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| Wednesday, 27 November 2002 |
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Letters | |
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Please forward your letters to [email protected] in plain text format within the e-mail message, since as a policy we do not open any attachments.
A recently opened supermarket in Mount Lavinia has become quite famous for its high quality bread and pastries. A few days ago I bought three 'Raisin Buns' (as they are called) from this outlet and took them home. I sliced one in order to butter it but try as I may, I could not spot any raisins in it at all. I thereupon dissected the bun with meticulous care and discovered ONE small raisin embedded majestically in the middle of the bun - just ONE - no more, no less. It sparkled with the brilliance of the Kohinoor in the British crown! A similar careful examination of the other two buns revealed the same result - one raisin in solitary splendour in each. One could not help but wonder what loving, tender care the master-baker would have taken in carefully positioning this jewel of a raisin right in the centre of the bun - with such perfect precision! There is, of course, no law prescribing the minimum number of raisin that should go into a 'raisin bun' - it could be one or twenty or more. I am not therefore thinking of raisin 'Cain or raisin' a hornet's nest by raisin' this issue, but I do believe that marketing such 'raisin buns' is only a subtle way of raisin' funds! DR. RILEY FERNANDO, Hats off to the person who highlighted in the Daily News about the "accent" our news readers use when reading news on Televison. We Sri Lankans are not foreigners. Whatever be the denomination we are nothing but Sri Lankans. We eagerly wait to listen to the T.V. News Sinhala/English. News of our country/abroad but what is the use if we do not understand half what these elocutionist news presenters say. Even the English educated people find it difficult to understand, what they say. Now what about those whose standard of English is poor. English is a recognised langauge. A language used by all people in the world. We Sri Lankans have the gift of speaking this langauge clearly and correctly. Then why this borrowed "Accent": to puzzle those hearing it. Right now everyone is clamouring to learn English and for this purpose there are classes in Spoken English and English Language. Now even the schools have classes in the English medium. Imagine the poor child/adult attending these classes and not understand "a thing" due to the accent by those who teach them. So let's give up the "accent" and speak English that could be understood even by a child. D.P. PEIRIS, New ambassador to Washington DC The present government should be congratulated for appointing an expatriate as the next ambassador to Washington DC. Compared to some previous appointments this seems to be breath of fresh air and a very encouraging first step towards utilizing the services of experienced and qualified expatriates. Many a country including Sri Lanka's closest neighbour India has used qualified and experienced expatriates in various fields of development. Unfortunately, this cannot be said of Sri Lanka. Mr. Subasinghe has had several years of experience and exposure. All Sri Lanka lovers should get together to welcome him and extend their sincere cooperation. KOSALA G TANTULA, I read your news items about building lower cost houses, which is timely and can save billions by way of cash, materials and labour. I have read about architects creating fantastic houses in Kerala at fraction of the normal cost with stunning results. I have seen beautiful houses erected with modern technology with speed and very low cost, in Europe as well as US. I feel very sorry for my parents and other family members who poured all their lifetime savings into those concrete monsters which are now lying inhabited. I deeply regret the waste. We have world class architects and Engineers. We must go all out to encourage them to build low cost houses providing all amenities to our future generations at least and, relieve housing burden. V. ANANDASIVAM, No one is bothered when the bakery owners increase the price of bread and other flour products according to their whims and fancies. I buy my "daily bread" from a bakery at Weligampitiya junction. Loaves of bread are priced at different prices. Normally I buy the bread sold at Rs. 13/- a loaf. About 10 days ago when I went to buy the bread I was told that the Rs. 13/- bread has been increased to Rs. 14/- and the backery owner said that there is no change in the price of bun which was sold at Rs. 6/-. But one week later when I went to buy my "daily bread" I was told that the price of bun has been increased to Rs. 7/- When the price of a pound of bread has been increased by one rupee, is it reasonable to increase the bun which is about one sixth of a pound of bread, by one rupee. I am not against price increases in products or services when the prices of various items which they are dependant in manufacturing their products or performing the services go up in price. But the price increases should be reasonably in proportion to the price increases of products which they are dependant. Do we not have any authority in Sri Lanka to check this type of exploitation by the traders ? T.J. Victor Silva, The Sinhala translation of "Agriculture and Patriotism", a book by the Rt. Honourable D. S. Senanayake, our first Prime Minister, was launched recently. It may perhaps be of interest for your