Opinion

2022: Just another ‘Happy New’ year?

Published

4 years ago

2021/12/31

Is it going to be another ‘New Year’ with only the usual change of calendars? Or, one marked by a more judicious change of cooking methods: a shift from the cooker fitted with a self-immolation gas-trick contrivance, to a multipurpose rice-cooker? By the way, one would say that “long live litro!” is a mediocre use of alliteration to heighten sarcasm, but even such justifiable cynicism appears a bit too crude in a social context; where people’s unashamed greed for money seems to have eclipsed even the most rudimentary concern for the lives of their fellowmen. Sporadic gaseous explosions would have amply compensated for the want of seasonal cheer, if only they had occurred without taking innocent lives or causing material harm and island-wide trauma.

Coming back to the New Year, all of us have, as usual, the unending hope of better times ahead, despite all the bad signals. 2021 proved to be an unmasking of the worst vices of humans: political impudence, verbiage and cronyism, blatant abuse of power, profiteering at every turn – even at the expense of Corona victims, callous disregard for the poor, vulgar display of wealth, insolence and political clout, wheeling and dealing and, last but not least, religious blinkeredness of the worst type as shown in the brutal killing of the Sri Lankan, Priyantha Kumara Diyawadana in Sialkot, Pakistan. It provided a heart-rending climax to a series of tragicomic episodes.

Of course, none of the above excesses went without eliciting responses of indignation and shock, but all in vain. Hapless people, who have been accustomed to witnessing the culprits going undaunted and unpunished, have no option but to adapt themselves to the relentless pattern of increasing insolence, and increase their capacity for shock absorption. As for the ruling party, they know that the Opposition’s election-oriented bark, being mere political theatrics as usual, is worse than its post-victory bite. Hence, they have no fear of the latter’s threats of reprisals that they jolly well know are meant for the ready consumption of the irate masses.

Aren’t the frequent festivities, including two ‘New Year’ festivals in January and April, innocently working as painkillers to temporarily make us forget a perpetuating illness? If not, why do we long for them so much? The freethinker, Dr. E.W. Adikaram, used to say that the more festivals a society needs as temporary distractions, the more ailing it is. In other words, if enough happiness is attainable in your day-to-day life: what you do for a living, your personal relationships and how productively you spend your leisure, most people would not have to count much on special ‘happiness days’, so to speak. Perhaps, this is why you hear cynics say, “if you were moneyed, you would have Christmas / New Year every day.” Political leaders on both sides never miss an opportunity to wax eloquent about the significance of each festive occasion, because they know better than to waste such seasonal palliatives for the crowds. The grander you make the carnivals appear to the masses, the more ardently they invest in them and the more stoutly they bear their daily grind, which they attribute to their karma or lot in life.

Celebrations are all well and good, but they cannot solve the chronic social maladies built into unsound structures, be they political, economic, ideological or cultural; and it would be prudent to have the fun, not forgetting that we have stuck to the rituals for donkey’s years without any of them helping us to get over our familiar problems, which we complacently attribute to subjective factors. It’s a pity if festivals are allowed to be felt as rewards for our ‘forbearance’ when, in fact, it is nothing but our apathy and powerlessness, which all sorts of fraudsters dutifully applaud as people’s intelligence and decency.

The sad fact is, our excited and unquestioning adherence to formalities on the calendar unwittingly helps us to stick to our hoary political, ethnic, and religious guns, all the more zealously. For ages, we have been conned by our political saviours, and sedated by other manipulating agents and institutions. This has erected barriers between us and the so-called political, religious or ethnic ‘others’, without many of us recognising the overt and covert propaganda or brainwashing concealed in it, no matter whichever euphemism you may use to call it. This has resulted in a prolonged numbness, which we variously ‘interpret’ as devotion, patriotism, nationalism, faith etc., which has created ever-elusive and toxic fault lines in society.

