Welcome to our civilisation

We seem to be living in an insane world at times. In some ways I can separate myself from this world, at least for several hours a day. Our school in Katugastota, Sri Lanka, welcomes almost 80 children, 2-5-year-olds, each day to enjoy the best educational experience in a building specially designed for maximum child development and education. It also includes several “special needs” children.

I can separate myself from the real world as our children have never heard of Taylor Swift or Gaza, let alone other events and places that make world news. Up to about 1 year ago, I doubt if the name of Taylor Swift would have had much impact on me. Now I read that her only appearance in Asia will be in Singapore at a cost to the government of reputedly 25 million dollars.

There is now a stampede for tickets to one of her five shows. Hotel prices have doubled or tripled and ticket resale prices have reached thousands of dollars. People from various countries are frantic to see their idol, who in the words of the Beatles (who are they?) is more popular than Jesus.

In the Philippians, and probably other places, people have taken out huge loans or spent their life savings just to get to one of the five concerts in Singapore. No doubt Taylor Swift is taking advantage of her stardom and enjoying it but in ten years’ time she will be superseded by the next pop idol, much younger and the idol worship will continue.

Apparently there has been a run on bright red lipstick, and traders are taking advantage to double their prices. Melbourne is hosting an international conference and symposium on Taylor Swift, though to what purpose is unclear. Comparison has been made that the words of some of her songs have the quality of “Shakespeare”. I cannot comment on this, as so far I have not heard them, but I will now listen before I give my opinion. I just can’t imagine that starving Palestinians in Gaza or Sudan, and other places, are even remotely interested in being “Swifties”.

As for paying as much as 100,000 dollars for an inclusive package of transport, hotel, and best tickets, maybe there are those with unlimited wealth, who consider it a “once in a lifetime” event like a pilgrimage to Mecca. I also read that football reaches more than 3.5 million fans.

Our preschool children, girls and boys, love kicking a ball around, but as yet have no ambition to engage in the sport as professionals. Ronaldo is by far the highest paid at over 170 million pounds a year. His recent move to Al Nassr sees him earning a staggering 200 million dollars a year. Have you heard of Neymar the Brazilian star snapped up by Saudi Arabia for a mere trifling 86 million pounds salary? Having exceptional skills to hit a ball, from the smallest in table tennis or golf, to the next size in cricket and tennis, and the largest used in football, rugby and other sports, can propel you to fame and wealth.

I recall reading that in the UK in the 1950s, top footballers whose names I remember such as Stanley Mathews, earned 25 pounds a week and also had to participate in maintaining the pitch. And I recall that as a folk music enthusiast in the 60s, visiting a smoke-filled cellar coffee house in London, where one of the Beatles would perform several songs unpaid. The main singer of the evening received 10 pounds for several hours’ performance.

I recently had a conversation with a friend in the UK who told me that his visit to a specialist, less than one hour, had cost 100 pounds, and that even a qualified technician would not consider working for less than 40 pounds an hour. The fact that millions of people donate their time and skills for nothing more than the satisfaction of helping others when they could be paid only received the reply that they must be “stupid”. We are in a world of distorted values where a tiny piece of glass, called a diamond, can have a value of thousands of pounds. Only experts can readily ascertain if it’s a “real” diamond. Such is the value that insurance companies insist that the owners of such jewelry only wear replicas when in public.

A small lump of yellow metal called gold has thousands risking their lives in dangerous mines to find just a few ingots. Most of us would be unable to tell if a gold ring with a precious jewel was real or fake. This reminds me of an encounter with a friend several years ago when I showed him my new wrist watch. I explained that I decided this time to buy a quality timepiece rather than the cheap ones I used to buy. I showed him my new watch which I said cost 200 pounds, but well worth it. He admired the design and strap. In fact, it was bought from Argos, a mail order company for 10 pounds and has been serving me well for the past five years.

I’m not ashamed to admit that most of my clothes have come from so-called “Charity” shops in the UK. Most of the items I buy are top brands in perfect condition. In time, these will be returned to a charity shop for sale to others who appreciate quality clothing. Not only am I recycling but also providing money for the charity to continue its work. A recent estimate by Oxfam said that clothing manufacture worldwide is 30% more than can be sold, but provides jobs for numerous people in many poor Asian countries. Much of the production has to be sold at very low prices in wealthy countries, resulting in wages as low as 10p or less an hour and often workers in unsafe and unhealthy factories and workshops.

There are shops in a well-known tourist market in London, frequented by fashion aware young people, who readily pay 100 pounds or more for a second hand T shirt and over double for “pre worn” trainers as well as a pair of torn jeans. They would never even consider buying the same items from a charity shop! The children in our school with minimum help are able to resolve a conflict such as the use of a bicycle or toy without the need to resort to physical confrontation. They are able to share their food with others whose parents cannot provide better items. The sheer enjoyment of seeing them splashing about in our new pool and stroking and feeding our two rabbits allows me for a time to forget the insanity of an adult world. Meanwhile, we are ready to spend billions on weapons in pursuit of some conflict, justified or otherwise. But that’s another story.

Douglas King, from UK living in Sri Lanka past 23 years