Letters to the Editor

With apologies to Sir Winston Churchill, never in the history of Sri Lanka have so few brought so much disgrace, to so many, in so short a time!!!

We have seen Draft Constitutions being burnt, foul language used, near fisticuffs, wreaths and miniature coffins smuggled in - mainly by opposition members - but now we have those claiming the majority to govern, performing Sathyagraha on the floor of this august assembly and adding further insult by even sitting on the ballot box with utter disregard to the norms of decency and proper conduct. Consider this against the exemplary manner in which the general public behaved, both at the General Election on April 2, as well as the recently concluded Provincial Council polls and, indeed, the conduct of our legislators is utterly shameful.

April 22 will go down in the annals of our history of our country as, perhaps, the ugliest ever scenes enacted within the precincts of Parliament. If the simple function of merely electing a Speaker could bring about such base behaviour from those chosen to govern the country, the question arises as to whether we have put in place the best available or just a bunch of common-or-garden vagabonds, thugs, hooligans and rowdies. Even Billingsgate would be put to shame.

These are the very souls who, at election time, vowed to strengthen democracy, protect Buddhism and the Buddha Sasana, amongst many other promises made, and now from the seats of governance think nothing of hurling insults and abuse at the ven. Buddhist monks - the custodians of the very religion they vowed to protect. All this merely to show dissent at the election of the Speaker, conducted through a democratic process where the ven. monks were the deciding factor in the final count. By this alone the promise of protecting democracy was thrown down the kitchen sink!!! The perception of these power-hungry individuals is quite clear, and that is to win somehow, anyhow and at any cost by good means or bad.

It is time that everyone realized that a democracy is by the people, for the people and of the people and not to be prostituted at the expense of the country.

It is said that, the people deserve the government they get. True, how very true.

I wish to clarify certain misleading statements made in the letter titled 'Low price with high cost to eyes' that appeared in The Sunday Times of April 25.

Conventional long fluorescent tubes and Energy Saving Bulbs (C.F.L) do not emit any rays harmful to the eyes. So far, there is no medical evidence to prove that. They have been in use in Sri Lanka for almost 40 years. .

Fluorescent lights and all other type of gas discharge lamps flicker 100 times a second due to our 50Hz mains voltage. This is not noticeable to the human eye. It is known as "Stroboscopic Effect”.

When watching TV in the night, the surroundings should not be dark, because the eye may keep on changing to the bright light intensity of the TV screen and the darkness of the room and this may cause eye strain. When TV was introduced to Sri Lanka, medical experts explained these matters in the media. The light for the surrounding may come from any type of lamps.

As the writer says, the use of coconut oil lamps is not going to solve their problems other than polluting the room with smoke.

The Ceylon Electricity Board is doing a service in popularizing Energy Saving Bulbs.

Every kilowatt of power saved is a saving for the consumer, cost reduction for CEB, less environmental damage for the country and saving of foreign exchange.

I read with great interest the article by Don Juan in The Sunday Times on the need to establish a national government.

I recommend this article to all politicians, for undoubtedly the need today, is for all major political parties to unite. I request all political leaders to get together and restart the peace process and speak with one voice. It is true that with the soaring cost of living we will have to tighten our belts and forego certain things but it is a far better sacrifice to make than sacrificing the lives of Sinhala and Tamil youths, were the war to break out again.

As Don Juan has said, the nation is at the cross roads and our politicians should set aside their differences and get together. Put the country before self.

While congratulating the UPFA on their landslide win at the General Election, I hope that they will implement the following promises given to the masses.

=Take action against those parliamentarians including ministers who are corrupt.

=Take action against those responsible for betraying the country as well as our intelligence forces at the Millennium City.

=Take immediate action against those responsible for giving amnesty to business magnates to the tune of Rs. 200 billion, thereby depriving the government of revenue which no doubt could have been spent to bring down the cost of living.

=Change the system of admission to schools, thereby giving an opportunity for all communities to enter any school. In the alternative, open new schools in Colombo for the benefit of all communities without any bar of race or religion.

=Repeal the law passed by the deposed government entitling foreigners to purchase land/property and take back all such properties/lands purchased by foreigners.

=Take back Sri Lanka Insurance, which was sold for a mere pittance, when compared to the enormous value of its assets.

I hope the new government would take steps on the above, and also bring to book all those responsible for fraud and corruption, irrespective of their position or party.

This is in response to a letter titled 'Low price with high cost to eye' in The Sunday Times of April 25.

Although there is a slight flicker with fluorescent lamps and CFL lamps, this does not harm the eyes.

In fact, fluorescent lamps are used all over the world in offices and factories.

It is my opinion that it is quite safe to use these lamps and they need not be replaced with incandescent lamps.

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