Features

The recovery has begun

Published

5 months ago

2024/12/31

Sahan Weerasooriya

Colombo lit up for Christmas

by Jehan Perera

Downtown Colombo and especially its upmarket commercial areas sparkled, and will continue to do so, in the night this Christmas season until the grand finale on New Year’s Eve. There is little indication that this city of night lights had experienced dire economic collapse just three years ago. The long lines of vehicles that once queued up for fuel outside petrol stations are overshadowed the much longer lines of traffic crawling on the way to the centre of celebrations at Galle Face Green, once the epicentre of the Aragalaya protests that brought down the government and had the president fleeing the country.

The hotels and nightclubs at the higher end have been packed to capacity. The cost of celebrating in them is steep but there seem to be a large number of people who can afford this expenditure, at least once in a while. New hotels such as ITC Ratnadeepa and City of Dreams overlooking water fronts create an image of Dubai at night. The ever-rising stock market is evidence for the new found confidence in the economic management of the country. There is a sense of political stability that comes not only from the 2/3 majority that the government enjoys in parliament but also from the inability of the opposition to make suggestions or proposals that are significantly different from the policies being followed by the government.

The desire to be part of the festivities was visible also in the large number of people who participate in them at different levels. They enjoyed themselves at the expensive buffets of five star hotels and in the open spaces of Galle Face Green, where there was a carnival and mobile eateries or in the big shopping malls where they might have a bite at Pizza Hut or engage in window shopping. The high costs of restaurants and consumer items relative to income are manifest in the struggle of the government to bring down the cost of living but with little success. The ongoing battle of the government with the so-called “Rice Mafia” has yielded positive results after the import of rice. But the price of coconuts remains high along with everything else that went up in price three years ago and did not come down.

SPREAD DEVELOPMENT

Outside of Colombo the Christmas celebrations were more muted if they existed at all. Christian churches were the focus of such initiatives. The big celebrations outside of Colombo would take place during the traditional Sinhala and Tamil New Year in April. Some of the provincial capitals like Jaffna had their own displays of festive lights and decorations, but they were not on the scale of Colombo. The difference in purchasing power of Colombo, the national capital, and the provincial capitals was reflected in this disparity.

One of the key justifications for the devolution of power is that there needs to be equitable development across the country and not only in the region of the capital city. Power and wealth tend to go together as those with power to decide will tend to make decisions that benefit themselves and the area they live in. The devolution of power to the provinces is to provide engines of development to the provincial capitals, ensuring wider distribution of the fruits of development. This aspect of devolution of power needs to be explained to the general population who see the concept as being a foreign-driven one meant to resolve the ethnic conflict. Devolved systems of governance have existed in Sri Lanka from the times of the kings due to the impracticalities of centralized rule.

So far the devolution of power in Sri Lanka has been seen in the context of resolving the ethnic conflict. But it can also be justified in a broader perspective as befits the “System Change” that was the main slogan of the Aragalaya protest movement that finally propelled the present government to power. The present system of devolution has been brought into operation through the 13th Amendment to the constitution which came at the height of the ethnic war in 1987 and was facilitated by the external intervention of India. It is not surprising, therefore, that the devolution of power under the 13th Amendment should be seen in that context and as having a bearing on the sovereignty and territorial integrity of the country. Its implementation has been resisted by all successive governments, including the one that brought it into law. This may account for the government’s commitment to devolve power with the passage of a new constitution, but on a different basis to that which exists at present.

CHANGED BEHAVIOURS

The progress of the economy, which is expected to grow by 4 percent this year, and higher than anticipated by international financial institutions, will be due in part to the stability in the polity, which is reflected in increased investor confidence. This positive growth factor will be supplemented by the government’s promise of non-corrupt governance. Unlike in the past, the first 100 days of the new government have not given rise to any major corruption scandal involving government leaders. The issue of the PhD degree of the Speaker of Parliament which led to the resignation of the Speaker has been a new practice when compared to the practices of the recent past. Those in power have not stepped down or been asked to step down when found out for things done which were much more detrimental to the country’s reputation and economy.

