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| Tuesday, 20 May 2003 |
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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.
There are over hundreds of trade advertisements on the T. V, radio, and in almost all daily newspapers. It's well and good to advertise the products of various companies and even institutions so that the public will know what they really want. The Government says to price mark the products you advertise for sale. But this is not adhered to. We read these advertisements from top to bottom but the prices of the products are not given in most cases. Sometimes these advertisements are so full of glowing tributes the customer is somehow or other compel to go to the shop where it was advertised. But when prices are asked for, the customers are simply amazed. Then there are some advertisements which when after the advertisements are announced, we do not know actually what they were advertising. Of course some of these advertisements are so clearly displayed that anyone enjoys listening to it or reading it in a newspaper or seeing them on T.V. The customer will appreciate it and sometimes go in search of items advertised. D. T. GOONASEKERA, Ratmalana Li Kuang Shu's letter on the above caption (Daily News - May 6, 2003) has prompted me to make my observations. I do not wish to make any comments on the doctor's views since I am not a doctor. Mr. Shu referring to the doctor's article, cites his father's case in support of the doctor's views saying that his father consumed as many as ninety eggs a month, continually for several years, and as a result lived up to eighty years. He has attempted to make that lone example as a general condition for long life. But, here I am, a 84! I have been refraining from eating eggs during the past fifty years or even more. Nevertheless I am quite healthy, both physically and mentally. I have been teaching for sixty years ending up as a Principal. I have a considerable number of friends who are septuagenarians and even octogenarians who do not consume eggs at all but live healthily. Can't we therefore stick to the old adage?. "An apple a day will keep the doctor away", substituting the word "apple" with our common and popular fruit 'banana'? DANISTER I. FERNANDO, Colombo 08 Since the year 2000, we have seen many news items in the print and electronic media about selected participants of 'Future World Leaders Youth Summit'. As in this modern age we come across various types of unimaginable things due to various objectives of many people and organizations, there is nothing strange. But, how are these FWLs selected? What are the qualifications and the criterion? Are those the fluency in English or some foreign languages, wealth of the parents, right school etc? If they are accepted by the outside world as their future leaders it is a different thing. But definitely they or their parents and sponsors shouldn't rest assured they should one day be the leaders of Sri Lanka. We have suffered enough due to bureaucrats who have no knowledge about our history, culture, civilization, customs, moral values and traditions. DESHAPRIYA RAJAPAKSHA, Colombo 6. University shut-outs and the educated un-employed I read with interest the above titled article in the "Daily News" of 22-04-2003. In brief the writer states that without a Degree one cannot find employment in Sri Lanka and University shut-outs become a burden on their parents. I beg to disagree. There are about 25,000 unemployed Arts Graduates who don't know English. University shut-outs who have a good knowledge of English can easily find employment in the private sector. Continued privatization has resulted in most jobs being in the private sector. University shut-outs can become Diplomate Engineers, Chartered Accountants, Management Accountants, Computer Programmers or join the Open University and get a Degree in most fields. LIONEL J. SENEVIRATNE, Mount Lavinia Will death penalty deter killings? A lot of letters were seen in your columns regarding above. No doubt that everyone argued for or against, depending on their beliefs religiously or otherwise. However, it is pertinent, to question the objective of restoring death penalty. I believe that it is done as it would act as a deterrent for killing another human being intentionally. So, will this penalty deter killings?. Perhaps it would have had some effect in the good old days, but now in a world where individuals are prepared to die in order to kill another, this penalty may not have the desired effects. Sri Lanka, being a highly Buddhist country, with a government and justice department more attuned to Buddhist principles, cannot justify restoring the death penalty, if due regard is given to Buddhist philosophy. A person can only be identified by a name such as a murderer, only when he or she is under a state of mind of that nature. No sooner one gives up such state of mind, it is unfair to categorise by that name. This is true, even in nature. Though ice and water are basically the same, they have different identities depending on their states of matter. This is 'Dhamma' or the truth. Further, it is possible that the true killer could live in luxury, by contracting the work, to an individual who is greedy and ignorant. In a world where money could buy anything, tangible or otherwise, how can we guarantee that the justice will be done. It is an acceptable fact that it is better to allow a murderer to live, rather than murdering an innocent. What could be the solution for this? Again, if we go by Buddhist philosophy, the causes for this got to be discarded. Then only bad effects will cease. One of the writers in your columns did suggest that death penalty could be restored for a period until the country is assured of good governance. That gives the hint what the cause is. Undoubtedly bad governance. So it is up to each and every one in Sri Lanka to see that good governance prevails at all levels. D. P. Y. ABEYWARDHANA, London Moving forward from the fiasco of the Mara Tree Ruk Rakaganno, the Tree Protection Society of Sri Lanka is keen to build up a database of valuable trees around the country that are worthy of protection and then lobby the authorities to protect these trees from vandalism which is thinly disguised as development. This is a very real threat as has been amply demonstrated by the sorry fate of the 300-year-old Mara tree in the Matara Fort. This tree was a public good. It was on public land and therefore belonged collectively to the public. Therefore any actions relating to the tree should have received the appropriate approvals from public authorities that act for the people. A decision cannot or rather should not be based on one person's opinion, however powerful that person maybe. In most cases it is the Government Agent (GA) and the Municipal Council that have authority over trees on public lands and their permission must be obtained before any tree is cut down. However, where a tree is within a designated archaeological site, such as the Matara Fort, then permission must be obtained from the Archaeological Department under the Antiquities Ordinance as amended by Act. No. 24 of 1998, Sec. 43A. In such a situation the GA and the Municipal Council have no power to authorize the cutting down of the tree if the Archaeological Department has denied permission. Concurrent approval from all three authorities is necessary if the tree is to be cut down. Trees can also be protected through designation under Sec. 43a of the Flora and Fauna Protection Ordinance where they are deemed to have environmental cultural, historical or aesthetic value. The Minister in charge of Environment can perform the designation of trees under this section. While there's little that can be done to bring back the Mara tree we can and must use this as a learning experience so that we can stop more trees from suffering the same fate in the future. Ruk Rakaganno seeks the assistance of the public in providing us with details of any trees that you think are worth preserving so that we can build up a database of these trees and work towards getting them designated under the relevant laws. Our contact details are: 291/16, Edward Avenue, Havelock Road, Colombo 6 Tel: 554438 Email: [email protected] NIRMALA DE MEL, President, Ruk Rakaganno |
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