An exploration of the porridge tradition in Southern Sri Lankan culture

BackgroundIn the present study we have investigated the cultural transmission of two types of traditional plant knowledge in two communities of North-western Patagonia, Argentina. In the Pilcaniyeu community, we studied the transmission of traditional knowledge related to horticultural practices in home-gardens, greenhouses and gardens; while in the community of Cuyin Manzano, we studied wild plant gathering customs.MethodsEthnobotanical fieldwork was conducted by means of semi-structured interviews, in which we investigated which plants are used, at what life history phase was learned, modes of transmission and who the principal transmitters were in childhood and adulthood. In both communities, each of this three aspects related to cultural transmission were categorized and the frequencies of each category were obtained. The total number of species recorded in each community was also calculated. Frequencies were analyzed with the Chi-square test of independence.Results and discussionIn both communities, transmission of traditional plant knowledge begins at an early age, as a family custom, in which women play a predominant role. Wild plant use and horticultural knowledge continue to be learned during adulthood. This was particularly registered associated with horticultural learning, which receives greater influence from extension agents who are introducing new practices and technology. This outside influence, which implies novelty, could imply syncretism but also traditional knowledge loss.ConclusionGiven the remarkable acculturation processes occurring at present in rural communities of Northwestern Patagonia, it might be of vital importance to document traditional knowledge of ancient practices. Moreover, it could be interesting to share our results with both populations in order to encourage participatory activities within the communities which could enhance traditional knowledge horizontal transmission, particularly among elder adults and youngsters.

The history of the English language identified two core varieties: British English and American English. However, World Englishes have gained prestige over the decades. English, therefore, has become the lingua franca in the world. As a result, Sri Lankan English has fascinatingly become a specific variety. The people of a particular region or a country adapt English in specific ways, which are visible in their regular activities such as at college, at supermarkets and at workplaces. Novel words can be found among several groups of people, which support the function of proper communication. Moreover, social media platforms spread varied English morphemes. The younger generation of Sri Lanka plays an innovative role in the process of word formation. Therefore, this research focuses on specific word formation processes in the Sri Lankan context among young adults. The objectives of this research are to recognize innovative word formation processes in English in the Sri Lankan context and to analyse the use of these processes which are commonly used among young adults in Sri Lanka. The data relevant to word formation processes were gathered by observing young adults’ speech on social media platforms and daily speech practices of the participants. The data collected were analyzed both quantitatively and qualitatively. Furthermore, data was gathered via a questionnaire distributed among the participants. Eleven different word formation processes which were identified are analyzed in this research and they are also categorized under the most-used formation processes and generally-used processes. The findings indicate that novel word formations in English are explicitly visible among young adults in the Sri Lankan context. It was also found that most of these formations occur unintentionally. This study is thus useful in identifying the key word formation processes prevalent in present Sri Lankan society and in understanding the future direction of Sri Lankan English. Keywords: Sri Lankan English; Word formation processes; Common speech; Social media platforms

PurposeMoney laundering (ML) has become a significant challenge all over the world today. Trade-based money laundering (TBML) is a type of ML that poses a hazard to any country. In recent years, developed and developing countries have pursued liberal policies for international financial markets. The Financial Action Task Force (FATF) defines TBML as the process of concealing criminal earnings and shifting value through trade transactions in an attempt to justify their illicit origins. As international financial markets have improved ML controls, criminals have turned to the trade sector as a new venue, raising trade risks. The purpose of this study is to highlight the danger posed by TBML and the initiatives that should be taken to prevent such.Design/methodology/approachA review of publicly available reports, case studies, secondary data and literature on TBML from a variety of Sri Lankan and international contexts comprised the methodology. However, due to the dearth of literature on TBML details/information in the Sri Lankan context, international case studies have been analyzed. More critically, there are no precise estimates of TBML or defined protocols for collecting and maintaining TBML data. As a result, the FATF potential TMBL typologies were analyzed, and typical TBML procedures were examined to identify viable treats for Sri Lanka.FindingsThe study found that TBML has a significant effect on the economy and, as a result, social conflicts. Sri Lanka has the potential for TBML, and ML through financial institutions was identified as a major risk. Literature, on the other hand, shows that a large quantity of money has been laundered using TBML in Sri Lanka. The geographical location entices criminals to wash their illicit gains, and so the country has potential danger from South Asian countries. However, because of the sociopolitical climate in Sri Lanka, criminals are constantly looking for ways to profit illegally. Relaxing rules to promote foreign investment may encourage launderers to use their illicit proceeds. The government needs to take great care when dealing with this particularly delicate issue.Research limitations/implicationsDue to the complexity of financial crimes, this study had a number of limitations, as do many others. The data used for this study was sourced from publicly available information and the TBML has been clearly defined or understood due to the fact that the complexity of the methods used by criminals. As a result, the number of local instances reported on TMBL is quite small, hence this study relied on international case studies.Originality/valueThis research on TBML in Sri Lanka is original. It is anticipated that the findings and contribution of the study would help the stakeholders develop TBML prevention measures.

