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The minister just missed seeing the Rolls Royce picking us up for a sugar traders’ lunch
More appointments and foreign visits
I have always believed that whatever you do, and whatever reputation you have gathered for yourself, an element of luck is necessary from time to time. This has been reflected in many ways, but one such outstanding example occurred when a delegation led by me was in London, on our way back home from Washington.
We were staying at a hotel where we found Mr. E. L.B. Hurulle, a Senior Minister also staying. We had met him in the lobby and spoken with him a few times. We happened to be in London, because we always made use of the opportunity of passing through London to Washington and back in order to have extensive discussions with our lawyers. When importing and shipping a large tonnage of food commodities, inevitably disputes arose. Some of these were settled amicably and by mutual agreement. But over some, we had to go in for arbitration in London, and some cases involved going to Court.
The Attorney-General in Sri Lanka could not handle all these matters himself. The volume was too great. We had therefore to have lawyers on the spot in London. Whilst in London, we usually spent about five to six working days sitting down with our lawyers and discussing each case coming up for trial or arbitration. Our departmental legal advisor brought with him 20-30 files, each of which constituted a dispute or a case.
Sometimes our Commercial Counselor in the High Commission joined our discussions, because he was our liaison with the lawyers on a regular basis. We kept him regularly posted with the facts of the various cases. Sometimes we had to see specialized counsel at consultations, in their chambers. When the discussions start we spent virtually a full working day with the lawyers, having a sandwich lunch at the conference table. Occasionally, when time permitted, we were taken out to a nearby pub for lunch.
Sometimes, the fact that we are in London gets around and then we get invited for lunch and sometimes dinner. Most luncheon invitations, we had to decline because of our work. There was one however, during this particular visit, that we couldn’t decline. This was a joint invitation from the major sugar trading firms, with which we had been doing business for a long time. This was to be a jointly hosted lunch by the Managing Directors of these companies.
On the one hand it would have been bad form for us to have declined. On the other, there was a distinct mutual advantage in meeting at this level, and exchanging views and discussing any problems. One also always learn at these discussions. We had been informed that they would send a car to pick us up at the hotel at 12 noon on the day of the lunch. This was to be a formal lounge suit affair. We were down in the lobby at about ten minutes to twelve to find Mr. Hurulle seated there. He was more casually dressed.
We exchanged pleasantries and were standing around chatting, when an old Ford Cortina drew up, somebody waved, Mr. Hurulle waved back, smiled at us and went with his host. The time was about three minutes to twelve. Sharp at noon, a splendid looking Rolls-Royce drew up and a tall liveried chauffeur strode to the front desk. We were lost, admiring the car, when I heard my name mentioned. I looked back and discovered that the Rolls-Royce was the car that had been sent to pick us up. On the way, the driver kept reporting as to where we were, over a radio communication system.
We all had the same thought. What would have been the impression created in Minister Hurulle’s mind, had he not left before we left and witnessed the splendour in which we were going to travel. We were certain that he would have gone back to Colombo and reported that we were living it up in London, and that Rolls-Royces were coming to pick us up. Most things when taken out of context would be damaging. But this would have been devastating. Explanations could come later. By that time lasting impressions could be generated and unfortunate suspicions aroused. Only a matter of three minutes saved us from the possibility of all these.
The lunch itself went off quite well. The heads of the sugar trading companies informed us that we enjoyed what they called Triple A status in the London sugar market. We did not know this. When we inquired what it meant they said that it meant that if we were to lift a phone in the Ministry in Colombo and say that we required a sugar cargo of 10,000 tons, they would ship it even without the opening of an L.C. They said that very few international customers enjoyed such a status. It was gratify ing to learn of this. I was tempted to tell them however, that their Rolls-Royce could have resulted in our relegation to triple F status in the Colombo market of innuendo and gossip.
Towards the end of 1981, the Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh visited Sri Lanka, and we fulfilled the customary duty of attending the garden party hosted by President and Mrs. Jayewardene. In a small society like Sri Lanka, such occasions can be a waste of time, since you happen to meet almost the same people most of the time. At the same time, they are important from the point of view of upholding settled international political social and diplomatic standards.
