Emily Howie
Australian Naval Ship on Good Will Visit to Sri Lanka
Sri Lanka Ministry of Defence, 7 January 2012 …..
The HMAS Anzac arrives in Colombo on a goodwill visit. Continue reading
Author Archives: thuppahi
Emily Howie’s Summary Update on the Reportage about Boat People
IMAGES OF BRITISH CEYLON and REGENERATION reviewed by Richard Boyle
Richard Boyle
Images of British Ceylon: 19th Century Photography of Sri Lanka — by Ismeth Raheem and Percy Colin-Thome, Produced for Ismeth Raheem by Times Editions Singapore: March 2000 …………. 155pp, Rs 3,950.00 …………….ISBN 981 204 778 6
Regeneration: A Reappraisal of Photography in Ceylon 1850 – 1900 — By John Falconer with Ismeth Raheem, Published by the British Council London: January 2000, 95pp, Rs 1,000.00 …… ISBN 0 86355 444 X
I am exceedingly grateful that a master photographer took my wedding photographs using black-and-white film. They nestle in the wedding album in their sharp and contrasting black-and-white glory, while the colour photographs of the conventional photographer affixed alongside have already begun to lose their vitality after less than two decades. It is a problem that has begun to alarm not only those who want to cherish memories, but curators, archivists and art investors as well. The London Times of July 11, 1998, reported in an article titled ‘Why the past is looking just a little too rosy’ that, “Millions of images taken since the invention of modern colour photography are changing because of the way their dyes break down. Just as the 19th century is now viewed in tones of sepia, so future generations may look back on the last three decades of the 20th as the era of purple lawns and red skies.”
Ships in Colombo harbor, Pic by S. Slinn & Co, 1868 –images, p. 85 Continue reading
Radhika and Nihal launch CPA’s THE REPUBLIC AT 40
The Sri Lankan Republic at 40: Reflections on Constitutional History, Theory and Practice
The Sri Lankan Republic at 40: Reflections on Constitutional History, Theory and Practice, a collection of scholarly essays edited by Asanga Welikala, Senior Researcher, Legal & Constitution Unit was launched at the 80 Club, 25, Independence Avenue, Colombo 07, on 21st December 2012.
CPA’s latest publication, in association with the F riedrich Naumann Stiftung für die Freiheit (FNF), marks the 40th anniversary of the establishment of the Sri Lankan Republic.
Speaking at the launch were its Editor as well as Dr. Nihal Jayawickrama and Dr. Radhika Coomaraswamy. Continue reading
Filed under authoritarian regimes, caste issues, communal relations, cultural transmission, democratic measures, economic processes, education policy, female empowerment, fundamentalism, heritage, historical interpretation, Indian Ocean politics, island economy, law of armed conflict, legal issues, life stories, LTTE, nationalism, politIcal discourse, power politics, prabhakaran, religious nationalism, Sinhala-Tamil Relations, sri lankan society, world events & processes
Deloraine Brohier’s Sugar and Spice is for those with taste buds
Courtesy of The Sunday Times with some liberties taken in our choice of title
When Deloraine Brohier chanced upon a yellowed manuscript in her late father, renowned scholar Dr. R.L. Brohier’s library, she knew it was a valuable find. In the faded pages were “Rare recipes of a Huisvrouw of 1770’. Another discovery was an old manual dated 1875 which had an article on the culinary arts of the island. Considered an authority herself on Burgher life and customs, Deloraine was intrigued. And so began her effort to document the cuisine of the Burgher housewives handed down over generations in the making of those delicacies such as Bolo d’Amor (love cake), Karmenatchi, Fios, Breudher, lamprais and frikkadels, some of which we still enjoy today. Her book ‘A Taste of Sugar and Spice’– Cuisine of the Dutch Burgher Huisvrouw in Olde Ceylon’ draws on the old manuscripts and her own personal recollections of Burgher family customs and celebrations. Continue reading
The Early Years of Motoring in British Ceylon
Hugh Karunanayake, courtesy of The Ceylankan
First motor car to be imported to Ceylon 8 hp Rover Edgar Money at wheel
Foremost among the many technological changes that impacted on Sri Lanka and the way of life of its people during the 20th century, was the introduction of the motor car. Motoring not only revolutionised transport in the island, it influenced the growth of the economy, changed existing social conditions, and linked together the hitherto disparate urban and rural sectors of the country. Continue reading
Sri Lankans in France address the issue “What it is to be Sri Lankan”
Initiated with the support of Ambassador Jayatilleka, What’s Next! comprises post-graduates and young professional Sri Lankans residing in France. It seeks to promote sustainable peace in Sri Lanka through intellectual exchange and multicultural dialogue.... See Cross-references at the end
Dayan Jayatilleka
If I were to sum up my own understanding of the problematic within which the discussion took place, it is that of the dual role of transition-transformation or transition/transformation of Sri Lanka; the transition to a stable sustainable peace which is not possible without a transformation in Sri Lanka and of Sri Lanka’s relationship with the world. Which brings us to another point which I hope will be helpful because this is my own way of understanding what it is to be Sri Lankan. I was reading one of Jacques Lacan’s last lectures, of course in English translation, in which he summarizes his teaching. And in a deliberate departure, an ironic departure from the Biblical sentence that “In the beginning was the world”, Lacan says “In the beginning was the place”.
VS Naipaul on Colonialism and Indian Migrant Labour in the Colonies
Take in Naipaul’s 40 minute Nobel Prize Lecture of 2001 ….. Sir V. S. Naipaul delivered his Nobel Lecture in Börssalen at the Swedish Academy in Stockholm, 7 December 2001. He was introduced by Horace Engdahl, Permanent Secretary of the Swedish Academy. Credits: Ladda Productions AB (camera) … http://www.nobelprize.org/mediaplayer/index.php?id=899
Continue reading
The SUNDAY LEADER in jeopardy
Charles Haviland, for BBC, January 2013, where the title reads “Fears for Sri Lanka’s outspoken Leader”
Almost four years after its editor was killed in mysterious circumstances, there are fears that Sri Lanka’s most outspokenly anti-government newspaper is losing its critical edge. On 8 January 2009, the editor of the Sunday Leader, Lasantha Wickrematunge, was assassinated by a group of masked men on motorbikes. The case sent shockwaves around the world, highlighting the dismal state of press freedom in the country. The murder has never been solved. Continue reading
Walking the Pettah and the Fort in Colombo
Wolvendaal Church – courtesy of http://www.tripadvisor.com.au/ShowUserReviews-g293962-d2452003-r122177443-Wolvendaal_Church-Colombo.html
A tour around Colombo Fort and Pettah might not seem like one of Sri Lanka’s greatest attractions; however YAMU encountered a man, Mark Forbes, who fervently believes that the old inner-city is the capital’s greatest asset. We heard that Mark runs $ 50 tours showing, predominantly European, tourists the wonders of old Colombo. We were intrigued, but somewhat sceptical – I mean I already know rather a lot of about Colombo Fort and spend as much time as I can in Pettah, so what on earth could someone called Mark Forbes (surely a foreigner) show me that don’t I already know? And how many tourists are going to pay to be taken around faded and chaotic downtown districts? Continue reading
