Features
Eighty years in Sri Lanka:The Life and Times of Fr. Vito Perniola SJ
By Avishka Mario Senewiratne
Royal Asiatic Society of Sri Lanka
May 13, 2024
I always wonder how he did it? A simple, slender Italian priest who used the bus to get about. He was one who never compromised on discipline. A stickler for proper diction who spoke a manifold of Western and Oriental languages. A first-rate scholar who realized there was a single door one could walk in and outof between history and social linguistics. He embraced the Lankan heritage by becoming a distinguished citizen of the country just after independence.
Generations not born here will laud and praise the memory of Father Vito Perniola of the Society of Jesus for his exemplary efforts in publishing 19 definitive volumes on the Catholic Church of Sri Lanka. Abstemious by nature, and frugal in food, drink, clothes, and lifestyle, Fr. Vito Perniola was a shining example of plain living and high thinking.
Vito Perniola was born in Bari, South Italy on April 10, 1913, the fifth in a family of 11. His parents were Michele Perniola and Lucia di Gregorio, a well-to-do family. Deeply religious and conservative, they live a spiritual life, guided by their Parish Church. Though Vito’s father wanted him to pursue higher education as layperson, one event changed his life plans. While 11-year-old Vito was praying at the altar of St. Francis Xavier in his Parish Church, he received a strong calling to the priesthood. He discerned at that age that this was his true vocation; to be a Jesuit. With that conviction, he told his parents of his wish. Though upset, they consented.
Vito’s elder brother and two of his sisters would join different religious congregations. In 1925, at the age of 13 years, Vito joined the Society of Jesus. He was determined to be of the same order as St. Francis Xavier. In 1928, he joined the Jesuit Novitiate in Naples. From those early days, he displayed his great talents for studies. It was in Naples that he became aware of the Sacred Heart College, Shembaganur in South India from a catalogue of Jesuits institutions and seminaries. Realizing that this was the country where his saint hero, Xavier had been a missionary, Perniola was determined to receive his formation in India and later be a missionary in Ceylon, a country of which he had heard fascinating stories.
In his writings Perniola states that his time at Shembaganur were the best days of his life. Coming from a conservative Italian background, he encountered an all embracing setting in this part of the world. The weather here was sublime. It was here that he learned English for the first time. After four years of formation and philosophical studies in Shembaganur, Perniola departed for Ceylon, which was British Colony at the time. He had heard of the great work the Belgian and Italian Jesuits had done in the Jesuit Province of Galle since 1893.
In June 1936, Vito Perniola sat the Matriculation Examination. His subjects were English, Mathematics, Latin, Greek and Italian. Till he received his results he learned Sinhala. Perniola spoke fluent, grammatically correct Sinhala with a South Italian accent. He spent his time between serving in Parishes and teaching at St. Aloysius’ College, Galle.
When he was at the stage of deciding what field of studies to pursue, he made a choice that surprised many. He said to his superiors: “… Jesuits had already been in Sri Lanka for 50 years and yet nobody has studied Buddhism. Could I study Buddhism or Pali?” The Superiors supported Perniola’s intention. However, there was nobody within the Jesuit community who could teach him and provide him sources of references. This did not bother Perniola the least as he studied on his own, travelling across the country to study in the best libraries. Within a short time, he learnt both Pali and Sanskrit. He knew these languages better than most locals. It was decided that he be enrolled in Bachelor’s program at the University of London where he studied alone as there was no one to guide him.
In his early writing Perniola says: “The relationship between Pali and Sanskrit is very much like that of Italian and Latin. No Pali grammar can be written without reference to Sanskrit. For Sanskrit I had an excellent grammar; for Pali I had nothing worth the name.” Through perseverance and methodical study, he passed his exams and received his B.A. (Hons) in 1940. The best Pali scholars at the time were mostly German. Their texts elucidating Pali and Sanskrit were noteworthy efforts. To understand Pali better, Perniola studied German, a language difficult to master.
He entered the Papal Seminary, Kandy for his Theological Studies. It was during this time that World War II broke out and Italians in Ceylon were under scrutiny and some were sent for interment. However, the Bishop of Kandy, Msgr. Dom Bernard Regno OSB (an Italian himself), intervened and convinced his close friend, Governor Sir Andrew Caldecott, to spare the seminarians in Kandy. Accordingly, Perniola remained free despite the tensions of the War.
