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I fully endorse what Gamini David and Manjula Ratnaweera have said
and there must be many intelligent people in Sri Lanka who would agree
with their point of view.
It is time all Sri Lankans unite and do whatever we can to make our
country a better place to live.
We have so many intelligent young people who lack a knowledge of
English and find it hard to secure jobs and make themselves understood,
so if all the seniors who are dedicated and can spare some time could
assist them, I am sure this would help greatly. Sri Lanka would prosper
too as it is the young people who can help us go forward and make our
island a better place to live.
Everyone who can, should help in whatever way possible to make our
island a beautiful place to live in whether its assisting in teaching
English, stopping all this cruelty to all living beings in this Buddhist
country and helping our Armed Forces by being vigilant and notifying
them when anything unusual is noticed as this would deter the LTTE or
any other organisation which tries to create chaos and destruction in
our island.
May all Sri Lankans irrespective of caste, creed or religion, unite
and do what we can for our country. Save it before it is too late.
Everyone abroad talks about ‘how beautiful Sri Lanka was’ so why not try
to make it ‘how beautiful Sri Lanka is’ by assisting the present
Government in doing whatever possible to make it a reality.
ASOKA MUNAWEERA
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Letters have appeared from time to time requesting the Government to
allow ‘Expats’ the import of ‘Duty free’ vehicles on returning to Sri
Lanka after expiry of their contracts.
The Government should realise that the remittances of the migrant
workers is Rs. 250 billion for the 1st quarter of this year. A
staggering amount to fill depleted Government coffers. This is expected
to reach Rs. 800 billion in 2008.
And all that the Government has done is increasing the Duty Free
Allowances on goods upon their return to Sri Lanka.
Therefore, it is nothing but fair that the Government in return and
in appreciation of the vast amount remitted as ‘Forex’ allow the import
of a ‘Duty Free’ vehicle.
Of course in formulating such a scheme, it is important to take into
consideration the amount of a remittances sent and the number of years
served abroad, and also the salary earned. The SLFBE could help the
Ministry of Labour and Foreign Employment in formulating a scheme in
this regard.
Even our cricketers have been allowed ‘Duty free’ cars for the fame
they have brought to the country. But Sri Lankans working abroad pour in
‘Forex’ regularly without which the country would be in dire straits,
not to mention partial solving of our unemployment problems.
Now comes the news that senior officers including Police and service
personnel will be given vehicle permits.
It is common knowledge that almost all of these ‘vehicle permit’
holders sell these permits although there is a condition that they use
them only for official purposes. Why is the Government discriminating
where the migrant workers are concerned? Surely they deserve a better
deal.
Then again there are bold headings to news items such as pension
schemes for migrant workers, President pledges to improve expat workers
welfare facilities, ‘Life Pension from LIC Lanka’.
But nothing seems to be happening and the expat workers remain
disillusioned. Let us hope the People’s President will move in this
matter.
VERNON –
Dehiwela
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This refers to Priyani de Silva’s letter on July 7 on the Homoeopathy
Council.
She claims to be a homoeopathic patient but strangely displays her
vast knowledge on the Homoeopathy Council’s activities from its
inception, its permanent office, regional clinics, how medical officers
are properly remunerated, recruitment procedures to the medical college,
new land allocation to it in Welisara, how its examinations are
conducted and its registration procedures (which the critics comment
on), Council’s four year academic courses and the issuance of ID cards
to the qualified after five years, a first hand knowledge on ‘previous
corruptions in the council’ and how they have been completely stopped,
along with its future programmes of opening clinics at Ampara and
Ratnapura. What an unusual patient and a keen student of homoeopathic
affairs of the Council! It’s akin to an ordinary patient of allopathy
writing all about the SLMC!
She certainly needs some effective homoeopathic drugs to improve the
person’s eyesight because had this person read my letter published on
June 21 properly, she/he should have comprehended that I neither claimed
to be a homoeopath nor they were my personal views but the displeasure
and frustrations vented out by some members of the very homoeopathic
Council which has now become a disturbed hornet’s nest.
One does not need to be a registered homoeopath to expose any
misdemeanour, if there is any, in the homoeopathy council as I believe
in the dictum: ‘facts are sacred, the comment is free’.
In that respect all what I have reflected in a journalistic style was
the clear view of some erudite senior members of the Homoeopathic
Council itself who say ‘they smell a rat’!
To kill her curiosity, I would like to take this opportunity to state
that I too am a keen enthusiast on hooeopathy with a good circle of
friends who are professionals and registered homoeopats.
I am not an Indian as she tries to insinuate but a Sinhalese (dual
national for that matter), British qualified mechanical engineer and a
holder of a philosophy degree (ergo the prefix ‘Dr’) and a consultant
journalist.
There is no smoke without fire. Registered and unregistered
homoeopats of the Council have approached me with facts which they say
they can stand by.
In my capacity as an objective journalist, in this instance, it is
exactly what I have attempted to achieve.
Come clean and say who you are as I am prepared to compose an open
letter next time to the Minister of Indigenous Medicine and the Minister
of Health to appoint a commission to probe into all the allegations some
of the members of the council have come out with.
