Ginger read with stoical acceptance of a reader writing about the possibility of people eating beef not fit for human consumption. Ginger however has been worried more about the inhuman way that cattle are slaughtered than consumption. True enough Muslims are compelled to kill animals they eat in a certain manner. Let there be special stalls selling Halal meat for them. We do not for a moment presume that anyone has the right to impose any restrictions on anothers religious beliefs. Ginger is concerned over the meat that is consumed by the thousands of meat-eaters who are not Muslim for two reasons.

The first ofcourse is the need to introduce more human methods of slaughter like in other countries where the animal is stunned and so does not feel the pain quite as much as it would otherwise. His second concern is the selling of beef that is not fit enough for human consumption and the many unlicensed abattoirs in operation all over the city. This raises the obvious question. I am not trying to be naive. We all know why such stalls are not inspected every now and then and how a second meat market is created but until there is a proper and honest check made on how this meat finds it's way into the market, many meat eaters will be exposed to a heap of health hazards.

Guard your tongue in politics
If you are involved in Singapores politics you had better guard your tongue a bit when you are on the platform. Pre election heat generally makes quite a few aspirants say things that could be personally damaging to your opponents. Mud slinging in this country can hit quite a low during the hustings and the laws of defamation may have to be strengthened here as well.

Singapores PM Goh Chok Tong did not take things lying down when opposition leader Joshua B. Jeyaremem had allegedly made some derogatory comments about him. The court of appeal gave the PM fifty eight thousand dollars as damages and in fact it overruled the milder penalty of twelve thousands dollars made earlier.

Chinese not a flippant lot
The Chinese are not by any means a flippant lot. It is not that they don't have their fun. The young are quite fond of their entertainment but they are equally concerned about getting on and are by common acceptance a rather industrious lot. Many Chinamen have risen to great heights from small beginnings and places like Hong Kong are full of such types.

When it comes to entering the higher seats of learning too they are equally focused on the task ahead of them. This year over three million students sat for a gruelling entrance exam over three days and the government gave them every assistance to do so. TV sets of those watching the World Cup had to be knocked off and construction work near exam centres had to be suspended till they were over.

A reply to medical negligence

Having read the letter of Pearly Hannan of Colombo 5 titled 'Oh doctor we are in trouble' that appeared in 'The Isalnd' of 17.08.98. I felt constrained to write this letter in reply.

The writer had accused the Lady doctor, who had seen his/her sister of professional negligence and gone to the extent of even making a generalised statement about personnel in the medical profession to wit 'Have we come to a stage where we are compelled to lay our life in the hands of professionally qualified 'quacks'. He/she states further that quite often, unfortunately, most people don't come under the category of those born with silver spoons and therefore helpless and cannot do anything about the callous attitude of these so-called 'professionalist'.

The writer's strong remark against doctors is apparently due to the Lady doctor's failure to diagnose 'German measles' and the remark made by the doctor when the patient questioned the accuracy of the diagnosis. Subsequently another doctor had diagnosed the illness as 'German measles' and recommended an 'abortion and undergoing the operation as she was 3 months pregnant at the time thus terminating the pregnancy.

The letter clearly exposes the writer's, he/she sister and brother-in-law's ignorance of the laws of this country. To state categorically all of them had contributed to a criminal offence punishable with imprisonment with probable extention to 7 years and fine as well. Apart from them, the doctor who illegally advised and the doctor who did the abortion are equally liable for prosecution. Notwithstanding, these two doctors (barring the doctor who apparently failed to diagnose the case as 'German measles') has blatantly violated the Hippocratic Oath.

For the elucidation of the general public who may be misled by reading letters and other news articles of this nature, it must be stated that an abortion in Sri Lanka can only be done to 'save the life of the mother' in good faith. It is prohibited for any other reason in terms of sections 303-305 of the Penal Code. It appears that the said operation had been necessitated as the consequences inflicted on the unborn child would have been numerous thus resulting in termination of the pregnancy because of possible foetal malformation of the unborn child though legally it is not permitted in Sri Lanka. If at all the lady doctor who is alleged to have failed to diagnose German measles, could only be liable for a Civil Court action whereas the other two doctors - one who diagnosed German measles and given illegal advice to have an abortion done and the other who did the abortion - had committed a criminal act and are also liable to be dealt with by the Sri Lanka Medical Council for professional misconduct.

This is a classic example of sheer ignorance that leads to false, baseless and unfounded accusations being made not only against medical practitioners but also against the medical profession in general. I earnestly hope the Law Enforcement authorities will take cognisance of these criminal offences and stern action taken against those who had committed and commit such crimes.

