2021, the struggle for survival, the lessons learned - EDITORIAL

 31 December 2021

Sri Lankans experienced disappointments and heartaches in 2021, but when the talk started doing the rounds that there would be a food shortage people began thinking seriously about the past twelve months that they had survived. 

Twenty twenty one (2021) was nothing, but a struggle for survival. It was hard for people to even think of motivating themselves to be focused and stay clear of all the negativities around. Many perished to the deadly corona virus and those who lost employment felt a chill running up their spines. Sri Lanka wasn’t among the worst hit by the pandemic, but the repercussions from the Economic shocks jolted the average householder. 

It’s best we forget this year, but there were lessons to be learned. We blamed the president for the militarisation of some of the civil functions and administration of state departments. But those critics were full of praise when vaccination centres manned by the Army rolled out the vaccines efficiently and ensured people spent the least time at such facilities and no one jumped the queue. 

People in Sri Lanka put up with a second year of dealing with the pandemic. Though there were people who still disregarded health guidelines the majority, or at least 50% of the population, showed enough signs of having got used to the new normal and maintaining a distance of one metre between individuals. One just has to roll back the clock before the pandemic broke out to see that this was a nation which didn’t respect a person’s personal space. There were times when we used public transport where the person standing behind you would cough behind your neck and be very offended if you tried to complain. But now we see people being bold and ‘having the licence’ to order that a person must maintain a distance of one metre at all times between two individuals. 

Tea boutiques were serving tea in glasses and porcelain cups. During pre-covid times we often saw that these containers were not properly washed after use; hence the reason for the spreading of viruses among people. But with the health guidelines specified to combat Covid insisting that tea shop owners must serve their beverages in disposable cups there has come an era where hygiene promotion has reached lofty level. People dining in eateries must order only what can consume because stewards serving food won’t take back ‘returns’. This way food is not wasted. 

The year ahead is sure to give us goosebumps where the availability of food is concerned. But then again we were cautioned and told by our ministers to grow vegetables at home in order to face a possible shortage of food. The downside of this proposal is that it angered a good percentage of the citizens who don’t have even a square foot of land to plant anything. 
Citizens were told to tighten their budgets regarding spending, but government ministers were seen importing vehicles and even booking their air tickets for oversees holidays during the tail-end of the year. It was hard to stay motivated in 2019 when the lawmakers failed to walk the talk. 

Sri Lankan citizens have got used to living with wasteful lawmakers who plunder state assets and finances. But their patience started thinning when the poor man’s gas cookers started exploding; making the task of cooking at home a dangerous business. Buying milk powder to have a nourishing cup of milk tea is a luxury many cannot afford now. There is one thing left for the regime to do to really get the goat up in people. That is to jack up the prices of tea leaf or tea dust and deny the poor man a cup of black tea in the morning. At the rate the government is skidding economically such a disaster happening might not be far away.  
Let’s hope that 2022 would bring us some fresh air!