4th April 1999

• Don't slam door on less fortunate
• We have the most powerful weapon, use it
• If students can object, so can we
• Cogent and elegant
• Burning questions at Gonawela

Don't slam door on less fortunate

This is in reference to the decision by the BOI to suspend the setting up of a privately owned medical college in Sri Lanka amidst student protests.

I can never understand why in the world our country keeps denying large private investments in the higher education field whether it is medical or any other.

While I can appreciate the concern of the government of a potentially explosive situation in the face of student protests, it is time any government faces this issue eye to eye and comes to accept that private higher education is here to stay.

In my opinion the real reason doctors or students oppose private higher education has nothing to do with the eventual extinction of state universities, but purely to maintain the exclusive professional clubs they belong to and resultant social benefits they enjoy.

The academia in the West has made unbelievable strides in research and development in all imaginable fields. Joining hands with at least some of them will expose our students to at least some of these benefits and help nurture and develop the potential of Sri Lanka students.

Sri Lanka as a nation should try to integrate with the rest of the world , not to isolate itself.

Among the thousands of qualified advanced level students who fail to gain access to limited vacancies in state universities, there may be thousands more who have excellent talent and intellect but are deprived of reaching their potential. For them studying abroad is out of reach. So why not bring that facility to their doorstep at a fraction of the cost and make those young lives reach their dreams too? Why do those who enter state universities want to slam the door to their less fortunate brothers and sisters? What is wrong with a privately funded university that will give them that second chance ?

Lets look at an analogy in a different field. Just because Nawaloka hospital was created the Colombo National Hospital did not cease to exist, nor was government funding to islandwide medical institutions taken off. No, not at all.

It only increased the standard of medical facilities available in the country as a whole; not to mention the financial gains to our own doctors some of whom might have long left our country otherwise. There should be more Nawalokas so that the health care costs will come down while the standards increase.

The current leadership should consider this issue as of paramount national importance and resolve it in the long term interest of Sri Lanka; not to safeguard outdated exclusive professional clubs some of which are filled with selfish academics.

Finally I am curious to know how many doctors have their children studying in the West while some of them protest vehemently to shut the door to similar opportunities to less fortunate students trying to make it at home.

Great leaders are made by taking tough decisions in the interest of the country, that will benefit generations to come and change the course of history. The current leadership has the chance now, to make its mark on this vital national issue.

Asoka Seneviratne
Washington USA

We have the most powerful weapon, use it

For too long have our politicians taken us for granted; for too long have we submitted to their yoke meekly. Every five years or so, they come to us seeking our vote, telling us that, if elected, they will uphold law and order, preserve democracy and restore decency and justice in our society. But alas! Let alone fulfilling such promises after being elected, even when campaigning for our votes they violate the laws of the country and conduct themselves as if the law does not apply to them.

Organisations which monitored the recent Wayamba elections have said in their reports that political parties, their candidates and their supporters indulged in violations of election laws by:

(a) Displaying posters, placards, handbills etc. in public places.

(b) Beating rival candidates and their supporters.

(c) Parading the streets on elections day with armed personnel in un-numbered vehicles.

(d) Using government vehicles for election campaigns.

(e) Bringing in thugs to intimidate voters.

(f) Intimidating candidates and their party supporters.

(g) Stuffing ballot boxes with ballot papers issued irregularly.

Candidates have flouted the laws even when their party leaders have instructed them not to. They ignore the orders of the Police and the Elections Commissioner and continue to violate the law with impunity.

We have in our hands a weapon more powerful than any party or any police order. That is the power of our votes. Let us use the forthcoming elections as an opportunity to demonstrate to politicians that we will no longer submit to their cynicism, hypocrisy and their lawlessness. Let us refuse to cast our vote in favour of any candidate, from whichever party, who has broken the law.

