I’m a person who travels quiet frequently by public and occasionally private transport to Colombo, Gampola, Kurunegala, Kandy, Awissawella, Anuradhapura, Galle ect. It has been a shame for me to see our beautiful landscapes, roads, pavements, walls of houses and shops, monuments and other public and private property become ad space for politicians to paste posters, banners, cut outs, hordings, graffiti etc., to promote themselves.

If these people really loved Sri Lanka and those they will serve, certainly they would not destroy property and natures beauty for personal gains. Especially in these dire times when such lofty advertising expenses could be used to help the public and the many in need. An astounding figure is from a personal contact who said a printer has received such an order for 600,000 posters at 10Rs. per copy, which is an awesome amount of 6,000,000Rs (six million). Think of all the money spent on large hoardings, spray cans, paste, people to carry these acts out and transport. This is sadly carried out throughout the country. And yes this is for the upcoming parliamentary elections in April 2010.

This trend for large scale advertising has become the latest fashion in politics during the last few years and saw a major lift during the presidential elections where the advertising was everywhere from local TV, print media such as new papers and magazines, facebook, new york times web, you tube, various blogs, posters and hoardings, handouts, vehicles with loudspeakers glorifying the glorified etc.,

I wonder when all this is done, who will collect the garbage???? we know how great our municipal councils are.

Jax

I should’ve left “Asta Lavista (Babe?)” on the last post because you guys might have thought  we have gone with the wind.

So thank you for your patience and for returning to ilovesrilanka.

This is a list of topics we hope to cover during the next 2 months. We have painstakingly dissected a small part of the enormous amount of problems facing us in Sri Lanka. Yet i must stress, Sri Lanka is a land like no other in culture, Buddhism and all the faiths, beauty, nature and its fauna. Only we create problems and we must resolve them.

So here goes the darker side of paradise :

• The filling of paddy fields and natural lakes for various development illegally.
• The destruction of the Sinharaja nature reserve, a truelly unique ecosystem and habitat in the world.
• The uncontrolled decay of national treasures, historical ruins and classical sites due to neglect.
• The ineffectiveness of local departments and authorities to enforce basic laws to protect roads and other infrastructure of Sri Lanka.
• My Snickers vs Kandos experience  A chocolate lovers demise

Please my fellow Sri Lankans if you have time, will and the want to make a difference, join ilovesrilanka.info and write on the above topics or anything which has taken hold in your thoughts from a trip or outing to a problem in your area of residence.

Jax

On many discussion boards, i have seen many people from around the world become a bit disappointed to know that lay Buddhists practice old and more Hindu oriented practices like worship of various deities for many reasons. This is of course can be attributed to our heritage from neighboring India and also a human factor where people feel their problems can be told to someone higher than them in hope of gains when the mind is weak and lonely. I too may one day ask silently for a miracle But today is truthfully a Buddhist day where many sermons and various festivities are organized.

Some interesting features are Vesak thoran (Vesak Pandals), Vesak Kudu (Vesak Lanterns), Dhansal (Alms halls) and Observing of Sil.

Vesak thoran are immense structures created from wood, cloth, boards and bulbs which usually depicts a story from the Buddhist Jatakas. These often feature 50,000 or more bulbs which light according to beautiful patterns.

Vesak Kudu or Lanterns are structures (usually an “Atapattama” which is a made using 6 bamboo squares welded together & covered in colored paper) which are made in all homes, even by non Buddhists such as Christians and Tamils which are lighted and hung on Vesak day in homes.

Dhansal are truelly kind and self devoid activities where hundreds and thousands of people are given food (rice and curry), drinks and other food items like  Manioc, Ice cream,  Biscuits, fruit freely by groups of villagers, philanthropists, businessman and citizens. There are countless such places around Sri Lanka each year no matter how hard the people struggle to make a living. This has been so for many centuries and is tradition. Not only Buddhists but Muslims, Christians and Hindus also Participate and come to Dhansal which makes the organizers very happy and we wish them good fortune and offer merit though this is not a must.  It is customary for families and youngsters to go on Vans, Lorries, Bicycles and foot to these from town to town. We call the “Dhansal Wandinwa” in Sinhala or Paying homage to Dhansal.

Observing  Sil is done by lay followers on sacred days such as today where they follow a Buddhist monk in meditation and Dhamma sermons observing “Ata Sil” or the Eight Precepts instead of the daily five precepts or “Pan Sil. They observe this for 24hrs and many Buddhist customs are adhered to. Thousands of Buddhists observe Sil each month in Sri Lanka and the World.

