Beauty of learning by rote

By S.P.U.S. Wickramasinghe  

This note refers to the experiences that I underwent at three commercial banks – two in Sri Lanka, one a so-called privately owned (2008 or so), another owned by the state (2019), and the third in London in 1976.

On the passing away of my parents I filed papers in the Courts seeking authority to distribute the assets owned by them. I faced no problem with the assets owned by my father; with the assets owned by my mother, the proceedings with the assets identified there was no problem.

Few years after the completion of the testamentary proceedings, I found that she had made some deposits with a bank with which she had no dealing and which I was not aware of. There were receipts of the deposits, on cyclostyled paper with the bank’s seal. However the bank had not given any indication of the purpose for which the deposits were made and the whereabouts of the funds. On inquiry, the bank informed that they could not trace the transaction and the possibility was that it had been retained and transferred to the Central Bank. I accepted that explanation as it was the least costly of all actions available.

Recently, one of my daughters, resident abroad, was written to by a bank, that a certain sum of funds in her c/a or s/a had been sent to the Central Bank, as the account had not been operated for some time.

With a certain bank owned by the State, I had a current account since 1968 and a savings account which I had opened about 10 years ago and from which I had withdrawn. The residual fund was a measly Rs. 1,800.

I approached a branch of the bank near my residence, to get this money transferred to my current account. The officer who handled this matter, a lady, wanted me to request the outstation branch to transfer the money to the branch where she worked. That was in early November 2019. Few days ago I went, with my savings passbook seeking the transfer. The lady in question wanted me to present my Identity Card. I did not carry the NIC, but carried a photocopy of the NIC and two other IDs given by the Grama Sevaka and by a public institution. She insisted that the original of the NIC be presented. This I obliged, two days later.

At this stage I noticed that the outstation branch had sent the connected documents, to which the signature card was attached.

She took papers and disappeared within, for over 45 minutes. I am sure that she was comparing the signatures. Once she reappeared she informed me that the money could be collected from the counter, where in my original request was to transfer that money to my current account.

In total, I would have spent over three hours seated at her table in order to finalise this transaction to collect Rs. 1,800. What was released was about Rs. 100 as service charges.

It should not have been so, as this lady was privy to my signature via the savings account and via the current account, which was at a branch in the city. She should have had the brains to judge whether, I was attempting to hoodwink the bank for mere Rs. 1,800. 

I have been an employee both in the State sector and the private sector. The authority to purchase was granted to me by both sources of employment and the lowest was in the State sector. Going by the present par value of a particular commodity, the authority given to me to purchase was over Rs. 6 million current value.

I, who graduated from a Sri Lankan university in 1967, would not have wasted even five minutes to release the funds, if in doubt, I would have transferred the funds to the current account. 

Of course the medium of my education being English, I had access to many an international publication viz Emile Zola – Les Rougon Macquart – Nana, Alberto Moravia – Woman of Rome, very interesting at that young age not confined to read only books by Deemon Ananda.

That was the third experience.

The second experience

Over 10 years ago, I wished to deposit two pay-orders provided by an outstation branch – of a particular bank – proceeds from the sale of two blocks of land, to the branch of the same private bank in the city suburb. The officer handling the operation refused to accept the cheques. On inquiry, his supervisor who was seated close to him informed me that I should produce the deeds of transfer. That was funny, because once the transaction is effected the deed is retained with the lawyer executing the deed, it is then registered at the Land Registry and the original of the deed is available to the buyer after about 30 days. Most important factor is that the seller does not get a certified copy of the deed at all.

This was at a so-called progressive private bank.

The first experience

In 1976, I was in London on my way to West Indies on a tour sponsored by the Government.

I wanted to cash one of the Traveller’s Cheques which I had. I went to ICICI bank. On examining the cheque, the teller wanted my passport. I told him that I had left the passport where I was living, as if I lost it, I would have had to waste my time in London to get a replacement. I told him that I have an NIC, but drawn in Sinhala. He had a look at it and immediately released the funds.

I attribute my bitter experience in the country where I was born to learning by rote by the present day graduates, even at the degree level, which seems to be a rampant factor today.

A copy of this article will be sent to the GM and the Branch Manager of the State Bank.