Come to Lanka, where everything has a price, but no value

A Sunday newspaper carried an article concerning some Members of Parliament selling their duty free vehicle permits and an alleged remark by a J.H.U. office-bearer “Nothing is free nowdays”.

I think that remark epitomizes all that is regrettable about the present Sri Lankan mind-set. Everything has a price, but no value.
Market forces are dominant today and all of her values once possessed are in decline, therefore I am not surprised but saddened by this incident.

Old values have been sacrificed on a cross of gold. This is the observation of an old man which is likely to be rejected by many, as pure sentimentality. The new morality says that ethics are relative, that there are no absolutes. Our ambition is not spiritual freedom, but material targets.

We were once known for our smiling faces but nowadays we move around rapidly, with set faces unobservant of the common courtesies of road and pavement. “Time is money” they will tell you; true if that is all one wants.

By M.J. Meedeniya, Ruanwella