So i wish all of you a good and meritorious Wesak (Priti Wesak).

Jax

By Mano Singham

Of all the major religions, Buddhism (as originally formulated) probably comes closest to atheism and being scientific. If someone, for whatever reason, cannot believe in god but feels uncomfortable with calling themselves an atheist and feels the need to be part of some well-established religious tradition, Buddhism probably meets that need best.

In is book The World’s Religions (p. 82-153) Huston Smith outlines the basic elements of Buddhist philosophy, as articulated by its founder Siddhartha Gautama, who was born in the region now known as Nepal around 563 BCE and lived for about eighty years. It is important to realize that the name Buddha is technically not that of a specific person but given to anyone who achieves enlightenment, and Siddhartha Gautama did not even claim to be the first one to do so. But over time ‘the Buddha’ has become known as the name of this particular Buddha, similar to the way ‘Jesus the Christ’ has now become simply Jesus Christ, the name of Jesus.

If we stick to Buddhist philosophy as originally expounded by Siddhartha Gautama, it has the following features:

1. It is a religion devoid of authority. He was rebelling against the Hindu caste system and the hereditary authority of the Brahmins and in doing so he expressed a bracing openness to the spirit of scientific inquiry, saying: “Do not accept what you hear by report, do not accept tradition, do not accept a statement because it is found in our books, nor because it is in accord with your beliefs, nor because it is the saying of your teacher. Be lamps unto yourselves.”

2. He preached a religion devoid of ritual, arguing that belief in the efficacy of rites and ceremonies was a hindrance to the growth of the human spirit.

3. He did not try to manufacture a cosmology to explain the universe, despite the entreaties of those around him to explain the cosmic mysteries, thus causing one of his disciples to complain: “Whether the world is eternal or not eternal, whether the world is finite or not, whether the soul is the same as the body or whether the soul is one thing and the body another, whether a Buddha exists after death or does not exist after death – these things the Lord does not explain to me.” This reluctance to speculate on questions of scientific fact means that Buddhists are largely spared the embarrassment of having to choose between science and tedious religion-based alternative realities like the Christian creationists have to do with their 6,000 year-old Earth.

4. He rejected the authority of tradition, saying: “Do not go by what is handed down, nor on the authority of your traditional teachings.”

5. He preached improvement by self-effort, and to not depend on gods to achieve ones desired ends.

6. It is interesting that the Buddha rejected the supernatural and “condemned all forms of divination, soothsaying, and forecasting as low arts.” He did however think that the human mind was capable of what we now call ‘paranormal’ powers but condemned those who tried to use them to work miracles.

7. The Buddha favored an empirical and scientific attitude to knowledge. The ‘faith’ that is so admired in Christianity and is needed to sustain it (i.e., believing in things for which there is no evidence) is discouraged. He said that everyone must discover the truth by lived direct experience and not depend solely on even reasoning or arguments, because those too could mislead. He also believed strongly that every effect must have a cause.

8. Remarkable for its time, Buddhism was egalitarian when it came to women and also rejected the powerful hereditary caste system then in existence.

Perhaps the feature that most distinguishes Buddhist philosophy from that of other major religions is the denial of the existence of a ’soul’, if by that we mean a spiritual substance that occupies and animates the body and retains its identity forever.

It is safe to say that the Buddha was an atheist, as far as believing in a personal god was concerned. But he also advocated some things that pose problems for the rational person. He was not, as might be expected from his other views, unequivocally opposed to the notion that nothing about a person survives bodily death. He retained a belief in the existing Hindu idea in reincarnation but thought that this was like the passing of a flame from candle to candle in that something continues even though we cannot speak of a perpetual and unique flame being handed on. His belief in causality was used to infer in favor of karma, that all effects must have causes, and that this meant that one’s life now must have been caused (in some sense) by past actions that could be traced back earlier than one’s birth. The idea of a free will idea was however retained.

These things are hard to fit into scientific and rational worldview and cause consistency problems.

Like other religions, as time went on Buddhism has splintered into three major factions (Mahayana, Hinayana/Theravada, Zen) each of which dominates particular countries. Sri Lanka, for instance, practices the Theravada form.

The irony is that like other religions, over time much of the Buddha’s teachings have become corrupted with influences from theistic religions so that he would find the present forms of religion unrecognizable. The Buddha himself is now widely worshipped as a god, legends of miracles surrounding his life and work and death have now sprouted, and the Buddhist philosophy he preached has been buried in a thicket of rites and traditions and priestly hierarchies. Rather than following his preaching of rejecting worldly entanglements, Buddhist clergy in Sri Lanka, for example, eagerly seek political power and resources and government patronage. Gautama would be appalled by what is now being done in his name.

