Friday, February 6, 2009

It is time we get together - Siwhelayani !

Yesterday night I went to see "Dayata Kirula" exhibition, and I was so amazed to see the transformation that has happened in the country. Three years back I was exhibiting and the show was small and had almost no attraction. But yesterday it reminded me the old days, on our way back we even tasted a "Saara Wita" and hat's off for the security personnel, we felt so comfortable with few hundred thousand people who were rushing inside.

My friends, the transformation is happening. the age of Parakumba is on the way, But not without your help and contribution. This site is an open invitation to all (Siwhela) Sri Lankan children to come and contribute ideas and take on line or off-lines to make that economic transformation we need.

For the time being this blog will be kept for registered blogger s only to stop the intruders trying to sabotage, but will open eventually to all, when all of us understand the reality (not that dream of past 30 years).

So please feel free to start commenting and based on your contribution I will add you as a co- author when you qualify (sorry I am not trying to be the judge of someones capability, it is purely for keeping the place little clean)

Thanks and Best Regards
SanErComics

49 comments:

  1. good luck, lets do it

    I am Sinhala, but lets be careful and change your "invitation to all Sihala children " to something else to be politically correct, after all there are some good tamils out there.

    To earn the trust you need to link with govt and have their feedback on your blog.

    again, thanks for your time lets do our part.

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  2. Thankx bro,

    I will do that, but what I meant is Sihela, mean all the children of our mother Lanka, but if you feel I am limiting myself with this I will change it to Sri Lankans :-)

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  3. I am sorry,

    I thought this was a typo, have to say I am humbled by your Sinhala.

    May be I may have taken some gloss out of your great work as a first to post, so give me sometime I will send you a full A4 wish list to kick start others.

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  4. I will link the government folks when we have develop considerable amount of momentum. Otherwise we will not get the right amount of attention.

    Also I need your help to get the site organized.

    I guess we need to have sub sites which will discuss specific subjects, but let us start communicating so we can align ourselves

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  5. This comment has been removed by the author.

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  6. Great start bro! I am thrilled to be part of New Sri Lanka where patriotism as its best and people think about the country before anything.

    Beginning of new era surely on the way thanks to great hero's, lets improve the economy of our country for the sake of our children and generations to come. Without economic prosperity value of hard earned peace will diminish.

    Also I am impressed that you are an entrepreneur. At this juncture we need hundreds of such people to start sustainable businesses and create hundreds of jobs. This is the only way we can achieve such economic prosperity of our beloved Motherland.

    Java wewa!

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  7. Hi Sanercomic

    What is your Idea of developing the disipline of SriLanka. Something like obeying the law and not to bypass it.

    That is the main problem in our country I guess

    Anyway good start and Good luck

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  8. Writing sitting in Katharagama, saw the developments going on, passing Hambantotoa, really there lot going on and roads are done very well. amazing..! Also there were unprecedented amount of people in Kiriwehera and Katharagama. Amazing to see the crowds. I think more than the long weekend people feel secured.

    Wow... I saw some windmills , 5 to be exact.. good show brothers. SL is on its way. Tomorrow I am off to Trinco, will write what I see..

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  9. Gamunu,

    I also lived my good young age outside SL and saw the difference. It took almost 8 months to teach my driver how to be on to a lane and allow pedestrians to cross etc. But now he is a great driver!! I could say chauffeur :-).

    I also have few engagements as an entrepreneur, and has achieved lot of what you are talking. Yeah mate it is slow, it took seven years and lot of new learning beyond standard text book MBA's to handle our energetic young talent. Will write later more about it. But for now I am so pleased!!

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  10. It's great you have created a new blog. When I talkedto one defence journalist in Divaina he told me just to find tiger news he surf more than 250 web sites directly publishing tiger news. That is why tiger propaganda always ahead of us. Our fellows who go abroad forget the motherland when calculate dollar to rupee. This is one problem with our people.

