Dr. Neville Fernando: end of an eventful and memorable life

by Edward Gunewardena

With the passing of Dr. Neville Fernando, Sri Lanka has lost one of the best and brightest in our contemporary history.

Sirikkattuge Neville Arthur Fernando was born on March 9, 1931 in the coastal town of Panadura. After attending several schools for brief periods he completed his secondary education at Ananda College, before entering the Medical Faculty of the University Ceylon in 1952.

Barely two years after receiving the MBBS Degree with Honours, he set up practice in Panadura and within a short period became the leading medical practitioner there. His charm and charisma soon made him a popular and much loved figure in that town.

Whilst still a medical student in 1956, he married Swarnamalee de Silva. Her devoted and faithful supporting role was in no small measure responsible for not only Dr. Fernando’s phenomenal success as a medical professional but also in all his splendid entrepreneurial endeavours in later years. She has been a tower of strength and the guiding spirit behind the entire family.

Of their three sons, Naomal is a leading industrialist today as the executive head of all the enterprises his father launched. Doctors Devaka and Krishantha are medical professionals in Australia. His only daughter, Shamali, married Senior Cardiologist Dr. Mohan Jayatillake.

They are directors of all the business ventures their father established. The trust he placed in his children, devolving responsibilities on them at an early age, has indeed paid rich dividends.

A significant change in Dr. Fernando’s life took place in 1977. Having received nomination from the UNP, he contested the Panadura constituency and won handsomely defeating the incumbent Leslie Goonewardane, the LSSP stalwart, by over 11,000 votes. This victory launched his short, eventful and turbulent political life.

A man of principles and unquestionable rectitude, he was to soon clash head on with the leadership of his party. He was different from the slavish ‘yes’ men that President JRJ rode rough shod over, controlled and manipulated. Confrontations with the president had to come sooner or later.

His views clashed sharply with those of the president at the time of drafting the new constitution. To him, the Executive Presidency portended the emergence of autocratic rule. Foreseeing the rise of the LTTE as a dangerous threat to the nation, he was saddened by the government’s lukewarm attitude towards looming terrorism. Tolerance of glaring malpractices by business cronies funding the party was anathema to Dr. Fernando. Much to this chagrin of his leader, he even brought a motion of no confidence on Appapillai Amurthalingam the then leader of the opposition. His inevitable resignation from the UNP and Parliament came in 1981.

Invited by Mrs. Sirima Bandaranaike, he joined the SLFP and was appointed an Asst. Secretary of that pqarty. By supporting the Kobbekaduwa – Vijaya Kumaranatunga combination at the 1982 Presidential polls, he lost the confidence of Mrs. Bandaranaike. The attack on his Panadura residence in the late eighties in which eight died and several were injured, and the lack of the prospects of a strong leadership emerging, ended his foray in to politics. That indeed was a blessing in disguise. Every enterprise that he began since leaving politics will remain lasting monuments to a man of vision who was a true son of the soil.

The lesson to be learnt from Dr. Fernando’s political career in that politics is not for honourable people. It is a profession riddled with corruption. No honest person will be able to break into politics and completely wipe out the canker of corruption. His humility is amply reflected in the brief article he contributed to the 25th Anniversary souvenir of JF&I Printers. I quote:

“When I commenced a printing press in 1978 I had no idea of the difference between offset and letter press printing. It was a decision made at a time when my income was dwindling when I was elected to Parliament as the MP for Panadura. The allowance of an MP in 1977 was Rs.200.00 per sitting. There were eight sittings a month. Before I entered parliament I was the leading medical practitioner in Panadura with over 200 patients seeking treatment from the OPD per day. This income was lost because I gave up the practice to devote more time to my constituency. So by 1978 I was eating into my savings and had to find another source of income.

Although he tried his hand in the hospitality business while in medical practice, true success in business began to show only with the steady growth of JF&I Printers, particularly with his son Naomal’s total immersion in the printing and packaging Industry. Under Naomal’s professional approach and astute leadership from the front, JF&I Printers has progressed in leaps and bounds particularly during the past 25 years. The inspiration this institution continued to receive from Dr.Fernando is inestimable.

It was two decades after the founding of JF&I Printers that Dr. Fernando’s true entrepreneurial spirit began to blossom. A sincere medical professional, he had a yearning to improve the healthcare standards of the country and the desire to produce quality medical professionals through private tertiary education. This was to supplement the medical graduates coming out of state universities.

Apart from the fact that the state universities were unable to absorb all qualified students, there were large numbers who could afford to join universities abroad resulting in an enormous drain of foreign exchange. This motivated Dr.Fernando to launch with his own funds the tertiary education project of the South Asian Institute of Technology and Medicine (SAITM).

The equanimity with which he bore the obstacles, particularly from a section of the state medical community who feared that the private sector would be able to produce medical graduates superior to those from state universities, is legendary. But given his magnanimity and human qualities, he would have forgiven them long before his death.

Let me conclude by quoting the immortal lines of Thomas Macaulay, the 19th century English politician and historian:

“For how can man die better

Than facing fearful odds

For the ashes of his fathers

And the temples of his Gods”

Generals who lead thousands to slaughter and politicians who create chaos to achieve fame and are remembered. But men who oppose wrongs and injustice achieve more for society than politicians and generals. In this respect Dr. Neville Fernando will have an honoured place in history. His was a life of nobility, integrity, rectitude, erudition, simplicity and entrepreneurship.