Morning
Spice by Ginger
Stray
dogs and the safety of the Public
A man walked into a doctors
clinic the other day and showed the doctor a dog
bite on his leg and asked what he should do about
it. Ginger is quite a dog lover himself but his
sense of priorities places man over dog and when
an unknown cannine nips a pedestrian sharply on
his calf on the public highway, it is high time
the powers that be took note of such situations
and the dangers stray dogs pose to the safety of
the public. It could have been rabid or just mean
tempered.
Whatever the reason trotted
out for this canine petulance it would have been
poor consolation for the victim of the dog bite.
Now if that dog was rabid it would definitely put
that individual in quite a state of anxiety. True
there were the preventive injections but they
cost quite a lot and it would involve many visits
to the doctor. Moreover there was no guarantee he
would not get hydrophobia though the chances were
a little remote. What Ginger was trying to say
was that strays should be taken as puppies to
some pound because it may be easier to find
people to take them and rear them than when they
are full grown. In any case a plan to safeguard
people walking on the road is imperative.
Brain surgery
Now brain surgery need not be as gorey
and hair raising as it was some time ago. Would
you believe it if some one told you that there
need be no blood at all. Thanks to modern surgery
and science in particular it is possible to
operate on certain kinds of brain tumours without
the loss of blood.
Now medical research has
revealed that a gamma knife is actually capable
of performing what one might call a miracle. This
medical instrument can shrink acoustic neurons
which is a very common type of non malignant
brain tumour. The gamma knife gives a once and
for all dose of radiation that is shaped
according to the borders of the tumour once it is
targetted.
Holiday centres
Many of us tend to target Singapore and
Bangkok as our holiday centres further east. That
is largely because you are assured of good
entertainment and food. This year however, it may
be fully worth your while going to Ho Chi Ming
City if you are going out in the next few days.
Hotel rates have been cut by as much 20 percent
this month and taxifares reduced considerably.
Late last year they gave
visitors a chance to sample street food served by
the experts and also dishes from the Royal court.
The authorities are also cutting V.A.T. by as
much as 10%. We in the meantime have done no such
thing about our GST to draw tourists to the
country.
Wayamba — A
lesson
It is opportune, I believe
the Leaders of every political party in this
Island, which resorts to violence, to hear the
voter’s views. What prompts me to write is
due to the accusation made against the voter, by
the media men who were interviewed by TNL. What
the media men said was that the voter should not
have voted or selected unscrupulous, corrupt
thugs to represent us. May I boldly question the
media whether they were or are responsible in
great measure for the present state of affairs.
Did they not boost up the image of politicians
and political parties and deceived or lead astray
the voter?
Secondly, who nominates
these thugs, villains to represent the voter in
parliament and party? It is definitely the Party
Leaders, be they UNP, SLFP, PA or any other hue
or symbol. We as voters have no choice and are
compelled to vote for a party and not for an
individual. Are the party leaders so knave to
nominate those who are publicly known to be
criminals, thugs, corrupt? What can the poor,
innocent voter do? Do they have to refrain from
voting, which would be mass impersonation or
invalidate the ballot by crossing the whole
ballot paper. On the other hand, are the party
leaders feigning ignorance of the criminal
tendencies of their nominees and shamelessly
accept garlands, speak highly of such people,
when the whole country know who they are. If the
party leaders are unaware or ignorant, the public
(the voter) could assist in naming them.
