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| Sunday, 7 March 2004 |
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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.
Are churches full of illiterate and poor? The way that conversion to Jesus Christ is discussed in some quarters today, and the accusation that unethical measures are employed to lure poor and illiterate people to embrace Christianity, one would get the impression that the churches are full of poor and illiterate persons who have sold themselves for material benefits. This is a gross misrepresentation of the truth. I know of a former Buddhist, who was a distinguished civil servant, an intellectual, a writer and a man of enormous integrity, Neville Jayaweera, who had a conversion experience more than 30 years ago, and has remained to this day a follower of Jesus Christ. To renounce his inherited beliefs and convert to Jesus Christ, far from bringing him benefits, cost him dear in terms of being marginalised within his own society and culture. However, in him, that conversion experience seems even more exhilarating and more powerful today, than it was 30 years ago. One has only to read his little book "The Paradox of Jesus Christ" to experience the extraordinary spiritual power that oozes from every line. It just goes to show that conversions can be genuine and valied experiences which can occur even to men of acknowledged intelligence and integrity. Perhaps those who today campaign against unethical conversions should pause a moment to read this little spiritual gem and they may then desist from their campaign of calumny against conversions. C. Ediriweera - Moratuwa. Re-activate the Bribery and Corruption Commission I have read in the print media that the Commission to Investigate Allegations of Bribery and Corruption is defunct in the absence of the third member to man the Commission. The vacancy had arisen with the demise of Justice Abeyweera in February 2003. It is said that two retired Judges had applied for the post but the Constitutional Council had not approved their appointments. It is also learnt that a simple amendment is needed to the 17th amendment of the Constitution. Whatever the circumstances may be it is in the best interest of society if the Commission to Investigate Bribery and Corruption is re-activated sooner than later. The re-activated Commission should also be made to investigate corruption in the private sector in addition to the public sector. Graft ultimately increases cost and may be passed onto the innocent citizenry who may be called upon to bear the brunt. All political parties may include, in their own interest, proposed ways and means of eliminating bribery and corruption in their hustings with the creation of a vibrant anti-corruption drive. Nanda Nanayakkara - Matara. Cricket Board to be dissolved? Referring to the dissolution of the parliament and sacking some ministers, Arjuna Ranatunga states "the President had the guts to do the right thing and I hope she would continue to do so". Continue to do so meaning, dissolving of Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) by the President. Arjuna is of the view that the present committee would sell the Cricket Board building too. Our President has the reputation of doing the right thing. Therefore let us hope that the SLC will be dissolved soon but before the board's building is sold. After all she would not want to be accused by Arjuna for not having the guts to do the right thing. C. S. Fernando - ja-Ela The French National Assembly (Lower House of the Parliament) has already passed the veil (Pardah) ban Law. Now it will go to the Senate (Upper House of Parliament) and then it will be submitted to President Chirac for signing it into law. This law is an attack on Islam and also totally negates religious rights, human rights and fundamental rights. This is not an ordinary law. It seeks to destroy the identity of Muslims. This is not democracy because democracy does not mean negation of human rights or religious rights, rather democracy means affirmation of human rights. A country cannot do everything in the name of democracy. This is also not secularism by any definition of political science. In view of the above I feel that the Muslims in Sri Lanka should issue a statement expressing their concern over the matter and request the Government of France not to proceed with this law. A. Abdul Aziz - Negombo. Spare a thought for old pensioners Last year there was a lot of talk by the Minister of Public Administration Vajira Abeywardena, who addressed several meetings all over the island, and guaranteed the senior pensioners. That their pension anomalies be rectified by the 2004 budget and increased pensions paid. Very fortunately to the satisfaction of the senior pensioners, and true to his word the increased pension and an additional 10% was paid by the 2004 budget. Our grateful thanks to you Mr. Minister and the Hon. Minister of Finance for the