Letters to the Editor
View(s):Time for honest young people to step in
Even honest, God-fearing, good intentioned youngsters wanting to get into the field and clean it up are often demotivated by the advice given, even by seasoned politicians, “If you want to get corrupted, get into politics.”
But is it true? Is there no way politics can be a meritorious service to people? It can be. If there is a will there is always a way. It is time the intellectuals and social leaders and the disgusted youngsters thought of this seriously and started acting on it to change the situation.
The basis of corruption in our country is, of course, party politics. Both the leaders and the common man are steeped in party loyalties which is the absolute antithesis of true democracy. If only our president who was expected to set a trend towards clean politics, did not take the two legs in two boats attitude because of his party affiliation, the history of his presidency would have been written in glorious golden letters. It is not to be. What a pity!
This has to change. It must. If not we are all doomed towards a failed state forever and more so, we will leave a chaotic, immoral, corrupt political culture to our future generations.
How do we change? Train and educate a substantial number of youngsters to become honest, sincere leaders with a proper goal of building a morally sound society. Let us set our hearts on training them to be social minded, self-sacrificing, well behaved leaders with excellent manners and impeccable character. Let us train them to become perfect leaders, if not within the next few years, at least in the foreseeable future.
If we, the country men and women do not do it, no one is going to do it. After all Allah Himself says in the Quran “Surely Allah does not change the condition of a people until they change their own condition;” Sura 13:verse 11
Let the “honest politician” not be an oxymoron any more.
Dr. Mareena Thaha Reffai Dehiwela
Does anyone care for the voters?
We the taxpayers, citizens of Sri Lanka are suffering shock after shock at the manner in which our elected officials are behaving. Do any of them care for our wellbeing?
All these so called ‘servants’ (as they call themselves!) are desperately concerned only about their wellbeing and continued hunger for power. One classic example is a deputy minister who declared that being appointed to this ministry has deprived him the chance of providing even one job to his electorate. These so-called servants are elected to initiate laws etc for the betterment of the country and not to act as an employment agency to confirm their popularity in their electorate only.
As for the Parliamentarians, whenever the debates are televised, we see many empty seats in Parliament. On December 11, 2017, it was very clear that there were less than 60 MPs out of a total of 225 present. Think of the salaries, allowances, perks they enjoy, thanks to us the taxpayers.
The latest news is that the Central Provincial Councillors will be leaving for China on a training programme. Didn’t the President ban these foreign jaunts? Why can’t experts be brought from overseas to train and educate these Councillors? Is this jaunt going to be a repetition of the training programme to another Asian country which hit the headlines for all the sordid and wrong reasons?
How we yearn for a leader of the calibre of President Premadasa, who was fully committed to the wellbeing of our people. It is true he did make mistakes but his dedication to our country and its people can never be denied.
As for our workers, much cannot be said of the railway workers and the GMOA, and others who hold the country hostage for their selfish reasons thereby inconveniencing the general public to the utmost. Good governance is only a word. Unfortunately we do not have a leadership to lookup to. At present Yahapalanaya is only a dream.
Disgusted Voter Via email
Cricket woes and a possible Samurai remedy
Our cricketers are going through a difficult time. However I still believe they will bounce back. They have been at the butt end of many jokes and cartoons spreading on social media. Without being despondent they should follow the philosophy of a famous Samurai warrior of Japan who was losing one battle after another. In addition, he was beset by many other problems. So he prayed, but not to ask for a victory at the next battle, but his prayer was “Dear God please send me more and more troubles so that with each one I will become stronger and wiser and finally be able to overcome all my troubles and be victorious”. The story is that he kept on losing a few more battles but gradually became successful and finally was recognized as a great warrior.
I hope our cricketers will look at it the same way and gain experience and wisdom from each loss and finally become world champions.
This story was told to me by one of our Japanese Directors when I was the MD of a manufacturing company where the Japanese were the major shareholders. It was in 2008 when gas prices were rising rapidly, recession beginning in the West, our buyers in Europe and the US losing business and consequently ordering less, inflation rising exponentially and raising our wages monthly because we were on a monthly cost of living adjusted wage structure, our gold and platinum pigment prices rising rapidly, cash flow reducing because buyers could not pay us on account of shortage of dollars in their banks or a credit squeeze in their countries. It was the worst of times.
When gas prices increased for the third time in six weeks I sent an email to the Japanese and said I have had enough. Gas was our biggest cost. The Japanese Directors sent me this story and suggested that I print this Samurai prayer and fix it on my wall. It actually helped. I began to look at all those difficulties as new learning experiences. All those difficulties helped me become stronger and perhaps even wiser. I probably improved my adversity quotient substantially.
Sunil G Wijesinha Colombo 5
Check on farms that are a health hazard
Food is a vital need for human beings and water is indispensable in our lives. The media often highlights people having to walk long distances to fetch water.
We find that there are many poultry farms, piggeries, dairy, cattle and goat farms close to residential areas. The smell, fly and mosquito menace as a result is disgusting. Dengue is rampant in these areas.
In the Kandy district, especially in rural areas and close to abandoned tea estates, there are many poultry farms that use water from streams close by that people downstream use for drinking. This causes many health hazards.No doubt big companies maintain clean and well run farms but the same cannot be said of some of these smaller farms.
Invariably the lorries come late at night to collect these birds and disturb the peace and sleep of the people living close by. The deep litter is thrown in the vicinity and is a breeding ground for flies and mosquitoes.
It is high time the health authorities checked on these farms and enforce standards of cleanliness or take more drastic measures to streamline their operations for the protection of people living in the vicinity.
Kingsley Durairaj Pannipitiya