The Wayamba elections has
given the party leaders the opportunity to
identify certain ministers, MPs, former and
present, and other party organisers who have
resorted to these deplorable acts of violent
behaviour. It is now very easy for party leaders
to sack, banish them from the political arena and
cleanse the parties of criminal elements within
their ranks for voters to vote without fear or
intimidation to a party and persons, honest,
patriotic and statesmen. Will the leaders take
this bold step as suggested. In this connection
it is relevant to mention here the intension of
Pope John Paul II who is preparing a document to
be delivered on 8th March 1999 seeking pardon for
atrocities committed by the church in the name of
God. If the Holy Father could ask for pardon for
sins committed during the last 2000 years why
cannot the lesser mortals be magnanimous to own
up to their wrongful acts and correct them for
the sake of future generations. If they
don’t act now, we are to presume that all
those speeches in platforms are, as the British
MP Mr. Derek Conway once said: "How can you
tell when a politician is lying? His lips
move." To encourage the leaders to take this
decisive action of throwing out these members is
that the leaders could be assured that those who
are thrown out of the party will not be a threat
to the party as they will be powerless without
the party label. To quote a French saying
"Aux grands maux les grands remedes."
To desperate evils desperate remedies.
"Gads",
Boralesgamuwa.
Politics cannot be
isolated from morality
"We, all of us members
of Avadhi Lanka, write to endorse every word
spoken by the Rt. Rev. Dr. Frank Marcus Fernando
, Bishop of Chilaw, at the recent prize-giving of
St. Peter’s College, Bambalapitiya,
regarding the elections to the Wayamba Provincial
Council. (Island of Saturday 30th January).
We salute the Bishop for
his fearlessness and forthrightness in exposing
what is ugly, hypocritical and immoral in one
society, because of which the fabric of our
national life is coming apart.
We have read elsewhere that
the Rev. Madihe Pannasiha Thero, the Rev.
Maduluwawe Thero and others too have expressed
their indignation at what has happened in
Wayamba.
This is as it should be for
now is the time when the spiritual leaders of all
religions should get together and organise the
people to resist with all their might the
assaults on their freedom and dignity, to use the
words of Bishop Fernando, by any governing body
that has lost moral-legitimacy because of its
desire to grab power by blatantly unethical
means."
Tyranny is made possible
only by the willing or unwilling, conscious or
unconscious, free or forced co-operation of those
who are tyrannised over. If the latter refused
all co-operation and were willing to suffer the
consequences of such refusal, inequity and
injustices would find it hard to go on for long.
Rarely in the history of
governance in this country has an administration
so blatantly abandoned and so cynically violated
the high moral principles upon which it
campaigned and rode to power. The PA
administration stands condemned by the
self-evident facts of the Wayamba Provincial
Council elections. Systematic and organized
intimidation of voters, cynical misuse of
government resources for securing advantage for
the party, the forcible silencing of law
enforcement officers by Cabinet Ministers, mass
impersonation, the forcible removal of ballot
boxes and their substitution by fraudulent ones -
These are only some of the more salient aspects
that characterise the Wayamba Provincial Council
election. Much of what we have heard from the
government by way of defence or alibi is that the
UNP did likewise when they were in power for 17
years. In Heaven’s name is it all that a
government which came to power on the wave of
protests against such practices, should now
refrain from repeating the practices they - so
eloquently condemned? To evoke the UNP past
performance to bring into "perspective"
or rationalize the PA government’s blatant
misconduct is rather like invoking the
infirmities of the Versailles treaty in order to
rationalize the birth of the Third Reich. As
Bishop Fernando puts it "there is so much
that is ugly, hypocritical and immoral in the
present that there is no need to hark back to the
past."
When does exculpation end
and moral responsibility begin?
Since the entire election
was vitiated by fraud and violence, we consider
that the Commissioner of Elections might have
sought a ruling from the Supreme Court before
declaring any candidate a winner.
Also it was the duty of the
Head of the Government to have taken the
necessary measurers to curb violence and enforce
the rule of law. She has failed to protect the
fundamental freedoms of the people, their civic
and political rights and their right to a secret
ballot.
Democracy requires that
rulers are accountable to the people. After the
Wayamba fiasco, the government has lost
legitimacy and authenticity. If it has any
self-respect, the government should have
resigned.
For, as Mahatma Gandhi has
said "the very essence of our civilization
is that we give a paramount place to morality in
all our affairs, public or privateÉ Moral
authority is never retained by any attempt to
hold on to it."
