Vistas 2000@ suntimes.is.lk

Senior journalist Roshan Peiris, 'Dean of the corps' as she is fondly referred to in the office has seen Sri Lanka seesaw through good times and bad in her long years as a journalist, first at The Observer where she was the first woman Acting Editor and Deputy Editor and now at The Sunday Times. The new millennium sees her expressing a fervent wish for peace. "The first thing we need is peace and harmony among all our communities, as we knew in the past when we were children. Then there was no difference," she says emphatically.

Always committed to helping the poor, Roshan is keen to continue this aspect of her life and expand it if she can. Closer ties with her family and friends are also uppermost in her mind. "I'd like to keep the old friends and make new ones too," she says.

A fond grandmother and mother she has many hopes for her family.

"But I wish I was wealthy enough to settle my bank overdraft," she laughs.

Sports Editor of The Sunday Times, the ever-helpful Annesley Ferreira, 54, sees peace as the greatest need for the millennium. "We should educate the young so that they can see a way out of the current impasse. Maybe through Sunday schools and the like, the young can be taught the importance of unity.

Mixed marriages are one way we can forge closer bonds between the communities," he says. "I just wish all communities would get together and live as we did in the past. Religious leaders should co-operate and put aside their differences."

Annesley, a proud grandfather makes a point about banning the sale of toy guns which he feels encourages violence in the very young.

The political system in the country, too, he'd like to see changed in the new millennium. Political leaders and parties can explain their positions through the medium of TV. Political meetings that give rise to so much violence should be banned.

And where sports his passion, is concerned, he feels that politicians should steer clear of any involvement. Hands off, is his wish for the millennium.

A country where there is sharing and caring, where people accept and respect each other's religion, language, culture and tradition and where there is equitable distribution of wealth and resources, is the ardent wish of veteran journalist Louis Benedict.

A Deputy Editor of The Sunday Times, Louis who started his career as a cub sports reporter at the now defunct "SUN" has more than 30 years experience not only in writing and editing, but also moulding trainee journalists. When running stories, deadlines and printing schedules see many a frayed nerve and volatile temper, placid Louis is the voice of reason at the sub-desk. He sees equal opportunity for all to the maximum extent possible as the solution to all the ills that have befallen Sri Lanka, and hopes that he would be a part of that resolution of injustice and crises.

Senior sub-editor Victor Emmanuel who enjoys harmony and happiness at home, feels that "family togetherness" should be high on every Sri Lankan's agenda. With just one "wonderful" baby grand-daughter in England, he has many hopes for Sri Lanka, predominant of which is peace.

Peace is essential for this country and I wish that in the Year 2000 our children and grandchildren will be able to enjoy this, 'Emma', as he's fondly called by his colleagues, said when we interrupted his heavy work schedule as a sub-editor. Keeping aside the page proof he was poring over, he said, "We also need to alleviate poverty and bring in good education reforms. Concerted efforts should also be made to combat drug addiction. Another very important issue is the cost of living. We need to look at it and bring it down."

Emma has been in printing for well over 30 years. Starting his career at a printing press, he later joined the "SUN" as a supervisor in the Works Department and rose to be Works Manager. When the "SUN" set, he joined The Sunday Times, switching from printing to subbing because of his English language skills.

"I am scared and also sad for my little seven-month-old baby son," says photo-journalist M.A. Pushpakumara who has had a traumatic 1999. In July, while covering a UNP demonstration near the Town Hall he was among the journalists who suffered serious injury — an elbow fracture — when they were attacked by the Presidential Security Division.

More recently he saw some of his colleagues dead, narrowly escaping with his own life, as he stood numbly for a few seconds, soon after President Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumaratunga was injured in a blast set off by an LTTE suicide bomber.

One year with The Sunday Times, and he has practically seen it all. The tears, the sorrow, the blood and the brutality and he feels that all the modern things have left the world in shambles. "A world full of discrepancies....... divisions and also drugs. The future does not look too good."

Pushpa (31) longs for a better future not only for his son but for all the children of Sri Lanka and says the need of the hour is to get-together, irrespective of what "colour" you like and work towards peace. "We have a country and we must build it up."

"Why do politicians hold meetings when they know that it results in carnage? It's the normal man who dies. That day (December 18 when the bomb went off) I wondered what would happen to my son. We have to work with dedication towards building a society where human beings are treated like human beings," he stressed.

"Everybody's talking about peace with the millennium, but I'm not so sure," says M. Ismeth, the Sunday Times Asst. News Editor. "Even if we have a national government, so much depends on the LTTE and what is acceptable to them. I have my doubts."

He feels strongly about the needs of the people in the North and East. Food and medicines must be provided, fishing and agriculture must be allowed. They must also have their rights, he says. "They are not second-class citizens."

Striking a practical note, why all these rallies and tamashas, he asks.

Can we afford them? Most people struggle to get by and the cost of living has hit us all.

