Letters to the Editor

Does anyone care about our vanishing shade trees?
The magnificent trees of Colombo may soon be no more. They are seen as a nuisance by some authorities who feel that the sooner they vanish the better. They are happy to plant alien trees that grow straight up have no bursts of bright coloured flowers, don't provide any shade and are useless even as firewood.

How much shade do you get from the trees placed near Independence Square? Do birds nest in them? How much do they cool the surroundings? How many mara trees have the RDA and the UDA planted?

Various excuses are given when planting talipot or kitul trees which soon perish. Some authorities are planting margosa trees, eg. on the approach to the Katunayake FTZ. I have yet to see anyone collecting the seeds, leaves or bark to make the "Patha Ata Path Ekata sinda" decoctions. But I see hundreds of FTZ workers walking in the blazing sun!

Please look after our surviving trees. I suggest the following measures but stand corrected by the tree surgeons and experts of the Royal Botanical Gardens and the Department of Agriculture.

To get a tree of the size of those on Bauddhaloka Mawatha will take many, many years - to cut one down will need only a few minutes. While we enjoy the relaxing greenery, the cool shade, the soothing effect in a busy world, let us thank our predecessors for this little blessing and allow our next generation also this unselfish enjoyment.

Deafening blow from Telecom
It has been stated that the government should not do business but instead should monitor it. One cannot see how Sri Lanka Telecom (SLT) is being monitored.

The monthly rental which was Rs. 240 was recently increased to Rs. 594. A person who was paying a bill of Rs. 400 or a little more now gets a bill of Rs. 900 or more. Where are we heading?

The relevant authorities would do well to probe what is happening at SLT. They say they are expanding. The question is for whose benefit.

A deflating experience
I left Sri Lanka on the night of December 31, 2003, for Taiwan with a group of acrobats for a performance.

At the BIA where the baggage is opened and checked by BIA security personnel I was asked to deflate the tyres of the two small bicycles I was taking with me. They gave me no reason for this. It was only at BIA that this was done as at the Bangkok airport on my onward journey, I had no problems.

The security personnel also asked my group if we had any curry powder or chillie powder in our baggage. Is it prohibited for Sri Lankans to carry curry powder in their baggage that is checked in? Is this a rule only for Sri Lankans as many tourists too carry curry powder with them?

The Sri Lanka Air Force personnel manning the entry points were in contrast very courteous and added a bit of humour too when they saw the two old cycles I was taking with me.

Little glitter in sapphire stamp
A blue sapphire stamp was issued on October 21, 2003 to commemorate the declaration of the gem as the national gem of Sri Lanka. Its significance has not been stated on the stamp or the bulletin issued. The stamp is completely out of proportion as it is too small to accommodate a large gem. But earlier an attractively designed and printed Blue Sapphire Gem Stamp was issued on June 16, 1976.

The bulletin issued, giving the technical details for the benefit of stamp collectors and stamp catalogue editors states that 75 million stamps were printed. The fact is that only 500,000 stamps were printed and issued. In fact all Commemorative Stamps issued for sale in the recent past have had only 500,000 stamps for each issue whereas the bulletin gives it as one million stamps.

It would appear that the Post Master General and the Director of the Philatelic Bureau are misleading stamp collectors and stamp catalogue editors. The Minister of Posts and Telecommunications states that he is encouraging schoolchildren to collect stamps. How could children collect stamps when the quantity printed is so small.The 25 birds stamp sheet which is now considered the worst stamp sheet ever printed in Sri Lanka was overprinted in Thai and taken to the Thailand Stamp Exhibition for sale.

Three Thousand stamp sheets were over printed but only some 400 stamp sheets had been sold. Money spent for the exhibition was wasted. All this is the poor tax payers' money. These overprinted stamps have still not been released for sale to the Sri Lankan stamp collectors even though they are being privately sold at Rs. 400/- each.

Buddhist leaders should show more compassion to the suffering poor
As a practising Buddhist I was ashamed at the un-Buddhistic manner in which the venerable monks made their orations at the funeral of the late Ven.Gangodawila Soma Thera recently. It was a wonderful occasion to pay a glowing tribute to an erudite monk who had influenced the lives of so many of us. But, unfortunately some monks made full use of the TV and radio coverage to incite people. They kept saying that the late Ven. Soma Thera was put to death ("Apavath Kala") despite the clear verdict of death due to heart attack declared by the Magistrate based on the post-mortem conducted by a team of eminent Sinhala Buddhist doctors.

After screaming about a non-existent murder conspiracy they went on a tirade against the unethical conversion of Buddhists by the Christians. All of us are against these unethical conversions. But can screaming from a platform and framing legislation alone put a stop to unethical conversions? It is a fact that all those who have been converted are from poor families. If they have given up Buddhism because of financial and other material benefits we must ask ourselves "What have we done to ease the burden of our fellow Buddhists?"

Eloquent funeral orations and "Satyagrahas" are not what is needed to combat unethical conversions. We need to take steps to reduce their financial burden, provide employment, look after the education of poor children, organize the formation of the youth in their skills, provide good health facilities, etc.

Lord Buddha taught us to practise 'metta' 'muditha' 'karuna' and 'upekka'. If our Venerable monks, politicians and other civil Buddhist leaders show real mercy and compassion to our poor Buddhist families they will never change their religion. Instead of caring for the poor we keep harassing and exploiting them. Just take the case of our health service. Sri Lanka must be the only country where doctors, nurses, attendants and other health sector workers go on strike causing much hardship (and even death) to the poor and helpless patients. It is sad to note that our monks have not taken any steps to educate the health sector trade union leaders.

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