Morning
Spice by Ginger
Tragedy about
humanity; It seldom learns from past lessons
This is about the time when we
should do some stock taking as the year draws to
a close. It is also the time the shops do a bit
of stock taking and decide on what to do with
stocks that are gathering dust. The tragedy about
humanity is that it seldom learns from past
lessons — in this instance both you and me
and also the shops. The first question the more
right thinking family and parents interested in
the future happiness of their children should ask
themselves is whether their life styles and also
their values are right.
The tragedy is that parents
often veer off from the straight and narrow path
to give what they mistakenly consider their
children the best in life. Resultantly the values
start dipping within the family itself and there
is a unhealthy drift from grass roots thinking.
Ginger is not trying to bring metaphysics into
the conversation but the fact is that the erosion
of certain accepted canons of conduct is what has
caused the chaos that has set in today.
Similarly many businessmen who
made it with the swing and the book will have to
contend with more discriminating buyers and less
spending money at the end of the year. Will they
try their usual gimmicks to clear stocks of adopt
a more mundane approach to their selling
techniques.
Acute conditions
All this time it was felt that
cortisones were the answer to many health
problems quite recently doctors started giving
cortisone injections for quite a few acute
conditions and now they have discovered that
these shots though effective in some instances do
precious little in most cases where it was
supposed to help.
The latest discovery is that
cortisones can be rather helpful in relieving
sciatica pain they cannot help you to do your
normal activities like walking nor is it likely
to put off the need for the surgeons scalpel. In
other words its role even as a pain killer plain
and simple is rather limited.
Archaeologists’
discovery
Archaeologists in Israel may
have been on the verge of a sensational discovery
but were thwarted by Jewish orthodox thinking.
Some years ago these archaeologists discovered
what may have been the remains of the Maccabees,
tribe of Jewish fighters about whom nothing had
been heard of for centuries.
There was much excitement when
the discovery was made initially but it ended in
a bit of an anti climax when the haridem who are
orthodox Jews took strong objection to graves
being dug up and call it ‘grave desecretion
‘ a running battle has gone on since which
has slowed down the process.
Sports and filthy lucre
In the good old days, sportsmen
(including athletes and cricketers) were guided
by that gloriously inspiring adage.
"For when the One Great
Scorer comes to write against your name. He
writes not that you won or lost, but how you
played the game".
Then athletes took part for not
only self-glory but for one’s school or
team. Of course the reward was silver cups and
the seconds and thirds certificates.
It was a very proud moment for
athletes (male or female) to have their
photographs published in the media surrounded by
the trophies they had won.
Special glass cases were
constructed to hold such trophies (mostly silver
cups) proudly displayed in their homes. To
digress now take the brilliant example of Major
Duncan White, who brought fame to our little
Island and put Ceylon on the map of the world. He
aimed at a gold but got a silver medal as his
reward.
The sense of achievement and
love for his country was the motivating factor in
his case. He never received even a bicycle from
the government. In the case of cricketers of the
good old days, the greatest thrill for a
cricketer who did well (either in batting or
bowling) was the plaudits of appreciative
spectators.
For an outstanding cricketer
who faired remarkably well in the field when
given out his crown of glory was the standing
ovation he received from the Pavilion, during his
walk back like a conquering hero.
Whenever a cricketer went out
to bat he was always reminded of the inspiring
words of the Bard who said, among other things:
"It is not for the sake of
a ribboned coat or the selfish hope of a
season’s fame, but his Captain’s hand
on his shoulder smote: Play up, play up and play
the game".
Today, I have to admit with a
deep sense of sadness that cricket has
deteriorated to a commercialised business. In the
good old days, if any amateur athlete or
cricketer received any monetary award, he was
immediately branded as a Professional and
debarred from all amateur meets.
I was shocked to see in the
media pictures no other person than our beloved
President distributing cash awards and donating
10 perches of prime land in Kotte to the athletes
who brought fame in the recent Commonwealth Games
and similarly the same awards to our world
beaters (cricketers) for their splendid victory
in England.
By the way, on their own merits
each cricketer who has taken part in
International tests is a millionaire today and a
few of them multi millionaires. This is an
accepted fact.
