Financial Times

Inching towards a Sri Lanka Inc
By Random Acess Memory (RAM)
Pipe dream, one might say, for Sri Lankans to get into incorporated thinking. The joke about the holes in hell the cynics say, says it all. Why there is no guard on top of the hellhole for Sri Lankans it is told, is because when one tries to escape, the others pull the person down again. Last week we saw another fiasco about which of our leaders should address the UN General Assembly and the theatrics that go on behind the scenes to get to the lectern.

The simple rule of thumb could have been, who could do the job best for Mother Lanka. How wonderful it would be if that could have been decided over a good cup of tea between those who matter, without the need for undelivered letters and pulling of the rug from beneath the feet. The discussion then can be on what must be said to the world and who best fits the profile to do it. Pipe dreamer I am, but please, like in the latest movie 'Wind Bird' running the circuits now created by a woman on the plight of a woman, dreams are the only reality left for simple people like us to hang on to, when irrationality looms all over us.

The late Madihe Maha Nayaka Hamuuduruwo is known to have emphasised all the time the need to start nation building through building the character of each individual. The Hindu, Islamic and Christian prelates also promote the same sentiments. A process it is and needs to be achieved for the sake of the future well being of our motherland and the wider world in which we live. When the saffron coloured flags put on for Madihe Hamuduruwo, as the late Thera desired to be addressed, are taken down and the flower petals strewn from the helicopters are swept away, what should remain with us are not the bills for hundreds of thousands of rupees spent on honouring a true spiritual leader of our soil, but transforming into action what he hoped and stood for, on all our behalf.

He stood for good leadership. Not leadership driven by selfish agenda. But by leadership that propagated sound principles and he sought to fulfil the aspirations of the people. He was firm in his convictions and was beyond being bought. We are told of the story of a former President who offered him a gift of a comfortable car at a time he was taking firm positions on some issues that he believed negatively impacted on the nation's well being. He had in a firm and no nonsense tone replied "Do not you dare come to me with what you take to others". Lesson for the corporate world too. For the donor behind the car the former President offered, is said to be a corporate personality. Talk about transparency and good corporate governance.

The responsibility of achieving lasting peace and a blissful future for the generations ahead must not be left in the hands of the so called 'leaders' of today, they be from the South, North, right or left. It must be taken on by each of us citizens, individually and through that process collectively. Power of positive thinking is amazing.

estern management gurus today restate in modern parlance, what was ancient wisdom of the east. They make hordes of money holding seminars reciting the basic tenants of many gurus of our own. Positive thinking, teamwork, focused vision, sharing and caring, alliance building is the back to basic thinking that is unloaded on us. It would serve us well to listen to and not merely hear what Madihe Hamuduruwo and others like him said and are saying and act on them at the individual level. In the western management parlance a coherent Incorporated (Inc.) approach is what we need, in spite of and beyond the current muddle of the mess we are in. This can bring us hope at least for the long term.

In building a Sri Lanka Inc. approach; bit by bit (for there are no short cuts) we will also do well to think about some very basic issues. One is to look beyond the instant noodle, sausage and hamburger food culture. We need to adopt a back to basics approach in our food habits. For otherwise we may end up with a nation of 'people' incapable of rational thinking and sound intellect. The 'gotukola kande', 'mallums' and the proteins need return to our diets and loading of rice with little else, need be negated through the sound implementation of programmes for poverty alleviation. There is a call for policy formulation to focus on this and for corporate social responsibility to be exercised by those who are promoting the instant noodle and sausage culture.

The other basic issue is in the area of learning and education. While there is an effort to reformulate the way we educate our children, there is very little focus on making them learn skills for making a righteous living. RAM is not talking here of merely technical and vocational education but also a spiritual and ethical base. This together with the other basic approaches are vital to alleviating unemployment and in the long-term building a Sri Lanka Inc, our hope to move away from a not so blissful recent past and a present.

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