Moving back to Sri Lanka? Expect Challenges!

The decision to move back to Sri Lanka after over a decade is a daunting one. While we started thinking about moving back in 2010, when we actually started working through the details of moving back it turned out to be extremely stressful. The research and planning for a potential return started in 2011, with an expected return towards the latter part of 2012. There were so many things to consider and decisions to be made which made us defer the move by a year to late 2013.

The research started by talking to a lot of people both in Sri Lanka and in England. These people included family, relatives, friends, former colleagues in Sri Lanka, teachers, people who had gone back to Sri Lanka, people who had settled in UK and other countries but had briefly contemplated moving back but for some reason decided not to etc. While we did get a lot of advise and from everyone we spoke to, both for and against the move, on hindsight we probably took it a little too far by seeking opinions from too many people. We had always wanted to come back to Sri Lanka so every time someone spoke to us about the positives of moving back we were thrilled as it was more like approving our decision. Comments like 'great decision', 'nothing like home', 'parents and family will be thrilled', 'situation in Sri Lanka is improving' all gave us a lot of encouragement. But at the same time it was extremely discouraging and heartbreaking to hear the opposite; there were times we thought we should just forget about it and make up our minds to settle down in England. There were people who literally said 'you're mad/crazy/nuts/stupid' to go back to that country!' 'Country is going to the dogs', 'things are going backwards', 'corruption',  'cost of living', 'it's so hot there and mosquitos all over', 'why do you want to come back to this country when you have a good life there?', 'you won't survive more than 1 year there',  'traffic is terrible', 'people are looking to leave the country' etc etc. We were sure that most of these comments were true indeed but it was our mistake to actually go behind for advise knowing what the response will be in most cases. It was actually disappointing to hear some of the comments from people who had lived in Sri Lanka for 20-30 years before moving out now say things that implied that Sri Lanka was a God-forbidden country! Anyway, listening to comments and getting opinions from all around really held us back several times - may be we were not bold enough to make the decision without consulting people who we thought would advise us wisely. So my advise is to limit the number of opinions you seek - gather lots of information and make your decision independently!

Cost of living is a major concern. If you have been out for over a decade you will notice a huge difference from how much the cost of products and services have gone up. Depending on the life style and standard of living you want to maintain, an average middle class family of four will need between Rs.100,000 and Rs. 200,000 to get through the month - excluding any loans that need to be paid! Salaries have gone up though, mainly at senior levels in the private sector. But at junior levels it will be a struggle, especially if you are to support a family and build some savings for the future. Having said that, there is still a huge majority of people who get through the month with an income of less than Rs. 10,000. They have found ways to adapt to the challenges by sticking to the basics and living very simple life styles. So if you really want to come back and don't see potential to earn a decent salary, then expect to sacrifice on some comforts. It would be to your benefit if you can create additional streams of income for the family.

Education for children is another major concern. The government schools in Sri Lanka still teach in the same way they did 30 years ago. Their aim is get children to to get through exams and not to help them understand concepts so that they would be able to apply them to real life situations. There is a huge level of competition, even at grade 1 or 2, where small children spend most of their evenings in tuition classes instead of playing and doing everything else that children are supposed to do. Even some parents are very competitive and push their children so that they could show off to others that their children did well in their term tests. This aspect unfortunately seems to be getting worse, especially in government sector schools. There is more hope with private schools - some have altered their curriculum to better suit children of today and employ modern ways of teaching to help students understand concepts; still a long way off from what is offered in western countries. However there is huge competition to admit children into these schools and often require personal connections to school administrators and hefty donations as much as Rs. 500,000 to ensure a place at school. The next level of schooling is to consider international schools - and there are plenty of them now - where a foreign curriculum and modern teaching methods are followed to provide a high standards of education that is, in some cases, comparable to what is offered in western countries. However this comes at a price - monthly fees can vary from as high as Rs.25,000 to Rs.175,000! So this is something you will need to consider, especially if your children are in good schools abroad now and you don't want to deprive them of a quality education. A point to note though is that if the reason you are coming back to Sri Lanka has a lot to do with culture and ensuring the children get a good grounding in the Sri Lankan value system, then you will need to consider either a reputed government school or private school. It is unlikely that they will get the same grounding in an international school. However you will need to weigh the pros and cons of each.

If you are living a comfortable and relatively relaxed life abroad now, you will need to realize that it will change drastically if you move back. If you are Sri Lankan, you are likely to have many relatives and friends around. There will be many, overlapping social commitments that you will be obliged to attend. Relaxed sundays and evening walks in the park will become a distant memory unless you can diplomatically dodge some of these to create time for yourself. Traffic, especially in Colombo, is horrendous. Expect to spend at least 2-3 hours on the road just for the daily commute depending on where you live and work. The heat can be unbearable during certain months. If you are to use an air conditioner in your house then you are going to go beyond the expense levels I stated above due to high electricity bills. Mosquitos are galore! You will get used to them after awhile but the worrying factor is around the diseases they spread - mainly dengue which can be fatal if not properly diagnosed and neglected. So this should be a concern for families, especially with young children.

General inefficiency, political instability, high-levels of corruption and favouritism are all aspects that impact anyone living in Sri Lanka. You will need to face a lot of such situations when carrying out your day to day activities. Customer service is very poor compared to levels of service in some developed countries. There are not a lot of services available online yet (although this is improving quite a bit now). So overall getting things done will not be easy so expect to be frustrated often!

What I have shared above is a result of the research that I did before moving back to Sri Lanka combined with some experiences from having lived here for a few months now. Overall, if you are still struggling with the decision about moving back then know that there is no right or wrong decision when it comes to this matter. People will have opinions about what you should to do but my advise is that you listen to a few but follow your heart. It should be a very personal decision and suite your own circumstances and should not be influenced by the circumstances or life choices of someone else. If you have the ability to do so then it is always good to have a back-up plan so that you can go back some time in the future. But this should not be a concrete plan that you will fallback to as soon as you face the first obstacle in Sri Lanka. Even if you don't have a means of going back, if you have lived in Sri Lanka before, you will know in your heart that you can somehow make it work if you want to! If you really want to follow your heart and come back home then maintain very low expectations and you will be just fine!