On the tourism strike, Mythos beer, cremation, Turkey, Israel

Brilliant move by the unions! I’ve booked my holiday to Greece already and really, really hope it will not be disrupted by strikes. So, now that tourism figures are up, tourism spending is up and boosting the economy, the unions decide to slap the tourists in the face by calling a strike. As I said, brilliant. Destroy the one (of very few) sector that is still bringing in money, the one sector that can be depended upon.

Where else in the world do cooks, bakers, dishwashers and chambermaids get hazard pay? Wake up, and rather welcome tourists than try to chase them away. And ask firefighters and riot police how their hazards are doing.

Mary-Ann Faroni

Mythos is the new word for great beer

In Greece I drank every type of beer there was, last year. My son thought that his father was wrong so he tried the same, last month, but he found how right his father is on matters of the stomach.

Mythos beer is undoubtedly the best, but even if you disagree then I would still say that Greece produces great beers at ridiculous prices.

Try promoting tourism based on beer «sampling» and Australians alone will boost tourism by 20 percent before any other nation is counted.

Then export more Mythos to Australia as we are all dying of thirst here. That will also add to your national income.

In the meantime, I am going to drink a bottle of Mythos from my refrigerator.

It is the only way to relax when you are not in Greece.

Angelos Eleftherios Kenos

Australia

On cremation

My dear late father died at the end of May this year. It was his adamant wish that he be cremated for a variety of reasons deeply personal to him. We were very fortunate to find an honest, kind and reputable funeral home that took care of all the paperwork and the cremation itself in Bulgaria at the minimal cost. It was all done with a great deal of respect and quite quickly.

As a family we are very pleased with them and happy that we were able to fulfil my father’s wishes. However, upon submitting all the necessary documents to OGA for the customary funeral reimbursement, we were informed that we are not eligible for remuneration because my father was not «properly buried.»

When a law is passed that allows something to be done, as in this case, the cremation of a citizen or resident of this country as a means of burial, then all the relative departments, services and national insurance companies should have to honor the right of that person to be buried as he/she so wishes.

As a family, we have now taken this to the ombudsman in the hope of a resolution. It is shameful and disheartening that governmental departments and services create so many problems for those who have lost their loved ones and cause even more distress atop of the grief.

Louna Coumeri

Cremation

It seems to me that in 2011, Orthodox traditions allow burial, exhumation, breaking up the remains, and then sticking them in a box, to be given back to the family.

Would it not be much better if the dead were allowed to choose to be buried in the forest, in the garden? Or burnt on a pyre? Or to give their remains for organ transplant and save the lives of others?

It would be even better if I, as an EU citizen, was able to choose to be burnt to ashes on a pyre or by cremation and my remains scattered on my garden.

Kelvyn Richards

Trikala

Turkey and Cyprus drilling

The Turkish state is showing itself to be completely hypocritical regarding Cypriot drilling for gas and oil in its southern waters. Their claim that Turkish Cypriots will be left out of the benefits from drilling in the Mediterranean are ridiculous since the Turkish Cypriots have broken away from the legitimate government of Cyprus and have their own pseudo-state in the north of the island, recognized only by Turkey itself.

If Turkish Cypriots wish to benefit from oil and gas revenues generated from prospecting by the government of Cyprus, let them reunify or prospect on their own.

This same Turkish hypocrisy is showing itself in the Aegean, where they wish to change the status quo in the name of «national security» and breathing space.

In fact, they wish to reap benefits from any significant oil and gas deposits under the Aegean. 

 

Peter Kates

Crematorium

Finally a Crematorium. At least I know where I can be brought later on.

In Cyprus we don?t have this, even though the Church said ?yes? few years ago.

It?s cleaner and doesn?t take much space.

Who is going to visit the graves anyway. It?s just flesh and nobody is praying for a dead body.

Its the Soul that counts.

Katerina Herzog

Limassol

Israel attacks

The latest terror attacks on Israeli civilians should provide food for thought when it comes to considering whether to support the forthcoming prospect of statehood for the Palestinians. These terrorist attacks, just like so many others before them, did not stem from a lack of the state of Palestine, nor were they due to the occupation — an often-cited excuse for terrorism against Israelis. The attacks stem from a basic intolerance of Israel?s right to exist. If anyone is serious about creating a true peace this is the issue that needs to be tackled. 

Michelle Moshelian

Israel