Prevention of STDs
WITH the increasing number of positive HIV cases in our country, it is important that some very proactive steps are taken by the State in preventing its spread. I believe one place where exchange of blood can happen unknowingly through tiny cuts is the barber shop. It is almost impossible to find a barber shop which has sterilisation facilities for shaving apparatus. If a barber shop is not adhering to safety standards with shaving tools, the State needs to regulate that and issue a compliance certificate for it to operate. I believe just changing the razor does not eliminate the danger because the tool may have blood of an infected person which can be passed on to another person with a simple cut. I believe these two provisions in the 2013 Constitution allows for State intervention unless the State can prove that it cannot. 35.—(1) The State must take reasonable measures within its available resources to achieve the progressive realisation of the right of every person to accessible and adequate housing and sanitation. 38.—(1) The State must take reasonable measures within its available resources to achieve the progressive realisation of the right of every person to health, and to the conditions and facilities necessary to good health, and to health care services, including reproductive health care. I implore the Minister for Health to take some quick action to safeguard unsuspecting individuals from this deadly disease. RAJENDRA PRASAD School of Language Arts and Media, Faculty of Arts Law and Education, USP
Parking space
ARE taxis permitted to park in spaces allocated for private vehicles — provided they pay for the duration – or is it illegal? If it is within the boundaries of road laws, then I believe Lautoka City Council desperately lacks parking space for private vehicles. Last Saturday this was a topic of discussion. We were standing at Yasawa St when the streetlight opposite the bus stand turned green.Vehicles started turning into Yasawa St. The first eight were taxis. The next one a private car and then again a taxi. We stopped counting. MOHAMMED IMRAZ JANIF Natabua, Lautoka
Message in a book
SYDNEY Airport had flight delays caused by smoke in the aviation tower from an overheating computer. Many passengers were frustrated. But one woman was the picture of peace and calm. She said she had a book to read to deal with the delay! There is a valuable message in that — I am sure. RAJEND NAIDU Sydney
Source of happiness
WHEN I was in college, we analysed an essay in our English class titled “Is happiness still possible?”. Fifty years later, I am wondering what happiness is and why do we constantly run after it. What does it mean to be happy? What is the difference between happiness and pleasure? It is a hot summer day, and you feel thirsty. A friend offers you a refreshing cold glass of Fiji Gold (OK, Fiji Bitter for you Bitter lovers). How do you feel when you see the glass? How do you feel when you drink it? Will you describe your feeling as happiness or as pleasure? I believe you will say it is a feeling of pleasure. There is a connection between these two kinds of feelings, and sometime, one evokes the other, but they are not the same thing. Pleasure is a good feeling that comes from eating a Magnum, watching a good movie, feeling the warm caressing rays of the sun on a winter day, or having fun at a party. Pleasure has to do with enjoyment involving the five senses and is dependent on circumstances, objects or people. When you are happy, minor unpleasant events usually do not disturb you, but when you are unhappy, you feel as if everything is against you. You might compensate for this, by eating chocolate because this gives you pleasure. You may smoke a cigarette, because it gives you pleasure, but this does not make you happier, especially, if you acknowledge the fact that smoking is not good for your health. Happiness is a feeling of satisfaction, exhilaration, elation and joy, which wells from within you. You experience it when a problem has been solved, when a goal has been achieved, and when you are feeling good. There are people who fear that if they experience happiness, it will be soon taken away from them.
They regard it as a temporary state, and are afraid to experience it, lest they lose it. They want to avoid the pain that might follow when it goes away.
These people believe that happiness is always followed by unhappiness. My friends used to tell me not to laugh so much or I would cry. Others, might go to the extreme of not seeking it at all, because they feel unworthy of it, and prefer to avoid it. There are also people, who always look behind
their back, wondering, where from will come the blow. The physical world is always in a state of flux. At each moment, a new thing is being created, sustained, changed, transformed and then destroyed. This is the normal state of affairs, and no one can change it. No situation remains as it is.
These are the laws of nature. This means that if we attach ourselves to a certain situation, we are bound to experience unhappiness sooner or later. When circumstances change, and the changes are not to our liking, we experience unhappiness. However, if we exercise detachment, nothing can disturb our mood and state of mind. Then, external events would not affect our happiness and peace of mind. From the moment of birth, there is a yearning for happiness, and an endless race toward it. If we analyse our actions, we will see that all of them are in some way or another, happiness oriented. We seek this inner joy and elation in everything we do, in relationships, at work and wherever we are. Everyone wants to feel good and
happy. My wife is fascinated by the absolutely brilliant, infinitely wise, somewhat cynical and often humorous Sadhguru whose lectures she often watches on Netflix. She is very philosophical (her major was Philosophy in college) and she offers this priceless piece of advice to girls of marrying
age – “By all means, marry. If you get a good husband, you’ll become happy; if you get a bad one, you’ll become a philosopher”. Hmmn … on second
thoughts, she is not a philosopher. ARVIND MANI, Nadi
