Wish list of the common man (and the woman)
Posted on January 17th, 2015
Dr. Mareena Thaha Reffai
Now that a new era has dawned in our country may we wish that all our wishes come true?
May we form a list of the wishes and keep adding to it so that one day all of them will come to pass? After all what is life without dreams?
This is an ad hoc list. I hope others will keep adding their wishes and we can try to implement them in whatever way possible.
- We wish all members of parliament declare their assets now and when they leave the post, whenever that may be.
- We wish the MP’s will be elected with minimum qualifications of at least O/L 5 passes
- We wish no one with warrants/history of proven crimes can hold a position in the parliament
- We wish the MP’s will behave with decorum in the parliament so that we can take our children to watch the highest echelons of the country without feeling ashamed
- We wish the politicians will stop drive at break neck speed on the roads shooing other motorists to the sides.
- We wish no politicians are invited to programs which is not their specialty
- We wish every child will have a place in the government school in their own village/city close to their homes
- We wish the Grade five exams be scrapped and the children allowed to continue in schools in their home towns and each town will have a fully equipped high standard school
- We wish the school children be given career guidance as a rule and encouraged to follow vocations of suitable for their talents.
- We wish the hospitals will provide common drugs to the patients and not ask them to buy them outside
- We wish the consultation fees of the doctors be standardized and the cost of special investigations/treatments like scans and surgery be standardized
- We wish tobacco and alcohol totally banned in our country (tall wish indeed!)
- We wish a concerted effort be made to eradicate the garbage problems in a systematic way by recycling and minimizing package material, specially non bio gradable material
- We wish the beautification program of the city be continued and extended to all the cities and villages
- We wish a scheme set up with the dream of “No citizen without a home”
- We wish a plan made for the elders of the country where they can spend time in useful ways
- We wish the cases in the courts do not take so long and they are heard at village/city levels before coming to courts
- We wish the lawyers’ fees are standardized.
- We wish musical star shows are replaced by other talent recognition
Want to add? Go ahead.
January 17th, 2015 at 9:48 pm
20. All extremists funded by foreign governments be exposed.
21. All racist and extremist political parties be banned (TNA, SLMC, etc.)
22. All measures taken to segregate people based upon their religion/language should be stopped.
23. No special privileges for people based upon their religion. No religious or ethnic laws in SL. All citizens should face a single legal system.
24. Sinhalese be made the only national language, Tamil can be a minority language.
January 17th, 2015 at 9:51 pm
25. No special favoring for any ethnic or religious group, such as when an individual of a particular faith becomes a minister, entrance exams under that ministry must not show sudden swells in favor of his faith!!
January 17th, 2015 at 9:55 pm
26. Curbing of unsustainable population growth.
January 18th, 2015 at 2:52 am
27. We wish that SL be declared/made a secular state
January 18th, 2015 at 5:01 am
“27. We wish that SL be declared/made a secular state”
ABSOLUTELY NOT!
1. SL must be declared in the constitution as a Sinhala Buddhist Unitary nation where every citizen is entitled to equal individual rights.
2. Ban loudspeakers for religious purposes.
3. Limit places of religious worship.
4. Have ONE LAW for all.
5. DEPORT all those who cannot follow SL values.
6. Family members of the president cannot become parliamentarians.
7. SCRAP 13 amendment.
8. All foods including pork must be served in parliament and no restriction in schools, etc. Introduce a government tax on all kosher and halal foods.
9. Ban Arabic attire to stop suicide bombers.
10. Punish corruption with DEATH.
January 18th, 2015 at 6:41 am
28. Let’s stop addressing the President as ‘Your Excellency’ but simply as Mr President or Mr Sirisena
29. Let’s stop referring to the President’s wife as the First Lady or to the President’s family as the First Family. In a so called Democratic Socialist Republic you simply should not have a First lady or a first family.
January 18th, 2015 at 7:09 am
30. Wish those who are getting free higher education on common man’s money contribute to the economy. We have nothing to show for our investment in higher education for the last 80 years. This specially significant in management, engineering and medical education – we have almost zero national capabilities – have to turn to foreign expertise even for the simplest of problems. Even Bangladesh (not to belittle them) is ahead of us in healthcare industry producing many drugs and medical devices. The professional conduct of physicians in sri lanka is very diplorable and unethical
January 18th, 2015 at 8:05 am
20. Scrap 13th Amendment as wartime relic that was mooted by the defeat of the LTTE.
21. Fully integrate North and East with Sinahlese Buddhists to roughly reflect the demographics of the country as a whole using the Curtiba, Brazil low-cost re-development model, and don’t remove military from these areas until after they are fully integrated and shown to be peaceful.
