POTPOURRI

"If you pin your faith on people you ought to use a safety pin" is a clever little fact.

- BY GOOLBAI GUNASEKARA

Here we are with a new government, not even a year old, and despite a few problems I feel that it is doing quite well without voters needing to use that safety pin. So now let us discuss a variety of subjects.

POLICE

We are told in the press that only 30% of our Police force is physically fit. I am not surprised.

Many policemen are appallingly overweight and are in desperate need of a nutritionist to give them a balanced diet. An exercise schedule should be compulsory for Police Officers as well as for all ranks. I feel particularly sympathetic towards those who handle traffic in all types of weather. It cannot be pleasant for them but since it has to be done their superiors should ensure their good health.

Also attitudes towards the public need to be much pleasanter and more helpful. Too many Officers have superior airs and fantasies of power. What educational qualifications do policeman need by the way?

One can only imagine the unmitigated horror a young friend of mine felt when the hospital presented her with a bill of ten million rupees upon her mother's death after a hospital stay of a few days. She just did not have that kind of money. There must be many in the same situation. Of course the fault lies with hospitals costs I suppose.

EDUCATION

Having run an International School at one time, the state of education is a top priority with me. Do we realize that we have probably the most highly qualified Prime Minister in the world with degrees from India, Australia and the UK? I think she realizes that an educational system is not only teaching young people how to make a living but must also teach them how to make a life.

Dr. Harini Amarasuriya has inherited a top heavy, mismanaged Dept of Education. Daily newspaper reports used to give us the appalling behaviour of Principals and Staff in outstation schools, but one heard that some such personnel were often reinstated.