The non-ostentatious, non-extravagant and non-corrupt attitude that comes from the president and his top team appears to be seeping down to the bottom. During the holiday season a visit to the local government office to obtain a Grama Niladari certificate of local residence bore this out. The concerned officer was at his desk at the time of the visit, gave information about the application procedure and delivered the required document without any fuss or delay. He explained that he was following all the formalities including getting the signatory to sign in his presence. He explained his supervisor would be checking for this. He also volunteered the information that the change in behaviour at the top of the government was influencing those at the bottom to follow the rules in performing their duties.

Another point he made was that his area was a multi ethnic and multi religious one. The previous person he had attended to was from the Diaspora, a dual citizen, and asking for a national identity card. As that person had all the proper documentation, he had issued the relevant certificate even though he had no personal knowledge of this person who had lived abroad for the past twenty years. He said that person was a citizen and needed to be treated as an equal. In response to the query whether this too was part of the positive influence from the new government, the Grama Niladari said no, it was a message that he had picked up during the period of the Yahapalana government. The new government has inherited not only the bad but also the good from the past and is taking the good alone, to build on it in the year to come and beyond. This gives hope for the future.

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Features

Thunberg deported; various frauds; two women

Published

10 hours ago

2025/06/13

Thilina Walpola

Iranganie Serasinghe

Richard Gere, known to be a meditator and friend of the Dalai Lama, stunned the Hollywood audience that gathered to see him receive a lifetime achievement award recently. He began his address with the usual platitudes and then switched to the country that he said was in a mess. He blamed the US voters who brought Donald Trump in as Prez. And then he called Trump ‘bully and thug’. They are strong words, repeated to make sure his opinion got through.

Another actor, Alec Baldwin, donned an orange hair wig and acted in skits of Trump in the Oval Office and while electioneering. Hilarious and yet of import as it displays the extent to which Trump is derided and openly abused in his own country. Tweets came streaming in from Trump that the actors are old, spent forces, etc. But the public heard and saw the opinion of two very popular and respected actors.

To Cassandra, the disgraceful display of feuding between Elon Musk and Donald Trump made public on X, is the best thing that could have happened to America and the world at large. They are both acting child-like (an insult to children to class these two with them) while displaying their ignorance except about money. The latest as Cass pens this is that Musk has apologised for some of the tweets he sent maligning Trump.

Pro-Palestinian Activists pushed out of Israel

Conveying a symbolic amount of emergency supplies, pro-Palestinian activists from France, Sweden, Brazil. Germany, the Netherlands, Spain and Turkey, calling themselves the Freedom Flotilla Coalition, sailed to Israel in their barge the Madleen to protest against what Israel is doing to the few people left in Gaza – shelling them day and night and determined to chase them all out of the Strip. But the protestors’ visit was short; they were not allowed to dock or land, rather was the aid boat seized by Israeli forces in the Mediterranean on Monday. Thunberg and twelve others were deported from Tel Aviv to Ben Gurion airport to France, the following day. However, six French activists refused to sign their deportation orders and would be brought before an Israeli judicial authority and probably transferred to Ramle Prison, near Tel Aviv.

Such a brave onslaught on Israel in person should be highly acclaimed. Protests occur all over the world, but Netanyahu and the Israel Armey Commander seem not to take notice. As long as the US under Trump supports Israel, the Palestinian bid for freedom to occupy their land in Gaza

Local shark caught in the corruption net

Bureaucrats are being netted in; not only politicians. We have seen the highest in the prison’s department remanded. True, it may not be he who released a prisoner surreptitiously when on the last Vesak Poya, prisoners were pardoned and released. But he signed the papers and so is ultimately responsible.

A member of a former ruling family has been questioned on how come he claimed damages for the destruction of a house of his by the Aragalaya thugs. The question is how a non est house, maybe one dreamed up, came to be claimed as one gutted. The money, of course in millions, seems to have been paid to this elder Rajapaksa brother. Now, he is being questioned and one firmly hopes the money received by the foulest means will be paid back to the country’s till. Cass for one is shocked beyond words and belief at the lies and dastardly subterfuges thought up by these self-seeking minds, and the greed for more and more lucre. The immunity they conferred on themselves being a family that could not be touched by the arm of law and thus the carte blanche they enjoyed to do as they pleased AND with the nation’s money, seems to be ended. It looks to be.

