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| Sunday, 18 July 2004 |
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Shame of July 83, Black Friday The month of July brings to mind the shameful act of a few opportunistic Sri Lankans. The Sinhala Buddhists who outnumber the rest of the citizens, are generous and compromising, to the extent that they are cheated by their own clan, however on that fateful Friday when irreversible history was created, starting up with looting, arson and finally murder, the Government in power, representing these Lankans, deliberately and vindictively turned a blind eye to the mayhem created by a handful of thugs. For five long days the Government went to sleep and the rest is history, a divided Nation. On this black Friday, armed with a curfew pass I went to Wattala to inquire about the safety of my family and friends I was in the company of a friend, a Sinhala Buddhist. A rumour that Colombo is being attacked by the Tigers, not only sent the entire Sinhala race into a state of panic, which even brought out the complacent Sinhala man into action, but also spread trepidation into the minority Tamils, who by and large were also complacent. These Tamils distanced themselves from the aspiring Tamils of the North, mostly due to inconveniencing their commercial and social interest. I was on the Negombo Road on this Friday, and attempted to seek protective shelter outside the Air Force camp at Welisara, near the turn off to Tewatte. A few Air Force men, armed, were positioned behind the statue of Our Lady of Lanka, which indicated that there was a Basilica behind, at Tewatte. My friend and I were chased away by these officers, probably their concern was to thwart a Tiger attack, and at this stage the public did not matter. Since there was no choice we drove towards Colombo, and saw a rush of oncoming traffic tooting their horns and with lights on, indicating that Colombo was being attacked. We turned towards the Peliyagoda police station, as the bridge was closed, and mind you at the Police Station there were sentries armed, and they threatened us to move away from the Police vicinity.We drove back to Wattala through the Wanawasala Road, as we had already experienced a threat to our lives on the Negombo Road where we were stopped nearly half a dozen times between Wattala and Peliyagoda and questioned about our racial and religious beliefs. Not being a Sinhala Buddhist, I sweated in blood at this ordeal. My thoughts went back to my brother Leo Fernando who was killed along with another Christian friend of him Annesley Mendis at Naula during the first riots in 1958, as they were unable to recite the Gatha. We left Wattala in the evening, mind you even with a curfew in force, crowds of people thronged junctions with tires and obstacles on the road and armed with whatever possible to attack anyone who was not a Sinhala Buddhist. It was just a miracle and my prayers that I be saved for the sake of my family, which had already undergone the humiliation of belonging to a minority within a minority which had no say in the decisions of the majority and the majority of the minorities. There are millions like me, citizens of this Country, who have sweated for this Country who are sandwiched between the hegemony of the Sinhala Buddhist and the aspirations of the Northern Tamil speaking chauvinists. Walter Fernando, Issues of Rs. 25 and Rs 2,000 currency notes are a must As done in almost all countries, the Central Bank of Sri Lanka too had issued various kinds of coins and currency notes of different denominations for easy transaction of day to day business during the past years. Specially, when there was a dearth of coins in the early forties, notes to the value of 50,25, 10 and 5 cents were issued to meet the then acute shortage of coins in 1942. Out of these, the five cents note which was perforated in the middle for easy separation and transaction in two and three cents was of immense use to the people during that period. Similarly, it may be mentioned that the Rs. 20 and Rs. 1,000 notes issued in 1979 and 1981 respectively are undoubtedly a great boon to the people even now. Furthermore, if Rs. 25 and Rs. 2,000 currency notes are also issued in the near future as the present day circulation is very much greater than that of yesterday, it will be highly appreciated and eagerly welcomed by the people who are greatly handicapped in the absence of similar notes which will be rich enough to ease the present day business transactions to a greater extent. Therefore, (a) The issuing of a Rs. 25 currency note will definitely be able to (1) lessen the usage of the Rs. 5 coins (2) avoid the exchange of Rs. 5 coin mistaken for 50 cents and Rs. 10 - for Rs. 1 and Rs. 2 coins specially by the elders of weak vision and (3) avoid obtaining 3 - 10 coins (including 25 cents and other coins of lesser value) when and where the Rs. 5 and Rs. 10 coins are in short supply. (b) The issuing of a Rs. 2,000 currency note will ease the exchange of money transactions of higher values and especially when depositing cash and as well as cashing cheques at respective Banks will minimize to half the number of currency notes of this nature and thereby avoid frequent cash robberies to some extent. Thus where today's business transactions are also taken into account, the issue of Rs.25 and Rs. 2,000 currency notes remmain as "a must" and it is hoped that this timely suggestion to issue these particular notes in the not too distant