The sad paradox is that the outcomes are everywhere, but intangible. Where have our political loyalties brought us? We have been seeing mighty ‘differences’ in political parties that are all but identical in the way they have governed the country. Our acquired political, ethnic and religious ‘identities’ have created imaginary foes and we have seen the results. Nonetheless, complacency remains to be the rule, occasional ‘shock’ being the exception. The Sialkot tragedy is just the tip of a multifaceted iceberg.

Surely, it doesn’t pay to be pessimistic, but no amount of optimism will compensate for addiction to familiar placebos. Everybody talks about the need for change. However, the problem is that most of them are convinced that many familiarised ‘structures’ should not change. It’s time they looked long and hard at those seemingly indispensable and unchangeable ‘constructs’ that make them stiff and immobile, in some respects to the detriment of overall progress.

However, all this doesn’t mean that seasonal greetings are in any danger of losing their social relevance and, so, yes. Happy New Year!

SUSANTHA HEWA

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Opinion

A harsh reflection of Sri Lanka’s early-warning gap

Published

21 hours ago

2025/12/17

Sahan Weerasooriya

Floods caused by Cyclone Ditwah

Cyclone Ditwah:

Cyclone Ditwah, which swept across Sri Lanka at the end of November, caused massive damage to the country, the extent of which need not be mentioned here, as all are aware of it by now. Heated arguments went on among many parties with regard to how this destruction could have been mitigated and who should take responsibility. Although there may have been shortcomings in several aspects of how we responded to Ditwah, this article highlights a critical area that urgently requires attention if we are to protect ourselves from similar hazards in the future.

As is common in many situations, it has once again showcased a concerning weakness in the country’s disaster-management cycle, the gap between issuing early warnings and the expected public response. The Meteorological Department, the Irrigation Department, the National Building Research Organization, and other authorities issued continuous warnings to evacuate well in advance of imminent threats of flooding, landslides, and water hazards. However, the level of preparedness and community reaction fell short, leading to far greater personal property damage, including loss of a few hundred lives.

Sri Lanka is not unfamiliar with natural disasters. One of the most devastating disasters in our history could be considered the 2004 Tsunami event, which resulted in over 35,000 deaths and over $1 billion in property damage in the coastal belt. After the event, the concepts of disaster management were introduced to the country, which we have been adhering to since then. Again in 2016, the country faced massive river flooding, especially in western and southern regions, and until recently experienced repeated floods and landslides due to rains caused by atmospheric disturbances, though less in scale. Each of these events paved the way for relevant authorities to discuss and take appropriate measures on institutional readiness, infrastructure resilience, and public awareness. Yet, Cyclone Ditwah has demonstrated that despite improvements in forecasting and communication, well supported by technological advancements, the translation of warnings into action remains critically weak.

The success of early-warning systems depends on how quickly and effectively the public and relevant institutions respond. In the case of Ditwah, the Department of Meteorology issued warnings several days beforehand, supported by regional cyclone forecasting of neighbouring countries. Other organisations previously mentioned circulated advisories with regard to expected flood risk and possible landslide threats on television, radio, and social media, with continuous updates. All the flood warnings were more than accurate, as low-lying areas were affected by floods with anticipated heights and times. Landslide risks, too, were well-informed for many areas on a larger spatial scale, presumably due to the practical difficulties of identifying such areas on a minor scale, given that micro-topography in hill country is susceptible to localised failures. Hence, the technical side of the early-warning system worked as it should have. However, it is pathetic that the response from the public did not align with the risk communicated in most areas.

In many affected areas, people may have underestimated the severity of the hazard based on their past experiences. In a country where weather hazards are common, some may have treated the warnings as routine messages they hear day by day. As all the warnings do not end up in severe outcomes, some may have disregarded them as futile. In the meantime, there can be yet another segment of the population that did not have adequate knowledge and guidance on what specific actions to take after receiving a warning. This could especially happen if the responsible authorities lack necessary preparedness plans. Whatever the case may be, lapses in response to early warnings magnified the cyclone’s impact.