22. Outlaw tuition classes so kids focus on becoming well-rounded citizens in service to their country rather than exam-prep zombies.
23. Expand Open University opportunities for those whose A/L scores were deficient
24. Outlaw foreign ownership of media, banks, and vital state resources.
25. Outlaw all ‘political’ NGOs (try to influence Sri Lankan values) from Sri Lanka that receive more than 5% of its funding from foreign sources, including middleman sources. True humanitarian projects must be in partnership with local NGOs
26. Enact strict campaign finance rules in which all Parliament and Presidential elections are publically funded based on signature campaign to show minimum support, and ALL private funds (foreign and domestic) prohibited in the furtherance of any party or candidate.
27. Accelerate economic and security alliance with China and India through SAARC to counterbalance US-EU meddling and potential sanctions.
28. Sign Free Trade Agreement with China to create local jobs, boost Sri Lanka exports and free them from dependency on US-EU
29. Show China UN Security Council veto threat to stop the wasteful and distracting UNHRC war crimes investigation
30. Ban nearly all foreign ownership of real estate so that housing stays affordable to most Sri Lankans
31. Set reasonable price controls on petro, electricity, and water so these basic necessities are always affordable to all Sri Lankans.
32. Set reasonable price controls on rice, lentils, and vegetables so that all Sri Lankans can afford to feed their families.
33. Outlaw casinos
34. Expand treatment facilities for drug, alcohol, and nicotine addictions.
35. Priority in the budget for education, healthcare, and job creation.
January 18th, 2015 at 12:12 pm
35) Repeal the Thesavalimi Law. Sinhalese should be able to buy land inany part of Sri Lanka , same as Muslims and Tamils.
36)Close down Madrasses and any other extreme religious schools.
37)Stop closing roads every Friday for Muslim prayers.( ban loud speakers for Muslim pray is a state of mind and no need to announce to the world that you are praying.There were no loud speakers during Muhamed’s time.A good religious person must know when.It is so annoying in the same wy that it is annoying when some Buddhists institutions do it.
38) Sri lanka belongs to all loyal Sri Lankans and those who do not like it can move to countries to their likings. We do not want it to be another France
January 18th, 2015 at 12:13 pm
35) Repeal the Thesavalimi Law. Sinhalese should be able to buy land inany part of Sri Lanka , same as Muslims and Tamils.
36)Close down Madrasses and any other extreme religious schools.
37)Stop closing roads every Friday for Muslim prayers.
38) Sri lanka belongs to all loyal Sri Lankans and those who do not like it can move to countries to their likings. We do not want it to be another France
January 18th, 2015 at 1:15 pm
39. Ban all Foreign Missionaries from Sri Lanka
January 18th, 2015 at 1:19 pm
40 REPEAL the 13th Amendment, DISSOLVE the Provincial Council System, and ADMINISTER the country via DISTRICTS governed by APPOINTED, NOT ELECTED, Government Agents (District Governors?) APPOINTED by the GOSL.
January 18th, 2015 at 11:20 pm
39. Bring back the Independent Commissions to cover the Police, the Judiciary and so on.
40. Stop politicians from interfering with the work of the Police. Let the Police look after the observance of law and order.
41. Let politicians not try to preventing anyone rightly accused of wrongdoing from being duly prosecuted for such wrong doing
42. Let the appointments of Ambassadors be subject to examination of the candidates and approval by a competent body or a Parliamentary Committee.
January 19th, 2015 at 3:56 am
43. Stop Sri Lankan Multiplying Community (SLMC) breeding uncontrollably to steal the country.
Mossies used this old, disgusting trick to steal old afganisthan, iran, pakisthan, bangladesh, maldives, malaysia, indonesia from the Buddhists.
Sri Lankan Multiplying Community always in the government. Always in the winning side. There are
no bigger fools than the Sinhalese on this planet.