On June 21, 1943, Fr. Perniola was ordained a Priest by Bishop Nicholas Laudadio SJ at the Cathedral of Galle. After serving a few years in parishes such as Hiniduma, Fr. Perniola was appointed to the tutorial staff of St. Aloysius’ College, Galle in 1947. To his great disappointment, he did not have provisions to teach Pali, which was his speciality as there were no Pali classes in St. Aloysius.’ However, as there was a vacancy for teaching history, Fr. Perniola was assigned to teach that subject. It was during this time that he came to know Fr. S G. Perera, the revered historian, who was by then half-paralyzed and a resident of St. Aloysius’ College. Fr. Perera and Fr. Perniola developed a great friendship. Soon, with much support from Fr. Perera, Fr. Perniola had a sound knowledge and understanding of the history of Ceylon. It is ironic that an Italian taught Ceylon history to young Ceylonese boys!
Fr. Perniola taught history to the boys of St. Aloysius’ using the textbook prepared by Fr. Perera in 1932, History of Ceylon for Schools. This book which covered colonial Ceylon, was authoritative and scholarly textbook that remained the standard textbook of all Ceylon schools until the early 1960s. A few years after Fr. Perera’s death in 1956, Fr. Perniolal at the request of the Associated Newspapers of Ceylon Ltd., revised and enlarged Fr. Perera’s textbook. This was a useful contribution that the students and scholars of the time appreciated.
During the early 1930s, Fr. S. G. Perera had begun a project to document the history of the Catholic Church during the Dutch period. He had published a few of these documents, but the project was far from complete. Fr. Perniola took up the challenge to finish this work. In the process of understanding the documents of the Portuguese period, he learnt Portuguese. However, with other work in his ministry, he had to postpone this project. In 1949, Fr. Perniola received distinguished citizenship of the country, approved by D.S. Senanayake, the Prime Minister, and Minister of Defence and External Affairs.
Fr. Perniola was appointed Rector of St. Aloysius’ College for three years. During this period St. Aloysius College, dubbed by some as the ‘University of Galle,’ had some renowned educationists such as Frs. Julius Pogany, Chiriatti, Claude Daly, P. N. Peiris and many others. The school magazine contained scholarly articles by the staff and students. When this magazine, The Aloysian reached the Peradeniya or Colombo campuses of the University of Ceylon, readers were left amazed by the quality of the articles. A few years after his term ended, Fr. Perniola accepted Fr. Peter Pillai OMI’s invitation to join the newly established Aquinas College, Colombo as a lecturer in Pali, teaching the language to Arts students. At that time, Aquinas was affiliated to the University of London.
He enjoyed this new venture but realized that there was no Pali grammar textbook for students. Learning a new and complex language from scratch to degree level, warranted a well composed grammar book. For this purpose, Fr. Perniola himself compiled a textbook called Pali Grammar in 1958. This was one of the best textbooks ever on the language. Many Buddhist monks and others have studied Pali grammar referring to this book without even knowing that the author was an Italian Catholic priest. In 1997, the Pali Text Society of the University of Oxford republished this book as the official Pali Grammar.
Perniola was consulted by many scholars then and now. Dr. C. E. Godakumbura, Prof. Sucharita Gamlath and Dr. Ananda W. P. Guruge have warmly praised his linguistic efforts. Prof. Gamplath, in an article to Silumina on September 29, 2002, stated that “Existing Sinhala Grammars should be revised on the basis of Perniola’s insight”. Dr. Guruge in his autobiography titled Ma Vani Bilinda acknowledges his debt to Perniola’s guidance.
Fr. Perniola was a man with a tremendous sense of discipline in nearly everything he did. He always stuck to the rules and clauses of the language. Though his writings and works were grammatically perfect, at times he lacked style and elegance of writing. Fr. Aloysius Pieris SJ in his tribute to Fr. Perniola states: “It is also true that intense focus on the rules of the game sometimes prevented him from playing the game in style.
“ In 2013, Prof. Ven. Gnanaratana Thera, gave a professional assessment on Perniola, the grammarian (cf. Krinsansa, December 2013, pp. 144-153). The Ven. Thera states that Perniola followed a ‘middle path between overly philological and excessively traditional approaches to Pali grammar. He mastered the scriptural Pali as to have adduced rare, hitherto unmentioned examples of Pali usages to illustrate various grammatical rules.’
