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| Sunday, 27 October 2002 |
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Letters |  |
| News Business Features Editorial
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Our elders - are they being looked after? Much is being talked of and written about the social problem of 'ageing population' at various forums in Sri Lanka since of late. They are all confined to a mere set of words or rhetoric with no action. It is believed that the ageing population world-over is on the upward trend due mainly to family planning and many young couples opting not to marry or get married very much late in life. The Oxford Dictionary defines 'Elders' or 'Seniors' as the people who have reached the retirement age - in Sri Lanka it is 55 years. Although the retirement age is 55, many are still very healthy, quite alert and yet able to withstand stress and strain. They possess a wealth of knowledge and expertise in their respective spheres of speciality. Probably up to the age of 90 or just past thereabouts, they are still mentally alert and strong. It is a social retrogression that many countries are not inclined to make use of the vast potential and resources of their senior citizenry. While many countries in Europe and the Far East have recognised this issue and are adopting meaningful methods to ensure their elders' happiness at the same time making use of their knowledge and expertise for the socio-economic advancement of their respective societies. Sadly this is not so here in Sri Lanka despite the fact that the Department of Social Services has enacted a law in Act No. 9 of 2000 - "Act to protect the rights of Elders". It is the practice in many countries in the developed world to recognise their elders with honour, respect and dignity. For example they charge only half rates from their senior citizens at various public shows and events. Many institutions offer their services and products to elders at discounted rates, e.g. opticians give attractive discounts for elders when they go to check their eye-sights and purchase spectacles. Dentists and others in the medical profession offer their services at attractively discounted rates, almost all other professionals do offer fairly reduced rates for their elder clients. No such thing is happening here in our country. It is therefore, imperative that we, the elders of today form ourselves into a strong and a formidable union to compel the government and society at large to come to recognise the need to ensure that the elder citizens of Sri Lanka deserve better treatment in their evening of life. It is suggested to set up a 'Senior Citizens Guild of Sri Lanka' with a view to achieving these cherished goals. We propose issuing a specially-designed identity card to all elders with their photograph embodied into it, laminated with metal clip so that holders of these ID cards would be entitled to the aforementioned special concessions as well as other social facilities. It is not practical or an easy task for the state or any other organisation to contact elders with specific experiences on any given subject, since they are scattered all over and are often not known. Once the elders are grouped together in a firm organisation - then they can collectively represent matters to the authorities and it will enable not only the state, but any other organisation or institution to contact such union for any assistance by way of knowledge and expertise etc. A concerted and organised effort is being made by the elder citizen to fight for their due and legitimate rights and place in society so that they in turn can be of immense service to the society. Those interested in this proposition are kindly requested to write in for prospects with self-addressed, stamped long (9") envelope to No. 11, Weera Mawatha, Sri Subuthipura, Battaramulla. A retirement benefit insurance scheme and a special fund to assist elders in dire need too are contemplated. Ranjit C. Dissanayake, We all are happy that legislation was recently enacted to abolish the law relating to criminal defamation in our country. The statutory provisions in this regard were contained in the Penal Code in section 479 and in a subsequent enactment namely, the Sri Lanka Press Council Act No. 5 of 1973 in sections 14 and 15 thereof. If you peep into the background of these developments, you will find that the Penal Code has had these provisions ever since its enactment in our country in 1883 during the British rule. Most of the politicians in the recent past including even Premier Dudley Senanayake have resorted to these laws in order to harass the media. It is noteworthy that although the law was applicable to all persons without exception, it was only the politicians who have had recourse to it over this long period. It is even more amusing to note that it has always been the politicians of the ruling party only. In other words, no private individual or even a politician of the Opposition has ever attempted to have recourse to them. There has been a clamour in the country over the decades that these laws should be done away with. Thus, being conscious of this state of affairs and its potential electoral value, prior to the 1994 general elections, President Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumaratunga made a