Features

‘Sri Lanka is a Garden of Eden for Scientists’ – Dr. Pethiyagoda

Published

5 months ago

2025/09/15

Hiranya Sudasinghe and Dr. Pethiyagoda. The duo has jointly published a book and more than 15 scientific papers on Sri Lankan freshwater fishes

Sri Lanka’s foremost biodiversity scientist, Dr. Rohan Pethiyagoda, describes this country as “a veritable Garden of Eden for evolutionary scientists.” Speaking to The Sunday Island, he warned that while the country remains rich in natural heritage, the threats are mounting fast.

“We now have more alien species in our waters than endemic ones. There’s no longer an ‘if’ about extinction—it’s a matter of ‘when’. And we’re doing very little about it,” he stressed.

Dr. Pethiyagoda and Hiranya Sudasinghe with Dr Maurice Kottelat, the Swiss Ichthyologist, who, in the late 1980s, mentored Pethiyagoda in the study of fishes.

Winner of the Linnean Medal and the Rolex Award, Dr. Pethiyagoda has devoted decades to documenting Sri Lanka’s freshwater fishes and other fauna. In this exclusive conversation with The Sunday Island’s Ifham Nizam, he reflects on evolution, science, and the looming challenges for conservation.

Excerpts of the interview:

Q: You describe Sri Lanka as a “veritable Garden of Eden” for evolutionary scientists. What makes the island such a unique setting for studying biodiversity and evolutionary processes?

A: Several things. First off is the rainfall regime in our biodiversity-rich south-western wet zone. This is the only region in the whole of South Asia that enjoys a perhumid climate: there are no consecutive dry months. Basically, every month receives on average 100 mm of rain. As a result, the wet zone’s rainforests support astonishing plant and animal diversity.

Second is what is referred to as ‘topographic heterogeneity’, for example, the complex landscape produced by the hill country. This results in our having 103 river basins in this small island, in addition to an elevation range that spans almost 2500 metres. Finally, we have pretty good evidence that almost all our plants and animals were wiped out in the Cretaceous-Paleogene extinction event around 66 million years ago, followed by the great volcanic eruptions that took place in the Maharashtra region of India, the so-called Deccan volcanism, which resulted in the spewing of some 700,000 cubic kilometres of basalt. An unimaginable cataclysm. But it seems to have produced on Sri Lanka a blank slate for biodiversity to flourish and, conveniently, for people like me, a definitive starting date, a ‘date of creation’ if you will, for the evolution of the incredible diversity we see today.

Q: Freshwater fish are at the heart of your lecture. Why are they particularly useful for understanding evolution, and what stories do they tell about Sri Lanka’s ecological history?

A: Freshwater fishes are arguably the best-studied vertebrate group in Sri Lanka. At least for the 50 percent of the fauna that is endemic, we have up-to-date taxonomy as well as, for almost every species, DNA sequences. The bulk of this work has been done in the past decade by Hiranya Sudasinghe, who is virtually co-presenting this lecture with me. His research has helped assess the genetic diversity of fishes, reconstruct their evolutionary relationships and history, identify the regions which served as refuges during past climatic events, such as droughts, and detect extinction events. It is a phenomenal body of work, something unparalleled for any other group of plants or animals in Sri Lanka.

Q: Could you explain how sexual selection shapes not just the behaviour of fish but also that of other animals, including humans?

A: Ever since Charles Darwin brought that phrase into vogue in 1871, this phenomenon has fascinated biologists. Let’s take an example. Dinka tribesmen are cattle herders in the plains of southern Sudan. Natural selection has adapted them to that environment by selecting traits such as tallness: they average a height of around 6 feet. In the dense rainforests of the Congo, on the other hand, a smaller stature is advantageous, and so Pigmies are around a foot and a half shorter. These differences in stature probably evolved as a result of natural selection, the Dinka and Pigmies being best ‘fitted’ to their respective environments. However, a similar result could have come about also if Dinka women preferred to mate with taller men and Pigmy women preferred to mate with shorter men. It is argued, for example, that human females have large, fatty breasts even when they are not lactating (unlike apes and monkeys), because human males ‘sexually select’ large breasts as a proxy for better ability to nourish offspring. In fish, too, we see similar processes, where males and females preferentially select mates, based on arbitrary traits. But understanding these traits can be really difficult, as I will explain.

