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Morning Spice by
Ginger I think the proliferation of three wheelers has created certain problems for those who use them for the simple reason that these vehicles in many instances are in the wrong hands. The other day Ginger stopped a three wheeler at Nugegoda and fixed the fare for him to go to Guildford Crescent. Some where near Rajagiriya the three wheeler driver stopped his vehicle and asked me to show the spot as he had come as far as he goes for the sum we had agreed on. Ginger for a moment was too stunned for words he then asked that individual whether he had been to Colombo before.His reply was to ask me how he could have got to where he had if did not and asked me whether I was not going to give him the money. I replied that he could get a thick ear or if he preferred it a dislocated jaw. The bluff worked (Ginger was in no physical shape to do either). He mumbled something incoherently and continued the journey and later I realised he was not very familiar with the road. I think a lot of problems are created by this lack of familiarity with the roads . All those wanting taxi licences should be asked about certain locations. And the alternate routes to such places. Taxi meters should be made compulsory to protect the customer from the rip-offs they are constantly exposed to. If one chooses to knock off the meter and arrange for a flat rate that is his lookout. Rupert Murdoch Elegant house We refer to the editorial in the Island of Saturday 26th September, 1998 with the heading “Come on, Royal”. Please be advised that the Royal College Hostel Development project planned by the Old Hostellers will cost Rs. 40 million and not Rs. 60 million as reported by you. Rs. 20 million of this amount is to be raised by the Old Boys under the aegis of the Royal College Old Hostellers Association (ROCOHA) and the balance Rs. 20 million coming from the Government. Your report may have been as a result of a report which appeared in the “Ceylon Daily News” of 26/09/98 which was in error and we have advised CDN accordingly. The hostel caters currently for 300 students, all of whom are scholars who enter the school from the outstations based on an islandwide scholarship examination at Year 5. The present facilities available to these boys are inadequate and it has become very necessary that suitable and comfortable accommodation is provided to these boys, all of whom, come from the remotest parts of Sri Lanka. The Old boys of Royal College through the Royal College Old Boys Union supports and funds many projects for the welfare of the current students. Already, there are two other projects undertaken, one of which is a sports complex and the other a modern computer centre. Although Royal is a government school much of its development is supported by fund raising by the old boys. As far as “ROCOHA” is concerned, the Old Hostellers have organized “Trade Fair and Carnival” for fund raising of the said hostel building project, which is to take place at the Sathutu Uyana on the 16th, 17th and 18th October ‘98. Please give this letter equal publicity so that there is no misunderstanding in the eyes of the public, arising out of your article. Dil Warnakulasuriya, Editor’s Note:Mr. Mangala Samaraweera who was quoted in news reports saying that the President’s fund will allocate Rs 40 million for a hostel for Royal College and the Education Ministry, another Rs 20 million has not denied the reports or replied to our editorial comments. The principal of Royal College too has not denied the report or commented on editorial.However it is a matter of gratification to hear that old boys will raise Rs 20 million for the project.We do hope that they can raise the other Rs 20 million as well and let this amount be given to less fortunate schools. After more than two hundred years of male chauvinism, the M.C.C. has at last voted by a 2/3 majority to permit women to become members, and so the last bastion of sex discrimination has fallen. By their exclusiveness the M.C.C. was an anachronism in the Twentieth Century. Amidst a sea of staggering advances in the fields of science, health, education, sports and other disciplines the M.C.C. chartered a course all its own, being blind to all around. That they have been able to do so up to virtually the end of the century is proof, if proof were needed, of the support their policy has had. Even the 2/3 majority obtained to achieve this milestone indicates that 1/3 of their members numbering about four thousand, according to published reports, opposed the proposal. This means that among these old fogeys there are still those with blimp mentalities who have not been won over. No doubt with their stiff upperlips they moaned the passing away of their empire just as they now moan the encroachment of their preserve by females. These ladies will now take their places in the Long Room at Lords from the walls of which the cricket greats will look down at them as they in turn probably witness another Sri Lankan team beat England again who knows? E. A. K. Caspersz, Why disrespect great people who are no more? It is downright disrespectful to departed persons, who had served the country with excellence to name roads after them. As a gesture of reverence, roads are not solemn places to display names of such outstanding people. Though this system prevails in many countries we need not follow