huge hue and cry that once she would be in power, these laws would be abolished, as you will recall. Media swallowed this dead rope, line sinker and hook, and in fact played a major role in placing her in seats of power in that year. Minister Dharmasiri Senanayake media Minister at that time appointed a one-man committee comprising the legal luminary R. K. W. Goonasekare to go into the matter and report. The committee after having extensively studied the diverse aspects of the matter such as the history of criminal defamation laws in the United Kingdom and other commonwealth countries and how they are operating in those countries as well as in Sri Lanka and noting that in most of those countries, they are either done away with or fallen into desuetude, recommended in its report a total abolition of these provisions in our country. But this report was never made available to the members of the public and it was with utmost difficulty with some clues provided by that committee that I was able to obtain an unofficial copy of this report. Be that as it may, instead of abolishing these laws as promised during her election campaign and notwithstanding the recommendations of that committee, Chandrika government made the fullest use of these laws in order to curtail our democratic right of freedom of expression. Many were the prosecutory court cases initiated by the Attorney General's Department under her directions during her governance and pending at the time of their recent abolition. The United National Front in its election manifesto in 2001 then once again vigorously promised to do away with these provisions of law. It is indeed exhilarating to note that it has been accomplished now at long last. When I was giving a lecture on media and law at an educational course for mediamen the other day, some uninformed students were at pains to contradict my point of view that doing away with these draconian provisions was a blessing that we are now endowed with after decades of struggling. But that did not surprise me because they were students and uninformed. What surprises me on the other hand is that even some of 'learned' friends of the legal profession are of the same view as those students. Should we leave a wild ass freedom with mediamen to defame anyone at their will and pleasure? Should there not be some legal restriction? has been their query. It may be mentioned in reply to them and others holding a similar view that most of the commonwealth countries have long ago removed the provisions relating criminal defamation by legislative amendments. In the United Kingdom, they no doubt still remain in the statute book but have not been resorted to either by politicians or any other one for the last century or so and so they remain a dead letter. But are the media, either print or electronic, enjoying a wild ass freedom under the present set up? The obvious answer is in the negative. The law is intact and clear. The victim of such defamation can fall back on civil and recover damages, perhaps in millions! For, the civil law on defamation still remains unchanged and unaltered. Dharmapala Senaratne, Natural radiation and mutation The Hindu of 1st October reports that: 'People living by the seaside in the Chavara-Neendakara area, near Kollam in Kerala, with some of the highest natural background radiation in the world, exhibit a high rate of hereditable "point mutation" in their DNA, according to a team of foreign scientists, who have just published their findings. The monazite sands in the area contain the radioactive element, thorium. The area is a densely-populated strip along the national highway, where large numbers of fisherfolk live. These people are estimated to be receiving a biologically effective radiation dose 10 times greater than the worldwide average.' The South-west coastal belt of Sri Lanka, particularly around Induruwa, has a high occurrence of monazite sands containing thorium. The deposits were heavy enough for small-scale mining to take place. I wonder if any studies have been done of mutation among life-forms in this area, particularly among human inhabitants. Vinod Moonesinghe. National Identity Card has become an essential document for every Sri Lankan above 16 years. Banks do not accept postal identity cards but they may accept a letter issued by the police even without the photograph or the signature of the holder. If there is a small error in the N.I.C. made by the Departmental officers concerned the holder of the N.I.C. has to suffer. Even if the error is made by the Departmental officers they will blame the holder of the N.I.C. In 1996 an applicant submitted his application to the Department of Immigration and Emigration to obtain a passport. Along with his application he had produced his N.I.C. as it is an essential document. This particular application has been returned with the comments 'Passport has been issued to this N.I.C.' "How can this be? How can there be two identity cards under one and the same number?" This particular applicant from Kandy District has submitted a fresh application to the G.S.N. in April, 1996 to get a new N.I.C. as it was not possible to get a passport without the N.I.C. Since April, '96 he had made several visits to the Department, Jawatta. He has not got the Identity Card, he made his last visit to the Dept. during