Legal aspects of tourism industry

Reviewed by R. S. Karunaratne

Although there are many tourist hotels and numerous statutes governing them, the legal aspects of hotel management have been a hitherto unexplored area in Sri Lanka. It is sad but true that we have depended largely on our civil and criminal law to settle disputes arising in the tourism industry. This is because no specific laws have been enacted over the past few decades to handle this important segment of economy.

Therefore, in compiling this book, Dr. Jayasuriya had the unenviable task of examining the English and Americal legal systems.

After explaining the legal position relating to hotels, he shows us how the law has been developed in the United Kingdom and the United States. While tracing the history of the hospitality industry in Sri Lanka he says that the Ceylon Tourist Bureau was established in 1937. The Ceylon Tourist Board came into existence in 1966. The Ceylon Hotels Corporation Act was passed in the same year. A major development was the enactment of the Tourism Development Act in 1968. In 2005, however, The Tourism Act repealed the provisions of the earlier enactments and provided a guideline to the Sri Lanka Institute of Tourism and Hotel Management to make Sri Lanka a tourist destination.

Hospitality Law is useful to everybody in the tourism industry and others who happen to stay in a hotel even for a few days. Today a hotel is an establishment that provides lodging on a short term basis. The modern hotel rating system was introduced in the 20th century. As most of us are aware, there are five star and even seven star hotels in the world. The star rating indicates the greater luxury the hotels could provide to tourists. The author discusses the differences between an inn and a hotel and cites many interesting decided cases.

The book should serve as a manual for hotel managers. For instance, can a manager refuse to receive a particular guest? What is his liability if goods belonging to a guest are lost? When can he refuse to admit a guest? When can he evict a guest? Can he use force to evict a guest? These are interesting questions that might baffle a hotel manager who does not know the legal position governing such areas.

The hotel manager is not a figurehead. He should know his duties and legal obligations. Dr. Jayasuriya cites an interesting case (William v Linnet) in which the court held that a farmer who had visited a hotel to meet his friends and have a drink was a guest. Therefore, the most sensible course of action for a hotel manager is to treat all visitors to a hotel as guests. What is more, the hotel and the manager are liable for the loss of property belonging to guests.

All tourist hotels are legally bound to keep their building and the environment clean. They also must provide furniture that would not cause any harm to guests. In many decided cases, courts have held that the hotel manager is duty bound to provide safe furniture and equipment. Apart from such safety measures, the hotel management has a legal duty to provide refreshments, food and accommodation to guests provided they are in a fit condition to be received.

In the United Kingdom and the United States, hotels have been held responsible for the safety of guests. For instance, when a female guest slipped and fell on the highly polished floor in Texas, the hotel was ordered to pay compensation to her. The hotel must ensure the safety of guests using the swimming pool, as well. It is interesting to note that the hotel management is responsible for injuries sustained by visitors who come there on invitation. Hospitality Law shows clearly that hotels owe a special duty towards minors and children. It is the duty of the hotel to provide them with reasonable accommodation and safety even when they are accompanied by parents. This shows that law has a high regard for human life.

The book comes with the statutes governing the tourism industry. This obviates the necessity of referring to various ordinances and acts passed by Parliament.

Dr. Irwin Jayasuriya is singularly qualified to write a book of this nature. Apart from being a practising lawyer, he is closely involved with the hospitality industry as a consultant and a lecturer in tourism law.

He has not used too much legal jargon. As a result, it is a boon to law students, practising lawyers and ordinary readers who simply want to know their rights and duties.

Fascinating facets of culture in fiction

by Ranga Chandrarathne

Through her anthology of short stories, Rukmani surveys the cultural landscape with remarkable insights into life in an era which is characterised by its rather slow-phased life. Her stories are peopled with characters from diverse walks of life and as well as from different social strata. They were the men and women of Sri Lanka who had been subjected to trajectories of socio- economic changes the country underwent over the years. At times, the short stories assume the role of codifiers of history with human touch and at others, they are similar to personal memoirs revisiting the bygone era.

She commences her anthology with `Mother' a short story which vividly captures the low-income urban areas. The story is narrated from third person's point of view and the main character is portrayed as a victim of poverty. If one analyses the character of Beera, it is evident that split of Beera's family, death of his mother at the hand of his drunkard father, are by products of abject poverty which is still a dominant characteristic of rural life. Here in the story, the authoress has been able to depict the quintessential characteristic of the rural agrarian society. The spiritual life of the population is centred on the Buddhist temple where the monk delivered sermons especially on full-moon days (Poya days) in the temple's main hall or in Banamaduwa.

