By Prof. Samitha Hettige

The plot of US TV series ‘Prison Break’ was about a man wrongly sentenced to death & how his brother plans to get imprisoned in the same prison to break them both out. Critiques highlight clever plots & intense drama capturing the essence of a high stakes escape (Ref. Media). After the recent prison conflict in Negambo which involved guns but batons, opposition members of parliament are seemed to be assuming that minister in charge is also planning political escapes. May be they aren’t aware that the minister being connected to an award winning cinema personality surely must have studied the 2005 drama especially being a legal professional.

Some social scientists may be concerned about the negative impact of Negambo conflict & see similarities between the snake breakout in Hengzhou, China after the floods connected to typhoon ‘Maysak’ on July 6th. It was reported that approx 800 to 900 snakes (most considered non venomous) escaped from a breeding farm in Hengzhou, Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, after the flooding triggered by the typhoon.

The Snake Break

After the incident, residents from neighboring villages have organized volunteer snake catching teams to manage the situation with fishing nets & other equipment. People with no experience/ skills in capturing reptiles have been advised not to attempt to catch snakes.  Public awareness programs using loudspeakers, social media & door to door visits also have been conducted to guide public. Local authorities have stepped up emergency medical preparedness with expanded anti-venom stockpiles taking science based approaches to mitigate the risks (Ref. Media).

In the aftermath of Negambo conflict, it was reported that steps were taken to keep prison population under manageable levels. One was to strengthen the operations at the government analyst’s department. Approx 30 to 40 personnel with scientific trainings are to be hired to expand & expedite the operations at the analyst’s department. Taking such steps would be timely & highlights the value of the scientific approach to prevent social conflicts & ensure sustainable development. This gives a clear signal to generations ‘Z’ & ‘alpha’ about the value of pursuing higher education in science & technology (S&T).

Advice from the Chinese President

Sri Lankan next generations should pay close attention to the advice given to Chinese youth by President Xi Jinping addressing the National Science Awards ceremony recently. If Sri Lankans can focus on below, it will help them to open more schools & close more prisons.

He highlighted below;

1. Identifying & nurturing young people's interests, strengths, scientific literacy & experimental skills, inspiring more young talents to pursue careers in S&T.
2. Rising to the challenges of the times, accelerate efforts to achieve high-level self reliance to strengthen S&T & make steady progress toward the 2035 goal of becoming a leading country in S&T.
3. Facing the gaps in original innovation capacity by balancing the imbalanced talent structure avoiding inefficient use of S&T investment.
4. Realizing the value of new round of S&T revolution & industrial transformation to change the way humanity produces, lives, & plans the landscape of global development.
5. Strengthening of coordination in S&T strategic planning, policies & measures, major tasks, research strength, resource platforms, & regional innovation.
6. Planning major projects holistically across frontier fields like AI, quantum tech & life sciences, in priority sectors such as integrated circuits & advanced manufacturing as well as in strategic domains, including deep sea, deep space, & deep earth.
7. Promoting the deep integration of S&T innovation with industrial innovation, opening up channels for accelerating the transformation of S&T achievements into real productive forces.
8. S&T innovation to strengthen national technology transfer system to create diversified application scenarios & high level industrial clusters, & facilitating the promotion, application & iterative upgrading of self developed technologies & products.
9. Improving intellectual property protection system & building a financial system compatible with S&T innovation.
10. Deepening reforms on S&T evaluation, making it a good ‘conductor's baton’. Project reviews, institutional assessments, & talent evaluations should all be guided by innovation capability, quality, actual effect, & contribution (Ref. Media).

(Views expressed are personal/ Photo Source WWW)