the 2nd week of September, 2002, now the Departmental officers are unable to trace his application and according to their advice he has submitted his new application couple of days before. He himself has sent the application under registered cover. What would be his state of mind? When will he get his N.I.C. and how long he has to wait? Another applicant from the Kalutara District has submitted the application many years before. Recently I was informed that she was also planning to submit a new application as there was no news about the previous application. Recently I submitted the application of one of my daughter's to the G.S. Niladari of my area with three photographs, the original and a photocopy of her Birth Certificate. All this was well checked and he returned the original copy of the B.C. and the other papers were accepted. A few months later my daughter received her N.I.C. to see that her name was written incorrectly. Her first name was written correctly but the second name is a boy's name. I immediately referred the matter to the G.S.N. and according to his advice I met the Divisional Secretary. When I reported the matter to him at once he said 'Oyagollan Liyana Heti Thama' and he adviced me to take it to Colombo. According to his advice with three copies of the same photograph, original and a photocopy of the B.C. and with his letter addressed to the Commissioner I went to the office at Jawatta, Colombo. After a long wait I met a lady, I think most probably she might be the C.C. of that section. I gave her the D.S. letter and explained the matter to her. She did not want to listen to me but she repeated what the D.S. said 'Oyagollan Liyana Heti Thama'. What does this mean? Do these Government servants think that they will never make mistakes? After all they are also human beings liable to make mistakes. Why do they cover up their mistakes by putting the blame on the others? If they are writing the name as if we write what is the big idea of asking for a photocopy of the B.C.? If the applicant makes a mistake they must be able to correct it by looking at the copy of the B.C. The application form was filled by me in English, it may be that they would have had not understood what was written. They could have easily read the B.C. which was in Sinhala. This shows that they are very careless and do not take any interest in their work. I request all those who are in Government Service to take some interest in their work and not to work for the sake of working and also they must remember that they are public servants. M.S. Mohamed Farook, The recent assault on students of one school by another had shocked the nation - not by the act itself, rather the cause of it. Imagine a love affair by school children leading to mass hysteria of hundreds of school children. There was one time when students would rather die than be coupled into a love affair. Now it has become so common that they have no qualms of talking about it publicly at a tender age, when their whole effort should be directed towards studies and not getting into unnecessary broils. It is the elders who encourage this preoccupation with the opposite sex. Recently at a national event, I was shocked to see my own Alma mater, Girls' High School, Kandy, displaying a drill display, with half the girls dressed up as boys and the whole exercise was those of couples. What is the image we are projecting to our younger generation? Surely there are millions of other ways to do alternative drills. Then we see even children's pages in the newspapers encouraging the trend. Two weeks back, a children's page published a story of a male student pig dating a lady teacher pig, and both behaving in an atrocious manner in public - and worst of all, the article seems to encourage it! This is for tiny tots! And look at all the letters written in newspapers - children of the age of 12-13 years writing in, crooning over boys they hardly know - those they saw at the bus stop or those they had a glimpse at a musical show. The elders who publish it are blinded by mere sales of their paper, but forget they have a responsibility by the society, by their mere position. And we have women with skimpy dresses all over the newspapers. Recently a daily newspaper published an almost nude woman's picture - with no worthwhile story to go with it. Now I'm wondering how can I encourage my teenage children to read newspapers! The advertisers are to blame too, to a large extent, what has a printer got to do with a skimpily dressed woman? And what has a cable to do with a half-naked woman in an unusual posture? Even the high-class boutiques advertise women in the most unbecoming provocatively seated postures. I wonder how depraved these women must be to volunteer to exhibit their bodies for a paltry sum in front of the eyes of millions of perverts! It's time the responsible seniors took the reigns in their hand. There is enough fun in a decent, modest way of life. Let's teach children what's important in life in the order of priority. Let's not allow them to lose the best things in their lives. Dr. Mrs. Mareena Reffai, When visiting Sri Lanka from Canada, this year, I was pleasantly surprised to note a fair number of green oranges together with the imported fruits such as grapes, apples, mandarins, etc. The imported fruits were freely available, but