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| Sunday, 24 February 2002 |
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Letters |  |
| News Business Features Editorial
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I refer to the above letter published in the Sunday Observer of 27.01.02. I have read letters written by the same writer on several occasions, on the same subject and as such it gives one the impression that the writer has a grudge against the Tobacco Company as all letters refer only to cigarette smoking, no reference being made to the smoking of cigars, beedis or betel chewing which are all cancer causing. I am a non smoker and it pains me to see those of all ages smoking, ignoring all its dangers, but I fear to tender any advice, knowing that such advice, even though in good faith would be unwelcome. However it is not only cigarettes that is available and sold at Railway Stations and in trains. If the writer monitors the goings on in the main Railway Stations and in trains, it will be observed that illicit liquor, narcotics are available. In the distant past there were notices displayed in all public places, trains, offices, banks etc., depicting "Spitting is Prohibited" in all three languages, it is sad to note that none such notices are seen today, and people think nothing of spitting everywhere and anywhere and hence those walking past 'buses halted at bus tops and stands and trains at stations do so at grave risk of being spat on and even when buses run past on the roads. The first line of health is hygiene and in Sri Lanka there is just no hygiene as it disappeared forty six years ago and since spitting is liable to spread diverse ailments and diseases, it is important that a total ban be imposed on wanton indiscriminate spitting Islandwide. Peace at hand The graphic photograph of ten children, one partly covered in the Sunday Observer of 27.01. 2002 clearly shows that the LTTE has looked after these children very well. Obviously there has not been a shortage of food in the uncleared areas. It is said that their schools are mud and thatched huts and their feet have no slippers. This is no wonder because in certain areas in the South children live and study in a similar situation. One cannot expect the UNF to usher in a better way of life for the children of the North and the East, overnight for they have just come into power. The UNF has a great task to perform in its efforts to rebuild the North and the East. the billions of rupees hitherto spent on a useless war could now be used to reconstruct the North and the East. It would take years for normally to return to the North and the East. Nevertheless the UNF would do well to give priority to the social wellbeing and education of the children of the North and East. Be that as it may a permanent ceasefire between the UNF and the LTTE would soon be a reality. This augers well for the future. As no major incident has been reported, the deproscription of the LTTE could be considered for peace talks to be held. Any delay in the peace process could have serious repercussions as ultra nationalists are getting ready for mass protests against any agreement with the LTTE. At the same time Tamil fanatics in the North and the East are waiting for an opportunity to provoke the armed forces to act indiscriminately. It is in this context that the UNF government should consider the withdrawal of check points in the North and the East as they have done in other parts of the country. There is another aspect to the peace process that the UNF government should think of and that is the release of all LTTE suspects who are under detention with no proof whatsoever that they are rebels. This would be another step forward on the road to peace. The LTTE would welcome the setting up of an 'Interim Council' for the North and the East provided they are allowed to form the Council for the simple reason that thousands who died in battle were all LTTE. In the long rung a federal set up in the North and the East, some say would be a solution to the ethnic problem. Whether the people in the South would agree to such an arrangement is left to be seen. The biggest problem the UNF government would have in the years to come is to convince the people in the South that there would be no division of the country, at the same time tell the LTTE how far the UNF government would go to fulfil the aspirations of the Tamils in the North and the East. As for the PA it has pledged its fullest support to the peace process of the UNF government. So far the peace process has progressed very well. As the days, weeks, months pass by we would know exactly whether the dreams of peace and harmony in this golden land is a reality or whether the cruel war has resumed. J.T. Mirando, I hasten to make the following proposals to be included in the forthcoming budget: 1. Central Bank to declare the lowest denomination of coinage as Rs. 1 w.e.f. a declared future date, while withdrawing all coins below Rs. 1 from circulation. As a result, all bills/receipts will be made to the nearest rupee, thereby saving the enormous minting and handling cost to the economy cast upon the Central Bank and the other Commercial Banks which handle large volumes of virtually unworthy coins. In addition, it will relieve the Banks, factories, shops, vendors and other pay masters who are compelled to administer payments up to the nearest cent, from a time consuming unproductive hassle. Beggars would be delighted and the productivity of the payment system in the country will be enhanced without spending a red cent! 2. In future, a clear distinction in size should be made when minting new coins of different denominations to avoid confusion (e.g. Rs. 