Features
Making sense of ones and zeroes

Dr. Madhusanka Liyanage: First Sri Lankan to win IEEE Outstanding Young Researcher Award
By Sajitha Prematunge
Oblivious to the laws of physics and before he could even grasp the meaning of the word velocity, he tried to calculate the speed of the bus he was travelling in, by taking into account how long it took the bus to travel between two lamp posts. He was just seven years old then. By grade three he was trying to calculate the light year longhand. It’s not rocket science, it was just a matter of multiplying how far light travelled in a second, by how many seconds there are in a year. But for an eight-year-old to even entertain such an idea, while his peers were still playing cops and robbers, is uncanny.
In any other country he would have been celebrated as a math prodigy. So it came as no surprise when, this year, Dr. Madhusanka Liyanage won the Outstanding Young Researcher Award presented by the Communications Society of Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, one of the biggest engineering societies in the world. The award is presented to the 2nd Best Young Researcher in the region, in Liyanage’s case it is Region 8, which included Europe, the Middle East and Africa.
Award
Research performance of candidates was a major criteria for the Outstanding Young Researcher Award. The number of academic papers published in journals and conference papers produced in the last three years, for example, were graded depending on the ‘impact factor’ of the publication or conference, with contributions to IEEE journals and conferences receiving extra credit. Citations of work in the past three years is also considered, as well as contribution to the society in the form of the number of conferences or workshops organised and journals edited. Positions held within the IEEE society is given special consideration and Liyanage was elevated to the position of senior member this year. “It’s not just my award, my team of students, mentors and anyone else who had helped me throughout my career all played a vital role in my success.”
Born in Udugama, Galle, in 1985 Liyanage is the youngest in a family of three.”Everyone else in the family have a knack for business.” Both his elder brother and sister took after their businessman father, Sunil Ranjith Liyanage. The youngest Liyanage took after his mother, Magalika Hegodaarchthi. When asked whether his mathematics teacher-mother was influential in his academic trajectory, Liyanage readily admitted that she was a positive influence. He was exposed to math at an early age. His mother still fondly reminisces how the six-year-old parked himself at the back row of her math tuition class trying to solve problems meant for 14-year-olds. “Perhaps the exposure motivated me,” said Liyanage. “Math was the only subject that made sense to me. In fact, I am not good at any other subject.” His uncle bought him the book, ‘How to become an engineer’ when he was still in grade three, the math problems in which he avidly devoured. “In fact, I can’t remember a time I wanted to be anything other than an engineer,” chuckled Liyanage.
Education
Liyanage received his primary education in Udugama Maha Vidyalaya. The grade five scholarship examination results qualified him to enrol in Richmond College, Galle and A/Ls got him through to the Moratuwa University, where he obtained his B.Sc. Degree, with First Class Honours, in electronics and telecommunication engineering, in 2009. “3G was just rolling out and it was an exciting time to be in the telecommunications field,” said Liyanage. He received a scholarship to Asian Institute of Technology, even before he completed his bachelors. He completed his Master in Engineering (M.Eng.) from the Asian Institute of Technology, Bangkok, Thailand, in 2011. After a year at AIT he moved to France on a dual degree programme, where he obtained a Master of Science (M.Sc.) from the University of Nice Sophia Antipolis, France.
In 2004, right after his A/Ls he represented Sri Lanka in the 45th International Mathematical Olympiad, held in Europe. Since that first taste of Europe, he had been drawn to it and knew then that one day he would make it his second home. In Finland, considered the base of telecommunication with big-name companies like Nokia and Huawei setting up shop there, Liyanage obtained a PhD in communication engineering from the University of Oulu, in 2016.
Then his path diverged. “I could opt for a job in the industry or stay in the academic track.” He decided to remain an academic. Between 2015 and 2018 he functioned as a visiting Research Fellow at various institutions such as Data61, CSIRO, Sydney, Australia, the data and digital specialist arm of Australia’s national science agency; Infolabs21, Lancaster University, UK; School of Computer Science and Engineering, University of New South Wales; School of IT, University of Sydney and computer science laboratory LIP6, Sorbonne University.
