Letters
View(s):Maru Sira’s last days at Bogambara
This is in reference to Kumudini Hettiarachchi’s article ‘Storming Bogambara’ in the Sunday Times Plus of March 23, 2014.
I had the opportunity to meet Siripala ( Maru Sira) and the two sentenced in the Thismada murder and a few other notorious prisoners when I was Acting Prison MO in 1974/75. Siripala was a strong tall man who reminded me of Sylvester Stallone. He had a tattoo on his chest with the words ‘Maruwa samage wase’. He was kept in a special large cell at the end of a corridor behind two iron gates. Within a few months he was hanged. During that period I was a junior trainee house officer in the Eye Department in Kandy. Dr. Yoganathan was the Prison Medical Officer. We all lived at the ‘Chula Paya’ (male medical officers’ living quarters).
On the day of the hanging, late Dr. Balasubramaniam (‘Tennis Bala’ ) and I removed Maru Sira’s eyes. On the same evening two corneal transplants were done by late Dr. Albert Mather who was a Consultant Eye Surgeon at the Kandy General Hospital. There might be two people who are still seeing with Maru Sira’s eyes somewhere.
I understood that after the executions, the body belonged to the State. I remember when I was a medical student, bodies of those who had been executed were brought to the Anatomy Department from Welikade Prisons. After removal of the eyes we went into the office of the Superintendent of Prisons, probably he was Mr. H.G. Dharmadasa.
He showed us a hand drawn portrait of Siripala done by himself while on Death Row. The sorrowful feature was the ‘tie pin’ on the portrait. This was an actual model made from an empty Three Roses cigarette packet featuring prominently the red roses.
The older generation will remember the Three Roses cigarettes ( 5 cents each). May Maru Sira rest in peace.
Dr. J.M. Shahabdeen
Eye Surgeon
Kandy
Good roads and unsatisfactory rules
The roads in Sri Lanka, particularly those in the north, east and northwest have significantly improved since the end of the war. While the credit must go to the government, a frequently asked question is, how much of that benefit has gone to the locals of those war-torn areas, in terms of employment, supplies and contracts. While travelling to Delft, I asked a Tamil plumber whether he gets sufficient work after peace returned to the country. His reply was that he does not get plumbing work even in Colombo, because of his ethnicity, and he had started selling palmyrah seedlings (Thal ala) in Jaffna.
The rehabilitated roads from the South leading to the North and East are well maintained and have traffic signs for pedestrian crossings, roundabouts, merging traffic, zigzag roads, bus halts etc. However, the crucial speed signs are rare. On one road I counted the ratio of speed signs to other signs to be about 1:300. This is a critical issue for the drivers, as the speed in some of these roads is 70 km/h in rural areas and 50 km/h in towns. There is no indication when to change the speed. Rightly, there are many Police officers doing their duty at night. Drivers are expected to know where the towns are.
We were on our way to the North, when our vehicle was stopped by traffic police around 1.00 a.m. and told that the speed of the vehicle was 74 km/h in a town, where the speed should have been 50 km/h. The poor driver had no knowledge of the area as to where the town begins and where it ends. In some countries a ±10% to the speed limit is allowed, as the driver cannot stay at the specified speed limit all the time. I think 80 km/h is a reasonable speed for those roads in uninhabited areas.
The worse problem is when the traffic policeman writes a fine, he takes the licence and the driver has to make another trip to the police station from where the traffic police snatched the licence to recover his licence. This becomes a major issue if a driver from Hambantota is caught speeding in Jaffna. Further it encourages policemen to accept bribes. I suggest that the police officer is paid the fine immediately and he issues a receipt with details, which can be checked in a public database for verification that the money has gone to the State revenue. If not, the driver should be able to complain to the Bribery Commission and the Police officer charged.There is no need to take the licence of the driver. After all rules must help the public to maintain law and order, and nothing else.
At Yala Sanctuary, we found too many vehicles. There were about 25 vehicles flocking to one spot to see a leopard. A study on the best way to manage ecotourism at Yala is urgently needed. One-way tracks and restricting the number of vehicles per day are some approaches to control the traffic congestion in National Parks. On one morning there were about 50 vehicles parked at Patanangala, where the visitors are allowed to get down from their vehicles. We saw some female foreign tourists looking for toilet facilities. The condition of that toilet was miserable. We suggest that there are decent toilets at national parks where the visitors are allowed to get down. Overall, there was development and much tourism in the country.
We also noted a growing systemic problem that encourages making money outside the duties and responsibilities of positions. Besides the already mentioned traffic police fines, wildlife guides are tipped at Yala and a flight attendant was seen asking for a tip for wheel-chairing a disabled passenger at Katunayake Airport. It is best that the tips to the wildlife guides are included in the official payment, and salaries of government servants are adjusted annually to compensate for the increase in the cost of living. By this way, transparency, confidence, trust and ethics can be restored to the community and the alleged bribery and corruption growing into the Sri Lankan culture among the high-ups can be curtailed by People Power.
-Dr. Leonard Pinto
Australia
An open letter to the Gratiaen Prize judges
Oh dear! You’ve done it again!
The last occasion was in 2007, when the short list of authors was confined to poets. Interestingly, two of them feature in your short-list this year too.
Poetry is in no way comparable to prose. A poem is usually intensely subjective ; an uncut gem which is painstakingly processed before “exposition “. A poem can be read and appreciated in a few seconds. Only a brief period of concentration is required. A novel on the other hand requires a long period of concentration– hours or days–prior to its assessment. Writing a novel involves hard work.The approach is more objective, the plot, construction, the characters, and most importantly the language must come together to form a harmonious whole capable of sustaining the reader’s interest for 200 pages or more. To my thinking, it is unbelievable that all the submissions were substandard , again, a matter of opinion.
The only solution is to have two prizes. Will a generous donor please step forward?
The judges’ task would be made much easier if the guidelines established by international awards are followed;–
1. The entries limited to published novels.[this would ensure a higher standard of writing]
2.The short -list is preceded by a long-list, which can then be assessed more thoroughly.
Incidentally, I have no vested interest in this award.
The above in no way detracts from the achievement of the shortlisted authors. I wish them all success.
Premini Amerasinghe
Via email
Paradise lost
As the last few perches of free land in my town is surveyed to be developed into a land sale I came to the realisation that in order to enjoy a bit of greenery and a breath of fresh air I, like most others in the Colombo suburban area will have to travel to a nature park. But what will happen to all the critters that make this tiny spot of lush vegetation their home. Has anyone thought of a relocation plan for them?
With the growing demand for land to build bigger houses with bigger gardens and even bigger driveways, every vacant piece of land is being sought after and utilised regardless of its ecological importance. It is just another consequence of man’s constant need for development and for bigger and better things in life. But it comes at a cost. Lush vegetation gives way to layer upon layer of concrete and cement. Natural streams and water basins get filled or blocked. Eco systems are destroyed and animals get displaced or die out unable to adapt and compete with the unlawful intruders.
We are left with the predicament that in order to enjoy nature we will have to take our children to nature parks or show them pictures of the environment of how beautiful our surroundings used to be. We will probably recollect how the air was fresh and how the birds chirped in the morning and about all the wonderful sights and sounds of nature. There will soon come a day when animals will be confined only to zoos, trees will become portraits or paintings at exhibitions and lakes will just be footnotes in geology books.
Jayanka De Silva
Via email, Moratuwa