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Disciplined society: Bridge too far?

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By Dr. Upul Wijayawardhana

Discipline, by definition, is the practice of training people to obey rules and orders and punishing them if they do not. But there is more to it. The government of the day can lay down the rules as well as the mechanisms for punishment if they are broken, but society has even a greater part to play, as disciplined behaviour is mutually beneficial. The behaviour of the majority of the public, rather the misbehaviour, contributing to the difficulty of controlling the present COVID-19 pandemic, is a case in point.

True, the Pohottuwa government has distinguished itself by scoring many own goals, but it has to be appreciated that the President and the government have done much to control the pandemic, under very difficult circumstances. For an under-resourced country, facing a severe foreign exchange crisis, due to the pandemic, to have vaccinated more than half of the adult population, in a relatively short period, is a remarkable achievement, as it surpasses some developed countries. True, mistakes were made but no country got things correct as this was an unprecedented situation. Had there been more cooperation from the public, including the Opposition, things could have been even better. Having seen how Britain, which was hit very much harder, controlled the pandemic, I wrote an article ‘Learning to live with Covid-19’ (The Island, 26 August) wherein I stated:

“Limitations in force in Sri Lanka, before the imposition of the curfew, were similar to the strictest lockdown measures in countries like the UK. Why is that Sri Lanka needs to go a step further and introduce a curfew? The simple answer is discipline; whereas in the UK the majority show disciplined behaviour, unfortunately, the opposite is true in Sri Lanka.”

Though many appreciated my article written in good faith, to offer scientific facts to convince the public that they have a greater part to play than the government, to overcome the epidemic and learn to live with it, most unexpectedly, the only rebuff I got was from a former colleague of mine. He lambasted:

“I was quite amazed and disappointed about your comments about the vaccination programme here. Every medical professional here, except the ever-diminishing number of those slavishly loyal to the Rajapksas, are extremely critical of the way it is done. This vaccination programme has totally ruined the reputation we had as a country with an exemplary immunisation programme for a long time. When the Army, politicians and other businessmen make decisions, overriding medical opinion, the outcome is obvious.

The vaccination queues are the latest super-spreaders. Many have got the infection few days after attending a mass vaccination site. The latter have become carnivals with the army band providing music and the President making a supervisory visit every now and then.

“You have suddenly found Sri Lankans to be very undisciplined. With such a set of power-wielding uneducated, undisciplined set of leaders, what did you expect the people to be? Living thousands of miles away, your extreme ignorance about the ground situation here, coloured by your unwavering loyalty to some politicians, is not surprising.”

I was shocked that a member of my profession sought to politicise a serious public health issue. Whilst pointing out that routine vaccination programmes are not comparable to a programme conducted during an extreme emergency and that many, including Dr. N.S. Jayasinghe, a much-respected physician, has written to newspapers praising the programme, I addressed the issue of indiscipline with the following response:

“I know from personal experience how undisciplined Sri Lankans are and it is not a new discovery! I left the GMOA because I was against strikes, a sign of lack of discipline among the members of the so-called noble profession. If you think Sri Lankans are disciplined, you are living in cloud-cuckoo land! Your statement that the vaccination programme acted as a spreader proves my point. If it did occur, it is because people do not know how to queue. They think if you push, things would be done quicker! If the Army had stood outside ordering people to queue properly, the Opposition would have claimed Gota was using the Army to tame the public!”

The last thing I wish to do is to criticize my brethren unfairly, from a distant land, but I am not left with much choice. It is pretty obvious that indiscipline has grown, as much as each successive government in Sri Lanka, since independence, becoming more corrupt than the previous.

We are supposed to be a Buddhist country and we expect the disciples of the Buddha to be the most disciplined. A Buddhist priest trying to assault a vaccinator, because the stock of vaccines runs out, may be interpreted as an isolated incident, but it is not. Utterances by some Buddhist priests in public are cringeworthy. A Buddhist priest leads a nurse’s trade union; much against the code of conduct laid down by the Buddha and adds insult to injury by getting them to take trade union action during a grave medical emergency, endangering lives. Buddhist priests are seen joining the teacher’s strike, too.

What about the noble profession of mine and my friend’s? Even before the pandemic, their trade union did not care two hoots about patients’ lives; going on strike being their first response to any problem! Unashamedly, they risked innocent patients’ lives during a pandemic to get their demands.