    I want all who have IT knowledge to start a new web sites supporting future of motherland. Sri Lanka is our land where we first touch earth, where our ancestors,great grand fathers, grand fathers & fathers lived. Where ever we are we cannot forget our land. SLDF did enermous sacrifices to save our land from enemies within. We have a duty or our part. We must unite. We should do something now. Forget personnel greedy ideas. Let's unite to safeguard the motherland.

    I wish in this blog we could discuss more important issues.

    ReplyDelete
  11. I shall try my post to keep clear and concise.

    Here are some areas and ideas (waiting for some web guru to comeup with nice template)

    1) Culture, Language and Identity

    - It is the high time we come up with some sort of mandatory qualification for our journalists including the ones appearing in the TV and radio.

    - protect Srilankan identity. e.g kids knows more about Bolliwood than our heroes.

    _ There is none to fill Amaradevas, Nanda malini, victor Ratnayake shoes.
    what is Jayawardane Uni doing ?

    - bring respect to the National flag, it really disturbing to see people waring national flag, hosting wrong side out.

    2) Defense

    i) People,

    We need look after our disabled heroes as well as their parents, perhaps we need to introduce some sort of identification to our ranaviru parents so they get better preference in the queues.

    We need to uplift the armed personal,

    ii) System

    Need to invest on R&D, Like Singapore MINDEF
    Need better PR system
    Need outside intelligence like RAW


    3) Infrastructure,

    - Govt should invest more on telecom backbone
    - Also create a collaboration framework across all the ministries
    - have a vision such as data connection to every house.

    4) education

    - Every kid should go to university vision
    - Eradicate politics from universities, kill JVP if required in this subject
    - we should have a better method

    5) Law and Order
    - for someone to comment

    6) Govt institution productivity and efficiency

    Need a method to measure and reward people.

    Please feel free to modify, delete as required

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  12. Mates, Was traveling from Kataragama to Trinco see one of our cousins. Road from Kataragam to Buttala across Yala was not that great in terms was road quality but not too bad as well. Great feeling as the road segment was well secured, forces every 150-200 meters and all checks were thorough.

    Buttala was a surprise, a new industrial city comming up and roads were all asphalt laied up to Monaragala. Then we turn in to Buttala Bibile road, which is B series road. Well that seems to be pathetic so far. But now we found half way they have started doing culverts etc.. so it is coming up I hope. Will write more when I see more.!

    When I posted.. there was no signal with Dialog. So I am writing little more. This B56 road was really bumpy but I saw there are lot Plantain. unfortunately being transported to colombo using lorries without much attention to packing.Road conditions will make it worse. So Patriots, if you can do something, this is one area, goto Medagama on B56 from Monragala - Bibile Road.

    We need to teach them how to pack to transport, because I saw recent survey in SL says the wastage loss is almost 30-40% of crop!!

    Jayawewa!
    PS: excuse for typos, it is a bumpy road

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  13. Pandula,

    Saw your comments, quite difficult to read while on the road. I will write a reply when I reach Trinco. Thankx Bro

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  14. Thanks for taking time to ack (courtesy), take care

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  15. Awadiwanna! Awadiwanna!
    Deepthimath Dinaka Uda Wela Thiyenne' !
    Sithanawata Wada Sonduru
    Vinodhabara Lokeka Api Jeewath Wanne' !



    No Sinhalese with ancestral roots in Sri Lanka will ever forget this resplendent land, this Ratna Bhumi, we call home.

    It matters not where we live, how many years we have been away, there is only one "homeland," one Janma Bhumi, in the world for us, and that is Sri Lanka.

    This is not a thin cosmetic skin you can scrub out of us; it is an enduring vision in our collective conciousness as a people.

    We will protect and preserve the unity of this land, this Vijaya Bhumi of our ancestors, against all enemies with every fibre of our being.

    We, the living, will ensure that the generations of Sinhalese yet unborn can point to this ancient heritage, and proudly claim it as their own.

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  16. This comment has been removed by the author.

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  17. SanerComic,

    Thanks for starting up this blog, with a unique Sign In Name to prevent fake hijacked Profile IDs from becoming a nuisance.

    I have two questions:
    1. Why is my Photo ID not being displayed next to my Display name of Ananda-USA? That would be nice to add some color to the blog.

