What a classic speech!

What a classic speech it was Mr. President, you made that night addressing the nation through electronic media channels. For sure, a good 90% of the people who remained glued listening to your voice and looking at your image would agree on that count.

It was so fascinating - your free style of slow-but-sure-delivery, choice of some of the most flowery words in the Sinhala vocabulary, and the splendid manner you communicated the messages so emphatically - all these contributed so lavishly to make it a unique experience for us, as your audience. It indeed was certainly something refreshing and entirely different from what we have been accustomed to in the past.

You did not bother to touch upon the obvious, the well-known achievements of the 100-day programme of your government, leaving that responsibility with your Prime Minister and the Cabinet of Ministers. Nevertheless, you dealt adequately with much broader areas which were supplementary and complementary to those achievements.

The members of Parliament representing the SLFP, with the exception of a few, were all out to massacre you three months ago. You yourself exclaimed in no uncertain terms, that "if the tables turned on January 8, "I and my kith and kin could have been traced only at a depth of six feet on this part of the earth."

You did something which none of them would have even dreamed of -took them into trust and gave them decent positions and responsibility - by teaching them what a different kind of a politician you are. Just not only us, even the world at large is still unable to believe their eyes. Even the ultra Left and half-baked local politicians remain dumbfounded.

In your speech, you took us into confidence and explained to us your efforts to lift the image, integrity and the pride of our motherland from rock bottom.

In fact, those 30 minutes appeared too short for most of us, I believe, We would have loved to stay for more, seated facing our TV sets, wanting to be educated more and more on how you are going to transform our beautiful country back to the old 'Pearl of the Indian Ocean'.

" I wish to tell my people with utmost care and respect, that I am committed to carry out my promises in full. I will always have faith in you. I assure you that no room will be left for corruption, fraud, theft or waste', these words we know are not empty rhetoric.

Lal Hewapathirana

Callous nurses at CNH accident service

I had to undergo an unpleasant experience recently at the hands of some nurses at the accident service of the Colombo National Hospital (CNH). I got the feeling that they forget that patients are human beings.

It is my hope that this letter will draw the attention of the authorities and those nurses be imparted training in humanity.

After an accident, I was admitted to the Accident Service around 10.30am on Monday, March 23, 2015. Along with me there were a few more patients.

I was told not to eat or drink as I had to undergo surgery at 2.00pm. Having had nothing to eat or drink since Sunday night I fainted about five times but no bed or proper treatment was given. This happened in front of the nurses stationed in the ward. They wanted me to sit on a chair and wait till they take me in for the operation. (whereas there were enough and more free beds available) I had to take care of myself with a broken arm with the help of a few patients who were kind enough to help me.

They said that they will give me a bed after the operation. but I was restless. I pleaded with them for a bed saying I was in pain, but they ignored.

The operation seemed to be delaying. At 6.30pm they told me to come to the operating theatre. I was not given a wheel chair and had to walk all the way to the theatre with my broken arm.

By the time the operation took place it was 10.30 in the night. One of the nurses who understood my plight, spoke to the doctors and made them take me in as soon as possible and arranged a saline drip.

I became conscious due to the violent jolt made by the nurses. They woke me up, took me back to the ward and asked me to get off the trolley and get on a bed on my own with no help whatsoever, despite recovering from anaesthesia.

I had to scream to get the nurses’ attention in the middle of the night, when the pain in my hand returned. I got the impression they were asleep.

The next morning as I waited for three antibiotic doses, before I was discharged I felt the nurses were purposely delaying it.

I saw the irresponsible service rendered, particularly to the elderly, helpless and the innocent. Some were discriminated for their different body structures.

An elderly woman with a broken leg, was lying next to my bed. On one occasion she was kept on the bed pan and the nurse went missing, until a caretaker of one of the patients went in search of her and reminded her about it.

When she was to be taken to the operating theatre, the attendants refused to put her on the trolley, telling her that she was overweight. My sister who was there with me, offered help. The patient was in excruciating pain.

Some nurses seem to be in serious need of training in humanity. This is just a speck of my horrible experience. I hope my complaint would be looked into by the authorities.

I think every ward should be fixed with a CCTV monitoring system, where the authorities should monitor and take action against injustices. I don’t think patients have to go through such treatment just because they are in a government hospital and don’t pay for the services rendered.

A patient Dehiwala