them like copy - cats, as common sense would point out that this practise is not dignified at all. Many people are unaware of what some of these people contributed to our country. I am one who is confused as the road where I live is named after such a person and I’m still in the dark about his actual accomplishments during his life time. But of course various people who claim to know the mans doings differ in their versions. The name of my road actually means nothing to me as I don’t know who this man really was. Such a person may be gone but it is not uncommon for surviving relatives to brashly take credit for the man’s achievements and expect undue respect from others in exchange for inferior reciprocation. As time goes by no one will know what most of these great people had achieved but their names will continue as road names without an ounce of respect from anyone for all their efforts. I believe there is a place somewhere where all the names, pictures and achievements of these distinguished people are displaying where interested parties can visit. I wish to suggest, for the sake of simplicity, each road to be renamed with one word which should be educational and pleasant or a word that denotes what the place is known for. The best place to select a word for the purpose, in my opinion, would be the English dictionaries. English being a neutral language should eliminate envy. Further it would be more convenient if all names end with the word ‘road’ to cut out confusion. A Citizen Livable Houses for Rs. 150,000 It was reported in the press recently that Mr. Pani Tennekoon, the well known architect, had planned his dream house on a 7 perch block of land. This plan had taken longer than the plan for the Supreme Court Mr. Tennekoon recalled the early days of his career, designed houses for the rich, but lift him with a deep sense of something unfulfilled. His ambition was to work for the poor, as 80% of the people live are below the poverty line. He also confesses that this is his last project of a lifetime, and he would design no more houses. Now we go on to the main topic of these low cost houses. If my memory is correct, Dr. A. N. S. Kulasinghe, introduced a plan for pre-fabricated housing blocks, to the late Ranasinghe Premadasa, when he was the Prime Minister, who wanted to provide a house for every citizen of Sri Lanka. But I really do not know what happened, as he was conducting Gamudawas was almost in every part of this island, and in the meantime started building houses for the poor. Mr. Tennekoon has also mentioned that he used a few of the cost reducing techniques of Dr. Kulasinghe. Finally with this dream house planned by Mr. Tennekoon, for the benefit of the poor middle class workers, and in the meantime I am putting this forward to Mr. Indika Gunawardena, Minister of Housing to obtain a copy of this plan from Mr. Tennekoon, as he has a heart for the poorest of the poor, and proceed with housing projects as envisaged in the news, and with the assistance of the Building Materials Corp, who can deliver all the materials required, get going and build a dream house for Rs. 150,000 as estimated by Mr. Tennekoon which could be given on a rent purchase scheme for the middle class workers, not forgetting the shanties which are the biggest problem to all governments. Cutty Felsinger, Standard of schools should be raised On the evening of 24th September, 98, I witnessed the Prize-Day function at the Good Shepherd Convent Kotahena where Prof. Luxman Jayatilleke, Chairman National Education Commission, was the Chief Guest. Prof. Jayatilleke delivered a speech which was very useful to the students, parents and teachers and the school. The Report of the Principal, Sister Lynette Perera, gave the many activities of the school and its achievements. In the field of sports, the school had achieved something to be proud of. Students from the school had been selected to represent the Sri Lankan schools abroad and some had even been captains of the teams. In education too the school had done quite well. All these were possible, no doubt, due to the dedicated services of the Principal and the teachers, the support from the education department and above all from the parents and well-wishers of the school, especially the past pupils. The number of teachers, according to the Report of the Principal, is 120, of which 44 are graduates. The salaries of the teachers, office staff and others, the the maintenance of the large buildings and compound and the expenses for the extra curricular activities would, I think, need a staggering amount. There is a limit to the support the government could give to the schools. It is the parents of the students and the past pupils who should see that the schools are able to give the best education possible to the children of the country. About twelve years ago I had been indirectly responsible for a donation for a Challenge Cup in one of the subjects. I was very happy to see that the Challenge Cup was still being awarded and the recipients over the years getting encouragement as a result. If we want to raise the standard of our country, it is the standard of the schools that should be raised first. Arul Sexual relation in high places During the past months the CNN Larry King Show Live has been quite impartially examining the implications of the “Inappropriate sexual relations” president Bill Clinton had with Monica