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| Sunday, 5 October 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.
'Quick deposit box' for instant depositing of cheques at local banks, I presume was initially introduced by M/s BAH foreign consultants when a leading state bank was reorganised and refurbished under the new reorganisation concept of formation of front and back offices. This was initially introduced about 15 years ago. This new concept probably was in operation in banks in developed countries prior to its introduction to Sri Lankan banks. The main idea in introducing the "quick deposit box" is for the client to have a cheque deposited instantly without waiting in a queue. I have an account in a private bank in Mt. Lavinia where this concept was introduced recently. When I took a cheque to be deposited, a particular teller (who obviously was a new recruit) took it to a senior officer for verification. The particular cheque I took for depositing was a "Collection A/C" to the credit of a mobile phone company. Therefore I had to draw the cheque favour of the manager of the particular private bank. I felt in that the particular teller probably, had not been given proper training with regard to collection of cheques. At present all clients who deposit cheques have to undergo a cumbersome procedure before inserting the cheque and the paying in slip enclosed in an envelope into the "quick deposit box". The ordinary person (normally third party) who is not conversant in banking procedures is baffled. Very often security personnel come to assistance to complete this procedure. I am emphasizing this procedure practised for the benefit of both the management of the bank and its clients. If a cheque is not properly drawn for instance "cash - order", "cash A/c Payee "cheque without a signature" absence of a full signature for an alteration and for various other reasons cheques deposited will be automatically returned for "refused collection". Another important factor is that cheques cannot be deposited to savings A/Cs unless they are drawn in favour of the payee and in favour of the manager of the bank concerned. Therefore, I suggest that these factors have to be brought to the notice of all account holders by displaying a visible notice in front of the "quick deposit box" and also for the tellers to collect the cheque deposits when they are not busy. Sunil Thenabadu, Mt. Lavinia "Burgher leaders sat back in their cocoons" - a response I refer to Mr. J.B. Muller's Keynote Address at the AGM of the Burgher Association of Sri Lanka published in the Sunday Observer of September 21, and fully agree with everything he says in his thoughtful but sad speech, and wish to add a few comments. Burghers have always played a low-key role in the politics of Sri Lanka because of certain factors, some of these being (a) the fact that like the other smaller communities we allowed the larger community, the Sinhalese, to dominate political life. The Burghers could have made significant contributions to the progress of this country. Alas and Alack ! We did not. (b) We allowed ourselves to be cowed down by the Sinhala Only Policy when, like now, we could have established private schools to educate our children in the English medium. We gave up too easily. Perhaps we were afraid of the neo-nationalism of the Sinhalese then and the various attacks against the Tamils, notably the 1958 riots which I clearly remember and will never forget. Those of us who dared to stay behind, started packing our bags after the 1971 JVP insurgency. Sad to say, that the first generation of immigrants from the Burgher community to Australia, England, Canada, the USA, have all, passed on. Most of them sold their homes in Sri Lanka for a song mostly to Tamils who then became a minority force to contend with as compared to the gentle Burghers who were friendly and helpful to all, irrespective of race and culture. They shed so many tears as they departed. The children of the early emigrants have all adapted quite well to the life and culture of the various countries they live in. Had they been here, who knows, they too might have lost limbs, eyes, and lives in the various civil wars this country has suffered. So, there should not be any regrets. To the remaining Burghers in this country and to all ethnic groups, I would like to give this advice: Be proud to be Sri Lankan. Seek education in all aspects of life. Wisdom and knowledge should always be part of life, from the cradle to the grave. Practise thrift - save for any purchase, rather than borrow at high interest rates. Study other cultures and do not bring disrespect to your own race or culture. Linda van Schagen, Mt. Lavinia For many generations Sri Lankan Muslims have prayed in mosques all over Sri Lanka. A great many of these mosques are centuries old and have been built mostly by individuals with a lot of love and piety. Many of them, I am sure, are archaeologically important and reflect the great amity between the different religions of the people of Sri Lanka. It is our duty to protect and preserve these Mosques in their original pristine state as a gesture of respect and honour to these mosques and also to the people who donated their land, wealth and effort to construct them. In this case I believe that the Ministry of Muslim Religious and Cultural Affairs has a leading role to play in identifying, cataloguing and preserving these mosques in their original state in the interest of the culture of the Muslims of Sri Lanka. From observing some of these mosques, I would like to highlight two areas which need immediate attention of the concerned authorities. 