Letters to the Editor
View(s):Take a good look before you buy your soap
Yes, we all know and experience the unbearable cost of living today with the prices of essential items rising steeply without any control day-by-day.
A couple of weeks ago, I bought a 1 Kg laundry powder packet for Rs. 220 for which I had to pay Rs. 370 yesterday.
And then, has anyone noticed what’s happening to our soaps which we use multiple times a day? Please have a look at the label and observe the TFM value of the soap. If one searches the internet for the meaning of TFM, it will inform you that; “The most important factor to be considered in soap quality is its total fatty matter (TFM). Higher the TFM quantity in the soap, better is its quality. As per BIS, Grade 1 soap should have 76 per cent minimum TFM, while Grade 2 and Grade 3 must have 70 per cent and 60 per cent minimum TFM, respectively.”
The SLS standards are: (please see table)
What is the difference or type of use between a Toilet Soap and a Bathing Bar? To my understanding, both are used on the human body. What really is a “Bathing Bar”?
Now have a look at the soap product you use. Many soaps are now labelled as a Bathing Bar, in very small print and at most times illegibly!
Next, I’ve noticed another “trend” in the packaging patterns! For example, solids packed at 1.2g, 1.8g, 80g, 85g, 90g, 136g, 140g, 190g, 245g etc. and liquids packed at 240ml, 330ml, 370ml, 840ml etc. These weights, quantities seem to go down (never noticed a rise) without any prior notice.
Can some expert educate us, the innocent citizen, about this phenomenon, please?
Concerned citizen Colombo
Treat the cause, not the effect
In the recent past, the government when confronting a problem, seems to have taken ad-hoc decisions without taking proper action to analyse and take preventative measures which caused the problem. One such situation is the prohibition of purchasing fuel in cans.
I have a generator which is powered by petrol and I have no way of obtaining petrol for its use. I am aware that if generators are not used at least once a week, they tend to malfunction due to battery failure or motor deterioration. If there is a breakdown, whose fault is it? I have always looked after it in the proper fashion but this is out of my control. The decision-makers perhaps are not aware of these situations as they have all facilities.
I suppose the reason for the banning of purchasing fuel in cans is due to some people stocking up and selling for higher prices. If so, do something about this illegal activity rather than tackling the issue with a total ban thereby inconveniencing so many others, much more than those who do such illegal activities.
For every effect, there is a root cause. Find and address the root cause rather than trying to fix the effect, as there is no end to the latter.
Nimal de Silva Nugegoda
Regaining Kantale’s sweet glory with help of aragalaya
I propose that it is time that the educated youth of ‘aragalaya’ fame are conglomerated to re-establish the SOE destroyed Kantale sugar cane industry by keeping off the political stooges. They have the potential. The Finance Ministry can extend its immediate cooperation in consultation with the Premier. They can raise the initial capital by auctioning the debris of the machinery.
I am an 86-year-old youth of yesteryear who has visited the Kantale sugar empire in 1963-64 when it was in full swing.
Mahinda Via email
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