Lewinsky with a view to giving the American public all possible information for them to form an opinion. The complete freedom of senior officials expressing their views of their President’s behaviour was astounding. It brought out clearly that safeguarding the constitution and office of President is more important than any other consideration. After the tapes were released and screened, they are now exploring whether the President is guilty of an impeachable offence. Like hunger and thirst sexual urge is a natural ever present urge in all human beings and all other living creatures. Even priests, monks, nuns although with shaven heads and wearing religious robes have these urges but their monastic life and discipline and vows taken by them help them to understand and overcome these urges whenever they arise. But Bill Clinton is a normal human being who has succumbed to temptation and opportunity which was easily available. Most chief executives are exposed to this kind of temptations, but one of the cardinal rules that chief executives follow is ‘Never...on your door step’. I really feel sorry for him because this indiscretion may cost him Presidency and one redeeming feature is that the American economy is doing well and the majority of American people do not want him impeached and should be allowed to continue good work, perhaps with a severe reprimand. Sri Lankans are particularly thankful to him for outlawing the LTTE as terrorist organisation. Since the Republicans are not prepared to let him off lightly and the most recent campaign of Ross Perot former presidential candidate demanding the President’s resignation, Bill Clinton cannot feel safe. I read sometime ago when an attempt was made to impeach president Premadasa, a saying of George T. Curtis described as a historical attorney (1889) on impeachment. ”A cause for removal from office may exist where no offence against positive law has been committed as where the individual has from immorality or imbecility or maladministration become unfit to exercise office.” The cruel irony of it all is that while Clinton is exposed to great shame the woman who offered herself to him is offered opportunities to make millions of dollars! Sena Mahawatte, Theft of manhole covers on CMC roads The theft of manhole covers on CMC roads has been regularly reported in the media. The CMC has appealed to the public for their co-operation to nab the culprits and solve the problem. They have given a special telephone number which could be contacted 24 hours of the day to report such thefts. However, the thefts continue causing much damage to motor vehicles and also to other road users. According to media reports, the prime suspects are drug addicts who dispose of these cast iron manhole covers for a few hundred rupees to dealers of scrap materials. The cost of a cast iron cover is reported to be over Rs. 26,000. There is also some suspicion that the Tigers may be removing these covers to destroy the sewage and drainage system in Colombo. It is a very sorry state of affairs that the CMC engineers are incapable of thinking of an innovation to overcome this problem. If these covers are being stolen by drug addicts for the resale value of cast iron, why doesn’t the CMC think of making these covers out of materials which have no ready re-sale value in the scrap market. One solution which readily comes to my mind is covers made of reinforced cement concrete. They can be made to the required strength. They can be cast to the required shape and dimensions. They can be made in a very short time. They have no re-sale value in the scrap market. In fact, I have seen quite big concrete manhole covers used by the telecom dept to cover their cable joint pits. I would therefore suggest that the mayor directs the engineers concerned to examine this solution (or other remedy) and implement the same if it is feasible rather than making desperate and pathetic appeals to the public to keep watch over their manhole covers day and night. Ranjith Fernando Jaffna landmine clearing with UN help It is heartening and consoling to note that the world august assembly the U.N. is to help clear landmines in Jaffna. Better late than never. But by now the damage colossal has been already done. Thousands have been killed by the deadly land mines and thousands more maimed for life. The U.N. should have started long ago this bold venture to help a legally elected government against the brutal and beastly terrorism of a mere microscopic minority of about two percent terrorists of twelve percent. Eighty-eight percent held to ransom for years and years. Tens of thousands of Sinhalese soldiers have been massacred. Thousands of Sinhalese and Muslims innocent civilians. This serious matter deserves deterrent and drastic steps. Instead many foreign nations completely supported and funded terrorism of a worst type unheard unknown elsewhere. With the U.S. too having a first hand bitter taste of brutal terrorism bold and brave Mr. Bill Clinton acted valiantly and took reasonable counter measures by bombing the culprits so that it may serve as a salutary reminder and a grim warning. All peace living nations must help wipe terrorism. Carl Nanayakkara A Navy vehicle was parked right across the pavement opposite Little Lion, a pastry shop located opposite Vajira Road, Colombo 4 at about 8.00 a.m. , 9th September 1998. There was very heavy traffic on the Galle