Underdogs capable of winning wars
February 23, 2012, 8:41 pm , The Island.
Continued from yesterday
by Prof. L. L. Ratnayake
Convocation Address at the of the University of Sri Jayewardenepura,
(Sixth Session) on February 7, 2012
Senior Professor of Civil Engineering, University of Moratuwa
Director, HETC Project, Ministry of Higher Education
There are many instances where underdogs have won wars too. Let me take an example from the World War Two. Great Britain was the 4 – 1 underdog to Germany. In fact the American Ambassador in Britain was sending reports to USA saying that he did not think that the British could win the war. But, the British fought – men, women and boys fought the war, at the front as well as behind the scenes, convincing themselves that they can win, against the odds. Their mathematicians and scientists had done something the proud Germans didn’t think could happen. They had broken the German code – the Enigma Code – with their coding machine called the Ultra. Therefore they knew exactly where the German forces were coming from. They knew at what time they had to get there. They knew the point of attack, the formation, everything about enemy. The British fighter planes would go up and strike just as the Germans were ready to lower their bombs. That is how Britain and their allies were able to win the war against Germany.
If you have the determination and are able to work as a team, you can beat the opposition and be the winner, even though you may not be the favourites.
New Development Challenges
I believe that many of you may decide to work in this country, at least for a few years. There will be many challenges that you may have to face in the next phase of development in Sri Lanka. Almost all of you will have at least four decades of working life. Therefore, it is important for you to have an idea of what may happen in Sri Lanka and elsewhere in the world. It is almost impossible to accurately predict what is going to happen in Sri Lanka and in rest of the world in 30 to 40 years’ time. However, some of the things that have happened in more developed economies in the recent past are very likely to happen in Sri Lanka as well, as we move towards being a developed nation. We have hopefully come to the end of a 30 year conflict in this country, and Sri Lanka is now considered as a middle income level country, as our per capita income is over US$2,000. The combination of these situations will result in many changes in Sri Lanka, creating a working environment which we have never experienced during the last 30 to 40 years.
The skills required for economic development are undergoing many changes in the world. Until about early 1970’s, the skills required in the skilled labour market at lower levels were mostly simple mental tasks with well defined logical rules like simple clerical work, preparation of balance sheets, telephone operation, stenography etc. The tasks that needed to be performed at the next skill level too had well defined rules, regulations and methods like wiring of buildings, installation of equipment, repairing of vehicles, building simple structures, testing of samples in laboratories, simple accounting work etc. The professionals in accountancy, engineering, medicine too were tasked to do relatively typical and standard work with less automation, technology and knowhow.
Jobs declining at low levels
However in the twenty first century, in sophisticated economies and societies with modern automation and technology, the jobs in the labour market at the lower levels of employment are declining. Even at the technician level, today we need people who have to perform work that no one has done before, and face new situations. Therefore, as university graduates, you will have to take a lead in performing jobs which have not been ever handled by others previously. We need graduates with skills in expert thinking, providing creative solutions to problems or doing designs or solving problems faced by clients under new and different circumstances. Managers will need to acquire complex communication skills to interact with others at subordinate, peer or superior levels and explain ideas, discuss policy issues, strategies etc. The Managers will have to learn how to motivate the work force and bring more profits to an organization. In the medical field, patient demands from the health care service will be much more than what we are experiencing today. With the availability of new technology and access to information, the patient expectations will be very high from the health care service. For example, the Doctors will be required to diagnose the illness of a patient with puzzling symptoms for which there are no simple solutions, often working in multidisciplinary teams. Therefore, as young graduates, you are going to face many challenges in your career. I hope I am not scaring you, bt this is what you are going to face in the next few decades.
Counting Blessings
As graduates, you need to come to the forefront to face these challenges. Remember there are many of your class mates who did not get the opportunity of getting into University, (I do not know how many of you know that for every 3 children who get into a state University, there are 97 of the same age, who were not fortunate enough to get a place in the University) They will be looking up to you for guidance – you cannot fail them.
Let me finally say a few words to the academic staff members attending the convocation.
The Universities in Sri Lanka have a huge responsibility to educate and train the present undergraduates who have to face these new challenges, which they have never experienced before. Perhaps the current way we deliver the undergraduate education in Sri Lanka in most study programmes, is not the best way of achieving this. Some of us may say "what is wrong with our graduates". They will quote examples and say how well our graduates are holding very high and prestigious positions in Sri Lanka and elsewhere in the world. Certainly this part of the story is true. I too agree that most of our graduates are good, and many of them are doing well in Sri Lanka and abroad. But, that does not mean that we cannot do a better job in University education. We require changes or reforms in our Universities to make our study programmes benchmarked with modern education systems with the best Universities in the world, or do even better. Therefore the development of a sound higher education policy for Sri Lanka for the twenty first century and imparting a world class undergraduate education is a challenge we need to address as the Sri Lankan University community.
Rapidly Changing Technologies
We can take an example from the automobile, cellular phone or computer industries. They never said what is wrong with our automobiles, cell phones or computers. If they said like that, we will be still using Morris Minor, Austin Cambridge or Morris Oxford cars and using brick sized Motorola cell phones or using large, slow mainframe computers even in the twenty first century. In the twentieth century these products were meant for an exclusive group of a privileged few. Due to the intense competition, the development was very rapid in these industries. Today, we have very sophisticated automobiles, cellular phones and computers at an affordable price. Therefore, these have become very inclusive, instead of being exclusive. Today, many people can afford to buy and use them, making everyone’s life easier and more efficient. As the economies grow, there will be more development in these products, and more and more people will be able to purchase them.
In conclusion, the best advice I could think of giving to graduates passing out today is;
- do what you like and enjoy doing
- be like a turtle and stick your neck out to face challenges
- if you want to play a game go to where it is played and find a way to get in
- self confidence is an important key to winning to excelling in whatever you do in life.
- the underdogs too can be winners. They have won world cups, and even wars! Be united, determined, work hard and achieve your goals.
- we are all children in various stages of life, be a lifelong learner
- understand the way the twenty first century economy will operate and seek your opportunities to suit it.
Congratulations to all the graduates and to your families, who cared, loved and supported you during these important years of your life. My felicitations to the academic, administrative and non-academic staff of the University of Sri Jayewardenepura for making their dreams come true.
Thank you and Good luck!!
Concluded