In 2018, he received the Docentship from the University of Oulu, Finland, within 18 months from the PhD, making Liyanage the only researcher to receive the Docentship so soon. He worked as an adjunct professor at the University of Oulu while engaged in his post doctoral studies. He joined the School of Computer Science, University College Dublin (UCD), Ireland, early this year as an assistant professor and Ad Astra Fellow with the prestigious Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions Individual Fellowship. The fellowship is one of highly reputed fellowships offered by the European Union.
Research
Liyanage’s main research interest is telecommunication network, 5G and 6G mobile networks in particular, focusing on network security concerns. “The major change we can expect with the transfer from 4G to 5G will be the number of devices that will be connected to the system.” He explained that although we only connect mobile devices such as mobile phones, tabs and laptops to the network, the advent of 5G will allow more devices, such as smart wearables, to be connected to the network. 6G will further expand the horizon to include the whole shebang, or Internet of things (IoT). In lay terms IoT is the network of physical objects, referred to here by ‘things’, that exchange data with other devices and systems over the Internet.
“These new devises don’t have the standard security measures that mobile devises and laptops have, making them more susceptible to cyber attacks.” Liyanage explained that there are only a handful of mobile device manufacturers in the world, consequently all mobile devices have in place stringent security control measures and are required to follow strict standards. “There is a large number of IoT device manufacturers, and are not bound to follow such strict security measures.” Liyanage explained that such devices are susceptible to cyber attacks and can, in fact, be used as entry points for attacks on the 5G network. “Besides some IoT devices are considerably smaller and, therefore, does not have a lot of processing power. Consequently, they cannot support high power security mechanisms.”
Liyanage further explained that even reputed manufacturers of IoT devices, opt out security tests, due to related costs and time constraints imposed by high competition. “A major drawback in 5G is that it is a software controllable network and software based systems are generally more vulnerable than hardware based systems.” He elaborated that 5G is an open architecture platform, which will enable software developers to understand, and possibly manipulate it.
What has the potential to make matters worse is that, after all IoT devices are interconnected, the next step will be to integrate all critical infrastructure such as the power grid, transportation network or water managements systems. “These can be monitored by IoT devices via 5G.” Liyanage pointed out a major security risk arguing that any terrorist or cyber criminal with a decent IoT device could hack into such systems and thereby wreak havoc with any of the aforementioned critical infrastructure.
He explained that 6G will enable the integration of Artificial Intelligence into the system. “It will be a mostly automated, self sustaining network, centrally controlled by an AI. “AI is essentially a good thing as long as it is used for the good,” said Liyanage. But it can also be manipulated to achieve malicious ends, according to him. “For example, if someone creates a malicious intelligent agent, it can identify loopholes in the system and self perform attacks on it.” The sci-fi like evil AI agent stuff may come off like an episode of ‘Person of Interest’, but Liyanage maintains it is entirely plausible. Consequently, he reiterated the requirement of straightening out the AI related security issues before considering launching the 6G system. “We have to consider everything from the data fed to the AI to what kind of effect it will have on the AI and how reliable the AI algorithm will be.”
All these maybe years away and will no doubt have repercussions of global relevance. But what are the more immediate threats at individual level when switching to 5G? “It will have a huge impact on society. So far we only connect mobiles, tabs and laptops to the system.” But with a full-fledged 5G system, expected sometime between 2025 to 2030, a lot more IoT devices will be interconnected via the system. “These devices can collect a lot of personal information. For example, from cameras on mobile phones to smart TVs, every new device comes with a built in camera. It won’t be long before many strap smart wearable that store health information.” Liyanage pointed out that this wealth of personal information, most of which is uploaded on to cloud services, can easily be stolen. “This is a major violation of privacy.” He emphasised that, at an age when everyone in society is connected to the system most of the time by at least one device such as the mobile phone a proper privacy protection mechanism should be put in place to counter such privacy violations.
When asked whether 5G or 6G posed renewed individual financial security threats, Liyanage pointed out that such information is already available on most devices connected to the 4G system. “But they are connected through personal Wi-Fi, which is safe as long as you maintain it password protected.”
Blockchain applications, another research area that appeals to Liyanage, may just provide the solution for a host of these security issues. For those uninitiated in telecommunication networking, Blockchain applications are cryptography used to secure transactions made using cryptocurrency. Blockchain technology became popular a decade ago and gained momentum because of Bitcoin cryptocurrency, the digital equivalent of money. It may be just a bunch of ones and zeroes but daily transactions using cryptocurrency can amount to billions.
