5th July 1998

Come on, give us a break!

Professor G. L. Peiris has made a statement in Parliament, that "People have more money, they eat better, there is more employment, than there was three and a half years ago."

Professor Peiris, must be living in a world of his own with his head in the clouds, or he would not have made such a statement!

We, the middle class housewives, know only too well, how the standards of living have deteriorated, since the P. A. came into power. It has been an on going battle to wrestle with the escalating prices of almost every commodity. The exhorbitant prices of fruits, vegetables and milk, make it impossible to give our kids a balanced diet. The usual Sunday lunch, which the family looked forward to, with a pork curry or fried lingus, has now become a thing of the past. We are forced to buy the cheapest cuts of beef, fish and chicken, if we are to balance our budget. When the Walls Ice Cream cycles go past our homes, all we can afford to give the children is the least expensive item on the list.

And, then, when we are struggling for survival, there comes this new monster the G. S. T. which has, sky-rocketed our expenses and put up electricity and telephone Bills as much as Rs.200/- per month! We have cut down on food to almost a minimum and our kids have to go without all the little "luxuries" they were accustomed to, three and a half years ago.

So come on, give us a break!

Paradise of sin

During the past few weeks a very legitimate hue and cry has been raised in the Media about the telecast of a film in Germany which has brought Sri Lanka's image into disrepute.

Even though the authorities concerned now try to disclaim any responsibility for the shooting of the controversial sections of the film, one cannot disclaim the fact that an officer of the Ceylon Tourist Board was sometimes present during the shooting of the film.

The CTB officials also cannot claim they were unaware of the 'Kama Sutra' segments of the film as the 10 consolation prizes that were offered consisted of 10 copies of the 'Kama Sutra'. This was known weeks before telecast.

National-minded Sri Lankans are awaiting what form of action, the Government will take against the state officials who are the offenders.

Dye or die

"Age had snowed white hairs on thee". I recall the lines of John Donne whenever I see my mother, my father- in-law or my favourite university lecturers. They all have silver hair. I find them the most admirable people on earth. They have not tried to hide their age from the outside world. Living in an age when dye or die seems to be the motto, they are paddling against the current.

Why be ashamed that one's hair is grey? Specially when, however much one may rub black powder on to white hair, it will not hide one's age for the wrinkles behind the eyes, the reading glasses, would remain as tell-tale signs of age. Talcum powder would whiten the hair of a twenty-year old, but not hide his youth. Similarly a fifty year old cannot look like a thirty something simply by blackening his hair.

The days of grandparents with silver hair seem to have disappeared. Yet, silver hair and age should go hand in hand. A mark of maturity, grey hair symbolizes the experiences, the wisdom, one gathers over the years. Those who dye their hair, be it to escape reality or to fool the world, have yet to achieve this maturity.

Why depend on a black dye to feel young? Youth comes from within, it cannot be bought in a packet at the supermarket.

So much cruelty....

On the 20th of this month the members of the Animal Welfare and Protection Society (people from all walks of life), held a 'sterilization camp' for dogs and cats at No.107, Kadawatha Road, (off Anderson Road), Dehiwela.

This brings to our mind the cruel manner in which Municipal, Urban and Village Councils eradicated stray dogs a long time ago. The Councils employed dog-shooters who roamed the streets in search of stray dogs to shoot them down. Once a dog was killed those men cut off the tails and took them to the Council authorities who paid them according to the number of tails that were produced. To obtain the maximum money the dog-shooters shot even licensed dogs that strayed onto the streets!

There were many complaints made to the Council authorities by the licensed-dog owners. The Council authorities now send dog-catchers who noose stray dogs and take them in vans to a Council dog-pond where they are killed by gassing.

Sri Lanka is said to be a Buddhist country where killing of any living being should be looked down upon, but the people are callous and extremely cruel. Dogs are reared as pets or to protect their properties from thieves but let loose and not properly fed when old. They are left to be taken and destroyed by the town councils!

In western countries dogs and cats are reared to protect property and also as pets and given to special paid homes that feed and look after them till natural death overtakes them. These homes are given money to boost their funds by kind, benevolent people. There was a case when a millionaire gentleman who had no progeny, left all his millions to a home that looked after dogs!

It is true that rich men are few in our country and Sri Lanka is not a prosperous country but still the proliferation of stray dogs and cats can be humanely controlled by the judicious sterilization of the animals.

The sterilization can be done at any age of the animals but the ideal age for sterilization of a bitch is 4 months and for a dog is between 7 and 12 months. The cost of sterilizing a dog or bitch is between Rs. 100 and 150 if you can afford and need to get it done when you want, but the aforesaid society does it gratis when they are able to hold a 'sterilization camp'.

Those who suffer the deepest are the ones who pray for peace

On an analysis of the pre-colonial era it is seen that all communities of our country had unitedly fought for fundamental rights with fortitude devoid of ethnic discrimination in all national issues.

If the leaders who came to power after independence had been able to serve not only the interests of their own ethnic and religious groups but also those of all other such groups equally and equitably, it would have been possible for the emergence of a Sri Lankan identity.

After 50 years since Independence, it is better late than never that all political parties and the ethnic groups themselves have been awakened to the reality of the ethnic conflict.

The earnest call to the Tiger militants by the President for peace negotiations too failed abruptly with the violation of cease- fire and peace talks bamboozled by the L.T.T.E. Therefore the war has to be pursued with utmost vigour to defeat them militarily while resolving the ethnic conflict through a political arrangement through proposals of devolution of power which I feel is the best solution for peaceful co-existence. War alone cannot solve political or an ethnic issue and this cannot be allowed to be continued by the future generation. Our valiant soldiers are directly involved in the cross- fire undergoing great sacrifices. The soldier too is a human being who loves peace and not an eternal war. I quote here the very words of Gen. Mc.Arthur "A soldier above all other people prays for peace, for he must suffer and bear the deepest wounds and the scars of war."

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