10 and Rs. 2 coins). It is also suggested that they be made lighter to the purse, so that the cost of minting too would be reduced. If the above proposals are implemented, it would streamline and simplify the payment system in our country thereby saving a great deal of our valuable time spent on counting coins which have no value at all even to a beggar today. I am sure the attention of the relevant authorities will be drawn to this proposal, which if implemented would even lead to the removal of phrases such as "two cents worth" from our vocabulary! Bernard Fernando, Was Jesus born on Dec. 25th? - a reply In a reply to "Was Jesus born on Dec. 25th, the President English Division National Catholic writers Association commented that Jesus rose after three days and thus saved us from the fires of hell. It is very interesting to note that in early judaism there was no hell or heaven and dead people lay in a sort of a mortuary! This is because they did not have a concept of an immortal 'soul'. For them salvation meant living in peace without fear of enemy attacks, crop failure or disease. It was close to Jesus' time that an idea of a bodily resurrection took shape. Perhaps the immortality concepts of Greeks also crept in by that time. That the Jewish people were vague about these concepts is evident in the thinking of Sadducees who did not accept resurrection. However by this time they thought that something not very good must happen to the wicked after death if there is life after death. The worst parallel they could think of was the fires of Gehenna a refuse pit off Jerusalem where there was 'eternal' fire burning the garbage. Jesus accepted life after death but the real place man gets after death was left as a business of God. It must be in manner according to God's natural laws. Any mention of the hell fires in the gospels most probably refer symbolically to the refuse heap at Gohenna. According to Jesus salvation meant the start of a loving communion of man with God. It automatically involved forgiveness and a modification of the expected after effects of our evil doings. Also salvation occurred to some before the passion of Jesus (Zaccheus). So the idea that Jesus' death and resurrection saved us from hell fires is untenable. It belittles the mission of Jesus which involves a call for love, truth, holiness, and communion with God. The hell fire concept clearly shows now our thinking could get distorted to such an extent that a burning refuse heap could become a living hell and perhaps an article of faith. Such a concept puts fear to the hearts of the followers of Jesus and become an obstacle to others who would wish to study christianity sincerely. P. Fernando, A series of letters of protest addressed to the Mayor of Colombo, against the erection of an abattoir in the City, has appeared in almost all the daily newspapers since December 2001. A number of appeals of protest by the citizens at various levels have already been forwarded to the Mayor. Many an article by eminent writers disproving the myth of the so-called concept of "humane method of slaughter", were published. Under these circumstances it is surprising to see the silence on the part of the Mayor up to now on this issue. Has he decided to abandon the project or to go ahead with it? Let us know. However, in this context I greatly appreciate the Mayor's telephone call upon the receipt of the letter of appeal, forwarded by me, signed by a cross-section of prominent citizens of Colombo (Buddhists and non-Buddhists). He informed me at that stage that this project is not yet finalised. Now it is almost two months since the protest campaign began and more and more protests in various forms will definitely come up in the future. So far the protests have been made based on justifiable grounds. Lastly, I appeal to His Worship the Mayor (and the officialdom of the CMC) to take a final decision to abandon this horrendous project and inform the general public soonest without continuing to "dilly-dally" on the issue. M. I. Gunewardene It is encouraging to note the protests that are being made against the modern slaughterhouse proposed to be erected by CMC. While this is commendable, this protest is rather an indirect way of responding to the issue. The primary emphasis should be made on stopping, abolishing and terminating all slaughter, in fact, all killing. It is unfortunate that all those who talk about animal slaughter some how restrict themselves to the slaughter of cows. This is clearly a result of Hindu influence, which deifies the cow. On the contrary, we must strive to put an end to all types of killing. In our current way of protesting against animal slaughter that is fashionable today, other types of killing are conveniently overlooked. We must remember that ultimately all kinds of killing destroy life. There is no way we could give more value to a life that is housed in a physically larger mass of flesh. If we go on this basis, all those sumo warriors would be considered more valuable than Citizen Silva. However, as far as I can feel, this is the perception held by many Buddhists. A person thinking nothing about eating small fish, will be horrified at the death of a stranded whale,or at cattle slaughter. Unconsciously, he has linked the value of life to physical mass. To this day I could not verify to my satisfaction whether this line of thinking has any support in Buddhist philosophy. Whether this is so or not, I am sure that the Buddhist public at large entertains this view. The fact is that the sooner we can find a convincing answer to this question whether life-value is linked to body-mass or not, we can approach the issue in its proper perspective. If the answer is 'Yes, life