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by William De Alwis

Perhaps what we need is an earthquake to remind us that we should take nothing for granted. Not even the ground we stand on. Not a very bright idea? Well, I wouldn't say it's a flash of pure genius, but considering the circumstances in which we find ourselves today, and with everyone being great on hindsight, I should say I believe my idea does have its strong points.

Of course you must know how it dawned on me, and then you'll begin to understand. There I was, walking peacefully on Hendala road when a rich man's car gently, very gently nudged me into a great mountain of garbage. Very nice of him for he could have sent me sprawling into that mess.

I have a fast and high boiling point and I was beginning to tell him what I thought of his manners and road sense. He just pulled down his shutters, spoke just three words: Nikang Palayang Yakko and drove off leaving me in fumes. So what else could I do but take a long bath and pick up my pen? Everything else put together, drought, power cuts and the rest is bad enough but our descending behavioral patterns and values are just too much - unbearable!

You may have heard this one before because it did the rounds on the Internet some months ago. Anyway it bears repetition. It goes somewhat like this:

Got ten minutes for your country? If yes, then read this:

You say that our Government is inefficient. You say that our laws are outdated. You say that the municipality does not pick up the garbage. You say that the phones don't work, the railways are a joke, the airline is the worst in the world, the mail never reaches its destination. You say our country has gone to the dogs.

You say, say, and say!!! What do you do about it?

Take a person on his way to Singapore. Give him a name - yours. Give him a face - yours. You walk out of Chang Airport and you are at your international best. In Singapore you don't throw cigarette butts on the pavement, or eat in the stores. You are as proud of their underground links as they are. You pay $ 5 approximately Rs. 200 to drive through Orchard Road Something like the length of Duplication Road).

You comeback to the parking lot to punch your parking ticket if you have overstayed in a restaurant or a shopping mall, irrespective of your status or identity. In Singapore you don't say anything or protest. Do you?

You wouldn't dare to eat in public during Ramadan in Dubai. You would not dare go out without your head covered in Jeddah. You would not dare buy an employee of the telephone exchange in London at Sterling Pound 10 (Rs. 1000 approx). A month to see to it that your STD and ISD calls are billed to somebody else.

You would not dare to speed in Washington and tell the traffic cop "Mama Kauda Kiyala Dannawada Yako! (Do you know who I am?) I am so and so's son. Take your two bucks and get lost!"

You wouldn't chuck an empty coconut shell anywhere other than in the cabbage pail on the beaches of Australia or New Zealand.

Why don't you spit betel juice on the streets of Tokyo? Why don't you use examination jockeys or buy fake certificates in Boston?

We are still talking of the same YOU. You who can respect and conform to a foreign system in other countries, but cannot in your own, You who would litter the road the moment you touch down in Sri Lanka!

If you can be an involved and appreciative citizen in an alien country why can't you be the same here in Sri Lanka? You're right! We go to the polls to select a government and after that, forfeit all responsibility. We sit back wanting to be pampered and expect the government to do everything for us while our contribution is totally negative. We expect the government to clean up, but we will not stop chucking garbage all over the place, nor are we going to stoop to pick up a stray piece of paper in the office and throw it in in the bin.

We expect the railways to provide clean toilets but we will not use them properly. We want Sri Lankan airlines to provide the best but we will not stop pilfering when opportunity offers.

And when it comes to burning social issues like those related to women, child slaves and child abuse, we make loud drawing room protestations and continue to do just the reverse at home. We say: "It's the whole system that has to change. How will it matter if I alone forego my son's right to a dowry."

So, who's going to change the system? What does the system consist of? Very conveniently for us, it consists of our neighbours, other households, other cities, other communities, and of course, the government. But definitely, not me, not you. When it comes to making a positive contribution to the system we lock ourselves alone with our families into a safe cocoon and gaze into the distance at far away lands, and wait for a Mr. Clean to come alone and work miracles for us.

Or we leave the country and run away hounded by our fears. We run to America to bask in their glory and praise their system. When New York becomes insecure we run to London. When recession hits England we take the next flight to the Gulf. When the Gulf is struck by war, we demand to be rescued and brought home, by the Sri Lankan Government.

I don't agree with everything my friend says about ourselves in relation to people in the so called nice places elsewhere. People are the same under the skin wherever you roam. If they seem different it could be a question or culture, but deep inside they share with us the basic instincts to err. Singapore was just as bad before Lee Kuan Yew came along and set things right. The kingdom of Saudi Arabia and the Emirates were even worse till they took control of their oil fields?

Perhaps we could be like them even without their Draconian Laws which keep them in check. That is, if only we control ourselves. We don't really need the police, or for that matter an earthquake to be better.

An earthquake may last 50 seconds. To reconstruct what we stand to lose by neglecting the options open to us now can take 50 years. It's either a total application to the problem or waking up one morning to a scene of desolation.

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