I was at a discussion at the Official Residence of the Mayor of Colombo, yesterday, 1stof August 2012. The notification was in the Newspapers for anyone who wished to discuss their grievances regarding the Z score results to meet with the Leader of the Opposition, Mr Ranil Wickremasinghe and to inform him of what it is they wished to do ...

Young people are in a hurry. They cannot see why others appear to slow them down, purposefully they say. It is part of the impatience of youth and the coolness that comes with age. While it is a gross generalization, mature people are calmer, less prone to histrionics and consider their next move carefully, where years of experience have taught ...

In an earlier blog entry, I was castigating the parents for not coming to many open fora, and demonstrations that have taken place in defense of the students who have suffered as a result of the Z score crisis, that has yet to be resolved, when the Government is particularly mired in a swamp of its own making, due mostly ...

I wish to concentrate on collective issues and not on personal matters. Young people are famous for believing they are entitled to something. I don’t know what it is that gives them this, but it may have something to do with the way they are brought up, and possibly parenting issues of this century. With an average household not having ...

An active charismatic young person who appears to gain goodwill and votes, is an older politicians nightmare. Many old politicians are living on their years of goodwill, which they try to carry with them to their graves. This kind of selfish activity prevents young people from getting into politics.The examples are for all to see at the recent scramble for ...

It is time we understood how the IUSF appears on the surface to act as the conscience of the undergraduates of the State Universities, as they seem to dominate the Student Unions that represent the interests of the Students. Whilst they clearly are the JVP, the students vehemently deny that accusation and state they are not beholden to anyone and ...

The perennial problem with youth today is that on the one hand they are impatient, but on the other they do not realize that it is them who are the future of the country and they must have a vision for the future if they are intent on taking ownership of it. They must not think that their rights will ...

Today is Tuesday, the 24th of July, 2012 and Sri Lanka recorded a historic victory over India in a Cricket, one day international held at the Hambantota Suriyawewa Stadium. Sadly there were hardly spectators, and we have more elephants in the wild in Sri Lanka than the number of Spectators at today’s game. More to the point, the number of ...

ICC AWARDS 2012Kumar Sangakkara, the wicket-keeper batsman of the Sri Lankan squad is the only person who has been nominated for the main ICC awards 2012 to be announced on 15thSeptember 2012. The nominations are for ICC Cricketer of the Year, ICC Test Cricketer of the Year and ICC ODI Cricketer of the Year.This is a singular honor for the ...

There was a case recently when people in a youth group wanted to serenade some of those past leaders in their group from the past who contributed to what this group has become. They chose an occasion and arranged for a plaque to be prepared and informed the older person that they would like to present this to him at ...

I have alluded to the fact that it is quite normal to tell a bunch of white lies when one is trying to show off especially to one of the opposite sex when it comes to trying to earn respect or a reply or a date. However I wish to elicit comments on the lies that are told in the ...

I was asked to help with find a job for a graduate applicant. He emailed me his CV and I told him there were many weaknesses there and asked him to update it. I am very busy finding it difficult to give one on one time to help these people and told him I will try and find some time ...

I cannot express more forcefully the importance, especially of girls who get taken in by the sweet talk that guys engage in especially at the start of a relationship. With Men from Mars and women from Venus, it is important to understand the psyche of the girl, which the young men seem to know. Time and again they get taken ...

In youth one of the indicators in Sri Lanka is the lack of appreciation that time is important. On the one hand the young person is running don’t know where don’t know for how long, but the young person does not realize how important time is as they feel time is on their side and they have plenty of time ...

I am daily asked if I know of jobs for young people. There are thousands of people with different levels of skill who are looking for jobs. They have no idea what is available and how to get them. There is no proper channel other than asking friends and acquaintances if they know of any jobs. I cannot believe that ...

Almost every day in the year is some kind of anniversary or day that is earmarked for some commemoration. I presume this is so that we will use the occasion to highlight what it is and remind people of why this day has been designated for that purpose. There are also International Days like Mother’s Day, Father’s Day and even ...

It is important that we empower ourselves at an early age and learn to take control of over our lives and not let others dictate terms. The worst form of dictatorial edicts is the University entrance system. It is solely guided by the Z score. If we get into university, the next question is what university and what course of ...

I dropped out of school after O levels and did not do well enough to go to the A level class. My school has few facilities and the teachers always left after a few terms because they did not like the conditions they found to live there and always applied for transfers. So there was NO consistent teaching and as ...

I was at a seminar yesterday where there were intelligent young undergraduates. They were asked to form a committee, so that they could get together and discuss a project and write a series of reports after consultation that takes the project from incubation all the way to the end.None of the students had the common sense to suggest a practical ...

There is this boy about 25 who has never worked. Now his father is going around asking all his contacts to give his son a job. When I met him I spent over an hour with him, trying to ascertain what he could do, what he wanted to do and what he would like to do if he did not ...