Furthermore, the Ven. Thera made a comparison between the German scholar Wilheim Geiger and Fr. Perniola saying the latter was more methodical and incredibly familiar with the language and idiom of Pali. Fr. Perniola’s dissertation on ‘Samasa’ (multi-barreled word compounds) resulted him being awarded a doctorate on linguistics from the University of Poona in 1966.
At Aquinas, Fr. Perniola taught Theology for many years. He was made acting rector when Fr. Tissa Balasuriya OMI was overseas. This was the time that the 1971 JVP insurrection took place. Fr. Perniola also served as the Vice Rector to Fr. W. L. A. Don Peter at Aquinas. During his stay in Colombo, Fr. Perniola became a popular figure among the laity. He was counselor and spiritual guide to many religious and laypeople. Despite his busy schedule, he always made himself available to anyone who sought his guidance. He compiled three useful books on meditation, namely, ‘Touching the Divine’, ‘Abiding in Love’ and ‘Praying with Scriptures’. These books went into several editions and over 10,000 copies have been sold. This has been an essential guide for many seminarians, priests as well as laypeople.
In 1972, Fr. Vito Perniola was appointed as the Provincial of the Jesuits in Sri Lanka. After his term ended, there was much pressure on why no one was continuing what Fr. S. G. Perera had begun on the Catholic Church history during the Dutch period. The recently retired Bishop of Chilaw, Bishop Edmund Peiris, appealed to Fr. Perniola to commence this work. This is how Fr. Perniola embarked on the project for which he is mostly remembered. With the support and blessing of Fr. Thomas Kuriacose SJ, the Provincial, Fr. Perniola started to gather documents for this monumental work.
In the late 1970s, he was awarded a scholarship by the House of Writers of the Society of Jesus in Rome and a research grant from Missio in Germany. This enabled him to travel to Rome, Portugal, and the Netherlands in the quest of tracking and procuring documents pertaining to the Dutch Period in Ceylon, collecting several documents on the Portuguese and British periods as well. He immediately realized that he would have to compile similar volumes for those periods too.
The translations of the Dutch period documents were not easy. With the help of the former Government Assistant Archivist, S. A. W. Mattau and number of other scholars Fr. Perniola translated Dutch and other documents of the period. Documenting the correspondence and reports of the early Oratorian missionaries such as Fr. Joseph Vaz and Fr. Jacome Goncalvez were noteworthy contributions. These documents reveal the cordial relationship between the Kandyan kings and Oratorian missionaries as well as the moderate attitude taken by the Dutch for the benefit of the Catholics during and after Dutch-Kandyan wars. Fr. Perniola quite objectively shares the documents of the time the missionaries fell out with the Nayakkar kings over mistakes on their part. Accordingly, between 1983 and 1985, Fr. Perniola compiled three large tomes on the Dutch Period.
These volumes impressed not only Catholics but also non-Catholics as well. It contained documents that no one ever imagined would see the light of day. These included correspondence of Kandyan Kings, Dutch Governors, Viceroys, Papal Secretaries, missionaries, and others. Fr. Perniola translated them in such a way that the discerning reader would easily understand them. If there were inconsistencies or inaccuracies in the letters, he would state them in the footnotes and give a far more comprehensive detail of what mattered. His works were well supplemented by a carefully compiled glossary, bibliography, and index. Clearly, a researcher who bases his work on these documents compiled by Perniola, can easily profit from them. Fr. Perniola’s introductions to each book sums up his ability to elucidate a sophisticated and well research twist of history. He gave a balanced, objective analysis of the period, people, and events he dealt with, often being critical of the mistakes made by religious missionaries.
Between 1989 and 1991, Fr. Perniola published three volumes on the Portuguese period. They ranged from the years: Volume 1: 1505-1565, Volume II: 1566-1619, Volume III: 1619-1656
When the British arrived in Ceylon, the country was divided into the Kingdom of Kandy and the coastal region which was under colonial rule. The Catholic Church of Ceylon was a single province under Cochin. It was only in 1845 that the island was divided into two vicariates: the Colombo (South) and Jaffna (North) Vicariates. In 1883, Kandy was made a separate Vicariate. After the establishment of the hierarchy of the Catholic Church in Ceylon in 1887, Colombo became an Archdiocese and Jaffna and Kandy became Dioceses. Six years later, the Diocese of Galle and Trincomalee were established. This is the reason why Fr. Perniola compiled 13 volumes on the British Period alone. As those years were close to the present, the number of documents increased by leaps and bounds. Essentially, he had enough content to compile a book covering each year.
