Recent
reports have reinforced in stark reality, the alcohol consumption patterns of
Sri Lankans, and it puts it on the top of world rankings despite SL being
merely a middle income nation, and technically a poor one. Male addiction is most
pervasive. There is an impression that President’s objective of the “mathata
tithe” fullstop to alcohol promise has proved he is nothing more than a bogus
Charlatan and made this more of a gimmick to gain plaudits. Hipocracy is the result.
Hot
on the heals of this debate came the write up about the modern woman and her
move to also imbibe in the strong stuff see link below:
Of
course this does not mention the other very real problem of Estate women
turning to alcohol to numb their senses due to the hard life they have to bear
with harsh working conditions, abusive husbands, and cheek by jowl living with
neighbors sharing toilet facilities and not having sufficient privacy.
Just
on the subject of Alcohol, it is a hugely revenue earning business not only for
the Government but also for the producers. Whilst there is little progress in
weaning people off of it, much has to be done to prevent a new generation and
in this case young girls getting into it as a sign of coming out and
independence.
I
believe it goes back to the type of upbringing our youth have in Sri Lanka,
with parenting becoming almost absent, contrary to popular belief that we have
tighter and more caring family structures than in Western Nations. It also has
to do with the huge social upheavals taking place, and the move of young women
to boarding houses to find work, and where they get caught into a trap of vice
in prostitution, and then the Country not having the services to get them to
reverse the process.
Young
girls not engaging their parents in their lives, and being unable to confront
them in a civil way to solve the problem, knowing that if they admit to these
excesses they face eviction from home, means our society does not understand
reality, cannot cope and confront the issues before which a suitable solution
can be individually tailor made. A woman gone bad in our society is an
irreparable sin, with her destined to a life of an outcast. It must be shown to
be reversible!
I know
I have strayed from the original point, but one can see how it is the root of much
that is wrong in society today, and requires immediate steps at prevention.
1 comment:
alcohol is a problem and so the solution is?? more free markets?
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