Q: You and your colleagues have discovered and named numerous species over the years. What does the process of finding and describing a new species reveal about the challenges of biodiversity science in Sri Lanka?

A: The biggest challenge to biodiversity science in this country is the low level of public appreciation of science in general. Many people seem to view science as a sort of alien, even colonial enterprise. As a result, scientists are often viewed with suspicion. Scientific interventions are, therefore, difficult to implement. Again, let’s take an extreme and controversial example: the recent introduction to the Deduru Oya of a really pernicious alien species, the Giant Snakehead, Channa micropeltes. This rapidly reproducing species is set to devastate our aquatic ecosystems. The scientifically most appropriate way of eradicating this species may have been, at least hypothetically, to use a fish-specific toxin such as rotenone to destroy all the fish in the downstream region of the river. The lower Deduru Oya has no species endemic to it, and native species would have repopulated it after the event. But such an intervention would be so controversial in Sri Lanka that no one would touch it.

As for the discovery of new species, unless we also pay attention to conservation, it is almost a waste of time. What is the point of discovering species and publishing fat ‘Red Lists” unless we actively conserve such species? Tragically for Sri Lanka, there is a huge gulf between scientists on the one side and conservation agencies on the other.

Q: How do genomic tools and modern technology enhance our understanding of evolution compared to when you began your research?

A: Well, when I began my research in the 1980s, genetics was in its infancy. And despite more than 40 years having elapsed since the PCR machine was invented, we still lack a functional DNA sequencing facility in Sri Lanka. In such a background, there’s no point talking about genomic tools and modern technology. We’re still in the Stone Age when it comes to that. Despite the electron microscope having been commercialised a century ago, we still do not have a functional scanning electron microscope in Sri Lanka. It is worth remembering that India is becoming a world leader in biodiversity science now: they are a lot friendlier to science than Sri Lankans.

: Macropodus opercularis. This genus, which is confined to East Asia, is the closest relative of the Sri Lankan ‘pulutta’ and ‘malpulutta’. The former occurs in South India, but from there onwards, the group is absent until Indochina.

: A male Black ruby barb. Are females preferentially attracted to redder males?

: In Sicyopterus jonklaasi, the boys wear the lipstick. Do female liptick gobies prefer redder- lipped males?

: Travancoria eleongata, a new species discovered by Rohan Pethiyagoda in the Chalakkudy River in Kerala, India. “It was one of four news species of fish I discovered in a single afternoon in this short river,” he says. “It contain more fish species than the whole of Sri Lanka.”

: Gymnothorax polyuranodon, among the rarest fish found in Sri Lankan freshwaters. First discovered almost a century ago, only a handful of specimens have been reported since

Q: Your lecture hints at the looming “Sixth Extinction.” From your perspective, how vulnerable are Sri Lanka’s freshwater ecosystems, and what urgent steps need to be taken to protect them?

A: Thing is, we know from Hiranya’s research that we have suffered climate-driven extinctions in the recent geological past. At the same time, we now have more alien species in our waters than endemic species. There’s no longer an ‘if’ associated with fish extinctions in Sri Lanka: it’s ‘when’. And we’re doing very little about it. But of course, we need to appreciate the little that has been done. The Wildlife Department, for example, recently declared the stretch of stream that supports the Bandula Barb, a critically endangered species, as a sanctuary. The Zoo maintains a captive population of this fish that could be used for introductions if an extinction does happen, but they do not have the funds to do this scientifically, for example, by ensuring the genetic diversity of the captive population. It is eminently feasible to attract funds from the private sector to establish ex-situ conservation centres for all critically endangered vertebrate animals in Sri Lanka, but the prospect is likely to prove so controversial that few scientists would even mention it openly.