Two local women: one celebrated, the other mourned

Iranganie Meedeniya Serasinghe

, well beloved by all Sri Lankans, celebrated her 98 birthday recently. We wish her very well and hope she can go through the rest of her life with minimum pain and illness. One fact that can be said about her is that she gained in facial beauty as she aged.

She is considered an iconic artiste who was a pioneering figure in theatre, the local silver screen and small screen. She did not just take to acting, she imbibed the art and craft of it at the well-known (probably the world’s best) Royal Academy of Dramatic Art (RADA) in London. She also studied at the Bristol Old Vic Theatre School under the mentorship of Prof EFC Ludowyk, a founder of Sri Lankan theatre.

My brother hired her ex-Ayah to look after his son, so this dame was ever fond of regaling us with stories of her beloved Chandi Appo (the child Iranganie). She was born in the Meedeniya Walauwa very close to Yatiyantota and schooled at Bishop’s College, Colombo, and for her ALs at Girls’ High School, Kandy. This exam was known as the Higher School Certificate Exam (HSC) – entrance exam to the University of Colombo or Peradeniya. It was actually at KHS that she went into theatre acting. Well remembered by Cass as a younger student is Mrs de Mel producing Bernard Shaw’s Pygmalion, forerunner to My Fair Lady. Producing and staging Pygmalion was certainly a hazardous task, but probably intrepid Mrs de Mel thought she had a star player to tackle the role of Professor Higgins. Iranganie was him and Rani Perera was Eliza Doolittle, fluently speaking Cockney and then metamorphosing to a near princess.

Iranganie was first in theatre but then, as good fortune would have it, Lester James Peries scripted and directed Rekawa (Line of Destiny) in 1956. It was the first Sinhala film fully shot in Ceylon and outdoors, eliminating any Indian influence. Iranganie played a major role while Winston Serasinghe too was in it. Willie Blake was cinematographer. Entered in 1957 to the Cannes Film Festival, it was included in the main competition and was nominated for the Palme d’Or; honour enough and is still the only Sinhala film honoured thus far.

Iranganie outsmarted traditional conventions, especially Kandyan radala conservatism, by going into films. Remembered best by Cass is her role in Yashorawaya where she played self-sacrificing mother to Richard de Zoysa.

She also founded Ruk Rekaganno, and went about trying to prevent the wanton cutting down of trees. Cass’ second brother was in the movement. Once on a journey out of Colombo. Iranganie had wanted a cup of tea. Only wayside tea kiosks were available. All four were willing to patronise one of them. The boutique keeper was nonchalant and even wary of these city types until his wife recognised Iranganie. “Aney appé,” she shouted and out came levariya and tea in cups and saucers!

Malini Pethiyagoda Kulatunge

passed away in Australia a couple of days ago. Mention is made here since she was the first woman to pass the newly instituted CAS examination for recruitment of Ceylon Administrative Services officers which replaced the Ceylon Civil Service, started by the British under their colonial rule. This first exam was in 1971. Malini, too, had her education at Girls’ High School from where she entered the University of Peradeniya. Malini, sister of Dr Upatissa Pethiyagoda, migrated soon after to Australia with her young family.

What have we to look forward to next week? A Colombo Municipal Council formed, with hopefully Vraie Cally Balthazaar, graduate, researcher, entrepreneur and media professional of the bright sparkling face, as Mayor?

At least we hear fumigation going on. We also hope mosquito breeding places are being eliminated. Fast spreading dread diseases have to be stalled. It’s the duty of the local councils of the country, and if extra care is taken, we could live safe and healthy.

Features

As Prof. Arjuna De Silva turns 60 …

Published

10 hours ago

2025/06/13

Thilina Walpola

Prof. De Silva

I first met Professor Arjuna de Silva as his patient. I was immediately impressed by this consultant physician, especially by his considerable knowledge, remarkable efficiency and commitment. I also remember thinking that he was a bit arrogant, even bordering on the rude. He was just being matter-of-fact, strictly focused on diagnosis, prognosis and prescription. In the 25 years that have passed since then, I have had ample reason to conclude that behind the confident and sometimes stern exterior that I first encountered, there was a sensitive, intelligent, and scrupulously honest friend just waiting to be discovered.