In other words, all the original distinguishing features of Buddhism that would have appealed to a rational person have now been overwhelmed by run-of-the-mill theistic ideas, which make it hard to distinguish from other religions. Such is the power of the desire of people to believe in a supernatural deity.

source: http://machineslikeus.com/buddhism-and-atheism.html

jax

The said water project which was started on 27 May 2006 & is due to be finished on May of 2009 has been the reason for:

• un-patched roads to our houses for more than 2.5 years
• Catchment area for water which comes to road has increased due to new roads to water tank and the uncovered area for water tank which has removed trees and growth.
• Small culvert put by the company which results in water coming onto roads. Also no proper drainage system.
• of huge pot holes which are dangerous to both man and vehicle
• of large tunneling (for water pipes) on the small roads to our houses which are slowly constructed damaging our vehicles and at most times making the use of vehicle or the road impossible
• the sinking roads and culverts due to heavy machinery (i.e. Backos, Cement mixers, trucks etc.,)
• severe dust pollution from the mud filled roads on dry days.
• of slippery and dangerous roads on rainy days (pregnant women, elders and children are unable to travel)
• of large scale road wash ups due to poor drainage at the water project site (water tank).

This had been going on for nearly three years without respite.

Are we also not tax paying, bill paying citizens of Sri Lanka? And we have had water from previous lines from the Udunuwara water project. But i also agree this project will benefit a larger number of people who are living around the kandy district. It is the disrespectful and untimely as well as lazy work schedules followed by the workers employed or sub contracted by MTHojgaard & its engineers and overseers who are to blame. We have seen severe thefts happening as no officer of MTHogaard is present most times. This has resulted in slow work and low quality work.

For an instance, they laid the pipes for from the main Peradeniya – Gampola rd to the water tank at Angunawala more than 6months prior. But they have had to repair many leaks and replace some pipes due to bad work and are still repairing these pipes. The road to the water tank which is less than 0.5kilometer was dug and not traversable by vehicle for nearly 2 months. A friend slipped on the road and could have been injured but for luck. We have had to go on the stone ridges on the road sides to go to work.

Also it really hurts as some parts of the road was built by the residents by pooling money and was only used for about an year before the water project ruined the roads. You can see from the pics below this.

Here are some photos.

anugunawala rd

anugunawala rd

anugunawala rd

anugunawala rd

ABOVE PICS TAKEN BEFORE PIPES LAID. BUT WATER TANK CONSTRUED. HEAVY MACHINERY ON ROADS .ROAD NOT PATCHED IN NEARLY AN YEAR .

PIC DATE : 29_02_2008

Angunawala rd 2009-03-11

Angunawala rd 2009-03-11

Angunawala rd 2009-03-11

ABOVE PICS TAKEN DURING PIPE LAYING.  HEAVY MACHINERY ON ROADS . ROAD NOT PATCHED IN NEARLY 2 YEARS .

PIC DATE : 09_12_2008

After heavy rains. during this time the road was unusable even by foot as it was slippery muddy and dangerous. Roads to our house was closed for nearly 2 months like this.

Video Coming soon

And more current pics

Things the company can do to solve our problems:

• Lay proper drainage system
• Lay larger culvert near water tank
• Patch road with concrete or tar instead of mud
• DO A PROPER JOB OF IT

I have even mailed the parent company in Denmark more than a year ago with photos and written information so as to get attention. Also repeated  trips are needed to the company head office to get their attention.

So as you see we are at a dilemma as neither the company or the government takes responsibility(water board who are finally responsible for the water project or the pradeshiya sabha). The company’s workmen and vehicles aren’t affected by roads as they have big vehicles like jeeps and double cabs.

I hope by writing this article, these multinational companies will take more care when they take on projects in our poor countries, acting like saviors yet really, money hungry beasts.

Please keep an lookout for the latest from angunawala as we are still undergoing worsend raod conditions.

Update:- For the last few days March 10,  2009 again we cant use our vehicles have been washed off. Still awaiting repairs.  We had to clean culverts and put dams across roads to send water properly.

10_03_2009

10_03_2009

10_03_2009

10_03_2009

10_03_2009

Please see here for Company profile on the project

The attack had occurred as the team were nearing the stadium. The following image from BBC shows the exact attack plan in motion.

