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Morning Spice by
Ginger Ginger had just written about how he gave up smoking after over four decades because he got his cataract out. He went back to the Asha Central which is the only nursing home he has ever gone to after thirty long years. This time he went back because his friend of the days of his youth and folly Dr. Nalin Rodrigo who is now in charge of the place asked him to come over there saying they would look after him. I went with quite some fear and trepidation as Rods had played a couple of practical jokes on me before (in a reciprocal sense) and I did not know what diabolical lark he may have up his sleeve. He was true to his word this time though. The place had certainly changed. It was a far cry from the last time Ginger was there when it was a sprawling old building and Ginger took out two nurses for dinner and a late show and we slunk in after 12 p.m. with no one being any the wiser. The place had retained its homeliness in quite a different way. Every one was friendly and anxious to help but they kept quite an eye on me and monitored me right along (from the nurses to the doctors). At no stage did I feel neglected or in need of attention. After all the personal touch goes a long way in building up a patients resistance. Ginger wishes that this becomes the working motto of all nursing homes and if he is not too utopian - that of all government hospitals as well - Ginger was quite impressed with the combination of personal attention and sophistry. Tea and coffee without milk Women in the Asia are as a rule smaller built with slighter frames and so at a greater risk of getting this disease that causes a loss in bone density. To keep off this condition you need plenty of calcium. A litre of milk a day is the recommended dose per day. There are substitutes like spinach and tofu but one wonders whether they are as certain. To promote tourism There are a whole heap of bars, eating houses and snack bars that were really shop houses before the eighties some restaurants even offered free gondola rides on the river to those who spent more than a certain amount. Most visitors spend the night moving from night clubs to Jazz bars and some end up at Bugis Junction watching the Boom, Boom, Room performed by divas. GST for locally produced Curd - No GST for Imported Milk Powder Bad for Local Farmers - Good for Multinationals. For decades, milk production in Sri Lanka has been adversely affected by changes in policy always to the detriment of the small farmer. In Sri Lanka, we do not have a dairy industry, as there are no commercial farms in milk production. However, the country has a wide cross-section of small agricultural farmers possessing one or two cows units each from which they derive a small litterage of raw milk, which is often sold to the middlemen for use by multi national and other companies. Despite promises, the small farmer with one or two cows has received no incentives, no assistance, no relief and no encouragement. Accordingly, the collection of raw milk in the country continues to decline. Some of this raw milk finds its way to the production of curd, the Matara and Kantalai curd suppliers having now become famous for the quality of their product. It has now been confirmed by Inland Revenue that the manufacture and sale of small quantities of curd to the urban sector is subject to GST at 12 1/2 per cent. Milk powder imported by multi nationals is however not subjected to GST (exempted) because the Government seems to do as much as possible to make the multi national richer and the small farmer poorer. Is it the intention of the Government to eliminate the small farmer completely from the dairy scene in Sri Lanka? A citizen A two ft. wide masonry drain skirts my clinic. It may have been constructed several years ago by the Highways Dept. when the Battaramulla-Pannipitiya road was widened. The drain has never been cleaned since it was constructed. It is brim full with stagnant water full of maggots emanating a foul smell. Being a medical man myself I wrote a polite letter to the local M.O.H. whom I thought the authority that supervises such mundane activities. The good doctor lost no time but instructed the P.H.I. with a copy of my to report on this matter. The P.H.I. allotted to the Local Authority inspected the drain and informed me verbally that the drain had been constructed by the Highways Dept., and it was their business to have it cleaned. What an ingenious reply? My understanding is that drains must be flushed and cleaned by the Local Authority and not a matter for the Highways Dept. Although my complaint was made a good six months back the drain remains in the same conditions serving as a veritable breeding ground for mosquitoes and flies. Now where do I go from here? My request was for a bare civic amenity expected of a Local Authority worth its name. What is the purpose of a Local Body with/high sounding name if it is incapable of providing a basic amenity to its constituents? I almost hear a faint whisper from the local politicians 'Palayam yako yanda'. Go to hell you fool! Dr. S. R. W. K. W. Jayasinghe, About 1500 deaths are caused by motor traffic accidents annually.The