Power of youth in Jaffna’s economic resurgence

By Surya Vishwa

In this interview we feature a 23-year-old genius of Jaffna, who is in the process of transforming the destiny of himself, his mother who brought him up as a single parent and his district as well as his country. To produce this interview, we had three discussions with Nizhal Abi (this is a Tamil name spelt with a ‘z’ which is silent in pronunciation). We had a meeting at his restaurant which also has a cafe section and two discussions at the Shisha – Food Castle.  

At the Food Castle he has created the Kid’s World Jaffna, a stimulating place of colour, games, food and relaxation. Located in front of the Jaffna Old Park, the premises doubles up also as a hub for events such as birthday parties and also acts as a daycare centre. The building having many rooms, the space is also created for an adventurous visitor to stay overnight and has housed several backpacking tourists who enjoy having a go at several of the games enjoyed by families irrespective of age. These include manoeuvring a showcase like machine filled with popular modern cartoon soft toys. One has to press a button and direct the hook inside to stop at the cutie you wish to take home.   

The artist

There are many other games that include skills such as punching which seem immensely popular with both males and females. For small children there is a large bubble house and a whole room full of toys. The walls are painted with giant animals drawn to precision. 

“I am the artist,” announces Nizhal, explaining that he could not afford the exorbitant amounts that interior decorators demanded.  

“I started this place for kids to enjoy because there is nothing like it here in Jaffna. Another reason was that I wanted to relive my childhood. However, I had to struggle a lot finding these play devices in the global market and the finances to pay for them. I spend some hours a day managing the place and it helps me de-stress,” he points out. 

Stress, he seems to have abound, connected with managing over 25 staff members in four   business establishments, the chief of which is the Nizhal restaurant and café down Kankasanthurai road in Jaffna as well as two separate guest houses not far away from the town.

In the restaurant and the food space at the Kids World, the recipes are crafted by Nizhal, using no artificial flavouring. It has helped that his grandmother is a spice making expert, where one of his earliest businesses had been exporting these products. 

“During COVID lockdown time I watched many videos linked to food entrepreneurship and related skills I wanted to hone for my businesses,” he reveals.

Multi expertise and willpower

His strength seems to be constantly sprucing his mind to develop multi expertise and willpower. Specialising in athletics and diverse sports he is trained in ethical hacking and cyber security which he had chosen as an academic discipline from a foreign linked private higher education institution in Jaffna.

“When I was very young my mother got me a computer and I became very interested in various aspects of technology. Later, after choosing the stream of combined Mathematics at the London Advanced Level examination and obtaining 2 As and one B, I opted to be proficient in ethical hacking and cyber security selecting this subject from the British university I enlisted in.

Soon after I won a financial reward for finding flaws in the virtual system of a business company in Jaffna.” 

Creating the life they wanted

How did he raise his initial capital for the ventures he has set up? Did family or friends help?

“We are from a lineage of well-known goldsmiths. I grew up learning how to craft gold chains, rings and bracelets. However, my mother and myself remained independent creating the life we wanted solely by ourselves. When I was 17 years of age I got into the broiler business and used to deliver to hotels here. I then started fancy chicken breeding. This is breeding chickens as pets. It earned me the best money at the time,” he quips. 

Are you really only 23 years old, I ask him, especially when he tells me that he is the Jaffna representative of the ILO linked Sri Lanka Tourism Entrepreneurship Association, has travelled to all 25 districts, represented Jaffna through his basketball club across the country, and already started networking for a chain of companies.

“Yes, I am 23 years of age and my mother is 42 years old. She is smarter than me. She has worked for about 20 organisations and is the inspiration in all what I do. She trained me to do anything I start to the very best of my ability,” he acknowledges with pride.   

His mother, soft spoken, looks on. When I ask her for an interview, she responds that talking with her son will suffice and that all the businesses are based on his initiation. 

What drives him? Is it merely money making?

Fashioning many things from nothing

“No, it is fashioning many things from nothing – this is what my mother and I did. We did not ask from relatives. We simply innovated and worked tirelessly.” 

He shares that he seeks to expand into island-wide represented businesses, especially restaurants and reveals that last year he collected enough profit from his enterprises to experience what real star-class hospitality was like.

“I spent Rs. 65,000 per day at a famous hotel in Kandy and found the service to be perfect. This is the kind of competitive excellence I aspire to,” he emphasises.  

As we continue to speak, details of the overall peer group he is associated with in Jaffna surfaces and it is clear that this locale is home to burgeoning talent and that youth entrepreneurship is changing the business landscape of the district.

It is common to see small groups of young people, generally below 24 years discussing business ideas in the many colourful cafes, mostly set up by youth, in diverse areas in Jaffna. Unique street food startups are cropping up merging entertainment with the gastronomical. 

“Have you been to Engada Spot and Engada Pedial food corner?” he asks. (Engada Spot is translated literally as ‘our hangout/place.’

I answer that I have visited both places and that the story of these youth-led enterprises will be featured soon in this page.

Competition juxtaposed with collaboration and cooperation

What is interesting in the entrepreneurial psyche of Jaffna is that competition is juxtaposed with collaboration and cooperation.

“We help each other. This is how we can develop,” Nizhal points out. It seems that the cancer of jealousy and envy will never get at these enthusiastic youth who thrive on the stimulus of success. 

This writer considers it an extraordinary privilege to narrate this current reality of Jaffna, having previously journalistically reported on the destructive past of power manipulated conflict that prevented economic development for over three decades and cost the nation thousands of its youth.