We should be thankful and in debt to the families of the brave and selfless police and security who sacrificed their lives to protect the cricketers.

Jax )

I think the Students who protest against this are irrational. can’t they understand that it’s the middle class students who couldn’t gain entry to Medical Faculty, maybe by a very small margin are the ones who are going to be benefited by these Colleges. The rich can go abroad and get whatever degree they want. But I’m sure there will be some standards set in this Private College so the knowledge of the doctors who pass out from it will be equal to any other doctor in the island.

Mostly everyone should understand, this is good for the country. People are blaming that its a sale of the Education, but in my opinion, whoever pays for the education they get, they value it.  The people who stand for the Free Education system may now be against of the private universities, because they are students. Its the country’s money that they have spent to come to the place where they are today. They will pass out as doctors, work for some years, make money for themselves and gain experience and then would go abroad in the pretext of gaining more knowledge, but would never return to the country.

So are they really patriotic. I think they are selfish. They use the public funds to gain knowledge and sell it to some other country by working for them.

Or else where are all the doctors who pass out from our Universities. About 1000 students from the island enter the Medical Faculties annually. But the health sector is lacking qualified specialist doctors & surgeons. (For some illnesses only one or two specialists / surgeons are available for the whole country..!!!!)

So please don’t be against of Private Universities. If some one is so critical about banning private institutions , my suggestion is “Ok . Then bring a law for the Doctors who studied at Sri Lankan universities banning them from going abroad.”

-Please post your ideas as well…

They were telling about rumors and reports that water was becoming a commercial product in the near future. No exact dates were told but the plan was started back in 1995. Is this true?? Chamal Rajapakse (Minister of Irrigation and Water Management, Minister of Ports and Aviation ) told it was not but the Minister of Irrigation, Jayatissa Ranaweera told that it was a possible as already water is billed.

The problem is that they are going to hand over the management of water to a private company. And we all know they don’t come cheap. Specially if some high up powers relative or friend is given the contract (which seems to be the current trend), we will be dried out of what little we got.

So what can we expect was what i thought next. Will we have to pay for the water we get from the well at home. Wont we be given access to public wells and showers. Will the water bills go higher.

Lets hope not.

Lets be democratic. lets give those guys a chance. Not to rip us off. But to conserve what little water we have. Everyday as i come home, i hear water overflowing from stock tanks. People don’t care to close the taps or showers at hotels and public places. Why?? because its always available . Because we don’t think it as endangered and will run out.

This is something i got off the net.

“Water is a finite resource, and in many areas, future water supplies are uncertain. Individuals are usually aware when there is a drought, however, because water is inexpensive, there are often few incentives to reduce water loss. Water has no viable substitutes, and its depletion bodes profound economic and social impacts. Citizens and utilities need to consider water
conservation programs.”

“Water charges have typically been looked at as a way of financing the operation and maintenance (O&M) costs of a water agency, rather than as a
demand management measure to encourage water-use efficiency. As a World Bank document states, political objections and constraints to
increasing water charges are often seen as insurmountable. However, low water charges encourage consumption and waste and can putpressure on O&M budgets, leading to poor watertreatment and deterioration in water quality.”

source: http://www.nesc.wvu.edu/pdf/DW/publications/ontap/tech_brief/TB11_WaterConservation.pdf

But the powers that be should understand that just privatizing water is not the remedy for water waste. The money collected should be spent to renew the old and leaking or damaged water lines and reservoirs. They should take action on people who waste water and use it unlawfully without paying for it.

Or it will be joke like the charges for Environmental conservation levy.  (mobile use is a 2% tax on your bill amount and more on the way through it)

See: http://www.cea.lk/acts/envconlevy.pdf
http://www.lbo.lk/fullstory.php?newsID=556816249&no_view=1&SEARCH_TERM=24

But the vehicle  emission testing carried in some parts of the country seems to be a good program. A car is usually is charged 770Rs approx for the testing and the revenue license it not issued unless the emission amounts are in the acceptable side.

See: http://www.asiantribune.com/?q=node/8312

There are many ways to conserve water, for the better of the world and your water bill   So please do take the time to look at some online resources and guides on how to conserve water.

here are some good places to look:

http://www.wateruseitwisely.com/

http://www.monolake.org/about/waterconservation

http://www.waterconserve.info/

Jax )

So hope you guys will make this a place to be, a place to know the what and the who. SO join ilovesl and start blogging on everything Sri Lankan.