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Morning Spice by Ginger Leniency is the curse of our times. These may sound to some like the lamentations of Victorian pedagogue. But, one feels it is a common impression of anyone interested in seeing sanity prevail in our higher seats of learning and does not like to see working dislocations in an university. The unpleasant but naked truth about student misconduct in recent times is that it is getting more and more criminal in nature. They get away so lightly with their hoodlumish that they continue to pooh-pooh threats of disciplinary action and carry on with their violence. Over 100 students have been suspended for holding a dean and other dons hostage. Now suspension is hardly a punishment likely to deter these types who are prone to use violence to solve their problems. They get back to their respective universities after their period of suspension and what more they can always borrow the notes of those given when they were away and mug up what is in them. Yet more sinister is the fact that these students were in the art faculty and would probably end up as teachers. Heaven spare the coming generation from the guidance of this type. They deserve and should be weeded out of our current educational system and expulsion after a fair inquiry is what is needed. The law too must take its course for any violence caused. Underdeveloped lungs The new treatment involves a method where the doctors fill those tiny air sacs in the childs lungs which have collapsed with a liquid that is rich in oxygen. This process helps the lungs to expand and the child to breathe normally. The great advantage is that the liquid does not remain in the lungs but evaporates in due course. Holy thief They were a bold lot. The leaders hoping the theft was not noticed by the library staff returned three months later and asked permission to photograph more documents. The monks alerted the police but gave them the impression that they did not suspect a thing. When they left a while later a group of civil guards pounced on them and one of the thieves were caught with five documents. Lethargy and corruption are killing the nation Your editorial of May 25, 1998, titled 'The nation is being chocked to death' deserves banner headlines and reprints should be sent to the sleepy C.E.A. and the Ministry of Transport et al. They are all dragging their feet whilst the country chokes to death indeed. Here are four methods of reducing this menace: (1) The police should be authorised to clear smoking vehicles off the road, fine them Rs. 5,000 each time and send the offending vehicles to a reputed garage to get the defect corrected. If not it should be condemned and not allowed on the roads. (2) The import of all second-hand vehicles into the country should be stopped forthwith and it is fully worth while for the government to reduce the customs duty on new vehicles appreciably so that new vehicles can be imported. The existing vehicle yards could work on an attractive commission from the agents or import new vehicles from other manufacturers not represented here. (3) There must be a ban on the import of vans for individual use. This is largely responsible for cluttering up our roads along with broken down buses. (4) Reduce the number of vehicles permitted to politicians of various hues and levels to no more than a maximum of two. Your editorial needs to be read and re-read from time to time and I hope it will jog the authorities who are asleep. The so-called scientists of the CEA are carrying out their tests forever and issuing useless statements such as 'the pollution in and around the city of Colombo has far exceeded permissible standards'. The public expects of get down to brass tacks and produce results for all of us to see that something is done. Please use your pen to push this project through. A. L. Silva Traffic jam at Thimbirigasyaya Road Thimbirigasyaya Road, from Havelock Road upto Jawatte Road, is about 40-60 ft wide, and until about six months ago was an easy road to drive on and also to park one's car. While the traffic lights at Havelock Road has prevented the traffic jams at the main junction, those attending the Academy of Business Studies (ABS) have taken over the roadway, so that when the ABS is in session, driving through this Broadway is like playing at dodgem cars. A large number of students appear to drive in their own cars but do not know the elements of courtesy to other users of the road. Using one of my old school master's expressions, these cars are being parked in a 'higgeldy piggeldy' manner, on both sides of Thimbirigasyaya Road, even upto the junction with Jawatte Road. The cars are parked, either two or three abreast, or anywhere else, as space will allow for these young swanks to Park N stop. I feel that, as an occasional user of this road, the police must take some action against the congestion that is being created on this road, so that other users of the road have the freedom of the road, for which they pay an annual toll, by way of licence fees. Having parked on Duplication Road on the land side, one afternoon, I had the pleasure of having to pay Rs. 250 towards the GOSL budget. Since this time, I have warned anyone who uses this road, regarding the alternative parking on this road, on a.m. and p.m. Possibly, a few fines, and the confusion will disappear! The other alternative is that the ABS should provide a uniformed security guard to control the parking of their students vehicles. D. T. H. de Mel, An article appeared in the a newspaper on 31.05.98 alleged that a prominent Minister in the PA government is not allowing a police station to be opened at Kalawewa unless certain conditions are fulfilled. One of the conditions is that a bull be killed and its blood used to cleanse the police station. If what the article is correct, it is a most despicable demand the Minister is making