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| Friday, 5 December 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.
Violating the rights of children It is well established factor in the science of medicine that a child experiencing a lot of violence would react violently. Sri Lankan children experience a lot of violence through the electronic media today including the cartoons meant for children. These would make the children to normalise what they see unless there is a caring adult with them to guide them that it is not the way to react in a situation. Present day working parents barely fulfil the basic needs of children with little or no time spent with them showing them love and affection the way the child wants them from parents. In urban schools the teachers have to struggle with 45-50 children in a class, where again the children do not get a chance to develop a healthy relationship with the teacher, within which they can confide problems and get guidance. When the most important avenues of guidance (parents and teachers) are closed for the children, they make the decisions themselves. Their guide would be their experiences, sadly dominated by the characters in the electronic media. Most of these cartoons are too violent even for the adults to watch. These characters are not able think rationally but would respond immediately in a violent way. This could be the reason for the violence we see among the schoolchildren at present. What should we do as responsible adults? Opportunities to grow up in an environment free of violence, at least at home is right of the children and it is the duty of the caring adults to provide such an environment. What could we demand from the authorities for these electronic media? How can we convince them that they should have programmes to give maximum benefit to maximum numbers? Could we ask the sponsors whether they could demand for a better cartoons from Asian countries with less violence? Could we demand the producers of video clips and teledramas to include characters who solve problems in healthier manner not doing any harm to self or others? Could we have TV channels with programmes which would help Sri Lankan to get rid and not to promote of violence! There is one very important thing all of us could do without pointing fingers at others. We should help children to watch TV programmes with more insight identifying good from bad. We should discuss with them about better alternatives which would not have brought harm to a particular character and others at that moment or later. T.A, Colombo 8 Discrimination against Buddhist nuns The Daily News of 25/11/03 reported that the Buddha Sasana Ministry has decided to pay a monetary allowance of Rs. 250 per month to all novice monks studying in recognised Bhikkhu Training Institutes for a period of five years. The Ministry hopes to increase the number of Bhikkhu Training Institutes in the future. Already novice monks studying in Pirivenas are allowed a grant of Rs. 1,240 per pupil. They receive free robes and free books. These are done under a programme to promote the education of young monks. But it is a matter for deep regret and dismay that Dasa Sil Matas and Bhikkunis - women enunciates get nothing of these benefits. They are considered outcastes and not part of the dual Sangha male and female envisaged and established by the Buddha. Here we see the hand of anti-feminism male-chauvinism and gynaephobia endemic in Sinhalese Buddhism since the Pollonnaruwa period. From that time Sinhalese Buddhism become and admixture of Buddhism and Hinduism. Caste - observance, worship of Hindu gods and disallowing the holy life of a Buddhist nun became the order of the day. Sinhalese Buddhism still hangs on to these apostasies. There are 2,500 Dasa Sil Matas and 400 fully ordained Bhikkunis now in Sri Lanka. They receive stepmotherly treatment from a Government bound by the constitution to protect and foster Buddhism. May the Buddha Sasana Ministry see reason and stop the discrimination against Buddhist nuns and cease to play second fiddle to anti-feminist obscurantists among the hierarchy gone apostate. D. AMARASIRI WEERATNE, Wattala Colombo Municipal Council has taken an unfair and regressive step in seizing and auctioning properties of rate payers, who are in arrears of rates and taxes due to various reasons. During the past many years, the economy was stagnant due to the North/East conflict. Roads were closed and many business places were compelled to be shut down. Landlords did not receive their rentals because the tenants claimed they had no business. Some properties remained vacant for many years, particularly in Colpetty and Fort, but Rates and Taxes were charged by the Council. Many property owners were compelled to go into arrears but the Council began to send demand and seizure notices without due consideration to peoples' difficulties. Appeals to the Mayor fell on deaf ears. The Mayor refused to understand the peoples' difficulties and he instructed the seizure and auction of over 500 properties of rate payers. In the meantime, the UNF Government introduced a Bill in parliament to write off the debts of business people, lawyers, doctors and others who were in default of Income Tax, Custom duties, Exercise duties etc., Certain Companies who had to pay over a Billion rupees by way of Customs duty were given a waiver. Amnesty was introduced to all tax dodgers and defaulters, a relief unprecedented in the history of the country. But the present Mayor who has no consideration, directed the seizure and auctioning of properties of rate payers. The CMC in the last four to five decades have never resorted to such unfair practices in seizing properties of people who are unable to pay their rates due to the difficult situation that prevailed in the country in the past many years. Therefore, will someone in authority rectify this annomally? P. WEERASEKERA, Colombo 5 I am a daughter of a Government pensioner who worked in the Police Force for over thirty years and retired in 1973. After his demise his wife of nearly 75 is drawing his pension. Since my father retired prior to 1983, he is entitled to a meagre pension. Now my mother is very sick and nearing