Modern challenges demand innovative solutions. As society evolves and technology advances, the systems designed to support citizens must keep pace. Yet, time and again, we find ourselves trapped in outdated processes, wasting resources on incremental fixes rather than boldly creating new systems. A recent incident involving a lost mobile phone, reported in this newspaper, and the systemic inefficiencies it revealed underscores why it is time to embrace innovation rather than simply reinvent the wheel.

Case for Inventing New Systems

Inventing new systems allows us to break free from the constraints of outdated frameworks and design solutions that are fit for purpose in a changing world. In the case of phone tracing, a modern system could leverage cutting-edge technologies such as blockchain for secure data handling or AI for real-time tracking. Such innovations would not only enhance efficiency but also address vulnerabilities like hacking, which rendered the old system ineffective.

By building anew, institutions can focus on creating systems that are: Resilient: Designed to withstand emerging threats and challenges. User-Centric: Prioritising the needs and convenience of citizens. Transparent: Ensuring accountability and public trust.

Why Reinventing the Wheel Persists

Despite its limitations, reinventing the wheel persists because it appears easier and less costly in the short term. Decision-makers often fear the risks and disruptions associated with building new systems. However, this mindset ignores the long-term costs of inefficiency and the missed opportunities for innovation.

The Path Forward

To break free from the cycle of reinvention, we must adopt a mindset of innovation: Invest in Research and Development: Allocate resources to design and implement systems that meet modern needs. Foster Collaboration: Engage stakeholders, including citizens, experts, and policymakers, to create inclusive and effective solutions. Embrace Change: Recognise that bold decisions to build anew are often necessary for meaningful progress.

Overseas experiences

In the United States, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) has long faced criticism for relying on antiquated tax processing systems. Despite numerous updates and patches, these systems struggle to handle the complexity of modern tax codes and the volume of filings. Efforts to revamp the IRS’s technology have been incremental rather than transformative, resulting in persistent inefficiencies and public frustration.

Similarly, in India, the implementation of the Goods and Services Tax (GST) initially relied on legacy systems that were ill-equipped to handle the scale and diversity of transactions. While adjustments were made, these efforts highlighted the limitations of reinventing outdated systems rather than designing new, robust frameworks from scratch.

Examples of Successful Innovation

Estonia’s e-Government System is a global leader in digital governance. Instead of attempting to modernise traditional bureaucratic structures, Estonia built an entirely new e-governance system. Citizens can access services like voting, tax filing, and healthcare online through a secure digital platform. This system’s design prioritises transparency, efficiency, and user experience, saving citizens time and fostering trust in government.

Singapore’s Urban Mobility System developed a world-class public transport system using data-driven planning and cutting-edge technology. Instead of retrofitting existing systems, Singapore invented a new approach to urban mobility, integrating autonomous vehicles, cashless payments, and predictive maintenance. This innovation not only improved efficiency but also positioned Singapore as a global leader in smart transportation.

Rwanda’s Drone-Based Healthcare Delivery the government partnered with private companies to deploy drones for delivering medical supplies to remote areas. This innovative system bypassed outdated infrastructure, directly addressing the country’s unique challenges and improving healthcare access.

Learning from Failures to Embrace Innovation

Conversely, when systems are merely reinvented rather than reimagined, they often perpetuate inefficiencies. The European Union’s Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) has faced criticism for repeated reforms that fail to address fundamental issues like sustainability and fairness. By focusing on patchwork solutions, the CAP has struggled to meet the evolving needs of farmers and the environment, demonstrating the risks of clinging to outdated frameworks.

Global Implications of Inefficiency

The consequences of reinventing rather than inventing extend beyond inconvenience and inefficiency. Outdated systems can undermine trust in institutions, stifle innovation, and hinder economic growth. For instance, legacy financial systems in developing countries often exclude large segments of the population from accessing banking services, perpetuating poverty and inequality. By contrast, mobile-based financial innovations like Kenya’s M-Pesa have revolutionized access to banking, empowering millions.

The Need for a Paradigm Shift

Globally, governments and institutions must recognise that sticking to old systems often comes at a higher cost than inventing new ones. However, the reluctance to innovate stems from several factors: Fear of Disruption: Decision-makers often view new systems as risky and disruptive, opting for the perceived safety of incremental changes. Resource Constraints: Developing new systems requires significant investment in time, money, and expertise. Resistance to Change: Institutional inertia and fear of the unknown can stifle creativity and innovation.

Overcoming these barriers requires a shift in mindset, emphasising the long-term benefits of bold, transformative action over the short-term comfort of familiarity.

