Financial Times

Sri Lanka vs the developed world
Do things ever change in Sri Lanka for the better? Or are we asking too much from a society that has been politicised so much that change inevitably is a political process and not one of national interest?

This is one of the questions most of our migrant workers and Sri Lankans living overseas constantly ask themselves when they return home on vacation. I asked myself this question when returning home late last month after a two-week trip across the Middle East - Kuwait, Bahrain and the UAE. My hope and wish? That the situation would have improved in Sri Lanka and that we were moving forward on all fronts - peace process; post tsunami reconstruction, economic development, law and order.

What do I find? Chaos as usual - newspapers filled with 'bad' news, joint mechanism for post-tsunami aid opposed by the JVP, peace process jeopardised by clashes between opposing rebel groups in the east, the cost of living rising due to high fuel costs, a couple of gangsters shot in gang rivalry. The list goes on …

In a way it was nothing new from the situation that prevailed before I left Sri Lanka on May 11. But what I had hoped - and probably what most migrant workers like to see on their return - is some sanity in the Sri Lankan political scene and some decent development activity. Most people like to see a positive Sri Lanka.

Is that too much to ask? Many Sri Lankans whom I met in the Middle East have been living and working there for years - particularly those in the middle-level and upmarket jobs category - some as much as 18-25 years. Apart from earning as many petro-dollars as possible before returning home, is it likely that our people prefer to work overseas because - despite all the hard work - it is at least nice to work in a progressive and developing environment and not in depressed, backward Sri Lanka?

These are questions that confronted me on my return and probably many others amidst of course the joy of seeing one's family, children, spouse, parents and friends.

Everywhere --in the countries I visited -- new development is taking place - large highways with 6-7 lanes, smooth traffic flows, hectic building construction, maintenance of law and order. There is a sense of order and decorum whatever one might say about the travails of working there.

In Dubai, traffic is so orderly that when an accident occurs, police cars rush to the spot accompanied by an ambulance in case someone is hurt. Traffic is cleared within minutes, if not seconds. Streets are clean. Municipal lorries and cleaners are up early and sprucing up the streets much before working hours. You don't see municipal workers during the day. Try that in Sri Lanka? Here street cleaners and trucks get on the roads after schools have opened or workers are rushing to office. Garbage trucks and street cleaners with their carts are part of the traffic chaos.

Apart from the order, Dubai itself was a revelation. I was there a year ago in March 2004 and now visiting one year later, I was amazed at the level of development - buildings springing up from nowhere, hotel rooms have virtually doubled, deserts turned into an oasis of comfort and leisure.

Dubai has little oil resources unlike other cities in the UAE. But what it lacks in resources is amply made up with brainpower, creativity, drive, enthusiasm, ideas, drawing the best talent available from overseas, and attracting the world's largest companies.

A recent, very interesting book on Dubai's success titled "Sand to Silicon" looks at its development and suggests that it's a mix of the development of Silicon Valley in the US - with its bottoms up approach - and Singapore with its top-down approach. (More on this in an separate feature next week)

There is a new leadership emerging in Dubai, western educated, articulate and thankfully showing some concern about the rights of migrant workers which would augur well for migrants, particularly lower-segment workers, in the future.

Harassment of migrant workers particularly semi and unskilled like housemaids and construction still goes on but a new media culture is emerging with some plucky newspapers running challenging stories on the plight of workers - something that was not seen before. This is all part of the new culture.

One also occasionally hears of some government bureaucrats expressing concern about the treatment of housemaids by their employers, a new, welcome development indeed.

For the average Sri Lankan, a visit to the developed world and countries like Singapore, Thailand, Malaysia, Korea or the Gulf provides an insight into what Sri Lanka could have had if our leaders were pragmatic, courageous, honest, enthusiastic and working for the people and not themselves. Sri Lanka was at a much higher level of development than these countries in the 1940s and 1950s particularly in health and education but unfortunately the economic balance was not there.

Every time some one returns from a trip to these countries, the inevitable question is - why can't we be like them (those countries)?
- The Business Editor -

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