Features

To a Sri Lankan at heart

Published

3 years ago

2023/07/9

Thilina Walpola

Thilo W. Hoffmann biography

S. A. I. Elapatha

Forty years ago, a young man with a Master’s Degree in Agriculture in his pocket, set out for Sri Lanka to be employed in a well established and reputable foreign Company of the same nationality as his. Born in 1922, the son of a well known paediatrician of his day, he was never in want and need never have left his homeland, but the spirit of adventure that compelled some people to leave their country and go to another urged him on.

Little did he know then that he would carve out for himself a niche in the progress of this country – namely in the field of wildlife and nature conservation. Sri Lanka would also become his second home. Of all the Europeans I have met, he is one of the very very few who has a deep and abiding love for the country he worked in.

This young man in the course of time became a Director, then Managing Director, and is now Chairman of the Company he joined as a Junior Executive. Traveling around the country as an Agricultural Adviser for his Company, he used his free time to explore the jungles and remote areas. He soon developed a deep appreciation of nature. His charming wife willingly accompanied him on many of these trips and encouraged him throughout the long period of active involvement in nature conservation.

He soon started to take an active interest by joining the Wildlife Protection Society, as it was then called. He first came in to the Committee as Treasurer in 1961, then as Secretary in 1962, and finally as President from 1968 – 1980. If ever he took on a job it was with a total sense of dedication; besides he was blessed with a keen and perceptive mind. That was the secret of his success.

So, for a span of 25 years he has devoted his energies, apart from doing his own work, to the conservation of nature and wildlife in this country. He was elected an Honorary Life Member of the Society in recognition of his services. It was he who was responsible for widening the scope of the Society by enlarging it from Wildlife Protection only into the broader sphere of Conservation of Nature as well.

He was again responsible for changing the objects of the Society and thereby banned shooting as a sport in Sri Lanka. Throughout this period he has contributed numerous articles and papers on conservation and natural history mainly to the ‘Loris’ magazine, and acted as Editor for revised editions of Phillips’ ‘Checklist of the Birds of Sri Lanka’ and the important `Manual of the Mammals’, both published by the Society.

His monograph on the Sinharaja forest in 1972 came at a most opportune moment. Sinharaja, the only remaining tropical rain forest of some size in Sri Lanka, was to be exploited by the State. He was mainly responsible for spearheading opposition through the Society, of which he was the President. It was then that he came to my home and said: “Sam, let’s go and see the Sinharaja in its pristine glory before the people ravage and exploit it. I would like your children also to see it, because it is their heritage. Maybe one of them will remember it as it was and what has happened to it, and we may still make a conservationist out of him”.

He was already thinking of the future. During his tenure as Secretary of the Society and as President, membership increased by leaps and bounds and reached a total of 5,000 members. When he started as Secretary the membership of the Society was in the region of about 500. It had no office or headquarters; the half yearly or annual meetings of the Society were usually held in some Planters’ Club Upcountry. It had no funds – just a few back copies of the ‘Loris’ magazine. It was he who found the present building and negotiated to lease it out for the Society. I remember that he spent many weekends bringing the cement bricks by hand and setting up the extension of the small origins building and the wall that now surrounds thee Society headquarters.

It was he who encourages the members of the Committee and also others in the drive for membership of the Society. Today the Society is a powerful force in the country’s march towards conservation. If there was any one person who spearheaded the Society to be a live force in this direction, it was this man.

Even though he shunned jaunts abroad and International Conferences, he nevertheless attended some if he thought them useful in any]way to this country, such as the Asian Section of the International Council for Bird Preservation Conferences in Indonesia in 1976 and Thailand in 1980; four years later he brought the Conference to Sri Lanka. In these trips he never asked for or got money for travel or subsistence. It was entirely out of his own pocket.

Even in Sri Lanka, wherever he went in the promotion of conservation or protection of wildlife, he spent his own money. His company, in appreciation of his work, helped him by providing their secretarial services. I know that he devoted at least four hours a day towards the Society and the broader matters off conservation.

Besides he was responsible fix many permanent changes in the status of conservation areas, e.g. the incorporation of Intermediate Zones in National Parks, extensions of Parks, notably the Wilpattu West Sanctuary, and the creation of new conservation areas. Years, even decades, earlier he advocated many ideas now in current use (greatest possible contiguous extents of conservation areas for genetic diversity, capture for domestication of surplus elephants, management of parks, the creation of Buffer Zones, etc).

He was the first to propose Marine Sanctuaries and Coastal Reserves in Sri Lanka. He made a determined fight for more than a decade against the destruction of coral reefs (for lime burning). He pioneered the conservation of wetlands_ He was made a member of the Coast Conservation Advisory Council in recognition of his work. He was the first recipient of the Conservation Award instituted by the late Mr. Selwyn Samaraweera. In recent years he has also devoted much of his time and energy to the protection of birds both nationally and internationally; he is the Chairman/Secretary and Editor of the Ceylon Bird Club.

