Vesak is revered by Buddhists all over the world. In Sri Lanka it is celebrated on a large scale all over the country. This Vesak, Colombo city saw a multitude of celebrations with many pandals and dansalas offering food and drinks to the general public for merit.

The writer traversed all over Colombo city taking in the pandals, and other celebratory 'acts' by the public, governmental and private institutions alike. Many were the 'wonders,'that were on display to a gaping general public eager to enjoy the glitter and largesse dished out for merit.

One particular act was shocking, and original to say the least. A Kollupitiya based massage parlour, bar and karaoke lounge was enticing the Vesak sight-seeing public to their dansala by means of  scantily clad Chinese and Thai women waving the Buddhist Flag standing next to a sports car with local girls in tow. They were indulging in very lewd and questionable behaviour, much similar to the sexually charged pole dancing with the flag pole attached to the Buddhist Flag.

These women were openly welcoming patrons to their dansala run by the club, by standing in the middle of Galle Road, and almost every vehicle turned in to the by-road leading to the club, mostly out of curiosity, as vice and Vesak, have never before been coupled together for maximum effect, and the publicity generated was more than any advertisement could provide.

Galle Road was experiencing a traffic jam as on New Year's Eve. It was evident that all law enforcement personnel of every rank and stature who turned up to view this scene turned a blind eye, and were even partaking of the paan and parippu dished out. Anyone can be bought. It is just a matter of how much.

Now the question is, is this the norm? Is this nothing special to talk about? Why are these so called Vesak related acts going unchecked? Where are the JHU stalwarts and the watchdog priest turned politician who always makes a hue and cry about the Buddha image being misused, Buddhism desecrated, generally talks crap about other religions while advocating racial and religious disharmony among the many ethnic and religious faiths here in Sri Lanka?

The JHU is a joke. Were they sleeping after a good feed on this thrice blessed night and were their henchmen too deaf and blind to report this Soho style Vesak act?  Over 10, 000 people on average, mostly students on bicycles, were seen drawn towards this place like a magnet  and without doubt planning to return once Vesak is over to indulge in other acts.

In-house short-let rooms were reportedly rented out by the hour catering to the massive demand. Let us face it. Even a person of ill fame can invoke merit by giving paan and parippu during Vesak and simultaneously give the public a taste of the flesh by doing the sexy pole dance with the Buddhist Flag. What a sight to see. I doubt the money generated by ill-fame would turn into clean cash by converting a part of the daily take into bread and dhal.

It is time some standards were set and guidelines followed. It is time someone did something. But what and by whom? Wake up to reality people. The propagation of Buddha Sasana is the last thing on the authorities' minds. Nobody cares when their pockets are full. Barking watch dogs do not bite. My Vesak trip into the city was, well, Buddhu Ammo, interesting. This was one happening Vesak.

The question is - Was the promo for Vesak, or We-suck?

P.I.N. Wathni

Panadura

Conductor assisted pocket picking in buses

The increased activity of pickpockets in buses in the Colombo and Nugegoda areas, is creating a dangerous situation for commuters. Backed and even assisted by the conductors, these pickpockets working in groups of two or three, mostly target women and older commuters.

I have personally witnessed three such incidents in the short space of a week where the gang was thwarted by vigilance or luck. In two cases the conductor turned nasty and even threatened the victims with the prospect of violence to follow for daring to protest.

In this regard, the practice of displaying the bus or coach number on the inside front panel, seems to have been done away with. It should be re-introduced by the police as a compulsory requirement so that a victim can immediately contact the police with the vehicle number so that quick interception can be made to recover the lost money or articles.

I hope that the police superintendents of the different areas will take this step to protect the commuters.

It is a sad commentary on the prevailing law and order situation that these thugs operate with such impunity and perhaps immunity from arrest.

God save Sri Lanka!

A.A.B.

Attidiya

Is govt. responsible for bomb blasts in the south?

The Sunday Leader last week carried a news report captioned "18 civilians killed in Wanni blasts." This report quotes Military Spokesperson Brigadier Udaya Nanayakkara as saying that no information has been received in Colombo yet about these blasts and that the LTTE was totally responsible for incidents that take place in areas under their control.