Medico-Legal Consultant
University of Kelaniya

Lessons from Northern Ireland

Worldwide condemnation followed the slaughter of 28 civilians and injury to several hundred others in a terrorist bomb blast in Omagh, Northern Ireland two weeks ago.

Actions by the British and Irish Governments were swift and decisive. The Prime Ministers of both countries and many political leaders were fearlessly forthcoming in their unequivocal condemnation of this barbaric outrage. The authorities were swift in pointing the finger of suspicion on the probable perpetrators. Fresh measures - described as 'Draconian' have been instituted to curb and paralyse potential terrorist acts. The media did all they could to rouse public emotion, massive shows of revulsion, candlelight vigils and unrestrained sympathy for the innocent victims and solemn promises of retribution were universal. No legal nit-picking, no apologists willing to surmise that the end justifies the means. The cheeky 'acceptance of responsibility' and apology by a splinter group of the IRA has drawn the correctly disdainful dismissal as an insult to the aggrieved.

What a contrast with our equivocations and feeble responses to the series of outrages, assassinations and explosions that have decimated our leadership, destroyed our national conscience, wounded our economy and brought untold sorrow to millions!

A lofty 'mea culpa' on behalf of the victim community, a spineless search for causes to justify these barbarities, a failure by many 'leaders' to name the obvious perpetrators, harbouring terrorist apologists, lofty academic tinkering with legal jargon and contrived justifications for impotent and effete official reactions, a largely symbolic, delayed and fruitless proscription and a pompous dismissal of perhaps the only politician who came close to the truth in identifying our national problem as one of terrorism - as a political buffoon.

Could it be that the Brits are still superior to us Sri Lankans?

'Nettle Grub'
Colombo

Colombo floods

This has reference to a letter on the above subject that appeared in the Island of 10-08-98. It is not my intention to elaborate further on the many historical aspects, quoted by Eng. Nanayakkara which I prefer to leave for Eng. Nanayakkara's expertise on the subject. But I personally feel that there was a fundamental mistake made at the Feasibility study stage by entrusting the study to the National Water Supply & Drainage Board NWS and DB.

The word 'Drainage' in Irrigation jargon means the drainage of excess water from paddy lands and that of low lying lands as in the case in and around Colombo. But 'Drainage' for the NWS & DB means a quite a different thing. It refers to Sewerage Disposal.

It was unfortunate that the Drainage & Reclamation Division of the Irrigation Department had closed down with the formation of the Reclamation Board. It reminds me of the time when Irrigation Department took over the maintenance of Drainage Canals in Colombo from the Public Works Department during April 1964. The D & R Division was headed by Eng D. Rajaratnam Dep. Director assisted by Eng. Ambrose Wickrama-suriya as DIE and Eng K. D. P. Perera as I.E. D and R. I myself was a member in this new branch responsible for the taking over the dredging equipment & machinery from the PWD & deploying the machinery for clearing and maintenance of the canals around Dematagoda and Wanathamulla to start with.

I also must mention the part played by our operators of the machinery who saw that no unauthorised structures were allowed to remain on the canal banks when they were dredging and depositing on the canal banks. Surely when these canals were handed over to SLLR & DC in December 1979, there wouldn't have been more than 10 to 15 unauthorised buildings on the canal banks.

Under Greater Colombo Flood Control & Environmental Improvement Project Phase 1, an expenditure of more than Rs 1500 M was incurred to relocate the unauthorised erections which have come up since 1980, for Environmental Improvement. May be part of this money was spent for acquisition for widening of the canals & compensation payments. This once again reflects how badly they managed the maintenance & political pressure SLLR & DC had to come under. Who is taking the responsibility for waste of public funds.?

But one question raised by Eng. Nanayakkara justifies further investigations i.e. the difference between 'Flood Control' and 'Flood Protection' and how they ended up in two different Ministries?

Eng. U. Delpechitre
Ratmalana.

Murdering the queen - officially

It is almost a fashion today for everybody to speak of the need for 'more and better English'. But it should be admitted that standards are deteriorating daily. Road signs and public notices are misspelt. There are 'Batting Centres' for punters and 'Silensers' for your motor car. But as Oscar Wilde once said, 'Please don't shoot the Pianist. After all he is trying his best'.

