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| Tuesday, 2 March 2004 |
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Our civic sense is now a casualty by Lionel Wijesiri We all have learnt Civics or social studies during our school days and conveniently forgotten. If I put it more precisely, we remember the "Rights" part of it when we want and ignore that the other side of the coin has "Responsibilities" written onto it. We all fume at the person spitting at the bus stop but do not hesitate even for a second when we throw away the ticket right on the road the moment we get down from the bus. We neither learnt ABC of environment and safety, nor learn to walk, ride, and drive along the roads. We need expert expensive aids to clear up rubbles and litter that we somehow dump every day carefully on the roads, quite away from our safe cosy homes. Miles away sincerity has lost its way towards righteousness and gradually we Sri Lankans are deteriorating in our civic sense. Will we never improve? Is it already too late for us? Why are we as a nation so insensitive to such matters? Isn't it time we did something about this? Typical morning It was a bit of a frosty morning and I was taking a walk. Just as I stepped into the main road I saw a farsighted woman and two gentlemen throw six bags of filth and litters wrapped in black polythene bags into the side of the road aiming at the garbage bin but missing it by yards. I could not see but heard an echo of the "splash" sound of the filth. As I came closer to it, the smell of it caught my nose faster than my eyes could catch the sight of it. I was only two meters away from the pile of garbage where pedestrians were coming behind me followed by a motorcyclist with a grey coat at a break neck speed. Roofed by a wonderful helmet and wrapped around by his coat, the stern looking motorcyclist blew the sharp horn to the group of innocent pedestrians walking along the middle of the road. His mouth and mobile in one hand dragged my attention towards him. Amazingly, pedestrians did not budge an inch to leave the way, nor the speed breaker could stop the motorcyclist to slow down. Suddenly, the rider took a sharp "U" turn, slipped off the road, and injured his legs. A bus stopped right in front of the garbage mountain. I could see above the head of the bus driver, in a corner, dangled a nameplate carrying a peculiar warning for the blinds of this city, which read: "No Smoking". But on the right hand corner, three young men were dusting their lungs by lighting up cigarettes. A three-wheel taxi driver, just in front of the bus nearly smashed a group of pedestrians cross passing the zebra crossing. On my right hand side I could also see some of the people pasting political posters on the wall. That made another civic sense. That was enough for my morning. On my way back home, I was asking myself what is wrong with our people. Pollution Look at noise pollution. It is fast becoming a major hindrance and no one, least of all those behind the wheels of buses, are bothered about the nuisance their loud horns cause in the congested parts of the cities. For all practical purposes most of the pavements in the city have been turned into shopping galleries. The problem has become so acute today that pedestrians no longer walk on the pavements but are forced to walk on the road, adding to the congestion. Traffic rules and regulations too present the same dismal picture. To most of the motorists, traffic laws are meant to be violated and no parking zones and single parking system is a norm that has no place here. Overtaking from the left and not caring to lower one's head light in congested places after dark has become the rule rather than the exception. Another distasteful example of our poor civic sense is the state of our toilets. The less said on the matter the better. We have public programmes, which scratch the surface of the issue but I believe what we need is an awareness drive, which will create a deep-rooted sense of responsibility in every citizen. Sporadic efforts have been made and then given up. Programs should be initiated to sensitize the public to the need to observe public decorum but we must not forget that utter disrespect is shown to our surroundings not only by the people but the Government agencies too. Young child That we Sri Lankans severely lack civic sense is apparent in the way we live, behave and the way we are. The literate and/or the well-offs are worse than lesser educated fellow beings; they do not think twice about hogging the road, committing every traffic blunder as if it were a birthright and so on. It is surely not the lack of resources here again. We need no experts to teach us how to keep ourselves clean, behave with respect for ourselves and others and with concern for the environment. Civic sense begins with small steps and at home first. A person's sense of civic responsibility is crafted and built over a period of time. The framing of a young child's "civic sense" begins at home by learning family values and expectations. The knowledge and tools needed to strengthen civic understanding are acquired in the formative school years through the school curriculum, and participation in student initiated programs and activities and community service projects. Finally, the depth and dimension of a person's civic sense grow through personal experience and peer and community relationships formed during one's life. Developing a sense of civic responsibility is an important lifelong exercise. It is the responsibility of our education authorities to guide and support our youth as they travel along the path towards becoming competent citizens. However, it is time we all realize that the air we breathe, the ground we walk and the city that is there, are our resources, natural or man made and it will not require some Herculean effort to respect the place we live in. It is all about character. The important question is: do we, Sri Lankans, have it in us? |
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