Unfair practice
Dear Sir,
The letter “End racial wage discrimination” (Gulf Times, February 25) has highlighted an issue that needs to be aired widely. The letter-writer, Niyaz, deserves appreciation for bringing attention to the unfair practice of fixing salaries on the basis of race and nationality of applicants. A good engineer, for instance, brings the same kind of skills to his job whatever his skin colour is. When will employers in the region relaise this?
Companies should pay on the basis of an employee’s level of skills and devotion to work and not on the basis of his or her race. Unfortunately, these considerations are seldom followed in the region. Many companies seem to have a double policy on salaries, one for Asians and another for Westerners.
As Niyaz points out in his letter, a discriminatory wage policy negatively affects a company’s performance in the long-term.
“Success”, as he rightly says, comes only to those companies which pay salary to its staff based on their performance and rank and not on racial grounds.
BN, (Full name and address supplied)
Lanka seeking balance in ties
Dear Sir,
South Asia has been witnessing a lot of diplomatic activities of late. One hopes these efforts will bring lasting peace to the region.
In pursuit of his new global diplomatic objective, Sri Lanka’s new President, Maithripala Sirisena, after his visit to India, is going to make his maiden visit to Pakistan in March. Soon after the Indo-Lanka nuclear co-operation agreement, Sirisena aims at a similar deal with Pakistan, to make the island nation’s nuclear policy credible.
Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif was among the first foreign dignitaries to make a phone call to Sirisena on his historic victory in Sri Lanka’s presidential polls last month. Sharif then invited Sirisena to visit Pakistan.
The Sri Lankan president also plans to proceed to China soon after visiting Pakistan. Sri Lanka, it seems, is seeking to maintain a balance in its ties with important countries of the region.
Dr Abdul Ruff Colachal, (e-mail adress supplied)
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