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Morning Spice by
Ginger Ginger was stopped the other day while travelling in a three wheeler and asked for his identity card by two women PCs who could have been hardly out of school. Would they have been mature enough to use their discretion judiciously enough in case it was not a straight forward case of some one having an identity card or not. Now what bemuses Ginger and many others is why photostat copies of IDs are generally not accepted. You cannot produce one unless there is an identical original. It just stands to reason. An identity card is about the easiest thing to lose and the hardest thing to obtain. The very process is a harrowing experience with the formalities one has to go through. Besides going to the office to obtain a ID without an ID can be experience well worth recounting but best done at the club after a loosener or two. This however is not what Ginger is trying to emphasize. The point he is trying to drive home is that for security checks a photostat should more than suffice as constantly carrying an ID involves so many risks such as pickpockets getting at them or their using them for their criminal activities. Let's hope the powers that be review this issue in the larger interest of many things. MITI The ministry really was a kind of continuation of the wartime Ministry of Commerce and Industry and Munitions which was set up to make the best use of its scarce resources for war production. The same brains put their heads together to rehabilitate Japan's postwar economy. Its strategy was to openly direct capital and resources to large industrial companies and eliminate smaller units by encouraging mergers etc. Its influence gradually waned with private sector and the consumer market gaining ascendance at its expense. Cricketers The big totals have always been the result of efforts of one or two players this past year or so as they seldom clicked together. The result has been that everyone of the top order batsmen have felt the strain. The test would have drained quite a lot out most of them and if our batsmen are to give of their best in the World Cup they certainly cannot be expected to do that if they are kept under pressure for one year without a very crowded programme. There was a lot of hulla baloo about a police dog named ''Harry'', a few weeks ago, both on T.V. and in the media. One A.S.P. said to be from the Police Kennels on being interviewed said that police dog ''Harry'' was the best dog in Sri Lanka at present. Either this A.S.P. does not know what he is talking about or is hiding the truth or both. Myself being a dog owner, breeder and an exhibitor, feel that I have to put the record straight on behalf of the dog fraternity, if not for their owners. There are only two kennel clubs in Sri Lanka, the Ceylon Kennel Club and the Kennel Association of Sri Lanka, earlier known as the Ladies Kennel Association. Police dog ''Harry'' was only shown at the Kennel Association of Sri Lanka championship dog shows and never at the Ceylon Kennel Club Championship Dog shows. There are many dogs that are only shown at the Ceylon Kennel Club Dog shows and never at the Kennel Association of Sri Lanka Dog shows. Hence dog ''Harry'' has never competed against some of the dogs in Sri Lanka shown only at the Ceylon Kennel Club Dog shows, which are in a class of their own. I remember dog ''Harry'' winning the best exhibit in show for the first time in 1993 and S.S.P. Wije Seneviratne who was in charge of the Police Kennels, was in the ring, as the ring steward with the judge at that show. At every other subsequent dog shows when Harry won, S.S.P. Seneviratne was in the ring with the judge. But at the Kennel Association show held in April 1998, at the Mahaweli Reach Hotel in Kandy, Harry was beaten to second place in the German Shepherd Class, by another police dog and in the ''Champion of Champions' class was beaten again by a dachshund owned by Justice Ramanathan. At this show dog ''Harry'' never entered the specials. Of course, S.S.P. Seneviratne was not in the ring with the judge, when this class was judged. Further, it was also reported that dog ''Harry'' was placed seventh at the World Dog Show held in Helsinki, Finland in June, 1998, out of an entry of thirty seven thousand (37,000) dogs. There were only 15,628 dogs from 44 countries, according to the ''Dog World'' paper of June 19 1998 on page 1 published in the U.K. I do not know, whether the police had sent another 22,000 of our dogs, to make up the balance entry. According to the Dog World of May 15, 1998 on page 77, the 15,628 dogs had been grouped at the World Show into ten different groups. As Herding, Terriers, Toys, etc. Herding dogs were in group 1, where there were 42 different breeds of dogs and in this group were 173 German Shepherds entered. Each breed is classed into Puppy ''A'' (3 to 6 months old), Puppy ''B'' (6 to 9 months old), Junior Class (9 to 18 months old), intermediate Class (15 to 24 months old) Open Class, Veteran Class, etc. Then each breed within a group is judged in each class and subsequently best of each breed is selected. The best of each breed competes with each other, within the group to select the best of each group. The best of each group then competes to be best exhibit in show, reserve best in show, third best in show, fourth best in