He is critical of the extravagant millennium bashes. Wouldn't it have been better to have used that money to bring the injured soldiers from the North and East to Colombo for treatment? "I hope the government and the people will in this new century take better care of our soldiers." As a journalist who has worked in India, Ismeth wishes some of that climate of independence and freedom of the press would rub off here. "Even at this late stage, let the media be free to write, to expose corruption." And as a parent, he longs for the day when he can see his children, grown up though they are, leave home without worrying about their safety.

Both his sons had narrowly escaped injury in the Galadari bomb and the memory still haunts him.

Rajpal Abeynayake, columnist and Deputy Editor of The Sunday Times would like this millennium to be the one of "cerebral celebration".

And by this, he simply means, an era where, people would use their brains more -- and hold brain at a premium over technology.

The past century, as he sees it, was technology driven, from aeroplanes, automobiles, computers to the Internet. Man thought technology was "sex and god rolled in one". And humankind somehow came to equate the pursuit of happiness with the pursuit of technology. .

"If you think of Buddhism, the root of all problems is moha (ignorance) and what I hope is that sometime in this millennium, people will shed ignorance and in doing so be able to realise that true happiness lies in egalitarianism, in perhaps, an attitude of live and let live. It's a question of realising that if we're not greedy, we're in fact better off, and more secure -- and therefore happier" He's quick to add that he's not advocating a religious revival and that his cerebral millennium has no holier than thou undertones.

And the thirty something young man, still single, hopes he can become a vegetarian and also have one or two children as the years pass by.

She has taught music, maths and English, tried her hand at being a management trainee and also waited tables in England. And high on business journalist Mel Gunasekera's list of hopes, as we step into the millennium is that "there will be peace and understanding among people..... that there won't be grudges, friction. Then the world would be a better place to live in."

Being a writer on economic issues, she says, "If the economy does well and those benefits trickle down to the grassroots, it would be good. Otherwise there is this huge yawning gap, we sitting here with everything and the poor man out there, begging."

According to Mel, "There is a need to go back to our roots. To touch them and start again. To learn to live in harmony. Parents should spend more time with their children and people who go to places of worship regularly should practise what they preach."

Being 26, any hopes of marriage and a family? "I cannot afford to get married," she says with a wry smile, adding that she's trying hard to collect money to do her master's degree. "I have a good life, a job I like and a good family. I'm fortunate. What more can I ask for?"

For graphic journalist Wasantha Kanthilal Siriwardene the millennium holds promise of a "new beginning".

At 38, with a six-year-old son, he yearns for life to become normal. In the 1980s and '90s the country was a mess. "People, including politicians, journalists and religious leaders have lost their way and the country has been heading for disaster."

"A fresh start is what we need. A little bit of sacrifice is expected of everyone...to give something to Sri Lanka. Our children have been living in a bad environment, an environment of bombs and other threats. We need to change that," says Wasantha, who's been with The Sunday Times for 10 years coming up with all that artistic stuff.

A whizz at using the computer to produce graphics, he says, "Our children must enjoy living in Sri Lanka. Otherwise they will pack their bags and go elsewhere, a place where there is peace."

Says this journalist, "I'm getting older, but my life has not become stable yet. We just survive. In the next year, my personal aspirations are to be established and achieve stability."

Aruna Wickremaratchchi, curly-headed computer whizz and Desktop Publishing Manager of Wijeya Publications finds his thoughts on his profession as a new millennium dawns.

"This is a rapidly advancing field and I just wish that here in Sri Lanka we would have the means to access the new technology and keep abreast of what\'d5s happening. There should be educational institutes where one can learn the latest ," he says.

His speciality is graphic design and though he daily oversees the creation of dozens of pages for The Sunday Times, Daily Mirror, Lanka Woman publications, this young man predicts a future largely on the Web.

It's bad news for the newspapers as we know them," he smiles, "but the future lies in the Web."

On a personal note, he'd like to move into this field and see it progress.

For this 35-year-old father of one son, ending the war is a priority. "I'd like to see a solution that comes from the people and does not only reflect the views of those at the top," he says.

A good education for his two sons, who are 11 and four years, is the earnest wish of Kuruvita Arachchi, the indispensable jack-of-all trades, who among his many functions ensures that The Sunday Times staff have their cuppa each morning and evening and also makes sure that the photocopier has paper and the journalists have their notebooks and pens.

We need to improve, not only my family but also the country and the war must end," the ever-smiling 41-year-old Kuru as he's known to all said, before rushing off on another errand.

Tania Fernando, is among the new faces at The Sunday Times. After growing tired of a secretarial career, Tania opted for journalism and two and a half months into the job finds it both stimulating and absorbing.

She, like many young people has not succumbed to the millennium hype and says, matter-of-factly, "It's just another year."

But every year does bring with it new hopes, and she confesses she's like to tie the knot in 2000.

The war does worry her."Innocent people shouldn't be dying. Everybody's talking but we need to see more than that." She'd like to see Sri Lanka move into an era of progress and development, one that would offer young people like herself a future to be positive about.

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