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| Sunday, 27 July 2003 |
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Letters |  |
| News Business Features Editorial
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Please forward your letters to [email protected] in plain text format within the e-mail message, since as a policy we do not open any attachments.
Rallies of a kind are many; some being political, protesting, demanding etc. The unemployed graduates' rally falls into the demanding category. Recently such graduates from a university or two while gathering along roadsides were yelling their guts out demanding the government to give them jobs. We the public doubt whether these young men had a memorandum of understanding now or any sort of contract with the government regarding employment after their graduation. Didn't they gain university education of their own free will? Again did the government, force them to go for higher studies. The government however, was good enough to give them a sound and lasting University education. The government has also spent millions of rupees for their education from primary level. Since there had been no MOUs between these youth and the government the demands are ridiculous, absurd and are contrary to reason. On the other hand their claims, demands and requests should be directed to their parents. Aren't they morally bound to see that all the needs of their offsprings are supplied? It is surprising that youth without jobs and having O/L, A/L qualifications have not yet gathered up in numbers demanding jobs. Harmanis, Every teenager dreams of an ideal career. This differs from person to person. Only a few, especially those with a talent in writing pursue in journalism. Journalists fight for the rights of humanity but their praises remain unsung by many. Politicos who have their darkest deeds revealed to all and criticized in public dread a journalist with his pen. The situation in the country is such that many a journalist fears for his life when he puts pen to paper. With this environment in the country, can we discuss the future of journalism? Sri Lanka has a high literacy rate. Further, we are extremely advanced in journalism in all three languages. Famous journalists such as Tarzie Vittachi had a captive audience in the English reading public of Sri Lanka for many years. Today that high quality of writing is lacking in many a journalists, as they have to strive for political favour to survive in an unforgiving world. An editor who is left without any other choice suppresses talent in a budding journalist. Freedom of the press is a pledge given by everyone before they come into power and is one of the first that is abandoned after coming into power. With this prevailing state of affairs, the future of journalism looks very bleak. Sashi Jayatunge, I derive much pleasure in writing about one of our Ambassadors. He was our last Ambassador in The Hague, a man of character and charisma. Ambassador Lionel Fernando. He has also been the Sri Lankan High Commissioner to Malaysia from December 1997 until July 1999. He returned to Sri Lanka to take up duties as the Secretary to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Colombo. While in that capacity he led the official delegation to the UN and addressed the UN General Assembly on two occasions. He also led the official delegation to Samoa Islands to participate at the Commonwealth Heads of Governments meeting in the year 2000. In addition to these portfolios he has held high positions in the Sri Lankan Civil Service over the years. One of which is that he served as the Government Agent of Jaffna from 1978 until 1979. During that period, it was evident that the people of Jaffna loved him. That may be the reason why, when his mother died people of Jaffna mourned her death. May be not because they knew her closely but because they loved Lionel Fernando. While he was the Ambassador in the Netherlands, I met him on one of his visits to Sri Lanka last year. I casually told him that I would be coming to the Netherlands to attend two workshops in September and November that year. He simply invited me to be their guest. He and his kind wife took great care of me while I was there. Although I was a total stranger I was picked up from the Schipol Airport, and taken to their residence in the Hague. There, they welcomed me so warmly and hosted me to a traditional Sri Lankan breakfast. They just made me feel at home, comfortable and happy. Then I was dropped at the hotel. From that point onwards they did not forget me. From time to time they checked on me to see whether I was comfortable and told me to call them at any time if I faced a problem or difficulty. On both occasions when I was in The Netherlands, they treated me so warmly. On the first occasion I was in The Netherlands, I stayed with them for two days after the workshop. It was his wife, Somalatha Subesinghe who took me around The Hague and Amsterdam to show me the places of interest. I am so proud to mention here that not only I, but some of my other Sri Lankan colleagues too were treated similarly when they were in The Netherlands, by this very special Ambassador Extraordinary. Arundathy Gunawardena The weights and prices of bread are decided by individual bakery owners at their will. Of course quality and taste differ. However, all the above bakery owners produce fish buns with a weight of less than 100 gr. Another way of cheating the consumer is by changing the form or shape but not the weight, and selling at a higher price. For example a little change in the shape and sliced loaf of bread with 450 gr. a certain bakery sells at Rs. 21 The same bakery all of a