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| Sunday, 22 August 2004 |
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Letters |  |
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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.
Susanthika - Gone with the wind It is very sad Susanthika Jayasinghe has once again let down the country for the second time at the Athens Olympic Games 2004, and made a surprise exist even before the opening of the Olympic Games. Previously it was at the Bangkok Asian Games in 1998. Since the Sydney Olympic Games 2000 she has been boasting that she will bring the gold medals for the country from the Athens Olympic Games 2004. She has now forgotten her past and has been stubborn and aggressive. She should climb the ladder smilingly and be humble on her achievements. She failed to qualify for the 200 meters and qualified only for the 100 meters, but in her own mind she knew that she would be defeated in the 100 meters, as she hardly stand a chance for the semi-finals. She is now making a lame excuse to a leg injury. The Sports Ministry should also have to share part of the blame, as she had mentioned that the doctors have advised her to take about four months rest for fully recovery and have failed to take appropriate action accordingly. F. A. Rodrigo- Non-Muslim politicians at Dewatagaha Mosque This has reference to an article that appeared in the Sunday Observer on August 1, under the heading "Non Muslim politicians at Dewatagaha". Though the national newspapers are not the proper fora to discuss religious issues especially of a minority community, yet this rejoinder is intended to refute heresies contained therein. Sad to state, there are seventy-three divisions among Muslims who have testified to Allah and His Prophet. The largest and righteous among them is called "The People of Sunnah" (Customs of the Holy Prophet) and the consensus. Their creed is as enunciated by Imam Al Ashari. Among their beliefs they accept that Allah's Apostles do have power to interecede on behalf of their followers, so do Awliyas (Saints of Allah). One such Holy person who is interred in the Dewatagaha Shrine is His Holiness Sheikh Usman Waliyullah. People of various hues and beliefs flock him to seek his favour and blessings for generations. This pious act provokes the writer to come out with scathing attack on all who patronize Him. These utterances remind me to be that of strange and weird ideas propounded one Mohamed bin Abdul Wahab who was born in Najd in Saudi Arabia in the year 1703 A.D. corresponding to IIII Hijri year. He started preaching his austere Doctrines which could be described as Anti-Muhammad and Anti-Traditions. The pious people of the area rose up against his preachings. Unfortunately, he made a matrimonial union by marrying the daughter of the Amir of Riyadh, Mohamed Al-Saud. That alliance gave him the state patronage to penetrate into all areas and was able to win over some. The state religion of Saudi Arabia is still the Islam as per Wahhabi Doctrine. The virus of Wahhabism had entered into Ceylon about 50 years ago. With the monetary package, it has taken roots in some parts of the country, and with some religious organizations. It may be interesting for the readers to know what Wahhabism means. It totally rejects the Uniqueness of Rasulullah, the Schools of thoughts (Madhab), the power of intercession of Prophets, Saints of Allah and in short it is diametrically opposed to the principles of Sunnathu Wal Jamaath. So it's not strange for the lady of his ilk to belittle the Holy Saints of Dewatagaha and to articulate the misleading Doctrines of Abdul Wahab. The readers may be surprised to know Abdul Wahab in his height of power requested his misguided followers to demolish the Tomb of his own Holy Prophet, which is in Madinah. By Allah's grace nothing untoward happened and it still symbolizes the Pride of Islam. May I ask as to why the Saudi government allows millions of faithfuls to throng this Holy site day in and day out if it violates the Islamic principle!!! Similarly, I can vouchsafe anyone who is desirous of visiting the Holy Saint at Dewatagaha, to do so and get his intentions fulfilled. If anyone who needs further clarifications on this issue, can contact the writer at the address given below. Lastly, my advice to the people of her category is that, not to add more ammunition to the conflicts among the various communities. The National newspapers are not the platform to raise controversial issues. If she is still not convinced, let her seek the assistance of Learned and righteous Ulamas. M. Mousoof, Education under wrath of British Sunday Observer editorial on August 15 needs comment, in a supportive way. I sat with my daughter, who attends a government school in Brisbane, on her strategy based on independence and self-employment, to choose a career which would be beneficial for her and few weeks later we were summoned by the school to confirm her plan. We sat with a teacher (who was an English teacher and English by ethnicity, a typical conservative character) and discussed the subjects she had selected, of course with my guidance. The teachers view was that my daughter should select subjects to enter the University, as independence and self-employment goal was too vague. I questioned this and told her this was conventional, traditional `thinking' and explained to her, that I wasn't carrying a suitcase, as most expatriate parents do, to make my daughter a doctor, lawyer or an accountant, but to engage in a study path which will lead to running a business on her own, in whatever decipline eg. designing in interior, fashion, magazine etc. Education is a debate everywhere and does not confine to Sri Lanka. Most countries which came under the wrath of British, based their education system on the traditional, exam oriented, cram and reproduce approach, which produce not truly `intelligent' kids but students who has the ability to memorise. The fallacy of educating our