Diminishing values

By Rienzie Wijetilleke

It is most disheartening to see the present generation paying scant respect to the ‘value system’ which in the past people held in very high esteem.

Amongst the recent incidents witnessed by all were the behaviour of members of our Parliament. A Parliament of any country is considered the most important and significant institution; the behaviour of the members at that meeting where we witnessed how the head of Parliament the Speaker was man-handled and the security personnel – helpless public servants who came to his rescue, being assaulted made all of us ashamed of ourselves.

The Government’s action in making the ‘Thripitakaya’ a world heritage is indeed a commendable act in a situation where Buddha’s doctrine was being diluted and misinterpreted by learned personalities. There are many such instances which we are witnessing day by day where my thoughts go back to the times where we as young people were always made to understand and respect values/‘value system’ which has been passed down to us.

I was most depressed and shocked when I received a few calendars and diaries from my former bank HNB, where I served as its Chairman and Managing Director for 24 years, to realise how subtly the HNB logo has been removed from the above mentioned annual publications.

The present hierarchy at HNB perhaps may not be fully aware of the significance of the logo.

Hatton Bank established in Hatton over 100 years ago fulfilled the functions of delivering cash to the estates for payment of wages, etc. The then Chairman late Sir Edmund J. Cooray was keen to expand the Hatton Bank and under his guidance the then management structured the present logo; Sri Pada (Adams Peak) with its great religious significance displaying a tea bush in the front, indicating the bank’s origin in the upcountry. Their plans to become big made them display an elephant and a lion standing upright on either side of the Sri Pada. The logo meant a lot to those who were part of the small group of bank officers who worked hard over a period of 50 years to transform HNB to be one of the strongest/largest private commercial banks in the country. It’s so sad to see these facts being ignored.

“They, who see untruth as truth and truth as untruth, will not see truth, because they are lost in erroneous thoughts” – Dhammapada – 11.