“Bitcoin cryptocurrency is a beautiful innovation but what’s more interesting is the technology used to secure transactions made using cryptocurrency, blockchain, because of its applications in other areas such as telecommunication.” Liyanage pointed out that some of the pressing security issues of 5G and 6G can be solved using blockchain technology. “The biggest advantage of Bitcoin cryptocurrency is that it eliminates the third party. For example, if two people want to make a transaction, it has to be done through the bank. But with Bitcoin, transactions can be made direct.”
So, what are its implications for telecommunication? “The same concept can be used in telecommunication,” explained Liyanage. “There are certain instances where a third party is required. Roaming is a case in point.” Roaming allows the use of a mobile connection while outside the range of its home network by connecting to another available network in the country of travel. “To achieve this, the home country service provider should have an existing agreement with the visiting country operator.” When two parties who do not know each other want to enter into an agreement, in order to ensure that both parties keep their end of the bargain, a trusted neutral third party must intervene, and be paid for, for their pains. Blockchain can offer this trust and is far more preferable to a physical third party as is requires no commission. “Anywhere a third party is required, they can be replaced by a blockchain.”
There are many other such applications, according to Liyanage. “It can be used in service-level or SLA agreements. For example, if a user enters into an agreement with a telecommunications service provider, on his or her own terms, a third party must ensure that both parties keep to their agreement.”
Multitasker
Liyanage currently supervises nine PhD students and three Master students in four different universities. He is also a visiting Lecturer at Moratuwa University, Sri Jayewardenepura University and Yangon Technological University, Myanmar. In addition to conducting lectures for Undergraduate and master courses at the University College Dublin, supervising postgraduate students, mentoring postdoctoral researchers and functioning as the principle investigator for various national and internal research projects, Liyanage has found time to publish over 100 research articles and three books. When asked how he achieve all this at such a young age, with two masters and a PhD to boot, Liyanage attributes it to his time management skills.
“I may not always have my nose in a book, but I manage my time efficiently.” He takes after his parents, who happen to be early birds, waking up at 4 am. From four to eight or nine he dedicates to research work. “Having the satisfaction that I have done my job for the day, I can fool around all I want the remaining 10 hours or so. I think life needs this kind of balance.”
Unlike Sri Lankan students, who are forced to work in the government or corporate sector while reading for a master or PhD, Liyanage didn’t have to sacrifice valuable time on a job unrelated to his field of work. Liyanage was paid to do research and this, he points out is the fundamental difference between European countries and Sri Lanka. “I hardly know any full-time PhD students in Sri Lanka. Most of them are forced to lecture. PhDs require dedication.” He admitted that his academic load of University College Dublin is comparatively low allowing him to dedicate more time to research. Usually a lecturer is required to teach three modules per year, but because he is an Ad Astra Fellow, he is required to teach only one module. “In a bid to encourage research, University College Dublin hired 100 lecturers over a four-year period as Ad Astra Fellows, who would have limited academic load.”
It’s quite the opposite in Sri Lanka, pointed out Liyanage. “There are talented students and lecturers in Sri Lanka, but they are overloaded. Some lecturers are required to teach three modules in a single semester.” He also pointed out the lack of research funding and grants. “It should come from either the government of the corporate sector. To attract good PhD students remuneration equivalent to industry sector salaries must be offered.”
Liyanage’s achievements are not solely academic. The multitasker also has a patent to his credit. During a short stint at General Electronics, their branch in Italy wanted to replace the wired communication mechanism between the head and the tail of trains built by them, with wireless communication. “Because wired connections were a hassle when changing carriages. But wireless communication mechanisms are relatively less secure, because open air transmissions can be intercepted.” Liyanage built a secure wireless communication mechanism, which was patented. When he is not engaged in research, teaching or supervising, Liyanage likes to travel.