Last year, I had written two
articles which were published on "Legalised
Bribery". One was about Police Officers of
the Gampaha District (why Gampaha?) during the
course of their legitimate duties arresting a
murderous gang. These officers in addition to
receiving extra increments and promotions also
received very substantial cash awards.
I had stated that it was a bad
precedent that would lower the morale and
discipline of the entire rank and file of the
Police Service for obvious reasons. In the case
of the athletes and cricketers pictured in the
media, who not only received cash awards but 10
perches of prime land each, I feel that it is a
very unhealthy and vicious precedent. No more
will athletes compete for the love of their
country and receive medals and of course
cricketers included, but believe me there
won’t be enough land in the country to
donate to the future generation of athletes and
cricketers.
As this whole exercise kills
the spirit of sport it stinks of a mercenary
flavour, I therefore wonder whether this is a
vote catching gimmick.
"With malice towards none
and charity towards all"
Capt L P. Juriansz
Tidal energy without tides
According to press reports a
project to generate electricity harnessing the
sea will be commissioned sometime in
1999.According to the information available with
me it is bound to fail... for our country is not
blessed with sufficient tidal energy.Acording to
the information obtained from the Meteorology
Department, the west coast tidal variation is
under 1meter. I do not understand how such a low
variation could effectively be harnessed to
generate electricity.
The pioneers in this field are
the French .In Brittanny where tides reach as
high as 16.1 metres, the first ever wave energy
project has been functioning for three decades.It
was commisioned by General de Gaulle.But that is
the only such project in France.
Only Canada and China are
succesfully exploiting wave energy. In Canada in
the Bay of Fundy there is a project.Incidentally
Bay of Fundy holds the record for high tides at
19.1 meters.I have read an article the
prestigious "Le Monde" giving figures
about those projects.Unfortunately that article
has been misplaced.No sooner than I lay my hands
on it Ishall write to the press again May be the
planners were counting on harnessing TSUNAMI..
huge tidal waves resulting from undersea
earthquakes!!!
J. K. Wijedasa
Colombo
Capital
punishment
A newspaper article indicates
that President Kumaratunga’s government is
seriously thinking of re-introducing capital
punishment because of the unstoppable crime rate,
highlighted recently by the rape and death of a
young Indian woman. I wrote to this very journal
almost three years ago suggesting that a painful
deterrent is the best medicine for crime.
Since then nothing has changed
and needless to emphasize where we stand today.
At least this time around I hope and pray the
proposal would become a reality owing to the
urgency of such legislation. For if we do not act
at this very late stage, the outcome would be
complete bedlam.
Senseless rape and murder scar
had maim the very fabric of a decent society.
They do irreparable damage to the confidence (if
any left) the public have in a government and its
Law enforcers. A fear psychosis begins to haunt
the ordinary peace loving citizen, who is already
saddled with the stress of economic pressures and
the complexity of living in an atmosphere of
anxiety and uncertainty brought about by the
continuing war. Given the present circumstances,
I am at a loss to understand why certain people
oppose such proposals, calling it either barbaric
or that it violates human rights, human dignity
and all that kind of sugar coating.
Of course any kind of
punishment or condemnation is not going to ever
bring back the victims who have succumbed to such
criminal acts. Neither is it any lasting
consolation to the surviving victims and their
families. But, the fact remains that we simply
cannot allow this gory trend to continue for
ever. Time has already run out. This criminal
virus has long been allowed to freely gnaw at the
innards of our delicate and passive society.
Moreover, such incessant crime
undermines the capabilities of the Police on whom
I will not place the blame. They more often than
not risk their lives to bring criminals to
justice only to find they are being spirited away
on bail or given shamefully lenient sentences
because of powerful forces within and outside the
government. Such people do not give a damn what
happens to the poor citizens at large, who are
the ones caught in this vicious maelstrom.
Four decades ago when we were
in the college boarding, discipline was designed
by the use of the rod, with remarkable success.