In the quest of translating old documents written in a manifold languages such Portuguese, Latin, Dutch, French and others, Fr. Perniola states:
“I try to make the translation readable. Those who wish to study the style of an author, ought to go to the original. Thus, in some way the Italian saying remains true: traduttore, traditore (a translator is a traitor!). But while I have made the translation readable, I have tried to be faithful to the meaning of the text.”
Each and every book by Fr. Perniola was well accepted. Hardly anyone has ever taken the hard road he had in documenting over 10,000 pages of the Catholic Church in Sri Lanka. It is indeed a gigantic contribution. The final years of his life were very challenging as some blocked Fr. Perniola from tracing important documents of the period as they felt challenged. Nevertheless, his final book was published in 2011, when he was 97 years old.
His efforts in documenting history and Pali grammar were barely recognized by the Catholic Church. No one he associated with realized the importance of what he had been diligently working on in the twilight of his life. However, on the verge of turning 100 years, the Royal Asiatic Society of Sri Lanka, of which Fr. Perniola was a member for nearly 70 years, awarded the prestigious Gold Medal of the Society which only a few scholars of yesteryear have been privileged to receive. This was a well-deserved recognition. Fr. Perniola continued writing short articles to the newspapers till he passed away in January 2016.
Fr. Perniola’s legacy will remain in the words and efforts of his very many books. There are many gaps yet to be covered and his 19 volumes on the Catholic Church would save years of research and money for the present and future scholar, for he had methodically included nearly everything relevant in these volumes. Essentially, if one owns these books, he or she has direct access to a well-set archive, supplemented by an index. Following are a few ideas and factors that can be derived after perusing Fr. Perniola’s books:
· The writing of an authoritative account of the history of the Catholic Church in Sri Lanka
· Supplementing local history of Sri Lanka
· The writing of biographies of individuals, accounts of congregations, institutions, events and dioceses
· The reconciliation of past errors and the celebration of triumphant moments in history
· Inter-religious, inter-racial dialogue
It could be quite premature to claim that the US has closed ranks completely with the world’s foremost fascist states: Russia, China and North Korea. But there is no denying that the US is breaking with tradition and perceiving commonality of policy orientation with the mentioned authoritarian states of the East rather than with Europe and its major democracies at present.
Increasingly, it is seemingly becoming evident that the common characterization of the US as the ‘world’s mightiest democracy’, could be a gross misnomer. Moreover, the simple fact that the US is refraining from naming Russia as the aggressor in the Russia-Ukraine conflict and its refusal to perceive Ukraine’s sovereignty as having been violated by Russia, proves that US foreign policy is undergoing a substantive overhaul, as it were. In fact, one could not be faulted, given this backdrop, for seeing the US under President Donald Trump as compromising its democratic credentials very substantially.
Yet, it could be far too early to state that in the traditional East-West polarity in world politics, that the US is now squarely and conclusively with the Eastern camp that comprises in the main, China and Russia. At present, the US is adopting an arguably more nuanced approach to foreign policy formulation and the most recent UN Security Council resolution on Ukraine bears this out to a degree. For instance, the UN resolution in question reportedly ‘calls for a rapid end to the war without naming Russia as the aggressor.’
That is, the onus is being placed on only Ukraine to facilitate an end to the war, whereas Russia too has an obligation to do likewise. But it is plain that the US is reflecting an eagerness in such pronouncements to see an end to the Ukraine conflict. It is clearly not for a prolongation of the wasting war. It could be argued that a negotiated settlement is being given a try, despite current international polarizations.
However, the US could act constructively in the crisis by urging Russia as well to ensure an end to the conflict, now that there is some seemingly friendly rapport between Trump and Putin.
However, more fundamentally, if the US does not see Ukraine’s sovereignty as having been violated by Russia as a result of the latter’s invasion, we are having a situation wherein the fundamental tenets of International Law are going unrecognized by the US. That is, international disorder and lawlessness are being winked at by the US.
It follows that, right now, the US is in cahoots with those powers that are acting autocratically and arbitrarily in international politics rather than with the most democratically vibrant states of the West, although a facile lumping together of the US, Russia and China, is yet not possible.