"The priest was young and light-complexioned, with a round face. He spoke his words slowly, almost kindly. .. so we must remember he who lives by Dhamma, will be protected by Dhamma ... He could not give the priest few examples of people who do wrong , but have not suffered. What about Piyasiri Mudalali- the crooked things he did-drugs, women, murder...The priest is living in a world of his own! Beera felt annoyed." Apart from exploring the mind set of Beera, the authoress highlights the widespread corruption in the village. Beera justifies the life he leads as a robber. However the story ends when Beera decides not to rob the girl of her jewellery as she reminds him of his mother. In a way the authoress points out that there are no black and white characters in society. Although Beera's character has not been well developed within the space of the short story, the climax of the story suggests that Beera is not a black character. In fact, he is a victim of circumstances.

One of the interesting short stories is `Independence day 1999'. The story is about a mother who reminds her soldier son who had made the supreme sacrifice for the motherland, on the Independence Day. Here the authoress with an insight into the mind of the mother portrays her agony and love for her son through an episode where her son used to peal the onions for her as he did not like her to cry. When she chops onions for the chilly paste (Lunumiris) on the Independence Day, the fond memories of her fallen soldier son flood, moving her to tears. This is one of the prominent characteristics of a skillful short story writer. Rukmani has captured the mother's abounding love for her son through seemingly insignificant incident. The ending of the story is also appropriate with the sequence of the events. "Oh my son, my dearest son, who did not want me to cry..If only you could see-the torrents of tears that have flowed from my eyes..for you..."

'Twenty -Eight Years' is about infidelity in marriage. The faithful wife, who was the only girl of the family, suddenly found out that her husband for 28 years, had stealthily obtained a divorce. Although she was on the verge of taking her life, she decided to dedicate her life for a worthy course. In a subtle manner, the authoress questions the fragile nature of conventional marriage.

Especially in Asian societies the blame for the breaking up of a family is, often, put on the woman. On most occasions, that will amount to the end of her life too. However, the story ends with a note of optimism on the part of the woman. Instead of taking her life, she decided to dedicate the rest of her life for a worthy course.

'Learning from experience' and 'The Apology' are stories on dissimilar themes. The "Learning from experience" is about a tragic death of a bright Indian boy who lived in Canada and "The Apology" is on the death of a husband who had been cruel to his wife. The story is narrated by the wife and the technique of stream of consciousness has been effectively used. The death of the husband takes her back to the moments when he hit her and kicked her.

The authoress has once again showed her innate ability to exploit dramatic situations to arrive at her intended target. It is obvious the intention of the authoress was to highlight the flip side of the family. Sri Lankan family being a strong social institution, once entered into wedlock the woman becomes a prisoner of the family. Even if the husband ill-treats her, chances are remote for her to escape from the situation. Here in the story despite the continuous harassment at the hand of the husband, the wife remains until his death. She seems, even to forgive her husband for the sins committed.

The short story titled "Elisabeth and Charlis" is one of the best pieces of writing. Apart from the depiction of atrocities committed by the occupying British under the martial law, the story of Eliso who subsisted on * Lunumiris* ( kind of a Chilly paste) and rice until her husband released from the prison, is heart rending. The authoress has taken the grotesque details of the British atrocities during the martial law from the book 'Hundred Days under Martial Law in Ceylon in 1915' by Armand de Souza who was the Editor of the 'Ceylon Morning Leader'. Souza was the father of Doric de Souza and his journalist brother Tori. The short story was dedicated to Armand de Souza who recorded the atrocities committed by the Royal British army in Sri Lanka.

Short stories like "Teachers' Day", "Milkberries" and "Hope" deal with different themes. For each of the story the authoress employs diverse techniques and the story is narrated from different perspectives. At times, she tries to adapt Sinhala phrases into English in their original form which would disturb the structure of the English language.For instance, usages such as "When Hemalatha Teacher went to the class for the Sinhala lesson, the whole class had stood up more particularly than on other days .....they had all crowed in unison smiling enthusiastically", "Children's father or 'our one" inappropriate as they may sound absurd when a foreigner or native speaker of English reads. However, it is quite possible to translate authentic cultural experiences from one language to another without compromising with the structure or inflicting damages on the usage of English. Gamini Hattotuwegama's and Prof. Ediriweera Sarachchandra's writings on Sri Lankan culture are examples where authentic native experiences have been translated into English as in depth prose.However, the authoress's try-outs with language should be understood against her attempts to translate authentic life experiences in Sri Lanka into English in a realistic light. Some of the times, she has been successful.