Over the years this no-nonsense physician, affectionately known as Prof. Arjuna, became one of my closest and dearest friends. His selfless service to our circle, especially his steadfast care for our parents, is nothing short of heroic. The dedication with which he looked after my own parents, particularly my late father, speaks volumes about his loyalty and kindness. In fact, if there was an Olympic medal for “Friendship and Care,” Arjuna would be standing proudly on the podium, gold medal and a bouquet of roses, probably delivering an acceptance speech explaining why he deserves it more than anyone else!

We became firm friends and eventually our brotherhood would include a third, Johann Wijesinghe. The three of us shared a bond tested in the toughest of times. When Johann fell seriously ill, Arjuna stepped up not just as a friend but as a guiding light. Emotionally shaken though he was, Arjuna managed to steer Johann and his wife Kalpana through complex medical treatments while keeping the rest of us, who were understandably anxious, calm and hopeful. Watching him juggle this immense responsibility without panicking was nothing short of inspiring. It was only when Johann passed away that I was able to see him with his guard down; I had never seen Arjuna so deeply shaken before.

His sobriety in his professional life was quite in contrast to how he was when he put aside his ‘doctoring.’ It is no exaggeration to say that I have never met any medical professional who parties like Arjuna does. Arjuna and his wife Thulani are the ultimate hosts; they are supreme when it comes to hospitality and entertainment. Arjuna loves company and celebrations so much that I often joke that if there is a lot of light and music Arjuna would be there or should be. He wouldn’t miss these things if he could help it.

An Oxford-qualified professor, Arjuna’s achievements are nothing short of extraordinary. His contributions to sports, both specific disciplines and the broader sporting community, cannot be matched by any doctor I know. A proud Thomian, he embodies grit, determination, and just the right touch of flair that has earned him the affectionate nickname “Dr. Shahrukh Khan.” And yes, he encourages it with that charming smile and a mischievous wink.

Arjuna isn’t one to wear his emotions on his sleeve, but as a very close friend, I can vouch for his sensitivity and sometimes even a need for attention. Those close to him know he has his weaknesses, for example his legendary reluctance to forgive easily. Arjuna remembers both the good and the bad. For all this, he is the first person many would call in a medical emergency, knowing he will be there without hesitation. I will never forget how he visited my father almost every single day when he became critically ill.

Above all, Arjuna is a proud and loyal Sri Lankan, a true patriot in every sense.

My dear friend Arjuna knows how sorry I am that I cannot be with him tonight as he celebrates the milestone of reaching 60. However, as we have joked and agreed, his party would be better without me for I share his weakness to be unforgiving at times. He will have a blast, nevertheless, for Arjuna is irrepressible. He will take note and smile when I wish him a wonderful time. It will be a blast, as always and Arjuna will enjoy every moment and raise a cheer with those present with a nod to those who, like me, are not there, to many more years of friendship, laughter, and unforgettable memories!

Happy 60th, Prof. Arjuna!

by Krishantha Prasad Cooray ✍️

Features

They came, they won, they returned to Jaffna isles

Published

10 hours ago

2025/06/13

Thilina Walpola

J/Thambaddy GTMV Children swimming in the village pond

This is about the children of Kytes Island J/Thambaddy Government Tamil Mixed Vidyalayam and J/Delft Maha Vidyalayam in the northernmost inhabited island of Sri Lanka. They travelled to Colombo and won in the China-Sri Lanka Friendship Cup Dragon Boat Regatta Junior (Under 18) section held in the Diyawannawa lake last week.

Delft Maha Vidyalam commenced on 17 January 1946, as one of the first Maha Vidyalayam established by the Father of Free Education, Dr C. W. W. Kannagara, then Education Minister. Declared open by Sir John Kotelawala with five teachers and 23 students; the school has classes from Grade 1 to Grade 13 today. There are 179 students (117 boys and 62 girls), 20 teachers (10 males and 10 females). This is the northernmost Maha Vidyalayam in Sri Lanka. A ferry voyage from the Jaffna mainland to Delft takes about one and a half hours.