Q: How do you see the balance between scientific discovery and conservation advocacy in your own career?

A: Science remains for me a passion, but not so much conservation. I am not a strong advocate of conservation because I prefer to use my time productively. Sri Lankans love nature and love wildlife. Pretty much everyone is committed to protecting wildlife. But conservation is now very heavy on science, and few Sri Lankans have an appetite for that. At 70, there are other boxes to tick on my bucket list.

Q: In your experience, what role should citizens, NGOs, and government agencies play in safeguarding aquatic habitats?

A: Well, for starters, how about respecting and restoring native vegetation on all river and stream margins? These are already ‘reserves’ in law, but no one seems to be in charge. If we afforest these, every stream and river will become a biodiversity corridor, generating a huge conservation dividend. Pretty much all our endemic fishes are dependent on shade, and streamside vegetation takes care of that as well.

Q: You’ve spent decades making biodiversity research accessible to the public. Why is science communication critical for conservation, and how can Sri Lanka improve in this area?

A: I know from my books, articles and YouTube videos that the public appetite for science is negligible. Our whole education system is focused on the arts. Only about a third of graduates are from STEM fields (Science, Technology, Engineering and Medicine). It is difficult to discuss conservation science with someone schooled in Commerce or Oriental dance. We need to invert this imbalance: that’s the first step.

Q: What do you hope the audience at this WNPS lecture will take away about evolution and biodiversity that might change how they view Sri Lanka’s wildlife?

A: I have put this lecture together with one primary goal: to inspire some girl or boy in the audience to become the next Hiranya Sudasinghe. Using our fishes as an example, I want to try and show that biology is profoundly fascinating, with so many interesting questions remaining to be studied and answered. Because of its predictive power, there’s no better intellectual platform for understanding biology than evolution. As for the rest of the audience, I hope they will be as fascinated as I am by the wonderful evolutionary processes that are moulding Sri Lanka’s biodiversity even as we watch. For this, there’s no better group of animals than fishes. They’re utterly fascinating.

Q: You’ve been awarded both the Linnean Medal and the Rolex Award for your contributions to zoology and conservation. Looking back, what are the most fulfilling aspects of your career so far?

A: In 1994, I helped Professor Sarath Kotagama to produce Siri Laka Kurullo, the first serious book on Sri Lankan ornithology, in Sinhala. It sold more than 20,000 copies, taking the hobby of birdwatching from the hallowed halls of Cinnamon Gardens to every village in Sri Lanka. It was a game-changer that democratised birdwatching and inspired ordinary Sri Lankan to take a scientific interest in biodiversity. I see kids still using tattered copies of that book even now, and when I do, my eyes well up. For me, that is fulfilment enough.

Q: What excites you most about the future of biodiversity research in Sri Lanka, especially for young scientists?

A: The antipathy to science in Sri Lanka is so deeply entrenched that I suspect that any young scientist who makes the grade will emigrate. It’s a waste of time to keep hitting your head against the wall here. Frankly, little about the future prospects for conservation science in our country excites me. Looking back at my career, now in my 70th year, I have only regrets. God knows I tried.

by Ifham Nizam ✍️

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Features

More state support needed for marginalised communities

Published

2 days ago

2026/02/13

Thilina Walpola

A landslide in the Central Province

Message from Malaiyaha Tamil community to govt:

Insights from SSA Cyclone Ditwah Survey

When climate disasters strike, they don’t affect everyone equally. Marginalised communities typically face worse outcomes, and Cyclone Ditwah is no exception. Especially in a context where normalcy is far from “normal”, the idea of returning to normalcy or restoring a life of normalcy makes very little sense.

The island-wide survey (https://ssalanka.org/reports/) conducted by the Social Scientists’ Association (SSA), between early to mid-January on Cyclone Ditwah shows stark regional disparities in how satisfied or dissatisfied people were with the government’s response. While national satisfaction levels were relatively high in most provinces, the Central Province tells a different story.

