SEVERAL daily newspapers on November 22 brought good news to all Sri
Lankans. Rich and poor - young and old.
The President has given a son to the Navy. This is most welcome news
which will be loudly applauded by each and every citizen of Sri Lanka.
Yositha Rajapaksa, the second son of the President will be joining
the Navy soon.
Sri Lanka have had four previous Presidents and of them three had
sons. None of them had ever thought of sending their sons to join the
forces then or after.
Two of them sent their children for their education to foreign
schools instead of Sri Lankan schools, but never thought of enlisting
them to the Army.
In other countries, it is compulsory for youths to serve the Army.
Even the Royal Families will have to give their children for
war-training and they will be subsequently enlisted if there is a war.
In Sri Lanka, 95 per cent of the forces and police consist of
children of lower and middle class families.
It is also a known fact that two brothers of present President
Mahinda Rajapaksa, Chamal and Gotabhaya served in the Police and the
Army respectively for a considerable period of time in the North-East
war. Let us join the President in this hour of need.
ANANDA JAYASENA
- Boralesgamuwa
CHIKUGUNYA is a contagious fever which spreads through a mosquito
bite. It is a viral disorder caused by 'alpha virus' also called as chik
virus. Mosquitoes can be found all over the place.
There are several types of mosquitoes. for example: Anopheles, Culex,
Aedes etc. They transmit diseases to humans through their bites.
Anopheles type spreads malaria, Culex viral encephalitis, whereas Aedes
spreads filaria, yellow fever, dengue, Chikungunya etc.
They all grow from lava to pupa to become adult mosquitoes. Usually
all male mosquitoes feed on plant juices and they never bite humans, but
all female mosquitoes are bloodsuckers.
They breed more commonly on rainy days, on artificially stagnated
fresh water, i.e. water tanks, water stored flower vases filled with
water, old ponds etc.
It is called the Asian tiger mosquito as it has white stripes in its
black body and legs. it bites chiefly during the daytime. Symptoms:
Usually symptoms differ from place to place, patient to patient
depending upon the age and stamina of the sufferer.
The most common symptoms are: sudden rise in temperature above 101 F,
severe pains in joints, especially knee and ankle, with restlessness,
continuous fever with headache sometimes, nausea, vomiting and diarrhoea,
swelling in joints, redness of eyes, itching and burning skin rashes,
ulcers or blisters in mouth, bleeding internal or external (occassional).
Generally fever takes 3 - 4 days to subside if properly treated, whereas
symptoms if developed take longer to go, for example, the joints pain
and swelling.
Management: Bed rest in a well-ventilated cool room until the fever
subsides, sponge bath with luke warm, extra fluids to compensate
dehydration (water, juices and vegetable soups), ice cap if necessary
for high fever, a light diet without oil, care for bleeding tendencies.
Avoid: Coffee, soft drinks which are carbonated aereated water.
Homeopathic treatment: In Homeopathy we treat the patient (symptoms
of the patient) and not the diseases.
Homeopathic medicines are usually prescribed with the onset of
complaints, characteristic symptoms with respect to appetite, thirst,
shivering, restless, urine, stools habits and character of the disease
and its exciting cause etc. A well selected remedy quickly supports the
body mechanism and clears the complaints at the earliest.
In Homeopathy, medicines are not going to act against the disease or
killing bacteria or virus directly, and diagnosis with lab
investigations and causative factor are less important. Patients
diagnosed having Chikungunya can be easily treated by increasing the
immune mechanism with Homeopathic medicines.
Homeopathic remedies make the patient more comfortable by stimulating
the immune mechanism which helps their body to fight the infection,
which is called the natural law of cure. Homeopathy plays the major role
by increasing the resistance power.
The resistance is sought to be improved by giving no chance or
recurrence due to re-infection of the same bacteria or virus. One can
feel the well-being sensation while being treated with Homeopathic
medicines. Consult a qualified Homeopathic doctor and take treatment at
the earliest before it is too late.
DR. F. YASMINE FAZLI
- Colombo 5
SENIOR citizens have been left in the dark with the Budget. Most of
them are getting blind trying to find some relief from the Budget
proposals. Not a word about the elderly.
To be more precise we served in the private sector for over 25 years.