Bishop Fernando has called
for the passing of legislation that will
guarantee foolproof, just and fair elections.
While stringent laws are necessary, we think that
the enactment of legislation alone will not solve
the problem which goes much deeper. There has to
be a change of heart. Politicians must be made to
realize, again in the words of Mahatma Gandhi,
that one "cannot isolate politics from the
deepest things of life" which are truth and
non-violence.
Stanley
Jayaweera,
R. M. B. Senanayake,
Chandra Mettananda,
Stanley Gunaratna,
Dr. K. N. K. Wijewardena,
Susil Siriwardhana,
Leela Isaac.
Rajagiriya
Golf course at
Sinharaja
\I read in shocked horror
in the Sunday Observer of 6th December 1998 that
"The Tourist Board grants approval for
development of 4 new golf courses at Pelwatte,
Muthurajawela, Avissawella and Sinharaja, close
to the forest".
This is lunacy of a very
high order. Who would dream of destroying the
forest cover of Sinharaja? As far as Pelwatte is
concerned, everyone, except the Tourist Board is
aware of the fact that the Handapanagala
elephants are harassed, hounded and butchered to
protect the sugar cane at Pelwatte Sugar Co. We
also know that we are paying artificially
inflated prices for our sugar just to keep the
local sugar cane growers in business.
Muthurajawela (or what is
left of it after Shell Gas got a large chunk of
land there) is a bird sanctuary, and also absorbs
a great deal of rain water during the monsoon.
Probably only the Tourist Board knows what is
going to be destroyed at Avissawella.
As many people have not
read this article about the Tourist Boards’
craze for golf courses, I appeal to the media to
do something about before it is too late.
Mrs.
Bernadine Perera
Meters for trishaws
— a must
A couple of months ago the
Minister of Tranpsort announced that all trishaws
will be required to have meters installed in
order to prevent the charging of exorbitant fares
as done now.
With most trishaw drivers
the fare per kilometer is Rs. 30 which is also
the minimum fare. In outstations the fare is Rs.
60 or more per km depending on the urgency of the
passenger and the whims and fancies of the
driver. This is outright plunder.
The Ministry of Transport
should therefore take immediate steps to have all
trishaws fixed with meters as proposed without
shelving the plans and thereby allowing the
trishaws to continue to fleece the public.
The other proposal that
information with regard to the identity of the
driver/owner should be clearly displayed must
also implemented soon.
S.
Abeywickrama,
Nugegoda.
SLTL Telephone
Directory
According to the notice
published by SLTL (DN Jan. 29) and SLTL
(Residential/Greater Colombo) subscriber has to
buy three (03) additional directories to have
access to all number of SLTL telephones in the
island as SLTL gives only one copy of "Basic
Residential Directory Greater Colombo" free
of charge.
i.e. Business White Pages
Greater Colombo, Basic Residential Directory
— Provincial, Business White Pages —
Provincial
The case is similar for the
"Business Customer" too.
On what basis has SLTL
decided that a subscriber should be given only
the Directory which has his name? A subscriber
uses a Directory to refer someone else’s
number not to see his own name in print.
Who has authorised SLTL to
indulge in this blatant violation of
Subscribers’ right? Has the SLTL come down
to such a low level to grab its subscribers’
money by hook or by crook? Or have SLTL and
Yellow Pages (Directories Lanka (Pvt) Limited)
become "Kings" while the Subscribers
(Customers) are the Paupers? Did SLTL change the
word "Subscriber" to
"Customer" (in the notice) to escape
from its obligation to subscriber?
If SLTL decides to publish
one Directory for each Telephone Exchange, will
the subscriber have to buy about hundred (100)
additional Directories in order to have access to
all SLTL numbers?
Deshapriya
Rajapaksha,
Colombo 6.
More on Millenium
issue
Until today I was of the
opinion that the possibilities for counting
thousand years are exhausted. I was wrong.
