Features

BURGHER LIGHTS OF SRI LANKA

Published

3 years ago

2023/01/22

by ECB Wijeyesinghe

Those who think that all good Burghers, when they die, go to Holland, are sadly mistaken. The best of them, in life and death, have not only hitched their wagons to the fluctuating fortunes of this little island, but rendered such signal service to the land of their birth that they have amply qualified to be described as patriots.

One of them, R. L. de Boer Brohier, passed away the other day (1980). There was not an inch of this country he had not covered with his theodolite. He knew every village tank and anicut, every ancient ruin, every mountain, hill and valley, like the palm of his hand. There are many others of the same ilk like Andreas Nell, R. L. Spittel, E. Reimers, C. W. Nicholas, J. H. O. Paulusz and Sam Mottau who embraced their motherland with both arms and were proud of the soupcon of Ceylonese blood in their veins.

One of the saddest things that has happened to this island during the past two or three decades has been the exodus of this great group of law-abiding and cultured citizens to other climes. Globe trotters say that now you cannot throw a stone in Melbourne or Sydney without hitting one of this tribe.

Early in life it was my good fortune to have been associated with four or five of the most piquant personalities of that generation and they all happened to be Burghers. The rules of the Dutch Burgher Union formed the subject of much satirical comment at the time, and the best piece on the subject was a long amusing parody of a song entitled “Quite English”. The author was the incomparable Edmund de Livera who wrote under the nom-de-plume, “Adstans”, in the old “Independent” every Saturday, and helped to keep that newspaper alive.

I am indebted to my irrepressible friend, Eric La Brooy – himself a good Dutch Burgher, but with an infinite capacity for laughing at the foibles of chauvinists and charlatans – for this juicy morsel from his collection of Edmund de Livera’s verses which he regards as his own Golden Treasury:

O the things that they do and the things they indite

Are Burgher you know – Dutch Burgher you know

By the laws of the Union you’re given the right

To be Burgher, Dutch Burgher, you know

If your forefathers lived in the good old Dutch days

They’re Burgher you know – Dutch Burgher you know.

They may have come from far-off Japan

From Russia or Turkey or Afghanistan,

It matters not what was their nation or clan

You’re Burgher, Dutch Burgher, you know.

Eric La Brooy, as you probably know, is married to Coralie, daughter of Editor Hilaire Jansz. Hilaire Donald Jansz was one my earliest Burgher associates at Lake House. We came over together from Baillie Street, virtually arm-in-arm, and Herbert Hulugalle will tell you that a more sweet-tempered and helpful colleague it was difficult to find.

Lionel Wendt, whose ghost still haunts Chitrafoto, described Jansz as “a quaint, gaunt saint”. He was more. He was a literary genius. Another Burgher friend of my Lake House days was Pieter Keuneman whose ancestors hailed from that Southern home of culture, Matara. It was almost impossible to believe that this elegant, debonair youth, with neatly brushed hair exuding the aroma of an expensive pomade, was a Communist.

His clothes were cut in the latest Bond Street style. Or was it Saville Row? He had just come from Cambridge where he had been elected President of the Union. It was a rare honour, the last recipient being Sir James Peiris. With bated breath they whispered in the corridors of Lake House that this son ‘of a highly respected Supreme Court Judge and a true-blue Burgher had become a Red.

Here was a remarkable phenomenon, an ardent disciple of Lenin eating out of the hands of Ceylon’s arch-capitalist. But D. R. Wijewardene was not so naive as he pretended to be. He knew his onions and liked them even though they were red. D. R. W. had a nose for news, but he could also scent a good newspaperman a mile away and when he sent Pieter in to bat, a Mona Lisa smile would come over his countenance.

Pieter’s contributions had an exotic flavour, because no other writer in the premises could boast of his academic background or his achievements as a speaker in one of the world’s most famous debating societies. Very often one had to read between Pieter’s lines to get at what he was saying, and his discourses even on the gloomiest topics had a crimson lining.

After a couple of years of arduous duty in what the Marxists regard as the Citadel of Sin, Pieter packed up his kit-bag and plunged into the maelstrom of politics to sink or swim. He survived and has since then been in the front rank of the radicals. As for his literary abilities, some think it is a pity that he has given to the Communist Party what was meant for mankind.

Journalism is lucky in that it has been able to attract some of the best Burgher brains. Apart form old stalwarts like Lorenz, C. J. Staples and O. E. Martinus, there was at a later date, a brilliant young Trinitian and a pupil of W. S. Senior who made the grade. His name was Orion de Zylva. It was not for nothing that his parents christened him after a constellation, because for many years he was the bright, particular star of the Daily News staff.

