CHAPTER 6

The 1920s in Sri Lanka was a period of excitement and change. Politically there was significant movement after many decades of stagnation… [S]ocially… there were breaches in traditional hierarchies and practices. Some… who in earlier times had little say in society for class and caste reasons, achieved high status positions… and middleclass women shocked the orthodox.

(de Alwis & Jayawardena, 2001, pp.1 & 5)

An Uncertain Future

After leaving St. Aloysius’, NU seemed to be uncertain about his future, and initially applied for a job as a teacher:

When I was 16, in 1924, I did not know what to do and I thought the best thing would be to teach. My father had come at this time to Tangalle, which is our ancestral home. I stayed with my parents after leaving school and I decided to apply for a teaching post at the same school [St. Mary’s] in which I had my education. (interview by Manel Abhayaratne)

NU’s application was accepted and he was hired. However, since NU was underage, he could not be registered and his salary was paid out of the principal’s own pocket. NU stayed with his uncle who was working in the Hambantota Kachcheri. NU still did not give up his desire to study:

I wanted to pursue my studies but I wanted to do it by studying by myself. There was a series of books advertised by a London tutorial college and I decided to get them down and study to further my qualifications. (ibid)

According to NU, his father was anxious that he join the public service and follow in the footsteps of his uncle (who was later appointed Kachcheri Mudaliyar of the Hambantota Kachcheri); and it

was due to his father’s persuasion that he applied for the post of clerk in the District Roads Committee (DRC). NU further explained the events leading to his entry into the clerical service:

Mr. Frank Leach, Assistant Government Agent, had set the qualifying papers. We all handed over the papers and went back. About a month later I learned that I had answered the papers very well and had got pass marks, but pressure had been brought on the Assistant Government Agent, to recommend someone else who was a relation of the then Mudaliyar. (ibid)

The final decision, however, rested with the Government Agent himself, Mr. Millington, who insisted that the man who had obtained the best results in the examination, NU, should be appointed

to the DRC at a salary of Rs. 27.50 a month. Incidentally, this salary was significantly less than the Rs. 40 he received when teaching at St. Mary’s.

This was perhaps the first occasion when NU came face to face with social realities and favouritism in the system, which could on occasion ignore merit and reward social position. Thus began NU’s

career, which was to take him first, up and down the Southern Province in various posts, and finally, to join the Ruhuna diaspora in Colombo. The District Roads Committee was set up in 1862 to oversee the construction and maintenance of minor roads. It was funded with one third of the money collected from the Road Tax. Committees were set up in each district, and each consisted of the Government Agent or Assistant Government Agent of the district and the District Engineer, along with three other elected members from the European, Burgher or other ‘native’ communities. Significantly, the DRC was the first local body to follow the elective principle (Saparamadu, in Woolf, 1962, p.1xiii-iv).

Back to School

As mentioned above, NU was not particularly interested in applying for the job at the DRC and did so only at his father’s insistence. He soon tired of this minor post, and against his father’s wishes took up a teaching position at his old school, St. Servatius’ College, Matara. NU lodged at the school catechist’s home in the Fort, Matara – as he had done earlier when a student there. He coached the catechist’s son and, to please his father, prepared both for the Clerical Service and Matriculation examinations.

NU soon moved on from St. Servatius’ when a job opportunity opened up at the leading Buddhist boys’ school in the Southern Province – Mahinda College, Galle. To reach the school, NU had to

again travel daily by train, and as in the past, he continued to use the train and the station waiting room as his ‘study.’ He had to take the early train to reach Galle from Matara, and for the return journey:

“He would reach Matara station in the dark, settle down in the Third-Class waiting room and study by the dim light from the oil lamp which hung down from a beam in the room” (de Zoysa manuscript, p.59).