sudden (from July 1, 2003) increased its bread price by Rs. 1 (Rs. 15 -16 ) without any reason whatsoever. Who take the responsibility for such events? Again it proves the argument that bakery owners take decisions on price on their own. Why can't these bakery owners give all consumers a quality loaf of bread with uniformity in weight at a reasonable price with an acceptable profit margin without differences? I feel this can be done quite easily through a common consensus of the bakery owners' association if they so desired. No relevant authority is seriously paying its attention to regularise this type of activities. I request the relevant authorities (The newly created Consumer Protection Authority, the Ministry of Commerce and Consumer Affairs, Sustainable Development Unit-SDU at the Prime Minister's Office, Inter Ministerial Committee on Food Security etc.) to focus attention forthwith and do a comprehensive study on the relationship of price changes and the cost of production and also the qualitative aspects of both bread and the popular bakery items in order to bring them into a status of uniformity which are mostly consumed by hundreds of thousands of low-earning general public and especially school going children. The attention of the government should be focused on this matter urgently and I would suggest that the price and the weight of a loaf of bread (average) should be regularised throughout the country and the erroneous bakery owners must be punished in order to bring this essential food item to a "reasonable" level (both in price and quality) protecting both the benevolent producer (bakery owner) and the consumer. As at present, any change occurs in price, policy or other ingredients inevitably it squeezes the consumer. It is suggested that at present the weight and the price of a loaf of bread should be regularised at 450 gr. and Rs. 13.50 respectively. To have a realistic meaning for the traditional "pound of bread" it invariably should consist of 450 gr. Any change in price of flour or other main ingredients sharply, prices of bread and other bakery items should be strictly regularised/adjusted accordingly through some authority and not at the whims and fancies of individual bakery owners. If at all this is to be meaningful, all the Regulations, Acts and Laws should be for the benefit or to protect the majority of the people. Athula Chandrasiri, A Sri Lankan Christian identity : A case for fascism The Sunday Observer of July 13, had a beautiful piece by The Rev. Keerthisiri Fernando on a Sri Lankan Christian identity - beautiful because it describes the harmony that comes from unity, oneness, togetherness, as all Christian denominations sink their differences and come together under one banner. Who can be against it? But it is a dangerous vision with lessons for Sri Lanka as a state. When unity is the overarching goal subsuming all "other" identities, we effectively say forget Anglo-Catholicism, forget Evangelicalism, forget Methodism, forget the things that you believe in and hold dear - simply jettison them all and be one. And who defines this new identity? It is invariably the majority. All who refuse to come under this umbrella are then designated as bad people - as done in the Protestant Churches today. Those who do not want this boring and even dishonest unity, dare not speak out for fear of being branded thus. The parallel whose absurdities are readily obvious is in saying "let Sinhalese, Tamils, Muslims, Burghers and others, all give up their identities and come together in the name of unity." The problem would be when this new identity is defined as the Sinhalese identity as the Sihala Urumaya wants. Fr. Fernando's case then is the Protestant equivalent of the Sihala Urumaya ideology, although I think he makes his case unwittingly without having thought things through to their ultimate conclusion. This is evident when Fr. Fernando praises the "Ceylon Liturgy using Sinhala folk music." Clearly Tamils (probably numbering 50% of Sri Lankan Protestants) are out of this vision in using the word Ceylon. It is also clear that in speaking of a Christian identity, the vast majority of Christians in this country, the Roman Catholics, are left out of this great uniting enterprise - because if they are included, the Protestant identity would need to be subsumed and today's Protestant leaders would need to consent to being led by Roman Catholics who are about 10 times Protestant numbers. I put it to you therefore that any attempt at unity goes with feudal oppression, especially of minorities of all types. Unity forced from the top is simply fascism by another name, whether we are dealing with the Church or the State. And we would do well to be cautioned. Professor Ratnajeevan Hoole, Bank violates customer secrecy? There have been several letters published in several newspapers including Sunday Observer during the last few months regarding violation of "The contract of bank secrecy" between the bank and customer. Why has the Central Bank been silent on this issue? There has been a spate of bank robberies in the recent past, the latest ones being HSBC Pelawatte and Seylan Malabe. There have been instances of demands for ransom while children have been kidnapped. The crime rate is increasing. There is no difference between a local bank and an international bank from where the culprits obtain information of bank deposits. Therefore, in the light of what is happening in this "Island Paradise" it is the bounden duty of responsible citizens to keep the ignorant well educated and informed when and where to deposit their hard-earned savings. Otherwise these gullible Sri Lankans will "go after" prizes awarded on lucky