Features

“When I was born we were in the Third Word and we’re still there as I’m ready to die”

Published

4 years ago

2022/07/17

Thilina Walpola

Sunil Perera said it all in his song

Gamini Fonseka

(Continued from last week)

After my return from London, I continued my audit work during this time especially on the plantations side. I had the privilege of auditing John Keell Thompson White Limited and many other companies such as Julius and Creasy which was then headed by the legendary Mr. Naidoo, and Volanka Limited, a Swiss company headed by another great Swiss man called Mr. Chanson. I became a partner in my firm on October 1, 1972 succeeding my one-time hero BAR Weerasinghe of cricketing fame. I was then considered a very young man holding partnership of that great firm called Turquand Young. After marriage, we moved to my in-laws home at No. 8, De Fonseka Place, Colombo 5.

The great Dr. Colvin R de Silva who had Marxists ideas was a brilliant man in the cabinet of Mrs. B. He was then Minister of Constitutional Affairs and Plantation Industries. The entire Parliament was converted into a Constituent Assembly and he brought a new Constitution that changed the name of our Island to Sri Lanka. Perhaps this was a mistake as Ceylon tea was world famous and tea was the main foreign exchange earner of the Island. It however gave the Sri Lankans a national identity. The Governor General who represented the Queen of England was replaced by a home-grown President in the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka.

In early 1973, a baby girl was born to us and we considered her a gem of an addition to our family. It was a very joyful event in my life and the parents from my side and my wife’s were overjoyed with the new arrival. How I got my land at De Fonseka Place, near my in-law’s home where we lived, was a remarkable coincidence. My wife did not like me building a house at Longdon Place as I planned, telling me that this was somewhat away from her parents’ home. Though she was most reluctant, I managed to persuade her and got an architect to design a house for us when a strange coincidence occurred.

The Colombo Brokers Association, runnig the share market then, met in our Board Room as we were their Secretaries. Mr. Errol de Fonseka, who lived in a mansion in De Fonseka Place, was a Share Director at Forbes and Walker Limited. He was mortally scared that his property in Colombo would be acquired by Mrs. B’s Government, he told me, “Gamini, I have blocked out the place I live in and if you know of any prospective buyer, please let me know.” I told Errol to hold on to the blocking plan and give me 24 hours to decide whether I wanted a block myself.

I came home and gave my wife the news. “Don’t hesitate. Grab the opportunity,” she said. I told Errol the next morning, when he as usual came for the Colombo Share Market meeting that I will take one plot for myself and another for my sister-in-law who was then in Zambia with her husband. He fixed a price of Rs. 60,000 for my block of 16 perches and reduced Rs. 2,000/- off the second block which was the same size but located in a corner of the property.

I funded the entire purchase of my block with my wife’s dowry and my father-in-law paid for the next block. It was a unique deed which the legendary Bertie Amarasekare of Julius and Creasy conveyanced for us. This was because a property at De Fonseka Place was purchased by a Fonseka and sold by a De Fonseka with the deed executed by another Fonseka, my father who became a lawyer on his retirement from Public Service.

In my many overseas travels I found this a great advantage as the immigration officers used to always wave me through noticing my name was the same as the street where I lived!

In late 1974 things became very difficult in Sri Lanka. My senior partner advised me to go to our London office once more, this time as a manager, as I was then a partner in my local firm. He arranged all the necessary formalities and told me to save foreign exchange to fund a course at Cranfield School of Business Studies while I was in the UK. Before my departure, I did my CIMA exams in Sri Lanka, parts one to four and to my surprise came first in the world in the part three Finance and Accounting paper. I was placed third in the world on the overall part three examination. This was a pleasant surprise as I took only a few days leave from work to study for my parts three and four.

I then sat for my final Examination of CIMA in November ’74 and proceeded to London with the objective of accumulating funds for Cranfield. On Christmas day 1964, I departed on Kuwait Airways to London while my wife and daughter left for Lusaka to join her sister whose husband was then working in Zambia. We were departing within about half an hour of each other to different parts of the globe.

I went to London and was greeted by my sister and brother-in-law who had gone earlier to Exeter to do his PhD. They greeted me with open arms and we drove back to Exeter via Bristol. On January 1, I was due to start work at my London office which was by then called Turquands Barton Mayhew(TBM) at Tavistock Square. My sister and brother-in-law dropped me at my office in London. By then I had arranged with a colleague from the days I served articles to stay in their home at South Wimbledon.

I learned from the Ceylon News to which my friend subscribed that there was an era of political uncertainty in Sri Lanka. While I was in London I learned that Mrs. B had introduced the infamous takeover of foreign-owned plantations in Sri Lanka, the top export earner for the country. Once again it killed the entrepreneurship skills of the major community. A Labour government under Harold Wilson was in power at that time in the United Kingdom. They gave a loan to Sri Lanka to compensate the sterling companies taken over by the Government. With the enforcement of the G.O.B.U Act, they took over many business undertakings mainly foreign owned such as Ceylon Oxygen, BCC, Colombo Gas and Water Company and Colombo Commercial Company. Lake House was also acquired by the government which said it wanted to broadbase the owning company.

Mrs. B later realized her folly, sacked her Marxists allies and went for an election in 1977. Earlier she had created two Plantations Conglomerates namely JEDB and SLSPC to handle the Plantations that were taken over under Land Reform Law. India watched the implementation of the Land Reform Law in Sri Lanka with a hawk eye and realized that it would be a folly to go the Sri Lankan way and instead encouraged their big companies to venture overseas and acquire plantation companies operating in India.