majority of deaths are among pedestri-ans.We see more and more reports of pedestrians being run over at pedestrian crossings. The lack of discipline of Sri Lanka drivers is legendary.It is gradually becoming worse.A vehicle stopping at a pedestrian crossing to enable pedestrians to cross is becoming the exception rather than the rule. Rarely would a driver be convicted of running over a pedestrian at a pedestrian crossing and killing him.Even when this rare event occurs the punishment is a suspended sentence, a tiny fine, and removal of the driving licence for a period of about two years.From my point of view,the only real punishment seems to be in remand jail for a few days,(although being in remand jail is supposed to be in protective custody). Countries like Singapore have very disciplined drivers.One reason would be that the punishments are severe for errant drivers. If we are to get back some discipline to our roads,it is imperative that errant drivers be punished severely. Dr.Lucian Jayasuriya, We are in for another one of those fabulous fireworks displays in the sky this month. Not the terrestrial ones, but the cosmic ones. November 18th to be exact. This is the day when we can expect the height of this year's Leonid meteor shower. The Leonid meteor shower is no doubt one of the most anticipated astronomical events of 1998, since the fascillities available to the astronomers for its study is much higher today, than when this shower occurred 33 years ago. Normally the annual Leonid shower produces 20 to 40 meteors per hour at its height, but this time things are going to be different. The parent comet that is responsible for this show - 55P/ Tempel-Tuttle - which has a period of 33.2 years was rediscovered in its parabolic orbit on March 4th 1997, and was at perihelion (the closest approach to the sun) on the February 28, 1998 and is now moving away in its orbit which happens to be at an angle of about 162 degrees to that of the earth's orbit. When a comet approaches the sun it dislodges large amounts of dust particles in its wake owing to the heating effect of the sun, which means that comet orbits are literally rivers of dust and debris. Since the comet has just rounded the Sun, large amount of dust and debris would have been left behind in its orbit. For our good luck, it so happens that the earth will cross this dusty region of the comet's orbit, travelling in its own orbit, once again on November 18th around 2 a.m. local time. This is the time to watch the sky. 'Shooting stars' or meteors that would be seen are produced by the burning up of these small particles (sizes ranging from sand grains to small pebbles) when they enter the earth's upper atmosphere at speeds of about 71 km. per second. Meteors were first established to be of cosmic origin by the famous 18th century astronomer Edmund Halley, of Halley's comet fame. In 1966, that was when the comet went round the sun 33 years ago, it had produced many thousand meteors per hour over North America. This had been no just a shower, but a storm. The most spectacular Leonid storm had been in 1833, again when the American continent was the most favoured area of the earth that had bulldozed headlong into the river of this cometary debris in the early hours of November 12. This had produced the most breathtaking cosmic fireworks display on record with over 50,000 to 150,000 meteors per hour, depending on the site of observation. We may not be that lucky to witness such a fabulous show this time. But it is indeed interesting to know that this time Asia, in particular east Asia is the chosen site for this year's show. Meteor showers can hardly be compared to the fireworks that we have all see on terra firma. In fact the comparison ends just there. Fireworks do not reach heights of more than a few hundred feet at most. Meteor showers on the other hand occur well above the cloud layer in the outer lawyers of our atmosphere, several miles above. So these are real heavenly displays. The radiant of the next Leonid shower is the head of the constellation Leo, which is easily identifiable by its 'reversed question mark' appearance. It would be seen well up in the eastern sky around midnight during those days. However this does not mean that the meteors would be confined to this constellation only. They would be visible all over the sky, but if their directions are traced backwards they would all appear to come from the head of Leo, its radiant. The best time for observation would be from around 2 a.m. till dawn. Predictions vary as to the exact timing of the height of its intensity. Hence it is always prudent to give a good time margin during observations. Some say to observe the sky four to five days on either side of the predicted days to see the gradual build up and decline. Accurate forecasting seems to be so difficult that others are not sure whether the maximum would occur this year or the next! However the latest calculations seem to indicate that 1998 will be the better of the two. No special equipment is needed to see meteor showers. It is a naked eye observation. Watch for possible 'fireballs' also during this cosmic show. These are not uncommon in Leonid meteor showers. They are due to larger