Features
Easter truth can be the beginning

There has long been speculation that the Easter bombing of April 2019 had a relationship to Sri Lankan politics. The near simultaneous bombings of three Christian churches and three luxury hotels, with a death toll of 270 and over 500 injured, by Muslim suicide bombers made no sense in Sri Lanka where there has been no history of conflict between the two religions. But a political motivation was suspected on the basis of who would be the beneficiary of an otherwise senseless crime. The bombing immediately discredited the government in power at that time, saw the nomination of the opposition presidential candidate soon after, and paved the way for the crushing defeat of the government at the national elections that followed in a few months.
In Parliament last week, Leader of the House Bimal Ratnayake revealed a political strategy to create the conditions for the change of government that took place. His remarks corresponded to suspicions that the attack was not just a failure of intelligence, but the result of deliberate manipulation by those in the political sphere. What is new is that these suspicions are now being stated clearly and officially at the highest level of government. Minister Ratnayake said, “They started this in 2013 by creating and maintaining Sinhala and Muslim extremist groups through intelligence agencies. The culmination of this was similar to the Cambridge Analytica incident.”
The Cambridge Analytica scandal involved the unauthorised harvesting of personal data from millions of Facebook users to build psychological profiles and micro-target voters for political purposes. The data harvested by Cambridge Analytica was used primarily to influence the 2016 U.S. presidential election in favour of Donald Trump and the 2016 Brexit referendum in the UK. The company also allegedly worked on elections in Kenya, Nigeria, India, Trinidad and Tobago, and several other countries, using psychographic profiling and targeted digital ads to manipulate voter behaviour.
Cardinal’s Consistency
If the allegations about the Easter attacks prove true, they would constitute one of the most unprincipled examples of violence being used for political purposes in Sri Lanka’s post-war period. To use fear, death, and destruction to pave the way for a political return is totally unacceptable and without conscience. What makes the current moment different from earlier efforts to deal with such unacceptable actions is that there now appears to be political will. There is a sense that the present government is committed to follow through with investigations, even if the implications reach to the highest levels of power.
It is significant that the government has taken the controversial step of reappointing retired officers Shani Abeysekera and Ravi Seneviratne, both of whom were known to be top class police investigators who were removed from the investigation process by previous governments, to once again lead the investigations. They are both controversial in that they briefly joined the government side’s political stage during the last presidential election campaign. Minister Ratnayake justified their reappointment on the grounds that Cardinal Malcolm Ranjith made the request. It is in this context that the current government’s willingness to act gains it credibility with the Catholic community, which bore the brunt of the attacks.
The role of the Catholic Church and Malcolm Cardinal Ranjith in consistently pushing for accountability in the Easter Sunday case is commendable. From the outset, the Cardinal was a vocal advocate for justice for the victims of the bombing. His calls for transparency, a credible investigation, and the identification of those truly responsible have been persistent and unwavering. Over the years, previous government leaders made promises to find the culprits and masterminds in response to this pressure which the Cardinal publicly welcomed. But those assurances, like many others before them, did not materialise in the form of tangible outcomes.
Ending Impunity
Progress in the investigation of the Easter bombings comes at a time when the government has already made forward movement in pursuing economic accountability. High-profile arrests and legal actions against formerly powerful politicians for corruption are being carried out in a way never witnessed before. For many decades, impunity has been the practice in government at the highest levels. Economic crimes and political violence in which the protagonists were suspected to be of government-origin were pursued only half-heartedly in the past. Charges were often framed, suspects were taken into custody, but invariably the process broke down mid-way and the suspects were released. This time around those who have been charged have had their cases taken to court where they have been given exemplary sentences.
In the case of the Easter bombing, the testimony of survivors and the documentation of intelligence failures are now being brought back into the spotlight. Investigations into key actors, including the alleged role of former paramilitaries turned politicians like Pillayan show that this is no longer a nominal exercise. The challenge for the government is to ensure that this momentum does not wane. The legal and institutional frameworks need to be allowed to function without interference. No matter how politically sensitive, the Sri Lankan people need answers, and more importantly, justice.
Sri Lanka has suffered for decades from a culture of impunity that has bred cynicism and mistrust. The present government has taken early steps to reverse that trend. It is too early to say whether this will lead to full justice. There are indications that the government is sequencing its priorities: first, economic crimes and now political crimes like the Easter attacks; later, possibly, war crimes. The wounds of the war years are deep and divisive. Pursuing accountability for wartime abuses may demand more political capital than the government currently possesses or wishes to expend, and it is likely that such steps will be undertaken more cautiously—and later.