    2. Why are the Displayed Names and Dates not dark enough to be easily read?

    Can you can fix these two problems? Thanks.

    JAYAWEWA!

    ReplyDelete
  18. A Personal Interview With The Supreme Thalaivar Vellupillai Prabakaran

    In a recent interview, the Supreme Thalaivar Velupillai Prabhakaran revealed to this reporter that the EELAM war is ending about 26 years too early for him, impacting both the LTTE ENTERPRISE and his personal RETIREMENT PLAN. An anticipated BAILOUT by the Indian Government has failed to materialize.

    Mr. Prabakaran, who is now 54 years old, wanted to keep the war going

    1. until he achieved the ripe old age of 80 (resulting from the excellent food & healthcare gifted by the LTTE Diaspora), mainly to annoy his Buddhist(!) foes, and

    2. until the first generation of LTTE Diaspora supporters also die and his tax base goes to zero. This assumes that the second generation Diasporans would not contribute to his support.

    3. until his investments recovered. He had invested all his Liquid Assets in the Bernie Madoff's Ponzi scheme in the US that went bust last year, his Real Assets are either sunk or captured by the SLA, and his Human Assets (Cadres & Slaves) are either being TERMINATED or FREED by The Great Emancipator President Mahinda Rajapaksa ...so he is entirely dependent on current Diaspora income, which is increasingly looking very uncertain.

    Things are NOT LOOKING GOOD for the Thalaivar. However, he was quick to point out, everything valuable in this world is NOT NECESSARILY TANGIBLE; some are increasingly VIRTUAL.

    He now plans to rest on his LAURELS, and has arranged to receive the necessary laurels in the form of an honorary posthumous MBA from IIT, Chennai. This is based purely on his superior performance as a global entrepreneur. He arranged the award with the assistance of his lifelong friend and mentor, Mr. Karunanidhi in Tamil Nadu.

    He has convinced the IIT that he presided over a $500 million international enterprise that attracted private & state (LTTE Diaspora, GOSL, Norway, UN, TN, etc) VENTURE CAPITAL FUNDING for over 30 years, invented innovative SIMPLE methods for MOTIVATING and successfully TERMINATING his work force, led a successful MILITARY and MOTIVATIONAL R&D program within a vast gulag, oversaw major construction projects in the war cemetery industry, and in the military education of children.

    In this reporter's humble opinion, this is a TREMENDOUS TRACK RECORD for a high school dropout that puts ordinary MBAs and PhDs to shame! Incidentally, I should note that ultimate success of an enterprise is not a required criterion for this award of an MBA from IIT, Chennai.

    He says one of his major worries now is arranging a more dignified EXIT from this world. He is also seriously concerned about his personal LEGACY in the future, because he recognizes that his overly aggressive management style did not create long-lived friends and impacted the ultimate success of his global venture.

    He pleads that at the root of his difficulties was that his TARGETED CONSUMER BASE among the Sinhalese in Sri Lanka was too JUST TOO TOUGH & RESISTENT TO HIS MARKETING, although his GLOBAL business model and advertising program were really excellent. These, he says, are only minor DETAILS that should not impact his outstanding LEGACY to enterprise management.

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  19. Brothers.

    We all know there is a high voices among world powers concerning situation in Sri Lanka, our great motherland.

    What can they do to halt the current war against tiger killers?

    How can we deliberate current situation with general public of major world?

    What we can agaisnt tiger propoganda?


    I think there is a limitation gov of SL can go.But we can do more in this crucial hour if we organise and unite. Can we?

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  20. Hello Patriots,

    I am just back from Trinco. We had a great time, little less time for the trip. We took the route from Katharagama to Trinco Via Bibile, Monaragala, Polonnaruwa, Haabarana. It was really refreshing me the feeling of security. Security personal were very cordial, but very strict, they never leave anyone without complete checks- I mean NO ONE.

    They have put reasonable infrastructure at every location where they do complete checks. Only negative thing that I could see was we are acting reactive. With little money probably this could be improved. Anyway my focus on this blog is more about economic development but I believe there is no economy without the freedom.