than normal bodies burning up, some of which can even reach the surface of the earth as meteorites, that can even cause some degree of damage. Another potential hazard that is recently being recognised is their possible impact on more than over 500 working satellites that are out there in space. Although the debris particles themselves may be minute in size, their velocities of over 70 k per second gives each particle a sizeable amount of kinetic energy which could be harmful to the satellites. As a precautionary measure NASA has even decided to rotate some of the delicate satellites so that the least vulnerable profile of the satellite would be exposed to the meteoric onslaught. The Hubble Space Telescope would be rotated so that the back end will face the meteor stream. Interesting photographs can be taken very simply by a timed exposure of an ordinary camera on a tripod for a minute or longer, when the meteors will show up as beautiful streaks of light against a starry background. The longer the exposure, larger the number of meteors that will be captured. Use a cable release to open and close the shutter to avoid camera shake. A fast film is advised. Dr. A. N. Dharmawansa, A reply to 'War and Peace' in Tamil separatism In her article 'War and Peace in Tamil Separatism' (Island 28.10.98 page 6) Kamalika Pieris makes the astonishing claim that the burning down of the Jaffna Public Library by some mutinious policemen, was not Sinhala racism but rather 'police lawlessness' motivated by the LTTE's killing of two policemen in 1981. The fact remains that a mob of entirely Sinhalese policemen burned down a much loved non political public institution that was situated right in the middle of the overwhelmingly Tamil Jaffna Town. There were many instances during the 1971 JVP insurrection and its 'second coming' of the 1987-1989 period when Sri Lankan police and security personnel were gunned down by the almost 100% Sinhalese insurgents in the south. Yet the police and security forces did not destroy any libraries or public institutions. In fact even the destruction of private property by undisciplined security force personnel was on a very small scale on both these southern 'shows', particularly the situation in the north-east. The 'race factor' was the main undoubtedly reason for this significant differences. The author fails to mention the very important and outrageous fact that not a single member of this 'bonfire bunch' was charged or prosecuted by the authorities. I distinctly remember that in 1982 'an entire regiment the Raja Rata rifles' was disbanded and its men sacked from the army for a destructive rampage that saw many shops and kiosks burnt down and several civilians assaulted and thrashed in Jaffna. The 'provocation' for that episode was the death by sniping of a soldier on sentry duty. Needless to say that when army reinforcements arrived and started to comb the area, the gunman (or gunmen) was long gone. Again no one was charged for this wanton misbehaviour and to the best of knowledge no compensation was granted by the state to the civilian victims. The newspapers carried photographs of disgraced and demobbed louts in civvies clutching their bags and grinning sheephisly as they arrived at Fort Railway Station. It is impossible to under estimate the role that incidents like these and the state's failure to punish the culprits, played in the growth of the violent extremist youth groups. She states that 'far greater damage was done' when the Central Bank library was blasted but 'there was no outcry over that.' The Central Bank library was a modern reference centre with a heavy emphasis on economic studies. It did not I am sure, have any literature of great antiquarian value and replacing the destroyed material will not be too difficult. The terrorists targeted the Central Bank complex because it was the nerve centre of the states financial management. If the bank's library was located away from the main complex it is very unlikely that it would have been targeted. I don't want it to sound as though I am trying to downplay the tragedy that the cruel bombing was. However I strongly feel that it should not be used to somehow try and minimise the foul arson of the magnificent Jaffna public library building and its precious collection of rare books and ola leaf manuscripts. The deliberate destruction of any library great or small is an act of barbarous cultural rape and sacrilege. S. L. David By Mineka Weddings, are opportunities to mingle and hear the latest. It happened the other day when I bumped into Sumith, the globetrotter, at the banquet hall in the Hilton. Top boys of Emirates were floating around, light and easy, with a smile of great contentment. We spoke freely with an accountant who sat at the same table. From one thing to another the hot topic of Air Lanka's takeover naturally took precedence whilst sipping specially imported Bordeaux of class vintage. It was no takeover, he insisted. Collectively we apologised and corrected ourselves -a handover. He laughed - a laugh that conveyed You idiots! You don 't know how to run airlines, you will soon see how Profitable it would be.' 'To whom', inquired Sumith. 