More appointments
In November 1981, 1 was appointed to the Board of Directors of the People’s Bank. This was in my capacity as Secretary, Cooperatives. As was well known, the People’s Bank had its genesis in the Co-operative movement, and continued to have a special relationship with the movement. I was also appointed to the Rural Credit Advisory Board of the Central Bank, a Board chaired by the Governor. These appointments meant more work and more time.
Visit to South Korea
In January 1982, I had to go to South Korea. This was in my capacity as a Director of the Ceylon Shipping Corporation. One day, Mr. Caspersz, the Chairman of the Corporation, told me in his own inimitable style, “Dharmasiri, we want you to go to South Korea, attend a lunch, reply to a toast, drink a glass of champagne and come back.” I asked “Since when has the government resorted to such extravagance?” The fact was. one of our container vessels, “Lanka Siri” built in a Korean shipyard was ready for delivery. My job was to go and formally accept it. The Minister of Food and the Minister of Shipping had agreed that I should go and the President had approved it.
I left for Seoul on January 31, accompanied by Mrs. Geetha Wijeyapala, Manager Legal and Insurance of the Shipping Corporation. The technical people had gone ahead and were already in Seoul. Sea trials of the ship were taking place. The expectation was that all the technical aspects would have been satisfactorily concluded, paving the way for the formal acceptance of the ship.
When I met the technical officers in Seoul however, I was not reassured by the manner they spoke. I did not detect a confident assertion from them after the conclusion of the sea trials that the ship was completely and fully sea-worthy and that I could proceed to accept it. They were hedging my questions.
Therefore, I went on probing, until it emerged that “A few matters” needed attention. At this point, I made it quite clear to all that I was not prepared to accept a ship which was not complete in all respects. We now had to go to Pusan where the ship had been built. In over a four hour Journey from Seoul by train, we saw something of the countryside. South Korea was a mountainous country with relatively limited arable land. The cold during this time of the year was intense, particularly to those who had come from a warm tropical climate. One had however to admire what the Koreans had achieved, in spite of war and an inhospitable terrain. This was obviously due to their energy, their industry and their focus. During this time..
There was still a curfew on after midnight for security reasons. After the trauma of the war, there was not unnaturally an obsession with security. Many important figures of government, from the President downwards, were figures with a military background. The people appeared to be obedient and disciplined. Their capacity for work seemed to be remarkable.
Both in Seoul and Pusan I had the experience of going down for breakfast at about 6.45 a.m. and being unable to find a seat in the quite large coffee shops in the hotels. At practically every table there were lounge suit clad businessmen with their brief cases opened, calculators, note pads and reams of documents spread out, avidly engrossed in business discussions. I had never seen such a sight of mass business discussions, at such an early hour anywhere else in the world. We were told that if we wished to have undelayed seating, 5.45 a.m. was a better time than 6.45 a.m!
Whilst in Pusan I had extensive discussions with our officers as well as representatives of the ship building firm and others. Things were that much more difficult for us because we did not at the time have an Embassy in South Korea. I had therefore to do a lot of drafting by hand, whilst the Legal and Insurance Manager kept hand written minutes of our various discussions.
By now the Korean parties were getting frantic, because the day had been fixed for the acceptance of the vessel and invitations had gone out to important people. My refusal to accept the vessel without further investigation was heading towards delay and loss of face for them. I sympathized but could not compromise. I had also discussed the whole matter in detail with our Legal and Insurance Manager who fully supported me.
I informed the technical people, that I would accept the ship as it was, only if they vouched in writing to me that they certify it was complete in all respects and that they recommend its formal acceptance. This they could not do. It was not easy to get through to Colombo, but I managed to speak to Mr. Caspersz on at least two occasions over an unclear line. He thought, we should accept the ship subject to an understanding to rectify defects. I disagreed. The stability of the vessel was in doubt, and this to me was fundamental, and once we accepted the vessel the problem was going to be with us.
I was not prepared to accept on this basis. Anybody else could do so. The whole thing had turned into a nightmare. We were isolated in Pusan, with no comfort or assistance from an Embassy. In the meantime, the Koreans were exerting heavy pressure on us to accept the ship on deadline. They appeared to be both upset and angry. I got our whole team together and made my position very clear. They had to agree that the main technical defects should be remedied and the contract amended.