unfulfilled broken promise. The Finance Minister trying of appoint committees to review the position is like "water poured on a ducks back" how many such commissions/committees had/has been appointed by past and present governments? How many of the down-trodden old pensioners will be among the living? We have appealed to you Mr. Prime Minister earlier and those have fallen on deaf ears. Trust at least this time you will grant us an honest reply, there are around 400,000 of state pensioners and their dependents who wish to live in a atmosphere of self respect, peace of mind, and in comfort. Cecil B. H. Dunuwille - Kandy. What's happening at the Philatelic Bureau ? All the woes at the Philatelic Bureau are due to the simple fact that there are some stamp collectors working in the Bureau. Postal Regulations exist, I believe, which state that stamp collectors should not be employed in the postal services and to employ them in the Bureau, is I think a total disaster. The 25 birds stamp sheet is believed to be the creation of these stamp collecting friends at the Bureau who are now creating a artificial scarcity of the sheet as it has come under criticism from the stamp collecting public and in this connection I wish to quote section 6.I from the Philatelic Code of ethics issued by the Universal Postal Union (UPU) which states that Postal Administrations shall "not support or acquiesce in any artifice intended to enhance sales of their postage stamps or products incorporating postage stamps by suggesting a potential scarcity of these products". It further states under Section 7 that "Postal administrations shall not produce postage stamps or philatelic products that are intended to exploit customers". Transparency and good governance is absolutely nil at the Philatelic Bureau of Sri Lanka. The new Minister of Posts and Telecommunication and the Post Master General should act immediately before the postage stamps of Sri Lanka lose its prestigious position held at present in the Stamp World. Philatelist - Moratuwa We write further to the correspondence we have had on your article titled 'Three wheeler import banned up in smoke' published in the Sunday Observer of 15.02.04. By letter dated 16 February 2004, we sought a correction to certain references made in the said article implying that Lanka Orix Leasing Company (LOLC) had funded a campaign of the Three Wheeler Drivers' Association (TWDA) to avoid regulation of the import of "three wheelers" and the implementation of environmental standards. However, on the 22nd of February 2004 your newspaper carried an article captioned 'Lanka ORIX says "Not us"', in which you have stated that the president of the TWDA had confirmed that LOLC had agreed to grant Rs. 10,000/- for an event organized by the TWDA. The article also made additional references to LOLC stating that funding has also been given to the TWDA by several companies, which includes Lanka Orix Leasing Company Limited. We would appreciate if we are permitted to place the context in which the aforesaid funding of Rs. 10,000 was given to the TWDA by LOLC. In December 2003 LOLC received a request from the TWDA to sponsor a meeting of the TWDA. The said letter, categorically stated that the objective of the meeting was the improvement of standards of the three wheeler industry and for instilling respect for discipline amongst three wheeler drivers. Having considered these objectives LOLC agreed to provide an advertisement in the form of a banner for display at the meeting. There was no other motive or intention in providing this sponsorship of Rs. 10,000. Ishara C Nanayakkara, Deputy ChairmaN, Lanka ORIX Leasing Company Limited Next to the obtaining political situation that grips the whole country of all sides, comes the contentious and eerie phenomenon of financial indiscipline of some of the ministers. Though the popular acceptance is that the driving force behind the desire of any candidate to enter Parliament, is to make a fast buck, not only for himself/herself, but also for his/her progeny, no mud should be slung on any minister or member of parliament, on the basis of giving the benefit to the doubt, without the allegations being proved in a proper institution empowered to administer justice, by meting out the due punishment in full measure, to those convicted. If there be such, woe be unto him! He should be declared a traitor, and he shall forfeit his Civic Rights. However, conventional wisdom has it, that most of the present day politicians behave in such a way as to incorporate a sense of corruption into the noble meaning or the intent of the term 'politics' and therefore, it warrants serious admonition by the party leaders. Apart from this disgusting picture of the political arena, the general public is almost completely unaware of the development activities undertaken by the Ministries. It goes without saying, that the people have all the right to know what is definitely happening in the country in connection