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Hard drug curbing and peace

Another World Peace Day dawns, reminding mankind of its obligation to create a new world of peace and friendship among the nations of the earth. Mankind is also recalled to its duty of making its home, its neighbourhood, its region and its country, living examples of love and harmony.

Conversely, on a day such as this we are also poignantly reminded of the daunting obstacles which are bestrewing mankind's forward march to a life of contentment and peace. It was one of India's most illustrious sons, Mahatma Gandhi who impressed on mankind - in the context of the problem of Third World poverty and hunger - that the earth is blessed with enough resources to meet mankind's needs but not his greed.

The profundity of this truth could be perceived in the context of the hard drug menace which seems to be relentlessly spreading its tentacles far and wide, sparing no country or nation in this era of globalization.

It is no longer a secret that Sri Lanka too is suffering the ravages of the drug scourge. Hard drug trafficking, in its widespread, deeply - entrenched character, reminds us that the greed of some for ill-gotten gains knows no bounds.

The greed of the drug pusher has reached such vampirical proportions that he targets even the very young for the peddling of this deadly merchandise. Right now, the school-going populace of Sri Lanka is proving a happy hunting ground for the purveyor of hard drugs.

It is impossible to consider domestic, regional and global peace in isolation from current day blights, such as the drug menace. For, the financial proceeds of hard drug trafficking fuel the arms purchases of many a terror organisation.

In fact, if we could wean our vulnerable groups away from drug consumption, terrorists' coffers could be drained somewhat, thereby slowing down wasting internal conflicts and wars.

It must be also remembered that it is the terrorist's strategy to weaken a people by spreading among them the curse of drug addiction.

The recent sizeable hauls of heroin in numerous parts of this country should remind both the authorities and the public that these processes are steadily gaining ground. In fact we may be seeing only the tip of the iceberg.

The Police chief, IGP Indra de Silva, is in the process taking some novel initiatives, as reported by us yesterday, to crackdown on drug trafficking, but we need to work on several other fronts too to curb the menace.

It cannot be emphasized enough that the "big sharks" in this spreading evil need to be caught and brought to justice if the drug terror is to be stymied. It simply isn't enough to nab the "small fry" in this operation.

Unfortunately, some State officials seem to be in the employ of these "sharks". That even some members of the judicial service may be involved was brought home recently when a judge stood accused of being lenient towards a Colombo 7 - based drug pusher. That the vast majority of drug kingpins are evading the police dragnet is proof that some police officials too may be in league with them.

Thus, a fight on several fronts needs to be launched to ensure a hard drug free world. Once that is done, peace-making will be facilitated.

Managing time

A day has only 24 hours. They say that time flies and there are many instances when we wish we had 'more time' to do something. This has given rise to the term 'time management' and a whole lot of 'consultants' make a living by conducting seminars on this subject.

These seminars mostly turn out to be a waste of time because the art of managing time depends on the habits of each individual.

This was precisely the conclusion of a recent survey in the United States. Appropriately titled the 'National Survey on Time Use', it found that an 'average' American spent 8.6 hours sleeping, only 3.7 hours working and 5.1 hours engaged in leisure activities. It found that working people aged 25-54 appeared to have the longest day, spending up to eight hours on work and 7.5 hours on sleep.

The popular notion is that we spend more than one-third of our lifetime sleeping and this survey has reinforced that belief. The wise advise us that 'early to bed and early to rise' is the best option, though scientists still do not know definitely why we need to sleep at all. It is also not known why some people can manage with as little as four hours' sleep per day, whereas many others need at least double that.

The latest research suggests that 'catnapping' while at work may actually be beneficial not only to the employees' health but also to the employer's health. The reason - the body and mind recharge during the nap, leading to a more productive worker. It remains to be seen as to how many employers will actually allow this practice on the job.

Work and sleep apart, the US survey as well as many other surveys have found that most of our leisure time is spent watching television. It is a passive activity that in reality is a huge waste of time, unless the content has some educational value. How many people would engage in something more 'engaging' so to speak, like gardening, at the end of a working day or even on a holiday?

A typical day also covers housework, for which is very little time is left at the end of the day. Most working people are so 'stressed out' by this time that a quick trip to the take-away becomes much more appealing than cooking.

The truth is that we can extract much more from 24 hours if we really try. Managing time is no easy task, for which no amount of lectures can prepare us. It is up to each individual to make the best use of his or her time. But will we be ever able to truly master time? Only time will tell.

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