Orion was often called upon by his Boss, DRW, to write the first leader. He would then retire to a quiet corner and let his fluent pen flow over specially selected glazed paper, He wrote without a single scratch or alteration. He would rather re-write a whole page than delete a word and spoil the beauty of the page. In short, he was an aesthete.

His gift for silence was amazing and he could spend hours in a crowded room without uttering a word. A man of moods, he wore a monocle and a black Homburg and had only a few friends. Once, he retired for three months and lived at Horagolla Walauwa and it was the common talk in the office that he had a lot to do with Sir Solomon Dias Bandaranaike’s “Remembered Yesterdays”.

There were other outstanding Burgher journalists during my time at Lake House such as Duke Wright, Stanley Morrison, S. P. Foenander, Mervyn Morgan and Frank Prins, to say nothing of P. C. A. Nelson and P. L. A. Deutrom who reinforced the business side.

Across the road the rival Times of Ceylon had an equally strong team with Dutch connections. Donovan Andree was perhaps the most picturesque of them all. A man with a large heart he abandoned the Press to become a Turf Accountant and an impresario. He made a fortune but what he earned with one hand he gave away with the other.

One of Donovan’s kinsmen was A. W. Lorenz-Andree, also popularly known as Sonny. Though he was attached to the Customs he was a prolific writer on any subject and a raconteur par excellence, gifts which he appeared to have inherited from his distinguished ancestor, Charles Ambrose Lorenz. As a freelance writer he was in great demand by the Press when centenaries and anniversaries. came round. He died a few years ago after having reached the ripe old age of 80. His birthday which falls on March 1 was usually an occasion for the convivial gathering of his old cronies, mostly from the Press.

It is not possible within the space of a brief article to give even a summary of the monumental contributions that Burghers have made in the spheres of Law, Medicine, Literature and Art. In Banking however, they have hit the jackpot. In this sphere the chief representative of the community is Christopher Anthonisz, the General Manager of the Bank of Ceylon.

The pink roses on his cheek assume a deeper red when the female members of the banking fraternity refer to him as the “Adonis of York Street”. He hails from Galle where the ashes of his ancestors rest in the yard of the Old Dutch Church, along with those of his relatives, the de Voses and Kales.

For those who have time to chew the cud of days that are dead, may I suggest the names of a few Burgher celebrities of a bygone age that may provide the fodder this week-end: Richard Morgan, Frederick Dornhorst, James Van Langenberg (pere et fill), F. J. Soertsz, G. A. Wille, Arthur Alvis, Evelyn Jansz, Durand Altendorf, Garvin Mack, Frank Grenier, Alan Drieberg, H. H. Bartholomeusz, Bede Beekmeyer and L. E. Blaze.

The list goes on: W. G. Van Dort, N. E. Ernst, Leonard Arndt, F. L. Beven, Lucian de Zilwa, Lucian Jansz, C. Horan, V. S. de Kretser, Edward Kelaart, H. G. Thomasz, O. L. de Kretser, J. R. Weinman, H. L. Wendt, Trixie Loos, Samuel Grenier, J. G. Vandersmagt, Eric Jansz, C. L. Ferdinands. L. M. Maartensz, A. J. R. Scharenguivel, J. Ludovici, Waldo Sansoni, Noel Gratiaen, G. S. Schneider, Clement de Jong, V. R. Schokman, Joseph Grenier, Hector Van Cuylenberg, F. Lourensz, Justin LaBrooy, Percy Cooke, E. H. Joseph, V. O. Wright, A. L. de Witt, A. E. Buultjens, Wace de Neise, Frank Markus, Claude Orr, Sam de Vos, Cyril A. Jansz, Aubrey Martensz and E. W. Foenander.

(Excerpted from The Good at Their Best first published in 1980)

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Features

US’ drastic aid cut to UN poses moral challenge to world

Published

10 hours ago

2026/01/1

Thilina Walpola

An UN humanitarian mission in the Gaza. [File: Ashraf Amra/Anadolu Agency]

‘Adapt, shrink or die’ – thus runs the warning issued by the Trump administration to UN humanitarian agencies with brute insensitivity in the wake of its recent decision to drastically reduce to $2bn its humanitarian aid to the UN system. This is a substantial climb down from the $17bn the US usually provided to the UN for its humanitarian operations.

