Father’s Day, and the fate of many Lankan fathers

Resultantly a growing number of fathers are forced to labour in their old age

Yesterday (June 21) was dedicated to the fathers in our country. ‘Father’s Day’ in our country, is relatively a modern-day observance. None of the major religions in our country designate a specific calendar date exclusively for fathers.  Rather,  they promote a universal approach -- teaching that every day is an opportunity to honour, respect, and show gratitude to both mothers and fathers. 

Father’s Day unfortunately was popularised in our country as part of a commercial trend during the latter half of the 20th century. Unsurprisingly, Father’s Day does not have a recorded date for its first celebration. Be that as it may, today we in Sri Lanka too, have accepted a particular date to appreciate and remember the role of fathers in our lives.

Unfortunately,  as mentioned earlier, the date has been commercialised and reduced to the level of lunches at luxury hotels, and radio stations airing meaningless short messages in praise of specific dads tied to a chance of winning prizes. 

Many of these dads are probably cringing as their names and deeds are blared on many of our radio stations.  But the day is supposed to commemorate the guidance, protection and other values fathers inculcate in their children. 

An aspect that is completely missed in all the publicity surrounding Father’s Day, is that fathers in our country today are faced with near insurmountable problems.  Fathers in Lanka are part of an aging population. Our system of ‘free education’ keeps churning out educated young men and women year-in and year-out. 

These educated young men and women cannot be absorbed into the workforce as our governments (including the present one) are not creative and unable to generate new avenues of employment to absorb the growing number of educated young people.

Faced with unemployment in their own land, young people are leaving the country in droves. Our government,  rather than thinking in terms of employment creation to absorb the emerging workforce, is encouraging young people to seek employment abroad, as migrant workers.

In turn, this has led to the breakdown of the extended family system of yesteryear, where the older generation was supported and cared for by the younger generation. Today this is not possible with sons and daughter driven abroad. 

Resultantly a growing number of fathers are forced to labour in their old age to keep the home fires burning. Large numbers among these aging fathers have also been thrust onto the streets as they are unable to find employment or because rapacious employers do not pay them adequately. Thus, growing numbers of elderly males are seen begging at street corners. 

Our president has often spoken of the importance of family and parents. Yet he has obviously missed the havoc created by the breakdown of the extended family system. Government leaders gloat over increased inflows of foreign exchange, via repatriated earnings of young expatriate workers.

Unfortunately, the government has done little or nothing to protect the fathers and mothers of its expatriate workers who have been left helpless because of the breakdown in the extended family system.

The government has also failed to realise that young people working as migrant labour have to set themselves up in their adopted countries before they are in a position to send part of their meagre earnings home. While the government is happy to rake in  the foreign exchange repatriated by migrant workers, it does nothing to support elderly parents these migrant workers have left behind. 

A majority of our migrant workers are employed in the Middle East. These countries do not encourage workers to bring in parents or dependants. Even where they do it is only after a specific period of time.

Volunteer organisations working among the beggar population put the number of beggars countrywide at between 40,000 to 60,000.  Many among them will include fathers whose sons and daughters have been forced to work abroad.

Rather than merely singing the praises of fathers on a particular day, we as a country need to take a good hard look at how we treat our elderly fathers. Let us be realistic, fathers in our country are toiling in their old age. It’s time to create conditions where they can spend their last days in peace.