The Role of Communication and Collaboration

Innovation also demands effective communication and collaboration among stakeholders. The Sri Lankan phone-tracing case highlights the importance of ensuring that all parties—regulatory bodies, service providers, and the public—are informed and aligned. Estonia’s e-government success, for instance, was driven by a coordinated effort involving government, private sector, and citizens. Clear communication about new systems, their benefits, and their usage is crucial to building trust and ensuring adoption.

Barriers to Innovation and Strategies for Overcoming Them

Despite its advantages, inventing new systems faces several obstacles: Institutional Inertia: Established organisations often resist change due to entrenched interests and fear of disruption. Resource Constraints: Designing new systems requires significant investment in expertise, time, and funding, which many institutions are reluctant to allocate. Cultural Resistance: Societal norms and perceptions can hinder the adoption of innovative systems, as seen in the public’s skepticism toward digital governance initiatives in some countries.

Overcoming these barriers requires a combination of leadership, collaboration, and education. Research by many scholars emphasise the importance of visionary leadership in driving systemic innovation. Effective communication and stakeholder engagement are also crucial to building trust and ensuring the adoption of new systems.

The Way Forward: Embracing Innovation

To foster innovation, governments and institutions must prioritise long-term goals over short-term fixes. Policymakers should invest in research and development, adopt agile methodologies, and encourage cross-sector collaboration to design systems that are adaptable and future-proof. As seen in Estonia, Singapore, and Rwanda, the benefits of such investments far outweigh the initial costs.

Moreover, international cooperation can accelerate innovation by sharing best practices and pooling resources. Organizations like the United Nations and the World Bank have a critical role to play in promoting systemic innovation, particularly in developing countries where resource constraints are more pronounced.

Reinventing the wheel may feel familiar, but it is not sustainable in an era of rapid change. The challenges of today require us to invent systems that are resilient, efficient, and responsive. As the incident with the lost phone demonstrates, clinging to outdated frameworks not only wastes resources but also erodes public trust.

By embracing innovation, we can create systems that not only solve current problems but also anticipate and adapt to future challenges. It is time to stop patching the cracks and start building the foundations for a better tomorrow.

The challenges of today cannot be solved by reinventing the wheel. From inefficient phone-tracing mechanisms in Sri Lanka to outdated tax systems in the United States, the costs of clinging to old frameworks are evident. By embracing innovation and inventing new systems, governments and institutions can create solutions that are resilient, efficient, and responsive to modern needs.

Global examples like Estonia’s e-government and Rwanda’s drone-based healthcare delivery demonstrate the transformative potential of new systems. It is time to shift from patching cracks to building robust foundations, ensuring that the systems of tomorrow meet the demands of an ever-changing world. Only by prioritizing innovation over reinvention can we truly unlock progress and improve the lives of citizens worldwide.

In Cass’ last Friday’s Cry, she quoted the late Dr Manmohan Singh on terrorism; “It is clear that terrorism is a global threat …. Terrorism is cowardice aimed at innocent people. It is fed on hatred and cynicism.”

Cynicism

Cass was rather surprised that among all the reasons and causes for terrorism, Singh singled out ‘hatred and cynicism.’ Hatred yes and obvious. But cynicism instigating terrorism? The meaning of ‘cynicism’ is “an inclination to believe that people are motivated purely by self-interest. Skepticism.”

She went back to 1989 – a year of absolute terrorism caused by the JVP rising against the government. Hatred was an underlying cause. Have-nots rising against haves? Yes, to a certain degree. A predilection for creating mayhem and even killing people and destroying expensive infrastructure; bloodthirstiness being catchy and spreading among the terrorising rioters? Yes, for certain reasons. Where does cynicism come in? The terrorists, the JVP diehards, believed they were given short shrift. Yes, they must have thought and believed much was denied to them. And others lived well. This could be equated to cynicism. And so they retaliated in the vilest way they knew then.

In the present context what Cassandra writes is that cynicism often clouds issues and turns white to grey and even black. For instance, while many who not even voted for the NPP in the last general election and not for AKD in the presidential polls, are very in favour of the NPP government under Prez AKD. Some remain skeptical and doubtful. Justified. Many Sri Lankans have come to accept them as a good government on whom hope can be reposed. However, facts, hearsay, pictures must not be twisted and turned to make them appear bad.

Most approved is the simplicity of the two top most in the land. Anura Kumara Dissanayake and Dr Harini Amarasuriya are admired and praised for their ordinariness – the PM doing her own grocery buying and wearing sari on official occasions and jeans as informal wear; and AKD, visiting his mother in a hospital; being driven on official occasions but opening the car door himself.

