LETTERS (Spotlight Weekly)

Relevant Issue

Your cover story "Vacuum Of Leadership" (SPOTLIGHT, December 28) has correctly amplified that Nepal is suffering from many problems because of lack of able leadership. Be it the executive, legislative, judiciary or civil society, no institution has been able to deliver what it was supposed to. In the absence of charismatic leaders, the country faltered after the very few steps it took after achieving democracy. As a result, the country is now riddled with seemingly insurmountable problems.

Bijaya Shakya
Ghattekula

Still Infant

Nepal as a modern nation is still in its infancy ("Vacuum Of Leadership", SPOTLIGHT, December 28). It would be wrong to expect big achievements from a country with a modern history that dates back only five decades. In fact, the country is gaining maturity very quickly, given its manifold political, social as well as constitutional problems. With help from true friends and able guidance, the country will overcome its problems soon.

Jeevan Bista
Sanepa

Leadership Needed

Amid the chaos and instability prevailing in almost all sectors of the country ("Vacuum Of Leadership", SPOTLIGHT, December 28), the only hope is strong leadership. The people are waiting for an effective leader who can steer the country out of its mess. Whether that leadership will ever materialize is the million-dollar question.

Sujata Rai
Manbhawan

TV Savvy Or TV Junkie?

This is in response to your story "Media Exposure" (SPOTLIGHT, December 28). It is reassuring to know that a large number of our youths are exposed to the fastest growing mass medium, television. We are fortunate indeed to have access to television, because it can be used for educational and training programs, literary campaigns, promotion of health and dissemination of international and national news and a host of other productive purposes. Watching television is a wonderful pastime, a very relaxing and a pleasurable activity, and one of the best ways to counteract depressive moods. It can also be a catalyst for mental growth. But on the flip side, there are also a growing number of youths who are seriously hooked on to the tube. There are TV freaks who spend most of their leisure, and sometimes even productive, hours watching television. It is up to parents and adults to check that youths are not becoming lazy and disillusioned by the many things shown on TV. It is important for youngsters to be able to distinguish fantasy from reality. There have been numerous cases where this electronic media has unfolded the negatives in people. In our country, many underage youths are exposed to TV programs that are only suitable for adult viewing. The amount of sex and violence and many other unacceptable values definitely do not make a positive impact on young minds. Hence, besides spending the correct amount of time watching television, there should be some means of censoring television programs. TV should be a tool to help youths learn new things, get new ideas, exercise their analytical skills, and grow up as balanced individuals. The point is to be TV savvy and not TV junkies!

Moheindu Chemjong
via email

Society Doomed?

Your magazine always raises issues of public concern. I was, therefore, surprised to read your praise of the blatant misuse of public money for the city's beautification ahead of the SAARC summit ("Rolling Ahead", SPOTLIGHT, December 21). Do we need an engineering degree to know that a layer of new tar does not stick to the old dusty one without proper preparation? Or does everybody in the Roads Department have fake degrees? Instead of coal tar, they are pouring the blood and sweat of the Nepalese people. Our leaders have total disregard for the constitutional guarantee of private property and other human rights. They pull down our homes so that the beauty of their palatial buildings do not get marred, and show off their Pajeros by driving the rest of the vehicles off the streets. They are using these dark days of emergency very efficiently to stuff their bulging wallets with loot from the nation's coffers, as they unashamedly gorge on the poor people's blood to further bloat their stomachs. They are so entrenched in feudalistic depths that they still think they can become rich only by looting. They do not know that scientific advances have revealed methods of creating wealth. Bill Gates has proved that wealth can be created just with the application of the brain; no other resource is necessary. Amartya Sen received the Nobel Prize for proving that poverty is due to political expedience rather than resource crunch. The sad reality of Nepalese society is that these corrupt leaders have become our role models. Through corrupt SLC and similar systems, we are hammering into the young minds that fraud is the only way to success. With such decaying morality, is not our society doomed?

Shukra Raj Acharya
Naya Bazaar, Kirtipur