Year on the Web
Year on the Web
The Sri Lanka Ports Authority called for applications a few months ago for posts of Electrical Engineers. As over 350 had applied, a written test was held in January 97. For the final selection an interview was held on 15.3.97 and 14 applicants were present. Though the applicants were asked to produce all original certificates etc. at this interview no one had scrutinized the certificates. The applicants have now been asked to forward a letter from a Minister if they are to be considered for selection. Further, they have been informed that the Ports Authority would be forced to recruit others outside the final selected lot if a letter from a Minister is not produced.
As a parent of one of the said applicants, I feel that this is all irregular. I appeal to the President to intervene in the matter and advise the Sri Lanka Ports Authority to select the final lot from the 14 applicants who were present for the final interview held on 15.3.97, irrespective of a Minister's recommendation. Otherwise, there was no purpose in holding the test and interviews.
Lewis Place and Porutota Road are the main areas where you find most of the tourist hotels, restaurants, gem and jewellery shops and other establishments that cater to the needs of the tourists who visit Negombo.
It is regretted to find that this whole area - Lewis Place and Porutota Road - is like a dumping ground for garbage, dirt and other waste matter. You just can't walk on the pavements (in fact there are no pavements at all!). Garbage is dumped on both sides of the road. Besides roads are dug up by the Telecom, Water Supply & Drainage Board and the Electricity Co. all the year round and their work never seems to be complete. The diggings are just covered up without levelling or tarring. There are plenty of pot holes everywhere like moon craters and when it rains the water has no way of running out. One can hardly walk on the roads for they are full of potholes and stones left for good. Motorists find it very difficult to drive owing to the bad and grave conditions of the streets.
Stray cattle and dogs are another problem which goes unchecked. No wonder tourists avoid such a dirty and unclean area. The beach too is not spared. You will find it smelling of human excreta and heaps of cow-dung along the beach.
The street lights opposite the Browns Beach Hotel are not lit up or are very dim and the tourists fear to go for a walk or for shopping for fear of petty thieves, pimps and other unwanted characters like drug addicts. As a result, the tourist trade in the area suffers for lack of business.
This is a sad state of affairs and if neglected it is not far off when tourism would die an unnatural death in this area.
The narrow side drains at H.K. Edmund Mawatha (Circular Road) between Sarenthu-Kade Junction and Thani-Polgaha Junction in the Galle Municipality area have been blocked right along for a long time. The drains are not cleaned properly, they are silted and overgrown with weeds and shrubs. The edges of the drain are broken due to heavy traffic. Poor maintenance and faulty construction of the drains is the main reason for this block. The blockage has caused a serious health problem to the residents who live here.
We have been faced with this a serious problem for quite sometime and have made repeated complaints and appeals to the respective authorities but upto now no remedial action has been taken.
Since all our efforts to find a suitable solution have failed, we are hoping to bring this to the notice of the public through the media, so that at least it would open the eyes of the persons concerned, who are in deep slumber and paying no attention to the plight of the ratepayers.
The age old concept that old age is to be endured and not enjoyed is a myth. We become old and in the process grow.
But elders can extend their life span to 90 years or more if they know the secret of understanding the "whole" man i.e., the body, mind and spirit. Giving emphasis to the body alone is the bane of medical treatment. The goal of medicine should be to understand the bruised nature of the emotional state of the total personality of the patient. Stress which brings about mental strain is one of the greatest causes of sickness and barriers in healing, says Professor Style, a world authority on stress diseases.
According to Dr. Simonton, a cancer specialist, in his book "Getting Well Again" 80% of cancer cases are due to stress caused 6-18 months before symptoms appear.
Apart from cancer, other stress-related diseases are depression, stroke, high blood pressure, heart ailments, ulcers, asthma, eczema, skin eruptions, certain allergies, diabetes and migraine. A lack of knowledge of diet and exercise can aggravate these.
Stress-related diseases are referred to as psychosomatic, i.e., the effect of the mind on the body. Stress is a disease of the mind and causes health problems. Stress related diseases are common to adults also. Doctors usually treat the symptoms of such disease. However, some doctors advocate meditation, yoga or prayer. Meditation is a thought process to get to the 'medi' or centre which is the spirit. Yoga attempts to get to the spirit from the physical. Prayer is communion with God which is Spirit. This therapy is becoming popular.
Many elders today have stress-related problems that elders did not have a few decades ago. They are no longer treated with respect. They are the Cinderellas of the state. Even the children and family members look on them as a burden. . Often an "out of sight, out of mind" attitude is adopted by their children living abroad.
How can the elders enjoy life in spite of all this? A proper working of the body, mind and spirit in harmony is the secret for happy life for elders and potential elders.
Rest, exercise and proper diet are essential for all age groups. To an elder, exercise is a must. Cardiologist Jerome says that regular exercise can reverse about 20 years of ageing. Our reactions are due to our attitudes or emotions. These are of the mind. The Buddha said "mind is everything. We become what we think! The Bible says "as a man thinketh, so is he". Positive thoughts make us self-confident says world famous Dr. Vincent Peale. How do we get our positive thoughts?
Justice (conscience), mercy (compassionate love), humility are divine qualities of man. Since the dawn of human history man has shown his awareness of God and has possessed qualities of love and appreciation of peace. Positive believing (faith) is in the spirit of man which is transferred to his thinking mind which is transferred to his body. So man's powerhouse for a healthy body is his spirit.
The govt. has declared 1997 as "an year of Educational reforms" But as is evident from the photograph, there are schools that need urgent attention.
This school is situated in the Nuwara Eliya district- CP/N/Maraya TV Lindula. There are about 900 students studying in this school. The classroom area available at present is only 2,500 sq. ft. The required area is 10,800 sq.ft.
Three classes the open air. If it rains the children have to go home as there is no other alternative.
There are 18 parallel classes, but there are only nine permanent teachers appointed to this school. It has classes upto year 11 - G.C.E. O/L. Repeated requests made to the respective Directors of Education, Secretary to the Ministry of Education, Kandy, politicians and organisations (IRDP/SIDA) have fallen an deaf ears.
If we could rise with thee oh Christ!
On Easter morn
Full of
promise:
To a changed life reborn
Thy humiliation, rebuffs and
scourges,
the jeers, the pain
The agony of Good Friday
Will not
have been in vain
But frail are we
The spirit's willing Lord
the flesh is weak,
Umpteenth
our falls
To thy oustretched hands we reach
Like Faustus scream
One
drop would save our souls
Drop on drop of mercy
but no change in our
wayward souls.
Through the agony
of a Good Friday
comes the triumph
of an
Easter morn
It's by dying to ourselves
that to a new life
we are
reborn
This the perennial implication
of Easter tide
Christ the
Resurrection,
The truth and The Life.
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