These to most are good signs, unplanned, unmotivated, just being natural, but to some people, they are gimmicks to gain popularity. These cynics believe the VIPs’ cameramen are directed to photograph them and splash pictures in the print media. Here clearly is demonstrated an inclination to believe that people are motivated purely by self-interest. And what is that? Skepticism, cynicism. Not good at all, wrong assumptions which can be harmful to the people thus thought about; in this case AKD and Harini.

If such critics want a concrete example of manoeuvring events purely for self-interest they should recall Princess Diana and her phoning and asking photographers to be present when she went on a mission of charity and then complaining the paparazzi would not leave her alone to even get about her good work sans publicity. The aforesaid example is not out of Cass’s hat. She was so bent on demeaning Prince Charles that she stooped low.

Thus, the plea for no cynicism. Accept at face value and criticise when criticism is due, not on supposition and hearsay. Congratulations are due to our PM and Prez. They go about their private lives like ordinary people. No heavy escorts; no panjandrum belief of being powerful personages or pretentious officials. They come across as ordinary persons but holding competently the two most powerful positions in Sri Lanka.

Clean Sri Lanka Initiative

Cass’ initial thoughts on this project were mixed. Flashed across her mind were Gotabaya Rajapaksa’s Colombo City clean-up and renovation of old buildings. Good results. Then as Prez, his advisors – no need to mention them – led him to harm and in many instances destroy our agriculture, commercial tea included. So, Cass was wary of slogans.

However, she strongly feels AKD’s cry to Clean Sri Lanka is a genuine call for a shake-up right through the country: its systems, administration, government and the people themselves. Cass then recalled Most Ven Madihe Pannaseeha Maha Mayaka Thera’s wise statement as translated from Sinhalese by the then CCS administrator Olcott Gunasekera, who co-founded the Dharmavijaya Foundation. “It is not possible to develop a country without the moral development of man; let us develop the country along with the moral development of man.”  The initiative to ‘clean Sri Lanka’ includes the moral behaviour and make up of all Sri Lankans.

In his inspiring, very clear and sincerely given address at the New Year, President Dissanayake mentioned cleanliness as starting from bus stands and railway stations to government departments, Parliament, and people of the land themselves. This cleaning was so badly needed but no action was taken by relevant authorities. “A cleaner physical environment and a nationwide moral commitment to enhance ethical principles. Enhancement of the three pillars of sustainability; Economic, Social and Governance have been identified as the framework to address the overarching objectives of this strategic plan with specific stakeholder goals, actions, time lines and outcomes.”

The President spoke to a distinguished audience of local persons and foreign diplomats.  Heartwarming it was to see Prez Dissanayake move to Kumar Sangakkara and Mahela Jayawardena and even pat Sanga in a friendly gesture. These two cricketers are true citizens of this land.

No one will deny that this once wonderful island, famed for its beauty, contented people and serendipity was dragged down by its own people so it went into bankruptcy, spreading poverty, misery, corruption of all sorts and made a drug haven, where however, some dynastic families and individuals lived like kings – in luxury and immunity. It had to change; we were sunk in a pit of hopelessness. And now a call and acceptance of the challenge to change, by no less than the government itself. Other leaders too, while electioneering, promised a country flowing with kiri peni. But they would not, even one of them, actually have made a considerable change if they came to power. They, those leaders of course and their closest, dearest and coteries would have lived well, but not you and I – the Ordinaries. We would have continued existing poorly with no hope.

Of course, there are critics of this Clean Sri Lanka initiative. Rightly so. Reading a Sunday newspaper Cass found one columnist against the setting up of a Trust Fund and the 18 member Task Force. Criticism is welcome and this has been said by the highest of the land, ensuring free speech.

Reading about the project, Cass found this statement which she does not know whether the President said, or whether it is an interpolation. “The government will launch a special project ‘Clean Sri Lanka’ aiming to make Sri Lanka the cleanest country in the Asian region.” Goodness, gracious! Far too ambitious. To exceed Japan, Singapore, South Korea? But then the word aiming is present. So, OK. One can aim even at the stars. Time and commitment by all are of the essence.

The project’s Vision and Mission are down to earth and reachable/attainable.

Vision: “Beautiful Island, Smiling People.” Very realisable. We are already a very beautiful island, unique in certain characteristics. We were noted for our smiles. With better living, those happy smiles can be regained on faces.