in a country with the majority of the population being Buddhists. The practice of animal sacrifice at opening of government institutions should be completely banned by the Ministry of Cultural and Buddhist Affairs and this matter should be taken up with the President. The President should not allow such barbaric acts to be practised in this civilized country in this 21st century. Dr. C. Godamunne Mr. Roshan Rajadurai in responding to my reply to his letter on the plantation strike had drifted into the realm of quoting the wise to embellish his defence of the plantation executives and the role played by them during the recent plantation strike. Mr. Rajadurai, who in his previous letter had steadfastly maintained that none of the planters had deserted their bungalows even during the period of insurrections now admit that some of them did indeed vacate their bungalows when there was a direct threat to their lives. The Manager of Pedro Estate admits that once he had been locked up in the factory for over eight hours by unruly mobs of workers. He also concedes that there may have been a few isolated cases of indiscipline during the strike. What is the rationale for this indiscipline if as he asserts the strike had been peaceful and orderly? Even after the last British planter left our shores there are some estate managers who still seem to be suffering from a Pukkah Sahib mentality. They are snobs to the very core and are rudely condescending. They shun any dialogue with the estate union leaders let alone the workers. It is this breed of planter that has to take cover when the workers resort to direct trade union action not withstanding the basis for the strike. Unlike the plantation worker of yore who had been literally tamed to kowtow to the imperious command of the white planter, the worker of today is aware of his rights and privileges and would only be biding his time until he gets that opportunity to square up to the planter who, despite the changing times continue to imagine that he is still living in the age where the planter's whip on the workers' backs did his bidding. It may be to overcome situations where workers would seize the opportunity to manhandle the estate managers, that certain plantation companies advised the planters to 'evacuate' their families and 'vacate' the bungalows at nightfall. I reiterate that my information is authentic because my source of information is an estate superintendent himself. Mr. Rajadurai is native enough to opine that a resident from Battaramulla is not in a position to comment precisely on estate matters. He has no doubt the authority and perhaps the knowledge to speak for Pedro estate he manages concerning the number of unionized workers but certainly not for the rest of the estates in the country. It appears that he has consciously relaxed on his previous boast that 99% of the estate workers are unionized when he writes that the "plantation workers are the most unionized workers in the world." Mr. Rajadurai, I refuse to waive on the figure given by me that the ununionized on estates stand around 30%. What I had boldly set out is that around 30% of ununionized workers were engaging in an illegal strike whether the issue was for increased wages or otherwise. It amuses me no end to read Mr. Rajadurai's lament that there is an "acute shortage of workers on the plantations and the inadvisability of sacking the ununionized. Your readers will note that Mr. Rajadurai only speaks for his estate where he is manager just like the proverbial frog in the well cloistered in jaunty bliss oblivious of what is happening outside it. It will surprise Mr. Rajadurai to note that workers on most of the estates are employed only for 16 to 20 days a month where as it is generally accepted that a minimum of 24 days work is their entitlement. The eternal grouse of the unionized workers is that their grown up children are not registered for work and the Manager of Pedro estate speaks of worker shortages. In view of Mr. R's predicament it is my standpoint that the desperate estate youth who fail to get themselves registered for work on their own estates and those workers of whom are underemployed should be transferred, by consent, to Pedro Estate where Mr. Rajadurai seems to be waiting with open arms for more hands to grab the employment opportunities he is prepared to offer them. Al-Ud-Nabma, Doctors, drug companies and ethics Recently when I tried to channel a consultant in the Health Ministry, I was told that this doctor was not available for a week. So it was, with another consultant in the same Ministry when a friend of mine tried to consult him. On making inquiries we were told the doctors had gone abroad on private leave to attend conferences. Whilst it is necessary for professionals to update their knowledge it is how they set about it that is degrading. It is well known that certain multi-national drug companies sponsor certain consultants who approach them for air tickets and daily expenses to attend international conferences. These consultants continue to prescribe only the drugs manufactured by these drug companies. In fact it is well known that one of the 'biggest multinational' drug companies continue to sponsor certain consultants who have formed a 'club' to promote a drug which is a monopoly of the drug company. Is this not a form of bribery? Where are the medical ethics that professionals of this type talk about? What has the Medical Council and the Sri Lanka Medical Association and GMOA to say about this? If the Minister of Health looks into all the consultants who are going on private trips he would, I am sure be able to pick up the black sheep. Are these 'CONsultants' or 'Consultants'? Disgusted patient Media freedom and the Sixth Amendment Some time ago, there was a seminar involving several organisations of media personnel. At the end of this, a statement called the 'Colombo