readers to know how the book originated. Sir Arthur Ranasinha writes in his book, Memoirs and Musings, (1972) "To D.S. Senanayake a good farmer was a true patriot. As his agricultural policy became crystallised I suggested to him that it would be desirable to outline his ideas in a series of Press articles. D.S. accepted my suggestion with enthusiasm, and we began thinking out, discussing, and writing a series of articles to be published in a newspaper. These were later collected and published as a booklet entitled "Agriculture and Patriotism." D. L. KANNANGARA, Till now consultants referring patients to hospitals were not given any commission or 'cut' by the hospital. So that consultants were not influenced and were able to maintain high professional standards. However, a hospital has commenced a new culture by offering the 10th C.T. Scan free for the Consultant referring the patient. This attempt to bribe doctors in Sri Lanka is unsavoury and contemptible and is liable to erode the high professional standards maintained by doctors in Sri Lanka. In India where CT machines are available in large numbers in the medical clinics a cut is given to all doctors referring patients for CT Scans. In order to make money patients are subjected to unnecessary investigations. A patient sent for a CT examination has to undergo other unnecessary tests called Health Checks so that the hospital could make money. I hope that the worst in India Medical practices will not be introduced to Sri Lanka in the name of modern technology. DR. NEVILLE FERNANDO, Politicians prior to Independence in 1948, spent their own wealth to uplift the living conditions of the down-trodden masses and did not enter politics to make money, unlike today. Many problems the people are facing today, with the escalating cost of living, are due to the politicians who promise many things at election times, but later unable to deliver the goods. The constitution should be amended since the people who voted these politicians to power, should have the right to recall these members if they are found that their performance is below standard. It is about time to get together for a better future tomorrow. F.A.R.S., I was issued with a bus ticket to travel to Kaluwanchikudy on 08/11/2002 (T. No. 231201) by CTB booking office Pettah, at 2.30 pm. It was mentioned on the ticket the bus will be leaving at 6.00 p.m. and I went to the bus stand at 5.45 p.m. and I found that there was no bus travelling to Kaluwanchikudy at that time. I made a complaint to the officer who has issued me this ticket. He asked for my ticket to verify, and altered the place of destination from Kaluwanhchikudy to Sammanthurai. As he could be found fault for issuing a ticket to Kaluwanchikudy from the ticket book belonging to Sammanthurai bus depot. Having done this he argued with me, humiliating me in front of the public and calling me a liar. V. ARAVINTHAN, I refer to the letter of S. Thambyrajah appeared on 16th October 2002 captioned "Demodara of Historic Significance" by which the writer has attributed the history of "Demodara" to the South Indian Tamils who settled in the tea estates in Uva during the latter part of the 19th century. In order to establish this view he has stated that there is a school of thought that the name Demodara originated from "Ten Madhura" in South India. I wish to point out that there is hardly any evidence to maintain this theory, because the place name "Demodara" was in the usage among the Sinhalese in the hill country as well as in other areas very much earlier than the arrival of South Indian Tamils to the tea estates in Uva. Apart from the famous "Demodara referred to in the letter, several other places called "Demodara" are found in different parts of the country. "Demodara" in Tunkama G.S. Division in Embilipitiya, Demodara Road in Uggalkaltota G.S. Division in Balangoda, Demodara in Koslanda G.S. Division in Haldummulla, Demodara in Ranwanguhawa G.S. Division in Haldumulla, Demodara in Passara D.S. Division in Badulla, Demodara in Habaraththawela G.S. Division in Thanamalwila, Demodara Watta in Kahambana G.S. Division in Monaragala, Demodara yaya in Uda Arawa G.S. Division in Buttala, Demodara in Binganthalawa G.S. Division in Valapane, Demodara Watta in Wewathenna G.S. Division in Gampola are same of those place names. Obviously the origin of the word Demodara could be attributed to the Sinhalese as it has a literary meaning in Sinhala language. The word "Modara" has been formed by the combination of two words namely the "Muwa" (mouth) and "Dora" (Gate), which denote the place where river empties its waters to the sea. In the same way a mouth of a tributary from which the water flows to a main stream too is called Muwa+Dora or Modara. The well-known "Modara" in Colombo M.C. area, Modaravana in Ambilipitiya, 'Modara Tanna' in Rambukkana Modara Patuwatha Modaragoda, Modarawatta, Modarahena, Modara Malwila, Modarapalassa, Modara Pilawala, Maha Modara, Kuda Modara in Southern Province are some of these place names. The spot where two tributaries are met and formed a main stream is called Demodara (De+Muwa+Dora). Similarly the place where three such tributaries are met is called "Tummodara" (Tun+Muwa+Dora). The place name called Tummodara are found in Thawalama D.S. Division in Ratnapura District, Kuliyapitiya Division in Kurunegala District, Naththandiya Division in Puttalam District, Wattala Division in Gampaha District, Awissawella Division in Colombo District. W. P. W. Weerawardane, |
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