kids in the English medium, is the view of the few propagandists of English, ably supported by British Council and English Society!, without analyzing the real cause of the problem in education. We must let a child learn, understand and express oneself in his/her mother tongue, even Buddha commented on this important issue. The outstanding results at examinations in the last few decades (after our time in 60s, 70s) were the result of medium of instruction being Sinhala or Tamil. English is a tool and must be exploited and used wisely, especially in the spheres of science and technology and should be taught as a subject, in all schools and Universities. Our intake to Unis should be directly based on the requirements of the country in the academic fields and other fields, a simple research study would be adequate to gauge this. Our Universities, private/public companies and corporations and the government should be linked via a central body, through an information gathering/sharing network. Private companies should be encouraged to use unis to carry out their research and development (saving them money), bringing much needed finance to unis. A bureau for creativity should be established, so that inventors or innovators will be adequately compensated monetarily, through patent rights. Rather than the present way of, education driving the needs of the society, It is best to try the other way, the needs of the society to drive the education. Sunil Vijayapala, Dr. N. M. Perera, an honest and upright politician I deeply appreciate the comments made by Percy Wickremasekera in the article styled as above that appeared in the 'Sunday Observer' of August 15. Whilst agreeing with all the views expressed I thought that the time was very opportune to insert an individual simple character of Dr. N. M. Perera, observed by me. When Dr. N. M. Perera was functioning as the Minister of Finance he came to the People's Bank, Union Place Branch one afternoon to transact some business. On this day, I was officially acting as the manager of the branch on the instructions of W. H. Solomons, the General Manager. When I came out of the cubicle occupied by me to observe the branch activities, to my utter surprise I saw Dr. Perera in the queue along with the other customers awaiting the issue of a cheque book. I walked up to him and requested him to come to my cubicle so that I could attend to him without any delay. He refused and said that he was not being fair by the others in the queue who were ahead of him. But as he was a very busy individual I obtained permission from the others in the queue and immediately issued the cheque book to him. Thereafter he thanked me, the staff and those in the queue and walked up to his private vehicle which was driven by him and went away. There is no doubt that this action of his revealed a disciplined simple quality though he was a Minister of State. I believe that this sort of behaviour will be a guide to all concerned. Sarath Hewagama, Observer editorial : Forget the British system I read your editorial with great interest of the Sunday Observer of Aug 15 I believe it is a great editorial. We, Sri Lankans needs to find out the objectives of our education system within social, economical, political and cultural frames. At least, one of its objectives of the education should be as follows: It must make an individual a good citizen, who is capable of making sound decisions, among others, as to who should govern its country and himself. A democratic society works best only when its people are capable of making good decisions. The recent cases of abuse of power, stealing money from public funds and rapes by certain UNF politicians only showed that the voters, who elected them to govern our private lives infact elected bad individuals as our leaders. This is a result of having citizens who are not able to make good decisions. In some sense, the government and its system of governing the country is a reflection of how its people think based on their culture and history. Wrong beliefs and attitudes of a person can only be changed through education. Finally, we should not blindly follow the British education system that is based on their history, culture and attitudes. We need to be able to define objectives that enhance our own culture, society, economy and political system. In addition, Sri Lanka is still agriculturally based, we must recognize this, and therefore, our education system must educate all of its children with knowledge relevant to agriculture at least. This way, an unemployed youth will at least know how to become an effective farmer or a planter in the modern world. Jay Deshabandu, Ward 22(B), the plastic surgery unit at Kandy hospital takes pride of place as one of the cleanest and well-maintained wards, while the kind-hearted lady surgeon and her staff do all they can to alleviate the pain and suffering of the patients in their care, there exists an urgent need which is overlooked by the department and successive governments. The plastic surgery unit is located on the top floor of a two-storeyed building, the excess to which is via a winding, wooden and narrow staircase forgetting the fact that most people seeking plastic surgery are victims of burn injuries, broken limbs, wounds and other deformities whose mobility is restricted, at times they are directed to other sections for X'ray, ECG and other tests prior to operations which means they have to climb up and down this stair way a number of times which is a near impossibility for persons with such disabilities, the post-operative cases are placed on a stretcher and lifted up to the ward by attendants doing a balancing feat in the process over the steps of the stairway as they carry their semi-conscious human load precariously. It will be a great relief for these patients to have the facility of a lift installed or in the alternative to have this unit shifted to a convenient building. Merril Gunaratne, |
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