Tobacco agribusiness has contributed immensely to the economic, social, and cultural lives of the community of Temanggung district. The tobacco industry faces various challenges, such as government regulations regarding its health concerns, poor climatic conditions, decreasing agricultural land, price fluctuation of crops, and ageing farmers. However, the sustainability of tobacco agribusiness in Temanggung district still maintained by continuing their tradition, but threatened in the future by lack of farmers’ regeneration. This research is aimed at exploring and analysing the transmission of traditional knowledge in the framework of tobacco agribusiness sustainability from the perspective of young-adult family members of tobacco farmers. The focus is on: (1) aspects of social-culture and environment in the transmission of knowledge process; (2) the method of transmission of knowledge from older generation farmers; (3) the opinions of younger generation farmers in the transmission of knowledge process for the future; and (4) the role of younger generation in the transmission of knowledge. This study employed a qualitative case studies approach. Data for this research was acquired through literature review, direct observation, interview, and focus group discussions. A field study was conducted at three villages located in Temanggung district. Results indicated disparities in the level of optimism among young-adult family members of tobacco farmers towards the future of tobacco agribusiness. The high optimism among the young generation is one of the supporting factors of transmission and sustainability of traditional knowledge. This study also found important role of communications as additional points for Transactional Model proposed by Sameroff.

This research paper sets out to investigate the research gaps in employee engagement for systematic empirical investigations, in order to substantiate future studies. A desk research has contributed to identify seven gaps in employee engagement. The first gap which is about the conceptual confusion, can be minimized by formulating a working definition of employee engagement. The nonexistence of theoretical arguments and empirical tests on the impact of the religiosity on employee engagement, in both the Sri Lankan and in the international contexts, has been identified as the second gap. The third gap has been identified to be the fact that the rapport between personal character and employee engagement being, neither theoretically argued nor empirically tested, in Sri Lankan and the international contexts. The fourth gap is the unavailability of studies in the Sri Lankan context as to how the high performance work practices (HPWPs) impact on employee engagement. The fifth gap identified is the shortage of empirical evidence regarding the link between employee engagement and organizational financial performance in the Sri Lankan context. Absence of empirical evidence on employee job performance to be an intervening variable for employee engagement and organizational financial performance is brought up as the sixth gap. The same absence is found in empirical evidence about religiosity, HPWPs, personal character, leadership and work life balance that significantly affect employee engagement in a nomological network in the Sri Lankan context as well as in the international context, which is the seventh Gap.

The Implicit in Translation: A Case Study of Récifs by Romesh Gunesekera. Translating Sri Lankan Culture to French. This article aims to shed light on how the translator of Reef, a novel written by the Sri Lankan author Romesh Gunesekera, has dealt with culture-specific lexis originating from the Sri Lankan context. We chose this novel because it contains many references to Sri Lankan culture. The terms referring to Sri Lankan realities appear in names of Sinhala or sometimes Tamil origin. First, we will assess whether the French translation utilised a source-oriented or target-oriented translation approach. Secondly, we will work on the strategy of literal translation, focusing on translating the implicit. Thirdly, we will see the use of the Sri Lankan English language as it appears in the original novel. The author of the novel voluntarily chose the ‘Sri Lankan English’ register to remain in the local context. Are there traces of these linguistic nuances in the French translation or did the translator decide to choose the register of contemporary standard French? Our findings suggest that the translation of Reef follows a source oriented approach and succeeds in referring to local realities of Sri Lanka, maintaining specific Sri Lankan terms, which in most cases become comprehensible in the context.