Not that there are no disciplined professionals. Much was made, in the media, of Dr. Ananda Wijewickrema’s resignation and a few others from the expert committee. One of their colleagues has written to this newspaper that they owe it to the public to declare why they resigned. The resignation itself says it all and that is the way decent professionals protest.

Now teachers have joined the strike bandwagon to settle a dispute that had been lingering on for over two decades. They do not care a tuppence about the future of our youth and in the process have lost all the esteem the public held them in. My friend, very conveniently, has failed to notice that the virus spread due to demonstrations held by teachers breaching COVID-19 regulations, despite it resulting in the unfortunate deaths of some teachers.

Leaving politicians aside, most of whom are undisciplined, irrespective of their complexions, when respected segments of the society, like the clergy, medical professionals and teachers, display gross indiscipline during an unprecedented period like this, can there be any hope? I wonder! I do hope the next generation ‘rebels’ against these, as generations do, so that a disciplined society may not be a bridge too far; I can only hope!

Coming back to the political accusations my colleague made, my reply was:

“I am not ashamed to admit that, any day, I would prefer Mahinda, Gota and Basil to Ranil or Sajith.”

Just a few days after my comment, Sajith made his declaration that there should be a snap-election. My assessment was confirmed by the leader of the JVP who responded by saying that Sajith should have his head examined!

Perhaps, there is more to it than that. Considering the number of protests and trade union actions that have taken place in spite of the continuing national emergency, one cannot be blamed for suspecting that there is a hidden hand behind all this. Maybe, Sajith let the cat out of the bag by his unguarded comment.

On top of the inherent tendency, it looks as if there is planned indiscipline too!



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Opinion

Turning around national carrier pie in the sky?

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Nothing pleases me more than being greeted with Ayubowan by the smiling face of a beauty clad in a bright blue saree, every time I board a SriLankan Airlines Airbus to fly to Sri Lanka, which I was forced to leave during the second JVP uprising during which people were executed for doing their duty. Perhaps, SriLankan may outlast me as I am already in the departure lounge of my life! The million-dollar question is how long. Though my fervent wish is for SriLankan Airlines to flourish as a global carrier with repute, a potential it once had, omens predict otherwise. Some of the best who worked for the predecessors of SriLankan have ventured out to build very successful airlines. Successive governments have been grappling with the question as to what could be done to the loss-making carrier; ditch it or continue to fly for prestige?

One of the key decisions of the NPP government was to let SriLankan continue as a state venture. For the Marxist-orientated JVP, perhaps, any input from the private sector is an anathema although most successful airlines are private sector entities. Many countries that had state-owned carriers have opted for privatisation for reasons of economy, only countries with vast wealth to buy aircraft outright being able to maintain state airlines. Emirates Airlines, owned by a super-rich Gulf state, which started in 1985 with only two aircraft on wet-lease from Pakistan International Airlines, is a giant in aviation today. So is Qatar Airways, which started operations only in 1994 and is owned by another super-rich Gulf state. On the other hand, the UK handed over British Airways to the private sector a long time ago and India handed over Air India back to the original owners, the Tata Group in 2021. Despite the setback of the recent downing of the 787 Dreamliner, Air India is bound to prosper as the modernisation of the fleet goes on at an unbelievably rapid pace. In early 2023, Air India ordered 250 new jets from Airbus and 220 from Boeing, the largest order in modern times. The Airbus order was increased by another 100 in December 2024. This order exceeds the total fleet strength of Emirates and Qatar combined!

True to form, the NPP government made one hell of a show with the new acquisition to the SriLankan fleet, bringing the total number of aircraft to 23. Some communiques gave the false impression that it was a brand-new aircraft bought by the airline, flypast down the West coast on its way from Airbus headquarters in France to BIA adding to the show. One can understand the water-jet welcome to any acquisition but the rest of the celebrations was well over the top. It transpires that the ‘new’ Airbus A330 is actually a refurbished 14 years old aircraft, originally owned by Garuda Indonesian Airways for 12 years and then by a now-defunct South Korean Carrier. It was not bought either but is on a dry-lease. It is said that the order was placed by the previous government! NPP seems very adept at taking credit for the actions of others and to excel in words!

