local taxes. I changed a 50-dollar note for one-dollar and five-dollar bills. The bills were dirty and discoloured; some were as hard as cardboard.

The Jeep was a rickety old van without a spare wheel. It spluttered dark, unburned diesel, and its engine noise was unbearable. Roger, the jeep driver, was a local young man with long hair and a ferocious-looking black beard. He carried a big, heavy knife. The hotel manager handed him food boxes and an umbrella.

I thought Roger might sacrifice me to a native god by cutting my neck at a remote place. I had read on Google about human sacrifices to gods on the island. I wished I had invited another hotel guest to accompany me, but it was too late. Roger promised to show me places that foreign visitors rarely visit. His offer made me more nervous. I told him that I should return to the hotel before 5 p.m.

Roger drove the old Jeep with care. He stopped the Jeep in front of churches to talk to his friends who came for the Sunday mass. Sometimes, he offered them a ride in the Jeep without asking me. At a church, at least 10 people entered the Jeep, and two sat next to me in the front seat, pushing me onto the gear shift. They were fat people dressed in large white shirts and baggy blue jeans. They had unshaven faces and unwashed mouths. They spoke English. They invited me to visit their church and to join them for a communal lunch. I politely declined the offer by saying I was on a tight travel programme and should return to Kolonia early.

Later, I visited a small Christian church. The church had a neat front yard, and a local artist had painted beautiful murals of the genesis and the crucifixion. I could see some well-thumbed prayer books and hymn books on a small table covered with an embroidered white tablecloth. The small board on the table invited donations. One could donate money by dropping dollar bills or cents into a small glass box, which a small padlock secured.

Several people were in the church, wearing their Sunday best. Men wore European clothes, and women wore long white dresses with beautiful shoes. Some of them had heavy makeup. All adult women wore head covers. Many devotees, especially the women, carried rosaries in their hands.

People sat in circles by the road and ate from large metal pots. Roger explained that Christians do not work on Sundays except for attending mid-morning service. They cook on Saturday and partook of it on Sunday after the church service. Pork was the main dish. Raw tuna fish competed with fried pork to be the best food item. Someone told me they had learned how to raise pigs and cook pork dishes from Filipino friends whose ancestors came with the Spaniards as cooks and servants.

Suddenly, Roger drove off the main road, saying he wanted to show me the statue of Henry Nanpie. The figure was about 100 metres from a protestant church and was on an elevated stone dais. I thought it was built of steel with a hollow interior. Henry was in an elite tailcoat with a walking stick in his right hand. Roger told me that Henry had lived in Pohnpei in the late 19th century and early 20th century. He was the son of a local army commander. His mother was an English woman – the daughter of an English beachcomber.

Henry inherited lots of land from his powerful father. Then, he wanted to acquire land from another local kingdom. Henry visited the kingdom’s palace carrying a loaded gun and a bag of goodies. He took the weapon to kill the king and the goodies to bribe palace servants to get their allegiance. When he saw the king in an inner palace chamber, he tried to kill the king. But his gun misfired. Then Henry aimed the weapon at a flowerpot and pulled the trigger. The bullet went through the flowerpot and damaged the wall behind it.

Henry cunningly claimed that he had supernatural powers and could stop a gun from firing a bullet. He explained to the king that before he aimed the weapon at the king, he had “charmed” the gun. Because of the charm, the gun misfired. After removing the charm from the gun, a bullet fired from it smashed the flowerpot. The king was amazed and convinced himself of Henry’s supernatural powers. The king asked him to be the kingdom’s protector offering him a mansion and a vast stretch of land.

Henry opened a large supply shop to supply food, water, oil, and labour to whaling ships in the Pacific. He used his new wealth to add more land to his estate. In Pohnpei, he established protestant groups and spread Western cultural practices and beliefs among the locals through them. Even today, local people consider him a semi-god who brought wealth and salvation to them and connected them with the outside world. Roger sang a folk song about Henry, which depicted Henry as a local god. A copper plaque beside his statue indicates that he still has admirers to spread, invent and reinvent myths about him.

Roger was hurrying me to go to the ruined capital of Nan Madol Kingdom. He told me that the kingdom was on the banks of a large lagoon connected to the eastern shoreline. It was the only ancient city ever built atop a coral reef. In 2016, the UN declared it a World Heritage Site. We drove on a narrow gravel road and parked the Jeep. From there, we walked about two kilometres to Nan Madol. We walked through private lands, and landowners charged a fee for crossing their land. Some landlords collected a dollar or two, but one landlord demanded seven dollars.

