All Expats do is complain, while living in Sri Lanka
This issue on NGO’s has been a debatable question. However, people should know that it is not all people who works for the NGO’s are been questioned, only a few. Recently, we had a discussion with a few Expats living in Sri Lanka and it was brought to our attention that they indeed agree on many of the points in this note below.
The above topic is a sensitive topic, however, it is something that I have seen in the last 9 years that I have been living in this great country, Sri Lanka.
It has been noticed that there are many people (expats) in town, working for NGO’s or even some foreign organizations who have issues with Sri Lanka/Sri Lankans. Some of these expats bitch about Sri Lanka day in day out, and then goes to a nice fine dining restaurant and indulges a nice meal followed by a pub crawl. End of the night, they all had a good time, actually, I would say a awesome night for only about $100.
I always wondered why these so called Expats live in Sri Lanka? All they do is complain, day in day out. Sri Lanka is this…. “Oh no”, this is taken over by a Sri Lankan and now it will be shit. village women have hairy legs, Blah blah blah! If Sri Lanka is shit, Why the hell are you living here? Why won’t you go back to the place you came from? Perfect world right? Where you can get anything done over night, have a nice meal, enjoy the night with some black labels etc…
Oh I forgot, they cannot do it in their own country, as they would NOT be in a position to afford it or they would be unemployed! Their main concern would be how I pay my rent next week.
For god sake, guys, you came to Sri Lanka knowing it’s a third world country. So live with it, and try not to bithc about it. If you really care, why not try to help the problem than criticizing nice, (overly, sometimes) friendly people who live here. You go anywhere in Sri Lanka, people will be glad to help you, invite you for a meal regardless of how wealthy they are. Good example was, we had an engine problem long time ago, and got stuck in the middle of nowhere. There was a small house I would say the entire place would not be bigger than 15 sq ft. They were so helpful, they even gave us a nice native meal. And once we were leaving, we tried to offer them some money but they never accepted it. Sri Lankan’s are probably the most nicest people I’ve ever met.
I challenge anybody to compare Sri Lanka to another developing country and see the difference. Sri Lanka offers you much more than what you can ask for. People are nice, the country is awesome and after all you have the freedom to do anything you want here (not like the Middle East or as a matter of fact, India) and enjoy life with what they have (colombo is a great place to hang out, dining, pubs etc). Unfortunately, yes, some of the people are backwards and they are not proactive. Nevertheless, it’s not your duty to criticize the people of Sri Lanka. After all you are living in their country with many luxuries that you cannot afford back home unless u earned a few million dollars. So live your life, and stop bitching about things after all, you do the same stuff you say sri lankans do, gossip, talk behind peoples backs etc.
Oh another thing is stop looking down at the Lankans. You are no better than them. They are as educated as you are in many ways. What probably differentiates btw you and them is that, certain level of proactive-ness that lacks the masses due to the society they grow up in and the education system that they are adopted. However, this should not be a reason to question the education system, as Sri Lanka still follows the British education system. Which in my mind is way too advanced compared to many other countries.
So basically, have respect to the people and country that you live in, otherwise get the - - - - out!
By James.
posted by Anonymous at 9/19/2006 10:10:00 AM
11 Comments:
hmmm interesting article. there is a level of accuracy in this. expats tend to look down at sri lankans.
the expats are here to do the jobs sri lankans aren't capable of handling....and not all sri lankans are the good natured-native rice giving-hospitable people you talked about in your experience.....we as expats have been taken advantage of to the fullest. I've been living here for 20 years and have gone through my share of robberies by gardeners and even bomb threats by house maids. I understand your point of view.... we are not allowed to bitch about living in sri lanka but you have all the right to talk shit about expats. No country is perfect and bitching about something is freedome of speech. if You don't want to hear it then close your ears and mind your own bussiness. ignorance is bliss my friend...
ha ha we have 2 hardcore people fighting. but yes, expats do have big attitudes towards the sri lankans.
Mr. Expat,
So why you live in this country for 20 years if you hate it?
May i ask what kind of job do you do, that Sri Lankans cannot do?
We agree with freedom of speech! No one was questioning that.
There is nothing that the Sri Lankans cannot do if they want to?
SO i dont see what the fuss is? IF they are given a task, they can do it. However, they need to find good managers to ensure this happens.
Why do people tend to take bribes, because they hardly get paid, hence, if they are giving a good expat salary (2000-10,000$ per month) plus accomodation provided (around $1000 plus per month) i think there would be more sri lankans coming forward to work in this industry. Esp. the people living overseas.
Bunch of crap.
funny really, when i go back to europe, not often, all my friends come up with"lucky you" "i cant stasnd it here anymore"(referring to italy), "i wish i could also escape this shit" etc etc, my reply is usually then apck your bags and go somewhere! this is 99% of my friends, relatives.
maybe complaining then is in the human nature, actually sri lankans are also big complainers, did u ever notice? maybe there is lots to complain about, hu?
what about the private sector, expats who have a business here complain exactly about the same things local business people complain about, ever notic3ed that?
btw where i come from i can have a fantastic night out for less than 50 usd, drinking wine included.
your romantic picture is pathetic, get real (like anonymous' post indicated)or try galle!joking, no offence, it's my town!
most of the peolple who came for tsunami work are EXTREMELY happy to b leaving and going somewhere else, like south ameica, even lebanon some!it's not that fantastic my friend (but i love it personally coz i'm not fussed, have good ppl around us, know loads more, we're ok). dont get me wrong. i/they sometimes complain to my sl friends, sometimes we agree/disagree, sometimes they relize/i realize why ppl complain and thru realization comes awareness and improvemtn usually.
i am famous in my circle of friends because almost whatever we come up with (any complaint) i boil it down to the education...try that, i strongly blieve the education (or lack of) is the root of the sl problems (yes, there r poblems...)
maybe u think the system is too advanced, maybe u should take a car and go to see the schools/teachers etc, in hiniduma 4 example? what r the facilites outside cmb? what is the stanmdard of teaching? why does EVERYONEsend their kids to extra classes?!?!? i really think schools are crap in sl!!complain comlain complain there u go again!
paradise island is only on brochures for suddhas my friend, wake up!
hmmm got a point, sri lanka needs to develop much more.
i think the point here is the suddha buggers look down at sri lankans and think they are it...
its an attitude thing? ?
is it like when the colombo ppl look down at the ppl of galle? or frown when i say i live here? or say, tchia, how can u possibly live there??
interesting.. i think when SLans stop looking down on themselves and treating white skinned people with more regard and respect than they do their own.. especially when in SL.. then we can expect expats and the like not to look down on SLans :)
the ave. lankan treats the whites well. they will be overly freindly. In the process some will also try to make a buck out of it.
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