    For an example all citizen who travel from East or north are requested to register at certain location including vehicle numbers etc. But all the info is written in log books.

    a simple Digital camera and quick barcode reading mechanism could improve the response time very much and can reduce the time delays in those locations. The issue is the volumes are not flat, weekends and other days the peak volumes put people on queues and also the security personal under stress.

    But Really you should see almost all the roads are under development and there is new construction going on. Looks like mother lanka is going back again on the map.

    Any way we have lot to contribute as well, and I saw there were several requests and Please give me a day to consolidate and accomplish what you have requested.

    Jayawewa!!

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  21. Good work. Keep it up. Let me make a request from all the expatriates. The government has requested all the expats to deposit foreign currencies in SL. Pl respond to that favourably. The LTTErs are dreaming that the economy will collapse and their day would be back. But let me assure you as Sri Lankans we are ready to make what ever the sacrifices we have to do. This country can feed its citizen. We have enough Kos, pol, Ala bathala. We can survive on them, if we have to. But let me assure you all, we are going to see the end of this LTTE, no matter whatever it takes

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  22. Do you agree!!!

    http://www.lankabusinessonline.com/fullstory.php?nid=611386581

    ReplyDelete
  23. Sale! Sale!! Sale!!! I got few things to sell! Not kidding!

    SanErComics, this is a very good idea and keep up the good work.

    SanErComics, I am glad ur in SL and trying ur best to make a buck and pay tax to SL gov. And most importantly I am proud of u of praising SLA for what they do and not whine like most of the SL’ns come to SL for a short visits/so-called business (mostly pleasure) trip about the “check points”.
    “It was really refreshing me the feeling of security. Security personal were very cordial, but very strict, they never leave anyone without complete checks- I mean NO ONE. “

    Just elaborating ur next point: “For an example all citizen who travel from East or north are requested to register at certain location including vehicle numbers etc. But all the info is written in log books.

    a simple Digital camera and quick barcode reading mechanism could improve the response time very much and can reduce the time delays in those locations. The issue is the volumes are not flat, weekends and other days the peak volumes put people on queues and also the security personal under stress.”

    Now, this is one of these occasions where u forget to take off the “Thinking cap” made in USA or UK or Germany! Yes, u would c using “Digital camera and quick barcode reading mechanism” in west for these things but in SL this is not easy as per practicality due to technology and accuracy. We don’t have reliable electricity supply; neither internet nor road side hut is the best spot to operate a “LapTop”. I rather c SLA use a log-book for this and may be find a “manual” way to speed up the process.

    Just a frank advice to Sl’ns living in overseas who wants to make a buck in SL and pay tax to SLGOV(hopefully, u all want to pay taxes and not ask for tax free this and that because u got this “Grand Idea”), when u try to bring new ideas to implement in SL pls don’t have ur “Thinking cap” made in USA or UK or Germany! U need to have ur thinking cap made in SL and the product made in USA, China,India or Japan.

    For example, lot of people think when u c some good idea or product in overseas u can implement it in SL as it is! It is not! I’ll give u an example.

    Can some one pls tell me probably the most/fast selling ladies sanitary product in the west? I’ll tell u, it is the little Tampon! Have any of u guys ever thought of importing Tampons to SL and sell? Hope not! : ))

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  24. Sarthavaha from Sinhapura,

    Hey thank you very much for your comments. I agree with most you said and disagree on some points. First yes, we do not have to import all good (looking) stuff from west and I am agreeing with you the current logbook is the best that could possibly implement within the budgets and time frames. But don't forget this security measures are not to be taken off for a while and till then we need to make it as comfortable as possible for Staff who is working their as well for the Citizens or Visitors.

    The reason is the effectiveness of the logbook can go a distance that it can. Because the information captures at one location can only be used in reactive sense, when a issue happens they can refer to the details.

    Without getting in to too much details about how the actual things happen, I had 3G coverage for most of the places.