We entered a rocky trail from the last property. The land rapidly became marshy, and we walked on an elevated narrow bund. Both sides of the bund were inundated, and walking on it was risky. Henry dexterously cut down weeds and plants that obstructed the path. He wanted me to follow him closely but did not say why. The thought that he might sacrifice me to a local god began looming in my mind. I did not look around as I wanted to keep my eyes on him and the bund. He walked fast, brandishing his knife as if in a frenzy.

The narrow bund that stretched through a grotesque jungle of mangroves looked never-ending. I thought that spirits were watching and following me. I tried to avoid looking at large trees because I thought they were beckoning me. Some tree trunks, I thought, turned into hobgoblins. I remembered reading how funny elves resort to mischievous acts towards human beings who encroach on their territories.

Suddenly, I felt some invisible force pulling me back. I could not see Roger. I thought that I got lost among the mangroves forever. I saw the shallow water in marshy fields swelling to engulf me. I stopped walking. I thought how silly I was to think about bizarre things. Then Roger returned and asked me whether I had seen anything or anybody. I told him that some trees had tried to talk to me and were making faces at me. He said that many visitors had similar supernatural encounters. Roger explained that Pohnpiens treated the ruins at Nan Madol as sacred. They also knew various spirits haunt the place. The spirits came out at night, but a few hovered around during the daytime to harass visitors. Roger gave me several small, polished stones connected in a string. It reminded me of the rosaries that churchgoers had in their hands. He said that the string would fend off evil spirits. I then remembered my grandmother, who gave me my first rosary when I was seven, advising me to carry it with me to protect myself from evil forces.

We arrived at a stagnant shallow canal from where we could see the temple entrance. To reach the temple, we crossed a shallow canal. There were several decayed logs in the canal, and we had to push them aside to cross it. About 50 metres from the canal were the elegant stone walls three to five metres high. Just under a stone arch was a conduit from a table-flat wall top where, presumably, human sacrifices were conducted. According to Roger, the blood of those victims trickled down from the wall top to the main entrance through the conduit, where priests performed rituals to appease gods. Many city outer walls remain intact, although mangroves have engulfed them.

Local people believe twin brothers, who were sorcerers, built Nan Madol. They came to Pohnpei from another island in a large canoe to build an altar where they could perform ancestor worship. The legend is that the two brothers levitated large stones with the help of a flying dragon and built the entire city in three years. They transported basalt columns from a faraway island. Most of the columns are now under shallow water in the lagoon.

The temple consists of about 90 rectangular islets linked by narrow channels. Each islet had a coral-filled platform. Nan Madol means “within the intervals,” and the “intervals” are the complex canal grid. It is unclear who lived on islets, but locals believe priests who performed rituals at the altar lived in single-house units built on islets.

There were reserved locations among the islets for priests to feed turtle innards to a sacred eel who lived in a deep well. After feeding the eel, priests shared the rest of the turtle as a sacrament. To this day, eels are considered holy and are never killed or eaten.

The main enclosure is a large stone chamber with hundreds of human bones. About 15 years ago, several German archaeologists dusted and rearranged the bones to examine their age. That night, one archaeologist died in his hotel room in Kolonia, and the other fell gravely ill. Roger said his ancestors were unhappy when foreigners excavated and labelled their bones. They, as spirits, protect the monuments and punish anyone who disturbs them.

Roger’s father and two uncles had seen several light beams starting from the temple’s main altar late one night. The light beams travelled across the sea to faraway islands and large stars. When I asked Roger if he would camp at Nan Madol after sunset to watch the light beams, he said he would not risk meeting his ancestors! He advised me not to talk about them as they were holy spirits with enormous powers and could harm us in their domain.

We spent two hours walking around the temple. The shallow sea and the lagoon behind the ruins were very picturesque. We tried to count the heaps of basalt rafts submerged in the lagoon. When we decided to leave Nan Madol, I felt I could not move. I was unsure whether the feeling came from my fear of hobgoblins or the perplexity in my mind. I told Roger to walk with me to the Jeep. He walked ahead of me, occasionally checking whether I was following him. I tried to walk fast without looking at the trees I had seen earlier. I felt a powerful, unseen force pulling me backwards. I imagined a tree with strange roots moving towards me. The gushing winds created a bizarre atmosphere. I felt I had not left the ruins, so I called Roger and asked him to walk with me. We plodded to the Jeep from the ruins. He reassured me that the spirits would not follow us. I was glad to leave Phonpei the following day.