Considering that the US has hitherto been the UN’s biggest aid provider, it need hardly be said that the US decision would pose a daunting challenge to the UN’s humanitarian operations around the world. This would indeed mean that, among other things, people living in poverty and stifling material hardships, in particularly the Southern hemisphere, could dramatically increase. Coming on top of the US decision to bring to an end USAID operations, the poor of the world could be said to have been left to their devices as a consequence of these morally insensitive policy rethinks of the Trump administration.

Earlier, the UN had warned that it would be compelled to reduce its aid programs in the face of ‘the deepest funding cuts ever.’ In fact the UN is on record as requesting the world for $23bn for its 2026 aid operations.

If this UN appeal happens to go unheeded, the possibilities are that the UN would not be in a position to uphold the status it has hitherto held as the world’s foremost humanitarian aid provider. It would not be incorrect to state that a substantial part of the rationale for the UN’s existence could come in for questioning if its humanitarian identity is thus eroded.

Inherent in these developments is a challenge for those sections of the international community that wish to stand up and be counted as humanists and the ‘Conscience of the World.’ A responsibility is cast on them to not only keep the UN system going but to also ensure its increased efficiency as a humanitarian aid provider to particularly the poorest of the poor.

It is unfortunate that the US is increasingly opting for a position of international isolation. Such a policy position was adopted by it in the decades leading to World War Two and the consequences for the world as a result for this policy posture were most disquieting. For instance, it opened the door to the flourishing of dictatorial regimes in the West, such as that led by Adolph Hitler in Germany, which nearly paved the way for the subjugation of a good part of Europe by the Nazis.

If the US had not intervened militarily in the war on the side of the Allies, the West would have faced the distressing prospect of coming under the sway of the Nazis and as a result earned indefinite political and military repression. By entering World War Two the US helped to ward off these bleak outcomes and indeed helped the major democracies of Western Europe to hold their own and thrive against fascism and dictatorial rule.

Republican administrations in the US in particular have not proved the greatest defenders of democratic rule the world over, but by helping to keep the international power balance in favour of democracy and fundamental human rights they could keep under a tight leash fascism and linked anti-democratic forces even in contemporary times. Russia’s invasion and continued occupation of parts of Ukraine reminds us starkly that the democracy versus fascism battle is far from over.

Right now, the US needs to remain on the side of the rest of the West very firmly, lest fascism enjoys another unfettered lease of life through the absence of countervailing and substantial military and political power.

However, by reducing its financial support for the UN and backing away from sustaining its humanitarian programs the world over the US could be laying the ground work for an aggravation of poverty in the South in particular and its accompaniments, such as, political repression, runaway social discontent and anarchy.

What should not go unnoticed by the US is the fact that peace and social stability in the South and the flourishing of the same conditions in the global North are symbiotically linked, although not so apparent at first blush. For instance, if illegal migration from the South to the US is a major problem for the US today, it is because poor countries are not receiving development assistance from the UN system to the required degree. Such deprivation on the part of the South leads to aggravating social discontent in the latter and consequences such as illegal migratory movements from South to North.

Accordingly, it will be in the North’s best interests to ensure that the South is not deprived of sustained development assistance since the latter is an essential condition for social contentment and stable governance, which factors in turn would guard against the emergence of phenomena such as illegal migration.

Meanwhile, democratic sections of the rest of the world in particular need to consider it a matter of conscience to ensure the sustenance and flourishing of the UN system. To be sure, the UN system is considerably flawed but at present it could be called the most equitable and fair among international development organizations and the most far-flung one. Without it world poverty would have proved unmanageable along with the ills that come along with it.

Dehumanizing poverty is an indictment on humanity. It stands to reason that the world community should rally round the UN and ensure its survival lest the abomination which is poverty flourishes. In this undertaking the world needs to stand united. Ambiguities on this score could be self-defeating for the world community.

For example, all groupings of countries that could demonstrate economic muscle need to figure prominently in this initiative. One such grouping is BRICS. Inasmuch as the US and the West should shrug aside Realpolitik considerations in this enterprise, the same goes for organizations such as BRICS.

The arrival at the above international consensus would be greatly facilitated by stepped up dialogue among states on the continued importance of the UN system. Fresh efforts to speed-up UN reform would prove major catalysts in bringing about these positive changes as well. Also requiring to be shunned is the blind pursuit of narrow national interests.

Features

Egg white scene …

Published

10 hours ago

2026/01/1

Thilina Walpola

Hi! Great to be back after my Christmas break.

Thought of starting this week with egg white.

Yes, eggs are brimming with nutrients beneficial for your overall health and wellness, but did you know that eggs, especially the whites, are excellent for your complexion?

