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There is no way a layman can reason out for himself whether coconut oil is good or bad for him especially when differing views are expressed by specialists in this field. Here is one way of looking at it. It does not need any medical knowledge. Every human being is nurtured by the environment he lives in. From the moment of inception he is nurtured by the nutrients the mother takes in the form of whatever she eats, drinks and inhales from the environment. After birth, the newborn is first given milk produced by the mother or by a cow or goat which is also from the same environment and then the newborn after being weaned out of milk takes what the mother takes. The human being is therefore a product of the environment. He does not live separately from the environment. He is part and parcel of the environment. On that reasoning whatever food is available in the environment cannot be bad for a human being because that is what sustains him. It therefore does not stand to reason why corn oil which is found in the natural environment of the United States and other countries is better for a Sri Lankan than the coconut oil in his own natural environment. We therefore can understand why coconut oil cannot be good for those whose natural environment has no coconut trees. We also can understand why tests carried out on such persons using coconut oil will show unfavourable results. Let us consider the environment we grew up in. In that environment we who think of ourselves as a self and an entity separate from anything outside our physical bodies find it hard to realize for example that everything that we see with their eyes is a part of ourselves because without that, one of our vital faculties namely vision does not exist. Similar reasoning applies to sounds, smells, tastes, body sensitivity, etc. Also since others see the same things that we see, hear the same things that we hear, etc., they also are a part of what we are a part of. That means all human beings including animals are linked through these objects. If that is agreed then the concept of an entity called a self or a soul that exists uniquely by itself apart from others and with no connection to others, becomes totally untenable. Therefore all of us including animals are an integral part of the environment we live in and any food that is naturally found in our environment cannot be bad for us. It is now scientifically accepted that everything that we and the environment consists of was all synthesized in the star furnaces and we will all be going back to cosmic dust from which new stars will be born to keep continuity for ever. It would now be reasonable to examine whether there is a difference in the level of heart disease between the Jaffna peasants who use local palm oil and not imported oils and the Sinhalese peasants who use coconut oil and not imported oils. We could also examine whether the Inuit (disparagingly referred to as
the Eskimos) who live in the arctic and eat seal meat which is very high
in fat content has more incidence of heart disease than others. Sri Lanka - Tax evader's paradiseTo put Mahinda Chinthana into practice we need money. Printing of money and borrowing from banks will lead to inflation and devaluation of the rupee. We must avoid that. It is common knowledge that Sri Lanka is a Tax evaders' paradise. It is my guess that between Rs. 100 billion to 200 billion is lost to the State yearly due to corrupt practices. It is too important a source of revenue to be left in the hands of the corrupt, lethargic, indifferent and negligent bureaucracy - Customs, Inland Revenue and Excise Departments. We must find a new mechanism to collect the all important Taxes. Even the VAT that is collected from the customers are not remitted to the State by some of the crooked businessmen. They maintain two sets of books. We should also check the profit and loss A/C and the balance sheets of the big companies although they are certified by qualified accountants. We saw how tens of millions of rupees were poured into to spread false propaganda against our Presidential Candidate in the recently concluded Presidential Election by the big names in the business community. When talking about the business community the names of Enron World com Tyco of USA, Yukos of Russia, Live-door of Japan comes to mind. How the bosses of these companies falsified the accounts and played out the shareholders and the State are known to the world business community. Now, most of them are serving time in prisons. The doctors, lawyers and the traders who earn millions of rupees yearly but do not pay taxes should be brought into the net. Recently I read in a newspaper that some personnel of the Treasury and the Central Bank had come into a lot of praise. I do not know why they have failed and failed miserably, to do their job to collect the taxes and also inform the President that the percentage of Sri Lankans tax collection is less than most of the other countries. Because of this, we have to go on our bended knees to obtain loans from the World Financial Institutions get lectured by petty officials of the same Institutions and to the erosion of our sovereignty. A few days back the newly elected President of Siberia dismissed the entire personnel of the Financial Ministry numbering 300 due to corruption. Other countries also have this problem, but they try to solve this by speedy trial and harsh prison sentences. The richest man - owner of Yakos oil company in Russia is serving a prison sentence of 9 1/2 years for Tax fraud. Corporate bosses in politicsIt is obvious that some of the so called big players in our relatively small corporate world do not have the foggiest idea about the role they are expected to play in their positions. A director of a public