    And possibly it is not required to have this kind of systems in all places, but major points where there is lot of stress for the actual people who are on duty not only for the passing by. Because passing by people do it only once in a way but those who are their will get bored and stressed. (you know how long is our names :-) )

    Please keep on posting your comments so we can have a healthy communication going on and also I am requesting all other readers to come up with suggestions to real time issues we have in developing the economy, end of the I will become one of the blogger's and our common agenda is to prosper our mother lanka.

    Thanks mate

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  25. Hi Karu,

    Can you please explain me about deposit foreign currencies project. Even if I born in Sri Lanka I'm no longer retain Sri Lankan nationality. Few years ago I tried to start a BOI project in Sri Lanka. But it's not easy due to corrupt officials. I dont want to reveal the details of it.

    But I like to help my motherland. Please provide me more details of above request of GOSL.

    ReplyDelete
  26. Ex-SunGod

    Those are the days we had lot of trouble starting a BOI, now it is very easy, If you are interested in such I will personally help you as well.

    http://www.boi.lk/investorservices/index.php

    main site has some issues. I will inform them tomorrow.

    Regarding the Deposits, if I am not mistaken BOC has started a new scheme with high interest

    http://www.boc.lk/bochome/index.jsp

    ReplyDelete
  27. In order for us to have the economic transformation you are wishing, we require to have a clean government and reformed culture.

    Where should the transformation happen: Bottom to up or top to bottom?

    I think it has to be top to bottom. Leaders has to clean up their acts and be an example to the people. Clean up corruption, reduce the size of the cabinet, learn to serve people than themselves.

    If you built it, they will come.

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  28. I like to incorporate both Eastern (specially Buddhism) and Western wisdom to my life.

    Here is an example of western wisdom. Some of you may have already exposed to this. If you are in Sri Lanka, the exposure may be limited. I use many of the seven below in my work life.
    If SL libraries need this book, it is quite possible to get some used copies since they are much less expensive.

    The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People
    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Seven_Habits_of_Highly_Effective_People

    The chapters are dedicated to each of the habits, which are represented by the following imperatives:

    1. Be Proactive! Here, Covey emphasizes the original sense of the term "proactive" as coined by Victor Frankl. You can either be proactive or reactive when it comes to how you respond to certain things. When you are reactive, you blame other people and circumstances for obstacles or problems. Being proactive means taking responsibility for every aspect of your life. Initiative and taking action will then follow. Covey also argues that man is different from other animals in that he has self-consciousness. He has the ability to detach himself and observe his own self; think about his thoughts. He goes on to say how this attribute enables him: It gives him the power not to be affected by his circumstances. Covey talks about stimulus and response. Between stimulus and response, we have the power of free will to choose our response.

    2. Begin with the End In Mind! This chapter is about setting long-term goals based on "true north" principles. Covey recommends formulating a "Personal Mission Statement" to document one's perception of one's own vision in life. He sees visualization as an important tool to develop this. He also deals with organizational vision statements, which he claims to be more effective if developed and supported by all members of an organization rather than prescribed.

    3. Put First Things First! Here, Covey describes a framework for prioritizing work that is aimed at short-term goals, at the expense of tasks that appear not to be urgent, but are in fact very important. Delegation is presented as an important part of time management. Successful delegation, according to Covey, focuses on results and benchmarks that are to be agreed upon in advance, rather than prescribed as detailed work plans.

    4. Think Win/Win describes an attitude whereby mutually beneficial solutions are sought that satisfy the needs of oneself, or, in the case of a conflict, both parties involved.

    5. Seek First to Understand, Then to be Understood. Covey warns that giving out advice before having empathetically understood a person and their situation will likely result in rejection of that advice. Thoroughly reading out your own autobiography will decrease the chance of establishing a working communication.

    6. Synergize describes a way of working in teams. Apply effective problem solving. Apply collaborative decision making. Value differences. Build on divergent strengths. Leverage creative collaboration. Embrace and leverage innovation. It is put forth that when synergy is pursued as a habit, the result of the teamwork will exceed the sum of what each of the members could have achieved on their own. “The whole is greater than the sum of its parts.”

    7. Sharpen the saw focuses on balanced self-satisfaction: Regain what Covey calls "production capability" by engaging in carefully selected recreational activities. Covey also emphasizes the need to sharpen the mind.

