Where every other day is a holiday!

The way we celebrate each other’s holidays, you begin to wonder why so many accusations abound of disharmony. The way we eagerly await our share of watalappan and kavum subsequent to a festival I am sure we as a nation do not harbour much prejudice nor malice – note what Lonely Planet too has said – but politics in spare time had managed to generate such a negative image – so unfortunate considering the ground level revelling that goes on with holidays contributed by each other

Thursday, 29 November 2018 

So Sri Lanka – we have just been declared by the Lonely Planet as the place of choice for visiting topping the list for 2019. Simply excellent and it is actually nice to read the Lonely Planet’s Best in travel 2019 book which has this line – People who defy all odds by their welcome and friendliness after decades of civil conflict, this is a country revived.
In the wake of the declaration however, unforeseen developments have taken place not so because of it but the impact on the declaration may not be quite healthy. Anyway tourism is not a way to base our growth though some seriously believe that it is ‘the way’ to go. The events and the expectations following the declaration is to me an exact reason why we should not depend on such ways to plan our nation’s growth.

Tourism is definitely one of the world’s largest industries and if not the largest, and positioning country with its strengths and projecting a friendly caring nationality is certainly an excellent international perspective that we are projecting. However, sustainably developing an economy is very much more than a high dependency on tourism. Tourism perhaps is a way to reflect on work where work can be equally be fun if not more. Reminds me of the famous comment of the famous playwright Noel Coward – Work is more fun than fun!

Sri Lanka is indeed is extremely interesting to those who are in the workforce. We have just completed a working week where every other day was a holiday – quite interesting and there were plenty of skullduggeries going on to keep us entertained too! It indeed was an experience though other than the specific way in which the holidays occurred we must understand that we are quite used to holidays if not for working! However, the question is; such situations do they add value or pushes us even more into debt and destitute.

I had a tough time last week as I answered emails and discussed with the outside when I had to indicate that ‘I could again get back to you on Wednesday, as Tuesday is a holiday’. That had to be repeated on Wednesday as well when I had to explain that Thursday too is a holiday and will respond to the query on Friday. It was not because that I cannot email on a holiday but because I cannot get the answers when systems were down and on leave. The recipient certainly became a great believer in the Lonely Planet destination of the year after such email responses.

The period was not without shocks too from a systemic manner. Sri Lanka’s position in foreign currency issuer getting downgraded to B2. However, Moody’s downgrading of the Sri Lankan economy to B2 in that segment also pushed the rating Outlook to a Stable from Negative. We must ask the question ‘what was the mood at Moody’s when the exercise was carried out?’ There has to be rational explanation and not one emotional and certainly not something of the nature – we must send you a warning shot across the bows. The Central Bank shortly following the downgrading of Moody’s had been unequivocal – simply there is no rationale to what they did.

Rating agencies have also come under scrutiny and also had been fined over their processes and having more insight to the process is a question worthy of asking. Yet Moody’s should understand that we must be having one of the most efficient workforces among whatever the countries they operate on or generate reports cards on.

Now how can we claim the most efficient workforce? Simply with all the holidays we are capable of having decent GDPs and ensuring that we climb up in our per capita – little too slowly perhaps but we are on the up anyway. All holidays and no play perhaps is what we may be engaging on to have this extremely interesting status which, of course is not an official figure but an interpretation of mine.

One needs to reflect on our leave and work times. It was in 1973 that the world reeled from the shock of an oil cartel increasing the price of crude oil. While everybody outside the OPEC felt shockwaves Sri Lanka really had to take action to reduce expenditure. One step taken during that period was to remove the half-a-day working on Saturdays in the public sector. Suddenly the entire weekend was available to a good size of the population. While the oil prices has gone up and come down too we have never resorted to take back the granted holiday.

Another impact of that step is we do have the new concept in our lexicon – the long weekend! Of course with possible leave legitimately provided by the national calendar falling onto a Monday or a Friday, the long weekend is a certainty. Of course if the leave falls on a Tuesday or a Thursday then one has to exercise the large quota of leave one anyway carries to ensure an even longer weekend with a little subtle investment. Permutations are endless and it should be so in a land like no other.

It is quite well known that we in Sri Lanka have so many holidays granted to us by the State. Our personal leave allotments are excellent bonuses. Some actually claim that Sri Lankans have the most number of holidays. I am not sure whether the Guinness Book of World Records has an entry in this regard.

The way we celebrate each other’s holidays you begin to wonder why so many accusations abound of disharmony. The way we eagerly await our share of watalappan and kavum subsequent to a festival I am sure we as a nation do not harbour much prejudice nor malice – note what Lonely Planet too has said – but politics in spare time had managed to generate such a negative image – so unfortunate considering the ground level revelling that goes on with holidays contributed by each other. We indeed are grateful and I am sure we can include many more rituals to generate some more holidays.

At one point we were dangerously getting into the habit of declaring extra days of holidays to celebrate victories on the cricket field. Trifle sad as if we consider the most important event to stop work and celebrate is a victory in a cricket match. Indeed we demonstrate we do not understand what a truly remarkable victory is like such as working together and with plenty of creatively to transform our economy.

A national leadership with a willingness to declare a holiday at the drop of a hat or at the end of a raising the finger is certainly not worth being bestowed with a leadership. Today of course such holidays are mercifully absent – and gone are the wins too to be replaced by international probes – and I am sure will not happen again.

Another issue is when one is flooded with holidays you also run out with ideas on ways to celebrate. As holidays are so common you may experience a creativity crisis in coming up with options to do. This is certainly to test one out but I know most are not worried – the holiday is the thing!

One must not forget we can experience much diversity within a two-hour journey time. We do indeed live in a country with infinite beauty and diversity and who says one has to work in paradise. We indeed are true to that dictum. Of course still we stop and celebrate the May Day with so much solidarity with the true workers of the nation. We however, find it is again the politicians who take centre-stage on that day too and workers had to converge to clear the grounds of mounds of garbage on the next day.

We are quite equal in celebrating success together as well as in engaging in sorrow. Our participation in funerals is almost guaranteed if that day is a working day. The office can be closed and the office transport can be used to ensure the participation of everybody to share the grief.

The welfare system is another marvellous invention on financing such journeys. The longer the journey, the greater the attention and the keenness to participate. Special drinks will be always on hand to drown out the sadness. Such is the intensity of interest in sharing over caring that the isle is a hotbed of hospitality and kindness. We sure know how to be part of humanity.