show, and upto tenth best in show. However according to the ''Dog World'' of June 19, 1998 on pages 60 and 61, where the results of the World Show are given, the winner in the group 1, herding dogs was of the breed Saarloos Wolf hound named ''Tango Timber Eskalupa'', the second, of the breed Mareema, named Ercole, third, of the breed-Australian Shepherd named ''Sundew Blazing Starlite'' and fourth, a German Shepherd named Vindelbroens Yara from Norway. This result shows that the group 1, had been represented by Tango Timber Eskalupa the Saarloos Wolf Hound. At the final judging of the group winners of groups 1 to 10 and dog ''Harry'' was never among the best ten dogs at the final judging to be placed seventh at the World Dog show. The results also shows that of the 173 German Shepherds, the best German Shepherd had been ''Vindel-Broens Yara'', which had represented the breed at the judging of group which was fourth in the group. The police should be aware that the public and specially the dog-loving public are not gullible. They not only know their dogs and their breeds but also know the dogs of their competitors. Surely the Police Department does not need this type of concocted publicity. Is it that publicity given in other matters is also similar? ''Dog Lover'' Ceylon prior to independence was reproduced by Arjuna Ranatunga and his team mates on the English soil. Victory in the Emirates triangular tournament and the Cornhill test is a proof of what unity could do. When Muttiah Muralitharan's bowling was criticized by Australian cricket stalwarts, Pakistan, India and Sri Lanka stuck together in defence of Muttiah Muralitharan. An iota of communalism was not present in the minds of Arjuna and his team mates or in the minds of the Sri Lankan Cricket Board officials and all cricket loving Sri Lankans. The deserving were given the right place. This is the correct spirit and attitude we Sri Lankans should continue to adopt and cultivate. We must be united not as separate groups of Sinhalese, Tamils and Muslims but as one Sri Lankans Nation. The deserving place must be given to the right person irrespective of creed, class, cast and nationality. This is how Sri Lanka was prior to independence in which period competitive examinations were held to recruit officials into Govern-ment Services. Interllectuals were able to enter universities and complete their education sans any ethnic barriers. During that period Ceylon Civil Service, Government Clerical Service and other competitive examinations were on par with British Civil Service, British Clerical Service and education prevalent in England respectively. Had the chit system not destroyed the competitive examinations to recruit officials into Govern-ment Services, Rohan Wijeweera and his men might have been alive and if the Sri Lankan politicians had not taken to cheap communal politics the ethnic war in the North & East would not have commenced and the lives of our precious youths mainly from the villages would not continue to be sacrificed. Under the circumstances that existed Rohan Wijeweera and his men would definitely have joind hands with Prabhakaran and his men to defend Sri Lanka against any obstacles that the masses might have to face in the future. J. E. Anthonypillai Having just read the article captioned 'private hospital shocks' by Rexy of Wellawatta, published in your column on 31.8.98, I am inclined to share with your readers a different kind of shock which I experienced recently. Due to certain circumstances I was compelled to seek legal advice a few months ago. The lawyer whom I consulted in the first instance advised me that I needed to consult an Attorney well known for this aspect legally. He very kindly advised me to put down in chronological order the sequence of events of my present problem and promised to forward this file to the Attorney and he obtained a consultation for me with this eminent Attorney. I was pleased with the legal advice I obtained from him and in due course my problem was settled to my satisfaction by the law courts. When the question of fees were discussed imagine my surprise and the shock that I received when the Attorney charged me Rs. 25,000 for preparing and submitting the brief and for the first court appearance. The bigger shock was when the first lawyer I spoke, who did nothing apart from refer me to the eminent Attorney asked me to pay a sum of Rs. 6500 as he considered himself to be the 'instructing Attorney'!! I had to somehow find the money which I did not begrudge the Attorney who appeared for me, but lord in heaven why are poor people like us subjected to filling the pockets of 'Instructing Attorneys' who do nothing but direct the person in the correct path and in the process inflict a 'legal shock'. So it appears that it is not only the medical personnel who do what Rexy wrote about to the public, the legal professionals too take their share, fair or otherwise. I was not so lucky as Rexy to walk across the road to find a more kindly lawyer who might have helped me. Let me tell you Rexy that the bad world of today is full of sharks of all kinds and I hope you will not get a 'legal shock' in the future in addition to the two shocks you have received recently. Samson The most insane suggestion to come from the UNP leadership since they lost power in 1994 is the suggestion that the government should now