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  29. Congratulations to those involved in opening this 'think tank'.

    Folks... I believe a good start would be to launch industries that replace imports. So much money is remitted out to import items that can be easily manufactured locally. I have witnessed overseas how engineers tore apart products just to identify the integral parts and then manufactured a ‘better'’ product than the original.

    Oh yes... I cannot emphasize enough the importance of the role played by the biggest partner in business... our government. They need to rise up to the challenge.

    Now that our team has conquered the most extreme terrorist group, they should give equal or better attention to promote local industries, fishing and farming... giving particular attention to the resources in the North.

    That should be the real pride in us. Let’s make poverty, history.

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  30. ReallyCold,

    You have started with this,

    In order for us to have the economic transformation you are wishing, we require to have a clean government and reformed culture.

    Then you were referring Steven Covey's this,

    When you are reactive, you blame other people and circumstances for obstacles or problems. Being proactive means taking responsibility for every aspect of your life. Initiative and taking action will then follow.

    I hope that you see the bigger picture here mate. We are responsible and we should make this happen, otherwise no one will.

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  31. Sanercomic,

    Mate is there any reason for changing the blog template? By the way I very much like the earlier one.

    Cheers

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  32. GK,

    I was experimenting a bit more attractive template with also the suggestion from Ananda, but didn't have the time to accomplish completely. Will do few changes in next few days till we finalize it. Your comments are most welcome

    Jayawewa!!

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  33. I have already spoken to the BOI and they are working on fixing their site. Will update when I get a feedback!

    Cheers!!

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  34. @GutiKewa

    I am not sure why you classified that as a reactive statement. It is stating the reality and asking a higher standard.

    ReplyDelete
  35. Bro Sano

    Please send me your email to cylansir@gmail.com

    ReplyDelete
  36. ReallyCold,

    In order for us to have the economic transformation you are wishing, we require to have a clean government and reformed culture.

    My point is that basically we can't blame anybody for current economic condition, for me it's a reactive approach. If one wants to see economic transformation then start that transformation within himself, for me it's a proactive approach.

    What I meant by saying "Seeing the bigger picture" is doing what ever we can right now and expect the changes, it will happen, that's guaranteed. If we wait till clean government and reformed culture, then we have to wait a lifetime and even after that it may never come.

    I am not sure why you classified that as a reactive statement.

    I am not saying that your arguments as invalid but they don't match with each other.

    It is stating the reality

    Yes agreed.

    and asking a higher standard.

    That I don't agree, because current standard is more than enough if you take a proactive approach. If we have a higher standard then it's a bonus.

    BTW mate, in this book, one saying has deeply touched me, "I have personally found living the 7 Habits a constant struggle primarily because the better you get, the very nature of the challenge changes, just like skiing, playing golf, tennis, or any other sport does. Because I sincerely work and struggle every day at living these principle embodied habits, I warmly join you in this adventure".

    Yes it's great book to read and to follow.

    ReplyDelete
  37. @GutiKewa
    Growing up I used to see how paddy cultivation work. The farmer spends time building up the infrastructure first by repairing all the water channels and dams (dola para, niyara). Then he prepares the field and spreads the seed. To get a good harvest, ground preparation is necessary. You need to take as much as the weed out so that they don't suck the nutrients out of the paddy plant. If he spread the seed first then expecting the ground to form well, he wouldn't have been successful.

    Can you provide a real life example where a society got successful first by dumping money first without fixing the infrastructure?

    I like to see the end before I start something.

    ReplyDelete
  38. Ex-Sun

    Your email address is wrong. Can you send me a mail on sanercomics@gmail.com

    ReplyDelete
  39. ReallyCold,

    Can you provide a real life example where a society got successful first by dumping money first without fixing the infrastructure?

    I think you really misread me mate. I never said to dump money, dump money doesn't do any good to our country.

    My point is that infrastructure or whatever excuse we may find is not a blocking point to develop our country. Take a look at it in this way, if we have fixed our infrastructure, doesn't it mean that we are developed economically?