Enforcing preventive actions by authorities has certain limitations. In some areas, even the police struggled to move people from vulnerable areas owing to community resistance. This could be partly due to a lack of temporary accommodation prepared in advance. In some cases, communities were reluctant to relocate due to concerns over safety, privacy, and the status quo. However, it should be noted that people living in low-lying areas of the Kelani River and Attanagalu Oya had ample time to evacuate with their valuable belongings.

Hazard warnings are technical outputs of various models. For them to be effective, the public must understand them, trust them, and take appropriate action as instructed. This requires continuous community engagement, education, and preparedness training. Sri Lanka must therefore take more actions on community-level disaster preparedness programs. A culture of preparedness is the need of the day, and schools, religious institutions, and community-based organisations can play an important role in making it a reality. Risk communication must be further simplified so that people can easily understand what they should do at different alert levels.

Cyclone Ditwah has left, giving us a strong message. Even an accurate weather forecast and associated hazard warnings cannot save lives or property unless the public responds appropriately. As it is beyond doubt that climate change intensifies the frequency and severity of extreme weather events, people in Sri Lanka have to consider preparedness as a routine part of life and respond to warnings promptly to mitigate damage from future disasters.

(The writer is a chartered Civil Engineer)

by Eng. Thushara Dissanayake

Opinion

Feeling sad and blue?

Published

2 days ago

2025/12/16

Sahan Weerasooriya

Rowan Atkinson

Here is what you can do!

Comedy and the ability to have a good laugh are what keep us sane. The good news to announce is that there are many British and American comedy shows posted up and available on the internet.

They will bring a few hours of welcome relief from our present doldrums.

Firstly, and in a class of its own, are the many Benny Hill shows. Benny is a British comedian who comes from a circus family, and was brought up in an atmosphere of circus clowning. Each show is carefully polished and rehearsed to get the comedy across and understood successfully. These clips have the most beautiful stage props and settings with suitable, amusing costumes. This is really good comedy for the mature, older viewer.

Benny Hill has produced shows that are “Master-Class” in quality adult entertainment. All his shows are good.

Then comes the “Not the Nine o’clock news” with Rowan Atkinson and his comedy team producing good entertainment suitable for all.

And then comes the “Two Ronnies” – Ronnie Barker and Ronnie Corbett, with their dry sense of humour and wit. Search and you will find other uplifting shows such as Dave Allen, with his monologues and humour.

All these shows have been broadcast in Britain over the last 50 years and are well worth viewing on the Internet.

Similarly, in The USA of America. There are some really great entertainment shows. And never forget Fats Waller in the film “Stormy Weather,” where he was the pianist in the unforgettable, epic, comedy song “Ain’t Misbehavin”. And then there is “Bewitched” with young and glamorous Samantha Stevens and her mother, Endora who can perform magic. It is amazing entertainment! This show, although from the 1970s was a milestone in US light entertainment, along with many more.

And do not overlook Charlie Chaplin and Laurel and Hardy, and all the Disney films. Donald Duck gives us a great wealth of simple comedy.

The US offers you a mountain of comedy and good humour on Youtube. All these shows await you, just by accessing the Internet! The internet channel, ‘You tube’ itself, comes from America! The Americans reach out to you with good, happy things right into your own living room!

Those few people with the ability to understand English have the key to a great- great storehouse of uplifting humour and entertainment. They are rich indeed!

Priyantha Hettige

Opinion

There is much to learn

Published

2 days ago

2025/12/16

Sahan Weerasooriya

After the recent disaster, a great deal of information has been circulating on WhatsApp and YouTube regarding our reservoirs, highways, etc.

In many of these discussions, people have analysed what went wrong and how the damage could have been prevented. My question is this: why do all these knowledgeable voices emerge only after disaster strikes? One simple reason may be that our self-proclaimed, all-knowing governing messiahs refuse to listen to anyone outside their circles. It is never too late to learn, but has any government decision-maker read or listened to these suggestions?

When the whole world is offering help to overcome this tragedy, has the government even considered seeking modern forecasting equipment and the essential resources currently not available to our armed forces, police, and disaster-management centres?

B Perera