In the case of the Chemmani mass graves the government seems to be allowing the judicial investigations to proceed independently, unlike in the case of the Mannar and Matale mass graves by previous governments. Permitting the Chemmani probe to proceed signals that the era of blanket impunity might finally be drawing to a close and the integrity of Sri Lanka’s democratic institutions is being secured. If a crime like the Easter bombing, which has defied a satisfactory conclusion for over six years is successfully investigated and prosecuted, it may open the space for deeper scrutiny of the past, including the war years. It is up to the independent institutions, judiciary and civil society to push this process forward.
by Jehan Perera
Features
Reflections on Cuba, BRICS and geopolitics

I returned to the US, from Cuba, just a few hours before Donald Trump signed a memorandum on 30 June, 2025, tightening the long-standing US economic blockade against Cuba. The memorandum includes a statutory ban on US tourism to the neighbouring island.
Despite a long fascination for the island nation, I did not volunteer for the Venceremos Brigade to Cuba during my college years. Finally, my wish to see the legendary island of anti-imperialist revolution—the so-called ‘last bastion of socialism in the western hemisphere’—came true.
I enjoyed Cuba’s resplendent land and waters, the vibrancy of its music and dance, and the warm hospitality of its racially integrated people. I visited the impressive places and monuments of its colonial and modern history, receiving a wealth of interesting and intriguing information from my wonderful Cuban guides and other sources.
The history of Cuba is one of struggle and transformation. The original Taino people were extinct due to the Spanish conquest. The Revolution of 1898 brought liberation under scholar-poet Jose Marti, only to be followed by US neocolonial rule from 1902 to 1959. During the latter part of this period, the Batista dictatorship and his American business and Mafia connections dominated the island.
The armed struggle, culminating in the 1959 Revolution, led by Fidel Castro, Camilo Cienfuegos, Che Guevara and others, transformed the nation. The Cuban Communist Party, under Fidel Castro’s rule (1959-2008), implemented widespread confiscation and wealth redistribution. Throughout this period and up to date, the US has maintained occupation of Guantanamo Bay (the first US overseas military base) under a 1903 perpetual lease agreement, following the Spanish-American War.
Cuba’s Present Crisis
Unfortunately, what I encountered in my homestays and travel around the island was far from the thriving socialist society I had hoped to see. The once magnificent buildings in Havana and other cities are dilapidated and the streets strewn with litter. Lacking reliable public transportation, people stand on streets around the island patiently waiting to catch rides from any vehicle that will stop—among them, the still widely used pre-Revolution American cars and horse-drawn carriages.
The island is currently facing its worst economic crisis, since the 1959 revolution. Long and daily power cuts, scarce internet connection, food and medicine shortages, and high prices, are the realities of present-day Cuba. Some staple items like beans are nowhere to be found; rice production has declined and much is now imported. Sugar, too, has become an import in Cuba, which, until recently, was the leading sugar exporter in the world.
People cannot make ends meet with their meager incomes—a doctor’s monthly salary is approximately US$50. Even by conservative World Bank estimates, 72% of all Cubans live below the poverty line. Beggars seem to be everywhere, with the African community descendant from slavery being the most economically victimised.
Young professionals, products of the island’s renowned free education and healthcare systems, are emigrating to the US, Europe, and elsewhere, leaving mostly the elderly behind. Cuba reportedly lost some 13% of its 11 million population between 2020 and 2024, due largely to emigration. Financial remittances from emigrants are essential for their families’ survival at home.
In private, people complain bitterly about government mismanagement and corruption, expressing concern about the island’s future and people’s survival. Given state authoritarianism and repression, there is no independent media, visible organised resistance, or public demonstrations.
The Cuban government blames US sanctions and blockade, operative since the early 1960s, for the island’s economic strangulation. In contrast, the US and its Cuban-American supporters blame socialism for Cuba’s failures.
