Treasure our heritage

Winner:

Our ancient kings and wise ancestors created a wonderful civilization in our country; the tank and dagoba (pagoda) civilization. That is our heritage which still exists. Note how intelligent and wise our great kings and ancestors were. Why did they build huge tanks? Because they wanted to collect water for paddy cultivation, which was the main economic source, especially during ancient times.

The ancient kings of Sri Lanka were very knowledgeable about the role of nature. They never allowed anybody to cut trees in the central mountains and in rainforests.We had rain in the mountains throughout the year. The cool climate in the mountain range was wonderful. The misty mountain tops were very cold.

Many graceful and beautiful waterfalls, springs, brooks and rivers started from the mountains and flowed to the north central province and other plains of the country. One of our great kings, Parakramabahu the Great told the people, “Don’t allow a single drop of rainwater to flow into the ocean without making use of it”. So, our wise ancestors built huge tanks such as the Parakrama Samudra that looked like seas and built pagodas near them. They also built thousands of small tanks in the villages. They linked the huge tanks with the small tanks through canals and channelled the water to irrigate the paddy fields. Their irrigation system was unbelievable. Because of their wise thinking Sri Lanka became self-sufficient in rice and other food crops. We exported rice to other countries. Sri Lanka was then called the ‘Granary of the East.’ This is our heritage we must learn to treasure.

Manisha Sewmini Karavita,
Year 8 A, Ananda Balika Vidyalaya, Colombo 10.

Tourism in Sri Lanka

Winner:

Tourism is one of the main industries in Sri Lanka today. There are many tourist attractions around the country such as the golden sandy beaches located in the southern and eastern belt, ancient heritage sites situated in the interior, the wildlife sanctuaries and the lush green holiday resorts located in the mountainous regions.

The 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami and the conflict situation in the past three decades reduced tourist arrivals to the country greatly. However, tourism in Sri Lanka has improved today . A majority of tourists come to Sri Lanka from the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, the People’s Republic of China and India.

Tourism creates a large number of employment opportunities. Thousands of local youth work in tourist hotels and other related industries. Most tourists like to visit the rural areas of Sri Lanka. This enables villagers to sell their products such as handicrafts to the tourists and earn money.

Information centres have been set up for tourists in almost all towns by the Ceylon Tourist Board. Maps containing major tourist attractions and accommodation can be obtained at these centres. Tourists appreciate the warm hospitality of Sri Lankans.

Many people say that tourism has had an adverse impact on the values of local youth.

It is correct to some extent as some of the tourists engage in anti-social acts. Some are sexual abusers and drug addicts. They corrupt our youth.

The Ministry of Tourism should take stringent action to prevent the adverse effects of tourism, especially in the rural sector.

With proper law enforcement it will be possible to curb all the negative effects and promote tourism in Sri Lanka, because it is a money spinning industry that would help the country progress.

Shanaz Munas
Brilliant Stars International College,
Nupe, Matara.

Face challenges bravely...

Winner:

Challenges are strength testers in disguise. It is essential in our life. Challenges have helped mankind to discover their innate abilities, their strengths and weaknesses, since the beginning of humanity. Challenges may come at the most inappropriate and unusual time and in the most alarming manner. Acting with patience and wisdom is the key to overcoming such challenges which happen to cross your path.

At no point should you lose your forbearance and let anger and impatience take control during a challenge, such as a competition. Obviously, you will lose or even be humiliated before the watchful eye of society.

Losing your calm when facing a challenge may lead to various traumatic experiences and even result in mental breakdowns. To minimise such hazards you should learn to act accordingly; with courage and a brave smile on your face.

Mahatma Gandhi, a noble man and a great leader who fought bravely to free his motherland from the harsh grip of a foreign nation, is a great example to follow.

First learn to challenge your own mind by asking yourself the following questions.“Should or should you not let fate play with you? Should you let your life flow easily and turn away from challenges? Or, should you brace yourself to face whatever comes around the next corner? The choices are all yours to make or to break.

Life can take a serious turn for the good or bad anywhere, anytime. Fate can alter too at anytime. Let your wisdom lead you and gradually you will find “the best” in almost everything. Grab everything good before it's too late. As people say ,it is ‘now or never'.

Tanya Melani Madies,
Grade 8,
Louvre, International School,
Nugegoda.

Viruses are infectious agents

Winner:

A virus is an infectious agent found in virtually all life forms including humans, plants, bacteria, animals and fungi.

It consists of genetic material like deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) or ribonucleic acid (RNA) which is surrounded by a protective coating of protein called a capsid, with or without an outer lipid envelope.

Viruses are of many types. Some of the viruses are adeno virus, bacteriophage, small pox virus and the aids virus.

Viruses are between 20 to 100 times smaller than bacteria. They are too small to be seen by a light microscope. Viruses vary in size from the largest pox-virus of about 450 nanometres in length to the smallest polio-virus of about 30 nanometres.

Viruses are not considered as free-living since they cannot reproduce outside of a living cell; they have evolved to transmit their genetic information from one cell to another for the purpose of replication.

Most viral infections cause no symptoms and do not result in diseases.

We cannot destroy viruses because they are very tiny. So, we can only safeguard ourselves by keeping ourselves and the environment clean.

We must also ask others to keep their surroundings clean to avoid being infected by the many viruses around us.

S.M. Agar Mohamed,
Grade 6,
Ikra International School.

Importance of writing

Winner:

There are different ways of communicating or keeping in touch with other people. One of them is letter writing. We can use either a pencil or a pen to write letters. We need to write no matter where we are in the world. Everyone has a need to write something. A hospital needs to write down information about its patients, an author has to jot down notes to write books and a reporter has to write news. Poems, stories, film scripls, songs, all these have to be written before they are published.

At school, everyone has to write down notes during lessons. It is the same in universities too. Typing is also a different way of writing.

After writing down something you can always read what you have written. Today people write using computers.

A person can make lots of money if he learns to write well, especially a good book. Many writers have become very rich. J.K. Rawlings became rich and famous by writing good books such as the Harry Potter series . Some other great authors are Charles Dickens, Enid Blyton and Martin Wickremasinghe. They have all written good books which many children love. William Shakespeare was a world famous writer.

Everything you write will be a source of wisdom. If you develop your writing and reading skills then you can one day become an author of many successful books. It’s time for you to start developing your writing skills. You can write in many languages too once you become a successful writer.

Shivangi Sritharan,
Grade 3A,
St.Jude’s College, Negombo.

Knowledge - the most valuable treasure

Do you know
That knowledge is
The most valuable treasure
Anyone could have in life?
I believe that,
The only institution,
In which you can
Gain knowledge is school
“Listen more, talk less,”
Is an old proverb
Do you believe in that too?
Of course, I do!
The more you listen,
You'll gain more knowledge
The more you talk,
You'll disturb everyone,
And gain nothing!

Shyamali Maduwanthi,
Swarnapali Girls’ National College,
Anuradhapura.