value is related to body-mass,' then we can maintain the protest against killing large species, the intensity of protest, too, being kept at par with the mass of the species involved, while ignoring, in a way, the killing of smaller forms of life such as fish and poultry. Anura Kuruppu, There is request to the State to ban the observance of Valentine's Day. I totally disagree with this suggestion. This could well be the thin end of the wedge. This could be followed by demands for banning Mothers' Day, Fathers' Day and perhaps even Christmas Day, on the grounds that they are being 'commercialized'! Sri Lanka, though a small country, is firmly committed to Democracy. A democratic state has to preserve several fundamental freedoms. These freedoms are enshrined in our Constitution. Among these are the freedom of expression and this includes the freedom to express one's love to another! How can anyone prohibit this? Further in a democratic state the majority decision prevails. I feel certain that the majority of our people have no objection to the observance of a Lovers' Day. Perhaps only confirmed bachelors and elderly spinsters, who have never experienced the wonderful love between Man and Woman will have any objections. I also feel that we should be entitled at least to a few days of fun and enjoyment at a time when we are facing so many hardships in so many spheres. We are told that these special days are being used for 'corrupt' practices by some persons. If this is so, then it is the corrupt practices that should be abolished and not the day itself. When there was fixing of matches in cricket, should we have banned the game of cricket itself? When there is rigging of elections, should we ban the entire electoral process? Surely, it is the fixing or rigging that has to be banned! There was a time when everything originating from the West had to be got rid of - and we learnt bitter lessons as time went on. Are we going to do this again? Some years ago a fiery red politician made an impassioned plea for a safe haven for lovers in the Vihara Maha Devi Park - those from a poorer class who had no other place to go. Certainly he had a point there. Personally, after several years of marriage, I have sent a Valentine Card with a special message written by me to my dear wife every year for the past several years. It delights the giver as well as the receiver and certainly strengthens the existing bonds of our marriage. I would strongly recommend that couples, young and old, use this day to renew and strengthen their bonds of love to each other. Acts like this can often save a tottering marriage. Indeed, if a law is to be enforced banning Valentine's Day, I shall happily defy it as long as I live and face the consequences,if any. I may even challenge it in the Supreme Court as a violation of fundamental human rights - the right to express one's love! After all, 'it is love that makes the world go round' and 'all the world loves a lover. May people make love, not war - for "Amor omnia vincit" (Love conquers all!). Cupid No aid for AIDS and NGOs - a reply We write in reply to Mr. Tissera, President CFPA's comments published in the Sunday Observer of February 10, 2002. In our original complaint about the Health Ministry's AIDS program we specifically mentioned that (1) The Director's only official telephone (695183) could not be contacted because possibly the telephone dues had not been settled. On 29 January too the line was not functioning and when we went to the Director's office the same day she had again gone abroad - i.e. 3 times in 2 months. (2) If you cannot settle the telephone dues of your only telephone and it is disconnected, don't you Mr. Tissera think it is poor management? If there are other doctors who are suitably qualified according to you, why aren't they sent on these trips? Our intention of meeting the Director was to be of service to some AIDS patients. We were to contact these patients only when the Director obtained their consent and sent a family member to meet us. They could give us their address only after they agree to our proposal. Mr. Tissera claims that he has 10 years experience in NGO work in AIDS. Doesn't he know that there are other NGOs who are doing the same thing that we intended to do? They are even visiting Angoda IDH and meeting AIDS patients and providing assistance. Where is the confidentiality then? We think you are at least 10 years behind time. How do you expect NGOs to have a hand in care of AIDS patients? These arrangements have to be made with the consent if all, the program the patient and the NGO. You complain about the composition of some NGOs. we are not concerned about that. What about NGOs who obtain funds to map out all Sri Lanka NGOs involved in AIDS but not deliver the goods? Aren't some of them still continue to be funded by the AIDS program? Isn't it true that those NGOs who sing the praises of the program get regularly funded? What about NGOs who get down "foreign male AIDS consultants" of "questionable" character to carry out AIDS programs amongst beach boys? What is the actual truth behind these moves? Are they preventing or spreading AIDS? We have done extensive homework regarding NGOs and the AIDS program. In recent times we find that the high ups are viewing NGOs with suspicion and disdain. Even the NGO subcommittee has been disbanded. Mr. Tissera, if you want to sing praises of the Director why don't you reactivate this committee so that our voice could be heard. Otherwise it will be a disgrace to the Health Ministry. We have not indicated our name because we are sure to be penalised and our proposals would not be accepted. NGO - Greater |
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