There were people saying
that the present millenium is ending with
December 31 of this year, which means that the
first two millenia A.D. have 1999 years together.
Whether one of them having thousand years is the
first one, and that with 999 years is the second
one, or viceversa, depends on our ancestors,
whether they have celebrated the start of the new
millennium at the end of 999 being afraid to
write the last year of the first millenium all of
a sudden with four digits or maybe starting the
new millenium with the year 1001, as it would
have been correct.
After this category of
people, who are accepting a millenium of 999
years, we have a second category insisting that a
millenium must have one thousand years, otherwise
it would be a nine hundred ninetynineium only.
Then there was a gentleman
finding a way out of this discrepancy - category
number 3 - by introducing the year O (or 0000 for
the computers), getting a patent for it.
Finally, as I can see from
page 9 of your edition of January 29, there is a
gentleman, category number 4, who is able to
create a millenium measuring 1001 years, although
this wonder has happened long ago, in 1001 B.C.
Thus, that millenium starts, as he says, on
January 11, of 1001. This gentleman refers to a
background in mathematics, which seems to be a
very remote one. Having the first millenium B.C.
from January 1 of 1001 and, when the year 1001 is
ending, 1000 years from 1000 B.C. to 1 B.C., both
years included, of course, the total amount of
years is 1001, otherwise I will voluntarily go
back to the primary school. A patent should be
obtained also in this case.
Hans
Koerper
New Kendalanda
Estate.
Down to Earth
Agro-research
and development
by
Derrick Schokman
With the advent of the 21st
century, let us take a look at agricultural
research and development (R and D) over the last
100 years.
We can identify three major
R and D models, which have been inspired by
European and US experience.
The first was enclave R and
D practised by European research institutions. It
focused intensively on a single high value export
crop.
Examples are the tea,
rubber and coconut research institutes.
Scientists in these institutes addressed their
attention to foreign owned plantations (and later
state owned).
The flow of information was
vertical from the research institutions down to a
relatively few users. There was no intention to
serve the great majority of local farmers.
The second R and D
experience was diffusion. In was based on a
system practised by US and land grant
universities. They made technological information
available to all classes of farmers including
those who produced food via extension officers or
county agents.
This model was developed by
the Sri Lanka Department of Agriculture to serve
the needs of the general farming community. The
difference was that departmental research
stations took the place of land grant
universities.
Big science
The third or big science R and D was a
combination of high powered research centres of
the enclave type with the extention out reach of
the diffusion method.
International research
centres of the Consultative Group of
International Agricultural Research (CGIAR)
backed by the World Bank eg. International Rice
Research Institute, International Wheat and Maize
Improvement Centre, International Potato Centre,
International Institute of Trophical Agriculture,
International Crops, Research Institute for
semi-arid crops etc. defined problems and
evaluated results, which were disseminated as
widely as possible through research and extention
units in cooperating countries.
The big science model
engineered the so called "miracle" crop
varieties of the "green revolution".
Fuelled by a tripling of
fertilizer use and a one-third increase in land
under irrigation in developing conturies, these
"miracle" varieties doubled crop yield.
The CGIAR Scientists who
gave the world the "green revolution"
have promised to repeat the trick in next 25
years.
A CGIAR report released to
coincide with the World Food Summit held at the
end of 1996, held out hopes of releasing a super
cassava that could yield ten times more than
currently cultivated varieties.
A new breed of rice giving
25 per cent more grain.
A genetically engineered
potato, resistant to tropical bacterial diseases,
which could be lifted in only 60 days.
And a new variety of maize
genetically engineered to withstand severe
drought and acidic soils.
Too Good
These claims say some observers are too
good to be true. We cannot depend anymore on
"miracle" crop varieties to feed the
world.
Certainly there is more
research to be done to make the best of local
climate and soil conditions and to develop
resistant pest and disease varieties.
