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| Sunday, 3 April 2005 |
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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.
I take great offence at the attitude of the writer Elmo Leonard, when writing the article "African style camp huts in game forests." His style is akin to someone of the 19th century, when all people who were not white were called natives. This attitude is no longer allowed in the western countries as it is considered racist, and he and your paper may have been called to apologise at a race relations board! I think that such articles should be carefully read before printed. You have some excellent writers in Sinhala, Tamil and Burgher, and I am not sure what nationality this man belongs to, but his attitude shows white superiority. Recently, there was an excellent article in a Sunday paper about chena cultivators, written by an environmentalist which painted a true picture of these humble but honest folk. I too have been studying them for a children's book, and it is not surprising that he could not find the chenas, because (a) they have just finished their cultivation cycle. (b) the chenas are hidden deep in the jungles and can hardly been seen from the road which passes just a few feet away. Please for the sake of your paper, do not print this type of language again. V.M. Wickremasinghe. Increasing number of cricket fans are much concerned over the present fate of the Galle International Cricket Grounds by the side of the historic Dutch fort of Galle. These grounds suffered immensely due to the tsunami. There is sufficient reason for rebuilding the stadium and the grounds particularly, if dykes can be provided at suitable stretches. It is advisable to persuade the Government of the Netherlands to send a team of experts to examine the prospects of provision of dykes not only for the Galle area but also for other areas mainly of the seashores and secondarily, to the areas of rivers and lakes which are constantly subject to flooding and causing harm to the poorer sections of the population. The team may also be requested to examine the matter of reclamation of some land from sea. Government should also nominate a team of our engineers and other relevant personnel to liase with the Netherlands team. Concerned citizen. I received a notice in February this year from my bank. I quote two lines of importance and interest. The first line read "your account has been inactive since 9th February 2004." The fifth line reads "Please note that the banking act requires that balances of accounts which have been inactive for over 10 years be transferred to the Central Bank of Sri Lanka and held, until claimed by the account holder." Since I did not see the connection between the first and fifth lines, I telephoned this global bank. I had to emanate three calls before I was put on to the person who could give me a direct answer. Why was this letter originated as there is no connection, no relevance, no meaning between the first and fifth lines? The answer was an apology for the inconvenience caused. In the first instance this letter should not have emanated. Banks of this type should not claim that the customer's interest is in their hearts. I was compelled to listen to the trash advertising over their internal telephone system that this Bank has, for nearly twenty minutes. I was forcibly made to pay for this call for no logical reason to investigate a matter that did not need investigation and compelling me to listen to unsolicited advertisement at my cost. Walter Fernando. All indications are there that the next major bank failure is not too far off. The same signals that came from Pramuka are coming from some others. Actually, predicting a bank failure is not an easy task. Having been a Bank Inspector for a long period, I would like to share some of those symptoms which can signal a future bank failure. The extravagant behaviour of the bank itself and its senior officers, obtaining cheap publicity for the bank and its Directors even for minor events, carrying advertisements which are misleading and are over promising, frequent reliance on lotteries and sales promotions, blowing out of proportion simple events such as a product launch or a branch opening by seeking the patronage of politicians and other key Central Bank officials, offering high and off-market interest rates for deposits and having plethora of Subsidiaries and associates doing similar business. Others are . Imitating names, logos and products of more reputed banks, . Frequently running borrowing positions in the Money Market, . Compromising on principles and policies merely to satisfy customers, and . Frequent tendency to quote artificially low rates for advances without considering risks. These are of course only some of my observations during the period with Central Bank. Watchful citizen. The decision of the Government to rake again a Bill to prohibit conversions is a most foolish act. Imagine the situation when a Christian is arrested and charged under this Act. It will be publicised around the world, as the Christian media lobby is a very vocal and powerful body, that sways the Christian west to act upon. The person charged will not only be a martyr, but will qualify for citizenship in any American and European state. Remember the situation when a Pakistani Christian was charged for blasphemy ? There was worldwide publicity much to the embarrassment of the Government and civil society in Pakistan. On the acquittal of the young Christian, he and his family was whisked to an European country by that Government to live a life of freedom and comfort forever. Christians will get more prominence to their cause and particularly have occasion to prove to the rest of the world that this is being done in a country with an army and police which is 100 percent Buddhist. Concerned citizen. |
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