Fragrance of the Dhamma
Fragrance of the virtues
Waft in the cool breeze
Perfuming the surroundings!
Poson Full Moon beams
Illuminate scenic Mihintale
Reminding us of that
Great name, Arahat Mahinda.
We shall ever honour
Our sacred Buddhism
The teaching of Lord Buddha
With echoes of ‘Sadhu! Sadhu!’
Resounding in our pious hearts.
The pride of our nation ––
Mavellous sky-scraping stupas
As Ratnamali, Abhayagiriya
Are worshipped by Gods and Brahmas.
The intricate sculptures of Polonnaruwa
Speak out boldly and proudly
Of the glorious history of Buddhism
And the talents of our Sinhala sculptors.
May the four guardian deities
Ever protect and preserve
Our Priceless Gem,
Our revered Buddhism!
With heart full of reverence
Let us pay homage
To Buddha, Dhamma and Sangha!
‘Sadhu! Sadhu!’
Our revered Buddhism
Our priceless gem,
‘‘Sadhu! Sadhu!!"
Malini Hettige
A course in karate is what our university entrants need
The proposal of the Minister of Higher Education to give compulsory training to all university entrants is shrouded in mystery, because the students are not aware of the syllabus of the training course.
 |
| The ongoing training at military camps |
This is the first time in the history of university education in our country that such a training has been organised.
In a democratic state, both students and their parents have a right to know what exactly such training entails. Too bad the minister has not given wide publicity to the nature of the training course, nor consulted educationists before proposing this sudden bombshell, like a dictator.
The Minister should have organised a compulsory training course in “karate”, so that the students will benefit from a knowledge of self defence.
Also, karate skills will come in useful when university students have to deal with ragging and female students have to deal with sex maniacs. With karate on his or her side, a student need not fear murder and rape.
Leena Gunaratne,
Piliyandala
Does no one care about the poor, suffering pensioners?
Elections come and go, but the promises made at election times are seldom honoured. One such broken promise is the promise of a reasonable allowance for pensioners. With another election round the corner, I, a former teacher, thought this is a good time to highlight the plight of the poor, ill-treated pensioners.
It seems the government has taken them for a ride once again.
What can a hapless pensioner do with Rs. 300? This is not enough to buy even enough 400 grams of milk powder and a kilo of sugar. Prices keep rising, and even the sky is not the limit.
Many pensioners have to spend a colossal sum of money on medicines, as they are in the autumn of their lives. They also need other bare necessities. Milk powder is indispensable in their old age. Bread, rice, vegetables and fish have all shot up in price, never to come down again.
Pensioners cannot even afford a square meal a day, and they find it very difficult to pay their electricity, water and telephone bills.
What a blissful life the Parliamentarians enjoy, especially the Ministers and the government MPs. They get everything free – electricity, water, telephone and fuel, and rent-free housing for even those with houses in Colombo.
And what about the luxury cars and security services they get? They enjoy all the luxuries but have no compassion for the sufferings of the government pensioners and the common man.
Parliamentarians are also entitled to a pension. They get a full pension after five years’ service (and what service do they do?), whereas the government servants have to toil for two decades to qualify for a pension. How unfair and illegal is this?
During elections times, we were told that pension anomalies would be rectified, but all these promises have been forgotten.
Over to you, Minister of Public Administration. Please consider the plight of the pensioners, who are cut to the heart.
Please note: Pensioners also are voters.
Frustrated Pensioner,
Rajagiriya
We need to find the right team to fight Lanka’s case
Those of us who are great armchair politicians (and therefore harmless enough) have several questions which spring to mind -- specifically feminine minds -- whenever we get together to chat about Ban Ki-moon shenanigans vis-à-vis his choice of a ‘panel’ to investigate Sri Lanka’s alleged infringement of human rights.
I believe Ban Ki-moon had neither the permission nor the direction of the United Nations or the Security Council to form this ‘panel’ of his. Why then are we obliged to give answers to a dubiously appointed panel and bother to explain away any conclusions arrived at by a group of people whose credentials to be a part of such a panel are airy fairy in extreme.
From where did BKM select the three panelists? Were they just people he’d met on the UN cocktail circuit or did he simply pull their names, magician-like, out of a conjuror’s hat? The panelists are certainly not people of substance. Indeed the very history of their careers should have excluded them from the panel. The three members are one and all partisan-like.
Is BMK hypnotised by the propaganda spewed by a segment of the Diaspora? I cannot for a moment believe that all the cultured, wealthy and successful Tamils in the USA, Canada or Australia are one and all anti the Sri Lankan Government. I feel many are afraid to speak out in support of the home country because of repercussions from the Diaspora hotheads but it seems, to less bigoted citizens of Sri Lanka, that BKM listens only to the vociferous elements of the Diaspora. In short he hears only the loud voice of prejudice -- not the controlled voice of reason.
The recent goings-on in Geneva prove beyond a doubt that Sri Lanka is being most unfairly treated and nothing stings more than injustice. We must create our own forum to hit back. It will not be given to us by those countries who only hear their own voices.
It amazes us armchair chatterers that we are not lauded on all sides for bringing a 30-year war to an end against one of the most ruthless terrorist groups in the world (USA words). We have no doubt that some civilians suffered. They usually do in a war of this nature but does the UN really expect us to apologise for a brilliantly won war (with no outside help) simply because we refused to hand over the leader of the terrorists.
Why did they want to save him anyway? That’s another question we would like answered. What were they going to do with Prabhakaran once they had saved his skin? Where was he going to find a safe haven from all his own horrendous human rights violations? What country would want to offend India by offering refuge to a murderer of one of India’s prime ministers?
Might I suggest that the President find about ten brilliant speakers (never mind to which party they belong) and get them to present our country to the outside world in a different light. Names like Jayantha Dhanapala and Gomin Dayasiri come to mind. The highly articulate Malinda Seneviratne would be another. I would give them all ambassador status and enough spending money to go abroad and wow the world! Naturally none of us has the slightest idea how to install such a propaganda machine and get it going but the Government will know how best to set about it.
Let’s do it – and, before I end, let’s not forget that at least some of those 10 chosen ones must be women! May we name them? Indrani Sugathapala, Sumi Moonesinghe and Rosy Senanayake would be our choice. They are articulate and forceful and that is what we badly need at the moment.
Goolbai Gunasekara,
Via email
Medical consultants a law unto themselves
This is a response to the letter from “Disgusted Patient” of Kandana (Sunday Times, May 15). I have a few observations of my own to add.
The medical consultants in this country act as if they are a law unto themselves. For example, patients are told that the doctor will be available at a particular time, and they arrive much earlier to get a number. But the doctor turns up two hours late, and the patient must wait another two hours for his or her turn. Four hours of waiting for a five-minute consultation!
Can someone please explain:
– How some government doctors start seeing in-patients at 8.30 a.m., when they should be reporting for work at the hospital at 8.00 a.m.?
– How one doctor can see so many patients till nearly midnight? Does he not he get tired, and won’t the quality suffer?
– How consultants set their fees? Each one is different. Does it depend on supply and demand, as in the marketplace?
– How is it some doctors don’t like being asked questions asked about patient’s problems? Don’t patients have a right to ask such questions?
– Why is it that many patients feel they have to go through unnecessary tests at private labs? Are the doctors shareholders in these labs? It is no secret that some doctors get all kinds of things from pharmaceutical companies, by way of gifts, trips overseas, and free holidays, for prescribing their drugs.
– Nursing Homes have their own scheme for charging patients. Patients cannot question this.
All the above points raised should be looked into.
Another Disgusted Patient |
E-mail