NU also studied while ‘on the move,’ as an amusing anecdote related by Lucien de Zoysa shows: “he used to read while walking after school, creating a stir among those walking on the [Matara]

ramparts when they saw a young man oblivious of all and everything except the open book in his hand.” As de Zoysa notes: “reading… [and] studying… [were] more than second nature to him. It was all of him and he spent every moment he could, studying for both the Matriculation and Clerical Service examinations” (de Zoysa manuscript, pp.57-58).The principal of Mahinda at that time was P.R. Gunasekara, who had succeeded the earlier distinguished foreign principals.

The school, founded by the Buddhist Theosophical Society, was initially funded by Thomas de Silva Amarasuriya and his son Henry Woodward Amarasuriya, both important plantation-owners, businessmen and liquor merchants from the Southern Province. In Mahinda College two tendencies prevailed, namely, dedication to Buddhist causes and local history and culture, along with a modern education in English. Two foreign principals of the school had also set the tone for liberal political awareness. The first was the Theosophist F.L. Woodward, an Oxford-educated Pali scholar who had translated

sections of the Pali Canon, and who was closely associated with Colonel Olcott. He was the founding Principal of the College, serving from 1903 to 1919. The second, Gordon Pearce who served as Woodward’s Vice-Principal, was also a Theosophist and British Labour Party supporter, who became Principal in 1921.

In contrast to Christian schools, Buddhist schools such as Mahinda College encouraged a national awareness and exposed students to Indian nationalism. In 1922 visitors to the school included persons linked to the Indian independence movement, such as Rabindranath Tagore, Sarojini Naidu, Rev. C.H. Andrews (a British supporter of Gandhi), and Annie Besant, a leading Theosophist and advocate of Indian Home Rule. Significantly, the sessions of the Ceylon National Congress were held at Mahinda College in 1926; and at the 1927 prize-giving, Mahatma Gandhi was the chief guest:

“The Olcott Hall was filled to capacity. Never was there such a large gathering of Buddhists, Hindus and Christians to pay homage”

(Norah Roberts, 1993, pp.154 & 156).

NU may have been present at some of these historic events. In his student days, NU had moved from Hambantota to Matara and then to Galle. The process was reversed after he passed his Senior

Cambridge and began his career, when he first moved back to Hambantota, then to Matara and Galle. There was thus some mobility in NU’s life at this stage, with his progression from school to school and job to job, although limited to the Southern Province.

In the process, both at St. Aloysius’ and Mahinda College, NU was fortunate to have interacted with excellent teachers. They were men of dedication and generosity, some famous scholars, some politically committed to an anti-colonial agenda.

Early Days in Colombo

In 1926, NU also passed the London Matriculation (in the First Division) as a private student, passing in Mathematics, which he had failed at the Senior Cambridge. Another important event in

his life was his success at the General Clerical Services Examination in 1926, followed by his posting to the Public Works Department (PWD) in Colombo as a Class 2 clerk on a monthly salary of Rs.75. Getting into the Class 2 category was a significant advance from which NU never looked back. His father was so pleased he gave NU a 50-rupee note. According to family folklore, NU looked at it and pointed to the note’s signature of W.W. Woods, the Colonial Secretary, and asked,

“Why can’t I sign a note like this?” – thereby provoking much amusement in his family.

The PWD, formed in 1867, consisting of a director and provincial engineers, was responsible for construction and maintenance of government-constructed buildings, roads, ferries, and resthouses

(Woolf, 1962, p.lxxi). Until the early 1930s, the top administrators and executives, who ran the various government departments, were almost exclusively British; while the essential routine work in the office was handled by local clerks who were hierarchically just above peons (now called ‘minor employees’), performing the lowliest work in the offices. As noted earlier, to become a clerk in the government service was the main ambition of most young men whose parents were neither professionals, wealthy businessmen nor large landowners. NU, when he passed his clerical examination, had achieved the aspirations of many families from his background, namely to have a family member in the prestigious government service, which would elevate the family’s social standing.

