Trishaws, heritage sites and trade unions – never a dull moment for Donglin Li
View(s):
At the opening of a well in the Katunayake FTZ.
ILO Country director Donglin Li in conversation with Sunday Times Business Editor Feizal Samath in a pre-departure interview
COLOMBO – Taking a tuk-tuk from Dutch Hospital, Fort to the UN compound in Bauddhaloka Mawatha one day, Donglin Li was asked to fork out 800 rupees for a trip he knew would cost only 250 rupees (maximum). Having travelled before in tuk-tuks here (‘I love them’), the soon-to-depart ILO Country Director for Sri Lanka and the Maldives realised he was being cheated. Confronting the driver, he said, “I have been in this country for many years and never before being cheated by a driver,” he said sharply. The driver’s response was unconvincing and Mr. Li eventually said he would pay him the 800 bucks but noted: “Remember you are a Sri Lankan and must not do it again because you represent the image of Sri Lanka”. The ILO country head has loads of anecdotes and stories to tell of his 5 years-10-month stint in Colombo which ends with his departure on Wednesday after which he takes up a new appointment in the Pacific Island countries.
“Sri Lanka is lovely and ‘a piece of cake’ in terms of security compared to Pakistan, where it was stress from day one,” he recalled while sitting down for a morning chat at his office amidst his departure preparations. In his six years as ILO country director heading a 100-strong office in Pakistan, he encountered suicide bombings, killings of UN staff, bombing of 5-star hotels and different natural disasters. ”I was fire-fighting on all fronts, all UN officials were under pressure,”he noted, saying that while at work he put on a brave face. But at home at night, the day’s stress turned into a nightmare when he acquired a habit of grinding his teeth and often hurting his gums.This has had a long term impact on his dental health and now he plans to consult a dentist in Beijing – during a 3-week vacation – to mend his teeth which took a beating during a troubled and stressful assignment in Pakistan.
Shocked by beach garbage
Donglin Li is not your usual UN official heading a key unit in a country. Not the prim and proper type of agency boss, the ILO Colombo director is exuberant, effervescent and moves at rapid pace to his computer (fast for a 59-year-old) to show pictures of his mother who had come to Sri Lanka on a recent holiday. The pictures are however of a different nature. His mother, 82, was so shocked to see dirt and garbage on the beach outside a new five star hotel in Negombo, that she got up early one day and did some cleaning herself; collecting garbage in bags. “She had travelled to many places in Sri Lanka and was impressed by the clear environment everywhere but shocked that a top rated hotel didn’t care enough to maintain the public beach,” he recalled, grinning like a true Sri Lankan. In fact, he says the Sri Lankan smile is a very endearing quality and provides a sense of security and comfort to visitors.
His belief and faith in the country has gone beyond borders; the ILO country director has been personally inviting more than 500 Chinese friends and family to visit Sri Lanka, which works out to 100 guests per year. It’s like running a small travel agency with a difference: services are FOC (free of charge) and in his spare time! When he encountered the Tourism Minister at a recent gathering, he said in jest; “Minister, you should appoint me as a goodwill ambassador on my retirement”. His travels across the country, visiting all eight world heritage sites including Adam Peak’s and Sinharaja, has made him a firm ‘Sri Lanka’ fan. ”Of the 50 countries I have visited, Sri Lanka is one of the best. People live in harmony with the environment while its beauty is enriched in being a small island with lovely beaches, blue water and different religions living in harmony.”
Donglin Li's mother clears garbage on a beach at Negombo.
Side-by-side harmony
While in other countries, places of religious worship are in separate locations, in Sri Lanka he says they are often side by side citing the old mosque standing next to the Anglican Church opposite ODEL at Eye Hospital junction in Colombo, as an example of a blend of diversity and harmony. What more can Sri Lanka ask for than a high-ranking ILO official being an unofficial tourism ambassador! Donglin Li could speak for hours on Sri Lanka, its smiling people (‘people are so nice and friendly here, you can see smiling faces all over from a baby, to a young girl and an adult’) and a country where visitors begin to feel a part of this community.
