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| Sunday, 20 January 2002 |
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| News Business Features Editorial
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Keeping the flag flying by FACTOTUM Momentous decisions are taken these days by a government voted in to usher change. A populace sick and tired of routine motions purged the seats of power of familiar faces and brought in a galaxy of new stars. Expectations were high. The new messiahs would wave their magic staff and dispel the evil darkness. Deadlines have been set for such feats, though. In the meantime preliminaries have to be attended to. Ever expanding government institutions under a plethora of ministries are being housed everywhere. While some keep appearing in the commercial capital others have moved out to the administrative suburb. Still others teeter between the two. As whim would have it, some ministries were ensconced in the cylindrical towers that are the cynosure of the business world. Others are in basements of high-rise buildings. So, it is understandable that a mark of identification be prominently displayed to indicate the location of such government institutions. It has been announced that "The Cabinet has decided that the National Flag should fly throughout the working day at all government institutions. A flag should also be placed on the table of the head of every institution." One does not know if the hoisting of the national flag will be accompanied by the usual pomp and pageantry. Conch shells are blown and drums beat up to a crescendo heralding the unfurling of flags on memorable days. There is no mention of such pageantry so it is reasonable to conclude that the daily routine of hoisting the flag in all government buildings would be a drab affair done unobtrusively as the shutters come down at workplaces. The significance of the whole exercise though, would not be lost on passers-by and the patient public waiting to be dealt with that at long last work has commenced at these institutions. The unfurling of the flag then will herald a new beginning announcing that hard work is being done and government business is being actually contracted at these flagging institutions. Apathy and lethargy had set in there prompting the people to demand a move on. That was the mood when the count was taken and heads rolled at the recently concluded poll. So it is just as well that the nation is spurred on to a new awareness of the need to get on with the job. In these days of overcrowded offices it is sometimes dicey to identify or differentiate the head from the tail. It is a novel idea then that there would be a flag fluttering at the high table for the benefit of those keen on spotting and palavering the boss. Such identification would egg on sundry aspirants to focus their own strategies to undermine the incumbent - the usual high point in the agenda of all sycophants and loyalists of the very person they conspire to oust. The outward manifestation of keeping the flag flying the Lankan way is sure to gather momentum with a flood of innovative ideas that are bound to be figured out in these days of electoral triumph. |
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