It is primarily up to the US voting public to take clear cognizance of these developments, draw the necessary inferences and to act on them. Right now, nothing substantive could be done by the US voter to put things right, so to speak, since mid-term US elections are due only next year. But there is ample time for the voting public to put the correct perspective on these fast-breaking developments, internationally and domestically, and to put their vote to good use in upcoming polls and such like democratic exercises. They would be acting in the interest of democracy worldwide by doing so.
More specifically it is up to Donald Trump’s Republican voter base to see the damage that is being done by the present administration to the US’ standing as the ‘world’s mightiest democracy’. They need to bring pressure on Trump and his ‘inner cabinet’ to change course and restore the reputation of their country as the foremost democracy. In the absence of such action it is the US citizenry that would face the consequences of Trump’s policy indiscretions.
Meanwhile, the political Opposition in the US too needs to get its act together, so to speak, and pressure the Trump administration into doing what is needed to get the US back to the relevant policy track. Needless to say, the Democratic Party would need to lead from the front in these efforts.
While, in the foreign policy field the US under President Trump could be said to be acting with a degree of ambivalence and ambiguity currently, in the area of domestic policy it is making it all to plain that it intends to traverse a fascistic course. As has been proved over the past two months, white supremacy is being made the cardinal principle of domestic governance.
Trump has made it clear, for example, that his administration would be close to ethnic chauvinists, such as the controversial Ku Klux Klan, and religious extremists. By unceremoniously rolling back the ‘diversity programs’ that have hitherto helped define the political culture of the US, the Trump administration is making no bones of the fact that ethnic reconciliation would not be among the government’s priorities. The steady undermining of USAID and its main programs worldwide is sufficient proof of this. Thus the basis has been adequately established for the flourishing of fascism and authoritarianism.
Yet, the US currently reflects a complex awareness of foreign policy questions despite having the international community wondering whether it is sealing a permanent alliance with the main powers of the East. For instance, President Trump is currently in conversation on matters in the external relations sphere that are proving vital with the West’s principal leaders. For example, he has spoken to President Emmanuel Macron of France and is due to meet Prime Minister Keir Starmer of the UK.
Obviously, the US is aware that it cannot ‘go it alone’ in resolving currently outstanding issues in external relations, such as the Ukraine question. There is a clear recognition that the latter and many more issues require a collaborative approach.
Besides, the Trump administration realizes that it cannot pose as a ‘first among equals’, given the complexities at ground level. It sees that given the collective strength of the rest of the West that a joint approach to problem solving cannot be avoided. This is particularly so in the case of Ukraine.
The most major powers of the West are no ‘pushovers’ and Germany, under a possibly Christian Democratic Union-led alliance in the future, has indicated as much. It has already implied that it would not be playing second fiddle to the US. Accordingly, the US is likely to steer clear of simplistic thinking in the formulation of foreign policy, going forward.
by Upali Gamakumara,
Upali.gamakumara@gmail.com
The Clean Sri Lanka (CSL) is a project for the true renaissance the NPP government launched, the success of which would gain world recognition. It is about more than just cleaning up places. Its broader objectives are to make places attractive and happy for people who visit or use services in the country, focusing more on the services in public institutions and organisations like the SLTB. Unfortunately, these broader objectives are not apparent in its theme, “Clean Sri Lanka,” and therefore there is a misconception that keeping the environment clean is the main focus.
People who realise the said broader objectives are excited about a cleaner Sri Lanka, hoping the President and the government will tackle this, the way they are planning to solve other big problems like the economy and poverty. However, they do not see themselves as part of the solution.
From the management perspective, the CSL has a strategic plan that is not declared in that manner. When looking at the government policies, one can perceive its presence, the vision being “A Prosperous Nation and a Beautiful Life,” the mission “Clean Sri Lanka” and the broader objectives “a disciplined society, effective services, and a cleaner environment.” If the government published these as the strategy, there would have been a better understanding.
Retaining the spirit and expectations and continuing the ‘Clean Sri Lanka’ project is equally important as much as understanding its deep idea. For this, it needs to motivate people, which differs from those motivators that people push to achieve selfish targets. The motivation we need here is to evolve something involuntarily, known as Drivers. Drivers push for the survival of the evolution or development of any entity. We see the absence of apparent Drivers in the CSL project as a weakness that leads to sporadic hiccups and free flow.