Only 35.2% of Central Province residents reported that they were satisfied with early warning and evacuation measures, compared to 52.2% nationally. The gap continues across every measure: just 52.9% were satisfied with immediate rescue and emergency response, compared with the national figure of 74.6%. Satisfaction with relief distribution in the Central Province is 51.9% while the national figure stands at 73.1%. The figures for restoration of water, electricity, and roads are at a low 45.9% in the central province compared to the 70.9% in national figures. Similarly, the satisfaction level for recovery and rebuilding support is 48.7% in the Central Province, while the national figure is 67.0%.

A deeper analysis of the SSA data on public perceptions reveals something important: these lower satisfaction rates came primarily from the Malaiyaha Tamil population. Their experience differed not just from other provinces, but also from other ethnic groups living in the Central Province itself.

The Malaiyaha Tamil community’s vulnerability didn’t start with the cyclone. Their vulnerability is a historically and structurally pre-determined process of exclusion and marginalisation. Brought to Sri Lanka during British rule to work for the empire’s plantation economies, they have faced long-term economic exploitation and have repeatedly been denied access to state support and social welfare systems. Most estate residents still live in ‘line rooms’ and have no rights to the land they cultivate and live on. The community continues to be governed by an outdated estate management system that acts as a barrier to accessing public and municipal services such as road repair, water, electricity and other basic infrastructures available to other citizens.

As far as access to improved water sources is concerned, the Sri Lanka Demographic Health Survey (2016) shows that 57% of estate sector households don’t have access to improved water sources, while more than 90% of households in urban and rural areas do. With regard to the level of poverty, as the Department of Census and Statistics (2019) data reveals, the estate sector where most Malaiyaha Tamils live had a poverty headcount index of 33.8%; more than double the national rate of 14.3%. These statistics highlight key indicators of the systemic discrimination faced by the Malaiyaha Tamil community.

Some crucial observations from the SSA data collectors who enumerated responses from estate residents in the survey reveal the specific challenges faced by the Malaiyaha Tamils, particularly in their efforts to seek state support for compensation and reconstruction.

First, the Central Province experienced not just flooding but also the highest number of landslides in the island. As a result, some residents in the region lost entire homes, access roadways, and other basic infrastructures. The loss of lives, livelihoods and land was at a higher intensity compared to the provinces not located in the hills. Most importantly, the Malaiyaha Tamil community’s pre-existing grievances made them even more vulnerable and the government’s job of reparation and restitution more complex.

Early warnings hadn’t reached many areas. Some data collectors said they themselves never heard any warnings in estate areas, while others mentioned that early warnings were issued but didn’t reach some segments of the community. According to the resident data collectors, the police announcements reached only as far as the sections where they were able to drive their vehicles to, and there were many estate roads that were not motorable. When warnings did filter through to remote locations, they often came by word of mouth and information was distorted along the way. Once the disaster hit, things got worse: roads were blocked, electricity went out, mobile networks failed and people were cut off completely.

Emergency response was slow. Blocked roads meant people could not get to hospitals when they needed urgent care, including pregnant mothers. The difficult terrain and poor road conditions meant rescue teams took much longer to reach affected areas than in other regions.

Relief supplies didn’t reach everyone. The Grama Niladhari divisions in these areas are huge and hard to navigate, making it difficult for Grama Niladharis to reach all places as urgently as needed. Relief workers distributed supplies where vehicles could go, which meant accessible areas got help while remote communities were left out.

Some people didn’t even try to go to safety centres or evacuation shelters set up in local schools because the facilities there were already so poor. The perceptions of people who did go to safety centres, as shown in the provincial data, reveal that satisfaction was low compared to other affected regions of the country. Less than half were satisfied with space and facilities (42.1%) or security and protection (45.0%). Satisfaction was even lower for assistance with lost or damaged documentation (17.9%) and information and support for compensation applications (28.2%). Only 22.5% were satisfied with medical care and health services below most other affected regions.

Restoring services proved nearly impossible in some areas. Road access was the biggest problem. The condition of the roads was already poor even before the cyclone, and some still haven’t been cleared. Recovery is especially difficult because there’s no decent baseline infrastructure to restore, hence you can’t bring roads and other public facilities back to a “good” condition when they were never good, even before the disaster.

