President JRJ said wisdom isn’t a flower to be plucked but a mountain one has to climb. He called him a practicing Buddhist. There may be Sri Lankans who are practicing Buddhists. When practiced, one may develop a; thick skin, smart brain & even an elastic heart. In post 1948 Sri Lanka, President MR is undoubtedly the ruler with the thickest skin & the largest elastic heart. His politics since 1967 & the popularity he enjoys to this date prove the fact. However, President GR gave space to the people to realize that thick skins & smart brains are the essentials to steer a country from a crisis. 2022 crisis was a catalyst for development with ideas such as digitization. The proposed tax payer identification system (TIN) should be further developed to implement a good social security system. That will increase state efficiency by reducing wastage & corruption. When the fuel QR was introduced, many questioned if rural folk are advanced enough to use a QR. Among were those who earned from the fuel queues & who burned National Identity Cards for efficient administration in the 80s. Still the QR worked well, reduced waste & saved money.

Tracking loot

Some queries why not track the loot to reduce tax burden on the silent majority. Stories of loot aren’t new. Those interested may refer to the ‘Ukussa’ (Hawk) column of the ‘Divaina’ paper under business tycoon Upali Wijewardena in the early 1980s. Upali was believed to have had inside information on international bank accounts & the Asian names of the account holders. Unfortunately wealth lost due to the burning & destruction of state property (1971, 1983 & 1987) can never be tracked. One may say that those responsible are still at large but it will not ease the burden. It is a must to track the loot. Still a state with a vision should have long term revenue generation plans to sustain the development. Citizens may ask those who only talk about tracking loot to reduce tax burden about their long term revenue generation plans. Sri Lankans should be smart to create systems to; be stable, attract what was robbed & selecting the fund managers.

Leading fund manager Warren Buffett’s ‘Skin in the game’ method may be one option. It may be a win-win situation given Sri Lankan situation. Some believe it to be a positive move to increase investor confidence.

China is a good example to learn about winning investor confidence to achieve long term goals. They have so far had only two centenary goals. First was achieved in 2020 by alleviating poverty in China & second is being reached. The Chinese used their smart brains to manage their elastic hearts. Their thick skin ensured survival in storms. As a result China has come a long way in all fronts including Science. The ‘Nano Energy’ journal recently published about the electronic skin with "excellent isothermal regulation." The e-skin has maintained a stable surface temperature of 35 degrees Celsius (across a range of ambient temperatures from 10 to 45 degrees Celsius). It is expected to play a key role in intelligent robot manufacturing (Ref. Southern University of Science and Technology).

If educated, Sri Lankans may learn to develop; a thick skin, a smart brain & to control the elastic heart. Some in SL plan & focus even on meeting the next Buddha in the long run. With such skills, still they might not be supportive but responsible citizens may use the present crisis to implement the piety to build a stable state at least by 2048.