I empathise with the reader from Wattala who says the temple loudspeakers in the early hours are a terrible disturbance.
I live in Thalapathpitiya, and I truly understand how this reader feels, as I am a senior citizen too, facing the same problem. In my residential area, a religious CD is played in the temple as loud as possible at 5 a.m.
The first half-hour, it is just a randomly beaten drum, as if to wake all the sleeping residents. The second half-hour is bana. Broadcasting loud like this is inconsiderate and unfair to the community. The temple and other authorities should know that non-Buddhists are among the residents.
The recent crackdown on sound pollution has resulted in a toning down of sweep ticket vendors and other irritating noise-makers. But the crackdown has clearly not included the loudspeakers used for bana preaching.
I am a devout Buddhist, and I carry out my religious duties on Poya days. When I was a child, I considered temples to be places to meditate in peace and contemplate Lord Buddha’s teachings. Sadly, that environment of peace and solitude is no more. The temples are crowded, and loudspeakers blare out bana. It is disconcerting that the venerable monks in the temples are not mindful of the true meaning of Lord Buddha’s teaching.
How can you meditate when there is constant noise? It is interesting that not a single religious leader has brought up this matter for discussion.
The authorities should remove the loudspeaker menace from residential areas, and create a pleasant ambience in temples and other places of worship.
Sarath Perera,
Thalapathpitiya.
Reclaiming land may provoke the sea gods
The Government plans to backfill and reclaim 500 acres of land from the sea.
Is this a wise move, considering a.) the threat of the sea level rising and the fear that Indian Ocean islands, such as the Maldives, will go under water; b.) the ever-looming danger of a tsunami (even the tsunami barriers built by the Japanese were a failure); c.) the effect on the Colombo Harbour and the surrounding seabed by possible disturbances in prevailing sea currents, and so on.
A.Hassan,
Via e mail
Of poisonous cabbages and king-size mangoes
I’d like to draw the reader’s attention to the shocking reality of agricultural produce in Sri Lanka.
Greedy farmers are injecting dangerous chemicals into under-developed fruits and vegetables to enlarge or force ripen the produce.
Growth hormone chemicals that may harmful to humans are injected into carrots, leeks and cabbages to make them bigger and brighter in colour. The same goes for banana, mangoes, papayas, etc.
The fruit are kept in wooden containers along with chemicals such as calcium carbide, which could be dangerous.
Often, farmers irrigate their fields with untreated sewage and effluents from industries that use dangerous chemicals. Apart from this, farmers are largely ignorant about pesticides and how to use them.
All this is very alarming. When we buy and consume bright red apples, we may be unknowingly ingesting hazardous chemicals.
Readers knowledgeable on the subject should write in to tell us about the toxicological side of bad agricultural practices. We should know what is happening in the country. Most Sri Lankans are unaware of all this.
K. A. Dayaratne,
Dehiwela
Keep the gentlemen’s game clean
Information reaching us suggests that many things are upside-down where cricket and its administration is concerned. The Captain and Vice- Captain have already resigned from their posts.
The Sri Lanka Cricket administration is being paid fantastic salaries.
The illegal sale of tickets for the ICC World Cup matches at extremely high prices has been observed, and the Police are investigating. The ICC is also looking into this matter, we are told. Loans amounting to millions have still to be settled.
There is an urgent need to save the gentlemen’s game with an early and impartial inquiry to investigate these matters. We don’t want cricket to get a bad name.
Jeoffrey Gunasekera,
Colombo 5
Did we allow the Indians to win?
A news item in the Daily Mirror of April 5 quoted President Mahinda Rajapaksa as saying, “I like to tell my Indian friends that 20 million people from our small country took a step back to allow 1.2 billion Indian people enjoy some happiness for the second time since 1988.”
Does “to allow” mean planning to lose or match fixing? Could this be a reason for Sangakkara giving up his captaincy? This will remain a mystery. Let’s hope the ICC does not take the matter seriously.
Parakum,
Dehiwala |
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