Thambaddy Government Tamil Mixed Vidyalayam is on Kytes island. It has 179 students in classes from Grade 1 to Grade 11, and 19 teachers. It has produced excellent swimmers who won 18 medals in the last Provincial Swimming meet, even though they do not have a swimming pool. They practise in a village pond!

: J/ Thambaddy Government Tamil Mixed Vidyalayam

: Girls category competition

Boys Junior Dragon boat event was won by J/Thambaddy GTMV team consisting of twelve paddlers who pulled their boat in unison with much vigour and morale. They were followed closely by another team from Jaffna Islands (Delft) J/Delft Maha Vidyalayam. During the last stages of the race, there was a close competition between these two teams. The results were as follows:

1. Gold medal – Thambaddy GTMV, Kytes Island, Jaffna

2. Silver medal- Delft Maha Vidyalayam, Delft Island, Jaffna

3. Bronze medal- D S Senanayake College, Colombo

4. St Patrick’s College, Jaffna

5. Wesley College, Colombo

6. Gateway International College, Colombo

7. Wesley College, Colombo, (team 2)

This great achievement by Jaffna Island schools was due to unstinted support and guidance they receive from the Sri Lanka Navy, especially Secretary of the Canoeing and Kayaking Association of Sri Lanka, Captain (SBS) Chaminda Wijesiri, an injured war veteran. This potential international level talent was spotted by him when the Canoeing and Kayaking Association held the National Canoeing and Kayaking Regatta six months ago in the Jaffna lagoon adjacent to the picturesque Jaffna Dutch Fort.

The Chinese Embassy of Sri Lanka and Sports and the Youth Affairs Ministry jointly organised the Regatta at Diyawannawa lake, which was to be held near the Port City. It had to be shifted to the Diyawanna Lake due to rough seas. The Army and Navy Commanders and Director General Sports (Retired senior Naval officer Rear Admiral Shermal Fernando) helped transport the Jaffna teams to Colombo.

Winners with Preethi Perera the former President of the Canoeing and Kayaking Association

The teams were provided with accommodation at the Sports Hostel, Colombo, and the Youth Council Hostel, Maharagama free of charge, and Rear Admiral Shermal Fernando took care of their meals.

Girls from these two Jaffna islands also performed extremely well. They lost to Vishaka College Colombo team, but secured Silver and Bronze medals. The final results of Girls category were as follows:

Gold medal- Vishaka College Colombo.

Silver medal- J/ Thambaddy GTMV, Kytes Island, Jaffna .

Bronze medal- J/ Delft Maha Vidyalayam, Delft Island, Jaffna.

WP/ Jaya/ Janadipathi Balika Vidyalaya, Nawala.

Five fully equipped Dragon Boats donated by China were handed over by Chinese Ambassador in Colombo Qi Zhenhong to the Canoeing and Kayaking Association. Chairman of Canoeing and Kayaking Association, Rear Admiral (SSD) HNS Perera has already decided to keep two boats in Jaffna for the use of the northern children.

Winners with Rear Admiral Damien Fernando (Chief of Staff of Navy) and Captain (SBS) Chaminda Wijesiri

Our next step is to train combined Jaffna schools teams (both girls and boys) to take part in the world famous Snake Boat Race in Backwaters of Kerala, India scheduled to be held in September this year. Bravo to these children! Mother Theresa once said, “We can’t do great things – but we can do small things with great love”. Keep paddling children!

(The writer is Former Navy Commander and Former Chief of Defence Staff, Former Chairman, Trincomalee Petroleum Terminals Ltd., Former Managing Director Ceylon Petroleum Corporation, and Former High Commissioner to Pakistan.)

by Admiral Ravindra C Wijegunaratne ✍️
WV, RWP and Bar, RSP, VSV, USP, NI (M) (Pakistan), ndc, psn, Bsc
(Hons) (War Studies) (Karachi) MPhil (Madras)