I read with interest two articles (described as “love letters”) that appeared recently in your newspaper on the subject of Canadian train engines (“Alberta darling, I’m back”, December 18, 2011; “Alberta love letter prompts another tribute to those Canadian beauties”, December 25, 2011). I too wish to add my tribute to those of Dr. Gyan Fernando and Mr. W. A. Perera.
I lived in Kalutara in the Fifties and Sixties and had the privilege to travel in trains pulled by these same Canadian engines. Unfortunately, I do not remember their names, but I do know they were named after provinces in Canada, where I have been living for the past 40 years.
I wonder how many readers are aware that these locomotive engines were given as outright gifts, with no conditions or expectations, to the then Ceylon Government by the Canadian Government.
The engines were gifts under the Colombo Plan and, like many other development projects, were given with no strings attached, unlike the “gifts” of most other donor countries. This was in the time of the then Canadian Prime Minister, the late Mr. Pierre Trudeau.
I had the good fortune to ride in one of these Canadian engines from Madhu to Medawachchiya with Terrance Roberston, who was the driver of the locomotive. He and I played together in the Under 16 cricket team of St. Sebastian’s College, Moratuwa, in the early Forties.
Terrance gave me a few tidbits of information about these locomotive engines. For example, for one of the engines to get fully charged, it had to run from one end of Sri Lanka to the other, that is, from Kankesanthurai (KKS) to Matara. One can imagine the pulling power of these locomotive engines.
I also learnt, from a Canadian national, that the railways played a crucial role in the opening up of the western provinces of Canada, and the creation of the federal system of government that exists in that country today.
Leonard Shirley Perera,
British Columbia, Canada
Education reforms: consult before acting
It’s been a long time since a batch of 10-year-olds entered Grade 6 in January 1972 to follow the new National Certificate in General Education syllabus. We had a scholarship exam in Grade 7, and we sat the NCGE in 1975, when we were in Grade 9. We had no textbooks to study from. We were only 14 years at the time.
Next, we were introduced to the Higher National Certificate of Education (HNCE), and we followed this syllabus for two years. The creators of the system could not have known what would happen next. With the change of government in 1977, the HNCE was abandoned midway, and we were made to study for the GCE A/Levels, which we followed over the next two years. We sat the A/Levels in August 1979. That year too there were two sets of exams, one for the repeaters of the old syllabus and the other for first-timers doing the new syllabus. When it came to university selection, the first-timers got 60 per cent, when they should have got 100 per cent. There was no Z score then. It seems that history is about to repeat itself.
Of course, some entered university, some found other career paths and livelihoods. When a young person asks me what I got for my O/Levels, I have to explain that we sat for the NCGE, not the O/Levels.
The creators of that system have forgotten what we went through.
I write this letter to caution the authorities not to make the same mistakes made earlier. Again, there are rumblings about the education system being changed next year.
Education reforms should be made only after extensive research and consultation. We don’t want another generation of students to undergo the same suffering and heartbreak we went through. Do not make them into another set of guinea pigs.
My classmates are 50 years old this year, and we consider ourselves senior citizens of the country. We hope the authorities will listen to us and act wisely.
Class of the ’70s alumnus
What we need are reprints of Ananda Coomaraswamy’s work
The new cultural centre, once referred to as the National Performing Arts Theatre, has been inaugurated, and many enthusiastic persons have been prompted to write to the newspapers about the theatre and its new name.
If the theatre was named National Cultural Centre, or National Lotus Cultural Centre, or National Nelum Pokuna Cultural Centre, or some such name, there would have been no objections. The President should not be blamed. Very probably an adviser would have suggested the name for the project.
Many knowledgeable persons have written to say Ananda Coomaraswamy Mawatha should not have been renamed. They point out that Coomaraswamy is an internationally respected visionary, and that his name is respected by many foreign cultural organisations, including that of China.
Cultural icons such as Martin Wickramasinghe, Sarathchandra, Sunil Shantha and Ray Wijewardana do not need to have their names inscribed on buildings, road signs and prestigious institutions to be remembered by future generations.
What the government should do is reprint Ananda Coomaraswamy’s valuable books and use the profits for the upkeep of the theatre. This would be an act of appreciation of Coomaraswamy and his work.
Kasi Silva
Doctor shortage cripples health services in Jaffna
We expect those serving the community to show no discrimination based on age, gender, etc. However, the Jaffna District Regional Health Services, which comes under the Northern Province Ministry of Health, have discriminated against doctors over 70 years of age. Their services were terminated for the simple reason that they are over 70.
Due to a shortage of doctors in the North, the Cabinet approved the employment of retired doctors 70 years and under. However, as the expected number of doctors failed to report for duty, the notice of termination was withdrawn and the doctors who are over 70 years of age were allowed to continue working till November 30 last year.
But the number of doctors reporting for duty still falls short of the required number. As a result, some 15 medical institutions offering out-patients treatment function for only four hours in the morning and two hours in the evening. Patients are greatly inconvenienced.
This is an urgent matter. The Cabinet should reconsider and waive the 70 years age limit for re-employed doctors and offer the normal six hours of out-patient care.
Dr. V. Mahendran
Chunnkakam, Jaffna
Plastic crates are an extra expense – and a pain
Using plastic crates to transport vegetables and fruit does not benefit the farmer, the transporter, the middleman, or the consumer. Already, vegetable prices have escalated three- and four-fold. Before implementing this law, we should consider the economic, social, cultural, and practical realities.
- The farmers’ produce has to be carried from the field to the transport point. What can be carried in one load in a gunny bag goes into four loads in crates, resulting in extra transport expense.
- Crates take up more space than gunny bags, so vehicles can take only a quarter of the volume of produce normally taken using bags.
- The empty crates have to be brought back to the farmer. The same space in a lorry is needed to take back the empty crates, adding to transport costs. Usually, these vehicles carry other goods on the return journey.
- Only the best vegetables and fruit are selected for export. The exporters are responsible for sending produce in good condition, with minimal damage. The produce that goes to star hotels and supermarkets is taken care of by those in the trade. The cost is greater for graded and selected produce. The balance produce goes to the public market and fairs.
Here too the products are graded and sold at different outlets and to different types of customers. Goods partially damaged due to transport and handling are sold to the less affluent at 10 to 25 per cent of the market price (damage to produce is usually between 10 to 25 per cent). This benefits the low income group. Finally, damaged and discarded vegetables and fruit are collected by farmers to feed their animals. Discarded produce is collected and sold by the poor to regular collectors.
Many are involved and engaged down the line. Minister Johnston Fernando’s idea of introducing plastic crates for vegetable and fruit transport will only disturb the system, and benefit only the plastic crate suppliers. The plastic crate recommendation is yet another short sighted concept, like Indian chicken and eggs and the coconuts from Kerala that had to be dumped in the Indian Ocean.
S. I. M. Khaleel,
Peradeniya |
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