The number of people applying for passports and those leaving the country are of great concern these days. A pastor attached to a popular Christian Life Centre situated in the Western Province was heard asking the question ‘who is going to pull this country out of the woods when everyone wants to seek greener pastures oversees’. 

This is the question people who decide to remain here for whatever reasons have to ask themselves in order to remind themselves that they are true patriots. A similar question was asked from parents during the days of the civil war. Most families were asked whether they gave at least one child to the security forces to strengthen the government’s fight against terrorism. 
Now is the time to do some worthwhile contribution to the country. Now is the time when people can remind themselves of the old saying ‘Don’t ask what the country has done for you, but instead ask the question what you have done for the country?’. 

Just the other day this writer saw a post on Facebook that made an impact on those wearing their thinking caps all the time. The post said ‘Sri Lanka is a paradise for foreign tourists, but a hell for Sri Lankans’. Now let’s start thinking. 

Why do foreign tourists visit this beautiful island? They do because they can enjoy their stay in one of the best tropical islands in Asia or the entire world for a reasonable price. Imagine what a tourist who is arriving at the BIA must be feeling if he or she bumps into a local who is trying to fly out of the island! Just for the record the number of tourist arrivals, according to government sources, was 102,545 in January this year. Government sources have also revealed to us that the Department of Immigration and Emigration has put a ceiling on the number of passports issued for a single day and that figure stands at 2500. Apart from this the government also plans to set up 50 regional centres that will issue passports in future and towns like Kurunegala, Matara, Kandy and Vavuniya have been earmarked for this purpose. 

Why do foreign tourists choose Sri Lanka? They do because they are given much respect, no one dares cheat on them and they get value for money when buying goods and services. Thanks to the internet they know beforehand the prices of goods and services and even the taxi fare from the hotel to any destination. Overall the visiting tourists are well informed and well prepared for their short stay in Sri Lanka. They cannot be taken for a ride!

When the situation in the island isn’t safe for foreign tourists to travel here they are given travel warnings by their governments. Contrary to that, in Sri Lanka, the islanders get no warning until the government does something silly or decides on a course of action that squeezes the life out of its citizens. 
Many years ago the general ‘pulse’ of the majority of citizens in this country was that the Mahinda Rajapaksa Government should spend all the money it has on the finishing off the civil war and even if there was an economical difficulty created as a result the people said that they’d survive on one meal a day.  

Fast forward the clock 13 years from that time and we are facing an economical difficulty once again and a good number of people are down to one meal; but that is not by choice!
People in this country are also demanding from the government to conduct the local government polls. The regime maintains that it has no finances to conduct the polls.  On the other hand the regime likes the people to continue nurturing the islanders’ thought pattern; which is to survive on very little and if that too is not available to survive on a jackfruit that can be plucked from the garden. All this happens while the lawmakers continue robbing off the people. 
This is why the government representatives of this country cherish it when they meet or have to employ less affluent citizens who have nothing else to say other than proudly boast of having the capacity to endure any hardship and survive the mightiest of challenges.