The value of saving

Piggy banks are rather cute, aren't they? However, cuteness is not their only outstanding feature, they are also mighty useful. If you have a piggy bank at home, you would surely know why.

Besides acting as a container for the money that you are trying to save, they also teach you the valuable habit of saving. Those children who have received gifts of piggy banks start saving their extra coins in it, and invariably learn an important lesson in life - the value of saving and thrift.

Piggy banks and saving will gain special attention this week as the World Thrift Day is observed on October 31. In Sri Lanka too, this event will be commemorated on a grand scale with the majority of promotions being carried out by banks.

Schoolchildren will also join in the campaigns to improve public awareness on saving.

Some of the school activities organised in connection with this Day are campaigns to promote savings in schools, special courses to educate children on the virtues of thrift and distribution of money boxes and savings bank passbooks.

October 31 was declared as the World Thrift Day by the International Savings Banks Institute, at the end of the first International Thrift Congress in 1924 in Milan, Italy.

It has been noted that the Day must be devoted to the promotion of savings all over the World. This propaganda took the form of posters, organisation of lectures and publication of articles among many other activities.

Improved savings both at individual and national level can improve the standard of living, create employment, increase investment and contribute to economic development. Developed countries always have a higher percentage of national savings than developing countries.

Now that you know the importance of thrift and saving, you can start on this worthy cause now. It's never too late to start saving!

Children's talents come to the fore

You may still remember the State Children's Art Festival 2007, which was held earlier this month. Some of you may have taken part in it and even won awards.

Organised by the Department of Cultural Affairs and the Arts and Sculpture Panel of the Arts Council of Sri Lanka, the event was held at the National Art Gallery, Colombo, as part of the country's Children's Day celebrations.

It was organised to appreciate and reward the creative talents of children from all over the island, at a State-level ceremony. Although the event doesn't have a long history, the organisers decided to conduct it in a more streamlined basis from 2005.

One of the primary areas of concern was whether the paintings submitted by children truly represented them or whether they were just copies of previously seen and submitted work.

Over 38,000 paintings done by children from all parts of the island were received by the organisers. During the first round, 150 children (of five different age groups) were selected from each district and a workshop conducted for them to develop their creative ideas and free them from traditional boundaries that may have held them back.

Afterwards, they were given the chance to create their paintings and the best and most original were selected to be presented with awards. The awards ceremony was held at the John de Silva Memorial Theatre, Colombo. The award-winning paintings were displayed at an exhibition held at the National Art Gallery.