Letters to the Editor

In the Sigalovada Sutta, the Buddha stressed that the First and Second duties of the parents are to prevent their kids from doing harm and to teach their kids good habits. Since Buddhism is a Philosophy and a way of life, my above sentence is relevant to parents and children no matter what their religion is (whether Hindu, Islam, Christianity, Judaism or Other). If the Atheist and / or Rationalist role models do not do so, may the religious leader of all creed and philosophies join hands, and call on the government to Immediately start reforming this Hedonistic Education System that came from the west, so that the future of our children would be more secure and so that our children would someday become kind and moral citizens who Not Only follow the laws, but also Respect and Follow ethics.

The deteriorating standard of English broadcasters on TV and Radio. I have drawn attention to this emerging trend over the recent years. However the controllers at the TV and Radio stations do not seem to take notice of these comments. The knowledge of proper English is a very essential branch of education in modern society and requires a greater Political will to realize its goal. Politics is responsible for the harvest reaped. Sri Lanka or Ceylon as it was called still boasts of being the foremost country in Asia communicating in the English language. One will also realize that English is the most popular and widely used language in the whole world – A link with diversity through all ethnic groups. There is hardly any country where one will not find a person speaking ENGLISH. It is unfortunate to note that many of today’s young breed of media broadcasters fail to achieve clarity in diction as these announcers think it fashionable to ape some Hollywood star. These actions result in garbling of the speech masked in some alien accent. It is not only ridiculous but downright foolish whilst it displays the idiocy of the announcer. As a remedy it would be good to get these announcers trained in elocution and rhetoric in order that they could gain proficiency and reach the standard of BBC and CNN announcers as was present in the past with great announcers such as Livy Wijemana, Tim Hoshington, Vijaya Corea etc. There is however still some of our former announcers, male and female reputed for their skill and hence a pleasure to listen even today but the present problem emanates from some of the younger persons. Nevertheless, given the previous stance of promoting Sinhala only, English was given lesser encouragement. The folly of this policy is now taking its toll on the children. Retrieving the situation is now observed in all national education programs and should receive emphasis. As an international language English also opens the door for receiving new technologies in the several fields thus resulting in human development. The time is therefore opportune to invest in People development through English language. Another serious problem is the lack of competent content writers to cast the news bulletins. As a result News bulletins cast by mediocre persons lack news value and simply become uninteresting political propaganda – A waste of valuable air time for the intelligent listener which thus becomes a bore. Many listeners today are prone to switch off their radio sets at this time. It is hoped that this comment will catch the eye of the heads of these media stations and necessary initiatives made to correct the situation.