'Like the profitable duty free shop that was handed over to a foreigner to make money. And again the Airline Kitchen and of course fat salaries are very profitable. He laughed again. Don't laugh. If you go to any village and announce you are from Emirates they will lynch you. Truly not. Truly yes, Sumith asserted. It is no laughing matter to be a party for plundering our silver. No laughing matter when monopolies are handed over to foreign parties. See - what will happen to the Gas Company. And the duty free shop in due course. The accountant, who was wine red in the face, may be due to much travelling, made us very comfortable by assuring that UL will be a first class airline. UL will benefit from our experience and expertise. Like in the Emirates we have already started serving choice wine and food cooked by gourmet chefs. The accountant beamed with delight when he announced the improvements already made in the in-flight service. This time Sumith couldn't contain his laughter. He laughed loud. I travelled from Frankfurt to Colombo on the flight of UL546 on the fourteenth of last month in business class. Air Lanka was never known for gourmet food, but it was manageable except breakfast when the flight originates from Colombo. Kiribath and the Southern Ambul Thial were Ôcest bon'. However on 546 it was pathetic - UL was never known to have been worse. The inside pages of the menu were printed in cheap course paper, smudged and untidy and the menu was cheap coffee shop stuff unlike the exciting and delectable choices printed in the Emirates card. It was misleading too. Little details that add class were ignored and the starters were coupled with a main course. As for the food the garlic toast was salty and unpalatable. The onion soup was dishwater, garnished with croutons. A rest-house keeper in an outlandish town would serve better onion soup. A large piece of cheap fondant coated cake was served as petit four, along with the salad, dished out at the beginning. Even a little detail like attending to salt shakers that work had not been looked into. Sumith looked straight in the face of the accountant and said, 'I didn't complain. Others did'. And do you know that the UL airfare is more expensive than Emirates. 'I don't believe this,' he defended. Don't believe me see the difference in print, and to prove his point he produced two menus - the UL menu of the fourteenth and Emirates of the fifteenth of last month on their respective flights Frankfurt to Colombo, the latter with a stop over in Dubai. And for the complaints, Mr. Accountant, the cabin crew would testify. We thought professionalism and profit wete motives for privatisation, instead we are getting deterioration in such short time. Fortunately, there were no other noticeable shortcomings, for how long? When food that is mediocre becomes worse it would be lost paradise. Or is there a professional motive? Demolish the image of UL to a cheap airline. Make Emirates for first and business class and Air Lanka the monkey class for Sri Lankans and maids. Wise moves - lucrative to the Emirates and Paradise Lost to Air Lanka. Loosing Paradise for good, like Air Ceylon previously, is more a reality than a probability. Ombudsman 'I have only one grandchild, a year-old who is loveable and lively. Both her parents are employed and she was entrusted to spend the day with a Montessori and Day Care Centre. A few weeks back, while at this centre, she had a strong urge to answer a call of nature which she did in the bidet. The owner of the centre, on discovering the soiled bidet had hit the child and made her remove the excreta with her hands. That evening, the mother of the child was told not to bring the child until she had gone to the toilet. The child was promptly removed from the centre and a complaint made at the Kirillapone police station. It is tragic that people with such sadistic tendencies are permitted to run day care centres where little children are entrusted to their care. Such a traumatic experience as that of my grandchild could cause severe physchological problems. The Ministry of Education would greatly assist by carrying out periodic checks to ensure that such centres conform to standards expected of them. D. A. J. Perera Customers pay for parking their vehicles within the premises of Liberty Plaza, Colombo 3, which has fairly recently, introduced a system of a semi-automated parking facility. However, we find that not infrequently, the security at the entrance permits you to enter the car park. This invitation is followed by a patient wait by the customers for about a quarter of an hour or so in a queue to find a parking bay. Then the security personnel inside the car park impatiently wave you out, gesticulating that the park is full. The scenario reaches a climax when the security at the exit demands the minimum charge of 10 for our trouble. Unmoved by the protests of the disgusted customers, with an air of having been through this before, he calmly explains that is only doing his job. Fine, but his colleague at the other end should try and do his a little better and indicate when the car park is full, rather than generate income at a consistant pace for his employers. Perturbed |
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