Of cabbages and kings :

The secret of success

There is a habit among our politicians and others to cite foreign countries that have surpassed us now after having lagging behind us at the time of our independence. In fact, we have been repeating the fact year after year. Yet, there are no signs, even the slightest of Sri Lanka closing the ever widening gap between it and those countries.

True, we have to go beyond repeating the fact as a mantra. The first task would be to seek why they went ahead and we lagged behind.

Wouldn’t it be prudent to include children’s rights as a subject in the curriculum?

It is in the quest for their success an interesting revelation was made recently by a top bureaucrat. In fact, he wanted the media to tell it to the public so that at least a few patriotic minded would take a cue.

He was referring to Japan. What is the secret of Japan’s phenomenal rise after the destruction it was subjected to in World War II? It could be said in just two words, he said. Yes, two words - discipline and courtesy. Two words that rarely go in tango here. Without discipline there would be no efficiency. Without courtesy there would be no enthusiasm. Apply this to your own home or place of work. You’ll see the results.

A diplomat from another Asian country had an interesting advice to some locals who had applied for visas to work in his country. He told them: Do not idle, lie and steal. Though not complimentary, this advice has a message, viz., the secret of success lies in good conduct. Successes that has eluded us so far seems to rest on such simple things, a point to ponder.

Torture at school

Reading through the pages of The Hindu across the ocean, I came across the news of a tragic death of an 11-year-old schoolgirl in India. The cause of death was torture.

The poor little one was made to stand in the sun for two hours carrying a load of bricks on her back. Though she could not bear the weight she bore it in obedience to the teacher. Yes, she bore it to death. Brutish pedagogy, indeed!

While feeling outraged at this act of brutality we should also deplore certain torturous practices that are occasionally resorted to by some of our own pedagogues. Incidents of physical torture that resulted in life-long disabilities were reported in the media some time ago. One could surmise that many such incidents go unreported. Wouldn’t it be prudent to include the children’s rights as a subject in the curriculum for teacher trainees?

Ticketless travel

Gone are the days when ticketless travel meant certain punishment. Now it is the norm and not the exception, at least in the private bus journeys. More over, demanding a ticket may invoke verbal abuse from the conductors or even you may be shown the door. All this is in spite of tickets being made compulsory by law. The latter is more observed in the breach and has become a mockery. Sad to see no Chief Minister or no Provincial administration strong enough to enforce the law. Failure to ensure a ticket for a passenger does not add to the credentials of these administrators, nor to the prestige of their administrations.

Speaking of private omnibus transport one is reminded of another comedy, the travails of dressing the staff in uniform. Though elsewhere uniforms are loved by the employees and very often it becomes the subject of many a trade union demand, but crews in the private sector shun the uniform like a deadly plague. The SC has given them time till the end of the year to make up their minds. However, great rebels (or anarchists!) they are, they resent all conformity and uniformity. Long live anarchy!

Early investment

From far off Uruguay we received refreshing news. All primary schoolchildren in Uruguay will receive a free laptop computer for learning online. There will also be a dedicated television signal to promote better understanding between students and teachers. This is a wise investment for in the knowledge society of today human resource development is the key to success. All countries that have reached the developed status have done so through the advances in science and technology, through research and development. In the competitive world of today, each nation has to develop technology of its own. In doing so nothing like catching budding scientists and technologists quite young. May be we can take a cue from Uruguay.

Walrus and the Carpenter