corporation is holding in trust the interests of its many stakeholders. When these stakeholders observe their directors moving irresponsibly into our tumultuous political arena they are naturally filled with anxiety. I must say that generally we do not see directors of respected corporations such as John Keells Holdings and Hayleys dabble in day-to-day politics. It maybe that the training they receive at these old institutions stops them from indulging in partisan political activity. These companies are founded on solid values and sound principles. The directors of these institutions are trained not to become public showmen and thereby expose their company to risk and ridicule. The situation is quite different if a company is privately owned and the owner wants to indulge in politics. If by going into politics he is found to be in a position of isolation from public opinion and trends in society, then the consequences he will face himself. If he loses some business by indulging in his political whims it is the owner's problem. It may be that due to the inevitable downturn of business some of his employees may lose their jobs. But that is his own business and we cannot deny the owner the freedom to do politics of his choice. I have observed with some trepidation the actions of a head of a publicly quoted local bank for sometime now. I happen to hold a considerable amount of shares in this bank. When this gentleman started appearing on political platforms of a candidate at the last presidential elections some of us shareholders in fact wrote to the company expressing our concern. This part-time politician not only appeared on these political platforms but also seems to enjoy making very partisan sounding speeches in support of this candidate. For the record, his candidate lost. It was as if this corporate pundit put his money on a losing horse. Another sad aspect of these public shows was that the corporate boss was exposing his somewhat limited familiarity with the English langauge, his chosen mode of public speaking. This again does no good to the image of the company. The directors in all their public appearances and conduct must strive to improve the company image. The elections results showed that the general public is not in agreement with the highly prejudiced views of this gentleman. Where does this now place the bank, which must continue to do business in this country? We like to say to these corporate bosses with political agendas - by all means; if you want to do politics please do. But do not do politics while holding office in quoted public companies. We shareholders who invest our hard-earned money in shares depend on the performance and the health of the company for a comfortable retirement. Do not gamble with that. Dhanvanthri Private Hospital of Trincomalee As an ordinary citizen of Trincomalee, it is with a sense of pride that I state that the Dhanvanthri Private Hospital of Trincomalee adopts a very high standard of administration, management and monitoring of all activities in processing and maintaining the health care of the people of Trincomalee. This private hospital established a few years ago by a highly qualified young physican with amiable qualities, is a shining example. I vouch for this fact through personal experience gained by me as a patient in this hospital from Feb. 5 to 8, 2006. The medical officers, nursing staff and the junior support staff are a dedicated lot. A staff of this calibre is seldom found in institutions of health care. Cattle slaughterRecently over the radio I heard that the Government is going to introduce a Parliamentary Act that cattle slaughter will be completely stopped in Sri Lanka. I was really happy to hear about it. Now that JHU is also in the Parliament, especially a Buddhist country like Sri Lanka should have taken this decision many years ago. Even the doctors have found that taking any kind of meat is not good for health. Human alimentary canal is not formed to eat meat. When these animals are killed they undergo a lot of stress. The whole system is changed and there is lot of enzyme changes taking place, which is bad for human health. In the recent years we have been facing lot of natural disasters because in this Buddhist country people are becoming cruel and nasty. Cattle are such innocent animals, and how much they are useful to human beings. If the Government enforces a rule not to kill cattle then we will be blessed forever. SLBC - Tamil ServicesThe SLBC has two Tamil services, one National and the other Commercial. The National Service broadcast is not clearly audible in Trincomalee. The reception is quite poor and sometimes another broadcast interferes with it. The Commercial service which is called Thenral is clearly audible. Even the private radio broadcasts are clearly audible. The purpose of having a National service is to contribute to the cultural, literary and political activities of the Tamil speaking people. Some years back the programs included folk songs, historical and modern dramas, literary discussions, music expositions, Kathapirasangams etc. The present day programs have deteriorated in quality and quantity. On Friday mornings Thirumurai - Tamil religious hymns composed by Saiva Saints is regularly broadcast for half an hour. This was not broadcast on February 11. What was broadcast was Sanskrit Slogans. How many listeners do understand Sanskrit? I am told that no recording of Thirumurai songs by local artistes had been undertaken for a number of years. This is a grave injustice to the Hindus. I trust that this will catch the eyes of the Minister of Mass Media so that he will look into these shortcomings and ensure that the Tamil people are served by the SLBC in the same manner as it serves the Sinhala people. |
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