Calling for our buttocks with a lean cane in his
hand I still remember my head master uttering
these words, "Son, this is not for pain but
for shame". Shame may not mean a thing to
hard-core criminals but I do hope pain will.
Amaranath Paul,
Dubai, UAE
Security check points a
necessity
I live in a high security zone,
so I am subject to frequent checks at the
security checkpoints. Like many people I too do
not like to be checked, but I regard it as a
necessary evil, but do realize that they are
necessary for the security of the city. I
therefore, co-operate with them willingly and
cordially. The security staff have been
invariably polite and do their job efficiently,
and we must in all fairness pass on a good part
of the credit to them for helping to prevent
terrorist activity in the city. I have heard of a
few of these security staff being nasty and rude
to people at security checkpoints. There will
always be rude members of the public as well as
at security checkpoints.
When I am being checked at
these security check points I have short chat
with the police officers, and I have found that
they do not like to have to man security check
points. To give some idea of the mental and
physical hardships they have to undergo, the
police officers who man these points are drawn
from their police stations for a two week stint
of duty, away from their families, and they are
housed in vacant hall in the National Lotteries
Board Building. There are more than 500 police
officers in this hall. There are no beds and they
sleep on cardboard from empty boxes. They are not
provided with any bedding, they have one tap,
without even a shower rose, and the water is cut
during some periods of day. They have only two
toilets for all 150 officers.
I have been told that these
toilets have not been even washed during the last
10 months. So they try to use the toilets of
their friends if they can find them. They are not
provided with a single meal, but are paid a batta
which they claim is insufficient
They work to an eight hour
shift and are dropped at their check point, but
have to find their way back. They have to keep
standing during the whole eight hours, which they
claim is backbreaking. Not a single chair or
stool is provided. Even to buy a lunch packet
they cannot leave their post. What if they have
bad stomach and need to go to the toilet? When I
asked about this they cheerfully replied that
they have been spared this problem by the Devas.
The remarkable thing is despite all these
hardships, most of them are good humoured.
I trust that thils letter will
catch the eye of the high ranking police
officers.
S. Jayawardena
Call
to pensioners
This letter is with reference
to a notice published in The Island of 2.10.1998
by Mr. B. Poddalgoda of Panadura calling a
meeting of Government and Local Government
pensioners on the same day at 2 p.m. in the
Colombo Fort YMCA.
My fellow pensioners and I
welcome the idea. However, we are of the view
that due notice should have been given before
this date as people have their personal problems
including the question of transport.
There is also the question of
confidence as people will not know for what
purpose such a meeting is called.
I would like to suggest that
Mr. Poddalgoda and the other pensioners of his
department should form an association of their
own with a name and address and similarly other
government and local government pensioners follow
suit with a view thereafter to organize an All
Island Association of Government and Local
Government Pensioners.
Pensioner
Colombo 5.
Portrait gallery of
‘promising’ persons
According to a recent news item
in the media, there had been a bit of an uproar
recently at a pradeshiya sabha in a Southern town
over the alleged removal of some portraits of
certain UNP leaders — of the stature of
national leaders — from the sabha office
walls.
The sabha being a PA dominated
one the opposition members voiced their protest
but the chairman is reported to have refuted the
allegation and had amicably resolved matters
without further friction.
The alleged incident brings
into focus the utterly hollow and meaningless
practice of displaying portraits of politicians
in government offices.
During the pre-independence
era, important government offices and court
houses carried the framed pictures of the
king/queen but they were not indiscriminately
displayed all over at every office. It was meant
only as an acknowledgment of the sovereign who
presided over the British Empire of which we were
then an integral component. Conversely, however,
the portraits of the governors of Ceylon were not
displayed in similar manner.
After gaining independence it
was customary to display the prime
minister’s picture in government
institutions. It was spontaneous and there was no
compulsion and nobody grudged or protested such
display. But, after our becoming a
‘Democratic People’s Republic’
governed by an executive president and a figure
head prime minister, it became the norm to
display framed pictures of not only the President
and Prime Minister but also of the relevant
ministers in every department and corporation
office all over the country. Whenever there was a
change of ministers, the concerned officials had
enough work — exhibiting new portraits and
removing those of the predecessors. In certain
offices framed pictures of even the deputy
ministers are prominently displayed for the
‘adoration and edification’ of all and
sundry.