with development, and even the misdemeanour of the parliamentarians. Therefore the sum total of the relevant happenings, demand that the Ministers should appear before the general public periodically, through the media, and tell the people what they have performed on the stage of development, pro bono publico. This measure will not only convince its masses, but will also tend to vindicate the Ministers and absolve themselves of ill-aimed allegations. Hope this submission will be taken up by the authorities seriously. Walter Lowe - Wattala. Whenever my father comes on holiday from the West and purchase items at the Airport as well as in the city, retailers give warranty cards and others give guaranty cards. According to the dictionaries, warranty means .... "an express or implied term in a contract collateral to the main purpose such as an undertaking that goods contracted to be sold shall meet specified requirements as to quality. Whereas the same dictionary says that guarantee as .... for assurance esp, a writing that a product service etc. will meet certain standards of specification. Will some experts in the commercial sector enlighten us on this issue as to which is 'fashionable'? R.M. Gahiru Thamal Rajapakse - Talangama North Many were the accounts that appeared in the newspapers, in the early 1990s of a drug addict extorting money from lone motorists on the pretext of being injured on impact with the rear portion of the vehicle. It is inevitably the rear of the vehicle as his modus operandi is standard and unvaried in thumping the rear of the vehicle with his hand or with a rolled up newspaper. What the motorist hears in the cabin is the sound of an impact and the tendency is to bring the vehicle to a halt. The addict thereafter hails the motorist and approaches the vehicle with a smile with his standard opening phrase, "Didn't you see? You just knocked me." The smile is to show passers by that he is indeed speaking to a friend. Once inside the vehicle, he is in total command. The motorist is at the receiving end of a barrage of filth and threats and the criminal succeeds in extracting a tidy amount from the motorist. The fact that the criminal has re-emerged in the Nugegoda area is a clear indication that he has been practising his 'art' undaunted for over a decade and doing so blatantly on bushy highways at crowded intersections and junctions where vehicles are compelled to slow down. The lanky addict with distinctive grey eyes and curly hair is invariably attired in white trousers and white shirt and occasionally in a light grey shirt. He is a loner and withdraws and merges with the crowd if you happen to have company. The purpose of my letter is to warn motorists, especially lady drivers, of this lurking menace and in the event of an encounter, to promptly alight from the vehicle and call for police assistance or assistance from the public as he always seeks his prey around crowded areas, bus stops etc. Patsy Rosairo - Delkanda. The 1978 Constitution is particularly party oriented and not at all purely people oriented. This constitution decidedly denies the people of the privilege of electing their own party members to represent them in parliament from their own electorates. This is an undemocratic act against the principle of the government of the people by the people for the people. Now what we are doing is to vote for individuals district-wise in order to elect them represent their particular parties in parliament. Another omission is now we do not hold bye-elections, if an MP for whatever reasons loses his seat. The party nominates the next in the list in his place. This too is a denial of the democratic right of the people. The present plight and the confusion compounded atmosphere we are now facing before the General Elections on April 2, 2004, is entirely due to the patchwork constitution of 1978. Under the PR system of government no single party could ever likely get a two thirds majority in parliament. Let us go back in good faith to the pre-1978 constitutions with necessary changes, alterations and amendments to meet the aspirations of the ethnic minorities, the Tamils and the Muslims to live on equal terms with honour and dignity. Also, let us make the people and the parliament supreme by empowering it with all the executive and legislative powers, with the President being the ceremonial head of the government as before. Al Haj M. L. M. Jabir - Dehiwala. It has become fashionable to erect large cut-outs of naked or near naked women as ads for various commodities. One would think, that the most despicable people are the women who will expose themselves for a few bucks for every Tom, Dick and Harry to gape at their body! They have no self-respect and haven't got the simple intelligence to know someone else, paying a paltry sum to them, is minting money out of their greatest possession - their body, their decency and their self respect. But even more despicable are the customers who patronize