I also telephoned Norway and spoke to our former consultants on shipping and fortified myself with their advice. I further contacted some UNDP. experts on shipping whom I had previously met. As a result of all this, it was decided to add the necessary ballast to stabilize the vessel fully. The Koreans commenced work on this immediately. But I wanted to see for myself. Therefore, one morning in the biting cold I boarded a launch with the technical officers and went on board the vessel to see the work in progress.
Some kind of large concrete blocks were being added to a part of the ship. By now it was clear that the ceremonial handing over could not take place on the scheduled date. The invitations would have to be cancelled. I was obviously not the most popular person with the Koreans, and the isolation, hard work and stress was perhaps making me a bit paranoid. Sometimes, the telephone by my bedside rang during the dead of night, when I was fast asleep. But when I lifted the receiver there was total silence.
I perhaps imagined that someone was trying to open my bedroom door. This was disturbing and I felt somewhat better after positioning against the door, a heavy armchair which was in my room.
In the end, there was no lunch and no champagne. The delivery of the vessel was postponed. I obtained a written guarantee on the ultimate stability of the vessel, from the ship builders. The letter of guarantee backed by a bank guarantee included the provision that any adjustments deemed necessary by the Classification Society would be made at their expense.
There also remained the question of some minor items of work. A separate agreement was signed that in respect of this work, both sides would jointly itemize and price this work, after which the Koreans would pay us that sum, so that we could get this work done in Colombo or elsewhere. Through all this, Geetha, the Legal and Insurance Manager was an unfailing source of competence and strength. It was fortunate that she came on this visit.
Thus ended for me the virtual saga of my first visit to South Korea. The reward lay in the satisfaction of overcoming numerous unforeseen obstacles, working hard, keeping one’s nerve and achieving a solution. There was an additional reward of Ministerial appreciation. My colleagues in the Ministry of Trade and Shipping told me, that on reading my report, Minister Lalith Athulathmudali .said, “Thank God, we sent Dharmasiri.”
A sudden visit to China and Pakistan
I had returned from the visit to South Korea and had barely settled down to work, when Lakshman de Mel rang me from the Trade Ministry, towards the middle of March 1982 and informed me that he and I with one or two others will have to go to China almost immediately, because the government had decided to purchase some extra rice for the buffer. This was completely unexpected, and our guess was that the government was thinking of some form of elections including perhaps a Presidential election, and wanted to ensure the availability of adequate food stocks. We already had the insurance of a buffer. This was going to be reinsurance.
Therefore, a delegation led by Lakshman, and consisting of Mr. Pulendiran, the Food Commissioner; Laurie Mariadasan, Director of Commerce; Mr. Dissanayake, Deputy Director Fiscal Policy, Ministry of Finance and myself left on March 21. The Chinese too, had to arrange this visit at very short notice. We were to have general discussions on food supplies and specifically negotiate for the purchase of 100,000 metric tons of rice.
Negotiations did not go as smoothly as before. The Chinese were really not prepared for this sudden visit. They did not have the quantity we needed in surplus with them. They therefore had to talk to Burma in order to procure stocks to meet the shortfall. The negotiation became tripartite. Beyond a point, the Chinese did not have control of the Burmese price. Rice shipped from Burma would cost us less due to the cheaper freight. We had to see that this advantage was not nullified in the overall result.
The negotiations did not go on, morning and afternoon. This was not the Chinese practice. There were sometimes half day breaks. On this particular occasion, these breaks sometimes even took longer because the Chinese had to consult the Burmese and await a reply from there. All in all, things dragged on. The Chinese, as was customary had arranged for our delegation to be flown out to the South-Western City of Kunming, known as the City of “Eternal Spring” close to the Burmese border, after the negotiations, for us to spend a few days there. The deadline for departure was now rapidly approaching, and we were still haggling over the price. We were to leave Beijing on March 27, but by the morning of the 26th, we had not yet reached agreement. Mr. Lakshman de Mel and I decided to stay on, and if necessary cancel the visit to Kunming.
(Excerpted from In Pursuit of Governance, autobiography of MDD Pieris) ✍️
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 ✍️
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.
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.
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