1. Modifications being carried on these mosques without any regard for the original structure thus negating the archaeological and cultural importance of these mosques. It will be of immense value if any such modifications are only carried out under the guidance and approval of the concerned authorities to preserve the original state of these structures. 2. In some mosques, someone has deemed that the original Mohrab (Direction of the Holy Ka'aba) is wrong and changed the direction by way of ropes or lines drawn at an angle to the original Mihrab. Muslims praying in a direction not in keeping with the original Miharab of a beautifully constructed mosque is a sight for sore eyes and it certainly needs the urgent and immediate attention of persons in religious authority. My question is; who authorized these changes, are they valid, what is the qualification of the person who made these changes, and what becomes of the prayers offered in a mosque so defiled and disfigured? Let me elaborate a little on this point; since the earth is spherical in shape, you can never have a straight line between the worshippers in prayer and the Holy Ka'aba, in that most of what you get is a curve. Therefore it is possible to face the Holy Ka'aba by mind only, and not physically, as we do in our daily prayers. All the Muslims in the world, irrespective of their different persuasions turn to that focal point as an expression of unity, integrity and brotherhood. I will greatly appreciate the views and comments of the Ministry of Muslim Religious and Cultural Affairs, learned Ulemas or other trustworthy knowledgeable persons who love and care about the status of our mosques which are a major source of religious and cultural inspiration. Al Haj M. L. M. Jabir, Dehiwala. In a society of rapidly deteriorating human values, where the urge for power and wealth override all other norms of social ethics, crime has escalated in leaps and bounds, most significantly since June 1976, when death sentences imposed on criminals convicted by Courts have been committed to life imprisonment in lieu of hanging, despite the fact that the law of capital punishment has not been expunged from Sri Lanka's statute books. The last convict executed was Embilipitiya Chandradasa alias Hondapapuwa on June 22, 1976 according to Prison statistics. The laxity of the law is such that we often witness convicts walk out of the Courts in the company of their lawyers, smiling knowing well that their chances of being hanged are very remote and they could have a homely rest with free food and lodging at the expense of the poor rate-payer also enjoying special privileges with the blessings of certain politicians involved and the courtesy of certain Prison officials. We have seen in the media the number of mobile phones and the currency notes detected in their possession recently. History has it, that even during the times when Buddhism flourished in our country, death penalty had been in force on hardcore criminals but in various methods and with the crime rate low, this country was referred to as "Dharmaddhipaya" - a just and righteous society. Under our existing legal system, death sentences are even sometimes reduced to an insignificant period of 7 to 10 years imprisonment. Once these criminals are let loose, they become a worse potential danger to our Society. Hence life sentences are no threats to these criminals. It is regrettable to note that there is pressure from certain parliamentarians and civil rights movements opposing the re-implementation of capital punishment, perhaps to safeguard these criminals who at one time had been their henchmen who had assisted them in their political activities. Why can't they realise that these perpetrators of such heinous crimes have no right to take another's life ? Do they realise the fact that they too deserve the punishment with the same magnitude and severity of the crime they had committed ? Why can't our so-called Representatives of the People realise they are duty-bound to allow the LAW to deal with these criminals with the appropriate punishment without tinkering with the law agencies. Why are they so much concerned to safeguard the offenders and rehabilitate them and not the least concerned about the victims and their kith and kin ? "Nobody fears prison as much as death" said Earnest Van Den Haag Professor of Jurisprudence and Public Policy of Fordham University. Hence it is but my humble personal view that capital punishment would be the most effective deterrent to curb crime and keep the scales of justice balanced. If justice is not executed and these criminals not punished in keeping with the verdict of the courts, it would tantamount to a mockery of justice. If our parliamentarians on both sides are unable to arrive at a unanimous decision to bring back the hangman, let this issue be put to the people at a referendum, in which event, it is very likely there would be an overwhelming vote in favour of re-introduction of death penalty, since there is an island-wide cry by all peace-loving citizens of this land. Let us hope that our genial Minister