All these activities always entailed voluminous correspondence in Sri Lanka and abroad.Since the beginning of 1986 he also functions as Project Manager for the Mahaweli Enivronment Project, in an entirely honorary capacity. This project which is funded chiefly by USAID includes the establishment of four new national parks totaling nearly 600 sq. miles in the Lower Mahaweli region,

i.e. Maduru Oya, Wasgomuwa, Flood Plains and Somawathiya, as well as the two adjoining nature reserves of Minneriya-Giritale and Tirikonamadu. A new park at Randenigala is also planned.It was felt that an outsider with the necessary qualifications, especially a deep understanding of out wildlife and its conservation, could assist the Department of Wildlife Conservation more effectively in the implementation of this major project, which for various reasons had fallen well behind schedule.

In the field of tourism he served on the Policy Advisory Committee and also on the Tourist Development Plan for the Coastal Belt. He was President of the Association of Group Tour Agencies. He was particularly interested in and keenly aware of the need for a balanced development of tourism and the prevention of negative effects.

Most people know him as a member of the Wildlife Society, and as such he has at times been pilloried and attacked by some. He has come out of it unscathed and with perfect elan. He was always a forthright man and was never one to withdraw if he was in the right Arrogant, he was not, though some thought so; intolerant he was of those who pretended to know.

In recognition of his concepts and ideas on conservation, H. E. the President appointed him a member of the Task Force for the Preparation of a National Conservation Strategy. The Minister of State honoured him by naming a Park Bungalow in Wilpattu after him. He is also a member of the Committee for the Formulation of a National Policy on Wildlife Conservation. For over 20 years he has been a member of the Advisory Committee established under the Fauna and Flora Protection Ordinance, and is its longest serving member.

He is no salon wildlife enthusiast. He has walked the length and breadth of Wilpattu, Sinharaja, Horton Plains, Uda Walawe, the less known parts of Yala and many other remote areas of the country. He possesses a very keen sense of jungle craft. I think that there is scarcely any place of interest in Sri Lanka that he has not been to.

Wildlife is not his only interest. He is very knowledgeable in the flora of this country, especially the Dry Zone. It is indeed quite a treat to go with him in the Wilpattu National Park. When you do not see any animals or birds, he will keep you interested by describing the trees, their flowers, fruits and the seasons they come into bearing.

He was in frequent contact with the late T. B. Worthington, the undisputed authority on Sri Lanka trees. He served on the Committee of the Royal Asiatic Society (Sri Lanka Branch) for a number of years. He is interested in the social customs and manners and religion of this country. He has a keen and receptive mind to Eastern thought. This he has kept rather to himself.

Finally, if I have not enumerated all that he has done, it is because he has done so much; if I have not mentioned his weaknesses (a cross we all carry), it is because he has done so much to counteract his shortcomings. If I did not give the man his due in this jubilee year of the ‘Loris’ magazine which is the symbol of the Society to which he has given so much of his life, I and my fellow members would be sadly lacking in gratitude. I salute you and say ‘Thank you, Thilo Hoffmann’.

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Features

Crucial test for religious and ethnic harmony in Bangladesh

Published

19 hours ago

2026/02/12

Sahan Weerasooriya

A political protest that led to governmental change in Bangladesh mid last year. (photograph: imago)

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.

Features

Celebrating Valentine’s Day …

Published

19 hours ago

2026/02/12

Sahan Weerasooriya

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.

Features

Banana and Aloe Vera

Published

19 hours ago

2026/02/12

Sahan Weerasooriya

To create a powerful, natural, and hydrating beauty mask that soothes inflammation, fights acne, and boosts skin radiance, mix a mashed banana with fresh aloe vera gel.

This nutrient-rich blend acts as an antioxidant-packed anti-ageing treatment that also doubles as a nourishing, shiny hair mask.

* Face Masks for Glowing Skin:

Mix 01 ripe banana with 01 tablespoon of fresh aloe vera gel and apply this mixture to the face. Massage for a few minutes, leave for 15-20 minutes, and then rinse off for a glowing complexion.

* Acne and Soothing Mask:

Mix 01 tablespoon of fresh aloe vera gel with 1/2 a mashed banana and 01 teaspoon of honey. Apply this mixture to clean skin to calm inflammation, reduce redness, and hydrate dry, sensitive skin. Leave for 15-20 minutes, and rinse with warm water.

* Hair Treatment for Shine:

Mix 01 fresh ripe banana with 03 tablespoons of fresh aloe vera gel and 01 teaspoon of honey. Apply from scalp to ends, massage for 10-15 minutes and then let it dry for maximum absorption. Rinse thoroughly with cool water for soft, shiny, and frizz-free hair.