    So as a people we have a task and responsibility to develop our nation, develop our infrastructure and move forward.

    Anyway, my whole idea is to ask all Sri Lankan's to act within their capacity to improve our economy for the future. That's all.

    ReplyDelete
  40. Great Start. All the patriots can unite to build better Srilanka

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  41. Patriots,

    This would be a good time for Patriots who are foreign citizens to become DUAL CITIZENS of both their country of residence and Sri Lanka.

    There are some very tangible benefits both to the individual and to Sri Lanka. For example, Sri Lanka offers very high interest rates on bank and CD deposits to citizens, but not to foreign citizens. On the other hand, Sri Lanka borrows capital in foreign markets, and has to remit interest payments abroad, depleting its foreign exchange reserves.

    For Patriots who are purely foreign citizens, there is no financial benefit in making interest bearing investments in Sri Lanka.

    If you become a DUAL CITIZEN, you can earn 10-15 %apy interest in Sri Lanka in reputable banks, while helping the country as well. Currently, interest rates in the developed world are very low, and are sinking further with the infusions of large sums of BAILOUT monies, while investments in stocks, bonds and even real estate (depending on your risk tolerance) is very risky. Many people are seeking refuge in CDs and money markets at minimal 2-4 %apy returns.

    If you channel a part of this income from interest bearing investments in Sri Lanka, that will preserve the capital, into purchases of local goods and services, perhaps by supporting family members, you would do Sri Lanka a great service. On the other hand, if the total investment in interest bearing instruments is large enough, you can even finance the initial operating expenses of a small business through such interest income, without depleting your capital.

    THINK ABOUT IT!

    ReplyDelete
  42. Ananda's advice doesn't make sence for financial invesement growth for anyone, it work as financial welfare for Sri Lanka however.

    The %gain from Rupees CDs are a wash with the inflation. The rates for foriegn CDs are as same as what you get from respected countries. For example, the return for US$ is perhaps in the 3% range.

    Here is the lin for the bank I like to do business with. Did Seylan filed for bankrupcy?
    http://www.combank.net/

    ReplyDelete
  43. Patriots,

    I advocated investment in interest bearing CDs in Sri Lanka. Even taking inflation into account that investment is likely to be much better than corresponding investments in the US.

    To get the highest CD interest rates, you have to look hard at all bank investment options, including brokerage accounts, to get a high enough rate. I have significant funds invested in NRFC accounts at very high rates (> 15%) in Sri Lanka, precisely because the money market and CD returns in the US are so low. It helps Sri Lanka & it helps me. Even higher interest rates are available to Residents of Sri Lanka (e.g. 24% at People's bank).

    However, inflation of the Sri Lankan rupee against the dollar, has to be watched carefully.

    Here is an example calculation: If the initial exchange rate at the time of investment is E1 Rs/USD, r1 is the annualized rate of return of the CD over the period of investment of n years, and E2 is the exchange rate at the end of an n year period of investment, the total return per USD invested, at cash out is in USD given by

    (E1/E2)*(1+r1)^n

    and the effective annualized return is

    r2= [(E1/E2)^(1/n)*(1+r1)] - 1

    Let us do an example calculation: If n= 5 years, r1= 0.15 (15%), E1= 105 Rs/USD, and E2= 120 Rs/USD (i.e., assuming the Rupee inflates against the dollar from 105 to 120 Rs/USD in 5 years) then,

    r2= [(105/120)^(1/5)*(1+0.15)]-1
    = 0.982*1.15-1 = 0.1293.

    Therefore, you get an annualized return of 12.93%, or a total return over the 5 year period of (1.1293^5 - 1)= 83.6%....which is VERY GOOD at this time. This is why I am invested in Sri Lankan CDs, now.

    Another way of looking at this is, if i [ = (E2/E1)^(1/n)-1] is the annualized inflation rate, then

    r2= (1+r1)/(1+i) - 1

    Then, the criterion for making such an investment in Sri Lanka as opposed to the US, would be that r2 is significantly greater than the corresponding rate for an n-year CD you can get in the US to offset the inconvenience of inversting in Sri Lanka, as opposed to where you live.

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