DR. TILAK S. FERNANDO
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Is saving animals too, turning into a racket? When somebody gets the
compassionate urge to save an animal from slaughter, without going the
whole hog which entails a visit to the abattoir, choosing an animal and
sending it to a place pre arranged for looking after, he now takes a
short-cut - driving up in his limousine to one of the save from
slaughter spots, gives a handsome fee for the service, to return another
day to take delivery of the animal. even the choice of which he lazily
leaves to them.
In some palces on the appointed day he gets a number to show which
animal is his. Looking round he sees his number, but getting closer he
is surprised to see three identical numbers on the same animal.
As he was apparently charged the actual cost of an animal of that
size, why were two other payments involved?
Does this not smack of our usual official tender procedures, with all
the witnesses shrieking, corruption? Anyway, after that brief encounter,
your animal is whisked away with the murmur, “it is going to a
dairy/farm/temple for safe keeping”. You will never know, as you never
bother to follow up on its ensuing fate.
Anther saving gimmick is to go to the horrendous slaughter-house,
pick one and then release it on to the road, dubbing it a ping gona,
which becomes the immediate target of all the cattle thieves in the
vicinity with slaughter in the offing.
The urge to save normally arises when one’s own family is stricken in
some way or somebody is gasping for breath. Especially when the
astrologer recommends a life for a life.
In this case, of course, unlike in every other system, where a life
for a life means killing of one life in sacrifice. here the enchanting
practice is to save what was going to be killed, expecting a double
bonus of two lives in return.
Like in everything else, Buddhist practice deviates sharply in this
exercise too. Really, those preachers who try to show some sort of
similarity between Buddhism should simply give up without wasting their
breath.
If you save an animal from slaughter, you should leave no room at all
for any inconvenience to befall it, as you are responsible for its
welfare thereafter. The loveliest decree on earth is that of the Buddha,
where he asks his disciples to give to all living beings abhaya dana -
the gift of fearlessness!
PREMA RANAWAKA – DAS –
Moratuwa
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Many years ago there were two very important bus services operated by
the then CTB from Pitakotte to Thotalanga under the bus route no. 173
which passes through Nugegoda, Narahenpita, Torrington, Town Hall,
Kompannavediya, Fort and Kotahena and the other bus service operated
from Pitakotte to Pettah under the bus route no. 115 on High Level Road
which passes through Nugegoda, Kirulapone, Thimbirigasyaya, Torrington,
Town Hall, Gamini Hall and Fort.
They gradually vanished due to deterioration of the then CTB and
influential activities of private bus operators. Now only few private
buses are in operation on route no. 173 which are always overloaded.
These bus routes touch places such as hospitals, schools, media
centres, residential apartments, offices of the Government Departments
and Municipalities and other private sector establishments.
These bus services are very convenient for school children, teachers,
members of the Armed Forces, Government and private sector employees to
reach their respective places at appropriate times without delay.
As the SLTB has now been improved by the present Government, it is
presumed that responsible officials will not be reluctant to restore
these services without delay for the convenience of commuters.
P. H. K. PATHIRANA –
Nugegoda
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We have seen a new trend in the thinking of the common man in recent
times towards voting in Parliamentary elections.
Today most people we come across in the market, bus, train or in
office tend to express their displeasure in the political system after
listening to frequent rhetoric let out without any sincerity by those in
the ruling party and those in the opposition.
They seem to think that they have been betrayed very badly during the
last two decades on false promises.
Most of these people who are frustrated do not wish to cast their
vote. Sometimes this frustration is demonstrated either by crossing the
ballot paper in total or writing ugly remarks. This was the trend we
have seen so far.
In view of this new trend, I like to suggest to the Commissioner of
Elections to find a way of arresting this unpleasant situation.
I suggest that the voters should be given a decent way to protest
when voting by introducing a blank box at the bottom of the ballot paper
to cast their vote.
All those who do not wish to vote for any political party would then
cast their vote in this cage.
This will encourage the disgusted voter to come to the polling
station and cast his vote and let out the frustration.
Also this will allow the Elections Department to minimise poor
attendance at the elections.
Also it will allow the voter to express his protest in dignity
without resorting to irregular methods of cancelling the ballot paper.
This will greatly reduce the number of cancelled votes generally seen in
elections.
Most of all, this will show how many people are really frustrated
about the current political system.
P. MUTUKUMARANA –
Thimbirigasyaya
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What is this hue and cry, when a handful of Tamils are evicted from
their lodges?
Why don’t people remember the order of the L.T.T.E. for the exodus
wholesale of all Muslims from their ancestral residences in the Northern
peninsular?
They were ordered to leave their houses with only their belongings
they had saved for centuries. They led innocent lives doing no wrong to
anybody.
They were God fearing people, peace loving and kind people. But what
happened?
They were ordered to leave Jaffna within 24 hours or face death. Now,
which of these similar incidents are more cruel and more cowardly?
Who were the people who spoke on their behalf in Parliament? Where
were those vociferous speakers when the miserable exodus of the
innocents took place?
Why this discrimination? In the case of the lodgers being dislodged,
there is reasonable case for the eviction of some of the undesirable
lodgers among them. But what harm did the Muslims of Jaffna do, to
deserve the horrid sentence given to them?
It is time for the Government to again locate all Muslims from Jaffna
who are now suffering for no fault of their own, in rehabilitation camps
and begging for their living.
They are people who were once led a comfortable and peaceful life in
their homeland - Jaffna. Speak-up, the genuine politicians and social
workers on behalf of your suffering brethren.
MANSOOR -
atara
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