This study assessed differences on the uses and transmission of traditional knowledge (TK) about three traditional leafy vegetables (Crassocephalum crepidioides (Juss. ex Jacq.) S. Moor, Launaea taraxacifolia (Willd.) Amin ex C. Jeffrey, and Vernonia amygdalina Del.) of the Asteraceae family over two generations in three villages: Adjohoun, Dangbo, and Pobè (southern Benin). Individual semi-structured ethnobotanical interviews of 360 respondents were conducted in the villages with young girls, boys, and their two parents. The relative frequency of citation, use value, and Jaccard similarity index were used for data analyses. Vernonia amygdalina was the most commonly known and used vegetable in all villages, while L. taraxacifolia was confined to Pobè. Factors such as village of survey, generation, and gender affected the use value of the species, but the patterns of recognition and cultivation were species-specific. Leaves were the most used plant part. Traditional knowledge was largely acquired from parents (90% of citation), and both mothers and fathers transmitted a similar amount of knowledge to their progenies. The knowledge on V. amygdalina was transmitted to a larger scale than knowledge of C. crepidioides and L. taraxacifolia. Irrespective of the species, transmission of TK was higher in Pobè. Gender and generation knowledge dynamic hypothesis is species-specific. TK transmission was species-specific too and may be linked to the local importance and use of those resources. These findings will inform strategies and programs for the sustainable use and conservation of leafy vegetables in local communities and national research and development institutions.

In 1991, the Canadian documentaryStarting Fire with Gunpowderwas produced, focusing in part on the history of early media productions by the Inuit Broadcasting Corporation (IBC). It examined how the creation of Inuktitut media content could be an effective means of creative improvisation, linguistic and cultural preservation, and transmission of traditional knowledge. Almost 20 years later, the Internet serves as one of the primary communicative methods for young Inuit in the Canadian Arctic. However, it remains to be seen whether the quality of Inuktitut media online can compare with the example of linguistic and cultural preservation set by the visionaries of the early IBC. This article challenges prevailing critical approaches to the Inuit as linguistically and culturally vulnerable. It views Inuktitut New Media content as an embodiment of the wordairaq(‘edible roots’), used here as a model of strength, resilience, and adaptability. It concludes that the creativity and prolificacy of the early IBC productions should set the standard for a new generation of Inuktitut content creators online.

The current society is more concerned about the environment and society due to several issues that arise in these areas. Therefore, they expect more information from organizations other than the information given through their traditional financial reporting. Most organizations around the world adapt to non-financial reporting as a response. However, the true determinants of non-financial reporting in Sri Lankan companies remain unexplored. Therefore, this study aims to answer, “Do attitudes, subjective norms, and behavioral control influence the intention to adopt non-financial reporting in Sri Lankan companies?”. The study was designed as a quantitative study and data was collected using a structured questionnaire that was developed based on the theory of planned behaviour. The managers, and accountants of publicly listed companies, private companies, and state-owned companies were considered as the respondents of the study. The study used 190 responses for the analysis The results of the regression analysis indicated that, even though all three factors positively affect the intention to adapt to non-financial reporting, only subjective norms are the factor that has a significant impact on adaptation to non-financial reporting in the Sri Lankan context. This may be due to the novelty of the practice of non-financial reporting in the Sri Lankan context. Managers and accountants might still be forming their own attitudes that have less impact but feel strong pressure from external forces to adopt them. Therefore, the direction of future studies should align with exploring the reasons for less impact of attitudes and behavioral control on the intention of adaptation to non-financial reporting in Sri Lanka.

Background: Meditation practices are currently being incorporated in psychotherapeutic interventions to address globally increasing rates of psychopathology. Meditation has been a common practice in Sri Lanka since early times. However, the integration of meditation as practiced in a Sri Lankan context, into psychotherapeutic interventions require rigorous empirical exploration. Objectives: The primary objective of this preliminary study was to explore the differences between meditators and non-meditators in terms of several psychological parameters. This study aimed to understand patterns, trends, and relationships in psychological variables such as mindfulness, psychological resilience, perceived quality of life, and psychological distress (namely, depression, anxiety, and stress)Methods: This study involved 15 long-term meditators (with a practice of 5-25 hours per week and 3.5-25 years of experience) from Sri Lankan meditation centers headed by Buddhist monks/nuns, and a matched control group of 15 non-meditating participants from a Sri Lankan community sample. Participants were matched for their age, gender and education. Self-reported levels of mindfulness, psychological resilience, perceived quality of life, and psychological distress were assessed using culturally adopted and validates psychometric measures.Results: The long-term meditators showed significantly higher scores on three dimensions of mindfulness (observing, non-reactivity, and acting with awareness) and total mindfulness, as well as higher psychological resilience and perceived psychological and environmental quality of life. Furthermore, the meditators reported significantly low levels of depression compared to their non-meditating controls.Conclusion: These findings suggest that a meditation-based lifestyle in a Sri Lankan context may be characteristic of higher levels of mindfulness, psychological resilience, and quality of life, as well as lower levels of depression, when compared to individuals who do not engage in regular meditation. The results provide direction for further empirical investigation and potential integration of meditation practices into psychotherapeutic interventions.

