When President Ranil W encouraged SL Children (at Anula vidyalaya) to go global by learning Chinese & Hindi, some elected officials were worried about colonizing. Certain media sources which backed some of the above promote Sinhalese & Tamils to learn the basics of Tamil & Sinhala respectively. It is a noble act to make Sri Lankans secular in approach & tolerant but isn’t enough to win the world. Hence, their electorates may rethink when reelecting.

SL is a small state struggling to prevail within the survival zone. Those who pushed to speak only in Sinhala are largely responsible for the 200 billion USD we lost to the conflict (Ref. Menon) & the end result at present. Their descendents in England with their English spouses may know about the life of Chen Yuan (1898 – 1970). Chen did the groundwork to establish the Sino-British Cultural centre (living in England from 1943 – 46). Later Chen was appointed as the China’s representative at the UNESCO (UN agency looking into culture). Those interested may visit the “Shijia Hutong” museum to learn how other cultures have worked with the Chinese culture throughout modern history. Learning languages was the base, none had failed or colonized another (Ref. Chinese sources).

Due to the economic crash many Sri Lankans are migrating. Among the destinations Nordic countries tops the list. Learning the languages of each other tops the list & of the points expressed by Nordic authorities on mutual learning below are good for SL to study; welfare system with economic & welfare policies focusing on individuals, green transition & sustainability. Both cultures agree on ensuring the stability of the tax base.

Lee Kuan Y to GT Chong

Before handing over power to his successor GTC Singapore’s LKY addressing the next generation requested them to; believe in those who can manage budgets, stay within the plural society, live & let others live & firm government lead by those who practice “Helicopter Politics”. What he meant was the ability to; take a bird’s eye view, identifying issues & zooming in to address which may seem different from the Sri Lankan experience of flying to ride a horse. By learning languages SL children will know better about common prosperity, human development & mutual learning.  Sri Lankans should be sensitive & sensible to ground reality as Ranil W indicated not only at Anula Balika but even at the Boossa base.

(Views expressed are personal)