future by the Central Bank of Sri Lanka will mostly cause much convenience to the people to transact their business smoothly without any hindrance. Durand Jayasuriya, Southern voters become king makers The voters in southern province have become king makers in deciding which party that will accede to power in Sri Lankan elections scenario. In last April elections more than 60% voted for UPFA in Matara, Hambantota and Moneragala districts and 57% in Galle district and this factor played a major role in forming the present minority govt. It is the southern voter who signalled the change in 1994 PC elections that voted UNP out of power. Realizing this both UNP and PA have given priority for development of southern province. The UNP started Kataragama Railway extension and the PA govt opened it. The railway line was extended for about 3/4 mile with a railway station at Piladuwa and the construction was abruptly stopped closed to Nilwala river, after destroying hundreds of houses belongs to urban poor. There is no service at present as engines cannot turn at this station except powersets.The previous PA govt established a Southern Development Authority (SDA) after spending millions of dollars. The US and British citizens of Sri Lankan origin came back to the motherland, drew plans for harbour at Hambantota, Airport at Eraminiyaya, Electrified railway from Eraminiyaya to Matara and made plans to transform poverty stricken Hambantota to a mini Singapore with environment impact reports prepared by the local and foreign experts. What is the outcome in realistic term? Absolutely nothing majority of the people at Hambantota are still without drinking water, and southern voters gave overwhelming majority to UNP in 2002. The posh foreign or Royal educated English speaking elite officials of UNP again drew plans for country development. Their counterparts in India the BJP, after studying this program called for early elections with a similar India shining program riding high on election predictions conducted by the urban media. These programs were not beneficial to poor poverty stricken masses in rural areas and both parties were outsted at elections. Therefore both parties UNP and UPFA should understand this naked truth. The economic benefits should filter to poor common masses in the south and the north. Majority in both these groups are entrepreneur in nature and radicals in spirit. Their aspirations for a descent life should be taken into account if either party wants to remain in power. Prof. Rohan, The examination for citizens of Sri Lanka who obtained a medical degree from a medical school or University outside the country, which is recognised by the Sri Lanka Medical Council, has drawn attention in various media. The Council wishes to express its views on this matter. The main objective of this exam is to evaluate whether such a medical graduate has adequate knowledge and skill to commence his practice in this country, in the interest of public safety. The exam is held under section 29 (1) (b) (ii) (cc) of the Medical Ordinance. It is conducted in two parts, Part I being a written exam with multiple choice question (MCQ) papers and Part II a Clinical/Viva voce exam. The subjects tested are (1) General Medicine and Psychiatry (2) Surgery (3) Obstetrics and Gynaecology (4) Paediatrics and Community Medicine (5) Pathology and (6) Forensic Medicine. A candidate has to pass the MCQ paper in a subject to sit for the clinical/viva voce part in that subject. Three Council members and a non-member who is a Senior Health Department Consultant co-ordinate the exam. They are responsible to the Education Committee of the Council, which in turn is responsible to the Medical Council. There is a Board of Examiners for each subject consisting of 6 to 8 persons who are Professor or Senior Lecturers in the Medical Faculties or Senior Health Department Consultants. They set the papers, and after the exam,correct the answer scripts. Members of the Medical council are not members of the Boards of Examiners. The exam is conducted according to rules and guidelines similar to those at Medical Faculties and the Postgraduate Institute of Medicine. Transparency and confidentiality are maintained in a similar manner. If a candidate feels that there may have been a mistake in marking his paper, he can appeal for a re-correction, which will be done by the Board of Examiners. There is no other evaluation of the exam. The MCQ written papers and Clinical/Viva voce exams are conducted three times a year and the results are released within one month of each exam. The Sri Lanka Medical Council does not conduct any training or preparatory classes for this exam as it is not a function of the Council. There appears to be a wide discrepancy regarding medical knowledge among candidates from different medical schools, as well as among candidates from the same school. The exam is conducted in English and possession of a basic knowledge in that language helps to pass the exam. Some candidates have studied Medicine in languages other than English and it appears that this affects the results, but the Council has no alternative mechanism to test them. It is acknowledged that a working knowledge of English is required to practise this system of Medicine in the country.The exam is conducted in a fair and just manner, although unsuccessful candidates and their parents sometimes resort to unfair criticism. Prof. P.S.S.Panditharatne, |
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