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| Saturday, 17 April 2004 |
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Personality of the Week Manique Mendis by Illica Malkanthi Karunaratne A Chinese proverb states that 'every journey begins with one step'. Manique Mendis's journey through the world of media, began in the schooldays at Bishop's College. Time is long, or is it short, depending on what cares to remember, or what even if one does not care, will not allow itself to be forgotten. I sense, that Manique, looks back on her schooldays, with much joy and appreciation; for both instilling and kindling her interest, which still remains with her, and has made her an achiever. "My interest in writing began in school, and was nurtured from then on. I was a prefect, editor of the school magazine and president of the Interact Club. "I won the award for the Best President of all Interact Clubs in Sri Lanka, which spurred me on to achieve excellence in all I did. I sang in the school choir too, I am so thankful for the total education I had at school, which equipped me to face the challenges of life. "I was determined to give back something to the school which gave me so much, and am on the executive committee of the PTA, through which I make my contribution. I would say that the foundation for my journalism, was when I joined a daily newspaper. I went there, looking for a job, armed with copies of the school magazine, which I had edited, Vijitha Yapa, was the editor and gave me my first break. "At that time, most women journalists were put onto the women's page, but my sights were set on other horizons, and I soon managed to get into investigative journalism, which was much more interesting and invigorating too. "I worked on socio-economic affairs; did some insights into refugee camps in the North and East, drug addicts and mental hospitals, and made my name thus. I then entered Kelaniya University to do a Degree in Mass Communication and English. "The memories of those days are not all present, as coming from a private school and doing English, I seemed to get the worst of the ragging but I managed to survive. I made friends from all stratas of society, which I think laid the foundation, for me to fit into any environment with ease." What was your next step after university? "I worked as Deputy Publicity Manager of the Mahaweli Authority reporting directly to the then Minister, the late Gamini Dissanayake. "This was quite a different world to what I had been used to, as it involved wide travel to Mahaweli settlement areas, mud huts and chenas. My worked revolved around women's development activities, which again was an enriching experience. "I look on life as a huge, enriched happening. My work experience, right through my life, has been in public relations; in both the public and the private sectors and in international organisations. I later worked for MTV at its inception; when we were trained by Singaporeans. "They were workaholics and worked around the clock, which was an inspiration of all of us. My boss started work at 5 a.m. which was a good training for me too. I did the launch for 'Yes FM' and Sirasa radio while I was there. My bosses emphasised that responsibility and authority go hand in hand, and they wanted results. They were not interested in how we achieved results as long as we did it. It was all work with little time for anything else, but I enjoyed it, just the same." Have you ever lived and worked abroad? "My husband decided to go to England, to do his Masters in Mass Communication and my little daughter and I accompanied him. It was difficult for me to go out to work because of my daughter, but I soon contrived another way of earning money. "My husband was at the University of Leicester, where there were many foreign students. I put up notices all over the university, saying that I was available to help foreign students who were weak in English by editing their reports and assignments. There was tremendous response, and I soon found myself editing and sometimes even writing assignments for students from Iran, Thailand, Japan and China. They were willing to pay anything; I often had to rewrite reports and once did a PhD dissertation for a student from Iran. "My daughter started nursery school there, but settled quite happily into Bishops College, on our return." What did you do after your return? "I continued to deal closely with the media; organised workshops all over the country, even travelling to Trinco, Jaffna and Batticaloa at the height of the war. I did a Postgraduate Diploma too in Marketing Management at the Sri Jayewardenepura University. "Later on I joined the Chamber of Commerce as a PR consultant. Here too I was handling the media organising events and seminars to strengthen the image and publicise the services of the Chamber. It was a privilege for me to work with top captains of industry and business leaders; The Chamber is a model in the best practices in business. Messrs Tilak de Zoysa, Prema Cooray, Mahen Dayananda, Deva Rodrigo, Renton de Alwis were all honourable men, and it was both a honour and a pleasure to have the opportunity of working with them. "I left the Chamber to join the Press Complaints Commission as its CEO. "The commission is an unique milestone in the development of media in Sri Lanka. For the first time the print media has set up a system of voluntary self regulation for itself. "Since my entire career has been in media, it is a challenge for me to be here in its pioneering stage to set it up. As of now, we have had about 90 complaints. The Chairman of The Dispute Resolution Council of The Press Complaints Commission is Sam Wijesinghe; who is a man of such wisdom and experience, that it is a milestone and a privilege for me to work with him." The modern world does not work by old rules. It is run on different lines; by compromise, tact, guile and subtle manipulation. Problems are challenges and challenges are to be shared. The great universal truth is that it is all about give and take; we never know whats round the corner, that is what life is all about. Manique is, reassuringly self sufficient and confident; she could I think glide through life on the strength of her own determination; take everything in her stride and not make a drama if things went wrong. Her work seems time consuming, has she time for other interests? "I am keen on health and fitness, but I am not an addict about this or anything else. I exercise every day, play the piano, enjoy cooking and read a lot. "I try to give whatever leisure time I have to my daughter and believe in the quality of time given to the family rather than in the quantity. My husband and I have the same interests, so we help each other." To what do you attribute the addiction to violence and lack of discipline among young people today? "I feel there is a total breakdown of attitude. People have moved away from religion and there is a lack of respect for older people; a general decline in manners. It is sad but true. Public relations is not all glamour; this is just the tip of the iceberg. My work demands professionalism, hard work and the ability to relate to varying people and situations. I love my work and rejoice in seeing the results of my efforts. "Each individual can contribute to the uplift of society. We must be optimists not pessimists and believe in simplicity and humility to make this a better place for our children." |
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