Commitment as a key to national success - Part II:

The morale factor in national rejuvenation

Text of speech of Defence Secretary Gotabhaya Rajapaksa delivered as chief guest, at the seventh annual conference of MBA alumni association of the University of Colombo titled 'Beyond traditional boundaries'.

Continued from yesterday

These projects involve a number of people from different organizations such as the UDA, the SLLRDC and the Municipality, together with selected members of the Armed Services. All of them work hard towards achieving success in the various projects entrusted to them because they understand their work will make Sri Lanka a more attractive destination for tourists and foreign investments, and a much more pleasant country for our own citizens. Making sure that all the people involved in any enterprise understand the value of their work is a very important duty of leaders and managers.

Defence Secretary Gotabhaya Rajapaksa

There are several ways through which the motivation of people can be further strengthened. Uplifting morale is extremely important. Consider the war effort once again. At the time the Humanitarian Operation was launched, society had a very negative attitude towards undertaking yet another military campaign against the LTTE. People were tired of war, and they did not believe that the LTTE could be militarily defeated. The respect in society for soldiers was also affected by the prevailing situation. This had a negative effect on the soldiers’ morale. Desertion rates were high, and the general spirit among Services personnel was at a low ebb.

Welfare campaigns

To overcome this problem, the Api Wenuwen Api campaign was launched. The Api Wenuwen Api campaign enabled us to show the soldiers and potential new recruits the importance of the soldiers' role in society. It conveyed to the general public the feeling that the soldiers were their own brothers and sisters, and that they should be respected for their role in protecting our freedom and security. The Api Wenuwen Api campaign also highlighted the seriousness of the government with regard to the military campaign. Not only did it slowly change the social perceptions about the war, but it greatly uplifted the morale of the soldiers and also encouraged many young people to join the military.

In addition to the Api Wenuwen Api campaign, several other steps were taken to further motivate the soldiers’. Welfare campaigns were launched to look after disabled soldiers, and to provide housing for soldiers and their families. The Api Wenuwen Api fund was established to enable the general public to contribute towards the welfare of the soldiers. Through such initiatives, the soldiers were made to understand very clearly that the government as well as the general public truly valued their service. They were given the confidence that their interests would be looked after no matter what. This provided further encouragement to them. Together with their clear understanding of the importance of their role, and the uplifting of their morale, these measures helped motivate the soldiers despite the immense hardships, sacrifices and risks they would experience during the war effort.

As much as commitment and motivation are important, consistency of focus is another critical success factor in any enterprise. It is essential that the focus on getting things done is kept from the start of the endeavour until it is completed. We must not be satisfied with midpoint victories and lose focus on the final result. The final objective is the most important one to achieve. The lack of consistent focus towards the end goal is a fairly serious problem in society today. On occasion, we make elaborate plans for achieving something but don’t focus enough on pushing it through to its conclusion. Implementation of plans suffers when adequate focus is not there.

Operation Riviresa

This is one of the reasons why the war against terrorism dragged on for such a long period. For example, Operation Riviresa was a very important and difficult operation in which the Armed Forces succeeded in liberating the Jaffna peninsula from LTTE dominance. However, instead of continuing until the goal of completely eradicating the LTTE was achieved, the Operation halted after the peninsula was secured. The LTTE was allowed the space in which to regroup. Not long afterwards, it staged a strong comeback. Many debacles followed, and the good work that had been accomplished was undone. It is due to situations like this that the conflict dragged on for so many years.

One of the most important success factors underpinning the Humanitarian Operation was the continuous, consistent progress that was made until the final objective was accomplished. This was possible because the focus on that final objective never wavered. First, the Eastern Province was cleared. Then, attention turned to the Northern campaign straight away. At no point was there any stoppage. No opportunity was given for the LTTE to regroup and reorganise. Instead, from the first day of the campaign until the demise of Prabhakaran at the Nanthikadal lagoon, there was consistent, continuous progress.

This progress was achieved despite setbacks occurring from time to time. Such setbacks are inevitable in any undertaking, but so long as the key people remain focused on the end objective, they will not impact the final outcome. When the reversal at Muhamalai occurred, and we lost 125 men, six battle tanks, and were not even able to recover the bodies of the fallen, it was viewed by some critics as a serious setback to the on-going campaign. It caused them to question the pursuit of military action against the LTTE, despite the many advances made prior to that incident.

Despite this setback, the President and the rest of the leadership did not panic. The focus that all the key people had on the Humanitarian Operation was truly exemplary. During the entire period of three and a half years, not a single Security Council meeting was missed. Instead, the President chaired these meetings every Wednesday and keenly participated in the briefings and debriefings made by the Commanders. He had an in-depth knowledge of the overall situation. As a result, he understood that setbacks such as the Muhamalai reversal were only temporary, and would not affect the overall progress of the war. Therefore he had the confidence to enable the military campaign to go on uninterrupted.

In this context, the importance of positive thinking should also be taken into account. One of the critical success factors in any undertaking involves the optimism, self-belief and confidence that people bring to it. The power of positive thinking is such that it can make even impossible tasks seem achievable. When coupled with a clear vision of what needs to be done, positive thinking can accomplish almost anything.

Peace process

For example, when the President was elected to office in 2005, terrorism had been a part of daily life for nearly three decades. The LTTE was in control of a large amount of the country’s territory. People thought it could never be defeated. Despite this, the President had a very clear vision to bring peace to Sri Lanka. When it was clear that the peace process had failed, the President had the courage, confidence and optimism to launch the military campaign to defeat terrorism despite the prevailing negativity. In just three and a half years, the campaign succeeded.

The presence of garbage in streets and public places was another problem that people often thought could never be solved. After all, officials at the municipal, provincial and even the national level had tried to tackle this problem for many years without success. Despite all the pessimism, however, solving the problem was not especially difficult. When the situation was analysed, it became clear that the fault lay with the companies responsible for disposing garbage and keeping the streets clean. These companies were not deploying enough people or committing enough resources for the tasks assigned. There was inadequate supervision, and the work was simply not getting done.

In addition to instructing the companies concerned to strictly fulfil the terms of their contracts, additional oversight was also provided through the Environmental Division set up in the Sri Lanka Police. The members of this division were given a clear mandate to monitor and ensure that the work that had been undertaken by the private sector companies was progressing according to schedule.

To be continued