Obesity is an increasing health problem in developed countries and it is same for developing countries like Sri Lanka. Obesity can be defined as a condition where fat has accumulated to such an extent that health is adversely affected. There are several measures available in determining whether a person is obesity or not. Body Mass Index (BMI) is one of the very popular and highly used measuring techniques all around the world. A great number of studies have investigated factors related to obesity in overseas but no research work has been conducted in Sri Lankan context. This research is an attempt to identify a model which shows the relationship between BMI, demographic, socioeconomic and behavioral factors, and dietary intake in Sri Lanka youth population. As the initial stage of this study, a literature review was carried out to study about BMI. A conceptual model was developed by looking at the factors affecting person’s overweight or obesity in global context. After studying the global scenario the next step was to look at the Sri Lankan context using empirical data. A survey research approach was undertaken by means of structured questionnaires which were administered to a random sample of 243 youths. The data was analysed using both descriptive statistics and linear regression analysis. The findings show a significant association among a number of factors, overweight and obesity in Sri Lankan youth population. Regression model demonstrated that gender, marital status, family size, employment status, household income, smoking habit, alcoholic, mode of transport and routine exercise pattern affects the BMI. Being vegetarian or non-vegetarian and educational level have not being positively associated with increasing weight. Also it can be recommended that Sri Lanka should start prevention efforts before obesity extends to a larger proportion of the population.

Corporate Internet Reporting (CIR) is a significant communication phenomenon in the world. Research indicates that there are several CIR issues in developing countries as well as there is a dearth of the studies in the Sri Lankan context. Accordingly, this study is designed to identify the current level of CIR and what are the significant firm characteristics that impact CIR in the Sri Lankan context using a quantitative research approach using secondary data. The level of corporate internet reporting is measured using a disclosure index on CIR. Multiple ordinary least squares regression, multiple ordinal regression and correlation analyses are used to identify the significant determinants of CIR. The results indicate that of 100 companies examined, despite 83% of Sri Lankan companies have their own corporate websites, the overall level of CIR is only 16.2%. The content disclosure sub-score is on average 12.52% and the level of presentation format disclosure sub-score of CIR is 26.88%. Further, the explanatory analyses suggest that variables, auditor size, market capitalization,and the representation of hotel, travel and service industry are significant firm characteristics that impact the level of CIR. Overall, however, mixed evidence is noted. This study addresses the knowledge gap in identifying levels of CIR and firm characteristics and expected to have significant policy implications.

The main objective of this investigation was to study Sri Lankan customers’ acceptance and adoption of mobile applications to book their hotels. This investigation adopted quantitative questionnaire-based survey. Variables, namely Performance Expectancy, Effort Expectancy, Social Influence, and Facilitating Conditions variables from Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology (UTAUT) model were taken and Customers’ Involvement, Customers’ Innovativeness, and Perceived Trust variables were incorporated to come out with a new theoretical model for Sri Lankan context. Data were collected from 477 customers in various tourism spots in Sri Lanka. Partial Least Square Structural Equation Modelling (PLS-SEM) was deployed to evaluate the proposed model. The study revealed that Performance Expectancy, Effort Expectancy, Customers’ Innovativeness and Perceived Trust are the determinants of Sri Lankan customers’ intention to use mobile apps to book their hotels while Social Influence, Facilitating Conditions and Customers’ Involvement are not significantly impacting such intention in Sri Lankan context. The findings of this investigation would give clear direction for mobile app development companies on how they fine tune their products paying more attention on what customers/users of the apps expect. At the same time, the findings provide for industry decision makers and academics views on the incorporation of other constructs from UTAUT2 model. This study suggests researchers to investigate such behavioural intention comparatively in different context employing mixed-method approach to have more comprehensive understanding to the phenomenon. This is the first study of its nature attempting investigate customers’ intention to use mobiles apps for booking hotels Sri Lankan context extending the UTAUT model by incorporating Customers’ Involvement, Customers’ Innovativeness, and Perceived Trust.

