Morning Spice by Ginger
Cholera strikes again

And so cholera menaces the country once more. Small wonder too considering the hygienic standards that obtain in many parts of it.Our smaller eating houses give the impression that they use toilets as kitchens or kitchens used near toilets. Their kitchens have to be seen to know how they have been kept. Very often the toilet which are far away from the basic concepts of toilets are far too close to the kitchen — next to them in fact.

Ginger does not know whether there is only one common tap for them. But he strongly suspects so. Ginger wrote some time ago that he saw maggots crawl out of some cooking utensils that were left out to dry and that was a restaurant that catered to the middle class. How much worse would it be in the smaller places around town. When a epidemic breaks out the authorities break out into a frenzy of activity with their inadequate field staff. This is far too late. All the inspections must be done between these breaks and closures effected where hygienic standards are found wanting. Often the infection has been passed on to too many to contain the epidemic as it should be. The requirement of the day is routine inspection and closure and is never a feasibility as long a palm could be oiled in the process.

Try some peppermint
Give your children plenty of peppermint and chew some of them yourself. They do much more than give that drafty and slinging flavour which many like. Really have you wondered why many restaurants in Europe and further east serve you mint after every meal. It is not merely as a sweet to round off the meal.

Most people feel it is because it freshens your breath. It does much more than that peppermint is supposed to be one of the best digestive herbs you could get. The best way of course is to chew some mint leaves or drink a cup of mint tea after a heavy meal. It has other uses as well. It is supposed to relieve anxiety. Mint also eases nausea and gas cramps so carry a packet of peppermint with you.

Effective way to protect
Would you like someone to sneak in through window and steal something of yours or a kidnapper to grab your little one when you out shopping. Normally the only thing you could do would be to strap them on to your body. Now thanks to Monaad Corp in Australia there is a more convenient and effective way of protecting your precious possessions.

There are two chips. One is attached to you and its duplicate on to what ever your may want to safeguard. The moment there is any attempt to separate you from what you want to safeguard more than a pre set distance it emits a loud alarm. They look like pages and are about the size of a credit card.

Rupavahini sports and World Cup

Once again Rupavahini gets exclusive coverage rights for a big sports event, paying big dollars for it and then dumps it like garbage, making sports fans very angry and disappointed. Why is Rupavahini continuing to bid and win rights for sports events, when its only priorities are its own programs?

There is no point delaying "live" telecasts of the world cup soccer matches. The news, weather report etc. could be slotted in at the half times of the matches.

Sports fans are being continuously dismayed, angry and disappointed each time Rupavahini announces its exclusive rights to sports events. It would be better if Rupavahini just sticks to doing what it does best, rather than handle sports events.It's just a colossal waste of foreign exchange, they are just not geared towards this kind of activity.

And hope and pray that sanity would prevail in Rupavahini next time a sports event comes around, and that they would let a more competent station do the "live" broadcasts, or else they should operate on a different channel, exclusively for that particular sports event.

It's time that the public protest more vociferously regarding this matter and let the message get across to the concerned parties at Rupavahini.

Sports lover.

(2)

Football World Cup 98 is the most colourful giant sport event on earth of this year and sport loving people of our country also waiting impatiently to watch all matches of World Cup Football tournament 98. In the meantime, they overjoyed in hearing of news that the sole rights of telecast World Cup matches have been taken by Sri Lanka Rupavahini Corporation but it was not long lasted and soccer fans were disappointed in the tournament opener itself.

In the first match of World Cup tournament between Brazil and Scotland, Brazil scored one goal and live telecast was discontinued for local news telecast. During news telecast, local public got to know that a goal has been scored by Scotland also. Actually, when the players are playing near the goal post or scoring a goal is what an exciting moment filled with fun, joy and excitement and no words to express the feelings of soccer fans if it is a live telecast but unfortunately it was a repeat telecast and no excitement, no joy because result is known before the match and just watching.

Sport loving people of this country realised the value of this greatest sport event on earth and request the authorities of S.L. Rupavahini Corp. to give the live telecast of remaining matches for maximum benefits of football loving people of this country to avoid disappointing of local soccer fans because more vital matches in the second round, semis and final are yet to play.

