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| Friday, 17 September 2004 |
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Letters | |
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Please forward your letters to editor@dailynews.lk in plain text format within the e-mail message, since as a policy we do not open any attachments.
Even in the family unit patronage by parents is possible when the children are too young to discern or are not yet in a position to move with the world at large. Parental love manifests in indulgence and allows the children's wishes to prevail more than that of the parents or even the social constraints. If that is the situation in the family unit what should be the position in the society in general. What is desired is to perceive matters from the point of view of the affected ones more than those who have the power to impose. Quoting a few issues may be useful. Take the gender issue. The affected ones are the females. As it is, we have a lady as the President. One swallow does not make a summer. There is room for increasing the composition in the relevant areas commensurate with their numbers in the population. It may be a case for affirmative action to equalize or even arrive at a sensible proportion. The ideal is absolute equality. Attainability may be relative and may fall short. The ideal must be kept sight of. It is not a question of numbers, comparative strength or even importance. It should move towards the ideal where the meek and the weak shall lead a peaceful life and not be at the mercy of the high and mighty. Take the case of congenial or uncongenial stations for employees. It is viewed from the centre of control. In our country areas in and around Colombo are still considered as the prime ones because of the concentration of the head offices. Whether a work place is congenial or not has to be not only based on the availability of facilities at a reasonable cost or are provided by the employer but also from the point of view of the employee concerned. An employee hailing from the deep south or the north may not find the capital as congenial as his home station or a workplace within a convenient distance. The cost of shifting and establishing the family in a place especially if he is not provided with quarters etc. does impose a heavy burden and the workplace is uncongenial from his point of view. What has to be balanced is the employers' requirements, facilities available or provided at the workplace/station and employees' welfare and the displacement effect. Here hardly any consideration is given for the effect on the affected ones. Unanimity has been reached among parliamentarians for making the National Identity Card compulsory for voting. At least three things remain to accomplish it. 1. Issue of birth certificates. 2. Issue of national identity cards to those who are yet to obtain same. 3. Linking to the voters' list. Citing example is not a problem. What has to be borne in mind is when decisions are taken hardly any consideration is given to those who are going to be affected or benefited. It is more of something imposed rather than conferred. Country is composed of people. People may speak the same language, profess the same religion and yet be different from each other. As the Chinaman succinctly put it 'one one man one one type'. Each man counts as much as the other. Exclusiveness in any form is injurious to the country. Exclusiveness is also founded on possessive or sectarian love. There is love but what we need is grace. There is sympathy but what we need is empathy the ability to walk in another man's shoes. R. SUNTHARALINGAM, A newspaper promotion recently carried out for a brand on engine oil etc. indicates that one could be the lucky winner of cash prizes ranging from Rs. 5,000 to Rs. 100,000. It speaks of Million Rupees in cash prizes but no indication is made as to the breakdown of the prizes. While it may seem very attractive, it does not specifically state how many such prizes are on offer or for how long the offer is valid. It also covers itself arbitrarily by indicating that the offer is valid until stocks last. This means it can be invalidated anytime the advertiser chooses to do so. Should not the advertiser make such pertinent information known to the public? If not, how did the advertiser obtain approval to advertise the promotion hiding such information? If the matter is not clarified by the advertiser, it could be regarded as yet another fraud perpetrated on a gullible audience. These are areas that the Consumer Affairs Authority should also act on, as it is supposedly the watchdog of Consumer Rights. This is another case of leading credence to the adage 'All that glitters is not gold!' The public should not be taken for a ride. R. SILVA, Ref. Dr. Mareena Thaha Reffai letter (Aug. 8) while thanking her for sharing her knowledge with the readers, I would like her to elicit more information on the kind of honey that is to be used - is it kitul honey, coconut honey or bees honey? I presume it is bees' honey for in ayurveda bees honey is widely used for various decoctions. She also says that in western countries honey is used for treatment of burn wounds. Again she does not say which kind of honey. In Sri Lanka Aloera (Komarika) is widely used for burns - it is very soothing and is like Burnol. There is a shaving cream also named Aloera which is soap free and skin friendly. V. K. B. RAMANAYAKE, True, most people dislike even to utter the word prostitute: some are inquisitive to know about them. However, I would convince myself if people are conscious of them because they are the worst down trodden women who have scores of true life stories to relate which would, after hearing, even melt a stony heart. Legally, a pros can solicit, show love gestures and even be in an agreeable position in a secluded place. I do not wish to belittle them with more examples. Factually, abject poverty at home has goaded them to an immoral trade much to their dislike. So street corners, bus stands and railway stations have become their trade centres (some dressed as nurses) for their only merchandise they possess - flesh for hire. I gain nothing to speak about prostitutes. But I lament when I hear heart tearing stories which enticed these, once untainted, women to an ignoble trade. These poverty stricken young women, some pretty looking with pock-marks and sun burnt faces, would without any hesitation rush into the awaiting vehicle for day's fun for cash on prerequisite basis. But some punks outsmart them by making part payment and the balance on IOU basis vowing to become regular clients. At the beginning of their career, they have a code of conduct which deserves admiration. But as time lapses with ample experience gained, they have no morals better than a pig. However their acts are forgivable, I believe, in God's vast ocean of forgiveness because they are blameless due to circumstances enveloped. Our law here has become an ass to conduct raids and hurl young women to the awaiting police jeep and then to courts with full glare of publicity. Whereas, another society in plush areas conduct the same trade or more serious ones but goes abated for obvious reasons. H. L. D. E. PERERA, Bringing back the death penalty In the past there have been many articles written in the Letter's section regarding the above subject. The government was contemplating on the subject. Whenever there is horrendous murders take place in the country we are compelled to think that these individuals must be brought to justice and the highest available punishment by law must be implemented. However after a while, we all forget about the subject until another one of these crimes takes place. Recently there were articles regarding the crime statistics in our country. We have to question ourselves why there is so much crime committed. I am sure there are so many reasons, but no reason is valid for an individual to commit murder, rape or any other crime. Our education, religions in our country and our culture teach us to be law abiding honest and good citizens. We Sri Lankans are generally friendly, tolerant and helpful lot. However our culture and level of tolerance has changed so much during the past 2-3 decades due to globalization, internal conflicts and various other factors. The Government must take this as an agenda and make sure the mandatory death penalty is brought back. This is a necessary evil. The person who commits crime must know that the highest level of law is available to punish all those who commit crime against humanity. The death penalty must be brought back with out further delay. This will not only act as punishment to the convicted criminal also as a deterrent to the society. AFZAL M. ISMAIL, |
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