I have been on board a brand-new aircraft during its inaugural flight. A grateful patient of mine, who happened to be a travel agent, passed on his invitation for the maiden voyage of a new Swissair aircraft on the Zurich to London sector. I cannot recollect the type of the narrow-body jet, as it was so long ago, but I distinctly remember that there was no tamasha at all, the only difference to a routine flight being the addition by the captain that it is a brand-new aircraft in his welcome announcement! SriLankan, as well as its predecessors have added brand new aircraft to the fleet but I cannot remember any tamashas like this. In fact, SriLankan was the first Asian airline to operate the four-engined Airbus A340 in 1994.

SriLankan can trace its ancestry to Air Ceylon, which was established in 1947 as the state-owned flag carrier which ceased operations in 1979, to be replaced by Air Lanka. Rebranding as SriLankan happened when Emirates Airlines took a 43% share of Air Lanka together with a 10-year management contract. With the end of the management contract SL government decided to buy back the shares, more due to political reasons. Though there was an operational profit during the Emirates period, it is claimed that SriLankan lost in many other ways to Emirates including valuable routes.

Srilankan could have been a success story, if not for political interference, the worst offence being handing over the chairmanship to those without adequate experience. JRJ appointed a pilot to the top job whilst Mahinda appointed his brother-in-law. Some CEOs were totally corrupt, one of them hitting the headlines when Airbus settled a graft scandal with British authorities. Worst crime, among his many others including the idiotic agreement on Hambantota port by Ranil on SriLankan Airlines was the cancellation of the order to purchase four A350 aircraft, one of the most advanced aircrafts in the skies. Perhaps, he cancelled the order to spite the Rajapaksas rather than renegotiating to buy a fewer number instead of paying hefty cancellation charges with no aircraft. If the cost involved in establishing service facilities for a new type of aircraft was deemed unjustified, SriLankan could have purchased the A350s and dry-leased them, using the funds to dry-lease a few more A330s to expand services. Puny actions of this nature together with rampant corruption at the top has made SriLankan Airlines a liability to the nation. The previous government had drawn plans for a sale and there were interested parties. AKD decided that SriLankan should remain a state venture and appointed a person from one of the interested parties as the new chairman. If he steadies the ship and the IMF demands that SriLankan be privatised as a condition of one of the future tranches, a miracle could happen!

by Dr Upul Wijayawardhna

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Opinion

Fallen tree claiming life of student

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The fallen branch of tree

All the print and electronic media report that a huge branch of a large tree has fallen on a school in Balangoda, killing a 17-year-old student and causing severe injuries to 16 students.A mother of a student whose son is studying with the victim, giving a voice cut to the media disclosed in a heart-rending story that the repeated reminders on this hazardous threat made to the Principal and the Regional Education Office for the last five years have not been heeded to until this tragedy claimed the life of an innocent student.

This is not the first time that students have perished in the school premises. A sixth-grade student died when a discarded iron pipe of a soccer goal post fell on his body at Thopawewa Maha Vidyalaya, Polonnaruwa. Senith Wijesinghe, a bright student at Ananda College, Colombo, perished on the spot when the turf roller fell on his body. Another student at Wellampitiya Maha Vidyalaya met his untimely death when a part of the parapet wall connected to the water pipeline fell on his body. Another unfortunate death of a student was reported from the south when a Hume pipe brought for road development work rolled out accidently killing a student in the school premises.

A careful analysis of the statistics of fatal and grave accidents to students disclose a shocking revelation. According to NHSL, 2,691 schoolchildren have been treated, out of which 274 were related to accidents in the school premises. Health Ministry sources say that 10,000 to 20,000 students are being treated for accidents annually.

Educational authorities should bear in mind that parents send their children to school on the basic premise that the school provides an accident free safety environment to their children. School Principals as well as the Regional/Zonal Education Directors have an inalienable duty to provide this basic protection to the students, leave aside the education. What the Education Ministry and the Department should do is not to resort to knee-jerk reaction when a fatal accident occurs and issue precautionary guidelines. Their hunky-dory attitude does not bode well for the wellbeing of the student community. What is required is a well-planned institutional strategy to face this calamitous situation.

My recollection says that the Ministry of Education had issued directions by way of circular instructions to the Zonal Education Directors to visit schools periodically and identify the hazardous situations and unsafe structures and trees with a view to taking on the spot remedial measures. If the authorities heeded such directives, the life of a Balangoda student could have been thwarted.

