MESSAGE IN A BOTTLE It is a common courtesy to wish everyone a ‘happy new year’ – indeed, ‘happiness’ must be at the top of our wish lists as we welcome the dawn of 2021 and say goodbye to a year that humankind would rather forget about. And as a world that’s been plagued by a deadly virus for most of 2020 takes stock of the 12 months ahead, there’s that silver lining from the roll out of vaccines to look forward to at the very least. Here at home however, there are a growing number of concerns, which will hopefully be addressed by the powers that be in the new year, chief among them being the urgent need to curtail the spread of corruption. The head of state acknowledged this not long ago when he conceded that “corruption is the greatest obstacle to development” in a brief statement released to coincide with International Anti-Corruption Day on 9 December. And while the president urged the citizenry “to be more vigilant on the obligations that the government has towards you, and perform your citizen’s duty by prompt reporting of any incident of corruption and bribery to the law enforcement or investigative authorities,” may we in turn beg a question or two… First, what protections are on offer to those who blow the whistle? And next, how much confidence should we, the citizenry, have in our justice system whereby the rogues are rounded up by the authorities irrespective of who they are and duly punished by an independent judiciary? If Sri Lanka is to deliver on the immense potential it has, we need to stop putting the cart before the horse. As Sting ended his popular hit song, we’re ‘sending out an SOS.’