N. Priyantha,
Pugoda.

(3)

It is high time for the Rupavahini Corporation to cease the demanding for the telecasting rights of the international most popular sports events. I humbly and sincerely request the authorities concerned of the Rupavahini Corporation to allow one of the other TV channels to take over the telecasting rights of the international most popular sports events.

Sometime back the Rupavahini Corporation advertised in advance that they would telecast live of all the World Cup soccer encounters. But it is unfortunate and disappointing. But to state that they telecast the pre-recorded matches.

The Rupavahini would definitely disappoint cricket loving public in the forthcoming Independence Cup cricket matches. I support therefore please Rupavahini do not enforce breaks in-between an innings other than the end of fifty overs or so.

Or please Rupavahini allow any other TV channel to telecast live of all the Independence Cup cricket matches as they would, I suppose that would have only one break. That is the end of one session rather one innings or at the end of stipulated number of overs. To tell you all frankly that I have lost the interest of watching the matches and all my friends confirm same.

Tony Peiris,
Chilaw.

Salaries of bank employees and school principals

Having done my round of May Day rallies I came to the joint rally organised by the Bank employees, CMU and the Postal Unions. Here I was in for a surprise as I realised that the Bank Union was talking of another 40% salary increase for their ranks. Already bank clerks and lesser grades of employees are among the best paid in such categories. Actually the total annual salary package of a bank minor employee who usually has only grade 8 qualification is much more than a principal of a national school.

Such disparities cannot be justified because this nation has enough and more unemployed but educated youth who would agree to do four times the work done by a minor staff of a bank for a quarter of the total salary package which is over Rs. 8,000. On the other hand, there is a severe shortage of school principals because many suitable ones are put off by the low salaries and the Education Department, with its shallow pockets) cannot afford to pay more. This is a tragic situation where government has to step in.

Should the present bank clerks and minor staff be paid even higher salaries or should we pay our school principals better in order to make them a amore motivated lot who will properly mould and guide the tens of thousands school children under their care.

After all, any school leaver can do the function of a bank clerk or minor staff. How many can step into the shoes of a respected school principal.

L. N. de Silva,
Mt. Lavinia.

Rambling Notes by Nihal Corea
When bride refused to go with the groom...

Now comes a strange and bizarre story from the provinces of how a bride refused to go with her groom five months after she was legally wedded to him. This sudden change of heart might have been quite distressing to that jilted groom no doubt. Here he was to bring his blushing bride divine to his home and suddenly he was spouseless and speechless. It was difficult to explain to those in his home town how he arrived a bride short.

Evidently the groom as the story went had told his young bride that he wanted to give her a gala reception and then take her home. Apparently the reception was part of the deception he has been charged with by the bride. What is more he had taken five long months to come back to take her home after taking the vow to bow to her every fancy.

Now what she evidently may not have fancied may have been his lackadaisical approach to life and marriage. Normally grooms don't dawdle and dilly dally after signing the register. They whisk their partner off as fast as possible on their honeymoon. Now this poor sap made the mistake of his life. He took five long months to come back to her take her away and that was enough time to let many thoughts run through the mind of one with time hanging on her.

Now a young bride should not have time hanging on her soon after marriage. The days and particularly nights should be made as hectic as possible by a groom who has an iota of sense in him. Instead he left her to languish and more in her own home she would at least out of boredom started picking flaws in that ill advised man and found many in the process.

Evidently another fact had disenchanted that young bride. The young man had told her that he was an educated man with a good job but she had found that he was neither educated or well employed. That of course is enough of a discovery to put any bride into quite a huff. Now this would not have had happened if that groom had taken her home the day he got married and made it a ‘fait accompli’.

What was the young man hoping to achieve by this delay of five months? Was he hoping to go for tuition classes and follow some crash course to pass some exam that would get him employment. One doubts it. His mind evidently was intended to function at a very elementary level judging by the way he stumbled from blunder to blunder. Had he made his wife expect a baby than expect him to come and take her away things may have been different.

The bride by profession was a teacher and what was she to do with this man who had lied to her? She could not have put a dunce cap on him and get him to stand in a corner. The neighbours would have had much to say and family prestige could have suffered considerably. The only way to punish him was to send him off along to make him the laughing stock of the village.

One wonders whether this bride was not a little too precipitous though. He may not have had a degree but had what could make a woman far more happy than a few letters could he may in fact have been banking on this fact to make his bride a happy woman. It was all an unfortunate mistake one feels..