of Justice would re-focus his attention on this grave situation and take suitable measures. Don Sarath Abeysekera, Bandarawela Unethical conversions by Christians - a response This is in response to a letter written by Tiddy Senapathiratna of Rozella, on the above subject in the Sunday Observer of September 7. I do not want to start any religious controversial dispute, because each person has the liberty to profess his/her faith. But regarding Mr. Senapathiratna's article, I have to make my observations purely on a bona fide footing. According to history, the Portuguese were active in converting Buddhists to Roman Catholicism by sword or by reward. This is a fact and not a fiction. After all, no Christian organisation was able to convert more than 12% of the population, most of whom lived within the maritime provinces of the country, under Portuguese suzerainty. Buddhists have never tried to proselytise Christians to Buddhism. Mr. Senapathiratna is, perhaps, aware that Christians were outwitted by Buddhists at the Panadura Controversy in 1873, which received worldwide recognition. If conversion to Christianity is not the work of man, but of God, the whole world created by Him, would be a haven for Christians. It has not happened. For example, Colonel Olcott, who was a Christian by birth, embraced Buddhism by his own conviction. God never prevented it. Albert Einstein, the world famous scientist and mathematician says: "If there is any religion that would cope with modern scientific needs, it would be Buddhism". Why he arrived at that opinion is self-explanatory. Mr. Senapathiratna speaks of the love of God for mankind. Why then allow mass murder and genocide, as a result of warfare, without resorting to what God did to punish the sinners in Sodom and Gomorrah, by causing brimstone and fire to rain upon the two countries (Genesis 19:24)? Today, if a man were to believe in anything, it must be rational in outlook and scientific in origin and, just heresay, carries nowhere. Just quoting scriptures is an attempt to overcome what is really unknown sans any established fact. Aryadasa Ratnasinghe, Mattegoda. Fleecing passengers on Colombo-Chennai air route The Colombo-Chennai return air-fare which a few years ago was in the Rs. 3,700 (economy) range - was progressively sent up and remained around Rs. 8,000 about a year ago. It now stands at over Rs. 20,000 - a sum well beyond the reach of most passengers. This is a high-intensity traffic route for the two airlines enjoying a monopoly - SriLankan Airlines and Indian Airlines. Reasons for the dramatic passenger increase in the sector are several. India becoming a major manufacturing power and establishing itself as Sri Lanka's largest supplier of goods currently attracting a large two way business traffic, educational and hospital facilities declining here while on the ascent there swelling the ranks of passengers, the regular traffic of Indo-Lankans visiting temples, relatives and visiting India for other reasons have all vastly contributed to the increasing traffic on this route. Above all, Sri Lanka's per capita income rising from about US$ 200 a few years ago to $800 presently results in more people being in a position to afford the luxury of overseas air travel and holidays. This results in the almost daily exodus of pilgrim groups (varying from 100-200 persons at a time) visiting the Dhammadweepa in general and Buddha Gaya in particular. All these factors have greatly contributed to bringing much pressure on the seat-availability in this route. Under normal circumstances one would have expected the two airlines concerned to meet the challenges of sharply increasing traffic by re-negotiating with the two governments seat-allocation arrangements or take other appropriate steps to meet the challenges without hurting passengers with the burden of unreasonable increase of fares. It is also unfortunate that the relevant authorities in the Sri Lankan government failed to take suitable steps to save our passengers from the clutches of an artificially created 'captive market' that the two airlines seem to have engineered exclusively to their benefit - giving tuppence to passenger welfare. The following comparable study of the mileages between the two destinations and return fares applicable in other popularly patronised routes makes it very clear that the two airlines are not being just by passengers. Colombo-Singapore 2,050 miles Rs. 30,300 Colombo-Bangkok 1,778 miles Rs. 26,600 Colombo-Chennai 482 miles Rs. 20,400 Without going into the nitty-gritty of how airline fares are eventually calculated, I find a simple calculation of dividing the cost by the mileage involved the Singapore and Bangkok sector costs about Rs. 15 per mile whereas passengers in the Chennai sector are forced to pay Rs. 35 per mile. This alone is sufficient for authorities in both countries to seriously and immediately look into the matter and take steps to protect passengers on both sides. While return fares should go back to about Rs. 7,000, steps should also be taken to increase the number of flights weekly to meet the growing demand. If availability of aircraft is a problem of the two airlines, I am sure the two governments will consider allowing other private airlines in both countries to increase their flights here. A. kandappah, Colombo 3 |
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