it is important to realise that Sri Lankan poor people prefer the home grown fruits such as mangoes, thambili, pineapple, papaws etc. However, it should also be realised that there are many fruits which could be cultivated in Sri Lanka. Even some fruits and vegetables could be imported for tissue culture, including a wide range of fruits, which could well be grown in Sri Lanka. Oranges were once available in Bibile, but apparently these types of oranges have disappeared. If Southern USA could produce unblemished oranges for over half a century or more, it should be possible for agricultural professionals to even spray to ensure that the famous Bibile oranges are again available, rather than precious foreign exchange is spent on imported fruits. Mangosteens which grew abundantly in the Kalutara district, have now been affected by a disease, which spoils the fruits. Here too, agricultural professionals could be involved, even if it is necessary to spray the trees. Generally, local people should prefer local fruits and vegetable rather than imported types. Hence the importance to encourage professionals to apply their knowledge to make local varieties to supplant imported ones. Even the popular papaws could be made to bear fruits rather than the disease which overtakes many trees grown in the South. The writer noticed that the popular lichees sold in the Western capitals are in fact, the larger type of 'Mora' which grow freely in the dry jungles of Sri Lanka. It should surely be possible to cultivate the improved lichees which are grown abundantly in Bihar. Sri Lanka has the advantage of shipping fruits and vegetables to the markets of the West, since the production centres are not very far from Colombo. It may be profitable to concentrate on a few fruits and vegetables which could be profitably grown in Sri Lanka, such as the avacado fruits which grow so abundantly in the foothill region of the central highlands. Agricultural professionals could take interest in the cultivation of avacados. It is for professionals to ensure that cultivation and manuring of the avacado trees are done correctly and are available for export to the profitable markets of the West. Here too pilfering of fruits should be discouraged and checked by the police. It is true that Sri Lanka is provided with subsidized wheat flour, from the West and India. At least, it should be possible to improve on the quality of bread, produced from 'denatured' wheat of the West, including Canada and the USA. Bread could be produced from a wide range of local flour, such as sweet potato flour, corn flour, matured jak flour, etc., such that the school going population could eat a far more nutritious food than the bread produced from denatured wheat flour. It may be necessary to include gluten to make the bread, which could be done with an admixture of wheat flour. T. Balasingham, Ontario, Consuming alcohol - is it a sin? According to Buddhism, sale of liquor is one of the five trades which hinders one's right living. In Buddhism, alcoholism is an institute for sins and has the following ill-effects on one's life. (1) Loss of wealth (2) Inclination to quarrel (3) Fall in health (4) Brings disgrace (5) Loss of shyness and (6) weakening of intellect (Singalovada Sutta). Buddhism shows the right way of life for man and it does not prohibit anything to intellectual and spiritual submission. Therefore, the harmful effects of consumption of liquor is preached. So one who wants to lead a sane virtuous life, should heed the words of The Buddha. If one does not, it is his sin and his own making for which he alone is responsible. E. M. G. Edirisinghe After 20 years of bitter and bloody war in the country which had brought about untold sufferings to all the people, loss of life and damage to properties a situation has arisen to bring about an end to these sufferings. The government and the LTTE, the two warring parties, through internal and external efforts and, perhaps, providentially too, have come to an understanding between themselves to negotiate with each other and to resolve the causes of the war amicably and peacefully. But there are some persons and groups in our country, knowingly or unknowingly, wilfully or otherwise, who are trying to rock the boat that would upset the apple cart and bring back the sufferings, loss of life and damage to properties. There might be some temporary gain to such persons or groups. But in the long run it will be a tragedy to the country and to all the people of the country including those who are trying to do such things. Some other people, without meaning any harm, are in a hurry to reach the end that they create some incidents which complicate matters and delay the on-going process to resolve the problem of the country. It is in the interest of the country and in their own interest too that such people refrain from doing such things. Small problems that affect the people at this point of time should be left to the government and the LTTE to sort them out with the help of the facilitators and the monitors. They should wait patiently for a little while more. Can't those who had waited till the food was cooked wait till it gets cooled off to eat it as the saying goes. Why be in a mighty hurry and upset the entire food? Arul, |
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