But it would be foolish to
expect another "green revolution" in
view of such constraints as shortages in
irrigation water and new croppable land, and the
physical ability of crop varieties to respond to
more fertilizer.
Yet we need to maintain a
high degree of self-reliance in food production
to keep up with future population pressures.
This is particularly
pertinent in respect of Sri Lanka, which has no
coal or oil, nothing very much in the way of
industries and limited funds to import fuel and
industrial goods.
In these circumstance we
can ill afford to neglect agriculture and import
large quantities of food as well.
Interactive
So it may be necessary to adopt a new
form of R and D. Let us call it the interactive
method. It will include elements of the earlier
models, but it will have to go further to
incorporate multi-objective planning and
interdisciplinary collaboration.
It will have to be
concerned not only with increasing the yield of
particular crops, but also with multicropping
combinations, or more effective integration of
crop husbandry and animal husbandry.
Also on improvements in
storage, marketing, credit and the development of
better methods of land and water conservation.
Interdisciplinary teams
should comprise plant breeders, plant
pathologists, entomologists, soil scientists,
agronomists, animal scientists, economists and
social scientists and representatives from banks
and marketing organisations.
Working as a team and not
in separate compartments as they have been wont
to do in the past, their aim should be to develop
efficient farming systems to suit the
socio-economic circumstances of poor farmers in
different locations.
To do this efficiently
government funding is essential, since the
private sector — the so called engine of
growth is shy to invest in this area as it is not
sufficiently profitable.
A CGIAR report has shown
that the proportion of government development aid
spend on agriculture has fallen from 20 per cent
in 1980 to 14 per cent in 1996. And that out of
$100 development aid only 05 cents goes into
agricultural research.
In the circumstances, one
of the major objectives of the World Food Summit
(1996) is to boost worldwide investment in
agriculture to relieve the state of global
malnutrition which encompasses nearly one-billion
people, and to prevent a famine situation from
developing when the world population is expected
to reach eight billion by 2020.
Mrs. B. I.
Ratwatte (nee Rodgers)
Mrs. I. Ratwatte who passed
away on January 2nd., 1999 in Kandy was Principal
of Mahamaya College, Kandy from 1937 - 1949.
She had been selected for
the post at the request of the Sadachara Bauddha
Kulangana Samithiya, (which founded the school in
1932) by Sir D. B. Jayathilaka, the leader of the
State Council, while he was in England on state
business.
The task of laying a firm
foundation for the new school, as well as setting
up noble traditions in accordance with the aims
and aspirations of its founders, fell on the
shoulders of young Miss Rodgers.
The late Venerable Narada
of the Vajiraramaya and late Bhikku Dharmapala
were frequent visitors to our school and were
instrumental in introducing her to the teachings
of the Buddha. Her daily morning assemblies were
a source of inspiration to us, students and
staff, and it was customary for her to read out
extracts from Buddhist works such as the
"Light of Asia".
Maintaining discipline was
her forte. She aimed at character building and
installing a proper sense of values in her
pupils, for she wanted them to be good mothers
and worthy citizens of Mother Lanka.
Miss Rodgers brought about
a transformation in the school which resulted in
the improvement in the standard of teaching, in
the examination results, in sports and in extra
curricular activities. She excelled in teaching a
wide variety of subjects ranging from English and
Mathematics to Hygiene and Home Science. Her
English lessons were a treat, the essay topics
were so interesting and out of the ordinary,
while she made her literature lessons come alive,
be it poetry, Shakespeare or Dickens . Her
charming personal appearance enhanced her
teaching and was of special appeal to us
teenagers.
Miss Rodgers was an
educationist of a high order. The child was
foremost in her mind. She provided all facilities
for each child to develop her talents but did not
believe in Prize givings, because she felt there
would be discrimination. Instead at the end of
each year every child in the school received a
gift, usually a book. An able administrator, she
was unruffled at all times. She paid meticulous
attention to details and aimed at perfection, and
demanded the same from her pupils and her staff.
