New normal
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The margosa tree in the garden has been ‘lonely’ for many weeks now since COVID-19 hit Sri Lanka. The trio – Kussi Amma Sera, Mabel Rasthiyadu and Serapina – has been unable to sit on the plank bench beneath the tree and have their usual Thursday gossip since physical distancing became mandatory. But the tree has drawn many birds and squirrels, with the environment free of pollution, vehicles and noise.Life across the world will never be the same again with a large-scale loss of jobs, negative economic growth, changing lifestyles and more people getting used to working from home.
Sri Lanka too has had to rapidly resort to a makeover in the way it does business with the rest of the world. The ‘new normal’ implies that we would be changing the way we do things when more people might work from home to avoid the transport rush, traffic and spending time on the roads.
But perhaps the biggest change that has come is with our key commodities such as tea and coconut resorting to online auction sales. Tea for export, for example, was traditionally sold at the Colombo auction in the presence of brokers and traders. For many years, the trade has been thinking of changing to an online auction process which, however, never happened until two weeks ago when mandatory physical distancing and curfew forced tea trade authorities to switch to an online auction. And it was very successful with the online auction fetching good prices.
Another lesson is that commodities have become a part of the essential food basket. Unlike apparel or tourism to which a lot of attention is often paid to, old export faithfuls like tea and coconut are coming out stronger in this crisis.
Whether tea will continue to be traded at an online auction or an auction where brokers and traders are physically present on one floor remains to be seen after the health crisis is over. In the long term, with new technology changing the way business and trade are done, online auctions may become inevitable. The same might apply to the stock market, where trading has come to a standstill for more than two weeks now.
Among the other changes are that people will demand safety and security in their food, services and places they holiday in. New audit certification is likely to emerge for food safety and preference given to machine-packed food with less use of hands and hotels certified as having cleaner rooms, etc.
As I reflected on these thoughts, I was interrupted by a call. It was ‘Karapincha’ Perera, the tea-kade gossip, on the line.
“I say… this curfew is killing me,” he said. “It’s the same for all of us. But we don’t have any choice,” I replied.
“There seems to be many problems in the distribution of Rs. 5,000 to Samurdhi recipients with some getting it and some not,” he said.
“Yes, many pathetic stories about how people went to the Samurdhi office and it was either closed or the officers said they had not been informed about this special payment,” I said.
We then discussed issues relating to the health crisis and how the government is managing the situation and the problems in some areas particularly in the distribution of essential food and other items.
A Business Times poll this week, while commending the government on the health measures in place, revealed that most respondents were not happy over the distribution of food and other essentials and also the handling of the economy.
While I ended my brief conversation with ‘Karapincha’, there was some commotion at the gate. Kussi Amma Sera, Mabel Rasthiyadu and Serapina had gathered near a vegetable vendor, one of many coming down the road these days.
“Aiyo, meva hari ganang ne (Aiyo these are expensive),” said Kussi Amma Sera. “Elavalu aei metaram mila adhika (Why are vegetables so expensive?),” asked Serapina. “Madam, velandapole elavalu hingayak thiyena nisa (Madam, because there is a shortage of vegetables in the market),” replied the vendor, adding that it was also difficult to transport goods due to the curfew. Despite their objections over the prices, the trio purchased their requirements of vegetables and returned to their respective homes.
Back to the topic of tea, thankfully there is demand for Ceylon tea abroad. Even though hotels, cafes and restaurants have closed in most parts of the world, tea is still considered an essential home brew and much sought after, with suppliers needing to replenish dwindling stocks.
Once the main export of Sri Lanka in value terms, tea has fallen down the line of top exports. In 2018, tea exports were worth US$1,428.5 million, much lower compared to textile and garment exports which were worth $5,317.7 million. Remittances from Sri Lankans working abroad at $7 billion annually represent the highest foreign exchange earner for the country.
While it is unlikely to reach $5 billion or $7 billion in export values, tea will still remain an integral link in the global food chain and a key commodity export for Sri Lanka.
In the meantime, online discussions through zoom (an online discussion platform) and webinars (seminars conducted over the Internet) have become very popular. Organisers including the Ceylon Chamber of Commerce and other trade bodies have been discussing a range of topics, for example, on exports, the government’s stimulus packages, working from home and the future of technology in business.
These are replacing the usual public fora that are held drawing crowds ranging from 30 to about 150 people. However, they are also largely successful because people are at home and able to follow these events with time on their hands.
As I reflected on these issues, Kussi Amma Sera brought in my second cup of tea, humming Sunil Perera’s song ‘Koththamalli’. Taking a sip of tea, I pondered on the life of business and trade and how it would change in many ways with new technology dominating the world of business. This would also apply to how governments operate in the future.