TIME CAPSULE Seventy-seven years is a long time – it is in fact the average life expectancy of a Sri Lankan. So for what is or seems like a lifetime, this island like no other has been ‘independent’ – or so we have been told by the powers that be… over a lifetime!

Today, for proponents of ‘wait and see,’ ‘give them time’ and other such utterings, we’re on the cusp of ‘system change’ and one assumes that with it will come real independence, rather than dependence on a political elite that the people themselves have voted into high office – more often than not on the premise that ‘this lot has got to do better than the other.’

So we shift gears to a mode of expectation every four years, only to find ourselves running for cover from errant politicians who maintain that they’re working in the interest of the nation (and us, the people) but in reality are merely fending for themselves – in more ways than one.

Since the late 1950s at least, these men and women have created racial discord, robbed the people in broad daylight, and allegedly resorted to thuggery and even the murder of those who they say are a threat of some sort – and as always, innocent human beings are caught in the crossfire.

To add to the misery, few if any have had what it takes to transform an island with so much potential into a first world nation. We haven’t been blessed with a Lee Kuan Yew in this time.

So as Sri Lanka ‘celebrates’ its 77th anniversary of independence, it is once again in a state of limbo – with high expectations in many quarters that the people will soon gain the freedoms they desire.

It’s about time – because time is running out!

– Editor-in-Chief