Letters to the Editor

If you have no education, no family wealth left by your parents, if you have no finesse and no qualification for any other job, then take to politics. Politics is a job which anyone without education or suitability can aspire to.

All one has to do is cringe before the leader of the party, cater to his every need and secure nominations. Then bluff the illiterate voter, who is himself a person of no education and intelligence – promising the sun and the moon.

He will be gullible enough to swallow the dead ropes.

Then with the swing and the tide, you also get swept into power.
Thereafter the sky is the limit, to make money, by hook or by crook. Invariably the leader of the party turns a blind eye, for he himself has a lot to hide. If you have not been born into a ‘respectable’ family you can acquire respectability by being a politician, manthree thuma. Then the most common or garden vagrant politician starts dictating terms to public servants, who are devoid of self respect. In short, politics makes a man the cock of the walk.

Public money is to be spent on themselves, rather than on the public who elected them.

Overseas travel at the drop of a hat, is their prerogative. Bullet-proof cars are imported and air-lifted at great cost, to protect them, while those who elected them get no protection.

No sophisticated weapons are imported, but instead our soldiers are sent to the front with antiquated weapons. They become cannon fodder against the sophisticated weapons of the Tigers.

They think public money is their grandmother’s private property.
The law enforcement officers are virtually emasculated and take no action against politicians, as their own jobs are at stake. So this evil cycle goes on and on, a carnival for those who took to politics.

Mid 1940, on circuit, as Divisional Superintendent (N.W.P./N.C.P.) of the Animal Husbandry Dept. (Emergency) just after demobilisation from officer rank, with the last World War ending, my car stalled, with a boiling radiator at Kebittigollewa. Then, from Trinco up to Vavuniya, there was not a single house, or boutique on the highway, cutting through dense forest.

What could we do? The driver was at a loss; with radiator-cap out, steaming with hardly any water inside, or anywhere else nearby to be seen. As we waited, suddenly, we heard some female voices coming from the direction of the thick jungle. Investigating, the driver found a track leading to a small, ground-level well, where three attractive, damsels were filling their pots with water - laughing and talking. Explaining our need, the driver asked for some water. Giggling and surprised to see him, they volunteered to bring the water themselves, following him to the road, up to the car. There, instead of allowing my driver to fill the radiator, one girl did it herself while the others examined the vehicle and myself, seated inside! Quite unusual at that time – later we learned that it was the first car they had seen – and once the job was done, curious, I asked them whether we could see their dwelling in the jungle.

Walking about 75 yards inland, we came to a cluster of about six palm-thatched, wattle and daub houses in a little clearing surrounded by forest. There, we saw a strange sight – men sweeping and some lulling babies to sleep! Conversation revealed that here, the men did all the household work, even cooking, while the women worked out, tilling, ploughing and cultivating the necessary rice, vegetables etc. A mini-matriarchal society. Not long after – in late 1940, visiting a tribal village, off Ooty (Ooticamund) in Mysore District, South India, I saw a similar society, where women hunted, while the men cooked the kill, and did all the home work! Perhaps, we see today, in our world, the same happening – a transition to a matriarchal society, with the power feminine ascending, taking over the customary masculine roles and jobs, even as rulers of nations, leaving domestic rulership and household chores to men! It is visible all over now – in dress, mannerisms, behavioural patterns and professions… conforming, inevitably and naturally, to a Universal Law of Polarisation of Mind and Physical Energy of what some term ID (Ego-Psyche) swinging, pendulum fashion, to the other end of the Pole.

Some, I would say, nearly all traditions declare this transition as The Play of The Sacred Feminine, in ‘Her’ Play as Creatrix to weave the Fabric of what goes as Life!

Worldwide the practice when installing traffic lights is to have a blue tint in the green light. This enables most colour blind people to be able to distinguish the green light from the red.

However, the new traffic lights installed in Castle Street don’t follow this worldwide practice, thus causing inconvenience and danger to colour blind drivers.

Hitherto, all traffic lights installed in Sri Lanka had followed the worldwide practice, enabling colour blind people to use them without any inconvenience. This is the first time there has been a deviation and this could be dangerous.

R.M. Hazeer
Nugegoda

I thank Dr. K.D. Paranavitana for his account of Colombo landmarks which appeared in The Sunday Times of June 18 under the caption “Still slave to a name”, enlightening readers of the significance of the Beira Lake. It is sad that despite this area being a delightful landmark of the city of Colombo, nobody has yet addressed their mind to giving it a suitable name.

I suggest re-naming this illustrious ward of the Colombo Municipal Council as Gangarama Square or Gangarama Vihara Square.

The Chief Incumbent of the Gangarama Vihara by his untiring efforts has brought pride of place in Buddhist countries in East Asia to this Vihara.

Some of the branch offices of the Pensions Dept. have recently adopted a new method for the payment of pensions, causing considerable inconvenience to pensioners.

Pensioners who are drawing their pensions through joint accounts have been ordered to open individual accounts and the pension is sent to it.

The pension voucher is not sent to the pensioners as has been the practice and as a result they do not know the date of the payment of pension.

This situation compels the pensioners to go to the bank to find out whether the pension has been received or not. This is undoubtedly a tedious exercise to the pensioners, most of whom are feeble and weak.

I am at a loss to understand why the pension authorities should get perturbed when the pension is sent to a joint account and is duly received by the pensioners.

Earlier the pensioners acknowledged the receipt of the pension but now it is the bank that acknowledges the receipt of the pension. Isn’t there a legal anomaly in this procedure? After all, Joint Accounts are opened by parties with mutual trust, cordiality and sincerity.

The main reason for opening a Joint Account is to avoid any residual asset becoming an intestate property in the event of the demise of the pensioner. Whether the pension is sent to a join account or individual account it is done on the written authority of the pensioner.

This itself indemnifies the authorities in the event of any miscarriage of the pension.

However, if the authorities fear that any blame may come upon them, the authorities can obtain a letter of indemnity from the pensioners.

Therefore, I earnestly request the authorities to reintroduce the previous system of serving individual pension vouchers and also allow the pensioners to hold joint accounts.

Wildlife lovers reacted with shock and horror when they read of the proposed highway to be constructed through the Yala wildlife sanctuary.

The word sanctuary itself denotes a refuge for animals. This highway is going to be constructed for the sole benefit of humans, and will cause untold harm to these animals whose only home is Yala.

Why is it that wildlife officials are misleading the President who is a caring human being.

The construction of this highway will cause massive destruction and chaos within the “sanctuary”, creating illicit felling, poaching and destroying part of the wetland.