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Forging ahead to peace

Has the effort to re-build Sri Lanka in the aftermath of the tsunami disaster, taken precedence over the peace process which is virtually in a state of abeyance? Given the urgency of the re-building effort this may seem to be so to many, but this would be tantamount to getting our priorities wrong. The ideal would be to persist with the re-building effort while kickstarting and perpetuating the peace process. This seemed to be the wide consensus which was arrived at last Saturday at a public consultation on the need to put the peace effort back on track, launched by the Constitutional Affairs and National Integration Ministry under the guidance of Minister Dew Gunasekera.

The public consultation which featured a wide cross-section of the Lankan polity, including political leaders, professionals, religious, intellectuals, trade unionists, NGOs and the general public, was both timely and innovative on account of the fact that it proved both a simple and effective method of testing the popular pulse, so to speak.

Political leaders of almost every hue and persuasion gave eloquent expression to the imperatives of the moment and there seemed to be a convergence of opinion on the point that the widespread humanity and concern for each other which the tsunami generated among the social groups of the land, should be used as a basis for the resumption and continuation of the peace effort which could be considered the most steady and stealthy killer and destroyer of the country. In other words, the position taken by Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapakse that the tsunami offered Sri Lanka a 'window of opportunity' for the forging of unity was widely endorse.

So, there is much in this public consultation and exchange of views that needs to be reflected on by all. While the whole of Sri Lanka has risen as one man to meet the challenges of the disaster in a spirit of humanity and brotherhood rarely seen in this land, every effort must be made to make use of this positive, countrywide frame of mind and change of heart, to get back to the task of bringing a negotiated end to the ethnic conflict. It is possible that the mutual understanding and fellow-feeling generated by the disaster and its aftermath among the communities and peoples of the country would instil in them a spirit of flexibility and compromise, which in turn would render negotiations easier to conduct.

It would be fallacious to assume that the differences among our communities have now disappeared with the tsunami waves. This is a naive expectation. A durable political solution to the ethnic conflict would have to be sought if we need peace. The strategy should be to build on the goodwill the tidal waves have left behind.

Texting times for fingers

4 all U txt lvrs out there, the msg is not all that good. If you are an obsessive fan of the ubiquitous Short Message Service (SMS), your health may be affected.

Italian doctors have discovered that excessive text messaging may be bad for your fingers. As we reported on Saturday, they are telling people, particularly the young, that furious typing on mobile phones could lead to acute tendonitis.

A 13-year-old girl in the northern Italian city of Savona needed treatment from an orthopaedic specialist after typing at least 100 SMSs a day. She was prescribed anti-inflammatory medicine and ordered to rest her hands.

The SMS phenomenon has spread around the world like wildfire. A built-in feature of the GSM mobile phone standard, the SMS service enables the subscriber to send a short typed message to another mobile subscriber. In its latest incarnation, multi-media messages can also be sent in a similar manner.

Even here in Sri Lanka, teenagers and youth have embraced SMS in a big way, as it is much cheaper than a voice call. Many teens and youth are known to send dozens of messages per day. This does literally put pressure on the fingers, as the keyboards of most mobiles are small. Some phones do have predictive text input, where the phone interprets our intended words and completes them. Even so, it is a tedious process if one types many messages a day.

The mobile phone has become an accessory that we cannot live without. SMS is just one feature provided by mobile services eager to lure in more subscribers. More phones are coming in with colour screens, games, downloadable ringtones, multi-media messages, cameras and other gizmos. All these mean more work for the fingers.

A debate is still raging on the health and safety aspects of using mobile phones. Some experts say that prolonged exposure to microwave radiation emitted by mobile phones could be damaging to the brain. The mobile phone industry and some other scientists say that this has still not been proved beyond doubt. Nevertheless, it is generally agreed that a 'cell' should not be used at a stretch for more than 20 minutes. More research is being conducted on this issue as we write.

In the meantime, the mobile phone mania does not show any sign of abating. With explosive growth in China and India, the world will have nearly two billion mobile subscribers by the end of 2006. Just keep on texting.

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