Declaration' was issued. Included in its was a call for the Sixth Amendment to the present Constitution to be repealed, on the grounds that it restricted freedom of the media. Subsequently, over 60 people working in various sections of the media issued a statement to the effect that they were not in favour of this part of the 'Declaration', as they felt that the repeal of the Sixth Amendment was not in the best interests of the country under the present circumstances. This led to a hysterical outbust in an editorial column of a government-controlled Sunday newspaper, in which those individuals were referred to as 'buffoons', among other things. However, a few days later, the editorial of a daily newspaper of the same group expressed the view that the censorship of news from the battlefront is a good thing as it is in the national interest. I quite agree that the national interest is of paramount importance. It is precisely for that reason that the call for the repeal of the Sixth Amendment is highly irresponsible, to say the least. But there seems to be some confusion in the government-controlled newspaper establishment on this issue. The people working for that institution seem to believe that freedom of the media is a good thing if it assists separatism, but not for other purposes. Aruna Batuvanthudave, I am living on a lane off the IDH - Rajagiriya road. Little after midnight of 3/4 June, in the pelting down pour, suddenly I was woken up by a chain of unusual blasts of something similar to crackers and a blinding cascade of sparks falling off the power lines supplying electricity to the residences of the lane. I noticed this through the open windows of my bedroom and I thought that two power lines had short circuited due to water or in entanglement of a nocturnal creature and back to sleep I went. No sooner I regained my sleep I was again woken up with the same spectacle. However, there was no power failure or interruption to the supply. I was concerned that there was a danger looming if melted and snapped power line falling on the telephone cables running below and or on the dwellings along the road. Rummaging through the telephone directory I was able to contact the LECO Maintenance Unit at Rajagiriya. The gentleman who promptly answered promised to come immediately. Within less than 15 minutes the maintenance crew was on the lane opposite my residence, fully geared with hooks, ladders and power lights attached to the vehicle, ready to tackle the problem. They found that due to the prevailing heavy rain and gusty winds the branches of a tree perching on top of the wire and pressing it on the one below on and off short circuiting and melting the aluminium. Having switched off the power, they pulled down branches and rectified the fault within minutes. They thanked me profusely for informing them promptly and preventing an impending disaster. I thanked them in return. Above all they were very courteous. Bouquet to you LECO for immediate response. Privatization is not bad. A. M. U. Seneviratne The behaviour of motorists on our roads As we drive on our roads, it is becoming very clear, that the behaviour, of some of those who use our roads, to say the least, is appalling. The culprits in most instances are two wheelers and three wheelers. As a person who has to use our roads, may I share with our readers and all those concerned my observations. 1.) As indicated above, two wheelers and three wheelers, not to mention some four wheelers, do not keep to lanes. They overtake on the wrong side. 2.) I was trained to observe an unwritten law, that at a roundabout, one has to give way to the one on the right. This is not always observed. 3.) At a pedestrian crossing, when the traffic lights indicate the green, pedestrians seem to be crossing. This should not be happening. The pedestrian should cross when the red is on, and the vehicles are stationary. 4.) I have had to face abuse and the violence of motorists both in sign language and verbally, when I have attempted to point out their mistake. What has happened to our society? What happens on our roads, not only result in fatal accidents, but also indicate the State of our Society. Where have our values gone? What is happening to our homes, schools and places of worship? Is this the price, one has to pay when we as a society worship the sacred cow of a liberal, open economy? This is what happens when we have too many vehicles, inadequate roads, and the new rich? Shouldn't the Traffic Police, do something about this? Revd. S. L. G. Knight Once upon a time two teenage boys played marbles. Their play was often disrupted by innumerable scuffles, outbursts of temper and tit-for-tat strategies. In the course of time, as it became unbearable they separated into two camps, though they were from the same family circle. They began to throw marbles at each other in fury. The older one threw three marbles at the younger. Then the younger to show might, power and annoyance smashed five at the other within a matter of weeks. On the sub-continent such games are a daily occurrence. The whole mentality seems to be narrow, childish and immature. It is often plain as day in social life, politics and even in religion. Yet mature people care for the wholeness of life. They grow beyond the volatile impulses of childish sentiments and youthful excitements. When will this happen in our environment? Osmund P. J. Seneviratne, Public sector pensioners are able to use their pension cards to get priority treatment. What about private sector employees over the 60-year age group? Is it not possible for the Registration of Persons Department to issue a 'senior citizens' card to individuals who are over 60 years on payment of a nominal fee and issue a press release to the effect that holders of senior citizens cards are also eligible for priority treatment. C. Wilson, |
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