Renovation workers
Author Archives: thuppahi
Galle Rampart Activities …. July 2020
Filed under slanted reportage, Sri Lankan cricket, sri lankan society, travelogue
DS Senanayake in the Final Stages of the Independence Struggle
Batapola Man**
Michael, I thought [your article on “Battleships Down: Early Signs in the Decline of British Imperial Power across the Span of the Indian Ocean”] is a very insightful piece that opens up an important and (as far as I know) unexplored dimension of the comparative Lanka-India route to Independence. I am not going to post these comments online because they will just encourage the abusive trolls.
Pushing the British out of Ceylon, 1918-1956: Issues
Michael Roberts
My essay on “The Basis of British Power” (July 2020) was instigated by articles from Prabath de Silva and Leelananda de Silva on aspects of the Donoughmore Reforms and subsequent developments. Vinod Moonesinghe has seized on secondary dimensions to press some hoary old strands of Trotskyist thinking and to laud (A) the intervention of SWRD Bandaranaike and the MEP forces for getting rid of British military bases in the 1950s and (B) the radical political messages of the young LSSP politicians who burst onto the scene in the late 1920s and early 1930s.[1] This is linked to the standard Marxist belittling of the achievements of DS Senanayake and associates in the interpretation of the island’s path to independence.
Filed under British imperialism, colonisation schemes, democratic measures, governance, historical interpretation, island economy, land policies, landscape wondrous, Left politics, life stories, patriotism, politIcal discourse, power politics, self-reflexivity, Sri Lankan scoiety, world events & processes, World War II
Underwater Scenes off Ceylon from Mike Wilson and Rodney Jonklass in 1958
Beneath the Seas of Ceylon
Today’s throwback from the BSAC archives is a documentary from 1958 which, according to one source we found online, has been lost without a trace – but we have it! This 16mm film was the first underwater one to be shot in the seas around Ceylon, Sri Lanka and features some breathtaking scenes of Rodney Jonklaas taming some very large groupers, and then being chased by sharks 
#
#A Landmark Trade Pact: Rubber-Rice Deal between Sri Lanka and China 1952
Dr. J. B. Kelegama, the Keynote Address at the Fiftieth Anniversary Celebrations of the historic “Rubber-Rice Pact” between Sri Lanka and China at the BMICH on 20 December 2002 ... from Island, 22 December 2002, where the title runs “The Significance of the Ceylon-China Trade Agreement of 1952”
The Ceylon-China Trade Agreement of 1952 was undoubtedly the most useful trade agreement negotiated by Sri Lanka and one of the most successful and durable Trade Agreements in the world, having been in operation for thirty years. It is therefore useful to assess the significance of the agreement and to refresh our memory regarding the circumstances that led to it and the person who played the key role in bringing it about – R. G. Senanayake.
Dudley Senanayake’s Cabinet 1952
Filed under accountability, american imperialism, China and Chinese influences, economic processes, governance, historical interpretation, island economy, legal issues, life stories, modernity & modernization, politIcal discourse, power politics, sri lankan society, transport and communications, world events & processes
Frederick Dornhorst and Royal College
Senaka Weeraratna
Please note that the following article was provided on the 9th of July 2020, before the Dornhorst Memorial Prize was amended to be awarded to the Most Outstanding Royalist on the 16th of July 2020
“All Royalists of the present generation should specially remember two great Royalists, whose defense of the College in its darkest days saved Royal. They are Sir Richard Morgan (1851) and Frederick Dornhorst, K.C. (1916)” ….. ……. S.S. Perera in History of Royal College
Donald Friend assessed by Venerable Bhikkhu Dhammika in 2003
In this era of political correctness and moral extremism exemplified in the Me Too movement, the assault on ‘offensive’ statues of famous men with questionable attributes, etc, etc, let me tweak the nether regions of these evangelical reformists by featuring Donald Friend, an Australian homosexual and paedophile of a brazen disposition, who displayed a wide range of artistic talents and happened to sojourn in Ceylon for quite a while — linking up with the talented and wealthy Bawa brothers (themselves members of the gay middle class community in the island’s tolerant ‘climate’– an environment that also attracted Arthur C. Clarke) …. Michael Roberts
Filed under accountability, architects & architecture, art & allure bewitching, Australian culture, australian media, cultural transmission, education, heritage, historical interpretation, landscape wondrous, life stories, meditations, paintings, politIcal discourse, psychological urges, self-reflexivity, slanted reportage, sri lankan society, the imaginary and the real, tolerance, travelogue, unusual people, world events & processes
Australians in Limbo: Morrison’s Government under Siege
Andrew Taylor & Tammy Mills, in Sydney Morning Herald, 11 July 2020, with this title
Australians living overseas have criticised the Morrison government’s decision to make it harder to return home, while forcing people to pay for two weeks in quarantine has been labelled as “almost cruel”.
Matthew Spence worked in the aviation industry in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, until he was made redundant on June 30. Mr Spence said flights from Malaysia to Sydney were sparse, and he was booked on the first available flight on July 18. “I am concerned that the intake cut will result in flight cancellations, further adding to the stress of Aussies trying to return,” Mr Spence said. “If you are an Australian citizen you have the expectation that you can always return home when you need to.”
Prime Minister Scott Morrison ordered airlines to slash the number of flights and available seats to Australia from Monday to reduce the number of international arrivals in a bid to relieve pressure on hotel quarantine.