Drivers of Evolution
Drivers vary according to the nature of envisaged evolution for progress. However, we suggest that ‘the force that pushes anything to evolve’ would fit all evolutions. Some examples are: ‘Fitting to survival’ was the driver of the evolution of life. Magnetism is a driver for the unprecedented development of physics – young Einstein was driven to enquire about the ‘attraction’ of magnets, eventually making him the greatest scientist of the 20th century.
Leadership is a Driver. It is essential but do not push an evolution continually as they are not sprung within a system involuntarily. This is one of the reasons why CSL has lost the vigour it had at its inception.
CSL is a teamwork. It needs ‘Drives’ for cohesion and to push forward continually, like the Quality Improvement Project of the National Health Service (NHS) in England. Their drivers are outlined differently keeping Aims as their top driver and saying: Aims should be specific and measurable, not merely to “improve” or “reduce,” engage stakeholders to define the aim of the improvement project and a clear aim to identify outcome measures.
So, we think that CSL needs Aims as defined by NHS, built by stakeholder participation to help refine the project for continuous evolution. This approach is similar to Deming’s Cycle for continual improvement. Further, two more important drivers are needed for the CSL project. That is Attitudinal Change and Punishment. We shall discuss these in detail under Psychoactive Environment (pSE) below.
Aside from the above, Competition is another driver in the business world. This helps achieve CSL objectives in the private sector. We can see how this Driver pushes, with the spread of the Supermarket chains, the evolution of small and medium retail shops to supermarket level, and in the private banks and hospitals, achieving broader objectives of CSL; a cleaner environment, disciplined behaviuor, efficient service, and the instillation of ethics.
The readers can now understand the importance of Drivers pushing any project.
Three Types of Entities and Their Drives
We understand, that to do the transformation that CSL expects, we need to identify or adopt the drivers separately to suit the three types of entities we have in the country.
Type I entities are the independent entities that struggle for their existence and force them to adopt drivers involuntarily. They are private sector entities, and their drivers are the commitment of leadership and competition. These drivers spring up involuntarily within the entity.
Type II are the dependent entities. To spring up drivers of these entities commitment of an appointed trustee is a must. Mostly in state-owned entities, categorized as Boards, Authorities, Cooperations, and the like. Their drivers do not spring up within or involuntarily unless the leader initiates. The Government of a country also falls into this type and the emergence of drivers depends on the leader.
Type III entities have neither independent nor dependent immediate leader or trustee. They are mostly the so-called ‘Public’ places like public-toilets, public-playgrounds, and public-beaches. No team can be formed as these places are open to any, like no-man-land. Achieving CSL objectives at these entities depends on the discipline of the public or the users.
Clean Sri Lanka suffers the absence of drivers in the second and third types of entities, as the appointed persons are not trustees but temporary custodians.
The writer proposes a remedy to the last two types of entities based on the theory of pSE explained below.
Psychoactive Environment (pSE) –
The Power of Customer Attraction
Research by the writer introduced the Psychoactive Environment (pSE) concept to explain why some businesses attract more customers than others who provide the same service. Presented at the 5th Global Conference on Business and Economics at Cambridge University in 2006, the study revealed that a “vibe” influences customer attraction. This vibe, termed pSE, depends on Three Distinct Elements, which can either attract or repel customers. A positive pSE makes a business more attractive and welcoming. This concept can help develop Drivers for Type II and III entities.
pSE is not an all-inclusive solution for CSL, but it lays the foundation for building Drivers and motivating entities to keep entrants attractive and contented.
The structure of the pSE
The three distinct Elements are the Occupants, Systems, and Environment responsible for making a pSE attractive to any entity, be it a person, institution, organization, or county. Each of these elements bears three qualities named Captivators. These captivators are, in simple terms, Intelligent, Nice, and Active in their adjective forms.
pSE theorizes that if any element fails to captivate the entrant’s mood by not being Intelligent, Nice, or Active, the pSE becomes negative, repelling the entrant (customer). Conversely, the positive pSE attracts the entrants if the elements are Intelligent, Nice, and Active.
For example, think person who comes to a Government Office for some service. He sees that the employees, service, and environment are intelligent, nice, and active, and he will be delighted and contented. He will not get frustrated or have any deterioration in national productivity.
The Significance of pSE in CSL
The Elements and the Captivators are universal for any entity. Any entity can easily find its path to Evolution or Progress determined by these elements and captivators. The intangible broader objectives can be downsised to manageable targets by pSE. Achievements of these targets make the entrants happy and enhance productivity – the expectation of Clean Sri Lanka (CSL).