Pointing out of the window at the large garden in the UN compound, he explains about the birds that gather around, and in his home garden – a motley crew of lizards, squirrels, birds, mongoose. ”Tourists are not interested in high rise buildings, they want to see smiling faces, harmonious living, peaceful life and beautiful nature. You get it all here,” he says, adding; “This is paradise”. The conversation then moves to his work in Sri Lanka, the affable Mr. Li says three ILO models which worked well in the country would soon be replicated in other countries. His first task, arriving in January 2011 a year after government forces ended a civil war, was to get cracking on the LEED (Local Empowerment for Economic Development) project in the north, and the formulation of the National Human Resources and Employment Policy (NHREP) for Sri Lanka.
LEEDs success
LEEDs has done well and now in its 3rd phase, funded by the Australian Government, with the model ready to be replicated in other countries. It is a concept which creates sustainability and empowerment; not just providing subsidies. ”We created cooperatives organising farmers who set up their own team who would negotiate prices with buyers from the south and overseas.The new model saw their income rise by five times from what they earned earlier. These cooperatives are vital economic links to the outside world.” LEEDs also contributed to the reconciliation process, he said, explaining that idle youth were not interested in political dialogue. “Any young man needs a job to be financially stable before getting into a political discussion. LEEDs provided this window.” On trade unions (TUs) and the rights of workers, he says that there are 2000 registered TUs in the island of which 20 are national in character. But they are fragmented, he points out, with no major confederation.
The ILO has been providing training and capacity building for labour inspectors, Board of Investment officers, employers and TUs. LISA (Labour Inspection Systems Application) with the help of software from the ILO is another success story. Labour officers – some 500 armed with computer tablets – carry out paperless inspections more efficiently, more effectively and in a transparent manner with data immediately fed into a central system He also referred to the ILO’s ‘Elimination of the worst form of child labour’ campaign which got a big boost when the President and four ministers pledged, at a ceremony two months back, to end the worst form of child labour by end 2016. ILO is working on the project in 25 districts to campaign for zero tolerance to child labour which in Sri Lanka means not employing a child below 14 years. The core of the campaign is the 5 Ps- Political will; Public awareness and Policy; Prevention; Protection and Prosecution.
Training geared to the marketplace
Another model he is proud to talk about is that ILO is now implementing training programmes geared to the market. Old syllabi where the success rate was based on the number of people trained have been thrown out of the window. Successful training programmes today are measured by how many employment opportunities trainees have got after following a focused training programme. Returning to his pet subject, Donglin Li talks about the Asian trait where people are ever grateful to the environment. “That is why Asians are very passionate in what they do,” he says citing another instance (one of many examples. he could literally write a book) where he attended a Sunday event recently to declare open a well for FTZ workers at Katunayake. He recalls how a former colleague in Pakistan had turned down an invitation for a weekend event telling the union that they should respect his labour rights of not working on holidays. “And he is right, by the rule book. But my value system is different because trade unions cannot have events during working days – and only weekends are free for them.
I would rather sacrifice my holiday to serve the working class. I have never said no to trade union events during the weekends,” he said, adding that the smiles on 100 female workers present were his reward’. “How disappointed would they have been if I didn’t show up,” he asked. The Asian philosophy is gradually taking root in other parts of the world and even in the ILO, he said, explaining how delighted he was to see a proverb by the 200-years-old famous Chinese philosopher on the wall of the ILO Turin Training Centre (during a leadership training programme). Side by side with other western thoughts were Lao Tzu’s words of wisdom: “I have three things to teach – simplicity, patience and compassion. These three are your greatest treasures.”
Philosophy
Donglin Li’s philosophy is similarly simple. He says he has created a family-like working environment, telling Sri Lankan staff (in those early days) to ‘consider each other as sisters or brothers within a family; trust, respect and show tolerance to each other, and learn from each other.” Most memorable moments from Pakistan and now Sri Lanka? Earlier this year he got an email from Pakistani staff saying they enjoyed the oranges from a tree planted by Dongli Li, four years ago, just before his departure. “The fruits were delicious and sweet. Little wonder because you had planted it,” he said, adding that he was touched by the thoughts.
Last week Sri Lanka’s Ministry of Labour gave him a farewell party with 200 participants including the Minister, ILO tripartite partners and Donglin Li’s own staff. It was the first time an ILO outgoing country director was getting such a sendoff. Just before we parted company, he was full of praise for ILO’s Colombo staff. “Many are women, very capable and supportive. This was a good team and one reason why I was able to enjoy Sri Lanka.” More than a UN official ending his term, Sri Lanka is surely going to miss a friend!