In 1943 she married Mr.
Stanley Ratwatte and their first child was named
Maya after our school.
After her resignation in
1949, she lived for many years in England, but
came back to Sri Lanka and spent the last years
of her life with her children in Pitakanda,
Kandy.
Her pupils resident in
Kandy were very fortunate to be able to visit
her, especially on her birthday, March 13th and
revive happy memories of her stay at Mahamaya.
Many a time she had said to them "the best
years of my life were those that I spent at
Mahamaya".
Her pupils and those who
served under her on the staff will always
remember her with love and gratitude and cherish
happy memories of her.
They extend their deepest
sympathies to her children and members
of late Mr. Stanley
Ratwatte’s family. We share their grief.
May Mrs. Ratwatte’s
journeys in Sansara be very short and peaceful
and may she attain the Supreme Bliss of Nibbana.
Hema and
Lalitha
Park Nadesan: C.M.G.
A direct descendent of Sir
Ponnambalam Arunachalam he was a very colourful
figure in Ceylon since the 40’s. Educated at
Royal College he was a member of the then elite
Ceylon Civil Service. He relinquished his public
career to serve another colourful Ceylonese the
late Rt. Hon Gen. Sir John Kotelawala. His
service earned him an C.M.G from the Court of St.
James and OBE. -
As youngsters we envied him
whenever we saw him immaculately dressed behind
the wheel of a TR II where all eyes of pretty
maidens were shifted away from us. A man who
respected the regal English Language was able to
discourse same eloquently and the written was
even better. As the Secretary to then Prime
Minister Sir John, he played an important part
behind the scenes in moulding the history of this
country. One being admission to the U.N. and
giving the landing rights to T.W.A a leading
airline at that time to come to Colombo.
As a youngster I had the
good future of listening to Sir John, Anandatissa
de Alwis and Park having a serious and a
hilarious conversation at Kandawala in the late
50’s. To their names like Eden, Nehru, Chou,
Ramos, Ali Sostranajojoandag on were nothing.
They were rightly cut to Ribbons. Thereafter it
turned to their escapades in Paris, London, New
York and the other capitals of the world. If they
are to be penned Givovani Boccacio’s
"DECAMERON" will be in the shade or
could even make a sailor blush.
Family tragedies such as
the loss of his first wife Gowri and only son Pat
at an early age had a severe toll on him which he
braved with no outward emotion although there
would have been turmoil inside. However the
recent tragedies of loss of his favourite
daughter Gowri Selvanathan at a young age which
followed the death of Kamala his wife and former
sister-in -law were too much for him to bear in
the later part of his life.
He was a devout Rotarian
and following the footsteps of his late father
Sir Sangarapillai Pararajasingham he became the
Governor of Rotary of the Districts of Madras
(now Tamil Nadu), Kerala and Ceylon. Park was a
Rotarian completing 50 years in the movement this
year. He was the Chairman Air Ceylon and Director
Civil Aviation and Chairman of Times Group of
News Papers. He was also Past Chairman of LCPA
following the footsteps of his father. He was an
Honarary Member of the Orchid Circle and Chairman
of several Hotel Companies and other Mercantile
Establishments.
I had the pleasure of
moving with Park and Kamala closely since the
1970’s. Outspoken man he was he never
hesitated to telephone or summon and reprimanded
anyone when they fell out of step. I was a victim
of this verbal onslaught which I always took as
fatherly advice. Some may have thought that Park
was Anti and a camp leader but I can vouch that
at many occasions in Rotary or other Politics
when one tried to speak or write or perform
anything out of line Park’s response was
‘’It is not cricket old boy"
We have lost a man who
carried on devoid of race, caste, creed or
religion. An individual who had a sense of humour
and was able to laugh at himself a dying breed
today. Thus a great son of the soil is in Ashes
today. May you attain Moksha.
Sam
Samaranayake
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