OK, if you have no idea about how to use egg whites for your face, read on.

Egg White, Lemon, Honey:

Separate the yolk from the egg white and add about a teaspoon of freshly squeezed lemon juice and about one and a half teaspoons of organic honey. Whisk all the ingredients together until they are mixed well.

Apply this mixture to your face and allow it to rest for about 15 minutes before cleansing your face with a gentle face wash.

Don’t forget to apply your favourite moisturiser, after using this face mask, to help seal in all the goodness.

Egg White, Avocado:

In a clean mixing bowl, start by mashing the avocado, until it turns into a soft, lump-free paste, and then add the whites of one egg, a teaspoon of yoghurt and mix everything together until it looks like a creamy paste.

Apply this mixture all over your face and neck area, and leave it on for about 20 to 30 minutes before washing it off with cold water and a gentle face wash.

Egg White, Cucumber, Yoghurt:

In a bowl, add one egg white, one teaspoon each of yoghurt, fresh cucumber juice and organic honey. Mix all the ingredients together until it forms a thick paste.

Apply this paste all over your face and neck area and leave it on for at least 20 minutes and then gently rinse off this face mask with lukewarm water and immediately follow it up with a gentle and nourishing moisturiser.

Egg White, Aloe Vera, Castor Oil:

To the egg white, add about a teaspoon each of aloe vera gel and castor oil and then mix all the ingredients together and apply it all over your face and neck area in a thin, even layer.

Leave it on for about 20 minutes and wash it off with a gentle face wash and some cold water. Follow it up with your favourite moisturiser.

Features

Confusion cropping up with Ne-Yo in the spotlight

Published

10 hours ago

2026/01/1

Thilina Walpola

Ne-Yo: His management should clarify the last-minute cancellation

Superlatives galore were used, especially on social media, to highlight R&B singer Ne-Yo’s trip to Sri Lanka: Global superstar Ne-Yo to perform live in Colombo this December; Ne-Yo concert puts Sri Lanka back on the global entertainment map; A global music sensation is coming to Sri Lanka … and there were lots more!

At an official press conference, held at a five-star venue, in Colombo, it was indicated that the gathering marked a defining moment for Sri Lanka’s entertainment industry as international R&B powerhouse and three-time Grammy Award winner Ne-Yo prepares to take the stage in Colombo this December.

What’s more, the occasion was graced by the presence of Sunil Kumara Gamage, Minister of Sports & Youth Affairs of Sri Lanka, and Professor Ruwan Ranasinghe, Deputy Minister of Tourism, alongside distinguished dignitaries, sponsors, and members of the media.

Shah Rukh Khan: Disappointed his fans in Sri Lanka

According to reports, the concert had received the official endorsement of the Sri Lanka Tourism Promotion Bureau, recognising it as a flagship initiative in developing the country’s concert economy by attracting fans, and media, from all over South Asia.

Nick Carter: His concert, too, was cancelled due to “Unforeseen circumstances

However, I had that strange feeling that this concert would not become a reality, keeping in mind what happened to Nick Carter’s Colombo concert – cancelled at the very last moment.

Carter issued a video message announcing he had to return to the USA due to “unforeseen circumstances” and a “family emergency”.

Though “unforeseen circumstances” was the official reason provided by Carter and the local organisers, there was speculation that low ticket sales may also have been a factor in the cancellation.

Well, “Unforeseen Circumstances” has cropped up again!

In a brief statement, via social media, the organisers of the Ne-Yo concert said the decision was taken due to “unforeseen circumstances and factors beyond their control.”

Ne-Yo, too, subsequently made an announcement, citing “Unforeseen circumstances.”

The public has a right to know what these “unforeseen circumstances” are, and who is to be blamed – the organisers or Ne-Yo!

Ne-Yo’s management certainly need to come out with the truth.

However, those who are aware of some of the happenings in the setup here put it down to poor ticket sales, mentioning that the tickets for the concert, and a meet-and-greet event, were exorbitantly high, considering that Ne-Yo is not a current mega star.

We also had a cancellation coming our way from Shah Rukh Khan, who was scheduled to visit Sri Lanka for the City of Dreams resort launch, and then this was received: “Unfortunately due to unforeseen personal reasons beyond his control, Mr. Khan is no longer able to attend.”

Referring to this kind of mess up, a leading showbiz personality said that it will only make people reluctant to buy their tickets, online.

“Tickets will go mostly at the gate and it will be very bad for the industry,” he added.