Water systems faced their own complications. Many households get water from natural sources or small community projects, and not the centralised state system. These sources are often in the middle of the disaster zone and therefore got contaminated during the floods and landslides.

Long-term recovery remains stalled. Without basic infrastructure, areas that are still hard to reach keep struggling to get the support they need for rebuilding.

Taken together, what do these testaments mean? Disaster response can’t be the same for everyone. The Malaiyaha Tamil community has been double marginalised because they were already living with structural inequalities such as poor infrastructure, geographic isolation, and inadequate services which have been exacerbated by Cyclone Ditwah. An effective and fair disaster response needs to account for these underlying vulnerabilities. It requires interventions tailored to the historical, economic, and infrastructural realities that marginalized communities face every day. On top of that, it highlights the importance of dealing with climate disasters, given the fact that vulnerable communities could face more devastating impacts compared to others.

(Shashik Silva is a researcher with the Social Scientists’ Association of Sri Lanka)

by Shashik Silva ✍️

Features

Crucial test for religious and ethnic harmony in Bangladesh

Published

3 days ago

2026/02/12

Sahan Weerasooriya

A political protest that led to governmental change in Bangladesh mid last year. (photograph: imago)

Will the Bangladesh parliamentary election bring into being a government that will ensure ethnic and religious harmony in the country? This is the poser on the lips of peace-loving sections in Bangladesh and a principal concern of those outside who mean the country well.

The apprehensions are mainly on the part of religious and ethnic minorities. The parliamentary poll of February 12th is expected to bring into existence a government headed by the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) and the Islamist oriented Jamaat-e-Islami party and this is where the rub is. If these parties win, will it be a case of Bangladesh sliding in the direction of a theocracy or a state where majoritarian chauvinism thrives?

Chief of the Jamaat, Shafiqur Rahman, who was interviewed by sections of the international media recently said that there is no need for minority groups in Bangladesh to have the above fears. He assured, essentially, that the state that will come into being will be equable and inclusive. May it be so, is likely to be the wish of those who cherish a tension-free Bangladesh.

The party that could have posed a challenge to the above parties, the Awami League Party of former Prime Minister Hasina Wased, is out of the running on account of a suspension that was imposed on it by the authorities and the mentioned majoritarian-oriented parties are expected to have it easy at the polls.

A positive that has emerged against the backdrop of the poll is that most ordinary people in Bangladesh, be they Muslim or Hindu, are for communal and religious harmony and it is hoped that this sentiment will strongly prevail, going ahead. Interestingly, most of them were of the view, when interviewed, that it was the politicians who sowed the seeds of discord in the country and this viewpoint is widely shared by publics all over the region in respect of the politicians of their countries.

Some sections of the Jamaat party were of the view that matters with regard to the orientation of governance are best left to the incoming parliament to decide on but such opinions will be cold comfort for minority groups. If the parliamentary majority comes to consist of hard line Islamists, for instance, there is nothing to prevent the country from going in for theocratic governance. Consequently, minority group fears over their safety and protection cannot be prevented from spreading.

Therefore, we come back to the question of just and fair governance and whether Bangladesh’s future rulers could ensure these essential conditions of democratic rule. The latter, it is hoped, will be sufficiently perceptive to ascertain that a Bangladesh rife with religious and ethnic tensions, and therefore unstable, would not be in the interests of Bangladesh and those of the region’s countries.

Unfortunately, politicians region-wide fall for the lure of ethnic, religious and linguistic chauvinism. This happens even in the case of politicians who claim to be democratic in orientation. This fate even befell Bangladesh’s Awami League Party, which claims to be democratic and socialist in general outlook.

We have it on the authority of Taslima Nasrin in her ground-breaking novel, ‘Lajja’, that the Awami Party was not of any substantial help to Bangladesh’s Hindus, for example, when violence was unleashed on them by sections of the majority community. In fact some elements in the Awami Party were found to be siding with the Hindus’ murderous persecutors. Such are the temptations of hard line majoritarianism.