draws. Hence this letter is written in the interests of the general public. An international commercial bank is celebrating 150 years of Royal Charter while its loyal retired pensioners are languishing without proper health care. It is also hiring contractual labour instead of recruiting permanent staff. Furthermore this 150 year bank sent out circulars to depositors advising hiring of casual staff, and indicated that bank balances would be divulged to them. Hence, depositors should be careful in investing moneys in this type of financial institutions. Pramuka has failed and Central Bank has to date not come to the rescue of the depositors. Another finance company in Battaramulla has put up shutters. Do not believe in 'long established history' in this competitive world. There are some locally incorporated banks with AAA credit rating. Retired senior banking consultant. The Sunday Observer of June 15, published a news item warning prospective IT students about bogus vocational and technical institutions that offer certificates, diplomas and degree courses in computer education. This warning has been given by the Ministry of Tertiary Education and Training. It had stated that according to a recent study carried out by the Ministry that it had come to light that a number of unauthorised computer science and information technology courses have mushroomed islandwide. It had further stated that there were 1004 registered vocational and technical institutions including 350 which offer computer science and information technology. It further stated that there are about 1000 unregistered vocational and technical institutes set up throughout the country which charge high fees from unsuspecting students. The Ministry has also cautioned the public to be vigilant about unregistered computer and vocational training institutions. Therefore, it would be of great assistance to the parents and others concerned who are anxious to give vocational training to their children after their GCE O/L and A/L examinations, if the ministry could publish the list of registered vocational and technical institutions in the daily English papers, for the guidance of the students and the parents, so that they would not be cheated. I presume this list could be published in alphabetical order in about three or four instalments. The ICT Bill was tabled in Parliament on June 17. Over to you Minister of Tertiary Education. L. LEANAGE, I was very confused when I saw the advertisement of an accounting firm in the Sunday Observer of June 15. This firm has called for applications for the posts accountants, quantity surveyors, managers etc. According to the advertisement the qualification required for the post of Quantity Surveyor is a BSc Degree or an equivalent qualification such as JTO, NDT or NCT. This is a big joke, how can a BSc Degree be equivalent to JTO, NDT or NCT. It is a pity that this fore-runner in the field of recruitment does not know this. Sometime back there was a strike in the University of Moratuwa over the BSc and NDT matter. ICASL qualification is recognized as equivalent to CIMA & ACCA for accounting profession because ICASL is not a degree. Usually students who fail to get admission to the University switch on to the accounting profession which is now saturated. It is also not accepted that the posts for accountants are placed above the post of quantity surveyor. Quantity Surveyor is a highly paid and requires highly skilled personnel. If one looks at the advertisements of the foreign recruiting firms' one will find that the QS is given the foremost place along with doctors and engineers. It is very difficult to find good quantity surveyors in Sri Lanka. Therefore, I appeal to this fore-running firm of recruitment not to run down other professionals and qualifications which will not be accepted by the public. This shows your absolute ignorance of the subject. K. R. FERNANDO, A few days ago I read in the print media that a motion to re-introduce the death penalty was moved by Galle District MP Gayantha Karunathilake and seconded by several others in Parliament. The death penalty suspended 27 years ago must be brought back forthwith. Much has been written by various individuals from various walks of life for and against the re-imposition of the capital punishment and I feel that there is hardly anything to be added except my own humble view as a senior citizen. Enough is enough. Heartless criminals commit mayhem, rape, murder etc. in the most brazen way not caring about the law of the land as they are certain that they would get away with life imprisonment the most, and perhaps to be free after an early parole. I have learnt that the Interior Minister John Amaratuga is prepared to go for a referendum. I think it is the democratic way of arriving at a decision. The gruesome killings and other heinous crimes which have taken place in the recent past are alarming and call for immediate preventive measures. My heart aches when I am reminded of the awesome murder of the Hamer family of Dehiwala who lead innocent lives. I remember reading an impassioned plea by a widow from Warakapola to save her two daughters from would be rapists. My heart bled when I came across the news of a six-year-old girl being raped and killed in Chilaw a few days ago. Day in and day out we read heartrendering stories. In my humble opinion immediate imposition of the capital punishment is the only way out. Life for life should be the criterion although it may sound archaic. To hell with human rights activists who oppose capital punishment. Why are they only worried about perpetrators and not victims? Nanda Nanayakkara, |
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