This is really a ludicrous
state of affairs.
Unlike in the past, people of
all categories — in the present context
— are quite intelligent and educated to some
extent and their perceptions of the ruling
politicians cannot be unduly clouded or swayed by
merely exhibiting the beaming or morose and
sardonic or quizzical faces of presumptious
politicians who by fortuitous circumstances were
elevated to ministerial rank. People do not mind
and in fact welcome the display of portraits of
the head of the state — whatever the
political party in power — as he or she
deserves to be acknowledged by the masses as a
unifying symbolic image, but they would not have
the same regard or acceptance for each and every
minister or deputy — some of whose very
faces evoke disgust and even hatred in view of
some of their deplorable acts of commission and
omission directed against the people.
On the other hand, the
concerned ministers who consider themselves as
‘the Lords of all they Survey’ would,
no doubt, be deriving lot of egoistic pleasure
and self-glorification when they see their
enlarged faces adorning the walls of various
offices under their respective ministries. People
who denounce this showy tasteless practice,
declare that the faces of most ministers —
some of whom are of questionable character and
— temperament — are infact disfiguring
most of the office walls.
Lot of people would wish to
know whether it is on governmental or ministerial
directives that the portrait exhibitions are
carried out or is it — merely on the
pressures brought to bear on the minions of the
Public Service by higher officials and party
union leaders who by their sycophantic or slavish
attitudes wish not only to please and serve their
masters under any circumstances, but also to gain
personal favours.
Most people are wondering why
our officials cannot give up their slavish
foibles and resort to acceptable and constructive
work norms in their — institutions with a
view to serving the people equitably and
efficiently — instead of perpetrating showy
shallow acts of exhibitionism.
Incidentally, there had been
occasions sometime back, when certain
administrative officials — who had been
pushed from pillar to post and harassed —
for no fault of theirs, other than their
disinclination to carry out illegal orders from
some over bearing politicians — were heard
to remark that what is required of their union of
professionals and executives is a collective
effort to assert and activate their legitimate
rights and constitutionally provided strength of
administration as a buffer against undue illegal
political interference and harassment.
R. M. A. B.
Dassanayake,
Matale.
Letter
What November 11
stands for...
The 11th of November, 1998
marks the 80th Anniversary of the Armistice that
ended the catastrophic first World War. The
"Great War" to "end all wars"
wrecked the 20th Century and served to set the
stage for the Second World War and the nuclear
armed Old War that followed it.
It was only the nonon sensical
determination of Presidents Ronald Reagan and
Bush, matched by the humane goodness of Mikhail
Gorbachev that prevented an atomic Third World
War and allowed the human race to resume the
noble path to democracy, free trade and
globalisation that was so stupidly and cruely
interrupted in 1914.
None of the leaders of the
great European powers wanted an all out war.
However, the complex system of
military treaties created a powder keg situation
which needed only the trigger off the heir to the
Austro - Hungarian throne’s assassination by
a Serb fanatic to blow the old world order up.
Over 13 million fighting men
died and scores of millions of others maimed
physically and psychologically. The British
Empire alone lost nearly 980,000 men (some
750,000 from Great Britain).
The magnificent war memorial
that now situated next to the Public Library,
Colombo commemorate the young British and
Ceylonese men who left this island to fight and
die in the trenches.
There is a modest but moving
monument near the entrance to the General
Cemetery (Colombo) that is dedicated to the young
Ceylonese who paid the supreme price for
"King, Country and Empire." Of course,
nationalist and communists will sneer that these
young volunteers were the "sacrificial lambs
of Imperialism."
However, it should be
remembered that these Ceylon boys did their bit
to defeat the might of the Teutonic Empires of
German and Austria.
Had these two central European
powers won the war they would (with the economic
might of all Europe under them) have conquered
Asia and Africa with ease
It has to be admitted that it
was Communism and its "soul twin" cum
rival Nazism which benefited the most from the
First World War.
"A student of
History"
Col. 3
|
