Sri Lankans have the power to dig themselves out of trouble - EDITORIAL

People who have remained here in Sri Lanka are working harder than before to make ends meet. Some among them are seen opting to buy lottery tickets; in most cases this is a new found habit. There are also those who want to see an election being held which would facilitate the need for a new cabinet being formed. Sri Lanka is seen as a hopeless place to be in at present. It is in this backdrop that parliamentarian Wimal Weerawansa was heard and seen speaking to an audience (televised on a private TV on December 1) and saying something special about Sri Lanka which would give us all some hope for the future. 

Weerawansa said that once former Army Commander Daya Ratnayake had had a meeting with the Defence establishment officers of Israel. At the meeting the Israel officials had asked the Sri Lanka Army Commander what country he thought Israel considered as a threat. After thinking hard the Army Commander had said ‘Iran’. The Israel official who spoke had told Weerawansa that Iran was a manageable threat and wanted him to think hard, but to no avail. When an answer was not forthcoming the Israel official had said that the real threat to them is coming from Sri Lanka. The reason? According to the Israel official, as told to us by Weerawansa, Sri Lankans comprise a set of people who are not afraid to experiment with putting into use some item that is broken without waiting for the service of professional technicians to arrive from overseas. A customer in another country would be afraid to meddle with a technical product, but Sri Lankans are not. Does this suggest that Sri Lankans are daring and innovative?

These are two qualities that Sri Lankans need to dig themselves out of this economical mess they are in. But this writer doesn’t suggest that people who are not qualified in finance should meddle with a country’s economy. What must be underscored here is that Sri Lankans as a whole can pull this country out of the woods if they come up with innovative ideas in terms of doing business. 

We all know that the undergraduates of the Moratuwa University are consistently involved in doing experiments in health and science related matters. Why not rope in schoolchildren who are studying in the Bio Science and Mathematics streams for the A Level Examinations for such projects too? They too have innovative ideas and are waiting eagerly to bring to the discussion table ideas which they have been nourishing and nurturing. 
It’s a known fact that our aged politicians are a jaded lot and don’t have novel ideas. That’s why this country knew just one way of surviving; taking excessive loans and using the bulk of that on development projects which produced no worthwhile return. 

Sri Lankans as a whole, when they were kids, were used to one call made to them by parents and adults; don’t do that! Hence the curiosity in them made them do just that when one final day they were big enough to break the shackles placed on them. Most of them who broke ‘taboo laws’ ended up finding freedom, both financial and mental. 
One such topic is marijuana (Kansa in Sinhalese) which the Sri Lankan regime is mulling over with regard to making it an export product. Critics have pointed out that as an export product it can bring in much needed US dollars to the country. Sri Lanka’s rich medical history of making native medicinal products which contain the marijuana leaf is a case in study. This is with regard to allowing Sri Lankans with a sound native medicinal background to make products containing marijuana which can be exported. 

Daredevilry is needed by Sri Lankans who know the subject and wish to make experiments (The writer is referring to home-grown products which can be placed in overseas supermarket shelves). 
Sri Lankan politicians have a stock question when a businessman comes up with a product idea and requests for government permission or license and that is “What’s in it for me”. The question that a lawmaker must ask an innovative person who comes up with an idea is “what is in it for Sri Lanka”. This is the change we need and direction to take!