Young Sri Lankans need to be up front; two such examples
“Templeton Freedom Award has been won by Advocata Institute Sri Lanka. The CEO is our Dhana. It is with great pride I send this message to you to celebrate our dear friend Dhananath’s leadership victory of Advocata. Horekale and St Sebastian’s College man has really shown class.”
That was Elmo Jayawardena’s email to me since I had written earlier in this column about Dhananath Fernando. Not one mention of him, Elmo, being a most effective mentor to the successful young man. In fact he phoned me later to insist Razeen Sally had been the most helpful. Elmo ended with his usual wish, or prophecy, of blue skies.
Capt Elmo J deserves acknowledgment and praise as he encouraged and enthused Dhananath, met when CandleAid started swimming lessons for the young including the blind, and Dhananath volunteered to help. It was Elmo who insisted on the importance of good English skills and introduced him to Prof Razeen Sally, Founder with Swedish Frederick Erixon the world economy think tank based in Brussels in 2006; and to Murtaza Jafferjee, co-founder of the Sri Lanka Institute. Dhananath took it on from there, followed a degree in Economics, in addition to his bioscience degree, diligently worked at his English and is now CEO of Advocata, Sri Lanka.
The Templeton Prize is an annual award granted to a living person, in the estimate of the judges, ‘whose exemplary achievements advance Sir John Templeton’s philanthropic vision: harnessing the power of the sciences to explore the deepest questions of the universe and humankind’s place and purpose within it.’
Sir John inaugurated the prize in 1972, funded by his Foundation. Originally the prize went to persons within religion – Mother Teresa was first winner – but in the 1980s it broadened to include people working at the intersection of science and religion. The monetary value is adjusted so it exceeds that of a Nobel Prize, which prizes Tenpleton thought ignored spirituality. In 2019 it was pounds sterling 1.1 million and had been presented each year by Prince Philip at Buckingham Palace.
This year Dhananath Fernando received it personally in New York at the Atlas Network Freedom Dinner and received one million dollars “to accelerate Advocata’s impactful efforts to guide the island nation out of a tragic economic crisis, which threatens the lives, livelihood and human dignity of millions of Sri Lankans.”
Dhananath was in New York concluding his visit on the Eisenhower Fellowship he won earlier. His acceptance speech was in flawless English and pronunciation, introducing just the correct proportion of simplicity, humour and gratitude along with the sincere promise and determination to fulfill the aims and objectives inherent in winning the prize.
Absolutely touching was Dhananath saying the tie he had on was the one he wore on his wedding day. He wore it on this red letter day as a tribute to his wife and helpmate who unfortunately was unable to be with him as she was not granted a visa to visit the USA. Here is evident a sharp contrast: the respect or rather disrespect the world justifiably has for Sri Lanka whose leaders have brought it down to bankruptcy by corruption and excessive spending of state funds as against determined and national minded achievers such as Dhananath.
The objective of this article
This article is about the youth of our country. Dhananath has been written about as he is a beacon among our youth and epitomizes great determination and effort, and national mindedness with humanness.
We have had our youth coming forwards, first in candle-lit protests, then at the Aragalaya. They succeeded to a considerable measure to wipe out anti-democratic policies of the government in thrusting out of power a couple of leaders of the Nation – two Rajapaksa brothers included. They sent shivers of apprehension down big wigs’ spines. Very unfortunately the effective peaceful protest at Gotagama was first invaded by marauders emerging from Temple Trees after being hosted by the then PM – Mahinda R. Then came infiltration by militant elements who crashed into vital state buildings. Thus my insistence, when I speak praiseworthily of the youth of this Nation I do NOT include Wasantha Mudalige and the monk with him, nor militant members of the IUSF and the JVP and its break away militant group led by a Gunaratnam.
I give you now an opinion expressed by a Sri Lankan living in New York who, with his wife, met Dhananath Fernando and were very impressed by him. He wrote an email to Dhananath, which I was privy to and quote a part below:
“The pleasure of meeting you was definitely more on our side. It was very encouraging to see people like yourself represent the future leaders of our beautiful motherland. I only hope you are allowed the chance to make the positive difference that you can, overcoming the self-interests and kleptocratic tendencies of those in power. It takes a special intellect to keep your feet on the ground while raising your head above the clouds to see things with clarity. You certainly have that. Develop upon it as all agents of positive change in the world need to have a core that is grounded in good.”
Fulsome, deserved praise; advice too. He wrote to another person living in Colombo from which I quote:
“Dhana embodies someone who had put in much effort into building himself be it improving his educational skills, and then being sufficiently humble and diligent to follow his mentors’ advice to make himself the polished individual he is, who can go toe-to-toe with anyone from the West.”
He mentioned another diligent young man: Sanmuganathan Prasanthan who has created a thriving web development business in SL. “When he started he was an O Level dropout who had to work in a ‘bothal kade’ to help support his family. He taught himself web coding and when I needed someone, he stepped up and delivered exceptional quality, trust and hard work that made him an instant millionaire by serving our business. However, this has not changed him one bit. He is now married, has two children, and a thriving business aside from what he does with us. He is, however, still the humble, dependable, trustworthy partner.”
Knowing I was writing this week about the youth of this country and needless to mention, our hope for the future, this person I quoted gave me some tips which I decided were well worth sharing.
“Today’s Sri Lankan young have grown up in a culture where they see wealth being created by taking ‘a piece from a stream of revenue’ be it a commission on a government deal, or a percentage of a private sale. The example of creating value, building something excellent and world class is missing.
“This is what the youth need to aim at gaining so they succeed: A hard skill, the humility to know what you need to develop, the diligence to always deliver value for whatever you are paid for, and never lose sight of the fact that unless you constantly strive to be the best, there will always be someone better than you.”
I add here that the young of our country must most definitely stop stretching begging hands out; stop protesting on each and every issue; give up the idea the government that gave them free education must also give them jobs. Most of them do not subscribe to the dignity of labour and ask for well paying desk jobs.
I needs must add that the President’s speech, threat really, in Parliament, as reported in TV news on Wednesday, November 23, was provocative and will be ill received by young persons who protest on genuine issues that are neglected or ignored by the present government. Threatening with army force of suppression is the worst move at this point. The youth of this country MUST be given their due place and permitted to criticize, even protest, and come in taking over responsibilities that they surely will fulfill without corruption, nepotism and all those evils of the previous two governments.