“Mission: “To reposition the nationwide efforts of environmental, social and governance initiatives through introducing change, interaction, and collaboration.”

By Ashanthi Ekanayake

Chandrarathna Bandara’s most recent novel Piyasara Samaya, of which the title might be loosely translated as A Time for Flying(or even a Time to Flee), is a thought -provoking novel which offers the reader a space to connect their lived experience with the narrative. It deals with the socio-political realities which were our lived experience as Sri Lankans in the recent past. The novelist’s previous work Premanishansa received the Swarnapusthaka award and the Vidyodaya award for best novel in 2022. Piyasara Samaya which came out this September has themes which are in common with Premanishansa and the novel is set in such a way that the narrative deals with recent happenings in Sri Lanka. However, what is most noteworthy is its contribution to the literary genre of diasporic writing or novels of expatriation.

The novelist introduces two protagonists and through their characters offers many insights to certain aspects of life.

Chamath is a young graduate who is forced to flee to Canada as a fugitive because of his involvement in the aragalaya. The narrative reveals that he is forced to leave the country due to the imminent threat of being arrested. He scrapes money together by mortgaging land. Milanka is a university academic who has political affiliations due to marriage as well as the fact that her mother is an influential person in Sri Lankan politics. Milanka also leaves Sri Lanka due to political upheaval and the fact that her husband Pushpe is a corrupt politician. The novel explores themes of expatriation and how one becomes part of the diaspora through the experiences of these characters. The novel explores certain themes which are common to expatriate literature such as assimilation by examining how the characters become comfortable in their new lives.

Milanka and Chamath are from two different social milieus and through them the novelist explores certain aspects of the sociopolitical landscape of Sri Lanka. The narrative is thoughtful and the characters develop with depth and the writer brings them to life through minute details which renders them realistic.

Chamath has been influenced at an early age by his father who was an active trade unionist. As such he has been involved in student movements and plays a key role in the aragalaya movement. The narrative explains the experiences of activists like Chamath who are arrested and harassed. The novel gives a back story to this period of Sri Lankan history and attempts to reveal certain elements which were not easily observed.

Milanka is an illegitimate child and knows only her mother Letitia Wijewickrama and has lived a somewhat sheltered and privileged life. At the start she is a university academic who is well known and loved by all. Milanka’s character is developed carefully and Bandara recreates the feminine ideal who is a combination of beauty, brains and strength that the reader encountered in his earlier novel. Milanka is a strong contrast to Pushpe due to her individuality and her ability to protest things which don’t sit right with her. In fact, her illegitimacy itself becomes a metaphor which influences the reader’s understanding of the novel. However she is principled in the utmost.

Mrs. Wijewickrama is an enigma. She is developed along the lines of a hetaera. The hetaera were upper class courtesans in ancient Greece who entertained and provided relief to statesman of Pericles ilk. Aspasia was said to be his favored companion and she held sway during the Golden Age of ancient Athens. Mrs. Wijewickrama is described as a confidante and a mover and shaker who is very powerful in the political arena. Thus, she too plays an important part in the progress of democracy as did the ancient hetaera.

Pushpe is the epitome of the current politician. Developed as an unpolished individual with humble beginnings and promise he soon assumes the shape of the uncouth, corrupt and unscrupulous common politician as we know them. He has humble beginning and is groomed by Wijewickrama who is a doyen in the political arena.

Other than the characters who are introduced purposefully and with care the striking thing about Bandara’s writing as always is how he incorporates real events and real people into the narrative. Bracegirdle, Barbara Sansoni and many individuals who are mainly forgotten by the current generation are mentioned and even much-loved individuals like Harold Peiris, who is well known among artists as someone who encourages and helps them, find their way into the narrative and make the novel a real and lived experience. In addition, the novelist introduces themes of religion, literature, history, culture and the arts, making readers engage in these aspects effortlessly.

In the events leading up to the visit to Cuba and during the visit the reader is made to engage with the narrative because of the aspects of art and literature which come to be mentioned. Jose Marti and the monument dedicated to his memory and the story behind the structure and how it came to be where it is all have significance in the story structure as a whole. Frieda Kahlo and Trotsky are mentioned as well as Diego Rivera. The reader cannot escape the parallels between Cuba and our own homeland as both suffer when the powerful countries sneeze.

As a whole, the novel fulfils the artistic requirements of such a work and provides a satisfying read but in addition it lays bare certain aspects of Sri Lankan society and politics. One can only congratulate the novelist for his timely work which does its duty regarding opening the eyes of the reader.