the grave. I am unable to get her proper medical treatment, which is very exorbitant and not always accessible. Every time she falls sick I have to rush her in a three wheeler to a Government Hospital, as she is very weak and unable to walk. Therefore everytime I have to pay an exorbitant sum for the three wheeler, since we are staying out of Colombo. The meagre pension she gets is not enough even to give her good nourishment. Since she is very old, she has all sorts of complicated ailments. She has to undergo a cataract operation but she is unable to undergo this operation in a Government hospital as she is very weak and nowadays you can't expect any good treatment from them. She was full of hope that at least in this budget she will be able to have her ambition of undergoing cataract operation fulfilled. But all ended in disappointment. Uma, Wattala The Finance Minister's proposal to tax profits on share transactions has led to a great deal of controversy. Share brokers have complained that it will result in a fall in stock prices and, more importantly, prove a deterrent to foreign investment. The government however maintains that such huge profits should not go untaxed. It has however now conceded that this tax will apply only to companies and not to individuals. More than a decade ago, all share transactions were subject to a 1 per cent stamp duty. Though it brought in substantial revenue to the Government it was later abolished to give a fillip to the Stock Market. A feasible and more acceptable compromise alternative which should satisfy both parties would be to re-introduce stamp duties on share transactions. The rate could be depend on whether it would apply only to companies or to individuals as well. The added advantage of this alternative is that since it is levied at the time of the transaction and remitted direct to the Government it prevents the possibility of evasion that self-declaration of profits could lend itself to. It is unfortunate that the UNF Government which has taken many progressive steps to revive an economy has been less skilful when it came to tax reforms. Though innovative they lacked a ceratin coherence. As a result, it had to keep chopping and changing its original proposals when confronted with unforeseen difficulties in implementation. Taxation of interest in the previous Budget is a case in point. Rather than closing loopholes, the latest proposed changes will only make the present confusion more confounded. The reason for this unhappy state of affairs could very well be that the Finance Ministry does not appear to have consulted the Inland Revenue Department when formulating tax policy. The highly professional and experienced officers of the Department are surely in the best position to judge how practical tax proposals are and what difficulties could arise in their implementation. This should be borne in mind in the future, if such situations are to be avoided. NALIN MENDIS, Colombo 6 My daughter came to Sri Lanka by SriLankan Airlines on a short holiday on November 8, 2003, from London. At the Heathrow Airport, she was not asked to pay embarkation tax as it was included in the ticket fare itself. On the 17th the undersigned went to WTC and got the ticket reconfirmed for 22nd at the SriLankan Airlines Office. There again I was told the embarkation tax was not payable at the time of departure. Unfortunately at the BIA she was compelled to pay embarkation tax, despite protest. I expect a clarification from the authorities concerned. She left for London by UL 501 on the 22nd. Further on the 22nd, my daughter along with her cousin went to the check-in counter. My daughter was asked to pay a sum of Rs. 6,000 or so for excess weight. Having paid this amount, the officer concerned at the counter insisted that she reduce her hand luggage to 7 Kg and give the excess item to her cousin as she was not carrying a hand luggage. My daughter was compelled to oblige. Having paid for excess luggage what is the logic in this? Is this treatment meted out to my daughter as she was travelling on a Sri Lanka passport? G. SRI MANOHARAN, Ratmalana Cruelty to animals at tourist hotels We have been regular visitors to Sri Lanka and have come to your beautiful island over 20 times. However, during our recent visits, we sadly noticed a new development with regard to the poor animals, mostly dogs, that innocently come straying into the premises of the hotels that we have stayed in. We have observed that hotels on your beautiful South coast arrange to kill these dogs by feeding them poisoned food. These animals are so friendly that sometimes they are led away by the hotel staff and later we do not know what dreadful things have happened to them, as we do not see them thereafter. The poor cats too, are caught and put into bags and even dashed on the ground and trampled or crushed to death, as we have learnt from sympathetic employees of these hotels who deplore what happens, but are helpless to stop this. In the last hotel we stayed at Kalutara, one kind employee was able to hide and save a pregnant cat, that was to suffer the same fate. We have been regular visitors to Sri Lanka, not only because of the very good beaches and other attractions, but also because Sri Lanka's tourism promotion speaks much of the Buddhist traditions of tolerance and compassion to all living beings, that has had a great appeal to us. Yet, due to this increasing brutality to animals that we have seen, we are now disillusioned. How can we have a pleasant holiday, knowing what happens to these innocent animals who also seek human company and are also liked by most tourists? We call upon the tourism authorities in Sri Lanka, such as the Tourist Board and what we have heard as Hotels Associations of tourist areas to stop this cruel killing of dogs and cats, and make arrangements to carry out humane methods of controlling their breeding such as regular sterilization. We feel that hotels should put a stop to this cruelty to animals, because we wish to come and enjoy our holidays in Sri Lanka and not be troubled by the cruelty to animals in your Buddhist country. ERIKA AND ULRICH HERREN, Switzerland |
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