Notwithstanding claims to be a leader of the international Non-Aligned Movement, Cuba withstood the 1961 CIA-backed Cuban-American Bay of Pigs invasion and the 1962 Cuban missile crisis by aligning itself with the Soviet Union, eventually becoming its client state. The dismantling of the Soviet Union in 1992 and the recent Covid crisis have dealt severe blows to the Cuban economy and society. The decline in tourism, one of the most important sectors of the Cuban economy, will be further impacted by Donald Trump’s recent statutory ban on US tourism.
Is the opening of Cuba to neo-liberal capitalism—including global finance capital, the IMF, international intervention by the US (and its Cuban-American supporters awaiting return of land and business confiscated by the Cuban Revolution)—the solution to Cuba’s current economic crisis?
The Path Forward
Government mismanagement, corruption, repression and authoritarianism, economic collapse, agricultural decline, lack of employment, shortages of fuel and food, rising prices, powerlessness, despair and labour emigration characterise much of the world following neoliberal policies today. These countries also face the threats of international intervention, regime change, sanctions and blockades if they attempt to strike out on independent paths of economic and political development outside western-dominated neoliberalism.
Is BRICS the alternative to both authoritarian socialism and neoliberal capitalism, the path to resolving the crisis in Cuba and much of the world?
The Global South-led BRICS constitutes Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa, Egypt, Ethiopia, Indonesia, Iran, and the United Arab Emirates, as well as 10 partner countries, including Cuba, Belarus, Bolivia, Kazakhstan, Malaysia, Nigeria, Thailand, Uganda, Uzbekistan, and Vietnam. Today, the BRICS countries together are estimated to account for 56% of world population, 44% of global GDP.
The BRICS alliance provides a much-needed platform to explore alternative mechanisms, like the New Development Bank and bilateral trade agreements, to reduce reliance on Western financial institutions, such as the IMF and currencies, specifically the US dollar. While BRICS rejects certain aspects of Western dominated geopolitics and hierarchical North-South relations, it upholds neoliberal economic principles: competition, free trade, open markets, export-led growth and globalisation, unfettered technological expansion.
BRICS aims to advance its members within the existing global capitalist order, rather than create a fundamental alternative to the capitalist paradigm which prioritizes profit-led growth before environmental sustainability and human well-being. As such, corporate hegemony, concentration of wealth by a global elite spanning the North and the South, as well technological and military domination, are not challenged. Neither does BRICS challenge political authoritarianism within its member countries or the possibility of the emergence of forms of authoritarian capitalism. Composed of countries unequal in size, economic and military power, BRICS may also easily reproduce unequal exchange and new forms of colonialism in south-south relations.
False Alternative
Although barely noticeable to a visitor, China is quietly replacing the former Soviet Union as Cuba’s benefactor, expanding its economic activities on the island. Since 2018, Cuba has joined China’s Belt and Road Initiative, the massive infrastructural project connecting some 150 countries around the world. While the US is tightening its trade blockade, China has become Cuba’s largest trading partner and the primary provider of technology for infrastructure, telecommunications, renewable energy sources, the tourism industry, and other important areas of Cuba’s development.
Some critics of US imperialism tend to see China as a benevolent alternative to US and western domination. There are claims that certain media outlets, promoting such perspectives, may be linked to a funding source, associated with China. Even if it is true, the political and military intentions of Chinese economic expansion can only be known in the future.
According to the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute, China has increased its nuclear arsenal by 20% from an estimated 500 to over 600 warheads in 2025. According to US government sources, China has also established satellite intelligence infrastructure or ‘spy bases’ in Cuba that can target the United States commercial and military operations. Cuba, located only some 90 miles from the Florida coastline, could well be drawn into the geopolitical confrontation between the United States and China as it was during the Cold War between the US and the Soviet Union, the Cuban Missile Crisis being a case in point.
Even though the world is moving towards an inexorable market and technologically controlled reality, the rationality of this trajectory must be questioned. The need for balanced ecological and social frameworks upholding bioregionalism, local control of resources, food self-sufficiency need to be considered. Freedom of expression, right to dissent, and collective organising undermined by both neoliberal capitalism and socialist authoritarianism must be upheld. This requires the awakening of consciousness to create a human society founded on wisdom and generosity over competition and exploitation.