these joints, pretending that these atrocities are of some sort of "high class" actions - no, they are the acts of shameless rogues, who sell the bodies of some poor, stupid women and hoodwink the respectable people to believe that they have class. People of class do not stoop to obscenity and vulgarity. It is up to the Sri Lankan women to boycott any product, which is sold through exhibiting women's body. A particular dress boutique sends monthly calendars home as reminders, and this month's calendar depicts a bikini-clad woman. These people do not know that there are decent people in Sri Lanka who do not consider nudity as fashion; that the parents do not want their children to be exposed to vulgarity. It's time the self-respecting women speak out and tell these parasites off. It's time we stop them from polluting our environment. My friends and I have vouched never to patronize this particular joint which also has a large cutout of a total naked woman in their showroom. If they think customers come to look at this cutout and end up buying more, they have another thought coming. Dr. (Mrs.) Mareena Thaha Reffai - Dehiwela. This movie was a Velentine's Day special and was telecast on 11.2.2003 at 9.30 p.m. It had a scene where a woman's breast was shown quite clearly for quite sometime. This was from a bedroom scene. This scene was shown in the trailer of the film shown before 11.02.2004. We seem to have lost all sense of decency. And this TV station focuses on the faults of government authorities in a news segment called "Action TV". What hypocracy! Can the censors wake up and take some action. Shehan Latiff - Dehiwala. This is with reference to the letter in your issue of 01/02/04 titled 'GMOA, SLMC please explain'. This is a reason for the double standards adopted by the Sri Lanka Medical Council (SLMC) and the Government Medical Officers Association (GMOA). A Sri Lankan who returns with a foreign medical degree, inevitably joins the Department of Health. A foreigner (non Sri Lankan) with a medical degree is not entitled to join the Department of Health. And this is where the double standard comes in. Since the non Sri Lankan foreigners are not eligible for employment in the government sector, they are not considered a threat by the SLMC and the GMOA. Sri Lankans with foreign medical degrees who are eligible for employment in the government sector are considered a threat to local medical graduates' position by the SLMC and the GMOA. To protect their positions the GMOA in conjunction with the SLMC adopts every ruse in the book to make it difficult for these Sri Lankan foreign medical graduates to join government service. In the case of the non-Sri Lankan foreigners, as long as they are not a threat to employment in the government sector, the SLMC and GMOA turn a blind eye to their practising in the private sector. This attitude of the SLMC and the GMOA allows not only foreigners, but also allows indigenous medical graduates, quacks and all to freely practice, putting the lives of millions of innocent patients in danger. But then the employment position in the government sector is not in danger and that is what matters. Talk of double standards! I. Ahmed - Colombo 13. Bouquet to Homagama Base Hospital I sought treatment at the above hospital and I was surprised when the doctor indicating with a gesture that I sit down, asked me kindly with a winsome smile "thatha, mokaddha prassnaya?" (father, what is your ailment?). By then I had already seen another kind lady doctor who advised me to enter hospital for surgery as I had undergone a by-pass surgery 15 years ago at the Apollo Hospital in Madras. However, this kind gentleman doctor prescribed a course of antibiotics in the first instance to avoid surgery, perhaps due to my being 77 years of age. Unfortunately for me, due to the wound being deep-seated the antibiotics did not have the desired results. The next time I visited the hospital another kind lady doctor took compassion on me calling me "seeya" (grandfather). After a thorough examination of my past and present history, decided that there was no way to avoid surgery to clean out the deep wound. She went beyond the call of duty due to her milk of human kindness and arranged for surgery two days hence. I am now fully recovered after a month. My sincere thanks are due to the entire staff of Homagama Base Hospital who I observed, treated all patients, mostly the poorest of the poor, as a member of their extended family. I am desisting from mentioning the names of the doctors tosave them any embarrassment as they truly served according to their noble vocation expecting no publicity to themselves. If all the doctors and nursing staff in the other hospitals could emulate these dedicated medical staff, how wonderful it would be for the suffering patients throughout Sri Lanka and our country could truly be a blessed Isle. A grateful patient - Athurugiriya. |
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