However, there are many instances where she has seriously compromised with the structure of the language and the sequence of the narration in her attempt to translate native idiom into English. This shortcoming cannot be found in the short stories in which she describes experiences abroad. For instance, in the short stories such as "Learning from experiences" and "The Jak tree," the language she uses is similar to native English. Especially in "The Jak tree", she has been able to portray truly a Sri Lankan grandmother who loved nature. "Well, if I tell it - 'You have been a good jack tree.You gave us so much 'Polos', 'Jack' and 'Waraka'. Your Waraka is very sweet and tasty and so on, it feels very happy, and next season also it will bear a lot of fruits ". Here the authoress has been able to translate authentic native experience into plausible English prose.

"Learning from life" which was shortlisted for 'Paris Prize for Fiction-2008' offers readers with an anthology codifying the collective memory of the nation.

The experiences and the incidents enunciated throughout the anthology are heart rending. The book will be a thought provoking read in addition to being a repository of collective experiences of the nation. The proceeds of the book will go to the welfare of the underprivileged children.

Extensive study of social issues

Reviewed by Vijita FERNANDO

Swimming Against the Tide, this debut collection of short stories is the first attempt by Sunila Nanayakkara to gather together her fiction writing into a collection. She is a teacher who has been writing poetry as well as short fiction for quite some time. Some of her work has been published in journals and newspapers.

Some of the stories in this collection are autobiographical, as she says, and a few of them stem mostly from the time she spent in teaching in Nigeria and the Seychells. The first story "Won or Lost" puts together in a neat little nutshell the pluses and minuses of mothers leaving young children when they go abroad for long spells to earn, to buy good things for the family, to save for a rainy day, to bear the agony of homesickness and the determination to stick it out "for the sake of the family."

Once back home for good the mother is relaxed and happy at the father's devotion while she was away, how the daughters had coped and now she prepares for her birthday with cake and flowers.

But the blue sky of her happiness gets overcast with dark clouds when the little girl she left behind, now quite the young lady announces.

"Oh, I forgot that today is Amma's birthday!"

The author puts her finger deftly on some social ills that haunt most people, especially the elderly. The Receding Tide tells the oft related story of the ageing mother and the dilemma faced by the devoted son who faces the sad ask of leaving her alone when he and his family move away from the home the mother has known all her long life.

She, the good mother, gives in and finds spirits ebbing from her in the new home and the daughter-in-law's rules. One is left with the question in both these stories 'can a mother ever win'?

An entirely different milieu, becoming all too familiar in today's world, is the woman who is trapped in the drug business, once again for the sake of the family. Money beckons irresistibly and she steps into an unknown world from which she soon finds that she cannot escape.

Social ills abound in our society. The writer has pointed her finger at several of these. Women are the central players in many of the stories she has woven round these issues. Reading her fiction one gets the feeling that the writer is whole heartedly on the side of them women of whom she writes with sensitivity and sympathy, never apportioning blame or censure. In this I feel that she has been quite successful.

That is not to say that she does not pursue other issues, other avenues. There is Saman who haunts the beaches, gets entangled with a white predator and gets foul of the law, sacrificing his schooling and any future he might have had.

There are the dreamers and castle builders in the air, those who dream of a life by the sea, the music of the waves lulling them to sleep.... But overall a finger is pointed at the situation of women in today's society which looks askance at women in many of the aspects of their lives.

This I feel comes from the writer's sensitivity to such issues and a personal involvement with at least some of them. Whatever that may be, she deals with them sensitively, in a way that the reader begins to think afresh of such issues.

New view with ArcView GIS

Ever wondered what makes those weather maps that you see during the weather forecast? It's called GIS.

That is exactly what Priyantha Nawarathne deals with in his new book ArcView GIS. ArcView GIS is a software which has proved extremely useful in the study of geography.

As they say a picture is worth a thousand words and using such methods as maps are infinitely better than depicting the data in tables.

The book deals with methods of depicting data, types of data, introduction on ArcView GIS, Digitizing, handling maps in GIS, mapping, etc...

Priyantha Nawarathne is a physics graduate from the University of Kelaniya and a graduated from the Arthur C. Clarke Institute on computer engineering and studied GIS (Geography Information System) in the University of Colombo.

He has written a number of books which include, Pariganakaye Nodutu Peththa and Computer Programming with VB.NET.

He is currently following a Master's in Applied Statistics at the University of Peradeniya and working as an Assistant Director at the Presidential Secretariat.

New on the shelf:

Living their Lie

Living their Lie by Brandon Ingram is a story about a man, a woman and a boy whose lives cross each other in unexpected ways. Together, they are forced to test the limits of friendship, the bond of marriage and the boundaries of love as they learn with each passing moment that not everything society teaches us is true. Their journey of love and hate begins with an unexpected kiss, leading them to an end that will define who they become.Available at all bookshops in Sri Lanka from Barefoot to Vijitha Yapa!