make an attempt to talk to the LTTE. It is difficult to fathom the logic of this suggestion, given the experience the different governments had had in negotiating with the LTTE, or whether there is a dash of mischief in this suggestion in that it is made to muddle the government's clear cut policy on terrorism. In 1983 when India insisted that the government of Sri Lanka should talk to the Tigers, Mr. J. R. Jayewardene quipped that 'we certainly cannot talk to them in Colombo because the Tigers are terrorist and in the eyes of the common law of the land they are criminals, hence I may have to arrest them if they come to Colombo'. Therefore Thimpu was arranged by India as an alternative venue. Mr. JRJ was very particular in choosing the delegation for talks so as not to include direct government representation, instead he choose his brother to lead the delegation so that some importance may be attached to the talks without commitment on the part of the Sri Lanka government. However, these talks proved to be futile from the government's point of view but from the Tiger point of view they were able to internationalize the so-called ethnic problem and their 'traditional grievances' graduated to 'non-negotiable aspirations.' Mr. JRJ's initial reluctance for talks was, being the wise and astute leader he was, that he knew that the Tigers would gain a lot of clout and the government would loose a lot of face by merely talking. Yet he had to show the big brother India that he was doing something. Mr. Premadasa initiated talks with the LTTE in 1990 in a different political atmosphere. The IPKF was very much present with 'open terms of reference' under Mr. Dixit, who was not sure whether he was the viceroy or just the ambassador from India. The IPKF had by then marginalised the anti-Indian LTTE and were strengthening the pro-Indian (Tamil National Army) of Varatharaja Perumal. Mr. Premadasa had to ensure that the LTTE held sway in the North for that was the only way of getting and keeping India out of the equation. However, Mr. Premadasa went a little beyond as he honestly felt that in his 'populous' approach that no genuine effort had up to then being made to talk to the LTTE on a 'face to face' basis and he may be able achieve something with his flexible and innovative ways. The talks ended so abruptly and so unceremoniously, thousands of policemen were gunned down by the LTTE (including those who surrendered) and about 300 still languishing in LTTE cells. Mr. Premadasa paid the supreme price with his life for trusting the Tigers. Ms. CBK, the present President, did not have the experience of the UNP leaders with regard to the bona fides of the LTTE when she came to power. For her UNP was the enemy No. 1 and the LTTE was in a certain way her ally because LTTE was the enemy of her enemy No. 1. She even tried to whitewash the Tiger movement and absolve them of the assassination of Mr. Gamini Dissanayake. The Tiges had a new lease of life as the government relaxed the sanctions and withdrew the naval blockade imposed by the previous government. The Tigers helped themselves to 400,000 mts of cement for apparent 'rehabilitation' work and fortified their bunkers. An unlimited quantity of fuel, batteries and other hard to come by items were also made available to the Tigers. These 'starry eyed' talks under the Eelam flag also ended up in failure and three aircraft and a number of naval gunboats were destroyed in the aftermath of the breakdown of talks. However, it was certainly some hand of providence that saved that CBK government for it was naive enough to have the present European convener of the Tamil Diaspora as the chairman of the sensitive government Rupavahini. Such is the record of bigoted obduracy, opportunism, fraud, barrenness and naivety of peace talks with the LTTE that it is impossible for any Sri Lankan national leader to propose talks with the LTTE in his proper senses. Specially in the present context where we are requesting the international community to ban the LTTE. Isn't it the same UNP that said after the Dalada Maligawa bombing that the government was dragging its feet all this while without banning the LTTE until this happened? Weren't Mr. Wickremasinghe's predecessors Mr. Premadasa, Mr. Athulathmudali, Mr. Ranjan Wijeratne, Mr. Gamini Dissanayake killed by the LTTE? What would be the reaction of India and particularly Mrs. Sonia Gandhi, who wanted the LTTE extradited to India? Mr. Kodituwakku, the UNP spokesmen should give more details about the subject matter of the talks because the present government offered them a package fraught with the danger of leading to anarchy and eventually pave the way for their Eelam. Yet the Tigers have rejected this offer outright and for the so-called moderates such as the TULF it was only a basis for negotiation. There is nothing left for talks except that we offer Eelam on a platter to them and then discuss the modalities of 'takeover'. However, the Tigers may have a lot to offer the national leadership. Mr. Wickremesinghe can learn how to become a dedicated leader in times of war or peace and how to wage war with a purpose and keep your enemy demoralised. Certain media pundits with self-made logic, like your columnist Mr. Jehan Perera, had drawn parallels with the Northern Ireland situation to inspire another round of talks. The British government