Author: MahamahaRaja

High food and petrol prices, soaring energy bills, corruption at all levels of government including political appointments and pilfering of the public coffers by MPs and ministers, graduates without jobs, abject poverty, rising theft and mugging, and worsening inflation.

Sri Lanka? No, IƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢m talking about Britain.

They even have problems we donƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢t have: increasing racism, ghettoization, a broken health service, massive personal debt leading to record home repossessions, rape, murder, paedophilia, an education system in chaos ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢¢”š¬…” one which leaves over a quarter of elementary children unable to read, right or count properly as they enter secondary school; and universities pumping out graduates with degrees in ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ…-landscape gardeningƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”š‚ and ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ…-fashionƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”š‚ which have no practical use whatsoever.

And whose fault is this? If the Sri Lankan opposition were to be believed, all the problems afflicting Britain must be the fault of the ruling party there, or maybe, just maybe, BritainƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢s problems are also due to Mahinda Rajapaksa and the SLFP.

There are also myriad social issues in Britain: broken families, adultery, teenage pregnancy and an epidemic of sexually transmitted disease ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢¢”š¬…” all the end result of what they call in Europe social ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ…-liberalizationƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”š‚ and, ironically, womenƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢s ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ…-empowermentƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”š‚. Certain segments of ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ…-civil societyƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”š‚ here in Sri Lanka advocate similar loose morality, to which I can only say, echcharai adu.

But what about the rest of the 27 EU nations, Australia, and India, which have all been affected by similar problems? Surely all these countries canƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢t be having rubbish governments? Of course not.

LetƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢s look at Japan. It is plagued by many of the same western problems, including graduate unemployment (over 30% last year without jobs) ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢¢”š¬…” leading them to live with their parents as ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ…-freeters.ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”š‚ They spend their time venting frustrations on internet message boards and immersing themselves in computer games, slowly losing the ability to interact with the rest of society.

Massive company layoffs compounded by a dearth of jobs has created a generation of 50-something part-time workers who have little hope of regular employment, and little or no social security benefits to fall back on. Then thereƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢s increasing numbers unable to afford even the tiniest of apartments, worsening crime, ballooning public debt, a bankrupt pension system, single parent families on the rise, and widespread homelessness for the first time in (probably) the nationƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢s history. Little wonder Japan suffers from some of the worldƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢s highest suicide rates.

When you compare Sri LankaƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢s problems, those of a developing country just emerging from three decades of continuous war against brutal terrorists, with the maladies of the ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ…-richƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”š‚ countries of which Japan and Britain are prime examples, things donƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢t look as dire as the opposition here would have you believe.

No one denies Sri Lanka has many structural problems which causes day-to-day issues. But our problems can be rectified by simple measures like improving transport networks, constructing power stations, cultivating fields which lay fallow due to terrorist landmines, and expanding higher education.

Revenue from a booming economy based initially on logistics, energy and tourism can be used to fund research and development in universities, to then build a knowledge based economy in which services can be exported, thereby providing jobs for our young graduates ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢¢”š¬…” who unlike most of theirƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  British compatriots, happen to have real, valuable degrees. This, I believe, is one way of understanding the essence of the ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ…-five-hubƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”š‚ development programme initiated by the current government.

The problems in other countries are a result of the breakdown of society, extreme bureaucracy and an excess of greed. Those are far harder to correct.

But other countries have an important advantage that is lacking in Sri Lanka ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢¢”š¬…” an opposition which holds above all else the interests of the nation and its people.

In India, the BJP fights vehemently against attempts to give more autonomy to Kashmir, an illegally occupied territory. They wonƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢t even give independence to the real Tamil homeland of Tamil Nadu, instead deflecting that problem onto Sri Lanka by arming and training Tamil terrorists. So do you think they would agitate for handing over a fantasy state to terrorists as Ranil Wickremasinghe and the UNP did?

Far from demanding a reduction in military spending in a country which contains 42% of the entire worldƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢s malnourished under-5s, or calling the nation a ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ…-failed state,ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”š‚ the Indian opposition would be incensed if the government stopped their imperial posturing. And neither does the opposition blame their own inability to win elections on a Congress ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ…-dictatorshipƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”š‚ and ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ…-media oppression.ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”š‚

No, the BJP will not resort to tarnishing their countryƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢s honour in order to score cheap political points, or appeal to foreigners to enact a regime change and install them as leaders, like Mubarak in Egypt. And no other countryƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢s opposition would do this either.

But Ranil, Sajith, Ravi, Fonny, Karu and the rest? You bet!