With the rising impact of technological advancements within all sectors, there is an increase in interest among construction industry practitioners to integrate novel technologies collaborated with concepts. Lean is one such concept, which has received growing attention of construction companies. However, past researchers have identified many barriers for successful lean implementation in global construction context, where, technological approaches seem to be a success factor. Many experts have identified Internet of Things (IoT) as an enabler for the lean implementation in construction, which is undoubtedly lacking in the Sri Lankan context. Hence, this paper aims to investigate the drivers and barriers for using IoT for successful lean implementation in Sri Lankan construction industry. Seven semi structured interviews with experts in IoT and lean construction were conducted under the qualitative approach for data collection to achieve the research aim. Findings highlighted increased product and process quality; reduced unnecessary delays in construction process; reduced unnecessary costs; enhanced inventory management system; and increased site safety as key drivers, whereas, expensive devises and high cost of implementation; resistance to change; lack of internet coverage, IT facilities and compatibility issues; difficulties to adapt due to lack of knowledge and skills; security and privacy issues; and lack of innovative culture were identified as key barriers of using IoT for successful lean implementation in Sri Lankan construction industry. Findings revealed the several similarities in drivers and barriers of using IoT for lean construction implementation both in global and Sri Lankan context.

Aim: Despite the existence of established fire codes, the frequency of building fires in Sri Lanka has been on the rise in recent years. The primary objective of building codes is to ensure minimum acceptable fire safety standards in buildings, but deviations from the code can increase fire risk factors and exacerbate the severity of fires. This study aims to identify and rank such risk factors in three stages, beginning with design and concluding with maintenance. Introduction: Metodologia tego badania obejmuje podejście jakościowe, które uwzględnia przegląd literatury, ankietę opartą na kwestionariuszu oraz częściowo ustrukturyzowane wywiady ze specjalistami z branży pożarniczej. Kwestionariusz został opracowany w kontekście Sri Lanki. Wykwalifikowany i doświadczony zespół specjalistów ds. pożarnictwa został poproszony o uszeregowanie przygotowanego kwestionariusza, który został podsumowany w dwunastu kategoriach ryzyka. Chociaż metod oceny ryzyka pożarowego jest niewiele, w niniejszym badaniu zastosowano metodę wskaźnika względnej istotności. Wyniki uzyskane z pięciostopniowej skali Likerta, gdzie „1” to najmniejszy poziom ryzyka, a „5” to najwyższy poziom ryzyka, zostały przekonwertowane w celu identyfikacji priorytetów z RII. Project and methods: The methodology of this research consists of a qualitative approach, which includes a literature review, a questionnaire-based survey, and semi-structured interviews with fire industry professionals. The questionnaire was developed in a Sri Lankan context following an extensive literature review that included the author's experience. The qualified and experienced panel of fire specialists was asked to rank the prepared questionnaire, which was summarized into twelve risk categories. Though there are few fire risk ranking methods, the relative importance index method was applied in this research as it is simple and easy to use for ranking the risk factors. The results obtained from the five-point Likert scale, where “1” is the least risk level and “5” is the highest risk level, were converted to identify priorities with RII. Results: In the Sri Lankan context, it was discovered that issues with design and the approval of inaccurate building plans are the first and second major isk factors, respectively, out of the twelve categories identified. Thus, it was evident that deviations made at the design stage are the most significant risk factors, according to the Sri Lankan setting. Most of the mistakes that are made at the design stage cannot be rectified at a later stage under normal conditions, as it could incur huge costs to change the building structures. Conclusions: The study summarizes twelve factors that contribute to fire-related incidents in Sri Lankan buildings. Among these factors, the survey data shows that incorrect building design and the approval of inaccurate building plans for construction are the primary contributors to the high frequency and severity of fire-related incidents. Despite the availability of comprehensive fire safety regulations in Sri Lanka, the research reveals a significant gap in their implementation, from design to maintenance. These findings stress the importance of incorporating fire and safety management criteria into the building design stage, covering both construction and subsequent maintenance, to prevent fire incidents in Sri Lanka. Keywords: prescriptive fire codes, fire risk factors, fire risk assessment, fire risk ranking, building fire safety