never recognized the IRA as a legitimate organisation and never offered to talk. The IRA had to form a political wing called the 'Sinn Fein' and eschew violence to negotiate a settlement with the British government. The Irish equivalent of the LTTE in the Northern Ireland situation is the Real IRA. Will Tony Blair offer talks to the RIRA because they let off a bomb in Omagh? That will obviously inspire the RIRA blast more bombs. If the British leaders were as equally stupid as the Sri Lankan leaders during the past two decades, the IRA would have been much more powerful than the LTTE today. Mr. J. R. Jayewardene talked to the Tigers because he was helpless. Mr. Premadasa talked to the Tigers because that was the need of the hour. Ms. CBK talked to the Tigers because she was not experienced. Now Mr. Wickremesinghe is proposing to talk because he neither has the astuteness of JRJ nor the presence of mind of Mr. P. and also the years of experience doesn't seem to have meant anything to Mr. W. If this offer for talks by the UNP is a calculated political gimmick to attract the Tamil vote, it must be mentioned that Mr. Wickremesinghe is very poorly advised. The PA knows that there only triumph is the war and their popularity among the Sinhalese majority weighs heavily on their war exploits. If the PA turns around and accuses the UNP of being anti-Sinhalese, the UNP will stand to loose more Sinhalese votes than the Tamil votes they hope to gain. Palitha Senanayake Extortionist 'Caretakers' and the Police In many public places where vehicles are parked, some organised gangs or individuals have become self appointed caretakers and force the public to pay them money for 'looking after' the vehicles. This happens near Asiri Hospital, Castle Street Hospital, General Hospital and Maharagama Cancer Hospital and whether one would like to get a 'caretaker' or not, to avoid any harassment or damage to the vehicle one is compelled to part with some money. This can spread all over the island and these 'caretakers' will hold the public to ransom. Why cannot the police stop this nuisance and the local authorities introduce proper traffic wardens at these places? Now it has become a practice at many exhibitions, religious events, open air musical shows, wesak pandals etc, to fix loud-speakers along the roads for several hundred metres disturbing thousands of households. What do the organisers of these events gain by making people suffer? Do the police issue permits to use loudspeakers like that? Deshapriya Rajapaksha, Down
to Earth If we define a zoo as a place for keeping wild animals in captivity for display, then zoos may be said to be very old, dating as far back as 1490 BC when Queen Hatsheput of Egypt had many captive animals, including a giraffe, which she had brought from Somalia. Kings and other VIPs in ancient times liked to keep exotic animals. We know that King Rajasingha II of Sri Lanka in the 17th century had this strange hobby of collecting tigers, leopards, pigeons, lions, usually presented to him by foreign ambassadors seeking trade facilities. The pattern for modern zoos however was laid down by the colonising British. Sir Stanford Raffles was the first to found a zoo in 1828 in London's Regent's park. Philadelphia in the USA followed in 1874. Cage displays The Dehiwala zoo even today boasts an elephant circus, which is not acceptable to supporters of animal rights. Antizoo lobbyists have very rightly observed that these zoos contribute nothing to the conservation of fast dwindling species, or to their protection in suitable habitats. This has led to zoos going more zoological, providing a better environment for the animals and more fun for visitors. Pioneers It is heartening to learn that the environmental concept in zoos is to be extended to a new park in Sri Lanka too, near the Pinnawela Elephant Orphanage, now that the Dehiwela zoo is cramped for space. Theme Park Exceptional landscaping and the use of native African plants and trees make it impossible to see the barriers separating the different animal species. They also give one the feeling of gazing over the African savannah. The centrepiece of this park called the 'Tree of Life', is a fourteen storey high simulation of Mount Kilimanjaro and a safari to this mountain from Harambe in Africa. Entertainment and education is what this theme park offers. It is not enough. Zoos now have an even more important role to play in breeding and releasing to the wild those creatures that are threatened with extinction. This applies in particular to large mammals like elephant, Tiger, gorilla, orangutan and rhino. New Zoology A good example is the multimillionaire John Aspinall's Zoo in Kent, where gorillas are being bred for release to West Africa, where there territory has been shrinking owing to poaching and deforestation. Aspinall means to extend this programme of protection and release to the wild with tigers. In a small way, Sri Lanka too is attempting to do this with elephants. Five orphaned wild elephants, three female and two male, were rescued from the wild and prepared for release into the wild again. Their progress in the Udawalawe National Park is now being monitored. Such monitoring and further studies on breeding and release into the wild is very essential, since the return of captive animals to the wild has so far been found to be difficult. |