Road at this time and the pedestrians including ladies and children were compelled to get on to the Galle Road and cross this point to get back to the payment at considerable risk to their lives and limbs. When I observed this I knocked at the side glass by the side of the driver of this vehicle who was in naval uniform. At my request he pointed to a lady who had come in this vehicle to make some purchases from Little Lion. Although there was ample room for this vehicle to be parked away from the pavement the driver in uniform refused to move the vehicle despite my appeal on behalf of the pedestrians. Thereafter I went into Little Lion and complained to the lady who had come in this vehicle but she too merely smiled and took her own time to make the purchases and pay for them with the credit card which took even more time exposing the pedestrians to greater danger. Will the Commander of the Navy please see that naval vehicles and their occupants do not violate road rules and municipal by-laws. A, B. Pilapitiya Recently, the words ‘homo sexual’ and ‘legal abortion’ were circulating and much spoken of. The word ‘homo sexual’ was the highlight at a political meeting down south while ‘abortion’ was talked of to bring about legislation to legalise abortion; to terminate the birth of unwanted babies. These two words directly concern sex. Homosex is having sex with the same sex, lesbianism, gays. The other is to end unwanted pregnancies. Religious organisations frown upon these two words calling them sin. Look at these in a different angle along with religions as the base. It is said that God works miracles and moves in a mysterious manner and it is only the intelligent who could grasp His intentions or wish. Now He has come to a point of stopping the increase in population as man has gone wild to exist with meagre resources which were plentiful when man started life on this planet. His intention now is to curb the growth and has introduced these methods which the religious bodies seem to have not understood. Therefore, it is no sin to indulge in such behaviour or action and all those who believe in God as the creator should along with the church, agree to any legislation which governments may bring to legalise these pactices and to make them recognised by society. ‘Devils Workshop,’ Even to those who have clearly stated that they were not liable to pay income tax the Department of Inland Revenue has sent a great deal of forms thereby increasing its work and the work of the Postal Department besides wasting several forms and stationery,and it is the general public who has to pay for all that wastage! Last year I suggested, through your esteemed journal, that the Commissioner General of Inland Revenue recovers at least the cost of wasted stationary from the officers concerned. If he had done that the foolish blunder of wasting forms could have been stopped from being repeated this year too. When will the Inland Revenue Department learn from its mistakes? A Reader Apropos the letter of Mr. L. S. Jayawardene, which appeared in the Island on 29th September 1998, I wish to further state that the prevalent atmosphere in Mabole and the surrounding areas in the vicinity of the playgrounds being filled with rotten garbage is sickening to the people of Mabole, Wattala. Well, the filling of the playground is quite in order without polluting the atmosphere and the environment. How long do the residents have to suffer? We appeal to the authorities concerned to be more realistic and bring a viable solution to this problem. Is Mabole to have more playgrounds or dumping grounds! Ananda Witharana, Appreciation Had Gamini being living today we would have celebrated his fifty eight birthday yesterday. Though he is no longer with us, I can still recall to mind his wonderful personality and the outstanding qualities he possessed. His gentleness will always come first, as a doctor, friend and politician, this noble trait in his character won for him the hearts of all the people who came in contact with him. His family pride came next. How much he loved, respected and held in high esteem his illustrious father and devoted mother. He was also so proud of his sisters and brother and their achievements. His immediate family-Daisy his wife, Bavani his daughter and Dumesh his son got all the love care and attention that he could give them. His honesty, dedication to his duty and love of his motherland — Sri Lanka stand out as a shining example to all politicians. He never let anything distract him from his goals once he had set them. He always did his best in order to achieve the best; this was what he worked for. He had the capacity to undertake varied tasks at one and the same time, and to give them all the same amount of attention and effort they required. He played many roles and in all of them he was outstanding, whether as doctor, politician, sportsman, old boy of his alma mater, friend or mentor. He was like a many faceted gem sparkling and pure reflecting and highlighting all that was worthwhile and good. He was taken away from us at the height of his glory. In a way, I suppose, to make his loss more tragic and unforgettable. His sense of humour, his concern for others, his clever judgement of situations and his quiet and unassuming manner will remain in our hearts for a very, very long time. Daya Gunasekara |
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