Information about civilian casualties in the north is always slow to reach Military Headquarters in Colombo and there is nothing unusual about this.

However, the Brigadier's stance that "the LTTE is totally responsible for incidents that take place in areas under "their control" is untenable as it cuts both ways. Anyone who supports this position would also be bound to accept as equally valid the logical corollary that "the government is totally responsible for incidents that take place in areas under its control."

Therefore one is forced to conclude that it is the government and not the LTTE that should be held responsible for all the bomb blasts that have become a very regular occurrence in the government controlled areas.

C. Sugumar

Kandy

How the stock markets work

It was autumn and the Red Indians on the remote reservation asked their new chief if the winter was going to be cold or mild. Since he was a Red Indian chief in a modern society, he couldn't tell what the weather was going to be. Nevertheless, to be on the safe side, he replied to his tribe that the winter was indeed going to be cold and that the members of the village should collect wood, to be prepared.

But also being a practical leader, after several days he got an idea. He went to the phone booth, called the Weather Bureau and asked, "Is the coming winter going to be cold?"

"It looks like this winter is going to be quite cold indeed," the meteorologist responded.

So the chief went back to his people and told them to collect even more wood.

A week later he called the Weather Bureau again. "Is it going to be a very cold winter?" "Yes", the man replied, "it's definitely going to be a very cold winter."

The chief again went back to his people and ordered them to collect every scrap of wood they could find.

Two weeks later, he called the Weather Bureau again. "Are you absolutely sure that the winter is going to be very cold?"

"Absolutely," the man replied. "It's going to be one of the coldest winters ever."

"How can you be so sure?" the chief asked.

The weatherman replied, "The Red Indians are collecting wood like crazy."

This is how the stock markets work!

Zulkifli Nazim

Colombo 6

They are murderers by another name

Where have all the Nightingales and Hippocrates gone? Not a single day passes without letters to the editor appearing in the local press highlighting devastating and heartrending news, and news reports in the daily papers about the disgraceful behaviour of the doctors and nurses.

What noble professions  these are. I cannot imagine why these doctors and nurses behave like terrorists and murderers. After all they reached prestigious positions using  public funds. They are people who reaped the benefits of the free education system thanks to Dr. C.W.W. Kannangara.

The most recent heart breaking incident was the strike by the nurses and doctors at Ratnapura Hospital causing the deaths of six patients including one child and three infants. How heartless, malicious and malevolent these nurses are? Have they got hearts of stone to lock up the cupboards and drawers containing drugs and essential medical  equipment? Aren't they hypocrites? Aren't they murderers to have struck work and held the lives of poor patients to ransom just over the transfer of a male nurse? The irony of all this is that a Buddhist priest who should be humane and benevolent is at the helm of the nurses' union.

The Minister of Health seems to have made an announcement that he has already ordered an inquiry into this matter and also has decided to ban strikes in the health sector, which I think will never see the light of day.

He will appear on TV and make statements to newspapers. But these will only be political utterances just to get away from the prevailing situation. This is not the first time that the doctors and nurses have held the poor patients to ransom. This should stop!

Please Mr. Minister of Health, save the poor patients who cannot afford to go to private hospitals where they would have to pay through their noses. Their only saviour is the General Hospital. I do hope that acts of this disgraceful nature will not become a regular feature in the long run.

Dear doctors and nurses, please look after the poor patients of Sri Lanka and you will earn merit by doing so.

Concerned Citizen

Rajagiriya

Packeted vegetables

Some supermarkets sell vegetables such as onions, potatoes etc. weighed and neatly packeted at no extra cost.

This looks so clean and neat, and makes it so easy for the customerto pick up what they want. They need not wait in the queue for these itemsto be weighed. It also prevents too much of handling by some customers who keep throwing the vegetables around and mix them up in the process so that the vegetable shelf looks as if a storm has hit it, so much so one does not feel like 'fishing' in the mess.

More of the supermarkets should follow this practice of packeting.

It would be even nicer if the supermarkets packet these in re-sealable packets so that it will be frugal as the customers can re-use the packets, reducing the garbage problem too.

Dr. Mareena Thaha Reffai

Dehiwela

Kandy