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Champion’s baguettes to be made in Sri Lanka?
Tharshan Selvarajah, 37, the acclaimed Sri Lankan baguette maker whose baguettes were recently pronounced the best in France is thinking about franchising his business to Dubai and Sri Lanka where he sees “big possibilities,” the New York Times recently reported.
The Times Paris bureau chief Roger Cohen, a Pulitzer prize winning veteran of that paper, recently interviewed Selvarajah after he made news as the maker of the best French baguettes in a competition earlier this year. French President Emannuel Macron breakfasts on Selvarajah’s baguettes every morning as part of the prize is delivering his product to the Elysee Palace for a year. That plus a modest USD 4,250.
These 25-inch loaves of about 10 ounces each, crusty on the outside and soft and slightly salty inside, within with myriads of air pockets are virtually a French staple that Selvarajah knew nothing of when he migrated in 2006 to Paris where a brother and a cousin lived because he could not find suitable work here.
He began work at a restaurant in Paris making salads and desserts. A regular patron of this restaurant, owner of several boulangeries (as bakeries are known in France) saw him offered a job making bread.
“I knew nothing about baguettes,” he told the NYT. But by 2012 he had become the chief baker at his workplace and in 2018 participated for the first time in the ‘Best Baguette’ competition finishing third. In 2021 he bought one of the stores belonging to his patron who introduced him to the trade and set up on his own.
Today long lines of customers form outside his boulangerie on the fringes of eastern Paris. And the President of France is breakfasting on the baguettes of a Sri Lankan baker!
“God gave us different hands,” he has told the NYT in the interview which had wide traction among Lankans scattered all over the U.S. ” My mother’s chicken curry and my wife’s may use the same chicken but they do not taste the same. God gave me the hands to make the best baguette in France. I’m never angry with the dough as I knead the flour.”
Immigrants do many jobs that the French shun. Selvarajah has said he encountered occasional racialism and prejudice. He remains a Sri Lankan citizen with a 10-year residence permit in France while his wife (of Lankan descent) he married in France is a French citizen and his two children are French.
“Would he follow suit?”, the NYT had asked. “Maybe one day,” he had said, “right now I don’t have the time.”
Selvarajah does two or three pilgrimages a year to Chennai where he meets Sri Amman Bhagavan whose religious movement called Oneness inspires him. “Everyone is so tense today and thinking about money in a selfish way. He helps me to be happy inside my heart,” he’s been quoted saying.
Selvarajah has not met Macron and had no opportunity to meet and be photographed with the president although previous winners did. He had also not been invited to a party organized by the French confederation of bakers. He believes that this is because he’s the first winner of the contest who’s not French or from a French overseas territory.
“It’s not pleasant,” he had said. “Bit I don’t give a damn.”
Has he been paid for the baguettes delivered to the Elysee so far? “Not yet. Maybe at the end of the month.”
Naina Thambi Marikkar Mohamed Thahir was sworn in as a Samagi Jana Balawegaya (SJB) National List Member of Parliament before Speaker Dr. Jagath Wickramaratne yesterday (05).
His appointment follows the resignation of SJB Parliamentarian Muhammathu Ismail Muththu Mohamed, who stepped down from his position on 28 November.
The SJB subsequently nominated Thahir to fill the resulting vacancy.
Accordingly, the Election Commission issued a Gazette Extraordinary declaring Naina Thambi Marikkar Mohamed Thahir a Member of Parliament, in terms of Section 64(5) of the Parliamentary Elections Act, No. 1 of 1981, as amended by Section 6 of the Elections (Special Provisions) Act, No. 35 of 1988.
With the issuance of the gazette, and the subsequent swearing-in, Thahir has officially assumed duties as a National List MP, representing the SJB.
A joint programme by the Ministry of Finance and commercial banks to provide loan facilities for new entrepreneurs will be launched in January next year, Minister of Industry and Entrepreneurship Development, Sunil Handunneththi, told Parliament’s Ministerial Consultative Committee on 25 November.
Handunneththi said Rs 80 billion allocated in Budget 2026 for entrepreneurship loans will be channelled through the new scheme to ensure funds are distributed efficiently. A separate programme is scheduled for January to brief MPs on eligible sectors and the overall loan distribution process.
The Minister also announced the launch of a National Database for Industrialists, designed to consolidate information on all industrialists, under one system. Ministry officials told the Committee that promotional campaigns would be rolled out to encourage entrepreneurs to register, enabling easier access to government services.
Committee members also discussed the possibility of extending collateral-free loans to craftsmen registered with the National Crafts Council.
Officials from the National Paper Company Limited reported significant improvements in operations, saying monthly production at the mill had increased from 150–180 metric tons to 400 metric tons after rectifying earlier deficiencies.
Handunneththi further briefed the Committee on a new National Advisory Framework for issuing excavation permits, aimed at replacing the current ad hoc system with a more structured process. The framework is also expected to come into effect in January.
The meeting was attended by Deputy Chairperson of Committees Hemali Weerasekara, Ministers, Deputy Ministers, MPs, and officials from the Ministry of Industry and Entrepreneurship Development.
Sri Lanka Customs is working to clear a four-day cargo backlog after last week’s severe weather disrupted operations, with clearance expected to return to normal, only by the end of December, Customs Director General Seevali Arukgoda said.
“Clearance was affected from Thursday to Sunday because staff turnout was low, and there was some flooding around the port,” Arukgoda told the media. He said several vessels had to be moved out of the port due to strong winds.
“We’re now working through the four-day backlog. It will take some time to return to usual clearance, probably toward the end of December,” he said.
Despite the delays, Customs has already met its annual revenue target of Rs 2,115 billion for the year.
Marrikkar Mohamed Thahir takes oath as SJB National List MP
Govt. to roll out loan facilities for new entrepreneurs from next month
Customs working to clear four-day cargo backlog caused by Ditwah
Maldives donates 14 container loads of canned tuna
Lanka signs USD 100M loan and USD 3M grant agreements with ADB
Cyclone-hit budget
‘Dates have the highest sugar content to fight Coronavirus’
Sunday Island 27 December – Headlines
#SundayIsland 17th December – Headlines
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