Sri Lanka’s biggest insecurity: Fear of competition

Originally appeared on The Morning.

By Dhananath Fernando

If we were to take some collective responsibility for the sad state of our country and attribute it to any cause, I believe it is due to our ‘fear of competition’. 

From top to bottom, Sri Lankans have been fearful of competing. Over a period of time, we have become very reluctant to compete and our fear has grown into incompetence. The fear of competition syndrome is spread across all sections of society, from the top executives to people below the poverty line. 

Sadly, as a country, we have not understood the meaning of ‘competition’. In our vocabulary, competition is where winners are selected and losers are ridiculed. However, competition is actually where the winner and the loser both win – when the winner wins, the loser also wins. How can this be?

A winner is defined as an individual who takes the leap to utilise the resources available to their maximum potential. Even in a 100 m race, the winner is the person who covers the distance within the shortest time span.

The recipe for the title of a winner is determined by the effort endured by any individual to go that extra mile and maximise the resources available. Once that formula is found, even the loser can use the formula of the winning person without wasting their resources further. Losers can ask the winners to run on their behalf next time so that the losers can better use their skills elsewhere.

This is how we all use so many consumable goods. Let us take computers as an example: most of us have lost the race of manufacturing computers while many have not even tried. But someone found the computer formula, so now we can all use the winning formula, which helps many of us save our valuable resources. Thus, losers have also benefited. This is why competition makes winners win and losers also win. It is much more than simply picking a winner – it is about the allocation of resources.  

In the Sri Lankan context, the fear of competition is what mainly led to the misallocation of resources. From top to bottom, not only are Sri Lankans fearful, but we also instigate fear in others. 

It was recently reported that a driver who was providing a taxi service using a mobile app had been threatened by some other drivers who were not using the app-based taxi service. The threat had taken place while the service was being provided to foreigners. The underlying reason for this is the fear of competing with mobile app-based technology.  

Fear of competing with private medical schools

While our tuk-tuk drivers have fear of competition regarding app-based solutions, our doctors have a fear of competition regarding private medical schools. They do not want someone capable with a better service in the market because they are fearful that someone else will overtake them. 

Fear of competition in furniture manufacturing 

Our furniture manufacturers are fearful of competing with other furniture manufacturers in the region. Not only are they fearful, they even ask the Government to support some of these industries with taxpayer money.

Fear of competition in the construction industry

Our bathware and tile manufacturers are reluctant to compete with the same category of products overseas. As a result, our cost of construction is about 25-40% higher than the region due to our widespread fear of competition. Most of our construction materials have a tariff of nearly 100% to avoid competition. Even the private sector is suffering from the fear of competition, which is one of the main reasons Sri Lanka lacks big industries and innovation in the system.

University students’ and the labour force’s fear of competition 

Our university students and teachers do not want to compete with international students. As a result, resistance is high against the entrance of any type of private university to the market. Rankings of our universities and colleges have been deteriorating over the years, but we still remain reluctant to compete. Not only do university students want to avoid competition, but they also want to be dependent on the Government.

Our Government servants and entire labour force are fearful that if we open the job market, foreigners with better skills will replace them. Although we are not competitive, we want to maintain our stake.

Across the board, Sri Lankans are deeply fearful of competing with the world. We lack the courage to admit the truth that our competitors can produce high quality products with high efficiency and productivity. If we are so afraid to compete with the world, there is little reason to claim that we have to improve exports. Exporting would mean competing with the world on an uneven playing field with different tariffs imposed in different regions.

Hasn’t our fear of competition not only made the country worse, but also contributed greatly to our economic crisis? Not just politicians, but all Sri Lankans have promoted fear among our fellow citizens. There are no innovations, inventions, or new technologies without competition. That is the sad truth. We have unfortunately become victims of our own actions.

For once, we should admit that we are the problem without absolving ourselves and instead blaming our political elites. While the poor decision-making of politicians is definitely a problem, if we are reluctant to compete, they can easily say that they simply represented our worldview and opinion.

The opinions expressed are the author’s own views. They may not necessarily reflect the views of the Advocata Institute or anyone affiliated with the institute.