In Sri Lanka’s past numerous have been the occasions when even self-professed Leftists and their parties have conveniently fallen in line with Southern nationalist groups with self-interest in mind. The present NPP government in Sri Lanka has been waxing lyrical about fostering national reconciliation and harmony but it is yet to prove its worthiness on this score in practice. The NPP government remains untested material.

As a first step towards national reconciliation it is hoped that Sri Lanka’s present rulers would learn the Tamil language and address the people of the North and East of the country in Tamil and not Sinhala, which most Tamil-speaking people do not understand. We earnestly await official language reforms which afford to Tamil the dignity it deserves.

An acid test awaits Bangladesh as well on the nation-building front. Not only must all forms of chauvinism be shunned by the incoming rulers but a secular, truly democratic Bangladesh awaits being licked into shape. All identity barriers among people need to be abolished and it is this process that is referred to as nation-building.

On the foreign policy frontier, a task of foremost importance for Bangladesh is the need to build bridges of amity with India. If pragmatism is to rule the roost in foreign policy formulation, Bangladesh would place priority to the overcoming of this challenge. The repatriation to Bangladesh of ex-Prime Minister Hasina could emerge as a steep hurdle to bilateral accord but sagacious diplomacy must be used by Bangladesh to get over the problem.

A reply to N.A. de S. Amaratunga

A response has been penned by N.A. de S. Amaratunga (please see p5 of ‘The Island’ of February 6th) to a previous column by me on ‘ India shaping-up as a Swing State’, published in this newspaper on January 29th , but I remain firmly convinced that India remains a foremost democracy and a Swing State in the making.

If the countries of South Asia are to effectively manage ‘murderous terrorism’, particularly of the separatist kind, then they would do well to adopt to the best of their ability a system of government that provides for power decentralization from the centre to the provinces or periphery, as the case may be. This system has stood India in good stead and ought to prove effective in all other states that have fears of disintegration.

Moreover, power decentralization ensures that all communities within a country enjoy some self-governing rights within an overall unitary governance framework. Such power-sharing is a hallmark of democratic governance.

Features

Celebrating Valentine’s Day …

Published

3 days ago

2026/02/12

Sahan Weerasooriya

Valentine’s Day is all about celebrating love, romance, and affection, and this is how some of our well-known personalities plan to celebrate Valentine’s Day – 14th February:

Merlina Fernando (Singer)

Yes, it’s a special day for lovers all over the world and it’s even more special to me because 14th February is the birthday of my husband Suresh, who’s the lead guitarist of my band Mission.

We have planned to celebrate Valentine’s Day and his Birthday together and it will be a wonderful night as always.

We will be having our fans and close friends, on that night, with their loved ones at Highso – City Max hotel Dubai, from 9.00 pm onwards.

Lorensz Francke (Elvis Tribute Artiste)

On Valentine’s Day I will be performing a live concert at a Wealthy Senior Home for Men and Women, and their families will be attending, as well.

I will be performing live with romantic, iconic love songs and my song list would include ‘Can’t Help falling in Love’, ‘Love Me Tender’, ‘Burning Love’, ‘Are You Lonesome Tonight’, ‘The Wonder of You’ and ‘’It’s Now or Never’ to name a few.

To make Valentine’s Day extra special I will give the Home folks red satin scarfs.

Emma Shanaya (Singer)

I plan on spending the day of love with my girls, especially my best friend. I don’t have a romantic Valentine this year but I am thrilled to spend it with the girl that loves me through and through. I’ll be in Colombo and look forward to go to a cute cafe and spend some quality time with my childhood best friend Zulha.

JAYASRI

Emma-and-Maneeka

This Valentine’s Day the band JAYASRI we will be really busy; in the morning we will be landing in Sri Lanka, after our Oman Tour; then in the afternoon we are invited as Chief Guests at our Maris Stella College Sports Meet, Negombo, and late night we will be with LineOne band live in Karandeniya Open Air Down South. Everywhere we will be sharing LOVE with the mass crowds.

