Diplomatic Immunity

 'Wikipedia' tells us:

“The Burmese Ambassador in Sri Lanka in 1979 shot his wife as she got out of the car after seeing a player in a night-club band of whom she was enamoured. As recalled by Gerald Hensley, then Vice-Dean of the Diplomatic Corps in Sri Lanka; Hensley was based in Singapore and accredited from New Zealand as High Commissioner to Sri Lanka as well.

The next morning the neighbours in Cinammon Gardens (Colombo) were surprised to see the ambassador stacking wood on the back lawn and, conoisseurs of cremation, quickly grasped that he was building a pyre. When the police were called the ambassador opened the metal front gates just enough to say that there was no trouble and to remind them that his house was Burmese territory. Then he went back to work. The houses around his long back garden were now alive with fascinated spectators as he emerged with the body of his wife, placed it on the pyre and set it alight. He was … well connected at home but after an awkward interval he was recalled.”

 

The Ineffable Allure of the Foreign

Perhaps the only way to improve this artifact would be to convert it to a giant, wall-mounted ‘where shall we have breakfast, dear?’ spinning selector wheel.  Karachi? Nome? The Azores?

There are a lot of places on here that people only went because they were on the way to somewhere else - it wasn’t always possible to fly directly to Hong Kong!

 

With the completion of the trans-oceanic ‘Image Conduit’ complete, Our Man in Ceylon may keep you apprised of both current and classical events, from the comfort of his tropical retreat.