• What pains the tourists?

• It happened on SriLankan

• Blasphemous cartoons

• Mess at Borella Post Office

What pains the tourists?

MAJORITY of tourists who travel here are the ordinary folks who wish to spend their winter vacation on our golden sunny beaches, cosy, relaxing and tour places of interest with their families. Probably, one is a truck driver with his family; another a chef and so forth.

In this backdrop, do we rob them of their hard earned savings at places of interest and when selling our native products? Is our unmatched traditional hospitality, we often speak about, off the track?

Let me be more wider.

To see the Cultural Triangle sites, the entrance is Rs. 2,000. The round ticket to the ruined cities - A'pura, Polonnaruwa, Sigiriya and Minhintale Rs. 4000. To visit the Dalada Maligawa Rs. 500 and the accompanying video camera Rs. 100. At the temple museum Rs. 100. At the Pinnawela Elephant Orphanage Rs. 500 and video camera Rs. 600.

A safari to Yala or Wilpattu Rs. 1,500 (per head) and the jeep Rs. 2,500. A ride on an elephant's back at the Elephant Bath Rs. 2,000. If one is anxious to tap the elephant, the mahout has his price. There is another dimension to this game.

To scan the Dambulla cave temple murals (beside the entrance ticket), the charge levied by the inside site guide Rs. 500 for explaining the artifacts.

An additional charge for leasing his three cell torch light to see the paintings has to be prepaid. The entrance to Sigiriya rock and Worlds End Rs. 2,000 respectively at each point. And Rs. 15 for the toilet, down below the rock, goes to a private caretaker. (The charges mentioned may fluctuate.)

Most tourists tell that the ethnic friction here is not an obstruction and speak less today; it is the questionable charges imposed (by some people) on their sight seeing tour matter most.

H. L. D. E. PERERA - Mattakkuliya

It happened on SriLankan

I was on a flight SriLankan UL 888 on Jan 29 Seat 4D. There was a lady on 4F. Meal was served after take off. There was another couple in 4H and J. The lady in 4F did not have a meal and the gent in 4H asked if she is not having her meal. To my surprise I heard her telling this gent she was not served.

I told the lady to press the call button. The call button was pressed but none came to check for over 10 minutes. I was half way through the meal.

The gent on 4H kept his meal aside walked to the back and told the service staff a meal has not been served.

A stewardess came dumped the meal on the tray, said sorry and vanished. This lady was not given the choice of selection of the option of the two hot meals available. I do not know what meal of the two was served. I was having wine with meal and so did the couple in 4 H/J.

As the person looked a lady of respect I asked her if she would like to have some wine with the meal. She said OK. I pressed the call button, no response.

Then the purser passed and I said the lady here was not served her meal with us and she would like to have some wine. The purser came with a bottle of red wine, and a PV container used to serve water in flight, emptied the contents of the bottle which was not a full drink and went away. No dialogue.

Another steward passed by and I told him this lady has been served wine in a PV utensil which has no place to be kept. "Please serve wine in a wine glass". This guy said wine is served in this too. I said it is unfair.

She had a delayed meal, now wine comes in a PV utensil, please give her some respect. He did not want to accept the detonation of service but spent about 60 seconds justifying the poor service.

After much insistence from me a wine glass was brought and wine from the PV utensil was poured to the wine glass. No apology.

This shows a detonation in flight service on this particular flight. Trust that the management will take note of this. Last year I did 60,000 miles on other airlines of Asia and did not come across of this type of service. Hospitality of SriLankan is on the decline.

TISSA JAYAWEERA

Blasphemous cartoons

THE recent blasphemous cartoons against the Holy Prophet Muhammed (SAL) of Islam in the Danish Newspapers are not an isolated incident but a part of the concerted campaign against the person of the Prophet in particular and Islam in general.

And if anyone thinks this is an isolated incident, he or she is sadly mistaken.

Moreover, this terrible act of indecency and impropriety is not foisted on Muslims and all right thinking people in ignorance, but, is a carefully designed effort to rouse the passions of Muslims the world over.

All Muslim nations have rightly protested to the Danish Government and the Governments of all those nations that carried those cartoons under the pretext of the freedom of expression. But this excuse is baloney and no sensible person would fall for that.

Filthy lucre is the main attraction for all those people who blaspheme the Holy Prophet of Islam. For sure the Danish newspaper and the other European ones who carried this sacrilegious cartoon must have made a lot of money by sales and other means in the same way Salman Rushdie and Taslima Nazeen got their big bucks from their masters from blaspheming Islam and the Holy Prophet.

Sri Lanka is a country that is unique in the sense that all major religions are practised here and all these religions teach their adherents the Message of Love and Peace which are taken seriously. All the founders of faiths are highly and equally respected by all people.

Moreover we have a history of over 2550 years, and as such, we Sri Lankans are in a position to teach these westerners lessons in decent conduct.

As such our Government should lodge its protest with the Danish Government not only on behalf of the Muslims but on behalf of all our people who profess various religions.

It would not be considered in appropriate, in order to bring them to their senses that all Sri Lanka Muslims boycott purchasing eatables and other goods that carry Danish manufacturers labels.

ALHAJ A. H. M. AZWER - Former Minister of Islamic Religious and Cultural Affairs

Mess at Borella Post Office

THE Post Office at Borella is always crowded and it is in a chaotic state as it is manned by persons who cannot see beyond their noses.

There is no order in any of the counters. For example, the Stamps counter has queues from the South, East and West, except the North, because the counter clerk is seated at that point. There is no order in the queue as everyone is in a hurry and try to beat the other for the purchase of stamps.

When a customer at long last reaches the counter, there is a hand over his right shoulder and another hand over the left, trying to out purchase the man in the queue. The counter clerk, though he hears protests, gives it a deaf ear, because he does not want to get into a melee.

Standing in a queue also taxes the patience of a customer at this Post Office immensely. In the first place, the customer should be taught the finer points of standing in a queue. If there is even a six inch gap between two persons in the queue, a third person creeps into the gap stating that he was there earlier.

This situation is prevalent in the Stamp purchase counter, registered letters counter, Telegrams accepting counter, Money Order counter, Parcels counter, Air mail letters counter, Payment of Bills (fines) counter, etc.

The worst is all the time one has to stay in two queues for one transaction. For example, after handing over the telegram to the relevant counter, having been in the queue, one has to join the Stamps purchasing queue to buy the required stamps to complete the transaction.

I walked into the office of a person in authority at this Post Office and pointed out this malady and absurdity and requested him to instruct the Telegram counter clerk to keep stamps for the requirement without sending the customer on another arduous voyage.

The reply that I received was a jaundiced smile and prompt action was promised. This was many moons ago, but situation at this Post Office is still in popular jargon 'One hell of a Mess'.

I would suggest that we adopt the Australian method of drawing a broad yellow line, two yards away from the counter and getting the customers to stand behind that line in Indian file.

The counter clerk has to finish the transaction of one customer and beckon to the next person in the queue to come forward. This system is prevalent in all Australian Government offices and private sector organisations.

It has also to be mentioned that competent people should man the counters. Sad to say, the gentleman at the Registered letters counter at Borella Post Office takes about two and a half minutes to three minutes - average - to give a receipt for one registered letter.

BANDULA SENEVIRATNE - Colombo 8.