Kay Jay (Singer)

I will stay at home and cook a lovely meal for lunch, watch some movies, together with Sanjaya, and, maybe we go out for dinner and have a lovely time. Come to think of it, every day is Valentine’s Day for me with Sanjaya Alles.

Maneka Liyanage (Beauty Tips)

On this special day, I celebrate love by spending meaningful time with the people I cherish. I prepare food with love and share meals together, because food made with love brings hearts closer. I enjoy my leisure time with them — talking, laughing, sharing stories, understanding each other, and creating beautiful memories. My wish for this Valentine’s Day is a world without fighting — a world where we love one another like our own beloved, where we do not hurt others, even through a single word or action. Let us choose kindness, patience, and understanding in everything we do.

Janaka Palapathwala (Singer)

Janaka

Valentine’s Day should not be the only day we speak about love.

From the moment we are born into this world, we seek love, first through the very drop of our mother’s milk, then through the boundless care of our Mother and Father, and the embrace of family.

Love is everywhere. All living beings, even plants, respond in affection when they are loved.

As we grow, we learn to love, and to be loved. One day, that love inspires us to build a new family of our own.

Love has no beginning and no end. It flows through every stage of life, timeless, endless, and eternal.

Natasha Rathnayake (Singer)

We don’t have any special plans for Valentine’s Day. When you’ve been in love with the same person for over 25 years, you realise that love isn’t a performance reserved for one calendar date. My husband and I have never been big on public displays, or grand gestures, on 14th February. Our love is expressed quietly and consistently, in ordinary, uncelebrated moments.

With time, you learn that love isn’t about proving anything to the world or buying into a commercialised idea of romance—flowers that wilt, sweets that spike blood sugar, and gifts that impress briefly but add little real value. In today’s society, marketing often pushes the idea that love is proven by how much money you spend, and that buying things is treated as a sign of commitment.

Real love doesn’t need reminders or price tags. It lives in showing up every day, choosing each other on unromantic days, and nurturing the relationship intentionally and without an audience.

This isn’t a judgment on those who enjoy celebrating Valentine’s Day. It’s simply a personal choice.

Melloney Dassanayake (Miss Universe Sri Lanka 2024)

I truly believe it’s beautiful to have a day specially dedicated to love. But, for me, Valentine’s Day goes far beyond romantic love alone. It celebrates every form of love we hold close to our hearts: the love for family, friends, and that one special person who makes life brighter. While 14th February gives us a moment to pause and celebrate, I always remind myself that love should never be limited to just one day. Every single day should feel like Valentine’s Day – constant reminder to the people we love that they are never alone, that they are valued, and that they matter.

I’m incredibly blessed because, for me, every day feels like Valentine’s Day. My special person makes sure of that through the smallest gestures, the quiet moments, and the simple reminders that love lives in the details. He shows me that it’s the little things that count, and that love doesn’t need grand stages to feel extraordinary. This Valentine’s Day, perfection would be something intimate and meaningful: a cozy picnic in our home garden, surrounded by nature, laughter, and warmth, followed by an abstract drawing session where we let our creativity flow freely. To me, that’s what love is – simple, soulful, expressive, and deeply personal. When love is real, every ordinary moment becomes magical.

Noshin De Silva (Actress)

Valentine’s Day is one of my favourite holidays! I love the décor, the hearts everywhere, the pinks and reds, heart-shaped chocolates, and roses all around. But honestly, I believe every day can be Valentine’s Day.

It doesn’t have to be just about romantic love. It’s a chance to celebrate love in all its forms with friends, family, or even by taking a little time for yourself.

Whether you’re spending the day with someone special or enjoying your own company, it’s a reminder to appreciate meaningful connections, show kindness, and lead with love every day.

And yes, I’m fully on theme this year with heart nail art and heart mehendi design!

Wishing everyone a very happy Valentine’s Day, but, remember, love yourself first, and don’t forget to treat yourself.

Sending my love to all of you.