NU had been to Colombo only twice before, to sit examinations, staying in one of Maradana’s cheap lodging-houses for young workingmen, known as ‘chummeries.’ On his move to Colombo as a clerk in the Public Works Department, he worked at its head office in the Fort, and lived in a ‘boarding house’ on Forbes Lane in Maradana, run by Dickman de Mel. The transport between Maradana and Fort was by tramway or train.

NU gave tuition to de Mel’s nephews in exchange for lodging – a similar arrangement to what he had done when he stayed with the St. Servatius’ catechist. Released from paying for his lodgings in Colombo, NU was able to bring his youngest brother Peter to Colombo. NU, who held thwarted ambitions to be a doctor, was keen to see his brother enter the medical profession. Peter stayed at the boarding house, with NU paying his fees and enrolling him in the leading Catholic school, St. Joseph’s College, just near Forbes Lane. Later, Peter Jayawardena, benefiting from the education he received, entered the Medical College, later becoming a well-known gynaecologist and obstetrician.

In Sri Lanka, supporting family members has long been a tradition. It is expected and even taken for granted that family members, including those from the extended family, would assist and support each other – especially to help brighter children pursue their studies.

NU’s strong family ties and his willingness to assist his relations were evident at all times. NU, who himself continued to benefit from such family support in later years, managed, with assistance from his future father-in-law, Norman Wickramasinghe, to get his brother David a job in the Government Stores. NU also helped arrange marriages for his younger sisters and was always present at family weddings, often being the attesting witness for his nieces and nephews on such occasions. This was all part of the close family network. NU’s success in entering the clerical service enabled him to move

from minor jobs in the Southern Province, to the capital city. ‘Go West, Young Man!’ was a popular US slogan for ambitious settlers moving westwards to California in the 19th century. In Sri Lanka, in the early 20th century, ‘Go West’ meant moving to the Western Province – and to the city of Colombo.

Public Works Department

Colombo in the Late 1920s

There had been a rapid population growth in Colombo, which in 1911 had more than 200,000 inhabitants, an increase of 30% since 1901. Urbanization was fast occurring, with a drift from the countryside to the towns. Though the transfer was not large enough to alter the demographic balance, and the country remained overwhelmingly rural, urban centres expanded considerably. In the economy, these were years of boom in the mid-1920s, then a severe economic depression in the early 1930s. One important development of this period was the expanded infrastructure of roads, railways and port facilities, along with banks, shops, offices and government departments, typical of a colonial economy. This meant employing increasing numbers of manual workers and government servants at all levels, many of them – like NU – originally from the outlying provinces.

The move from Galle to Colombo would have been somewhat daunting for NU, as he was now very far from home, no longer within the secure confines of his family and relatives. At the same time, he would have felt a measure of excitement and expectation at being in the political and commercial capital of the island, where the local elite and the colonial establishment lived and worked, patronizing its restaurants, clubs and hotels. The city of Galle for all its charm could not be compared to the economic and social activity, excitement and bright lights of Colombo. From 1926 to 1929, NU eked out a living in Colombo as a clerk, living frugally in a poor neighbourhood, but observing the activities and life of the city in the heyday of the island’s economic prosperity of the 1920s. This period of NU’s residence in Colombo, however, was also an era of political and social change alongside emerging movements of dissent.

Politics in the 1920s

Politically there had been very little change before the 1920s. The legislature up to 1911 continued to be composed of European ‘officials’ and a few others known as ‘unofficials’ appointed by the Governor to represent the different local ethnic communities and business interests. A nationalist ferment was lacking, as radical political dissent and activism had subsided after the Rebellion of 1848. In 1864, however, a few Members of the Legislative Council, notably Charles Lorenz (whose family was from Matara), had led a vote of ‘unofficials’ against the government and subsequently walked out of the legislature. This group started the Ceylon League, to campaign

First Letter of Appointment as a clerk in the Public Works Department

for political reform.