Stanley Jayawardena
Avadhi Lanka

If students can object, so can we

This is in reference to the article titled "Students cry foul over Mahapola cut" which appeared on February 28, in your esteemed newspaper.I applaud the university authorities for finally coming to their senses. Our university students are smart and often quite poor.

But they also seem to be a spoilt lot. Perhaps the reason for the selfishness is the fact that education in Sri Lanka is free. From Primary school through university, students pay nothing for attending class and learning. Even scholarships like the Mahapola scholarship is regarded as a "right" rather than a privilege.

It's possibly this ignorance that leads university students to protest so much over everything. They have forgotten that the education that is free to them costs our country a great deal of money. Schools and universities cost money to build and furnish. Some of this money comes from the people of Sri Lanka. Some funded by aid from other countries whose own educational system may not be free.

According to the University Students Federation the students have a right to object to issues regarding our country. Yes, the students do have the right to object. But we Sri Lankan citizens also have a right to object to the way our money is spent.

The university students spend more time protesting than learning. They protested so much during the JVP agitation that campuses were closed for years and students are still suffering the consequences of that agitation.

The Mahapola scholarship fund is public money that could well be spent on many other causes. The fact that it is given to students whose education is already free should not be taken for granted. Sri Lanka is one of the few countries where education is absolutely free right through the undergraduate level. It is also a country that cannot really afford to do so. Our citizens lack bare necessities, our children die of poor nutrition and our hospitals need equipment. It is shameful that our nation has spent so much wealth in sustaining such an ungrateful lot. None has the right to demand free education, it's a privilege that we have taken for granted. As recipients of others' generosity we can only say "thank you".

P. Nanayakkara

Cogent and elegant

I am a voracious reader of Mudliyar's articles, which are pregnant with facts. In the latest article titled "The Rise of Sinhala in our courts- Part 11", Mudliyar laments the lack of a good dictionary especially for the use of the black coated gentry. It is no denying that Dr. Gunapala Malalasekara's Dictionary has seen better days and there is no other treatise to fill the bill.

However there is a ray of hope.The literal and philosophical buff Dr. Sucharitha Gamlath is compiling a comprehensive English- Sinhala dictionary and Godage Publishers will publish it. If Mudliyar is interested he could contact the don or 'Godage Mahattya' to get the facts direct from the horses mouth.

As Mudliyar has expressed views about the flawless usage of the English Language, I am reminded of an interesting anecdote related to howlers in English. It goes thus; There was a person whose English was really bad. Another person told him, " Look here! There are allegations from everybody that your English is bad." Pat came the reply. "If I caught those alligators I would kill them."

Mudliyar's writings are appealing for two reasons. The facts are cogent and there is a sprinkling of elegant English phrases in them which shows that he knows his onions. Though law is a closed book to me I still internalise many things from his articles, as they are written not for legal luminaries but for the general readership. Congratulations Mudliyar!. Just soldier on and on and enlighten us.

D.A.J.Ranala
Boralesgamuwa

Burning questions at Gonawela

People who are living in Sapugaskande, Gonawala areas are already undergoing difficulties due to the pollution from the fumes of the refinery at Sapugaskande. If a survey is conducted, one will notice that 80% of the people living in this area are regularly affected by coughs, colds and throat diseases.

A project has been launched by an individual to re-cycle plastics in this area. A building has been put up opposite Keells Housing Scheme, Gonawala (W.P) which is a highly residential area. One cannot understand who gave permission for this. Has the Electricity Department got the necessary authority from the Central Environmental Authority to give a 3 phase current supply to start this project? Has this individual got permission from the Minister of Environmental Affairs to start this project in a populated area? Has the Pradeshiya Sabha given permission for this project?

A couple of days ago some waste plastic was burnt near this project. The smell of burnt plastic emanating from there was unbearable and some children developed throat ailments.

As this project is going to affect the people in this area, I request the environmental authorities to stop it immediately.

Already thousands of gunny bags of waste plastic are lying right round this project.

A resident of the area
Gonawela

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