We were given only our EPF and ETF benefits on our retirement. We do not
get pensions.
Most of this money is put into fixed deposits. We chose the NSB which
is a State Bank. But the interest we get is only 11 per cent for senior
citizens.
With this money, we appear to have one big hobby seeing doctors at
our age! Doctors' fees have been increased. The prices of medicines are
exorbitant although the SPC gives us a mere 5 per cent discount.
We have been completely slated, although there was much talk of the
former generation, working hard with a sense of patriotism. We should
not forget the discipline and patriotic work by this neglected majority
of this country.
The CoL too has been given to only Government servants and
pensioners. Are we to wait for manna from heaven?
Afterall, we too are your fathers and mothers. Twilight has come.
Will we have to live in a dark night till eternity?
IAN JAYASINHA
- Ratmalana
I have read with much interest Dr. Tilak Fernando's graphic account
on Dual Nationality (DN Oct. 11) and also a further clarification by him
in response to a reader's view on October 14.
I quite agree with Dr. Fernando. Why should money come into the focus
in inviting sons of Lanka back when they are ready and willing?
It is because of inefficiency and short-sighted policies of our past
rulers that a brain drain has taken place from our country, and what we
have lost have become a total gain to many foreign countries.
One cannot understand why some people keep on harping on the free
education slogan without looking at the issue in a practical sense.
In my opinion, Sri Lanka should welcome with open arms her children
who were forced to leave due to numerous reasons. Who would like to
leave the country, if one can be happy and contended?
We must not forget when some bring the subject of free education as a
tool of defence, there are many who have gone abroad who did not get any
free education in Sri Lanka, but who paid monthly school fees prior to
'Free Education' that was introduced by the Minister C. W. W. Kannangara.
DON HUBERT
- U.K. - via email
FIVE hundred years before Jesus Christ was born, a Greek philosopher
named Dionesius went to the Athenian market at high of the noontide with
a lighted lantern with him, and when people questioned him, he said that
he had come in search of an honest man.
There are various degrees of dishonesty. Bribery could be classified
as Number One. Next to it comes treachery to the country by playing out
its own money. The Ceylon Electricity Board belongs to the Government
and one defrauding it or playing out the monies due, falls into the
above category.
The 'Daily News' of November 01 carried a front page news item in
bold letters captioned 'ex-D.I.G. among several held for power
pirating'. This report comes from the Nuwara-Eliya correspondent.
On the previous day another Sinhala newspaper gave the same
information. According to both correspondents, the said ex-D.I.G. had
been fined by a Court of Law, but the name of the D.I.G. had not been
divulged in both papers.
A person who held the post of D.I.G. knows what the law is. If he was
not actually guilty, he would not have put in a plea of guilt to Court.
If a plea of guilt had not been submitted to Court by the accused, he
would never have been fined by a Court. In that case, the case would
have been fixed for trial. Hence whatever the explanation given by this
D.I.G. cannot be accepted.
By this shameful act, the D.I.G. had brought discredit and disrespect
to the other D.I.G.s who are now retired from the Police Service and are
spending the evening of their lives.
In the interest of the Police Service and on behalf of all the
D.I.G.s this errant D.I.G.s name should be published in the newspapers,
after all the case is now over.
ANANDA JAYASENA
- Boralesgamuwa
If what Karuna says is true, then Sri Lanka should throw Solheim out
and never let him involve himself in the affairs of our country. How
could he give gifts to the LTTE and in turn accept money from them to
buy a house in Norway. This is disgraceful.
Sri Lanka thought Solheim was an honest negotiator. But what do we
hear now?
It is left to the Government to verify these facts and prevent
Solheim and even Norway getting involved in the affairs of our country.
O. MENDIS
- via email
THIS is in response to Kalinge Silva's lately acquired proud British
passport and the benifit package he reaps from it.
From his letter, it sounds like he has achieved all he wants in life
by becoming a British national.
With all that hype, he should not feel that all Sri Lankans living
outside Sri Lanka think and feel the same way towards the second class
citizenships acquired from foreign countries.
There are no Silvas in Sri Lanka's long list of national heroes who
feel proud of their own country.
ARIYADASA YAPA
- via email |