TOURISM INDUSTRY

SRI LANKA BECOMING 'UNASIAN'?

Gehan de Silva Wijeyeratne is convinced that the majority in this country really need a mindset change if the island nation is to develop;

'Truly Asia' is the brand promise of Malaysia. But it is a different kind of Asia - or, at least, certain parts of it: six of the world's 10 tallest buildings are in Asia; the world's second strongest economy, Japan, is in Asia; Taiwan is highly developed, and so are Malaysia and Singapore; and China and India by the years 2025 and 2050, respectively, are forecast to match the GDP of the US.

So what is Asia? Is it the landscape, the people or the ancient cultural traditions? No doubt it is a complex matrix of several factors. But we can be certain of one thing: an economic backwater cannot be seen as characteristic of being Asian. And unfortunately, poor and backward Sri Lanka - once the envy of other Asian nations - has become rather 'unAsian'.

What has propelled other Asian nations on a path of economic progress and held us back is a matter of mindset: attitudes, approach to things and objectivity in making decisions. In April this year, I spent nearly a week in Kuala Lumpur, where I had the opportunity to witness a contrast in cultures. Twenty years ago, when I first visited it, central 'KL' - as it is known - was much akin to what Pettah in Colombo is today. Twenty years later, the change is dramatic: today, KL can compete with European metropolises vis-à-vis more than its infrastructure!

My first demonstration of a different mindset was when I took a taxi to the Malaysian Nature Society. The taxi driver was intrigued by my interest in Malaysian natural history. He had to pause several times for me to look at a monkey, bird or butterfly. "Maybe you should come and live in Malaysia," he said, after a while. "Malaysia might benefit from people like you." He then went on to explain immigration procedure. A foreigner should transfer US$ 150,000 into a fixed deposit and take the slip to the Immigration Department. It would then immediately grant him or her permanent residency, he explained. I listened patiently but did not take it too seriously that the process of obtaining permanent residency would be so simple. But perhaps there was some truth to all this. I remember meeting a Sri Lankan who had graduated in media studies from a Singaporean university. The government identified this as a skill and, soon after graduation, a letter arrived in the post. It asked her to fill out the enclosed application form and send it to the Immigration Department if she wished to receive permanent residency in Singapore. The form was duly submitted and within a few weeks, she had received her permanent residency - all this done by mail;

A few days later, I was browsing through some Malaysian literature for tourists. Much to my surprise, on the inside back cover was a paragraph explaining the simplicities of obtaining permanent residency. It also stated that foreigners who obtain permanent residency could acquire two houses at a specified limit, without any formalities.

Malaysia is one of the most prosperous and upwardly mobile nations in Asia. It has the world's tallest building, promotes Formula One racing, enjoys petroleum reserves and manufactures its own cars. Yet, it keeps going out of its way to attract foreign capital: both intellectual and financial. Singapore is the same. A million foreigners who work there power its economy.

In Sri Lanka, however, it is a different story. For example, there was a dilapidated fortress town in the south. The local residents could not afford to maintain some of the houses that were crumbling - a shame, because they were steeped in history and style. Moreover, no state agency could have undertaken a conservation project to restore the buildings to their original grandeur. Enter the foreigners. They brought hard cash and a love for style and elegance. They sympathetically restored the crumbling villas and other buildings into enclaves of chic - and the Riviera of southern Sri Lanka was born!

However, the investment in capital and tender loving care received a predictable Sri Lankan response: hysteria about foreigners buying up Sri Lanka's heritage filled the pages of the national press and a 100 per cent tax was introduced - once again - on the purchase of land by foreigners. Does Sri Lanka realise who is really being punished? Certainly not the foreigners, who are eagerly welcomed to invest their cash and know-how in developed economies such as Singapore and Malaysia. Sri Lanka is the loser. When we discourage foreign ownership, the country receives less money and everyone loses.

On the other hand, whether it is for tourism or technology, the Malaysians and the Singaporeans value the know-how and money that foreigners bring in. The visitor centre at the Petronas Tower has a short video documentary on its construction. The dialogue narrates that Malaysians learnt much from the foreign firms that had worked on the project. A strong nation like Malaysia has no problem in admitting in public that it can learn from foreigners. Only Sri Lanka seems to act as if foreigners should be treated with suspicion and contempt. Over 15 centuries ago, Anuradhapura had Greek quarters. The thriving city knew the value of foreign investment. It is not enough to simply have a Board Of Investment, which courts foreign direct investment through sweeteners such as free-trade zones. We need a change of attitude at all levels, to understand that the world is one village. We need a more receptive attitude to harness other people's money for economic growth. Their success and our success are inseparable.
