Hong Kong honours Lankan activist
Sikkander Batcha, a longstanding Sri Lankan resident and businessman of Hong Kong, has been awarded the “Medal of Honour” for his exemplary service to the community in the former British crown colony, currently designated Special Administrative Region of the People’s Republic of China.
In a letter to Mr. Batcha, Betty Fung, the Permanent Secretary for Home Affairs, says “the honour is befitting of your dedication and contributions to the community (in Hong Kong). I am sure you will continue to serve and contribute to the society in the years to come.” The list of honourees was published in a Hong Kong Gazette Extraordinary recently. This is the first time a Sri Lankan has been awrded the “Medal of Honour” by the Hong Kong government.
A product of St Sebastian’s School, Hulftsdorp and Zahira College, Colombo, Mr. Batcha represented Zahira at the inaugural Football Competition for the Tarbet Shield. He also excelled in swimming and diving.
Since moving to Hong Kong in 1970, he has been working and living in Hong Kong, while being involved in politics and social activities. He has been President of Idara Minhaj-ul-Quran for 18 continuous years. The Hong Kong-based non- governmental organisation ( NGO) was granted “Special Consultative Status’ by the United Nations.
Since 2009, Mr. Batcha was also co-opted as a member of Yau Tsim Mong District Council and presently holds the same position representing the Ethnic Minority Community in Hong Kong. And since June 2015, he was also appointed as a community member of Racial Harmony by the Home Affairs Bureau Secretariat.
The Secretariat of the Press Complaints Commission of Sri Lanka ( PCCSL), the self-regulatory body of the newspaper industry released its annual report for 2016 this week.
According to the report, the PCCSL Secretariat received 133 complaints of which 84 were valid complaints that were resolved while 317 separate complaints by readers were directly resolved by editors of national newspapers providing a ‘Right of Reply’ opportunity for aggrieved parties to have their say.
An autonomous Dispute Resolution Council (DRC) of the PCCSL Secretariat sits as an appellate body of the self-regulatory mechanism which ensures the Editors Code is adhered to by newspapers.
Former Secretary General of Parliament, Nihal Seneviratne, Chairman of the DRC in his message compliments national newspaper editors for resolving reader complaints directly by affording the Right of Reply opportunity.
“The voluntary self-regulation system is most suited for a growing democracy”, he says and adds that it “fulfils one of the main tenets of good governance”.
Picture shows CEO of the PCCSL Secretariat Sukumar Rockwood handing over a copy of the 2016 annual report at its headquarters at No. 96, Bernard Soysa Mawatha, Colombo 5 to the Chairman of the Board of Directors of the PCCSL, Mr. Kumar Nadesan. A few other Board directors and the Company Secretary are also present.