This short note would not be complete if it does not cover the numerous safety hazards frequently confronted by the student community in a school setting. In laboratories where students are called upon to deal hazardous chemicals. They should not be mixed together and stored separately. Students should handle chemicals under the direct supervision of the teachers. Unsafe and unregulated pits and trenches should be identified and barricaded with tiger tapes immediately with prominent wordings and luminous colors. Unsafe old structures such as old buildings, rusted iron structures, unsafe roofs and materials, heavy rollers should be identified and they should be immediately discarded/dismantled before such structures cause any harm to the students.

During sports activities- dehydration and heart related injuries should be prevented by proper re-hydration and avoiding vigorous outdoor practices in hot sun during hot periods of the year. In this country, school athletic meets and big matches are held in the month of February and March during which period, heat temperament is relatively unbearable. For long distance running, medical certificates from a medical doctor should be mandatory.

School principals are the custodian of the children’s safety and a competent safety team should be formed to avoid unsafe accidents with the collective support of the teachers and school prefects. The creation of a safety conscience and culture should be inculcated across the board. When questioned by a Principal of a leading girl’s school in Nugegoda, she was very complacent about the safety arrangements of the school by delegating this function to a lady PTI instructor, which is most unsatisfactory. The Principal or the Vice Principal should personally and directly take over this prime responsibility. It is utmost paramount to analyse everything from a safety eye and the PTI is woefully lacking this trait.

Last but not least, I could render my support to the Prime Minister who is in charge of the Education to create a hazard free safety environment in the schools with the expertise I have obtained locally and globally for over five decades voluntarily. What I emphasise for the hazard-free school environment is that the safety aspect should be institutionalised within the main system of education. It would be a desirable step to establish a safety branch in each Zonal Education Zone, considering the adverse trend of tragic accidents. Essentially the present adverse trend of accidents in schools has to be arrested as a utmost priority.

It is much regretted that my comprehensive article published in a leading newspaper have not had the desired effect for the last six months.

J. A. A. S. Ranasinghe
Productivity Specialist and Management Consultant
(The writer can be contacted a49@gmail.com)

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Opinion

How to earn extra income from recycling plastic waste

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If any material has a commercial value people will be motivated to collect, and sell it in return for some additional income. From this perspective, even cow-dung when presented in the form of suitable fertilizer for agriculture can be a good source of income for the owners of livestock farms. When concerned about the present-day economic hardships many people in the low-income range are badly in need of money for their day today struggling for a living while facing an atmosphere of skyrocketing cost of living. Hence, the duty of the state and the media is to enlighten and educate the public about the available avenues and encourage them to engage in the business of the waste recycling industry.

At present there is a lack of information or frequent publicity about any collecting centers that accept and pay for polythene and plastic wastes. Therefore, the public are not interested in collecting them. As a result, tons and tons of plastic and polythene wastes are dumped, burned or thrown into waterways. It has become a widespread menace that wherever and whenever a mass gathering such as a procession, political rally, musical show, protest march, demonstration, a get together party is held, tons of waste, particularly, polythene and plastic items scattered in heaps on roadsides are an ugly sight to see. For example, Annual events like the Sri pada pilgrimage, numerous religious processions countrywide, new year celebration sites, sports meet, hotels and reception hall-based events etc. during the last tooth relic exhibition period in Kandy too, piles of waste were left to the annoyance of the municipal authorities. This is an everlasting environmental disaster which causes further and further degradation and destruction to the entire country.

In a recent news item, I happened to notice an entrepreneur, Sulalitha Perera from Bandaragama, is becoming successful in a polythene recycling scheme. He has expressed that he hopes to expand his business in all districts if he gets help from the government and other stakeholders. This is, indeed, a praiseworthy effort which should be encouraged and assisted by all concerned authorities, mainly by the ministry of environmental affairs. The media particularly the television and social media like YouTube must highlight the value of such environment friendly businesses which protect the environment, bring in forex to the economy, and provide employment opportunities to the community.

 In this regard, the main responsibility of all media particularly the electronic media (specially TV+ you tube) is to glorify the recycling industry by creating new dramatic episodes and new songs encompassing the environment cleanliness and benefits of recycling industries as well as to encourage the communities to collect and sell all polythene and plastic products to the collecting centers to earn an additional income instead of throwing or burning them in the neighborhood. For anybody, rich or poor, it is no shame to take back the collection of polythene and plastic that gathers in one’s homestead to the place where one purchases daily needs. A certain amount of deduction of the costs by the trader in lieu of the returned waste material is also profitable for the customer. This is the greatest contribution that all of us can make to sustain a Clean Sri Lanka.

Madduma Bandara Navarathne   Embilipitiya

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