I think this was a very wise move by India as Tata which had many businesses took over the tea plantations in Assam. Thereafter, they acquired Tetley Tea Company worldwide with the strong Tetley brand name. Recently, they were a strong bidder for the tea operation of Uni Levers ultimately losing the battle to a Venture Capital company in US. Uni Lever Tea business consisted of the famous Brooke Bond and Lipton tea operations worldwide.

I returned to the Island driving a Volkswagen Saloon Car overland from London to Colombo. We visited 11 countries on this trip to India starting from France, driving through Switzerland, Italy, Yugoslavia, Turkey, Iran, Afghanistan, and Pakistan. Having completed this journey in 30 days we had to still mark time for six weeks in India to catch the ferry from Rameswaram to Talaimannar Pier and then to our home at De Fonseka Place.

This was an experience of a lifetime as we passed through many countries and had many new adventures. During our six weeks in India waiting for the ferry, we toured the length and breadth of that country and arrived in Colombo on January 17, 1977.

The outcome of the General Election of 1977 was a decisive moment in the history of Sri Lanka. In June 1977, a UNP Government under the leadership of JRJ swept into power with a five sixths majority in parliament and changed the destiny of Sri Lanka. Unfortunately JRJ used the ‘Cow and Calf’ election symbol of the Congress Party in India in his campaign saying that “like in India, the cow and the calf will lose here to,” drawing a parallel between Mrs. Indira Gandhi and Sanjay and Mrs. B and Anura. This antagonized Mrs. Gandhi and I think was a fatal mistake made by JRJ resulting in us losing Mrs. Gandhi’s and India’s goodwill.

In 1977, another event took place in my life which was the advent of another baby girl to our family whom we consider a diamond. JR had a top class Cabinet with Prime Minister Premadasa and Ministers such as Gamini Dissanayake, Ronnie de Mel and Lalith Athulathmudali whom I came to know personally being world class.

JRJ opened up the economy and floated the Sri Lankan Rupee which was pegged at Rs. 13 to the Pound Sterling and Rs. 07 to the US Dollar. He implemented the huge Mahaweli Development Program drawing assistance from abroad thanks to his International stature. It was no easy task to accelerate the 30-year Mahaweli Program within a six-year time frame. There were many dams that had to be built such as Victoria, Rantembe and Kotmale and thereafter do the downstream development which stretched to areas such as Manampitiya and relocate so many families in the Mahaweli areas.

He had to find the money for these dams which cost an enormous amount. By the goodwill he commanded and shrewd strategy he was able to win the hearts and minds of the British people who gifted us the Victoria Dam as an outright grant to Sri Lanka. The Randenigala Dam was built with Canadian help on a soft loan. Kotmale was built with Swedish assistance, again with concessionary interest. Simultaneously, JRJ bought television to Sri Lanka with Japanese help. Many other projects at that time such as Jayewardenapura Hospital and the new Parliamentary Complex were outright gifts from Japan.

The Japanese never forgot JRJ’s memorable speech in San Francisco after the end of the World War Two. His unforgettable quotation from the Buddha that ” hatred will never cease by hatred but by love” opposing reparation demands against Japan. This paid off many years later under his presidency with Japan helping us to modernize the Katunayake International Airport at very low interest credit spread over 40 years which we could easily pay back with returns from the project itself.

Another speech he made at the time he was entertained by then-president of United States, Ronald Regan also brought in very valuable American assistance to Sri Lanka by way of investments in the free trade zones and USAID in Sri Lanka. I was fortunate to spend professional time with government agencies during this period as I was involved in many management consultancy assignments in 1970’s and 80’s.

Unfortunately two tragic occurrences in 1983, the disappearance of Upali Wijewardene (JRJ’s nephew married to Mrs. B’s niece) and the racial riots between Sinhalese and Tamils caused irreparable damage to the Sri Lankan economy. Thereafter, there was political struggle in 1983/84 when JRJ retired and there was a competition between Premadasa, Lalith Athulathmudali and Gamini Dissanayake who were equally capable to run for president. Mr. Premadasa became the candidate and won the presidency but did not survive his full term being brutally assassinated by an LTTE attack. A week earlier, Lalith Athulathmudali who survived two previous attacks was also assassinated. Six months later, Gamini Dissanayake was also a victim of a bomb. My hero Ronnie de Mel retired from politics after presenting many successful budgets in Parliament.

During this time President Premadasa spearheaded many privatization exercises. On behalf of Ernst and Young (EY) I was involved in these exercises which meant that I had to go to the general treasury almost on a daily basis. I got involved in many activities where EY won the contracts such as introducing tariffs for the Water Board, establishing the Housing Development Finance Corporation on the lines similar to India, venture capital studies in Sri Lanka and introducing the venture capital industry and many more assignments both in the public and private sectors.

I was exhausted by the 1990’s and after assisting the legendary Mr. NU Jayawardene, many of whose companies I was involved in, the last being the establishment of the Sampath Bank, I retired from the partnership of Ernst and Young on September 30, 1991. Thereafter, I was appointed the Chairman and Chief Executive of Walker Sons and Company Limited from October 1, 1991 which positioned I held till June 2007 when I retired completely having sold the majority shares at Walkers to a Malaysia based Infrastructure Company.

I had completely retired from all walks of public life as by the time I reached 60 completing many milestones in my life. There were so many political upheavals in Sri Lanka during this period which remain unresolved as we approach the 75th year of Independence on February 4, 2023.

I often think of singer Sunil Perera’s famous words saying, “When I was born, Sri Lanka was a third-world country and when I am ready to die we are still a third-world country.” However I am optimistic that Sri Lanka will come out of all these troubles and this thrice blessed Island will never go down in history as a failed nation.

(I thanks my grandaughter, Nimansa Weerasena for typing this for me. My email contact is fonsekag@gmail.com)

All News Advertisement

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.