But the situation becomes unbearable when there are grammatical mistakes even in English newspapers. Would not your readers gape in horror when the Queen's English is brazenly slaughtered in the Government gazette of the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka? I refer to Govt. Gazette No. 1037 of July 17, 1998 wherein the 'Efficiency Bar Examination for the Sri Lanka Principal's Service' is notified. (Pages 625 & 626). Applicants are instructed to prepare their applications according to the appended specimen. The specimen application is titled 'Efficiency Bar Examination for the officers of the Principles' Service'. As any deviation from the specimen application could result in the application being rejected, I would advise all applicants to apply for the Principles' Service.

It was not merely a case of poor proof reading. Candidates who do not receive their Admission Cards in time are instructed to contact...' and 'applicants 'being close by' are to contact through a messenger'. I also noticed that in many a sentence, the article 'the' is missing.

Making English mistakes in any government publication is indeed pathetic - but in the official government gazette is unpardonable tragi-comedy.

Ranjith G. Perera
Panadura

Vandals at Watadage

How can somebody take stone pillars from an ancient site that is supposedly under the constant watch of security guards?

I would imagine that what was stolen weighed quite a bit and needed to be transported out of the site by a heavy motor vehicle.

Every time I have visited the Watadage, I have been hounded by the 'Culture Police' asking me either to take off my hat or my shoes, to show respect. Never mind the fact that the temperature was as high as around 100 degrees Fahrenheit and you could fry an egg on the sidewalk!

Where were those mandarins when this robbery took place?

Mr. Minister of Cultural Affairs, don't you think that some heads need to roll on this one? Preferably, from the top.

Sudat Pasqual
Colombo 5

US missile attacks-dastardly acts

The American administration in directing the recent missile attacks on Afghanistan and Sudan without reference to the UN or the Security Council has acted in utter contempt of the United Nations and its member countries, and has now set a dangerous precedent for all others.

The US has taken the law into its own hands without recourse to lawful and legitimate channels of resolving problems between countries and peoples. This is not the first time that the US had acted in the most belligerent manner. Earlier they had attacked Libya and Iraq in expressions of arrogance.

Muslims of Sri Lanka express shock and horror at the conduct of these acts of terrorism by the US on small, independent and sovereign states.

The Sri Lanka Muslim Congress has urged the government of Sri Lanka not to condone these violations of international law under of false justifications.

The SLMC has also conveyed to the Minister of Foreign Affairs Mr. Lakshman Kadirgamar the revulsion of all progressive people of Sri Lanka in general and the Muslims in particular on these dastardly attacks.

M. M. Zuhair MP
Colombo 8

Down to Earth
Kandy Esala Perahera
by Derrick Schokman

The Kandy Esala Perahera is described by Robert Knox in his book 'An Historical Relation of Ceylon' (1681).

He observed that it was an annual festival honouring the 'gods of the earth', namely Vishnu, Kataragama, Pattini and Natha. Anthropologists suggest that these deities have lost their specifically Hindu identification and been given statuses and attributes consonant with their roles as protective agents in a Buddhist pantheon.

Change
A change took place in the Kandy perahera in the 18th century during the reign of King Kirthi Sri Raja Sinha.

A group of Siamese bhikkus, whom the king had invited to restore the Upasampada ordination in Sri Lanka, were surprised to find an almost exclusively Hindu deity celebration in the capital city of a Buddhist country. They urged him to correct the situation.

This the king did by placing a company from the Dalada Maligawa at the head of the procession, carrying a symbol of the Sacred Tooth Relic. The Dalada was also treated as a god, concerned with the protection of the island and its peoples.

So even though the devala gods were put in a subordinate position to the Buddha, the purpose of the perahera did not change.

It was still a procession of deities taken out in the streets annually to protect the nation and ensure its prosperity, with the Buddha standing now at the head of the hierarchical structure.

In much the same way that devotees in a Buddhist temple with Hindu Dewalas always venerate the Buddha and his symbols first before proceeding to invoke the blessings of the Hindu deities.

Merged
Thus were the major religious subgroups merged into a mutually interdependent whole in the perahera.

So also were the socio-political aspects. The presence of the king, adigars, chief of the army, captain of the elephants, officials of the central government, and the provincial representatives carrying their own flags, more or less summed up the politico - administrative structure of the Kandyan community.

Feudal system
At the lower social level, the participation of diverse classes of people like drummers, dancers, musicians, gymnasts, brazier carriers, potters, washermen etc. reflected the feudal system in operation at that time.

So the Kandy Esala Perahera is much more than a mere cultural event. It reflects a rite of intensification in which a stratification of Kandyan society was relegitimated annually.

It affirmed the viability and integrity of the nation in its social and religious diversity.

What a pity that such a past vision has been abrogated in the chaos of present political vicissitudes.