From the perspective of pSE, now we can redefine the Clean Sri Lanka project thus:
To make the Elements of every entity in Sri Lanka: intelligent, Nice, and Active.
How Would the pSE be A Remedy for The Sporadic Hiccups?
We have seen two possible reasons for sporadic setbacks and the discontinuity of some projects launched by the CSL. They are:
The absence of involuntary Drivers for evolvement or progress
Poor attitudes and behaviors of people and leaders
Remedy for the Absence of Drivers
Setting up a system to measure customer or beneficiary satisfaction, and setting aims can build Drivers. The East London NHS principles help build the Aims that drive type II & II entities. The system must be designed to ensure continual improvement following the Deming Cycle. This strategy will create Drivers for Type I & II entities.
This process is too long to explain here therefore we refrain from detailing.
Attitudinal Change
The most difficult task is the attitudinal and behavioural change. Yet it cannot be postponed.
Punishment as a strategy
In developed countries, we see that people are much more disciplined than in the developing countries. We in developing countries, give credit to their superior culture, mitigating ours as rudimental. The long experience and looking at this affair from a vantage point, one will understand it is not the absolute truth. Their ruthless wars in the past, rules, and severe punishment are the reasons behind this discipline. For example, anyone who fails to wear a car seatbelt properly will be fined 400 AUD, nearly 80,000 LKR!
The lesson we can learn is, that in Sri Lanka, we need strong laws and strict punishment together with a type of strategic education as follows.
Psychological Approach as a Strategy
The psychological theory of attitude formation can be used successfully if some good programmes can be designed.
All attitude formations start with life experience. Formed wrong or negative attitudes can be reversed or instilled with correct attitudes by exposure to designed life experiences. The programmes have been developed using the concepts of Hoshin Kanri, Brainstorming, Cause-and-Effect analysis, and Teamwork, in addition to London NTS Quality Improvement strategies.
The experience and good responses we received for our pSE programs conducted at several institutions prove and have built confidence in our approach. However, it was a time, when governments or organisations did not pay much attention to cultural change as CSL expects in the country.
Therefore, we believe this is a golden opportunity to take the CSL supported by the pSE concept.
Although they are visually impaired youngsters, under the guidance of renowned musician Melantha Perera, these talented individuals do shine bright … hence the name Bright Light.
Says Melantha: “My primary mission is to nurture their talent and ensure their sustainable growth in music, and I’m thrilled to announce that Bright Light’s first public performance is scheduled for 7th June, 2025. The venue will be the MJF Centre Auditorium in Katubadda, Moratuwa.”
Melantha went on to say that two years of teaching, online, visually impaired youngsters, from various parts of the island, wasn’t an easy ride.
There were many ups and downs but Melantha’s determination has paid off with the forming of Bright Light, and now they are gearing up to go on stage.
According to Melantha, they have come a long way in music.
“For the past few months, we have been meeting, physically, where I guide them to play as a band and now they show a very keen interest as they are getting to the depth of it. They were not exposed to English songs, but I’ve added a few English songs to widen their repertoire.
Melantha Perera: Invented a notation
system for the guitar
“On 7th June, we are opening up for the public to come and witness their talents, and I want to take this product island-wide, giving the message that we can do it, and I’m hoping to create a database so there will be a following. Initially, we would like your support by attending the show.”
Melantha says he didn’t know what he was getting into but he had confidence teaching anyone music since he has been in the scene for the past 45 years. He began teaching in 2015,
“When I opened my music school, Riversheen School of Music, the most challenging part of teaching was correcting tone deaf which is the theoretical term for those who can’t pitch a note, and also teaching students to keep timing while they sang and played.”
Melantha has even invented a notation system for the guitar which he has named ‘MelaNota’. He has received copyrights from the USA and ISO from Australia, but is yet to be recognised in Sri Lanka.
During Covid-19, Melantha showcased MelaNota online and then it was officially launched with the late Desmond De Silva playing one of his tunes, using MelaNota.
Melantha says that anyone, including the visually impaired, can play a simple melody on a guitar, within five minutes, using his notation system.
“I’ve completed the system and I’m now finalising the syllabus for the notation system.”
Melantha has written not only for the guitar, but also for drums, keyboards, and wind instruments.
For any queries, or additional information, you could contact Melantha at 071 454 4092 or via email at thebandbrightlight@gmail.com.
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