The words of the great nineteenth century Cuban patriot, Jose Marti (1853-1895) are still applicable to the transformation needed in both Cuba and the world:
“Happiness exists on earth, and it is won through prudent exercise of reason, knowledge of the harmony of the universe, and constant practice of generosity.”(Courtesy IDN in-depth News)
(Dr. Bandarage has served on the faculties of Brandeis, Mount Holyoke and Georgetown and is the author of books, including Colonialism in Sri Lanka; The Separatist Conflict in Sri Lanka, Sustainability and Well-Being: The Middle Path to Environment, Society and the Economy, Crisis in Sri Lanka and the World and numerous other publications on global political economy and related subjects. www.bandarage.com)
Features
Multi-faceted Sri Lankan celebrity … checking out land of birth

I was sent a video of Noeline Honter doing the song ‘Beauty and the Beast’, with Maxi Rosairo, live on stage.
The clip, I was told, was from The Island Music Awards, held in the late ‘90s … probably 1994.
Believe me, their performance was simply awesome … the vocals, the voices, the passion, the expression, the enthusiasm. Yes, that is what singing is all about. And no lyric-stands, planted in front, for guidance.
Well, the good news I have for you is that Noeline Honter will be in our midst next month (August) and she will be seen in action at three events, in Colombo.
Noeline will be featured at Gatz, Cinnamon Life, on Sunday, 24th August, and again on 20th of September.
Her first date at Gatz will be with the group Terry & The Big Spenders, while her 20th September performance will be with Mirage.
Noeline will also be performing at the BMICH, on the 30th of August, at a concert, ‘Vibes of Yesterday.’
The show, which is in aid of the Apeksha Hospital, Maharagama, will also feature several other artistes. The band in attendance will be the ‘Expressions.’
Noeline indicated to us that she is very much looking forward to her date with Mirage.

Noeline’s first band … her very own Galaxy
“It will be really exciting as I’ve performed with this wonderful outfit several times, as a guest artiste, touring the Middle East and other parts of the world, and also joining them on stage at their regular gigs in Dubai.”
In Sri Lanka, Noeline was not only known for her singing, she was also immensely popular as a TV presenter … winning several awards in both categories – singing and TV presenter.
In addition, she had her own Academy of Training, and she continues with her English training, Down Under, conducting several training programmes online to students, in many countries.
Noeline’s contribution to the field of television news, in Australia, commenced in 2008, in the role of Executive Producer and Presenter of ‘Sri Lanka News weekly,’ a news programme telecast on Channel 31, in Melbourne.
This multi-faceted Sri Lankan celebrity now presents interview programmes on Channel 31, where she features a gamut of mainly Sri Lankan musicians, resident in Sri Lanka and around the world. This is a chat show with musical clips by the featured artistes.
Noeline had her own band in the scene here … Galaxy, comprising Mohan Sabaratnam (drums), Kamal Perera (guitar), Joe Thambimuttu (bass/keyboards/vocals), Kumar Pieris (keyboards), and Ricky Senn (sax/trumpet /brass).

Noeline Honter: Three events in Colombo
Her trip to Sri Lanka, in August, she says, is mainly to be with her family, and to visit some of her favourite places, like Yala, Trincomalee, etc
“When I come over in August, it will be nearly three and a half years since I left the beloved land of my birth.”
Noeline is now based in Australia and says she is absolutely delighted to have the opportunity of sharing time with her son, Ryan, in Adelaide, and her daughter, Jaimee, in Melbourne.
Yes, a name that will never ever be forgotten, especially in the local Western music scene – Noeline Honter.
Go check her out at Gatz, Cinnamon Life, on 24th August and 20th September, 2025.
-
News3 days ago
Dates for A/L and O/L exams announced
-
Latest News5 days ago
Search for survivors after Houthis sink second Red Sea cargo ship in a week
-
Business2 days ago
SLIC Life among Asia’s Best: Finalist in 3 key categories at 10th Trusted Life Awards
-
News5 days ago
Sri Lanka back to its high poverty levels
-
Features2 days ago
Afghanistan:Broken promises, burning nation
-
News3 days ago
Utilize capital allocated by the government effectively to reach targeted economic development goals – President
-
Business6 days ago
Maldives HC expresses deep concern over growing disconnect with Sri Lanka
-
Editorial2 days ago
Navigating tariff shocks