While there was no mass-based political agitation in the 19^th century, some moderate political reform of the constitution was demanded by the emerging local political leaders. In 1919 the Ceylon National Congress was formed, with Sir Ponnambalam Arunachalam as President, to press for more representation, wider franchise rights and an elected legislature. Under the Manning Reforms granted in 1920, a Legislative Council was established with elections on a limited (4%) male franchise. But although some further reforms were demanded, there was no agitation comparable to the militant nationalism that developed in India in the 1920s.

The nature of the local opposition to colonialism reflected a certain economic weakness. Local capitalism was based on accumulation in plantations, the liquor trade and graphite mining – areas where there were few confrontations with colonial interests. In contrast to India, there was no major clash with colonialism in the market place – the ‘school’ where, it is said, a bourgeoisie learns its nationalism. Although national feeling was not militant, communal tensions based on economic considerations arose. There was some criticism of the influence of Indian merchants, South Indian Chettiar moneylenders and other non-Sinhala traders, who by their extraterritorial

interests or economic domination, were seen as a threat to the Sinhala trader. Competition for the limited number of jobs in government service also led to some tension between Sinhalese and

Tamils in the public sector.

But dissent grew and there were some social upheavals. Members of many ‘lower’ castes entered politics and emerged as radical labour leaders, to the consternation of those belonging to ‘higher’ castes. Women also created a stir by agitating for the right to vote – led by the Women’s Franchise Union, formed in 1927. Universal suffrage – including votes for women – was obtained in 1931, and by 1932 there were two women in the legislature. The ‘new women’ of the period shocked traditional society.

They began to participate in politics, making demands for women’s franchise, and caused a sensation by driving cars, riding bicycles, wearing short skirts, bobbing their hair, socializing and dancing with men in public. They also entered University College, and moved into new avenues of employment, including the medical and legal professions (de Alwis & Jayawardena, 2001, p.5).

There was other excitement too. When NU came to Colombo in the mid-1920s, the Ceylon Labour Union led by A.E. Goonesinha was at the height of its popularity among Colombo’s workers.

A general strike in the government and private sectors had occurred in 1923, followed by militant strikes in the Colombo port (1927), tramways (1929), and numerous other places of work. The tramway strike was particularly aggressive, resulting in violence and the setting on fire of the Maradana police station, which led to a police shooting and five deaths. NU, whose lodgings were nearby, would have gazed on with amazement on the new phenomenon of working-class militancy.

This unprecedented agitation resulted in the formation of the Employers Federation (1929), leading to the first collective agreement with a labour union (1929) and the beginning of trade union legislation in Sri Lanka. During these years, NU was in government service and was therefore debarred from politics or trade-union activity. Thus, as he watched these events firsthand, even if he had any sympathies with the workers, he would have kept his views to himself.

NU’s Work Ethic

When NU started work as a clerical servant, he was determined to bring certain principles and practices into his work. No doubt the lessons on efficiency and excellence, which he had learned both in school and from his British bosses in the workplace, were crucial in his attitude to office routine. He was a conscientious worker, but more than that, he was anxious to formulate a system whereby the files he maintained would be kept orderly and comprehensive.

This characteristic of his to have everything in a tidy retrieval system was one that stood him in good stead in the furtherance of his career. It brought a certain discipline not only to the office, but also to his own work.

NU took pride in his work and did not want any superior officer to find fault with him, and did whatever was given to him with meticulous care. In fact, he often used to say that the guiding principle with regard to his work was that ‘he must do today what he could well do tomorrow.’ It was a principle that made him impatient with those who did not have his keen and cutting intelligence and his ability to remember things down to the last detail.

He never proffered excuses if he failed to do anything, and this again was a trait that affected his relationships with those who worked with him. NU worked hard and conscientiously, combining study with work. His great opportunity for social and financial advancement, however, came with his marriage in 1929.

(N.U. JAYAWARDENA The First Five Decades Chapter 5 can read online on https://island.lk/lure-of-govt-service/

(Excerpted from N.U. JAYAWARDENA The first five decades)
By Kumari Jayawardena and Jennifer Moragoda ✍️