8:00 p.m.
I remember Podi Hamaduru at Gangaramaya Temple, he was visiting our house. As he's quite friendly with us, if not the most friendly with anyone. And he was telling me, oh some of these kids are very clever, you can't fool them. He was saying that some kids were with the parents. The dad has been like they don't drink liquor anymore. And the kid's pointed out, they drink "soft drinks" like Coca Cola. This Podi Hamaduru told me this story a long time ago, it stuck with me.
I'm not for adding a "retirement age". I think discriminating against old people, or the elderly, is wrong. I think Joe Biden is perfectly capable. He might be feeble or senile or decrepit, but that's natural. This doesn't disqualify him from serving, as his judgement, isn't impaired, his mental faculties are sound. He seems to have everything together. I think the opposite, when someone retires, their life, their health, it worsens. Their lives become meaningless. The answer is to widen the age of entry, to treat young people as adults, let them vote, to take part in leadership and to focus on results. Lee Kuan Yew worked till the day he died, as he felt that if you stop working or doing stuff, there's no real point.
I'm 30 years old. The past minimum age was 30, Sirisena has increased it to 35 with an amendment which included many new rules, designed to keep Rajapaksa out of office. But we can ask people to provide an exemption, if there are enough petitions, it's enough to get through this obstacle or hurdle.
