Letters to the Editor
View(s):Public should donate artefacts to the Museum
It is not surprising that the galleries of the Colombo Museum are largely dedicated to the classical period of Sri Lankan history (Plus Section, January 
given that was very much the aim of its founder, Sir William Gregory. Though after his arrival in Sri Lanka Gregory was initially enchanted by the architectural beauty of Kandy, the ruins at Anuradhapura cast a spell over him.
After the building of the museum was completed in 1875, ancient sculptures and remains from Anuradhapura and Polonnaruwa were collected and displayed. The rock inscriptions were photographed, epigraphs copied and ancient manuscripts translated. To assist archaeological research, ancient monuments were discovered, excavated and conserved.
With the passage of time, artefacts from later periods, such as the colonial era, should be included in the Museum’s collection. The public should be encouraged to donate furniture, china, coins, books and documents from these later periods to the Museum.
Dr R.P. Fernando Surrey, UK
CEB should fix this without delay
For quite some time I have been paying my electricity bill through the ‘CEB Instant Bill Payment’ facility. This facility has not been working for more than two months. The reason given on the same facility is that it is “under maintenance”.
In the modern day, a money yielding facility in a Government Board not functioning for more than two months is ridiculous.
K. Mahen Via email
We need committed and caring people in charge
Recently many train services were cancelled from January 1st, as many Railway employees retired from 31st December. The question arises as to whether the General Manager of Railways was unaware of this situation beforehand? Or were the higher officials guilty of not bringing this matter to his notice to ready the succession plan?
As a result it was the people who suffered as usual.
Are all the top officials overworked that this did not occur to them? Or is it incompetence, plus a ‘don’t care’ attitude?
This is the result of ruining an erstwhile efficient Administrative Services through political appointments since the late 50’s. While the talented were shut out, the incapables crept in courtesy their political masters, who are equally incompetent and corrupt.
The same was reflected in the country’s recent failure and debt default situation. The featherbrains appointed by the previous government repeatedly sang “Yes sir , yes sir , four bags full (of Forex stock)” and plunged the country into an abyss, out of which we are yet to climb.
The economists in the Central Bank have provided little credible information on the actual economic situation of the country since Independence, as we were, in fact, borrowing heavily to import more, while our exports were of much lower value annually.
It is a similar story in the agriculture, health and other areas also. Proper planning on agriculture outputs is hardly heard of, while there are imports galore to the disappointment of hapless farmers countrywide. Recently over US$ 6 M worth of Pfizer vaccinations expired. Why import so much without planning? What a criminal waste especially at a time of Forex scarcity. Was anyone held responsible? It could have been donated at least two months prior to expiry to an African country that couldn’t afford to buy these.
The ever problematic electricity sector works with a hidden agenda to earn money by purchasing from private power companies, hence the renewable energy sector is sabotaged at every turn. The then Finance Minister under the Yahapalanaya government introduced heavy levies on Electric Vehicle imports, which discouraged many buyers, probably due to the inducements from used car importers, which was, in reality, turning Lanka into a junkyard of advanced countries. If only the EV imports were encouraged then with minimal taxes, by now at least 10% of the vehicles on the road may have been EVs and that would have reduced the dependency on importing expensive petroleum products.
Another example is the Easter Sunday attacks, when those responsible just ignored intelligence warnings. One official even had the audacity to comment that he was under the impression that a small bomb blast capable of killing only a handful would have taken place! That there are no serious efforts to find the masterminds behind this attack, rubs salt into the wounds.
Needless to say our politicians and officials are of ‘reactive nature’ due to their limited intellectual capacity though they are masters of odious wealth accumulation.
My fervent wish is that the usual pattern of the masses trusting the falsehoods uttered on political stages by the politicians while accepting the freebies doled out, will change in the future. Pray that we elect capable, competent, caring and clean politicians, which alone can bring a change that we all very much desire.
N.V. Jen Via email
Proper pronunciation matters
Reader Mr. Binduhewa has brought out a very important point in your columns in his recent letter re. the problem with pronunciation among English teachers.
Most English teachers in government schools cannot express themselves at all well in the language they teach. I wonder if the Inspectors who visit schools have noted this and taken appropriate action to review standards. A pass in English should not be considered only from a written paper. It is the accent I refer to.
Even the pronunciation of radio announcers is questionable. During my work in London I used to visit the BBC (British Broadcasting Corporation) and as I walked through the corridors, I have seen a special room where staff look into proper pronunciation. I wonder whether our Broadcasting Corporation pays any regard to this. I often heard the word ‘record’ being pronounced as ‘recad’. I am not an expert but this sounds odd to me.
I remember at school how the class laughed at me when I pronounced ‘jury’ as juary which is the correct pronunciation as the teacher told the class. From that day I cared about pronunciation, even in Sinhala. In my 4th and 5th standard I had Arisen Ahubudu as a teacher who instilled in us correct and meaningful expressions.
We should not disregard the age-old correct pronunciation.
D. P. Y. Abeywardhana Nawala
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